nate33 wrote:I second yungal07. STFU closg00. It's your kind of commentary that is dragging this board down. It's fine to point out that the team didn't execute well down the stretch, but to call the team a disgrace is hyperbole.
We just beat one of the best teams in the league. And we did it by playing harder than the opposition and executing as a team (at both ends) rather than merely by riding the hot hand of an individual player. This was easily the most satisfying win of the season. Tapscott coached a very good game except for the odd substitution of Songaila for Blatche down the stretch.
With the exception of the Boston game, this team has played rock solid basketball ever since DMac was inserted into the starting lineup. Suddenly, we're big, we're dominating on the glass, the ball moves on offense, and we play better D. I also thought Blatche had a great first half. Good things happened whenever he touched the ball in the high post. Overall, we played a damn fine ball game except for a string of unforced turnovers down the stretch.
I think the reason AB sat down the stretch was the fouls (5, IIRC). Tapps probably didn't
want a guy in their who couldn't defend because he would foul out. AB DID have a very
nice first half and I thought Tapps was smart to let him sit towards the end (1st H) so as not
to pick up his 3rd foul and hopefully allow him to play more in the 2nd half. But when
he picked up 2 quick ones in the 3rdQ, it backfired. But that was AB's fault not Tapps'.
Love DMac in spite of the TOs and I think your point is spot on. He's solidified
the starting lineup and the rotation in a way that EJ was deluded into believing
DeBrick could/was. Too bad DeBrick isn't 0.25 the rebounder DMac is. Or the shot
blocker. Love DMac's energy. DMac's shot selection is pretty solid and he even
makes some now and then which is more than you could say about our Non-shooting SG
who couldn't hit from outside or finish at the rim.
This was by far the best win of the year IMO so I'm not down with all the
negativity. We won. We forced LeTravel into 6 TOs. He bricked the potential
game tying 3. All the nuthuggers, jockriders and bandwagon jumpers went
home unhappy. We won a grind it out game against a grind it out team allowing
only 77 points. And some people want to complain that it wasn't pretty enough?!?
That's puts you on probation in my book for potential ignore.
And as much as I respect Dat, I love me some Captawn AJ; 26-13 including the
game clinching shot. I don't know about trading this guy. Who are we gonna
get that'll give us what he does even with his flawed, generally ineffective D?
I'm not sure I don't like the team as constructed right now IF they were healthy.
Blatche is getting better and more consistent. He had a nice game today in
spite of the foul trouble. I remember a couple nice passes as well as a nice block.
N1 had a decent game even though he didn't score much. Our perimeter D is
suddenly much better. Critter got some run and is starting to look more comfy
out there. A guard rotation that includes GA, Caron, N1 and Critter could be
very solid down the road for us. A fwd rotation that features AJ, Caron, Blatche, DMac
and Songaila is solid. A C rotation of Wood, Blatche, McGee is also solid. Etan
even played half decent getting a few blocks even if he blocked one straight
to Wally so nicely it could have been an assist. He's starting to play his way
to trade-ability.
Caron started the game on fire but couldn't buy a thing in the 2nd half.
And we still won.
But it was still sweetest to send all those LeTravelier fans home unhappy.
And it ain't like they can complain about missing Z looking at who were missing.
The late traveling call was the frosting on the cake although to be honest, it
was so loud, I thought the refs had allowed the basket and called a foul. Mostly
it wasn't that loud a crowd though. I think our fans have become so used to seeing
those 4th Q collapses that they couldn't make themselves really believe it was
possible.
After watching the last few games, I have renewed faith that things will work
out for the best in the fullness of time. I no longer think they'll lose basically
every night. That said, I don't expect a win in DisneyTown, but a bunch of the
other games coming up are now winnable in my mind (for the moment at least).