Chalmers or Cole?

[Pimpwerx]

I still like Cole. He made a lot of sense in the early games, when we were running more. We were above league average on pace. Since Wade went down, we're below average on pace, according to a Haberstroh tweet today.

Cole gets out there and is usually the only one running. I don't know if he's supposed to spearhead the attack that way, but he isn't finishing well regardless. He's still getting to the rim, he's just gotta get those layups and runners to drop.

All the rookies this season have to deal with a compressed learning curve, and Cole probably has the fewest practices of any rookie, with this team. I'm not making excuses, Kyrie has excelled of late. However, I think Cole will learn fine on the job. If those layups drop, he's still everyone's favorite super-rookie. God knows he's missed a lot of them. I'm not gonna complain about missing high-percentage shots, unless he ends up being one of those guys that just never learns to finish.

I do think he needs to work on facilitating in the halfcourt offense. Spo not putting too much on his plate early might be the reason he played like such a chucker early. I don't know, but for someone who runs the pnr well, I only see him running it with Haslem, Pittman and Howard. He needs to learn the offense, and he needs to hit his shots. He's coming up short a lot, so does that mean he needs to work on strength? PEACE.

[ScreaminCmen]

I still like Cole. He made a lot of sense in the early games, when we were running more. We were above league average on pace. Since Wade went down, we're below average on pace, according to a Haberstroh tweet today.

Cole gets out there and is usually the only one running. I don't know if he's supposed to spearhead the attack that way, but he isn't finishing well regardless. He's still getting to the rim, he's just gotta get those layups and runners to drop.

All the rookies this season have to deal with a compressed learning curve, and Cole probably has the fewest practices of any rookie, with this team. I'm not making excuses, Kyrie has excelled of late. However, I think Cole will learn fine on the job. If those layups drop, he's still everyone's favorite super-rookie. God knows he's missed a lot of them. I'm not gonna complain about missing high-percentage shots, unless he ends up being one of those guys that just never learns to finish.

I do think he needs to work on facilitating in the halfcourt offense. Spo not putting too much on his plate early might be the reason he played like such a chucker early. I don't know, but for someone who runs the pnr well, I only see him running it with Haslem, Pittman and Howard. He needs to learn the offense, and he needs to hit his shots. He's coming up short a lot, so does that mean he needs to work on strength? PEACE.

You can see that he is not used to playing so many games in a short period of time. On B2B he seems worse on the second night. Its like he is tired and is coming up short on a lot of jumpers. But he will get used to it. Also if he perfects that running tear drop it would be killer for us.

[ninjabelly]

cole of bench, chalmers starting.

[Pimpwerx]

Ira, of all people came out with the first good Cole article. I'm surprised, because Skolnick spoke directly to Cole's coach and was prepping an article on what Cole might be thinking out there, but I guess it didn't get approved.

Here are Cole's comments from the article:

"That fast start kind of got everybody real, real extra excited," the first-round pick out of Cleveland State said as he looked ahead to Tuesday night's game against the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers. "I understood it was going to be a process, that there were going to be ups and downs."

"The speed of the game has changed," he said.

"It's not a wall," he insisted. "I'm still confident. I'm still going to step in and take the shots.

"It's a transition. Rookies go through it, I guess. I'm going to continue to get my shots up in the gym. I've got to continue to get in the film room."

"Every team is different in this league," he said. "I haven't played every team yet. So I have to continue to learn. The only way I'm going to learn is when I play 'em."

Here are Battier's excellent and astute comments from the article:

"People figure you out," Battier said. "People may not spend much time on the scouting report in the first couple of games. That's the blessing and curse of being a rookie. You don't know anything as a rookie, but no one really knows your game, either. And so you can really be effective, especially with teams that don't see you too often, just because they don't know who you are.

"But once the word's out on you, people start to read your scouting report a little closer."

"You have to be able to play both ways," Cole acknowledged. "You have to be able to play a physical game, have to be able to play the speed game, and you have to play the in-between game. And the more games like that I play, the better at 'em I get."

