Post Game: Charlotte @ Orlando 10/8

Post #1 » by **BigSlam** » Thu Oct 9, 2008 12:52 pm

Thought it might be easier to create a "post game" thread after each game to comment on what went right and what went wrong.

Here is what Bonnell has to say:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/292/story/241588.html

Post #2 » by **BigSlam** » Thu Oct 9, 2008 12:57 pm

Anyone else have anything to add? Although the 1st qtr was a wash and we couldn't throw a pebble in the ocean for the whole game let alone a basketball in a hoop, were there any positives to take out of the rest of the game?

I saw the highlights and some nice moves by Dude. One baseline reverse in particular looked nifty. Did he have a good'ish game?

Felton for Pres · Post #3 » by **Felton for Pres** » Thu Oct 9, 2008 1:25 pm

I think this is the best thing that could've happened to us. I see a few things that come of this:
1. They will see that LB preaching about driving to the basket is needed. Get the likes of Dwight Howard in foul trouble and take higher percentage shots.
2. Training camp always gives people a false sense of security. Getting punched in the mouth is exactly what they needed (insert Steve Smith joke here) to band together and fight.
3. If management was dragging their feet on finding a PF, this should help get them moving.

Post #4 » by **BigSlam** » Thu Oct 9, 2008 2:09 pm

I tend to agree FFP. It's a reality check for us and we should use it accordingly. We need to bounce back next game and right what we did so wrong last night. It was good to see that Crash and Swish really stepped it up in the 2nd half. If it wasn't for the 1st qtr melt down, we would have been right in it.

How did EO50 look?

Post #5 » by **BigSlam** » Thu Oct 9, 2008 2:09 pm

Here's the sites recap:

http://www.nba.com/bobcats/recap_magic_081008.html

Post #6 » by **fatlever** » Thu Oct 9, 2008 2:16 pm

sorry i'm so late to the party.... i got home in time to record the game and didnt get around to watching it until later... but as usual i fell asleep at halftime. what a mess.

i'm trying not to overreact to getting destroyed in a meaningless preseason game. its hard to take anything positive away from that game. it was nice to see may and morrison playing again. hopefully things will be better fast.

Post #7 » by **Walt Cronkite** » Thu Oct 9, 2008 2:53 pm

Any of you guys been on a basketball team that instantly played its way out of a game? I have.

If 1st quarter blowouts are good for one thing, it's getting players to think critically about what they have to do to not ever experience that again. Hopefully this is the case.

OTish: When all of those layoffs were going on with the Observer, did they drop the ax on the editor too? Is Rick trying to slyly reach a work minimum by double posting his work? Hopefully this doesn't get fixed before someone notices what I'm talking about.

e4Nf6 · Post #8 » by **e4Nf6** » Thu Oct 9, 2008 3:00 pm

Didn't see the game but...

Orlando strikes me as just the type of team we don't match up with, either Hedo or Lewis (whoever is the "4" these days) are too fast/athletic for Cookie and Nazr, while those two can't do too much damage on the other end posting up/offensive rebounding.

I really wish we had a defensive/rebounding oriented four, even if it's not an upgrade talent-wise on what we have. Just to stop the bleeding on nights when we need it.

On the positive side; Crash played well. Still got a steal and 3 blocks (in 25mins) despite the new "staying home" LB philosophy.

Post #9 » by **BigSlam** » Thu Oct 9, 2008 3:50 pm

Walt Cronkite wrote:If 1st quarter blowouts are good for one thing, it's getting players to think critically about what they have to do to not ever experience that again. Hopefully this is the case.

I agree - and think that guys like Swish, Crash and Felts will really take last nights game to heart and coming out swinging in the next game.

OTish: When all of those layoffs were going on with the Observer, did they drop the ax on the editor too? Is Rick trying to slyly reach a work minimum by double posting his work? Hopefully this doesn't get fixed before someone notices what I'm talking about

Too funny! Maybe he gets a bonus for reaching 500 words? They'll clue in on his double posting soon enough and he'll change to using " can not" instead of "can't" and "they will" instead of "they'll" to hit his quota!!

Pappa needs a new pair of shoes after all.

Post #10 » by **fatlever** » Thu Oct 9, 2008 6:20 pm

few things that stood out to me...

1. we need major help on the boards.
2. seemed like dj was having a hell of a time trying to beat nelson off the dribble in that first half.
3. the team was overthinking the plays. i think its going to take them a while to get used to playing in a system with that many plays and reads. 20 plays, 4 reads for each play. thats a lot more than bernies 3 plays.
4. year four and felton still cant shoot.

i would feel a little better if we were getting good shots and just not making them, but it was quite the opposite. we could barely get an open look in that first half. defensively it was very different. its not like orlando was just on fire making ridiculouy shots. they were making layups and wide open jumpers, like any team should.

