GT: Cats @ Nets Wed Mar 19 7:30PM EST

[Radu_Hornets]

You guys... smh...

any time we lose, everyone on this team blows. "We have to upgrade Kemba", "Biz is worse than Plumlee", etc......

any time we win, they're gods.

You sir, deserve more and1.

[gehenherzog]

You guys... smh...

any time we lose, everyone on this team blows. "We have to upgrade Kemba", "Biz is worse than Plumlee", etc......

any time we win, they're gods.

I will say that we have to have Kemba playing more consistently for us to be more consistent.

My ideal situation would be to get Tolliver his minutes back. We play good basketball when he's shooting well. Starting to see that Henderson is not really that good of a fit in the roster even though he's played decently well the last couple games.

We absolutely need CDR starting over Henderson

[Snidely FC]

Everybody loves to dissect the individual. What a lot of people consistently overlook is that we've been winning with tremendous team chemistry and group effort. You take away any one individual from that and it messes with the team (you can't howl about getting rid of McBob because he misses some 3 pointers, for instance, he's too important to the functioning of the team).

The other aspect of winning via chemistry and effort is that the team with the best talent usually wins. The Nets just have more talent than the Cats. We still almost beat the f****rs.

[gehenherzog]

Everybody loves to dissect the individual. What a lot of people consistently overlook is that we've been winning with tremendous team chemistry and group effort. You take away any one individual from that and it messes with the team (you can't howl about getting rid of McBob because he misses some 3 pointers, for instance, he's too important to the functioning of the team).

The other aspect of winning via chemistry and effort is that the team with the best talent usually wins. The Nets just have more talent than the Cats. We still almost beat the f****rs.

Kemba has to be more consistent. I'm not saying replace him, but he has to play better consistently if we are going to beat teams. Last night was another bad performance on his part. He plays well, we win.

Looking at the box score, if we don't turn it over twice as many times as they do, we win easily.

[ball teacher]

Everybody loves to dissect the individual. What a lot of people consistently overlook is that we've been winning with tremendous team chemistry and group effort. You take away any one individual from that and it messes with the team (you can't howl about getting rid of McBob because he misses some 3 pointers, for instance, he's too important to the functioning of the team).

The other aspect of winning via chemistry and effort is that the team with the best talent usually wins. The Nets just have more talent than the Cats. We still almost beat the f****rs.

I agree that last night was just an example of us being outmatched by a team who had better players at almost every position and yet we still almost won. I will say that spacing, and 3 point shooting is really being pushed to the teams detriment. If you live by the three you die by the three.

Cliff is very lucky to have Al Jefferson who's been flat out dominant inside for us, cause it allows him to try this system that relies heavily upon outside shooting. The problem is, we dont really have the team for that. Sure, Neal can hit 3s, Tolliver can hit them, and CDR and Mcbob can hit them, but our "core players" Hendo, Kemba, MKG arent perimeter oriented jump shooters. Because MKG isn't we dont even play him many times in the 4th quarter no matter how well he plays and how effective of a overall offensive player he is.

Because of the system we have that really doesnt fit this team, hendo gets bashed unfairly imo, (and I hate Hendo and all Duke players) Hendo plays tough defense for us, he is a viable option in the half court offense with his mid range jumpers, he takes charges, he rebounds, and he's a integral part of why we are a top defensive team. We cant blast him for limitiations when every player on this team has severe limitations. I'd rather incorporate more styles to our offense that benefit our team.

We run the offense through our bigs, Jefferson is getting doubled and tripled almost nightly, so why not feature a offense where the ball goes through Al and we have a series of backdoor cuts or screens for players like MKG, Hendo and Kemba, that suits their play better. When we bring in our bench, (the perimeter shooters) let those guys stay outside for the spacing that's needed in todays new small ball Euro style of play, since those guys are shooters and will benefit from big Al's presence inside.

We have the talent and depth to actually make some noise in the playoffs, we just have to coach the guys we have and not a system that for the most part doesnt really fit.

[yosemiteben]

Maybe off topic, but "live by the three, die by the three" is my number one pet peeve. It should be changed to "live by your offense, die by your offense" and then never used because it's such an obvious statement. If you try to do something, and then you don't do a good job at it, yes you are going to fail. This is not unique to three point shooting,

[BobsBuddy]

When we pulled even with them from 12 down I thought OK we can beat these guys. No KG and PP not scoring+ a win ..Right? Then ThorntonBlatche,Livingston, and Plumlee left us it their review mirror and we played catch up running out of time. Hope we win one soon.

[yosemiteben]

I'm not thrilled that Blatche was pretty successful at locking down Big Al down the stretch. They usually doubled, but not quickly or particularly aggressively. I think it was Blatche's on ball defense that gave Al trouble more than the passive doubles he saw. I think Al was more distracted by the doubles than he needed to be.

And good lord, between Cody and Plumlee it was like watching two shining examples of the type of physique that pudgy middle aged white guys like me can only dream of ever having. They are both incredibly cut.

[yosemiteben]

@ball teacher, I have to say your post was a solid take and pretty thought provoking. I agree that Hendo gets a bad rap unfairly because his skill set doesn't really fit what we're trying to do, but I really like the spacing we get in our system and think I'd rather try to get better pieces than switch systems.