"We told him on the bench, 'Look, this is your type of game. This is when we need a spark from you. This is when we need your energy,' " Battier said. "So that's his blessing. His blessing is speed. We were looking for any type of spark. Those are the nights we need him even more."

"He'll get better," Battier said. "There's a reason why they call them rookies, and it's an up-and-down progression. And I think he's being a little hard on himself.

"We said, 'Hey, man, it's a long haul and you're going to be great for us. You've already been great for us. But just keep working. Stay positive. It's not going to be your night every single night, especially on this team.' "

"In college, it's, 'I have to be the man every single night. I have to impact the game every single night,' " Battier said. "Especially as a bench guy, and as a rookie, you're not going to do that. That's just how the NBA game is."

There's more at the link, but it was too much to quote. Cole being hard on himself is probably what drove him to succeed at CSU, since he wasn't heavily-recruited. So long as he doesn't overthink the game, he'll be fine. PEACE.

[salqaddoumi]

Think I have a man crush on Battier.

[EscapoTHB]

I just hope the struggles don't beat Cole down. His swagger is a big part of him as a player. He's like chalmers in that way. We need irrational confidence guys.

[insfo]

Think I have a man crush on Battier.

lol .. +1

[Pimpwerx]

Skolnick finally writes his article on Cole. He recounts how Cole volunteered to lead summer training for CSU so he could lead them to a championship. He's a natural leader. Anyway, there's a lot in the article, but this is a nice update:

Monday, on a non-practice day, Cole got extra work with Erik Spoelstra and two assistants for more than an hour, preparing to face Cleveland on Tuesday night.

"He is learning some new things that he has never done before, and having a little problem in games," Riley said. "So you're having your coffee, and he's banging on the door, like, 'Let's go!' "

Just as Gary Waters warned.

PEACE.

[Miamis3rdRing]

Battier is the man. Such a good guy to have on the team.

Cole will be fine, seems like a hard worker and a guy that wants to win. The guy can get a shot off basically any time he wants to with his speed. Gotta work on finishing near the hoop (The teardrop will be a key part of his arsenal), and continuing to improve the jumper/3-point shot.

Nice articles by Ira and Ethan.

[Pimpwerx]

You can tell Cole put in some work on Monday, because his performance the last two games has been better. He shot 9-17 (one of those a desperation heave). More importantly, he was running the PnR with Bosh, and running it aggressively and well.

I think I said in another thread that a Cole-Bosh/Wade/Bron PnR is gonna end in a Cole shot, 9 times out of 10, and I don't think that's far from the truth. It just makes sense that if you had to defend one of those two guys, you'd go with one of the members of the Big3, and risk the rookie getting a shot off. He looked like he was trying to run it with Bron on the perimeter, but Bron wasn't setting any good picks.

Rio will get his turnovers under control. He's having a rough patch in that regard. PEACE.

[laloo]

Cole should not be in the game with Lebron. Lebron just holds the ball too long and turns Cole into a spot-up shooter which he is not very good at. Chalmers is a much better fit with Lebron.

Cole should be good with Wade and Bosh.

[DefenseWins]

Skolnick finally writes his article on Cole. He recounts how Cole volunteered to lead summer training for CSU so he could lead them to a championship. He's a natural leader. Anyway, there's a lot in the article, but this is a nice update:

Monday, on a non-practice day, Cole got extra work with Erik Spoelstra and two assistants for more than an hour, preparing to face Cleveland on Tuesday night.

"He is learning some new things that he has never done before, and having a little problem in games," Riley said. "So you're having your coffee, and he's banging on the door, like, 'Let's go!' "

Just as Gary Waters warned.

PEACE.

And the next two games, he has played fantastic. Good to see.

Cole should not be in the game with Lebron. Lebron just holds the ball too long and turns Cole into a spot-up shooter which he is not very good at. Chalmers is a much better fit with Lebron.

