GT: Hornets at Nets Tues Nov 19 7:30PM

[Liver_Pooty]

You asked me the last time I posted anything positive, and I gave you multiple examples from two of my three most recent visits.

Good. You win. Keep it up. I don't know when you're on here or when you aren't. Power of positivity. At least half the time.

I have a lot of responsibilities that keep me away from here more often (you're welcome) and in a boring seven-point loss, or a 20-point win that occurs when I'm away, this place just isn't a priority. When there's a one-point win at the buzzer or a one-point loss I can watch, that's different.

Lol okay.

[JustBuzzin]

Dalton Knecht has 36 points early in the 4th lol

Why did we pass on this kid again?

[GoBobs]

Dalton Knecht has 36 points early in the 4th lol

Why did we pass on this kid again?

Where is my ****ing paper bag!!!!

[Liver_Pooty]

Dalton Knecht has 36 points early in the 4th lol

Why did we pass on this kid again?

If you're going to say that Jared Mccain is the correct answer. I'm happy with our pick.

[fatlever]

That was a **** stupid loss. I swear to God our offense is so pathetically predictable. I don't know why the Nets took an entire quarter to figure out that all you have to do is aggressively double the guy with the ball and we are incapable of doing anything else. We run the same **** **** play 400 times in a row in the half court. Just guys taking turns at the top of the key trying to go one on two. The ball never swings the ball doesn't move from side to side there's no other plan B. It's disgustingly vanilla. And I'm trying my best not to lose confidence in coach Lee and hope that this really is just because we're so shorthanded at its center or he's just taking time to install an offense. Or maybe this year is just simply about establishing a culture of effort and energy and anything beyond that is gravy.
And I said it last game and I'll keep saying it it's on Lamelo to start taking higher percentage shots. That 10 game sample at the beginning of the year where he was hitting everything was an outlier. Pretty soon if you consistently take really bad shots your efficiency is going to go down which we've seen the past six games now.
As for the benching, it was probably deserved. Was a terrible shot followed by just an utterly stupid found that you cannot commit in that situation. And it's something he's been told to cut out of his game repeatedly. You could see he was going to do it three seconds before he did it. We all knew it was about to happen. So I don't blame coach Lee for sending him a message and sending him down. At the same time, man that is going to be really hard to swallow and explain that we benched our best player for the last three minutes of a close game and lost. And I really hope that Lee and Lamelo have the type of relationship that can overcome this type of thing. Because better players have turned on their coaches for much less.
Lastly our rookie had the most hilariously lucky productive game I've ever seen. It was almost like every horrible decision he made worked out in his favor including him trying to block a three quarter 75 foot last second heave. Horrible decision that worked out in his favor. It was like that all night for him.

[KembaWalker]

Lost in all the Lee bashing I’d just like to add that if we’re benching guys for not doing their jobs, someone needs to make sure there’s a chair added down there for Peterson

[KembaWalker]

We play LaMelo in a game down 35 pts cause for some reason the tournament is important and then bench LaMelo in a very winnable game to..send a teaching message? Lee is kind of a moron

I know we hashed it out before over this, but I actually think this makes perfect sense.

Teaching Melo how to responsibly play the game of basketball is more important than anything else we can accomplish this season. I would happily lose every important game for the rest of the season if that meant Melo learns to value possessions and not make completely terrible and immature decisions.

I admire your positivity, I wonder if it would have held up if LaMelo had sprained his ankle in that garbage time and was out till February and we followed it up in a close game today and Lee still decided it was kindergarten timeout day and benched Miller or Miles in a winnable game, rendering the whole thing pointless.

[EmpireFalls]

Was a really fun watch. Not mad.

This one is on Jeff (and Mitch).

[EmpireFalls]

It's almost like some of you box score watch and don't watch the actual damn games. Martin and Green deserve all their minutes and then some. Yeah sometimes they'll shoot a 3 into the upper deck or break the backboard with a layup but their impact goes beyond that.

Martin yes. Green I am much less confident in his defense and decision making.

[Braggins]

10 page game thread for a Tuesday night game against the Nets is pretty good.

[SWedd523]

10 page game thread for a Tuesday night game against the Nets is pretty good.

got a little weird over the last couple pages but sometimes it just be like that

[remi_222]

Tidjane does look like a wild puppy full of energy. His handle got bit better on transition and on his driving attempt in the middle of the paint. But overall he just needs more structures to his game. This kind of player is very much influenced by the way his teammates play around him, he'll dev with more responsabilties that will come on time. I guess a 1-2 months session in the G-League could benefict everybody. Coming back after the allstar break to show what he learned at the end of the season.
The good thing is that we know know more what he lacks, and the board now has a better vision on how to make him fit the team (if they know ...) by giving him a plan and a status on the G-League team

[Rich4114]

Benching LaMelo the rest of the 4th in a close game was just such an unnecessary distraction that a team like this absolutely does not need. All it does is create stress cracks in the foundation. Lee is playing with fire and you risk alienating not only your best player but others on the team who depend on LaMelo to do what he does to try and win.

