Round 2, Game 2: GET GREEDY! Wizards @ Pacers 7 PM TNT 5/7

[closg00]

Wall's issue is his thinking is backwards. I'm not sure who told him or where he's getting it from but he's put so much emphasis on his jumper that he's chosen to live and die by it. I have no idea why he would do this or if this is more of a coaching issue... But we've got arguably the quickest guy in the league with the ball who would rather shoot a 18 footer than get a layup right at the rim and a guy that can get to the rim at will whenever he wants, but does so sparingly and only to pass out to a big or shooter for a lower percentage shot. It's a trend that's disturbingly getting worse as the season has gone on. I wonder if the coaching staff is on him about it or if they are content with him being so willing to share the ball but he's sharing the ball so much he's basically letting opponents off the hook a great deal of the time.

Amen!! The coaches need to correct this, you see it coming at the close of every game. When John cannot speed to the hoop, his half-court game is confused resulting in those oddly selected long-twos or shots hoisted with little confidence.

No not exactly. He's run the half court offense pretty well actually, but his foot is off the peddle. I'm seeing him make the right decisions most of the time but he's to find a better balance b/w being a pass-first PG and arguably the most lethal threat on the basketball court in terms of athleticism and skill. He may be the classic over-thinker.

I guess we are really in-agreement then. John does better when he goes for his shot earlier in the shot-clock rather then making late passes that result in the recipient having to rush his shot before a shot-clock violation, or John having to rush his own shot before a violation.

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

Eh. Three of the four 3s were wide open shots. Only one was a hero-ball contested POS shot.

Question for those of you who were able to see the entire game: Was it just me, or did Nene seem a little lethargic on defense? It seemed like rotations were slow on the back side, and Hibbert was getting strong positioning because Nene wasn't fighting him very hard before the ball got there.

I only saw quarters 2 and 4, though... so maybe I just caught a few bad plays.

Yeah there were a couple of head scratching defense rotations (particularly late in the game) that got covered up by an overall solid defensive performance. That PG dunk near the end comes to mind that involved guys out of place everywhere. I didn't take notice of Nene in particular, I think it was more of a team thing. Something I saw that I felt was both dumb and bizarre is Gortat started to pick Hibbert up way out on the perimeter once he got going. I was saying all last night, if Hibbert makes some tough shots you live with that, no need to overact and change the way you play defense. Granted some of the shots Hibbert got off were because we left him completely unguarded. We have to understand that the guy is still 7'2'' and can dunk.

[dobrojim]

Wall's issue is his thinking is backwards. I'm not sure who told him or where he's getting it from but he's put so much emphasis on his jumper that he's chosen to live and die by it. I have no idea why he would do this or if this is more of a coaching issue... But we've got arguably the quickest guy in the league with the ball who would rather shoot a 18 footer than get a layup right at the rim and a guy that can get to the rim at will whenever he wants, but does so sparingly and only to pass out to a big or shooter for a lower percentage shot. It's a trend that's disturbingly getting worse as the season has gone on. I wonder if the coaching staff is on him about it or if they are content with him being so willing to share the ball but he's sharing the ball so much he's basically letting opponents off the hook a great deal of the time.

Re-watched the game today.

Hill outplayed Wall.

Hibbert did what he wanted to.

I'm a bit concerned that Hibbert could continue to have solid to good games
against us. He's too big for us to stop if he can get the ball in his comfort range.

I'm less concerned that Hill is going to continue to outplay Wall.

Ariza had a definite off game as well. But so did PG. If those 2 continue
in similar fashion, it will fall on our others guys, like Wall, to carry the
team, make the necessary plays.

Gortat was the one more frequently matched up on Hibbert. His post game
comments indicated he knows he can't let him catch it so close to the basket.
The whole team is going to have to focus on that as it shouldn't come down
to one guy dealing with that issue.

There were a bunch of 50-50 plays that went Indy's way. We had opportunities
that we didn't take full advantage of. So actually they weren't so much 50-50
in the cases I'm thinking of, like Ariza stealing the ball in the open court and
failing to convert. Wall getting his pocket picket by PG. Us missing wide-open 3s
and indy immediately converting a 3. Wall missing a dunk. Swing plays. They
went indy's way. That can't happen if we're going to win the series.

We outshot them (FG%) and outrebounded them. We should have won. Normally
we would have won. We did take good care of the ball, but paradoxically, Indy
outscored us in fast break points. We should have gotten more FTAs and converted more
of the ones we had. Like many others, I think Wall needs to attack the rim more. Hibbert
had 2 fouls with about 6 min to play in the first half. We should have made it a point to
get his third or make him tentative defensively to avoid that 3rd foul.

We should still win the series, but we will have to play better. FRI night is must win.