ecuhus1981 wrote:They're all important games from here on out. This one happens to be a trap game.
From the Simmons news to unusually early injury reports, it feels like our team has on eye on Thursday's game against Philly already. That feeling, plus the fact that Charlotte has looked great against us recently, means that this is a trap game.
The Hornets are a mediocre team, built different. They press and manufacture steals, but they actually don't defend all that well, especially on the interior. Instead, they run and gun, make or miss.
We need our stars to deliver crisp, penetrating passes to our centers, WITHOUT turning over the ball and igniting their fast break. That will force their defense to rotate and either lead to massive points in the paint, or open up great looks for our shooters.
If we play ISO hero ball against a set defense for 48 minutes, even a defense as flawed as Charlotte's, we will lose. We don't have the energy or defensive acumen to neutralize their transition offense.
This is no trap game. its the most important game left on our schedule. last game vs the hornet w/ kyrie in a series they lead 2-0. we lose this the tiebreaker is gone and next game vs them is no kyrie.
if we lose this game, the hornets pick up not 1 but 2 games on us, since they also clinch the tiebreaker.
if that isnt the message from the coaching/team, then we have a bigger problem, which we already knew, since you know "all that matters is improvement"