Of course he needs to find a way to limit the mistakes, particularly frustration fouls. But there is a fine line between helping your star player make improvements and teaching him a lesson during a close game. LaMelo always gives you a chance to win and his play style is certainly unconventional. Removing that on purpose when our offense was struggling to do anything except spam 3’s is pretty dumb.

There was a stretch in the mid second to mid third where Brooklyn simply pressured the ball handler at the top of the key and could do so without risk because the other 4 guys were stationary and close to the basket. Nets literally could just make a star formation around the paint, barely move and cut off all driving lanes while still being able to defend the threes. It Lee wanted to open the game up then how about putting two ball handlers in, setting some screens and opening one side of the floor?

And what are you going to do with that lineup on the last possession?

Cherry on top was in this same game which we lost by 1, Lee commits a technical foul with like 2 mins left after his LaMelo benching clown show.

And as for tanking. Doesn’t that get old to anyone? Yes let’s get the 7th overall pick again so our front office can pick someone mocked to go 29th and then do this all over again until our good players ask out. Premier franchise lolololol

[KembaWalker]

Benching LaMelo the rest of the 4th in a close game was just such an unnecessary distraction that a team like this absolutely does not need. All it does is create stress cracks in the foundation. Lee is playing with fire and you risk alienating not only your best player but others on the team who depend on LaMelo to do what he does to try and win.

Of course he needs to find a way to limit the mistakes, particularly frustration fouls. But there is a fine line between helping your star player make improvements and teaching him a lesson during a close game. LaMelo always gives you a chance to win and his play style is certainly unconventional. Removing that on purpose when our offense was struggling to do anything except spam 3’s is pretty dumb.

There was a stretch in the mid second to mid third where Brooklyn simply pressured the ball handler at the top of the key and could do so without risk because the other 4 guys were stationary and close to the basket. Nets literally could just make a star formation around the paint, barely move and cut off all driving lanes while still being able to defend the threes. It Lee wanted to open the game up then how about putting two ball handlers in, setting some screens and opening one side of the floor?

And what are you going to do with that lineup on the last possession?

Cherry on top was in this same game which we lost by 1, Lee commits a technical foul with like 2 mins left after his LaMelo benching clown show.

And as for tanking. Doesn’t that get old to anyone? Yes let’s get the 7th overall pick again so our front office can pick someone mocked to go 29th and then do this all over again until our good players ask out. Premier franchise lolololol

This is brutal. The message you're trying to send with the benching "you can't make stupid emotional mistakes like this" gets completely tossed out the window as a teaching moment if you immediately follow it with your own emotional stupid mistake and lose your guys the game as a clipboard holding bystander. You just end up looking like a hypocrite and only the bad feelings linger, nothing is learned.

The time to get a tech in that game was after Simmons trucked Josh on the screen and have your guys' back.

Lee's attempted teaching moment became an embarrassing learning moment for him very quickly

[JMAC3]

Overall I think we played a pretty good game. We shot the ball really well, got to the ft line a decent bit, had good games from Miller, Miles, Grant, Salaun, Mann... but we lost. To me it has very little to do with benching LaMelo who played his worst game of the year. It is weird to me that is the story from this game when LaMelo played so poorly, it is not like he had 30 piece going and was benched for guys playing worse than him.

The turnovers and Brooklyn shooting the ball just as well as we did is what lost us the game. Jalen Wilson, DFS and Cam Johnson shot 15/25 from deep vs us. It is not like the Nets played terribly or that they are terrible, they are 6-9 this year and have other wins then just us. They hit a bunch of random shots down the stretch by Watford and when you consistently play 1 score games you aren't going to win them all.

That would be my biggest thing outside of the turnovers is how do we build and sustain a lead. Either the Hornets lose big, win by 3 or lose by 3. We never just blow out a team by 15+, we have done that 1 time all year, so yeah when every game is a nailbitter it becomes tough to win consistently.

[KembaWalker]

Overall I think we played a pretty good game. We shot the ball really well, got to the ft line a decent bit, had good games from Miller, Miles, Grant, Salaun, Mann... but we lost. To me it has very little to do with benching LaMelo who played his worst game of the year. It is weird to me that is the story from this game when LaMelo played so poorly, it is not like he had 30 piece going and was benched for guys playing worse than him.

The turnovers and Brooklyn shooting the ball just as well as we did is what lost us the game. Jalen Wilson, DFS and Cam Johnson shot 15/25 from deep vs us. It is not like the Nets played terribly or that they are terrible, they are 6-9 this year and have other wins then just us. They hit a bunch of random shots down the stretch by Watford and when you consistently play 1 score games you aren't going to win them all.