DaBassSource · Post #11 » by **DaBassSource** » Thu Oct 9, 2008 6:59 pm

Also they have Superman....and we don't...

spectre_ · Post #12 » by **spectre_** » Thu Oct 9, 2008 8:11 pm

fatlever wrote:few things that stood out to me...

1. we need major help on the boards.
2. seemed like dj was having a hell of a time trying to beat nelson off the dribble in that first half.
3. the team was overthinking the plays. i think its going to take them a while to get used to playing in a system with that many plays and reads. 20 plays, 4 reads for each play. thats a lot more than bernies 3 plays.
4. year four and felton still cant shoot.

i would feel a little better if we were getting good shots and just not making them, but it was quite the opposite. we could barely get an open look in that first half. defensively it was very different. its not like orlando was just on fire making ridiculouy shots. they were making layups and wide open jumpers, like any team should.

1) I was very impressed with Crash...he had 9 boards by halftime. I also think May will help once he gets back into game shape.

2) I though DJ did pretty well; Nelson is a very overpowering guard yet I don't think DJ had any TOs directly because of him. Overall it seemed that he lost his confidence after missing on his first drive and didn't go back into the paint the rest of the game. Nothing to be concerned about tho IMO. I was very happy to see him trying to fight thru screens vs. going around...something he did all the time in the Texas games I saw.

3) Agreed...it's going to take awhile. The defense should come quicker.

4) Did you get that off his one jumpshot?

I did think he took that one too quickly into the shot clock...but it's hard to fault the guy for only taking 4 shots in 20 minutes when no one else was hitting anything either. Personally I'd rather he'd tried to force at least 2 of those 3 drives in to Mek, but the lane was very clogged. That should improve too along with the offense over time.

May IMO looked pretty good. Realizing he's been sitting on his butt for the last 1 1/2 years I don't think we could really have asked for more than he showed. So long as that knee holds up (obviously a big "if") he's going to be huge for us...pun intended.

Your boy Ammo, his shot looked automatic...except from the FT line.

W_HAMILTON · Post #13 » by **W_HAMILTON** » Thu Oct 9, 2008 9:24 pm

DaBassSource wrote:Also they have Superman....and we don't...

But we have the Dark Superman. If the game was closer, I'm sure we would have seen his evil powers destroy the team in a fit of selfishness. I guess it's hard to sabotage a team that's down 40.

doc.end · Post #14 » by **doc.end** » Thu Oct 9, 2008 10:25 pm

Who is a Dark Superman? I would suspect Sam Vincent (because what he did last year simply couldn't be a work of a mortal) but he is not with the team anymore (maybe they locked him somwhere again). Knock on wood.

W_HAMILTON · Post #15 » by **W_HAMILTON** » Thu Oct 9, 2008 11:09 pm

No, I'm talking about Wallace.

He got blamed a lot last year for "trying to be Superman," and the same sort of things people bitched about last year, he was doing last night when we were down by like 30-40 and he was the only person out there still busting his ass and trying to get the team going. As I said back then, he's not perfect and he will make some mistakes, but you can't fault him or criticize him for trying when the rest of the team is sucking. That's not "selfishness" or "greediness" like some had said.

Post #16 » by **BigSlam** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 12:28 am

LB was praising Dude for last nights efforts.

http://blogs.charlotte.com/inside_the_n ... notes.html

amcoolio · Post #17 » by **amcoolio** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 1:57 am

Dudley and May would be superstars if they were athletic. Dudley has very high B-Ball IQ and there is no reason for him not to be in the rotation. Hollinger says that despite being unathletic and small compared to other forwards, he has one of the highest rebound rates per 48 in the game.

Post #18 » by **BigSlam** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 12:58 pm

McMay staking an early claim on the title of "Capitan Obvious":

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports ... 43598.html

fluffernutter · Post #19 » by **fluffernutter** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 1:40 pm

The team doesn't yet have a clue about what LB wants them to do.

It will take a few months. Sorry, but I think it will.

chrbal · Post #20 » by **chrbal** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 8:10 pm

I was going to click the nba.com link and figure out something to add. Then I read "Orlando jumped to a 31-point first quarter lead...."

I usually don't make too much out of preseason games, this teams preseason games before year one taught me a wonderful lesson, but this was pitiful.

I mean 28.4 Fg% and 13 assists/18 turnovers, my god.

NO ONE played above their games.