Clemenza wrote:og15 wrote:nickhx2 wrote:the reggie factor doesn't matter nearly as much (and isn't nearly as important for the rest of our games) as the PG factor. he's gotta be better for us to win.
Reggie is the low hanging fruit, the easy one to get on, but he's not even close to being the biggest issue. Paul George was the biggest issue. Shamet's passivity on offense also didn't help, you need your floor spacer to be seen as a threat for them to really be effective.
PG didn't have a good game no doubt about it but at the same time Doc is not putting these guys into a position to be successful so far in this series. First of all small ball is not going to work against this team especially when Trez is not in shape and all the way there mentally yet. Reggie Jackson needs to be reeled in. Put an actual body on Luka for a change- is he just going to run wild and unchecked this entire series. Hell throw Mann on him for a few minutes or so to see what he can do. Shamet needs to be benched. Trez isn't there and is a liability right now, Lou isn't really getting up shots. Its a mess. What is this game plan and offense? We could easily be down 0-2 in this.
At this point, the offense can't be revamped, the offense is primarily read and react, use pick and roll for playmaking and Kawhi likes his isolation plays and has liked it since he became a higher scorer. We don't have a true PG on the roster, so you're not going to have any player that can really do the expert job of managing the pace, directing guys, getting the ball to the best spots consistently. Bev does his best imitation, but he's adequate at best, and he was missing.
Paul George's poor play was not a coaching issue though, he simply played poorly, and yes, bad shooting games happen, but he was too out of it in the first half, that's on him.
In terms of guarding Luka, if the solutions were easy, someone would have figured it out, he's got that Harden in him, you put too much contact on him and he will be living at the FT line. You give him too much room he can burn you.
People are calling for Reggie to be benched, Shamet to be benched, Trezz to be benched, well who is going to play with Beverley injured? Shamet needs to shoot the ball even if he's off. He was off for about 10 games before the shut down and then has been off through the bubble games, so I don't know if there is hope for him right now, but still have to shoot. He's been getting the minutes (22.7 mpg), but his last 15 games (pre-bubble and in bubble) before the playoffs he's shot 30% FG/25% 3PT. One could argue that maybe he's better off with the starters, but that makes them small. Reggie took some ill advised shots, and that's what will mostly be remembered, but overall he was fine. Harrell, you might be right, I can't give any accurate comment on his mental state, but you might be right there.
The Clippers obviously have been able to beat this team through the season. In this game, their offense wasn't clicking outside of the FT's (took good advantage of the bonus), but they should be able to still win games when this happens. They gave up 50/45 shooting in the game though and only forced 9 turnovers on Dallas, Luka alone had more last game. There wasn't enough pressure placed on Burke. In the end it was even the Mavs bench that made the game wide open, not their starters. Defense definitely can't continue like this even if they fix the offense, which they should as long as we don't expect more 4/17 FG from George.