Cole should be good with Wade and Bosh.

AGREED BIG TIME. LBJ's ballstopping has gotten worse this year... jeez.

[HialeahHeatFan]

Skolnick finally writes his article on Cole. He recounts how Cole volunteered to lead summer training for CSU so he could lead them to a championship. He's a natural leader. Anyway, there's a lot in the article, but this is a nice update:

Monday, on a non-practice day, Cole got extra work with Erik Spoelstra and two assistants for more than an hour, preparing to face Cleveland on Tuesday night.

"He is learning some new things that he has never done before, and having a little problem in games," Riley said. "So you're having your coffee, and he's banging on the door, like, 'Let's go!' "

Just as Gary Waters warned.

PEACE.

And the next two games, he has played fantastic. Good to see.

Cole should not be in the game with Lebron. Lebron just holds the ball too long and turns Cole into a spot-up shooter which he is not very good at. Chalmers is a much better fit with Lebron.

Cole should be good with Wade and Bosh.

AGREED BIG TIME. LBJ's ballstopping has gotten worse this year... jeez.

AGREED X3....when Cole is in the game Lebron should never be bringing the ball upcourt. Dont know how many times this year, lebron has turned the ball over unnessesarily because he pounds the ball and then trys to over dribble in place, behind the back, crossover, spin move, etc then BAM turnover at the end of games. Like how about let a the point guard bring the ball up, then give and go, or slash to the basket. This kills me everytime...Of course this is on the coach to tell the stars what needs to happen.

[Pimpwerx]

Cole should not be in the game with Lebron. Lebron just holds the ball too long and turns Cole into a spot-up shooter which he is not very good at. Chalmers is a much better fit with Lebron.

Cole should be good with Wade and Bosh.

Gotta agree. I was licking my chops when Bron checked into the Pistons game, because Cole was already beasting with Bosh. I was like, "Dis gon' be good." Then Bron whiffed on a few picks and I was like, "Welp! That failed."

Wade sets better screens and runs more than Bron. I really liked how well he ran the pnr with Bosh. I'm assuming it's because teams haven't scouted him running the pnr, but damn was he getting some good shot opportunities.

With his new, confident handle, Rio should be attacking on the pnr more too. I know he has been more aggressive this season, but I feel he still defers a bit much to the Big3, even when he's shooting well. When Rio steps into a shot, I'm very confident it's going in. I hope Spo works with Cole on his jumpshot like he did Rio. PEACE.

[EscapoTHB]

It seems like Cole can get to the rim whenever he wants. It's just sort of 50/50 if he'll make it once he gets there.

He's a good passer, but we really haven't seen much of that side of his game. He's pretty much, like Chalmers, just coming in to score.

He has to be one of the fastest players in the NBA with the ball. That kid changes ends like nothing else. I wonder if he can outrun Lebron up the court.

[Pimpwerx]

It seems like Cole can get to the rim whenever he wants. It's just sort of 50/50 if he'll make it once he gets there.

He's a good passer, but we really haven't seen much of that side of his game. He's pretty much, like Chalmers, just coming in to score.

He has to be one of the fastest players in the NBA with the ball. That kid changes ends like nothing else. I wonder if he can outrun Lebron up the court.

Agreed except the last bit. He has got to be one of the fastest people in the league on the dribble, but Bron is sick when in full sprint. I was at that Cavs game where Cole missed bad with a lob. It hit the backboard, but I remember why Cole sent it. Cole was starting to speed up going up the court, but Lebron put his hand up and went into a full sprint towards the rim. And I never saw Bron in full-sprint before (I've been to a handful of games featuring the Big3), but when he does, it's like he hit warp speed. He took off so damn fast, the pass looked accurate. But then he either backed off a bit or got pushed a bit wide going to the rim, because the pass was early, clanging off the backboard hard. I just remember that moment, because that's the first time I've seen Bron going near full speed, and it was a whole 'nother gear. Cole doesn't have that gear. Realtalk. PEACE.