GT: Hornets vs Cleveland Wed 2/24 7PM EST

[PG13]

More about Al. Cliff said in an interview that they're working on getting the ball to Al in the post earlier. I guess it means our second unit's offence is Al posting up. I was hoping we go with a fast pace run-and-gun type of offence with Lin Lamb and Frank. Or some Lin-Frank PnR. Sigh...

[fatlever]

Jeremy Lin, welcome to the Al Jefferson Clogget Toilet offense that Kemba has been stuck playing in for the past 2 seasons. This appears to be the new offense for the 2nd unit. Gone are any hopes of pick and rolls, open lanes, lobs for dunks, spacing of any kind or room in the paint to operate.

[fatlever]

Oh, and Jorge has a new fan. I love the way he plays, granted I havent seen that broken jumper yet.

If Najera was the Mexicat, what shall we call Jorge?

El Jornet
Diez Dias

El Jornet, brilliant.

[yosemiteben]

More about Al. Cliff said in an interview that they're working on getting the ball to Al in the post earlier. I guess it means our second unit's offence is Al posting up.

His point was that we need to feed him deeper and sooner so we force defenses to adjust and free up shooters. He talked about how we shoot better when the ball goes inside and comes back out instead of just moving it around the perimeter without any penetration.

His point definitely wasn't that we need to run the offense through Al.

[qiantom]

Pulled some stats about Big Al.
FG% 49.4% 2nd highest on the team after Zeller (excluding players that have not played much)
TS% 50.6% tied 2nd lowest, tied with Frank, better than Hairston
USG% 23.8% 2nd highest after Kemba
on/off -3.7 2nd lowest only better than Hairston

He is a dinosaur and not a very good one, and I am not even talking about defense. If he were close to Shaq or Yao on offense, there would be no issue going to him on offense but he is not even close. He does not get FTs and he does not pass well. The only thing he does is shooting 50% on post-ups. There is not really a sound rationale to utilize him that much when his efficiency is so low.

Then you add on his defense and look at his on/off stats. It is hard to argue against him being a net negative to the team. The only player he has been clearly better than is Hairson who is gone now. I hope Clifford decrease Al's minutes and usage more rest of the season.

[fatlever]

I'll be very interested to see Als Drtg for that game. I'd bet its close to 150.

I was close, it was 158.2.2nd worst to Lamb. Al also had 2nd lowest Ortg at 99 (again 2nd to Lamb). Jefferson was a net -59.2 in 21 minutes. Lamb as a net -78.6 in 8 minutes (smaller sample size).

Nobody other than Lamb or Al had an Ortg less than 108.

So, not only did our defense turn to swiss cheese when he was on the floor, but the offense was also worse.

[fatlever]

Sorry, still picking on Al.

This was one of the plays I went back and watched in slow motion several times last night.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/mhonkasalo/status/702900470034124800[/tweet]

http://gfycat.com/AgedFreeGoose

I can't put it all on Al, lots of blame to go around and also Kyrie is tough to defend, but this just illustrates how much Al struggles in pick and roll coverage, nothing new. He can barely move.

[PG13]

More about Al. Cliff said in an interview that they're working on getting the ball to Al in the post earlier. I guess it means our second unit's offence is Al posting up.

His point was that we need to feed him deeper and sooner so we force defenses to adjust and free up shooters. He talked about how we shoot better when the ball goes inside and comes back out instead of just moving it around the perimeter without any penetration.

His point definitely wasn't that we need to run the offense through Al.

Oh ok. I don't remember the ball ever coming back out though. I think having Lin penetrate and feed the shooters on the perimeter is a better option.

[bws94]

More about Al. Cliff said in an interview that they're working on getting the ball to Al in the post earlier. I guess it means our second unit's offence is Al posting up.

His point was that we need to feed him deeper and sooner so we force defenses to adjust and free up shooters. He talked about how we shoot better when the ball goes inside and comes back out instead of just moving it around the perimeter without any penetration.

His point definitely wasn't that we need to run the offense through Al.

Oh ok. I don't remember the ball ever coming back out though. I think having Lin penetrate and feed the shooters on the perimeter is a better option.

He did that, maybe once or twice. There was one where Nick went to Lin, Lin drove to the rim and fed it to Marvin who had a truly long, open look he nailed.

Lin and Jefferson can play PnR and give and go some of the time so the offense doesn't bog down too much, but Al's defense is still a huge problem. Jefferson and Lamb on the floor in the second unit is a problem. Maybe time to go to Lee. He can handle the minutes, knock down 3s, but mostly, he can play good D. I wanted Lamb to work out, but it's late in the season now and he's just not playing well most nights.

[phillycheese]

Al should always be a last option, never the first option. If he is the first option the offense totally bogs down without any ball movement. He does not draw a double team and rarely does he pass the ball out. A few times the ball did go back out but then it came back into the block, but Al did not reestablish better position, just stayed in the same spot.