GT December 20th: Charlotte @ New York 7:30 PM (ET)
Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 10:43 pm
ARH1109, I hope you don't mind me stealing your game thread. With just a couple of hours until tip-off (and with nothing to do) I figured I'd get one started.
Bobcats (10-15)
Chandler - Diaw - Wallace - Jackson - Felton --- (Mohammed, Augustin, Murray, Brown)
Knicks (9-17)
Lee - Gallinari - Jeffries - Chandler - Duhon --- (Harrington, Douglas, Robinson?)
Some Facts - In the 16 games Stephen Jackson has been with us, he's averaged 19.6 pts, 4.8 rebs, and 3.4 assists. In addition, Wallace has been putting up 19.9 pts, 12.3 rebs, and 2.5 assists playing alongside him. With him on our roster, we've been posting 96.2 points per game while giving up 94.7. Unfortunately, our record with Jackson is 7-9 (6-2 at home, 1-7 on the road).
Pace - NY (9th) ............ CHA (26th)
Rebounding - NY (28th) ... CHA (8th)
Offense - NY (18th) ........ CHA (27th)
Defense - NY (23th) ........ CHA (3rd)
Turnovers - NY (11th) ...... CHA (30th)
Free Throw % - NY (10th) .. Cha (29th)
While we did come out ahead in the last two games we've played against NY, we've had the luxury of playing at home in both games and each were played rather closely. Tonight we go on the road (where we have won only 8.33% of the time) on a back-to-back against a team that has won 6 of their last 9 (including wins against Phoenix, Atlanta, and Portland). Understandably, Vegas has the Knicks favored by 4.
For us to win tonight, our front-court needs to come ready to play. Chandler really needs to keep an eye out on Lee, consistently box him out and try to keep the offensive rebounds, put-backs, and easy baskets around the rim to a minimum. On offense, we'll be facing an undersized front-court, with no shot-blockers, and one that is just awful on the defensive end of the floor. It should be a great opportunity for Diaw to have a bounce back game. It should also be a great night for our bench to get in some playing time. There is absolutely no reason for Diop to be activated tonight so I would like to see plenty of UPS, especially if Diaw can't get things going. Augustin should be a little more confident after last night's game and Nazr most definitely needs to be in the game for more than ten minutes.
Tonight's key match up, in my opinion, is Felton vs. Duhon. The last time they met, both players put up 18 & 6. In the two games since, Duhon has averaged 17.5 pts, 8.5 asts, and 2 TOs while Felton has averaged a mere 10 pts, 2.5 asts, and 3 TOs while allowing his opponents to put up, on average 19 pts, 11.5 asts, and 6 TOs. At the minimum, I would like to see Felton come out and play strong defense and not turn the ball over, but with their weak interior D, it would probably be behoove of him (and all of our guys) to drive to the basket as often as possible. But enough rambling, hopefully it will be good game tonight and we can up our road record to 2-11 !!!
Bobcats (10-15)
Chandler - Diaw - Wallace - Jackson - Felton --- (Mohammed, Augustin, Murray, Brown)
Knicks (9-17)
Lee - Gallinari - Jeffries - Chandler - Duhon --- (Harrington, Douglas, Robinson?)
Some Facts - In the 16 games Stephen Jackson has been with us, he's averaged 19.6 pts, 4.8 rebs, and 3.4 assists. In addition, Wallace has been putting up 19.9 pts, 12.3 rebs, and 2.5 assists playing alongside him. With him on our roster, we've been posting 96.2 points per game while giving up 94.7. Unfortunately, our record with Jackson is 7-9 (6-2 at home, 1-7 on the road).
Pace - NY (9th) ............ CHA (26th)
Rebounding - NY (28th) ... CHA (8th)
Offense - NY (18th) ........ CHA (27th)
Defense - NY (23th) ........ CHA (3rd)
Turnovers - NY (11th) ...... CHA (30th)
Free Throw % - NY (10th) .. Cha (29th)
While we did come out ahead in the last two games we've played against NY, we've had the luxury of playing at home in both games and each were played rather closely. Tonight we go on the road (where we have won only 8.33% of the time) on a back-to-back against a team that has won 6 of their last 9 (including wins against Phoenix, Atlanta, and Portland). Understandably, Vegas has the Knicks favored by 4.
For us to win tonight, our front-court needs to come ready to play. Chandler really needs to keep an eye out on Lee, consistently box him out and try to keep the offensive rebounds, put-backs, and easy baskets around the rim to a minimum. On offense, we'll be facing an undersized front-court, with no shot-blockers, and one that is just awful on the defensive end of the floor. It should be a great opportunity for Diaw to have a bounce back game. It should also be a great night for our bench to get in some playing time. There is absolutely no reason for Diop to be activated tonight so I would like to see plenty of UPS, especially if Diaw can't get things going. Augustin should be a little more confident after last night's game and Nazr most definitely needs to be in the game for more than ten minutes.
Tonight's key match up, in my opinion, is Felton vs. Duhon. The last time they met, both players put up 18 & 6. In the two games since, Duhon has averaged 17.5 pts, 8.5 asts, and 2 TOs while Felton has averaged a mere 10 pts, 2.5 asts, and 3 TOs while allowing his opponents to put up, on average 19 pts, 11.5 asts, and 6 TOs. At the minimum, I would like to see Felton come out and play strong defense and not turn the ball over, but with their weak interior D, it would probably be behoove of him (and all of our guys) to drive to the basket as often as possible. But enough rambling, hopefully it will be good game tonight and we can up our road record to 2-11 !!!
