RealGM

Is it just me or is it really, really, really bad. His lateral quickness might be even worse than Felton's was, and I didn't think that was possible. He's slight, which can't be helped, but he should at least be able to stay in front of TJ Ford and Jason Kidd. Brandon Jennings is small too but he's at least adequate, that's all I'm asking for.

On the plus side, b/c I don't like being Mr. Negativity, I think he's markedly improved as a floor general and with his passing.

Anyone else seeing this or is it just me?

His defense AND offense have been bad. There was no floor general on the court last night in the second half. Tonights match up is not a good one. However, DJ didn't exert any effort in the second half of yesterdays game so maybe he's saving himself up for tonight.

His D against the Mavs was horrible. He got turned inside out many times and was totally lost on a couple of plays. I thought he was better last night - way better. Heck, he pretty much took Collison out of the game.

He has the ability to be a better defensive player than he showed against the Mavs, he at the very least is a willing defender which is a plus.

Against Terry, his defense was shaky at best. Against Collison, it was great (I would know, I was there!), against TJ, it was lackluster again. Terry is understandable because its tough to guard shooters with the effectiveness of the P&R play. But with TJ, he just made bad decisions again and again (namely going over the screen when TJ can't shoot).


I'll give him a couple of more weeks to figure out where he's going to be on that side of the floor. Maybe it was the pressure of a late game situation that he hasn't been in for awhile, Maybe he was gassed due to the minutes? It's still too early to tell with him

DJ was so bad last night running the offense in the second half that LB was probably giving serious consideration to playing Shaun Livingston at the point down the stretch. DJ is gone the minute we find a willing trade partner to bring in a starting point guard.

Also in 41 minutes of play last night DJ had 0 fouls. If you have 0 fouls and you're a point guard playing almost the entire game, that shows you were not aggressive at all. He did have a costly technical foul though.

Battery wrote:DJ was so bad last night running the offense in the second half that LB was probably giving serious consideration to playing Shaun Livingston at the point down the stretch.

How can you possibly think that without being at the game and seeing it with your own two eyes?

He's doing a marginally better job tonight it seems but I've noticed that he tries to pick their pockets way too much and it leaves the rest of the team in scramble mode on D. He's kept Jennings out of the lane pretty well but he's giving him too much respect now and gotten 3s in his face to show for it. He just can't win on defense. What concerns me most is his consistently low assist totals. He's scoring well but that should be a bonus, he needs to be a better distributor.

I had some decent hopes for DJ but I'm starting to think he needs a change in scenery.

WTH does assist totals have to do with his defense?

BigSlam wrote:WTH does assist totals have to do with his defense?

He's not playing pg. He's playing sg from the pg position. He's not assisting, he's not defending his man, he's just knocking down the occasional three.

He's basically expending all of his energy on offense instead of running the team.

BrotherDave wrote:

BigSlam wrote:WTH does assist totals have to do with his defense?

He's not playing pg. He's playing sg from the pg position. He's not assisting, he's not defending his man, he's just knocking down the occasional three.

He's basically expending all of his energy on offense instead of running the team.

Reading this makes me wonder

if people actually watch the games

Dj's defense is not the best, granted. But he has probably been the best player on the Bobcats for the first 3 games. Sad, but pretty much the truth. Maybe if the rest of the team would play better, he might not be forced into having to do so much of the scoring. But considering how most people thought doom and gloom for the PG position, he has not nearly been that bad. Better scoring than we got with Ray, less TO's than with Ray, a couple less assists than Ray, but worse defense.

ohara wrote:Dj's defense is not the best, granted. But he has probably been the best player on the Bobcats for the first 3 games. Sad, but pretty much the truth. Maybe if the rest of the team would play better, he might not be forced into having to do so much of the scoring. But considering how most people thought doom and gloom for the PG position, he has not nearly been that bad. Better scoring than we got with Ray, less TO's than with Ray, a couple less assists than Ray, but worse defense.

And that's what you want. LB's system is designed to have a scorer at the PG and someone else distributing the ball. DJ might be our semi-Iverson with some more work. Only problem being that LB will leave before DJ gets to that point.

ohara wrote:Dj's defense is not the best, granted. But he has probably been the best player on the Bobcats for the first 3 games. Sad, but pretty much the truth. Maybe if the rest of the team would play better, he might not be forced into having to do so much of the scoring. But considering how most people thought doom and gloom for the PG position, he has not nearly been that bad. Better scoring than we got with Ray, less TO's than with Ray, a couple less assists than Ray, but worse defense.

Truth

And the defense wasn't even all on him at the end of the Pacers game... I blame LB for not making the adjustment for TJ beating him down in the final minutes. I'm all for learning experiences, but not when we're trying to get our first win of the season. DJ is fine at point, and I really like the look of DJ and Liv running the backcourt together, but Center... wow

DJ's been our best scorer, not our best player. There's a difference.

He's just got to play better defense, that's all. His scoring is great, I love his guile right now, his energy is good, his TOs are low but his D is killing us. That and the fact that Nazr is playing like he has 2 busted knees.

LB needs to get E. Snow to mentor DJ, pronto.

BrotherDave wrote:DJ's been our best scorer, not our best player. There's a difference.

He's just got to play better defense, that's all. His scoring is great, I love his guile right now, his energy is good, his TOs are low but his D is killing us. That and the fact that Nazr is playing like he has 2 busted knees.

LB needs to get E. Snow to mentor DJ, pronto.

Funny thing about DJ's defense is that its been no worse than everyone elses... Even Wallace has looked bad on defense at times. Hell, Jackson doesn't even care most of the time. Nazr? lol

DY_nasty wrote:

BrotherDave wrote:DJ's been our best scorer, not our best player. There's a difference.

He's just got to play better defense, that's all. His scoring is great, I love his guile right now, his energy is good, his TOs are low but his D is killing us. That and the fact that Nazr is playing like he has 2 busted knees.

LB needs to get E. Snow to mentor DJ, pronto.

Funny thing about DJ's defense is that its been no worse than everyone elses... Even Wallace has looked bad on defense at times. Hell, Jackson doesn't even care most of the time. Nazr? lol

You've got a point there, although I thought Crash did a good job of playing Granger last night. At least he matched him and fouled him out.

Our Cs are just awful.

we've never been a team of good individual defenders. our strength was our team defense. this year our team defense as been abysmal. not exactly sure where that fault lies.

fatlever wrote:we've never been a team of good individual defenders. our strength was our team defense. this year our team defense as been abysmal. not exactly sure where that fault lies.

Raymond would pick up the opposing point at mid court and apply serious pressure on every trip. S-Jax right now is probably gimpy so that hurts too and Nazr has looked old and slow.

Battery wrote:

fatlever wrote:we've never been a team of good individual defenders. our strength was our team defense. this year our team defense as been abysmal. not exactly sure where that fault lies.

Raymond would pick up the opposing point at mid court and apply serious pressure on every trip. S-Jax right now is probably gimpy so that hurts too and Nazr has looked old and slow.

You should ask Knicks fans about how they feel on Raymond after he picking up Andre Miller at half court during the 4th tonight...

Ray got burned during the regular season too guys. Lets not make him out to be the black Stockton, he's not.