GT: Spurs @ Hornets Wed Jan 14th 7PM EST

[Snidely FC]

BTW, (despite still getting 28 pts) last night Kemba missed a lot of the shots that were falling for him over the previous week, and that made all the difference in this game. It was obvious to begin the game that SA's defensive focus was to contain Kemba. Unlike the previous 5 games, he had to work extremely hard for every inch. By the second half I thought you could see the wear and tear on his shot. Hopefully he learns that in a game where the defense is smothering him, he may need to defer a little more . . .

[MasterIchiro]

BTW, (despite still getting 28 pts) last night Kemba missed a lot of the shots that were falling for him over the previous week, and that made all the difference in this game. It was obvious to begin the game that SA's defensive focus was to contain Kemba. Unlike the previous 5 games, he had to work extremely hard for every inch. By the second half I thought you could see the wear and tear on his shot. Hopefully he learns that in a game where the defense is smothering him, he may need to defer a little more . . .

Agreed. At the same time, it would be nice if we had a weapon who could consistently make other teams pay for smothering Kemba like that.

[mrknowitall215]

BTW, (despite still getting 28 pts) last night Kemba missed a lot of the shots that were falling for him over the previous week, and that made all the difference in this game. It was obvious to begin the game that SA's defensive focus was to contain Kemba. Unlike the previous 5 games, he had to work extremely hard for every inch. By the second half I thought you could see the wear and tear on his shot. Hopefully he learns that in a game where the defense is smothering him, he may need to defer a little more . . .

Despite the disappointment of adding a loss to our record, I was encouraged by last night's game. Kemba having a off night was far from the difference though in my humble opinion. There were many detractors from Kemba's shooting, lack of a 2nd scoring option, Stephenson still being rusty if we can still call it that, down to poor officiating, but I'd say the biggest difference in this loss was that we missed over 10 free throw attempts in a 5 point loss. The Spurs gave us everything they got, and didn't take us lightly. I'd say that we played well. Kemba will make those shots --- missed some good looks. In this new 'Kemball' offense that we're running, Kemba has to remain aggressive offensively to keep the defense on it's heels, allowing Henderson, MKG, and Zeller the opportunity to attack the rim on the swing pass once the defense's tilted focus is on Kemba. It worked last night. The mutual respect of the referees for the Spurs didn't give us the benefit of a lot of 75/25 calls that should've went our way, but we made them work defensively

All in all, we have to make our free throws at at least 80% clip

[yosemiteben]

Kemba, Hendo and MKG were a combined 15 - 44 from the field, right around 34%. Tough to win like that.

[HornetJail]

Kemba, Hendo and MKG were a combined 15 - 44 from the field, right around 34%. Tough to win like that.

yet we nearly did.

[Hornet Mania]

Our defense gives us a chance to stay in games even when the majority of our guys are shooting poorly. That's been the biggest difference over these last six games, even though we had lapses last night on a couple Spur runs for the most part the defense was up to the task of keeping the game within reach. That's the key for this team. If we keep up this defensive intensity for the next 40+ games we'll comfortably make the playoffs, if we slack off or let Al's return derail our improvement on that end of the floor we'll be drafting 8th. Our offense is never going to be above-average with this roster construction, doesn't matter if we run it through Kemba or Al, slow or fast pace, it's going to be relatively mediocre. If we play Biz/MKG 25-30mpg our defense can at least be elite, and that gives me optimism. Kemba's heart and everyone else pitching in can scrape together the points we need from there.