That would be my biggest thing outside of the turnovers is how do we build and sustain a lead. Either the Hornets lose big, win by 3 or lose by 3. We never just blow out a team by 15+, we have done that 1 time all year, so yeah when every game is a nailbitter it becomes tough to win consistently.

didn't look like a particularly good game to me other than the shots went in this time. If we shoot 40% instead of 54% which would still be a very solid shooting night, we're getting routed by double digits. visually the team is playing like utter garbage, can't handle a full court press, still cannot inbound the ball reliably. the most braindead turnovers that other teams make once a game we make once every 5 minutes. 54% 3pt shooting for 20 makes will mask our lack of talent and experience some nights but it all comes to light in the long run

[Rich4114]

We had 21 turnovers and no one player stands out. Miller 3, Grant 3, LaMelo 4, Green 3, Mann 4, Cody 2. A collective effort of turnovers. Why were there so many turnovers? Well because we didn't adjust to their full court press and double teaming the ball handler. It was totally disruptive and they were able to keep doing it without worrying about being exposed over the top. Lee needed to adjust in the second/third. It never happened, the Nets simply backed off for some reason when they went to their bench.

[Rich4114]

Overall I think we played a pretty good game. We shot the ball really well, got to the ft line a decent bit, had good games from Miller, Miles, Grant, Salaun, Mann... but we lost. To me it has very little to do with benching LaMelo who played his worst game of the year. It is weird to me that is the story from this game when LaMelo played so poorly, it is not like he had 30 piece going and was benched for guys playing worse than him.

The turnovers and Brooklyn shooting the ball just as well as we did is what lost us the game. Jalen Wilson, DFS and Cam Johnson shot 15/25 from deep vs us. It is not like the Nets played terribly or that they are terrible, they are 6-9 this year and have other wins then just us. They hit a bunch of random shots down the stretch by Watford and when you consistently play 1 score games you aren't going to win them all.

That would be my biggest thing outside of the turnovers is how do we build and sustain a lead. Either the Hornets lose big, win by 3 or lose by 3. We never just blow out a team by 15+, we have done that 1 time all year, so yeah when every game is a nailbitter it becomes tough to win consistently.

didn't look like a particularly good game to me other than the shots went in this time. If we shoot 40% instead of 54% which would still be a very solid shooting night, we're getting routed by double digits. visually the team is playing like utter garbage, can't handle a full court press, still cannot inbound the ball reliably. the most braindead turnovers that other teams make once a game we make once every 5 minutes. 54% 3pt shooting for 20 makes will mask our lack of talent and experience some nights but it all comes to light in the long run

If you take Q1 out of the equation, the score would've been 93-78. That is absolutely not a good game and it was lost in that mid-second to mid-third timeframe because of press coverage. The same thing Miami, MN and Orlando did to us.

[JMAC3]

Overall I think we played a pretty good game. We shot the ball really well, got to the ft line a decent bit, had good games from Miller, Miles, Grant, Salaun, Mann... but we lost. To me it has very little to do with benching LaMelo who played his worst game of the year. It is weird to me that is the story from this game when LaMelo played so poorly, it is not like he had 30 piece going and was benched for guys playing worse than him.

The turnovers and Brooklyn shooting the ball just as well as we did is what lost us the game. Jalen Wilson, DFS and Cam Johnson shot 15/25 from deep vs us. It is not like the Nets played terribly or that they are terrible, they are 6-9 this year and have other wins then just us. They hit a bunch of random shots down the stretch by Watford and when you consistently play 1 score games you aren't going to win them all.

That would be my biggest thing outside of the turnovers is how do we build and sustain a lead. Either the Hornets lose big, win by 3 or lose by 3. We never just blow out a team by 15+, we have done that 1 time all year, so yeah when every game is a nailbitter it becomes tough to win consistently.

didn't look like a particularly good game to me other than the shots went in this time. If we shoot 40% instead of 54% which would still be a very solid shooting night, we're getting routed by double digits. visually the team is playing like utter garbage, can't handle a full court press, still cannot inbound the ball reliably. the most braindead turnovers that other teams make once a game we make once every 5 minutes. 54% 3pt shooting for 20 makes will mask our lack of talent and experience some nights but it all comes to light in the long run

If you take Q1 out of the equation, the score would've been 93-78. That is absolutely not a good game and it was lost in that mid-second to mid-third timeframe because of press coverage. The same thing Miami, MN and Orlando did to us.

Right, which is why I said the turnovers and Brooklyn shooting the ball as well as we did is why we lost. I think you can lose an NBA game by playing mostly well these days. If we don't turn the ball over so much we win, I don't think we played a bad game.. we have won a lot of games this year when we played worse than this.

[SWedd523]

I think you play a dangerous game saying "Hey Melo, do whatever you want"

He's tops in the league in Usage and is probably the only guy in the league not named Luka who has the green light from the moment he crosses half court.

You have to give him some checks and balances if you want him to succeed and develop properly. He takes some horrendous shots and fouls and you can tell when he gets hyped up and starts snow balling bad decisions.

You have to treat him differently because he's the star, but that doesn't mean you can just give him full free reign.

They clearly aren't concerned about winning right now anyway so benching him as a means to "send a message" isn't really a big deal. We all want him to succeed, the disagreement is on the amount of structure he needs to get there. I trust Lee to have more direct knowledge of the approach than anyone in the fan base, so if he thinks the benching is valuable then cool.

Especially last night with Mann was playing well. If he was struggling too there might have been more of an argument to be made.