I do think we try to incorporate back cuts and plays off the ball when Al has it on the block, but agree that we could use some work in that department.

[Eoghan]

Because of the system we have that really doesnt fit this team, hendo gets bashed unfairly imo, (and I hate Hendo and all Duke players) Hendo plays tough defense for us, he is a viable option in the half court offense with his mid range jumpers, he takes charges, he rebounds, and he's a integral part of why we are a top defensive team. We cant blast him for limitiations when every player on this team has severe limitations. I'd rather incorporate more styles to our offense that benefit our team.

The problem is that Hendo isn't really elite at anything, unless you include fadeaway midrange jumpers which are one of the least efficient shots an offense should avoid. MKG is an elite defender, his ability to sag off his man in the corner to help Al/McBob/Zeller in the post and sprint back to cover his guy is a huge part of our defense's success. Kemba's quickness and handles make him our best penetrator, a vital component for a successful offense. McBob is our best passer and hits a decent 3 ball, his height and craftiness is vital for setting up Al on the block.

Hendo is a solid, all-around player and I like having him as a Bobcat but he's an odd man out and doesn't bring anything to the table. He'll probably continue to start over Neal b/c Neal can't defend but honestly CDR and his pedestrian shooting fits with our starters a lot better. Imagine if we had a SG that could defend his position capably and really shoot?

[Marvel]

Teams have figured out how to defend us now. Al is seeing a whole lot of doubles/triple teams lately and we don't have the shooters to make them pay for it. I would imagine since Al's hot streak(player of the week), teams are paying more attention on shutting him down.

[mrknowitall215]

Al Jefferson just need to pass the ball out of the double team more often instead of trying to force the issue like he's very successfully been able to in the months of January through February. Yes, teams are double & triple teaming him a lot more aggressively than they have previously over the past 5 games or so, which has led to a lot of Jefferson turnovers at a higher rate than his usual. One benefit could be to play CDR in the starting lineup over Henderson since he's proven to be a 3-point threat, but I don't think Clifford have the brass to bench tenured Henderson even though it's for the betterment of the team, rotations, and lineups

[MasterIchiro]

Henderson's minutes haven't shrunk at all since Clifford's speech about no more development and no more playing time based on seniority. Hendo must be giving out mean lean BJ's. I can't think of any other reason.

[catch20two]

Henderson's minutes haven't shrunk at all since Clifford's speech about no more development and no more playing time based on seniority. Hendo must be giving out mean lean BJ's. I can't think of any other reason.

Hendo has been buying himself some time on the floor by making a few 3s since returning from injury but he still be reluctant to shoot it from beyond the arc when open sometimes.

[Eoghan]

Start: Kemba, CDR, MKG, McBob, Al
Bench: Ridnour, Neal, Hendo, Zeller, Biz

seems logical to me. Undersized wings in the 2nd unit but Zeller and Biz are capable of cleaning up their messes, Floggin Tolly can be worked in if one of them ain't doing jack.

[Diop]

Henderson's minutes haven't shrunk at all since Clifford's speech about no more development and no more playing time based on seniority. Hendo must be giving out mean lean BJ's. I can't think of any other reason.

I think its because of his "leadership" or some crap like that.

[LamarMatic7]

Henderson's minutes haven't shrunk at all since Clifford's speech about no more development and no more playing time based on seniority. Hendo must be giving out mean lean BJ's. I can't think of any other reason.

I think its because of his "leadership" or some crap like that.

it isn't really anything that surprising. veterans tend to hold on to their starting spots even when they aren't necessarily the best fit because of the dues they've paid and coaches being unwilling to risk a shake-up and leave the veteran's pride hurt.

[HornetJail]

Start: Kemba, CDR, MKG, McBob, Al
Bench: Ridnour, Neal, Hendo, Zeller, Biz

seems logical to me. Undersized wings in the 2nd unit but Zeller and Biz are capable of cleaning up their messes, Floggin Tolly can be worked in if one of them ain't doing jack.

Rather see this:
Al/McBob/MKG/CDR/Kemba
Biz/Zeller/Tolliver/Hendo/Neal (or Pargo if Neal is in garbage mode, or Ridnour if both are in garbage mode)


I might even be down for this:
Al/McBob/Tolliver/MKG/Kemba
Biz/Zeller/Hendo/CDR/Neal

[LamarMatic7]

Start: Kemba, CDR, MKG, McBob, Al
Bench: Ridnour, Neal, Hendo, Zeller, Biz

seems logical to me. Undersized wings in the 2nd unit but Zeller and Biz are capable of cleaning up their messes, Floggin Tolly can be worked in if one of them ain't doing jack.

Rather see this:
Al/McBob/MKG/CDR/Kemba
Biz/Zeller/Tolliver/Hendo/Neal (or Pargo if Neal is in garbage mode, or Ridnour if both are in garbage mode)


I might even be down for this:
Al/McBob/Tolliver/MKG/Kemba
Biz/Zeller/Hendo/CDR/Neal

I'd prefer this as well. Tolliver is deserving of regular PT.