GT: Bobcats @ Celtics April 11th 7:30

[JDR720]

Offensive roles for our starters

McBob- Dribble around and pass
Al-Postup
Gerald-Isolation and midrange fade aways
Kemba- Chuck up shots and pass
MKG-rebound and stand around

we make zero effort to get MKG involved in the offense besides the 1st play of the game, i dont see why we cant do that more often, we should have him randomly slashing/cutting to the rim every few plays instead of standing there

[catch20two]

Also I don't know if anybody notice but we're basically playing small ball. McBob don't play nothing like a PF these days. He's a point forward that camp out on the perimeter all game as much as a guard. MKG is our PF because he's the closest thing to a rim protector and secondary rebounder we have in the starting lineup. That's why I sometimes prefer Zeller in the starting lineup because he give us that grit in the paint that McBob seem to have lost.

[BeesWax]

Also I don't know if anybody notice but we're basically playing small ball. McBob don't play nothing like a PF these days. He's a point forward that camp out on the perimeter all game as much as a guard. MKG is our PF because he's the closest thing to a rim protector and secondary rebounder we have in the starting lineup. That's why I sometimes prefer Zeller in the starting lineup because he give us that grit in the paint that McBob seem to have lost.

McBob does play on the perimeter more but he makes the offense run. His assist to turnover ratio is amazing. It is far more important to have him on the floor for ball movement and spacing. His ability to hit the three gives Al some of that space he needs to make moves. Also when Al is doubled and kicks out to a big man that can hit threes it leaves the defense in a scramble to recover and often ends in a Big Al easy bucket in the end.

[DY_nasty]

Every time you post it Ill just keep and 1'ing you. People keep ignoring it I guess.

I'm glad someone bothered to look at least

dude dodged that like the plague to keep his narrative up

[KembaWalker]

our starting lineup is one of the most effective 5 man lineups in the league

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... y=diff_pts

its not logical to go away from it just because its the 4th quarter instead of the 1st. defense doesnt lose its value in the 4th. just not smart coaching from a guy who has done really well otherwise

[Snidely FC]

statistics aside, what I thought I was seeing last night was Pressey repeatedly driving into the post then kicking the ball back out to open 3 pt shooters. Maybe Kemba would have been quick enough to stay in front of Pressey? It was worth the thought.

BTW, Dynasty, I totally get what you're saying with the chart link you posted. But maybe there's a counter-intuitive explanation? Maybe the Bobcats defense is sturdy enough that teams have to create shots with good passing. Maybe that's an extension of Cliff's approach to make sure we get back on transition D to make teams set up their half court and work for their points? That might explain the disconnect between being a top 7 defense while giving up high assist totals? (Not endorsing giving up record assists)

[catch20two]

Every time you post it Ill just keep and 1'ing you. People keep ignoring it I guess.

I'm glad someone bothered to look at least

dude dodged that like the plague to keep his narrative up

I don't have to dodge nothing to know that Kemba is one of our best defenders and Ridnour is one of our worst.

[LamarMatic7]

BTW, Dynasty, I totally get what you're saying with the chart link you posted. But maybe there's a counter-intuitive explanation? Maybe the Bobcats defense is sturdy enough that teams have to create shots with good passing. Maybe that's an extension of Cliff's approach to make sure we get back on transition D to make teams set up their half court and work for their points? That might explain the disconnect between being a top 7 defense while giving up high assist totals? (Not endorsing giving up record assists)

The thing is that we don't give up high assist totals as a team. For some reason, we give up high assist totals for individual players. Weird...

[Snidely FC]

I have heard Cliff say on multiple occasions that he believes we have a good defense because we have excellent perimeter defenders in Kemba, Hendo & MKG, that allow him to defend without scheming or double teaming. Maybe that's why when one player gets rolling against our defense, be it a PG assisting, or a scorer like Carmelo going off, he steadfastly refuses to double or scheme to shut that spigot off? Let the star get his but shut down the rest.

[DY_nasty]

BTW, Dynasty, I totally get what you're saying with the chart link you posted. But maybe there's a counter-intuitive explanation? Maybe the Bobcats defense is sturdy enough that teams have to create shots with good passing. Maybe that's an extension of Cliff's approach to make sure we get back on transition D to make teams set up their half court and work for their points? That might explain the disconnect between being a top 7 defense while giving up high assist totals? (Not endorsing giving up record assists)

The thing is that we don't give up high assist totals as a team. For some reason, we give up high assist totals for individual players. Weird...

Its only that. Weird. Just a byproduct of our overall solid defense as a whole. As a stat, its not necessarily bad or good - it just shows that our defense funnels players a certain way and is built specifically around that one aspect of initial or second step offense.

My point against catchtwo2 is not that Ridnour is a good defender, its that pointing at assist totals as a figure that depicts success/failure for a player in our defense is not a sole indicator of defense in any way. I started to take note of the same thing when I felt that Kemba was getting lit up by Brandon Knight a few weeks back. He was in that game, but the assist numbers put up were more of a pattern brought forth by our lack of weakside defense around the rim, strong closeouts on the 3pt line, and heavy/deliberate traps above the 3pt line. That much had nothing to do with Kemba and it helped me sort of focus on other parts of our play overall.

Its how we play D.

[catch20two]

I'm looking at the eye test Dy-Nasty. Ridnour couldn't guard Pressey for sh*t. Pressey didn't even need a screen to leave Ridnour in the dust and that hurt our defense. That was my point, that Pressey was doing what he wanted to do as if he was practicing with cones.

[mrknowitall215]

On a serious note, defense loss this game. There was no reason Boston should've scored over 100 points, nevertheless without Rajon Rondo

“I’m really more concerned about the guys on the floor,” Clifford said. “We had very little defense.”

Touché

...but it would've helped & been wise to play your best defender (MKG) down the final stretch of the game, especially during the last 5 minutes once the game was tied