GT#57: Grizzlies @ Nets |2/24| 7:00pm | ESPN

[PetroNet]

i still dont get the outrage... brook was playing pretty poorly, and blatche was playing well and that unit got us back into the game, and took a late lead. i can see maybe going with brook after the timeotu at what was it, the 3 minute mark? even still, then your going with a guy coming in cold vs a guy who is in the flow and playing well.

i can also see going with lopez and blatche their, but teletovic was giving us good spacing and energy on both ends. Lopez also played very poorly the last time vs the grizz, i think it was just a bad matchup for him.

do you guys think we win if lopez played the 4th isntead of blatche? hard for me to say we would. i think the bigger coaching blunder was the last 2 plays we ran to try and take the lead/tie the game. when has dwill driving to the hoop and tryingt o finished worked this season? id rather have run him off a screen for a catch and shoot or get someone else open.

if marshon hits one of those 17 foot baseline jumpers late, we very liekly win and i dont think we are even having this conversaiton.

Lopez sat most of the 4th the first game against the bucks , we won, everyone killed PJ in the game thread

lopez sat most of the 4th the second game against the bucks, we won, no one cared PJ sat him

i really think its a bit reactionary. blatche has played well for us the last 4-5 games in the 4th and PJ stuck with him. i dont think lopez playign late in any of these games really would have made a big difference. especially last night as he was in a funk and gasol seems to have his number a bit.

[Pen Island]

I just re-watched the game on the ESPN feed and Hubie Brown/ Mike Tireco said that Lopez should have been on the floor because Blatche couldn't guard Randolph in the post and he should be out there for defense.

Makes no sense whatsoever.

Yup. Blatche was getting destroyed by Randolph. If Mirza didn't show up defensively we probably get blown out. He held Gasol to 0 FG in the fourth quarter. I was baffled by PJ not recognizing that Blatche simply tired out.

[MGrand15]

Reactionary? Are you not concerned that our coach thinks its okay to bench our all-star to play Andray Blatche? As a one time thing, I'm perfectly okay with it. 3 out of 4 games since the all star break. One OT game and yesterday's loss. Clearly, CLEARLY the move didn't work. There's no need to defend it. Blatche was also exhausted at the end from playing 16 straight minutes. Whether we win or not is irrelevant.

If you trust your major guys, you say "Blatche, good job bringing us back into the game and giving us the lead but our all-star is going to put the game away." That's what happens 99% of the time in the NBA. For whatever reason, Blatche can do no wrong in the eyes of the coaching staff.

There's also the fact that Blatche is surrounded by shooters and Lopez is surrounded by Gerald Wallace and Reggie Evans. How can we see it while the coaching staff doesn't? How are you supposed to score on Marc Gasol (DPOY candidate) when Randolph and Tayshaun Prince have a foot in the paint? Before you say anything, Blatche did NOT score on Gasol.

[PetroNet]

I just re-watched the game on the ESPN feed and Hubie Brown/ Mike Tireco said that Lopez should have been on the floor because Blatche couldn't guard Randolph in the post and he should be out there for defense.

Makes no sense whatsoever.

Yup. Blatche was getting destroyed by Randolph. If Mirza didn't show up defensively we probably get blown out. He held Gasol to 0 FG in the fourth quarter. I was baffled by PJ not recognizing that Blatche simply tired out.

this is a giant overstatment not supported by facts. blatche certainly did not get "destroyed" by randolf.

Zbo had 4 points on 2-5 shooting, blatche blocked him once, stole it from him once and Zbo had just 1 offenisve rebound.

how exactly is that being destroyed? revisionist history at its best

[PetroNet]

Reactionary? Are you not concerned that our coach thinks its okay to bench our all-star to play Andray Blatche? As a one time thing, I'm perfectly okay with it. 3 out of 4 games since the all star break. One OT game and yesterday's loss. Clearly, CLEARLY the move didn't work. There's no need to defend it. Blatche was also exhausted at the end from playing 16 straight minutes. Whether we win or not is irrelevant.

im nto advocating that we go with blatche to close out the 4th as a general rule. but last night and in the 2 bucks games i think ti was warranted and defensable. Lopez REALLY struggled against sanders and the bucks, while blatche played really well late in those games.

the first bucks game blatche helped us get back in it. we went to lopez in OT, and he played really poorly in that OT frame and didnt play well overall.

the second contest, where lopez really didnt have anything going, and sanders blocked him a bunch early Blatche came in late and had i believe 10-5 in the 4th quarter alone and helped us close out and win that game.

