GT Jan 28th: Charlotte @ Golden State 10:30pm

[Marvel]

I havent rained on any parades lately so 2 am after a big win seems like as good a time as any to catch up.

The Bobcats deserve credit where credit is due. And its been encouraging to watch DJ's growth. He's still (and always will be) a considerable defensive liability but when he plays like he did tonight, he makes up for it and then some.

However, this was as much a monumental choke job on the part of a horrendously poor defensive GS team as it was a Bobcats rally.

While we're playing great ball and part of me is thrilled, the rational part of me recognizes that we're still an over achieving (thanks to Silas) team with mediocre talent.

We'll likely slip into the playoffs as a 38-42 win team since the bottom half of the east is pathetically weak. Everybody will get juiced up, make new customized avatars, have visions of sugar plums dance through their heads and........then we'll get sodomized by Boston, Miami or Orlando.

The race to the playoffs is nothing more than the preparatory lube application.

We get it, you want Kyrie Irving. I was all for tanking under LB, who could blame me, i know you won't. With Silas, making the playoffs is possible again and i would rather make the playoffs than suffer through a losing season and hold my breath for some rookie with star potential to lead us into the finals someday. I don't think you'll find that player in this years draft anyway.

I'm all for improving through a trade/s though. Who knows, we might face Chicago in the 1st round.

Oh yeah and you're right about the choke job. Our defense in the 4th put the choke hold on them real good.

[Marvel]

I don't see how? Hendo has more athleticism then fields, and Hendo can always gain a 3pt shot, however fields can never become as athletic as Hendo. Also I don't think Fields is capable of guarding someone like Monta Ellis and shutting him down completely for a half.

Here's the best I can do for you Stun:

Is Hendo more athletic than Landry? Hell yes. But, does Hendo use that to his advantage? Hell no.
Can Landry become as athletic as Hendo? No. But. does he need to be? Hell no.

Like you, I LOVE Hendo's sweet spot, but even when he pulls up (like tonight where the GSE ADVANCE SCOUTS obviously spotted his sweet spot and defended against it) I still hold my breath.

I don;t when Landry shoots.

Yeah IMO, Hendo will be a solid defensive player who will have his nights when defenses forget about him. But ultimately, his handles are still average, he still lacks that killer instinct and his IQ is not where it needs to be for him to adjust, counter defensive schemes that know his tendencies. He's still a keeper in my eyes though, would be perfect if we had a scoring guard to compliment him off the bench.

[SWedd523]

I have to go with Landry. He's a rookie, but he's ALREADY the best rebounding guard in the league.

He scores when he needs to, passes when he needs to, plays defense, gobbles boards like no other guard in the league. The kid has no holes in his game. He won't ever be a star but he'll be a very, very solid and well rounded role player that teams will fawn over when he becomes a FA

[Stun704]

I don't see how? Hendo has more athleticism then fields, and Hendo can always gain a 3pt shot, however fields can never become as athletic as Hendo. Also I don't think Fields is capable of guarding someone like Monta Ellis and shutting him down completely for a half.

Here's the best I can do for you Stun:

Is Hendo more athletic than Landry? Hell yes. But, does Hendo use that to his advantage? Hell no.
Can Landry become as athletic as Hendo? No. But. does he need to be? Hell no.

Like you, I LOVE Hendo's sweet spot, but even when he pulls up (like tonight where the GSE ADVANCE SCOUTS obviously spotted his sweet spot and defended against it) I still hold my breath.

I don;t when Landry shoots.

Yeah IMO, Hendo will be a solid defensive player who will have his nights when defenses forget about him. But ultimately, his handles are still average, he still lacks that killer instinct and his IQ is not where it needs to be for him to adjust, counter defensive schemes that know his tendencies. He's still a keeper in my eyes though, would be perfect if we had a scoring guard to compliment him off the bench.

