GT: Cats (10-11) v Magic (6-15) Dec 11 @7pm EST

[mrknowitall215]

I swear every time we look like a top 10 team (like we apparently did against GS) we follow it up by looking like the worst team in the league. We have no idea whether we're a top 5 seed in the East, or right there at the bottom and quite frankly, either is possible.

It's a issue of effort & assertiveness. Every time the Bobcats win a confidence boosting win, they get too comfortable & begin to feel like they can just go through the motions as if they 'winners overnight'. Clifford is on it though. He noticed the problem, and I expect for him to let them know about it. This matter starts at the head, the leaders, Kemba Walker (careless turnovers; lackadaisical passes), Gerald Henderson (negligent shot selection; unnecessary fadeaways), & most of all, Al Jefferson (slothful defense; no endeavor to box out or rebound; obscure shooting percentages)

[SpearNMgicHelmt]

It amazes me that we can still manage to be this bad offensively on a consistent basis. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?

Well, I guess it's rather simple. 'Cats lack players good at offense. For now, only legit offense is Kemba, Big Al and Hendo. HM Sessions. That's not too many, and, given they are not first-rate players, from time to time two or even three of them will have a bad game simultaneously.
Kemba looked out of his breath just all the time, he was even hesitant to take threes he usually takes, even open (now, that is what I call lack of energy), Hendo's game is always a lottery, and Big Al was just shut down by Vučević, who is really a great potential. In coming years, with Orlando getting better (and they will) Vučević might just become one of the best centers in the NBA. He's got pretty much everything, even an excellent midrange.
And it's, as usually, that 'Cats can't shoot threes. Kemba stops, Cats stop. Gordon getting is decent shape, that new D-league guy and even JT getting more and more confidence, might heal Cats' disastrous 3pt shooting.

I'm high on Vucevic as well. Orlando has some really nice pieces with him and Oladipo.

[Amateur Wannabe]

I swear every time we look like a top 10 team (like we apparently did against GS) we follow it up by looking like the worst team in the league. We have no idea whether we're a top 5 seed in the East, or right there at the bottom and quite frankly, either is possible.

It's a issue of effort & assertiveness. Every time the Bobcats win a confidence boosting win, they get too comfortable & begin to feel like they can just go through the motions as if they 'winners overnight'. Clifford is on it though. He noticed the problem, and I expect for him to let them know about it. This matter starts at the head, the leaders, Kemba Walker (careless turnovers; lackadaisical passes), Gerald Henderson (negligent shot selection; unnecessary fadeaways), & most of all, Al Jefferson (slothful defense; no endeavor to box out or rebound; obscure shooting percentages)

To be honest, it might also have something to do with fatigue. With Kemba I'd say it was even obvious. He didn't look really present... e.g. I've never seen him so reluctant to take threes. As a young team, they still have a lot to learn about different aspects of game. They are finally trying to climb on a different level now and I hope they'll succeed. And having Biz and MKG out injured doesn't help Bobcats in any way. Guess they would have gotten some extra rebounds last night, maybe even crucial ones.

[mrknowitall215]

To be honest, it might also have something to do with fatigue. With Kemba I'd say it was even obvious. He didn't look really present... e.g. I've never seen him so reluctant to take threes.

I want to say that it was a good thing that he was reluctant to take those threes because he was 4 of 18 shooting at the end of the night. 18 field goal attempts is enough, especially on a night when they weren't going in like last night. I'm not one to encourage lack of aggression, but he needed some resistance last night when it came to perimeter shots. Clifford need to extract some of Dunlap's system into Kemba, and make him attack the rim, get a rhthym, then resort to the jump shot. That's simple rule of thumb when your shot's not falling

[Amateur Wannabe]

To be honest, it might also have something to do with fatigue. With Kemba I'd say it was even obvious. He didn't look really present... e.g. I've never seen him so reluctant to take threes.

I want to say that it was a good thing that he was reluctant to take those threes because he was 4 of 18 shooting at the end of the night. 18 field goal attempts is enough, especially on a night when they weren't going in like last night. I'm not one to encourage lack of aggression, but he needed some resistance last night when it came to perimeter shots. Clifford need to extract some of Dunlap's system into Kemba, and make him attack the rim, get a rhthym, then resort to the jump shot. That's simple rule of thumb when your shot's not falling

To me, he even looked aware that he was not gonna get it going. Guess it just wasn't his night... and lack of his points was actually the main difference between win/lose.

[mrknowitall215]

To me, he even looked aware that he was not gonna get it going. Guess it just wasn't his night... and lack of his points was actually the main difference between win/lose.

The difference between the win/loss last night was team effort & assertiveness, not scoring. That's just the superficial way of looking at it on the surface. I would consider shooting as the difference between win/loss if they were a good shooting team, but they aren't. I wouldn't want to place blame on no one player in particular, but they gave up too many offensive rebounds that lead to too many second-chance points. Beyond that, they had at least a few defensive lapses in the 4th quarter that allowed Orlando to score too easily coming down the final stretch. That was the difference