PJ Thread (Working Title)
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 5:11 pm
Don’t know who everyone blames for this recent bad play by the Nets, but I think PJ should be let go during the All-Star break.
First reason: Offense
They try to run simple plays and if they don't get what they want they run an isolation. Where are the second or third go to options on these plays. To me it looks like PJ and this coaching staff lacks any kind of offensive imagination. They don’t do a good job of getting players in the game to space the floor to let players like Crash, Johnson, and DWill to drive in the paint. To be honest I put most of the blame on this end on the players for not hitting their shots and for bad ball movement, but the coach is not putting the players in a position to succeed, with a poor strategy.
Second reason: Defense
There is no team defense. The only players that have done any help defense have been Lopez, and earlier Wallace (not much lately). Lopez is doing pretty well at help defense, but he gets none. A perfect example, in the Wizards game, Nene is abusing Lopez with lateral moves in the paint, he would start out on one side and move across the lane and get a basket every time. Where was the help defense coming from Reggie who I believe was on the other side? Nene did this multiple times, and he is not the first. Where is the coach telling Reggie or someone else to help Lopez, when Nene makes the move come and double him, or take a charge since he is coming across the lane at full speed? In addition, in each game there are blown defense rotations a couple times a game. In my opinion, good defensive teams don't need great defensive players, they just need a good defensive plan and understand where the help is coming from and have an idea of how to hide each team’s defensive flaws, the Nets do not right now.
Third reason: Managing players and Reggie in the starting lineup
I don't think Reggie should be in the starting line up or play that many minutes. He is a black hole on offense, don't need to say much here, but every time the ball is passed off to Reggie and the other team just fouls him, to me it almost feels like a turnover. I think he is overrated on defense, he is a good one on one defender, but I have seen multiple times in games where he is a horrible help and team defender. I love how Reggie gives it all he has but, I don't think he is smart enough to play good team defense, and that his rebounding is overated for team success. I like Marshon, and Tele, and I don't like how he gives them inconsistent minutes especially Tele, and takes them out if they don't hit a shot or play well. I believe he has put them both in a position to fail. That being said Marshon and Tele also need to just play better themselves. It also seemed like he blamed Marshon and Tele for the wizards lost, from them getting benched, seriously?
Forth reason: History
A lot of this is based on the grantland story below. Remember when he was coaching the Thunder. He wanted Durant to be a SG. He just wanted KD to come off screens and shoot. You have a young potential Star on your hands that is 6'10 to just take open shoots off screens? The most efficient shots in the league are at the rim, and you want to teach a young player to not be aggressive and not go to the rim. Also, you want him to guard 6'3 6'5 quick SGs. He did not put KD into a position to win. Brooks his assistant took over fixed this and over time KD became the player he is. Not to say Brooks made KD, but he clearly understood that the 3 was the best position for KD, and I would imagine that he most likely gave PJ his opinion on that prior to PJ getting fired and PJ most likely did not agree. I also remember hearing on the radio’s last night or this morning that the last time a team lead by 10 or more and then lost by more than 20 points was Golden State Warriors and PJ was coaching. That says a lot to me.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/891 ... ba-history
Conclusion:
The system that was made by Avery and PJ is not working, clearly. The Nets have been embarrassed by good teams, not just beaten but embarrassed multiple times. An now the only thing that has changed is that the players who played the most minutes during those games are getting more time. I believe that a lot of the blame should go to the players, but for the most part the players are not going to change. The only other option is to change the system and coach. I think that Popeye or one of the other coaches should take over for the rest of the season. Let whoever takes over try to plan things out during the All-Star break. No good coach is going to take over midseason, but what is the worst that can happen, the Nets get blown out by another team. Last other telling sign that PJ should have left with Avery is that when Avery left, if I remember this correctly, he recommended to Billy that Popeye or one of the other coaches should take over, and not PJ. Doesn’t that say a lot about PJ?
I would like to hear your opinions about this.
First reason: Offense
They try to run simple plays and if they don't get what they want they run an isolation. Where are the second or third go to options on these plays. To me it looks like PJ and this coaching staff lacks any kind of offensive imagination. They don’t do a good job of getting players in the game to space the floor to let players like Crash, Johnson, and DWill to drive in the paint. To be honest I put most of the blame on this end on the players for not hitting their shots and for bad ball movement, but the coach is not putting the players in a position to succeed, with a poor strategy.
Second reason: Defense
There is no team defense. The only players that have done any help defense have been Lopez, and earlier Wallace (not much lately). Lopez is doing pretty well at help defense, but he gets none. A perfect example, in the Wizards game, Nene is abusing Lopez with lateral moves in the paint, he would start out on one side and move across the lane and get a basket every time. Where was the help defense coming from Reggie who I believe was on the other side? Nene did this multiple times, and he is not the first. Where is the coach telling Reggie or someone else to help Lopez, when Nene makes the move come and double him, or take a charge since he is coming across the lane at full speed? In addition, in each game there are blown defense rotations a couple times a game. In my opinion, good defensive teams don't need great defensive players, they just need a good defensive plan and understand where the help is coming from and have an idea of how to hide each team’s defensive flaws, the Nets do not right now.
Third reason: Managing players and Reggie in the starting lineup
I don't think Reggie should be in the starting line up or play that many minutes. He is a black hole on offense, don't need to say much here, but every time the ball is passed off to Reggie and the other team just fouls him, to me it almost feels like a turnover. I think he is overrated on defense, he is a good one on one defender, but I have seen multiple times in games where he is a horrible help and team defender. I love how Reggie gives it all he has but, I don't think he is smart enough to play good team defense, and that his rebounding is overated for team success. I like Marshon, and Tele, and I don't like how he gives them inconsistent minutes especially Tele, and takes them out if they don't hit a shot or play well. I believe he has put them both in a position to fail. That being said Marshon and Tele also need to just play better themselves. It also seemed like he blamed Marshon and Tele for the wizards lost, from them getting benched, seriously?
Forth reason: History
A lot of this is based on the grantland story below. Remember when he was coaching the Thunder. He wanted Durant to be a SG. He just wanted KD to come off screens and shoot. You have a young potential Star on your hands that is 6'10 to just take open shoots off screens? The most efficient shots in the league are at the rim, and you want to teach a young player to not be aggressive and not go to the rim. Also, you want him to guard 6'3 6'5 quick SGs. He did not put KD into a position to win. Brooks his assistant took over fixed this and over time KD became the player he is. Not to say Brooks made KD, but he clearly understood that the 3 was the best position for KD, and I would imagine that he most likely gave PJ his opinion on that prior to PJ getting fired and PJ most likely did not agree. I also remember hearing on the radio’s last night or this morning that the last time a team lead by 10 or more and then lost by more than 20 points was Golden State Warriors and PJ was coaching. That says a lot to me.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/891 ... ba-history
Conclusion:
The system that was made by Avery and PJ is not working, clearly. The Nets have been embarrassed by good teams, not just beaten but embarrassed multiple times. An now the only thing that has changed is that the players who played the most minutes during those games are getting more time. I believe that a lot of the blame should go to the players, but for the most part the players are not going to change. The only other option is to change the system and coach. I think that Popeye or one of the other coaches should take over for the rest of the season. Let whoever takes over try to plan things out during the All-Star break. No good coach is going to take over midseason, but what is the worst that can happen, the Nets get blown out by another team. Last other telling sign that PJ should have left with Avery is that when Avery left, if I remember this correctly, he recommended to Billy that Popeye or one of the other coaches should take over, and not PJ. Doesn’t that say a lot about PJ?
I would like to hear your opinions about this.