GT: Charlotte @ New York 11-5 7:30pm

[BigSlam]

Rebounding? We outrebounded them by 8 and got 18 offensive boards.

I think it was the perimeter D and the TOs (but they had those too), and I'm a little surprised LB didn't try S. Brown a little more.

Still, for a lot of stretches I thought we looked pretty decent. Mek had a monster board night, but those 6 TOs hurt.

The only reason we out rebounded them though was because of how hard EO50 was working. We really do him no favors.

I think S.Brown got smoked for the few mins he was out there - and both Felts and DJ played pretty well.

S.Brown does seem like he would have made for a better match up though.

[Walt Cronkite]

Spectre, I expect better from you than to rely on a box score to explain the story of the game Yes, we outrebounded them, but the orebs they got were brutal. Zack's 3 were all on his own misses, Qrich got one when he was surrounded by 3 bobcats. I didn't believe Slam when he kept writing about how bad we were at boxing out, but it's true. Okafor gets up for game in NYC, if he played as badly as everyone indicated he played the other night we would've gotten killed on the glass. We need someone like Dudley to pick it up.

Brown was out when Robinson torched us and then only got to play when we put in a defensive lineup for a final play of a quarter.

[Walt Cronkite]

I hate to say it, but I'm down on Dudley after tonight's game. I'm not gonna throw him under the bus, because I'm not like how the average realgm poster has been lately, but he needed to get more than 2 rebs in 27 minutes, that's ridiculous. Looked out of it to me.

I thought he started the game really well, faded out for a while, came back strong, then faded out again.

He was directly responsible for 2 of Randolph's orebs. Just stood there. At the very least, foul so that they have to inbound and we can set the defense, don't let Randolph just keep getting tries to score.

[Benjamin Linus]

I wasn’t able to actually view the game but from watching ESPN’s Game Cast we seemed to have a pretty solid night on the boards, but then again I wasn’t actually able to see how we were playing. One thing that was easy to pick up on though was that our defense especially in the backcourt is atrocious. Would I be going too far to say that we might actually have one of the worst perimeter defenses in the league? It seems like every backcourt we've faced, besides Miami, has had unbelievably huge nights against us.

[ohara]

HERE IS WHAT CONCERNS ME. WE HAD 6 PLAYERS IN DOUBLE DIGITS, AND ACTUALLY PLAYED ONE OF OUR BETTER GAMES. AND WE STILL LOST TO A TEAM MANY THOUGHT WE WERE TONS BETTER THAN AT THE START OF SEASON. WE HAVE TO WIN GAMES WE PLAY THIS WELL IN, ESPECIALLY AGAINST TEAMS WE SHOULD BEAT. THIS IS A VERY BAD SIGN IN MY EYES. WE ARE IN BIG BIG TROUBLE. I KNOW MANY FEEL IT'S TOO EARLY TO SAY IT, BUT WE ARE IN BIG TROUBLE.

[amcoolio]

We have no one to defend that type of PF...i.e...all the good ones that are coming up on our schedule....

David West, Bosh/O'neal, Garnett, Randolph, etc.


We are going to get abused until we can get someone to defend those players.

[spectre_]

Spectre, I expect better from you than to rely on a box score to explain the story of the game Yes, we outrebounded them, but the orebs they got were brutal. Zack's 3 were all on his own misses, Qrich got one when he was surrounded by 3 bobcats. I didn't believe Slam when he kept writing about how bad we were at boxing out, but it's true. Okafor gets up for game in NYC, if he played as badly as everyone indicated he played the other night we would've gotten killed on the glass. We need someone like Dudley to pick it up.

Brown was out when Robinson torched us and then only got to play when we put in a defensive lineup for a final play of a quarter.

Actually I saw the 2nd half of the game.

Mek was simply outstanding on the glass...he had at least 3 and maybe 4 offensive tip backs. Crash had 11 boards, heck Swish had 9! On the play you're referring to (Duds & Randolph) I think you're expecting a little more than what CJ can physically do...plus he didn't get any help on that play. He was outweighted and outjumped.

I don't remember the QRich board, but I do remember one that Duhon got at the end of the game...he just had a better angle on it than Felton did (plus we don't know exactly how much that hamstring was bothering him; I thought he seemed a little slow sometimes staying in front of his man).

We had way too many TOs, Swish had another bad shooting night and Crash wasn't as assertive as he normally was. That and letting them get waaaayyy too many open jump shots...which they hit at a sick rate...was what cost us the game. If Robinson had of hit those 3s at a normal rate in the 1st half...like 40% instead of what, 90%? We'd have won it easily.

