ATL + 3 Pt. Line = Kryptonite to Jesus

Cyclical · Post #1 » by **Cyclical** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:17 am

Man, what a game tonight.

Though the Hawks always play well against us these games could be a lot easier if Ray would hit a couple of more threes to help us spread the floor but for some reason he can't seem to hit them against that team: 1 for 17 this season and in last year's playoffs vs. Atlanta he had games of 1 for 5, 1 for 6 and 1 for 8. Hmmm... They rush the shooters pretty well but he's missed some wide open ones. This is not an anti-Ray post. Love the guy. Clutch on the FT's tonight. ATL must be his Trey kryptonite though.

SonicYouth34 · Post #2 » by **SonicYouth34** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:19 am

He has had to guard JJ and that takes a lot of energy, he probably doesn't have his legs under him.

Rocky5000 · Post #3 » by **Rocky5000** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:22 am

We shouldn't be shooting almost any threes against these guys, to tell you the truth. Their interior D is very weak, look at how many points we got in the paint, tonight.

rambo_ortega · Post #4 » by **rambo_ortega** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:33 am

^agreed. and i also believe that guarding jj take the energy of ray. maybe next time we could switch pierce on jj and just let ray hang with marvin.

celticfan42487 · Post #5 » by **celticfan42487** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:15 am

Well Josh Smith and Horford aren't exactly guys that are scrubs on help defense. They're weak against inside playing Centers with post moves.

AL Jefferson, Yao, Duncan,.. sadly I think that's it. Dwight should be another but Magic struggle against them.

We just get those inside points off of great passing and making them rotate. They want to be great but they still can't rotate on everything.

I think we played pretty much perfectly on the defensive side of the ball this game. That first quarter was just astounding.

billfromBoston · Post #6 » by **billfromBoston** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 5:56 am

I think a lot of it definitely comes from how much activity Ray is showing on the defensive side - JJ is a very touch cover for him, so he is really working it, fighting hard in a losing battler - but he helped to keep JJ in check tonight and the team schemes were very good against him overall.

Ray had at least 5 or 6 very easy shots and its a credit to him that he changes his plan of attack and got some closer buckets as the game went on - its gotta be hard to elevate and shoot at the apex of your shot when you are bumping and grinding on both ends all night and being asked to nail 23 footers...

Ray's been money all year, I think he'll figure out how to attack the few teams that have limited him...everyone had to grind tonight though, he wasn't alone..

GuyClinch · Post #7 » by **GuyClinch** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:04 pm

If it's all about how JJ is a "tough cover" how come RA did so well in the finals? That explanation doesn't really fly...

humblebum · Post #8 » by **humblebum** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:40 pm

I believe it's two things. One is the "tough cover" argument. Two the Hawks are really long and athletic on the perimeter and they a good job of switching on picks (Horford and Smith both cover pretty well on the perimeter).

I actually think that JJ is a tougher matchup for Ray because he's a much, much stronger and more physical opponent than Kobe, who's more of a finesse player... that plays right into Ray's style of play. That along with the Hawks physical athletic defense from PG to C really works to wear Ray down a bit, throw him off his rhythm and thus... the poor shooting.

GuyClinch · Post #9 » by **GuyClinch** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:58 pm

^^^ Joe Johnson is much more "physical" then Kobe? 84% of Johnson's shots are jumpers. His drawn foul percentage is 7.7% Leon on Powe he is not. If anything Kobe is more physical with only 76% jump shots and a 12.3% drawn foul percentage.

We have to throw out the tough cover argument - sorry. Maybe it's the length or just playing in hotlanta. It could be the fans..

BillessuR6 · Post #10 » by **BillessuR6** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:06 pm

He just had an off night. When we don`t go to him early he usually doesn`t shoot that well the rest of the game.

humblebum · Post #11 » by **humblebum** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:23 pm

GuyClinch wrote:^^^ Joe Johnson is much more "physical" then Kobe? 84% of Johnson's shots are jumpers. His drawn foul percentage is 7.7% Leon on Powe he is not. If anything Kobe is more physical with only 76% jump shots and a 12.3% drawn foul percentage.

We have to throw out the tough cover argument - sorry. Maybe it's the length or just playing in hotlanta. It could be the fans..

Is everything black and white to you?

Let's talk about reality: Kobe is listed at 6'6" 200 lbs. Johnson is listed at 6'8" 225. Those numbers are from Basketball Reference.com.

Let's talk about the way each player get's their shots. Kobe uses speed, jab steps, crossovers, upfakes, fadeaways, etc. He has an assortment of moves to fake out players guarding him man up. He does not have the game of a Paul Pierce who's much more inclined to use his size, strengh to get to where he wants to go. Kobe is not physically dominant as an SG, he's a classic finesse, scoring SG.

Johnson, with his greater height and weight tends to play the game in straight angles towards the hoop. He has nowhere near the assortment of misdirection moves of Bryant. He fakes you one way, get's you a little off balance, uses his shoulders and forearms to move you out of his way and then he takes his pull up jumpers. JJ is much closer to Paul Pierce in terms of style of play than he is to Kobe or Ray... frankly JJ is more of a SF than a shooting guard and his size is what wears Ray down.

Your welcome.