If you were Larry Brown, would you have sat Captain Jack?

[funkyllama]

I feel as though we really could have used Stephen Jackson at the end of game one. I would have played him and hopefully he would have hit some big 3s and lead the team to complete a comback.

[Stun704]

Yeah its chess not checkers, its a 7 game series, you shouldn't play your whole hand when you run the risk of losing your jack of spades

[SKR]

Nope, I wouldn't have played Jack.
Coach Brown did the right thing, as Stun704 already said, by keeping Jack benched. Because we will need him for the games ahead.

[W_HAMILTON]

Yes, I would have played him. It actually seemed pretty stupid to me. I didn't notice any problems with Jackson on the court, hell, he actually looked quicker on some of those drives to the basket. He was jogging gingerly at times, but if you are worried about his health, why play him so much in the 3rd and early in the 4th? You should have sat him for the entire second half. I don't see why you play him long enough to injure him further, but not a few more minutes so you can actually win the game.

[Bassman]

I agree with Ham. Unless you knew something that we didn't, such as a lot of swelling or evident issues after sitting on the bench, you play the man. We had a real chance to steal that game after getting Orlando on the ropes. I also wanted LB to play Chandler late. TC was our most effective 5 during that game, especially defensively. Theo really did nothing to warrant being in there. Doesn't excuse the slow rotations on their perimeter shooters, but if Chandler can match-up with Howard 1 on 1, you keep their shooters covered.

[BigSlam]

It's not like we lost ground having him on the bench - in fact we made some up, so I had no problem sitting him.

[RichBoy923]

It's not like we lost ground having him on the bench - in fact we made some up, so I had no problem sitting him.

Yeah I agree. I don't think benching him had any affect on the result of this game. But as it was happening, I was wondering why LB was doing it. Jackson played the 3rd quarter so why not the end of the 4th.

[nazsquad]

Good point Richie..... I noticed he was limping a lot during the second half but he seemed to be playing better and shooting the ball better. When we were down 4 with 3 min to go, we needed more offense. I would have put him in for Larry Hughes.

[fatlever]

did anything ever come out in the media about why brown decided to be so cautious with jax? did he have some stiffness once he went to the bench and got cold? maybe the trainer gave LB that advice. im sure jax would have said anything to get back in the game, but at what cost?

[moevil]

obviously LB saw, how swollen that knee was.
there are still games left, without him we have no chance in this series.

you may lose battle, but you need to win the war. we want to win war

[BigSlam]

Maybe the fact that Jax was shooting 33% from the floor with 5 turn overs LB was just using the "it's a 7 game series" thing as an excuse to sit Jax down?

We were on a roll with him out after all and really slicing into that lead.

[Dexmor]

I wouldn't even of put him back in the 2nd half. Never play a limping player unless its a game 7 of a finals series.

[Battery]

We were on a roll with him out after all and really slicing into that lead.

EXACTLY! DJ was defending Nelson much better and Ray was showing signs of life at the 2. There was no need to mess with something that was working.


We lost this game in the first half when Ray sh*t the bed. 4th quarter coaching decisions were irrelevant in deciding the outcome of this game. Ray did make 3 big shots in the 4th quarter, which I doubt in Jax's condition, he would have done better. I blame this loss on Raymond Felton. If he doesn't bring his A game from the opening tip, we will lose. And we did.

[Le Meneur]

Maybe the fact that Jax was shooting 33% from the floor with 5 turn overs LB was just using the "it's a 7 game series" thing as an excuse to sit Jax down?

We were on a roll with him out after all and really slicing into that lead.

+1
No need for Bad Jax in there. He was clearly not in a good day, injury or not.
The guy would never tell when he's hurt, and it actually hurts the team, because he tries to be the superhero but can't, turning himself into non-effective mode, and it's affecting the whole team.
Nobody should ever, ever, be bigger than the TEAM (ask Lebron). Especially with this team.

Plus, you don't want to risk not having him for the rest of the serie, when he can turn into goood Jax.

[ash_k]

I wouldnot have played him. This is going to be a long and physical series.
Larry was just protecting him from himself. Jack wouldve liked to play no matter what (i.e as long as he can stand on his legs)

It was the right call.

Bobcats in 6!

[Rich4114]

I would've put Jax back in. We were struggling to continue scoring and it would've given us a better chance to score. I certainly do not want Larry Hughes in there to close a damn game out. I would've kept DJ/Felton in there based on who Orlando closed the game with.

and btw, DJ didn't really guard Nelson too much he got Jason Williams. Kind of a different story.

[W_HAMILTON]

We were on a roll with him out after all and really slicing into that lead.

We were on a roll with him, as well. Looking back, it looked like Jackson played the first 15 minutes of the second half. It's a little ridiculous to say that you bench a guy for his health, after you get done playing him more minutes than usual AFTER his injury.

And I don't agree with your premise to begin with. In the regular season, sure, let the bench players that helped whittle away a lead stay in there to see if they can keep going. But we may have only three games left in our season. You put your best players out there when it matters most. If you care about Jackson's health, you don't play him as much as Brown did to begin with. We played him long enough to where he could have easily gotten injured further, but when it mattered most, we didn't play him. That's just stupid.

[BobCatsFoLife]

I still haven't seen the whole game, but from what I've seen and heard... Personally I would have played Jax. That is the player in me talking. My coaching experience is limited to two years of 10-12 year olds, so my opinion is bias. But I BELIEVE IN LB! I'M RIDING AND DYING WITH LB!! HE GOT US HERE!

[magee]

Right decision to sit him. Match-ups were better for Charlotte and Felton wasn't too bad on VC defensively. The key will be how they mix up their line-ups for game 2. I'd love to see 1 center, Crash at the 4, Jackson at the 3 and DJ and Felton in the backcourt. Rotate the centers, play Diaw no more than 28 minutes and let those 7 or 8 grind it out. They can win this upcoming game, as long as TO's are limited.

[thruthefire]

I blame this loss on Raymond Felton. If he doesn't bring his A game from the opening tip, we will lose. And we did.

What constitutes his "A" game? My guess is he won't average 19 points on 50 percent shooting the rest of the way, but he'll contain Nelson better. Will that be enough to win?

Personally, I'm more concerned about the power forward match-up. Slice it any way you want, six points and four rebounds in 43 minutes is not getting it done. Lewis had a great game, too. Either step up or take a seat.