[spectre_]

So far as the blocking out...IF I can find a regular feed and not spend half the frigging game just trying to see it...I'll try to pay more attention to that. I have no doubt you guys are right tho; we've never been good at blocking out.

We have no one to defend that type of PF...i.e...all the good ones that are coming up on our schedule....

David West, Bosh/O'neal, Garnett, Randolph, etc.


We are going to get abused until we can get someone to defend those players.

True dat.

[Bassman]

So far as the blocking out...IF I can find a regular feed and not spend half the frigging game just trying to see it...I'll try to pay more attention to that. I have no doubt you guys are right tho; we've never been good at blocking out.

I tried using the NBA Access broadband video feed and could never get it to work during the 1st half so I gave up. I'm willing to invest in that package if it works but so far no dice.

Dudley is NOT the answer at PF. He is effective in spurts at the 3 doing lots of little things to contribute. I wonder if we could trade him to NJ for Sean Williams? Are they looking to get rid of him bad enough to swap for a quality energy guy like Duds?

This team would appear to be getting better but those who saw the game talked about the poor perimeter D as the major problem (along with failure to block out, which is a also a BIG problem). If we could trade Duds for Williams (get our big PF) and deal Crash for a quality 2 (move J-Rich to the 3) perhaps we could better contain the wings. Felton seems to be a decent defender (DJ is getting abused and will likely continue to struggle due to his physical limitations).

[Felton for Pres]

I think everyone is focusing on the effect and not the cause, except spectre. The reason we were not boxing out was because we don't rotate well on defense. Guys end up either way out of position or in horrible mismatches. Also, guys end up with wide open looks and two guys tend to jump out at him after its too late. That leaves an open body.

If our defensive rotations were better, our boxing out would be better.

The disappointing thing for me is that we didn't lose this game because of our PF whole. We lost it on perimeter defense, which I figured we'd be pretty good at. I haven't seen a good job defending the perimeter yet, and that includes the Heat game. WWWAAAYYY too many open shots.

[BigSlam]

HERE IS WHAT CONCERNS ME. WE HAD 6 PLAYERS IN DOUBLE DIGITS, AND ACTUALLY PLAYED ONE OF OUR BETTER GAMES. AND WE STILL LOST TO A TEAM MANY THOUGHT WE WERE TONS BETTER THAN AT THE START OF SEASON. WE HAVE TO WIN GAMES WE PLAY THIS WELL IN, ESPECIALLY AGAINST TEAMS WE SHOULD BEAT. THIS IS A VERY BAD SIGN IN MY EYES. WE ARE IN BIG BIG TROUBLE. I KNOW MANY FEEL IT'S TOO EARLY TO SAY IT, BUT WE ARE IN BIG TROUBLE.

I don't think we played that well at all.

And if you think people think it's too early to say now, what are they going to think about you beating this drum over and over and over and over for the past month??

At least the caps brought more attention to the drum beating I guess?

[spectre_]

I tried using the NBA Access broadband video feed and could never get it to work during the 1st half so I gave up. I'm willing to invest in that package if it works but so far no dice.

Did it hang up at 98%? It did for me too. I emailed them after the DET game and they said that "they were aware of the problem and were working diligently to fix it".

Go to BCP and read thru the GT...I'm pretty hopeful that could work pretty well.

And if you think people think it's too early to say now, what are they going to think about you beating this drum over and over and over and over for the past month??

Slam...you mean you haven't started looking forward to these gloom and doom posts after every loss like I have? It's starting to be like death and taxes.

[fatlever]

maybe its just me but i thought DJ was absolutely terrible in the first half. his defense is awful, he makes too many lazy cross court passes and there were several times he took long jumpers before he made a pass. i have yet to see any indication that he is a pass first pg. he looks for his shot as much or more than felton does. at least ray is able to play decent defense.

thankfully, dj had a much better second half.

i loved dudley last night... at least for a while.

mek looked great last night (despite the missed putback from 1ft with nobody around him). he always plays well after getting trashed in this forum. coincidence?

[e4Nf6]

+/- stats are very interesting.....

Mek was +14 in a 3 point loss, that's very good
Felton, Jrich +9
dudley +10

Just looking at our starters I didn't understand how we lost. Until I saw:

DJ -8
Ammo -12 in less than 5 minutes

even worse:

Shannon Brown -14 in only 3 minutes (!!!)
Nazr -12 in less than 3 minutes (!!!)

Its hard to lose your team that many points in such a short time. I guess that's why Felts/Crash/Swish/Mek all played 40+ minutes. It's tough to win in the NBA with a 6 man rotation like last night.