If you trust your major guys, you say "Blatche, good job bringing us back into the game and giving us the lead but our all-star is going to put the game away." That's what happens 99% of the time in the NBA. For whatever reason, Blatche can do no wrong in the eyes of the coaching staff.

i think in circumstances where blatche is playing really well, and lopezx really poorly, in a game you are behind in and blatche plays well on a unit that brings you back to tie/take the lead, it warrants leaving him in.

There's also the fact that Blatche is surrounded by shooters and Lopez is surrounded by Gerald Wallace and Reggie Evans. How can we see it while the coaching staff doesn't? How are you supposed to score on Marc Gasol (DPOY candidate) when Randolph and Tayshaun Prince have a foot in the paint? Before you say anything, Blatche did NOT score on Gasol.

blatche played along side evans/wallace (first bucks game) and wallace (second bucks game) not mirza

[Pen Island]

I just re-watched the game on the ESPN feed and Hubie Brown/ Mike Tireco said that Lopez should have been on the floor because Blatche couldn't guard Randolph in the post and he should be out there for defense.

Makes no sense whatsoever.

Yup. Blatche was getting destroyed by Randolph. If Mirza didn't show up defensively we probably get blown out. He held Gasol to 0 FG in the fourth quarter. I was baffled by PJ not recognizing that Blatche simply tired out.

this is a giant overstatment not supported by facts. blatche certainly did not get "destroyed" by randolf.

Zbo had 4 points on 2-5 shooting, blatche blocked him once, stole it from him once and Zbo had just 1 offenisve rebound.

how exactly is that being destroyed? revisionist history at its best

By down the stretch I literally meant down the stretch. When Blatche tired ZBO scored his 5 points including an and-1. Blatche was playing very good defense on ZBO before he tired.

[Paradise]

Lopez played poorly offensively, yes. Defense is where the outrage comes from, Petro. Mike Conley got nothing but wide open layups everytime we scored because Blatche has no interior presence, meanwhile Lopez would have contested any penetration.

Conley or any guards did not get any layups when Lopez was in the game for the majority of the game compared to when Blatche comes in, it was clear as day but instead PJ yells at Blatche for it instead of making the proper adjustment.

Since Tetetovic was in the game, Lopez would have had a much easier time getting in the post position to make shots or draw a foul as well since Gasol/Randolph wouldn't come out and guard him on the 3 point line which then makes it easier for Lopez to pass if doubled or attack Gasol if it's single coverage.


You cannot find any excuse for it, It's disgraceful coaching.

[MGrand15]

Please, please tell me how Blatche was playing REALLY well - especially after the 9 minute mark in the 4th. The Grizzlies were going into the paint with absolutely no worries. He also got blocked and missed a wide open jumper. He was also gassed from playing 15 straight minutes.

So if our bench unit makes a positive impact (brings us back or takes the lead), we should ignore our starters? Also, why is our come back put squarely on Blatche's shoulders? Was he carrying us down the stretch? Was he the leader of that unit? I'm pretty sure we took the lead because of Deron Williams and to a lesser extent, Mirza. I'm not sure why Blatche is getting all the credit.

I don't see how you defend the move when upper management clearly talked to PJ about it and he himself said "it wasn't the best idea he's ever had and it won't happen again." Even that moron knows that it was a bad move. With or without the benefit of hindsight, Brook should've came back in the game at the 6 minute mark.

[Paradise]

YES had the camera on Prokorov's face and he looked so pissed everytime Blatche let Conley walts into the paint for uncontested layups.

It's sad this joke of a coaching staff came into this season thinking we are all stupid and insulting people's intelligence like this. Proky and Jay-Z have just as good a BBIQ as fans and they know damn well, there is no way in hell should be logging All-Star minutes over the actual all-star of the team.

Putting Marshon on Tyshaun Prince was equally as stupid and it ruined the defensive rotations and Prince got 5 points in the last 2 minutes which actually won them the game because of it.

Bogans on Tony Allen? WHY? He isn't going to score. Marshon on Tyshaun Prince...Yup makes sense. Especially after seeing Prince posting him up all game and scoring on his ass. Then, when Bogans guarded Tyshaun he forced him into a turnover.

I'm so glad ownership was there to see that crap.

[isekii]

From this game the only thing I approved was

Marshon getting minutes
Teletovic getting minutes

Marshon didn't shoot too well, but some of his shots went in and out.

Lopez/Wallace didn't play well at all.

[Pen Island]

From this game the only thing I approved was

Marshon getting minutes
Teletovic getting minutes

Marshon didn't shoot too well, but some of his shots went in and out.

Lopez/Wallace didn't play well at all.

