What is our weakness thread

[Braggins]

It looks like Lance didn't get many shots up in the off-season. I think by mid-season we'll start to see some decent 3 point production from him. Kemba isn't shooting too bad from behind the arc. Neal is lighting it up. I think we will eventually see some more adjustments and our offense will improve as the season goes on. We need to find more balance. We have enough offensive weapons to at least be above average once our guys figure out how to play with each other. I'm really worried about our defense though. I'm not trying to make Biyombo out to be more than he is but given our current situation we just have to play BIz as our backup C unless we trade for another one. We are going to have to make some adjustments now that it is clear that every team in the league knows how to exploit our defense (Al). This could mean starting Zeller at PF or even reducing Al's minutes some and run some lineups like Kemba/Lance/MKG/Marvin/Zeller or Kemba/Neal/Lance/MKG/Zeller for stretches to improve our defense and give us another dimension offensively with lineups that could really push the pace and still have respectable shooting to get by on offense. Al is one of the better and most efficient offensive weapons in the league but his defense can be a massive liability when he isn't producing on offense or the other team is particularly well suited to exploiting his d. We need to find ways to get by offensively by getting into transition and utilizing our two excellent pick and roll ball-handlers so that we can play defense heavy lineups when we need to. With our current rotation we almost never have a lineup in the game that doesn't have massive defensive weakness in certain areas. We currently definitely aren't in good enough shape on offense to win shootouts with teams and that is probably never going to be ideal with this roster anyways so we absolutely have to find ways to defend at a much higher level. Clifford is showing the willingness to make adjustments so I really think we will be fine eventually on offense. Although, it is hard to imagine Clifford making any adjustments to reduce Al's role even a little bit which could become an issue at some point and we might be stuck with a mediocre or even below average defense.

[Bassman]

I can understand why Clifford uses Alfense; he really has no other options. Al is our best offensive player by far. His defense hurts us, but it is what it is. Lance will get it together but it will take time for everyone to gel. I said before the season that our expectations should be tempered, looking to NEXT season as our true big step forward. Noah needs time to grow and develop. Trades will need to occur.

For now I would start Zeller ahead of Marvin. Use Biz in reserve instead of shorty. Biz with Marvin might be a really good pairing.

[mrknowitall215]

Can anyone explain to me why Al Jefferson (95.6) have a lower offensive rating than the overall team (96.9) when the offense runs through him and supposedly is at it's best when he touches the ball? That's not good

Source: http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612766 ... /advanced/

[Snidely FC]

When not going to Al, Coach wants to run the offense through the high post. I thought with McRoberts gone, Lance might take up that role as high post facilitator. Instead, it's been Zeller, who has occupied that spot. While his shooting has been effective from there, he is not a facilitator (in fact he's a poor passer). Meanwhile, there is no where left on the floor for Lance. Gotta figure that out. It's a mess.

[LamarMatic7]

Can anyone explain to me why Al Jefferson (95.6) have a lower offensive rating than the overall team (96.9) when the offense runs through him and supposedly is at it's best when he touches the ball? That's not good

Source: http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612766 ... /advanced/

I'd say mostly because he's been mediocre so far. He's missing makeable shots, having surprisingly bad misses on jumpers from time to time and to make matters worse has been a legit black hole so far. As I already wrote in my blog, I don't think there are a lot of good passing options for him out there, yet it still isn't an excuse with some of the shots he has attempted over two or three defenders.

He's not on the same level on which he was during the last three months of last season.

[catch20two]

Can anyone explain to me why Al Jefferson (95.6) have a lower offensive rating than the overall team (96.9) when the offense runs through him and supposedly is at it's best when he touches the ball? That's not good

Source: http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612766 ... /advanced/

Because Alfense is mediocre. We need a more team oriented offense. Al would still get his touches and about 20 points a game but more importantly it would keep defenses guessing. I'm not saying not to feed him a healthy amount of touches in the post per game but we need to mix it up a little more. It's no surprise that the inefficient Kemba has a better to equal offensive rating than Big Al because he's the other option that play a different brand of ball than Alfense. Kemba never really look for his shot until Big Al is on the bench and it shouldn't be like that as if they are taking turns.

[JDR720]

So far, just about everything.

-The offense might be the worst in the NBA
-What happened to the defense?
-Chemistry is a big weakness, the best players have no idea how to play together
-Injuries, its a big problem so far this season

[riversupremo]

I have to agree with a lot of the above points, but I do feel bad that Jefferson's taking a lot of the heat. I feel like his weaknesses should already have been taken account by the coaching staff and the rest of the team. (And I'd still take him over a bunch of other pseudo-star players!)

Right now, a couple of things stand out for me:

Lance
Sure, he may not have been a real scorer in the first place, and as others have mentioned, he's not exactly the perfect fit, but man, where is the playmaking that he was supposed to bring? He's streaky, but I wish he would at least find ways to disrupt the defense for Kemba/Al to get better opportunities. Big letdown.

Also, I also wonder how he feels about his role about the team, so far. The media made a big deal when he got benched. He's supposed to be integral to this team and maybe the chemistry isn't there yet.

Defense
A lot of analysts and rankings pegged us as scary defensive team before the season started. I'm pretty sure the term "Dark Horse" was thrown around a lot. Right now, our DRtg is below league average right now. I'm hoping this is just a chemistry/early-in-the-season woes and that we'll right it soon.(Somebody made a great point about how this roster is of the Plan C variety, so I guess these early season struggles are to be expected.)

Depth / Line-up
I feel like we're so thin! Neal's our best (and only reliable) shooter and he's excellent at what he does, but sometimes he tries to do too much. Ask Spurs/Bucks fans how they feel about him. Though now that I think about it, maybe it's the other way around, and we're asking Neal, a utility player, to do too much. Hopefully Hairston can come along faster and join Neal as a reliable shooter, while Zeller develops quicker and supplants Marvin Williams. Also wish we had someone like Dunleavy or Korver, or just any solid league-proven rotation player.

[Braggins]

We have a lot of issues but I think you could make the case that injuries have been our biggest problem thus far.

[Youkilledrock]

The jerseys.