Agree to disagree then. The Hornets failed to penetrate our zone, and we closed out on shooters well. Mikki and Salmons were a part of it, but weren't the main reason for it. You could argue we would lose, but there is no doubt in my mind that it would have been close.
There were 5 main reasons for it--Beno, Cisco, John, Ron, and Mikki. We were able to close out on their guys and trap them because our rotations were very, very fast. The rotations simply wouldn't have been as fast if Shelden or Spencer were in there, and if one rotation is slow in a defense like that, and the other team has Chris Paul, you will get scored on. The Hornets scored 18 points in that quarter, and IIRC, a 6 of those were on some late, unguardable prayers by Peja. So that's 12 points for the rest of the quarter. That is how we came back and took the lead. That defense was probably about 3 times as good as it normally is for us, and without it, there is no way that we really have a shot in this game.
Cruel_Ruin wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
If these games were so critical for winning, then why is our best player picking and choosing to play in any game that interests him? Isn't this in the way of the whole "banding together as a team" and "positive attitude" concept?
Winning and losing is an part of the NBA cycle. A win or loss today means very little in the grand scheme of things because this was ultimately a losing campaign. Do you think the Hornets not making the playoffs last year had any bearing on their wildly successful campaign this year?
How do you know he's not really hurt? I haven't heard anything to confirm this other than from fans that love to look for opportunities to bash Ron. If he wasn't really hurt, I have a hard time believing that he would skip out on the Denver game.
Sure if you look at it one game at a time, it doesn't mean much. But when you generally approach games with the attitude of "okay well winning doesn't really matter here", then hell yes it does have an effect. Just because a guy wasn't in during crunch time doesn't mean that he didn't play a key role, and that he can't look at a game and say "we beat the #1 seed in the west".
. I dunno I just disagree. Collison reminds me a lot of Rafer Alston and Love has skills, but physically he's a lot like Shelden Williams with alligator arms(atleast Shelden had length, in college he was an 18/10 guy also). So I don't expect him to be a great player, or fit with Spencer. I think Earl Clark is badass though.