Some quick math, (having not seen the game)

3 minutes is (doing the math in my head) maybe 6-7% of a 48 minute game. In a game with roughly 100 possessions on both sides that is (or should be) 6-7 possessions a team. If you just ran the 4 corners and waited for a shot-clock violation. The other team would have to shoot 70% (on three-pointers) to beat you by 14 in 7 possessions.

[ohara]

HERE IS WHAT CONCERNS ME. WE HAD 6 PLAYERS IN DOUBLE DIGITS, AND ACTUALLY PLAYED ONE OF OUR BETTER GAMES. AND WE STILL LOST TO A TEAM MANY THOUGHT WE WERE TONS BETTER THAN AT THE START OF SEASON. WE HAVE TO WIN GAMES WE PLAY THIS WELL IN, ESPECIALLY AGAINST TEAMS WE SHOULD BEAT. THIS IS A VERY BAD SIGN IN MY EYES. WE ARE IN BIG BIG TROUBLE. I KNOW MANY FEEL IT'S TOO EARLY TO SAY IT, BUT WE ARE IN BIG TROUBLE.

I don't think we played that well at all.

And if you think people think it's too early to say now, what are they going to think about you beating this drum over and over and over and over for the past month??

At least the caps brought more attention to the drum beating I guess?

______________________________________________________________________

ARM IS BROKE SO I CAN ONLY PECK AT KEYBOARD W/ LEFT HAND. EASIER TO GO ALL CAPS THAN GO ON AND OFF AT BEGINNING OF EACH SENTENCE.

AND SOMEONE HAS TO STATE THE OBVIOUS ABOUT THIS TEAM'S SHORTCOMINGS BECAUSE THEY ARE BEING GLOSSED OVER TOO MUCH. YOU HONESTLY THINK WE CAN EVEN SNIFF THE PLAYOFFS W/ THE TEAM AS CONSTITUTED? RIGHT NOW, WE ARE A BOTTOM 5-8 TEAM. CAN LB'S COACHING CHANGE THINGS THAT MUCH? DON'T THINK SO. WE ARE A LOT FUTHER AWAY FROM THE PLAYOFFS THAN MANY WANT TO THINK. I WANT THE CATS TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS, BUT THIS TEAM IS SIMPLY NOT PUT TOGETHER RIGHT - THEY LACK THE "RIGHT" TYPE OF PLAYERS TO GEL INTO A COHESIVE UNIT THAT CAN POWER ITS WAY INTO THE PLAYOFFS. LAST YR, WE LOOKED OUT OF SYNC EVERY 2 OF 3 GAMES, AND WE STILL LOOK THAT WAY. SOMETIMES OUR DEFENSE IS COMPLETELY LACKING, SOMETIMES ITS THE REBOUNDING, SOMETIMES 1-2 OF OUR "CORE" GUYS JUST COMPLETELY SEEM OUT OF IT. SOMETHING EVERY 2 OF 3 GAMES. AND A YEARLY WINNING CLIP OF AROUND .333 ISNT A PLAYOFF TEAM. RIGHT NOW WE'RE BELOW THAT, BUT WE'LL HAVE A COUPLE OF 2 GAME WINNING STREAKS OVER THE NEXT MONTH OR SO, BUT I'M SEEING .333 AS AN AVG AND THAT IS NOT A QUALITY TEAM. THIS TEAM WILL STRUGGLE TO MATCH LAST YEAR'S WIN TOTAL.

[BigSlam]

ARM IS BROKE SO I CAN ONLY PECK AT KEYBOARD W/ LEFT HAND. EASIER TO GO ALL CAPS THAN GO ON AND OFF AT BEGINNING OF EACH SENTENCE.

The healing powers over at BCP must make it easier because I notice you don't have the same challenges there?

[ohara]

ARM IS BROKE SO I CAN ONLY PECK AT KEYBOARD W/ LEFT HAND. EASIER TO GO ALL CAPS THAN GO ON AND OFF AT BEGINNING OF EACH SENTENCE.

The healing powers over at BCP must make it easier because I notice you don't have the same challenges there?

__________________________________________________________________

I STRUGGLED WITH IT UNTIL LAST NIGHT WHEN I FINALLY DECIDED JUST TO LEAVE IT IN ALL CAPS. IF I DONT, THEN IT TAKES 3X AS LONG TO DO A POST. OR, I COULD JUST LEAVE EVERYTHING LOWER CASE.

maybe i'll try it this way. better?

[doc.end]

better

[fatlever]

yeah, lower case is the way to go. caps are for suckers.

[aznkillabeezZz]

a bernie bickerstaff bobcats would've beat the knicks yesterday