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It's the second season in a row that we can't make shots in the beginning of the season. What is Hopla doing? Is he changing players' shots? Whatever it is, it isn't working. Last year we basically had no shooters on our team and this year there are "shooters" everywhere but Drummond. I'm not sure what's going on. I blame these losses on our coach. I counted maybe 4-5 assists Jackson could've had against the Lakers but the ball didn't go in. We've been playing correctly. You just CAN'T win shooting 35-40%. That's impossible. Stan better fix this because Jennings won't. This is bad. We need better ball movement. Where is the ball movement from Orlando? It's the same system. Players need to start making their jumpshots or they won't be heading to the Playoffs.

We got too any ball-dominant players on our lineup. Morris and Reggie are heavy ball-dominant scorers that can't do anything off-ball to save their lives.

Because of that, nobody on our offense is in sync. No one.

I also blame the Detroit curse as well. Every "shooter" that we get in FA or the draft somehow becomes an absolute dud, starting from the Ben Gordon days and from Meeks as well. The only exception probably was Caron Butler and maybe Singler.

something needs to change and it needs to change fast

I looked up some of Morris' stats and he was actually 39% on catch & shoot 3s the last 2 yrs in PHX. Now he's only 30% here. I don't get it either. For years good shooters have been coming here and suddenly can't shoot. Its not just Stan because it was with Cheeks and Frank too.

Stan needs to stop using Morris in the post though (at least when w/ the starters) and convert him back into the catch & shoot guy he was w/ PHX. Save the post ups for when he is with the 2nd unit as they need it more. Reggie/Dre don't need a Forward in the post crowding everything. I thought that was why we didn't resign Monroe.They need catch & shoot options around them. If Morris is capable of playing that role and Stan is choosing otherwise, that is on coaching.

Through 6 games were a Finals contender and now we need to fix things "fast". It's a long season. Relax.

We've had the same problem for years now. We don't consistently play as a team on either end. When teams press us, someone always tries to be the hero. You can be the best shooter in the world, but if you aren't getting shots in the flow of the offense, you aren't going to shoot a high percentage.

Cowology wrote:Through 6 games were a Finals contender and now we need to fix things "fast". It's a long season. Relax.

I trust my basketball knowledge. Fact is we went on a 6 game road trip. That's 6 games we're going to play at home later. It's a young team. They'll bounce back. Just can't get into the same routine and I don't think they will. Something else will ignite the shooting and rhythm again.

8 of the 15 players on our roster weren't on the roster to start last season. 7 of those guys are brand new to the team. Many of whom play key roles. We've gone through major upheaval. This is going to happen.

But yeah, lets totally freak out...

Spider156 wrote:Players need to start making their jumpshots or they won't be heading to the Playoffs.

This is the bottom line. Everything on offense would look a lot better if the overall shooting on the team is just average. Even the lack of ball movement takes a back seat to that in terms of the biggest issue the team has right now. I don't think the jump-shooting will be this bad for the rest of the season but it's still pretty painful to watch right now.

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RJ,KCP,Morris,Baynes, Mook, SJ all have slight hitches in their shot, that aren't 100% fundemental. I don't know the extent of the changes Hopla is making i do know that anytime any player changes his shot, it'll take at least a season before we can really see increase in efficiency. Our players have had years and years of muscle memory that they have to train their bodies to forget. when they are tired in game, the focus on keeping that form becomes harder and old habits creep up as fatigue sets in or even worse your muscles are at a point of indecision where the form becomes a mix of the 2(normally ugly looking).

What would also help is if our offense wasn't so sh*. We get maybe 4-5 legit open looks per game. That's not nearly enough

coordinator0 wrote:

Spider156 wrote:Players need to start making their jumpshots or they won't be heading to the Playoffs.

This is the bottom line. Everything on offense would look a lot better if the overall shooting on the team is just average. Even the lack of ball movement takes a back seat to that in terms of the biggest issue the team has right now. I don't think the jump-shooting will be this bad for the rest of the season but it's still pretty painful to watch right now.

You are mistaking cause and effect. The cause of our bad shooting is poor ball movement. Outside of a freak of nature like Curry, even the best shooters in the league need some space to get off shots.

^ This is true.

Due to poor ball movement and ISO heavy (PnR to ISO) play styles, even noted shooters like Meeks and Ersan are suffering. It's the Detroit curse.

yep... its the 1989 stye offense... playing a post up player at the 3... just like last year. As soon as Morris comes off the bench watch things open up

Will you guys have max cap sapce this summer? Horford would be good with Drummond I think. He can stretch the floor and hit that 15 foot jumper consistently.

Billl wrote:You are mistaking cause and effect. The cause of our bad shooting is poor ball movement. Outside of a freak of nature like Curry, even the best shooters in the league need some space to get off shots.

This is true, but the Pistons are missing their open shots too. It's not just the contested jumpers that they're not hitting. Ball movement absolutely needs to be better but guys need to start making their shots too. What we have now is a very ugly product of both of those things going bad.

coordinator0 wrote:

Billl wrote:You are mistaking cause and effect. The cause of our bad shooting is poor ball movement. Outside of a freak of nature like Curry, even the best shooters in the league need some space to get off shots.

This is true, but the Pistons are missing their open shots too. It's not just the contested jumpers that they're not hitting. Ball movement absolutely needs to be better but guys need to start making their shots too. What we have now is a very ugly product of both of those things going bad.

Yes. If players don't make their open shots, ball movement suffers. If ball movement suffers, there won't be any open shots. However, the remedy is always good ball movement because in the end if you make your jumpshots whether they're open or not, then you deserve to win the game (See Kings game). But if you keep moving the ball and the ball doesn't go in, then how else do you lose games? That's the correct way to lose. The Lakers game was horrible to watch but it was a correct way to lose. SVG said the effort was there and I saw that. But the mindset wasn't and maybe that's because it's their 6 consecutive road game. The Kings game was the incorrect way to lose because that was a problem with effort. No excuses. We've had the 2nd hardest schedule in the NBA. Maybe it gets better from here. We'll see what happens but I don't expect us to keep playing at this level. It's a young team. They'll bounce back. It's all about momentum. We got cocky after Portland - team needs to grow up.

Absolutely. Like I said before I expect them to get back to form. Most of the guys who are struggling shooting have been much better in the past and that's a fairly good indicator of what we should expect overall this season. This team going on a long west coast road trip this early was rough. They still have a ways to go in terms of integrating together. It will get better, I have no doubt about it. Detroit is still a lot better than last season too.