Marshon had a sick fadeaway jumper of Tony Allen that was simply Kobe-esque. It went in and out. Had that fallen we likely win the game.

Also, with Marshon and Mirza in the game we had Tony on Marshon and Prince on Mirza. Talk about respect.

[vincecarter4pres]

I'm really with MBD and NIN, really starting to think there is just no way PJ is this stupid. He's more or less sabotaging the season and attempting to poison the locker room and destroy player's trade value so the effects carry over to when he's gone.

It sounds pretty tinfoil hat on the surface, but this is a league where the coaches admitted to not voting Lopez in the ASG as a statement of standing up for their fallen comrade Little Custer.

Gross.

[Jersey Generals]

I'm really with MBD...

Serious question, who?

[Keith Van Horn]

I'm really with MBD...

Serious question, who?

the one and only MrDollarBills?

[Keith Van Horn]

So we might see a lineup of Mirza, Blatche, and Lopez at some point?

There was also some talk of playing Lopez and Andray Blatche together up front and Mirza Teletovic at small forward.

Not sure how this would work...

But how about running Blatche and Lopez together starting, and then have Mirza and Evans as subs? Evans is small for playing center but he getz teh reboundz and is tough so let him try it out.

Lopez and Blatche frontcourt... I'm all about trying it out at this point. I know it will probably work better next year with a new offensive system but let the players start getting some symmetry now.

Trade Hump/Brooks for a backup SG in the off season. Sign a backup center like Mozgov.

[vincecarter4pres]

I'm really with MBD...

Serious question, who?

the one and only MrDollarBills?

Yeah I meant MDB, MBD.

[MGrand15]

The fact that there's rumblings about playing Mirza at SF shows how clueless PJ is. Avery did the same thing with Shawne Williams. It really shows how out of touch this guy is with the league.

The whole point of a stretch 4 is to pull the opposing big man out of the paint, why in the world would you play a guy like that at 3? It completely nullifies his main strength and puts him in the position where he needs to guard 3s on the perimeter and chase them off screens.

Have you seen the Mavs play Dirk at 3 recently? Or the Spurs play Matt Bonner at 3? Or the Heat play Bosh at 3? Or the Bucks with Ilyasova? Or the Jazz when they had Okur?

If PJ plays Mirza at 3, I hope Prok fires him in the middle of the game Vince McMahon style.

[PetroNet]

So we might see a lineup of Mirza, Blatche, and Lopez at some point?

There was also some talk of playing Lopez and Andray Blatche together up front and Mirza Teletovic at small forward.

Not sure how this would work...

if we go to the zone i think it could work. and we have gone zone much more recently

But how about running Blatche and Lopez together starting, and then have Mirza and Evans as subs? Evans is small for playing center but he getz teh reboundz and is tough so let him try it out.

Lopez and Blatche frontcourt... I'm all about trying it out at this point. I know it will probably work better next year with a new offensive system but let the players start getting some symmetry now.

Trade Hump/Brooks for a backup SG in the off season. Sign a backup center like Mozgov.

even fi blatch is backing up lopez at center, you can still go with both of them to close out games. not sure why it hasnt happened. sucks we didint trade hump, it would have really forced PJ's hand

[PetroNet]

By down the stretch I literally meant down the stretch. When Blatche tired ZBO scored his 5 points including an and-1. Blatche was playing very good defense on ZBO before he tired.

that wasnt the case, Zbo didnt score anytime in the last 8 minutes of the game, let alone down the stretch.

maybe your just misremembering a bit... easily done in a game with so much going on... anyhow, Zbo only had 4 points in the quarter(he missed the FT on the and1 - irrelevant either way).

Zbo's first bucket came 41 seconds into the 4th quarter, it was the grizz first points of the 4th quarter. his only other bucket in teh 4th came at the 8:50 mark (the "and 1" play).

he didnt score again for the rest of the game.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/playbypla ... 1&period=4

[Pen Island]

By down the stretch I literally meant down the stretch. When Blatche tired ZBO scored his 5 points including an and-1. Blatche was playing very good defense on ZBO before he tired.

that wasnt the case, Zbo didnt score anytime in the last 8 minutes of the game, let alone down the stretch.

maybe your just misremembering a bit... easily done in a game with so much going on... anyhow, Zbo only had 4 points in the quarter(he missed the FT on the and1 - irrelevant either way).

Zbo's first bucket came 41 seconds into the 4th quarter, it was the grizz first points of the 4th quarter. his only other bucket in teh 4th came at the 8:50 mark (the "and 1" play).

he didnt score again for the rest of the game.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/playbypla ... 1&period=4

Then I'm completely misremembering.