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daSwami wrote:Oh noes we lost to the Hawks!

LyricalRico wrote:^ Wow, not sure how you can say Wood is "regressing". He was one of the bright spots last night IMO. Wood was active on the boards and his trips to the FT line helped us get back in the game in the third quarter. It's not his fault we couldn't sustain it.

LyricalRico wrote:^ Wow, not sure how you can say Wood is "regressing". He was one of the bright spots last night IMO. Wood was active on the boards and his trips to the FT line helped us get back in the game in the third quarter. It's not his fault we couldn't sustain it.

Getting back to the topic of this thread, I don't think it's time to panic yet. If Gil had the same respect from the refs he had pre-injury, the Wiz would have probably come back to win. And we already knew Young wasn't ready to contribute. The worst part is Butler getting injured again. I thought him being in better shape would help but I guess "once fragile, always fragile".

I think most of us expected some early struggles, even if Jamison had been healthy. What matters most is what they do after the All-Star Break IMO. That's when we need everyone healthy and playing with chemistry. As long as we go into the playoffs with some momentum, we should be fine.

LyricalRico wrote:Oh, I totally get that. He definitely didn't have a perfect game. But when you say "regressing", I take that to mean that he's getting worse. I definitely don't see him being worse than he was two seasons ago. Maybe he's not demonstrably better, but he's not getting worse IMO.

nate33 wrote:Haywood is pressing a bit too much. You can tell that he is thinking about his new contract. He is forcing some shots when he never used to. I think he has really improved his jumper in practice and wants to show it off in the game, but he's not being patient about it. He needs to think of his jumper as a way to keep opponents honest, not as a primary means of scoring. Don't shoot from 14-18 feet it unless the other team is daring you to.

He's also playing a bit selfishly. There have been 2 or 3 times when he's had a teammate wide open under the basket and rather than passing, he forced a bad shot himself. I'm not expecting Haywood to be a great passer with good court vision, but he should be a willing passer when a teammate is wide open.

His defensive rotations aren't quite as sharp as 2007/08, but I think that's mostly due to rust and to the fact that he's adjusting to a new defensive system. He's not lazy on D, it's just that his reactions are touch slower than normal because he's thinking too much.

On the other hand, there's plenty of positive things about Haywood's play. He is playing a lot of minutes and has been effective for the most part. He is playing aggressively at both ends of the court. He's finishing in traffic and his free throw percentage is coming around too. He has also shut down his matchup on two consecutive nights. Dampier and Horford had nothing on him.

Haywood will be fine. He's aggressive and energetic, if a bit selfish. It's easier to tone down the selfish part than it is to get him to be more energetic.

Zerocious wrote:

daSwami wrote:Oh noes we lost to the Hawks!

the loss in itsself is not the problem. it's how we got there. NY is clueless, MM won't shoot the ball, Butler got injured, arenas didnt get any calls, BTH is regressing. not to many things to be optimistic about.

but yeah, we lost to the hawks, big whoop. BUT swamilisious, every loss gets my blood boiling, and every win makes me proclaim 'the championship

Zerocious wrote:lyrical, why push the deadline of being good and healthy back all the time. What the hell is wrong with being healthy now, winning now, producing now and maintaining it after the all star break.

daSwami wrote:guys, let's not go over board here with the rosy optimism. this team isn't that great. hell, even the Nets game was a lot closer than the final score would have you believe. Afterall, the Nets were just 5 possessions away from making it a 2 possession ball game. too close for comfort if you ask me.

Zerocious wrote:

daSwami wrote:guys, let's not go over board here with the rosy optimism. this team isn't that great. hell, even the Nets game was a lot closer than the final score would have you believe. Afterall, the Nets were just 5 possessions away from making it a 2 possession ball game. too close for comfort if you ask me.

i totally and respectfully disagree! (unless you meant to write this in green, then i withdraw my statement.) seriously, 5 possession away from 2 posse4ssion ball game, clearly you kid.

the game was far more in hand than the final score showed. arenas didnt play 4th quarter, aj and tj out. the more i think i about it, you clearly kid, ad you got me going for a sec

daSwami wrote:

Zerocious wrote:

daSwami wrote:guys, let's not go over board here with the rosy optimism. this team isn't that great. hell, even the Nets game was a lot closer than the final score would have you believe. Afterall, the Nets were just 5 possessions away from making it a 2 possession ball game. too close for comfort if you ask me.

i totally and respectfully disagree! (unless you meant to write this in green, then i withdraw my statement.) seriously, 5 possession away from 2 posse4ssion ball game, clearly you kid.

the game was far more in hand than the final score showed. arenas didnt play 4th quarter, aj and tj out. the more i think i about it, you clearly kid, ad you got me going for a sec

actually now you have me re-examing everything i said before, and things look even worse when you stop to consider that the Nets were a mere 4 possessions from making it a 3 possession ball game. I'm even starting to doubt the efficacy of fish's "outscore the opponent" strategy.

daSwami wrote:omg, we suck