I disagree with you though, Hendo has that killer instinct, how many times on this stretch where hes given miniuites has he made a HUGE defensive play, or scored HUGE bucket(s) down the stretch to give us the game? I could think of a couple, the warriors game in charlotte(where jax threw it away) both philly games and i'm sure theres more, lets not forget about the crucial strips that hendo seems to make constantly every games that forces turnovers.. I'm not saying Hendo has a more well roudned game at this point in his career then fields does, but Hendo already has a good BBIQ playing in duke, and his flaws, such has driving to the rim and handles can be worked on. IMO I think hendo has the work ethic to improve his game at a expoential rate, and I see hendo having much more upside then fields does. I don't see how fields can get better, he'll always be this type of player.

[Eoghan]

I can't believe we didn't lose that game at the free throw line. If we can beat the Gordonless Clippers tonight than this roadtrip will be great success as Borat would say.

[dmutombo321]

We get it, you want Kyrie Irving.

I'd actually be fine sticking with DJ at the point and settling for a Terrence Jones or Kanter. But even theyll be long gone by the 12-15 range where we'll end up selecting.

I never had any expectation of them landing the top overall selection - teams like Cleveland and Sac have that firmly in hand. Just a top 5-6.

I'm all for improving through a trade/s though. Who knows, we might face Chicago in the 1st round.

Save for some freak injuries to major players on other teams, there is no way Charlotte advances past the first round. You can take that to the bank.

Oh yeah and you're right about the choke job. Our defense in the 4th put the choke hold on them real good.

This was a big win for us and most of our guys played fantastic. But lets not get carried away; Golden State is statistically one of the 5 worst defensive teams in basketball in the same class with Cleveland, who has lost 19 straight and Minny, who only has 10 wins on the year.

GS is in the bottom three in the entire NBA in points allowed and it wasnt hard to see why. It was mind bogglingly comical how many stupid mistakes, pointless fouls and turnovers GS had towards the end of that contest. Golden State blew a 16 point lead, handed the game to Charlotte on a platter, Charlotte politely declined, sent the platter back to the kitchen where GS prepared another, apologized and presented it to Charlotte again.

We should have a chance for another win tonight against the Clips who will be without two of their 3 allstar caliber players (Kaman and Gordon). But if we do get a victory, lets keep everything in perspective. A win against an injury depleted Clippers team, or a lottery squads like Sac and GS in no way translate to post season success against a Miami, Boston, Orlando or even a healthy Chicago (our reg season wins against them were sans Noah and sans Noah and Boozer.

[floppymoose]

I was at this game, and sitting about 15 feet away from the Bobcats bench.

It was interesting watching Silas coach.

When Jack banked in the 3 to send the game to OT, there was a timeout while GS plotted on what to do with the remaining 0.6 secs. I got to see Silas coach his team.

He laughed. He spent the whole time just laughing and shooting the breeze with his starters, while they all sat and rested. No standing huddle.

Silas clearly has this team playing very loose. It's not that he isn't coaching, but he is picking his spots and keeping it short. It's an interesting approach and is probably the best possible approach with Jack, especially following right on the heels of LB. Nellie had a very similar approach in 06-07 and it worked very well with Jackson.

Anyway, good game. Bobcats played better and deserved the win. I feel a little saddened that you didn't get to the see the 'A' game from Monta because that is a show and a half that you missed out on.

[BigSlam]

I feel a little saddened that you didn't get to the see the 'A' game from Monta because that is a show and a half that you missed out on.

We felt the same way about Crash.

[Fred Williamson]

I feel a little saddened that you didn't get to the see the 'A' game from Monta because that is a show and a half that you missed out on.

well, he got Hendownd. he's excused

[floppymoose]

That wasn't it. He hasn't been right for 4 games now. Ever since he went down with an ankle injury at the end of the Kings game. He didn't miss any games but he has not been able to do what he normally does since then.

[Stun704]

We could say the same about Crash, ever since he had his testicular fortitude injury, hes never been the same player, He must have lost his balls in larry browns mouth

[floppymoose]

I'm not sure what the Crash comments are about, since I never gave GS credit for Crash's performance.

Monta scored 2 points last night. He's clearly not right.