Game 25: Charlotte Hornets (14-10) @ Indiana Pacers (12-12) - 7:00 PM ET

SmashMouthRod · Post #2 » by **SmashMouthRod** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:36 am

Small sample size but the first ten minutes Indy looked like a team capable of playing with anyone. The moment they went to Stuckey and Big Al, was when the Hornets made a run to close the 10 point gap.

SmashMouthRod · Post #3 » by **SmashMouthRod** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:29 am

This team was much better defensively with GR3. Batum was awful tonight while guarded by GR3. Indy was an improved rebounding team only losing the rebound battle by 4 to a good Charlotte team. Not to mention three blocked shots by GR3 and 11 as a team. I like the upside with Robinson starting. Every night Paul wont have a Kidd Gilchrist like defender on him. If the team defends like this on most nights they will blow a fair number of teams off the floor. Ellis wouldve fit nicely into Brooks minutes next to Stuckey and CJ.

Wizop · Post #4 » by **Wizop** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:40 am

Monta isn't going on three game road trip so the sample size will expand.

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Pacers_Freak · Post #5 » by **Pacers_Freak** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:23 pm

SmashMouthRod wrote:This team was much better defensively with GR3. Batum was awful tonight while guarded by GR3. Indy was an improved rebounding team only losing the rebound battle by 4 to a good Charlotte team. Not to mention three blocked shots by GR3 and 11 as a team. I like the upside with Robinson starting. Every night Paul wont have a Kidd Gilchrist like defender on him. If the team defends like this on most nights they will blow a fair number of teams off the floor. Ellis wouldve fit nicely into Brooks minutes next to Stuckey and CJ.

While we undoubtedly looked much improved I would not chalk rebounding up to something that improved. Our defense was phenomenal. I think how many rebounds a team has is the most over rated stat in basketball. I think rebounding percentage is a much more telling stat. If a team shoots 33% you are going to have more opportunities to rebound than if a team shoots 50%. For example, last night Charlotte missed 56 shots while Indiana only missed 45 shots. To be even, we should have out rebounded them by 11. We got out rebounded by 4. We saw a lot of improvements last night.... rebounding still has a way to go.

8305 · Post #6 » by **8305** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 5:11 pm

Wizop wrote:Monta isn't going on three game road trip so the sample size will expand.

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That's a good thing. Sorry for Monta but he reminds of the bookkeeper who successfully steals by never taking a vacation. Hope the team plays well enough to justify some sort of switch that moves Monta to the bench. If GRIII seizes the opportunity so much the better.