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Post by meangreen on Feb 23, 2019 16:34:42 GMT -5
Hi all...Well here it is stretch time and I know we're all hoping the team gets its act together and becomes the team we were all looking for at the beginning of the year. Obviously that's not been the case a little too often for me I know and I can guess for all of you as well. Watching this team I've noticed somethings that will either take us where we want to go or will make the season a big disappointment. I always look for a few things off the bat for us during the games which will determine how things will go. In no particular order: are we playing D?, can we rebound?, what kind of shots are we taking?, and are we getting shots we want and making them? How many of you have noticed how our D comes and goes? We can suffocate teams at times & then leave guys wide open for killer 3s or give up easy baskets. Vs Mil we'd make a 3 & turn around & give it right back. That was a huge reason we lost that gm. The rebounding gets me too. IMHO we give up too many O-boards or maybe we just give them up at a bad time. I also hate our shot selection at times. Tatum & JB need to drive the ball more instead of settling for Js. I'd like to see Semi drive the ball too. ESPECIALLY when a team jacks up a 3 & misses we should be looking to just get a basket instead of jacking up our own 3. It may not be true but for some reason I feel T Ro is the biggest culprit here probably because he's not shooting the ball as well as he did last yr. If it's there that's one thing but we should be looking to capitalize on bad 3 vs us by getting to the rack & getting points/fouls. We also need to finish gms better too. Don't get a big lead & turn it into a nail biter at the end. Finally a huge key to our success lies IMHO in one Gordon Hayward. If we can get the player we saw vs Phi & Det we're going to be a much different team going into the playoffs. I've got more but I'll let you guys chew on that for a bit. It's good to be back...
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Post by eja117 on Feb 23, 2019 21:08:17 GMT -5
Definitely 3s are an issue and definitely Gordon is an issue. I was beginning to think this team is on the verge of just going with the youth movement
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Post by Roadrunner on Feb 23, 2019 23:39:37 GMT -5
The underlying theme/issue this year is Brad playing Hayward. Brad plays Hayward, then Brown/Rozier do not show up.
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Post by mev17 on Feb 23, 2019 23:55:37 GMT -5
I definitely agree about the lack of defense. To me there is no good explanation as to how a team that ranked in the top 5 defensively can have such horrendous defense as they did tonight against the Bulls and in the second halves vs the LA teams. They act like defense is a part-time commitment rather than the key to their success.
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Post by jmost on Feb 24, 2019 8:19:45 GMT -5
I definitely agree about the lack of defense. To me there is no good explanation as to how a team that ranked in the top 5 defensively can have such horrendous defense as they did tonight against the Bulls and in the second halves vs the LA teams. They act like defense is a part-time commitment rather than the key to their success. Agreed mev. I also think that when things get tough everyone seems to want to score it themselves. Ball movement disappears in favor of what Doc used to call Hero Ball. I don't know if it's fair to say that Brad has lost the team, but they sure seem to diverge from the plan way too often.
Another thing: we forced a lot of passes (including one horrible over the shoulder blind pass by Smart that was intercepted) when the Bulls made their big run. I think this team gets cocky and sloppy when they think they're the better team instead of respecting the opponent and the game. IMO Smart is the worst offender, but Kyrie also forced some passes, as did Morris. |
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Post by Roadrunner on Feb 24, 2019 12:14:54 GMT -5
I definitely agree about the lack of defense. To me there is no good explanation as to how a team that ranked in the top 5 defensively can have such horrendous defense as they did tonight against the Bulls and in the second halves vs the LA teams. They act like defense is a part-time commitment rather than the key to their success. Agreed mev. I also think that when things get tough everyone seems to want to score it themselves. Ball movement disappears in favor of what Doc used to call Hero Ball. I don't know if it's fair to say that Brad has lost the team, but they sure seem to diverge from the plan way too often.
Another thing: we forced a lot of passes (including one horrible over the shoulder blind pass by Smart that was intercepted) when the Bulls made their big run. I think this team gets cocky and sloppy when they think they're the better team instead of respecting the opponent and the game. IMO Smart is the worst offender, but Kyrie also forced some passes, as did Morris. Brad use to be an ATO (after the time out) genius. Last year, I think it was the confetti game, Brad draws up a play to a one on one in paint, where RoCo had no chance versus Horford. What happened? Kyrie returned. I do not think Brad is equipped to coach this diva, and it rubs off badly on the rest of the team. |
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Post by eja117 on Feb 24, 2019 16:05:49 GMT -5
If you're gonna be a diva like this you have to be in the MVP conversation or top 5 talent in the league conversation and Kyrie is neither of those
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Feb 24, 2019 20:43:29 GMT -5
I agree on the defense coming and going. And the defense is a function of the effort given by the players. Against the Bulls, they just weren't playing hard and were sleep walking through the game.
I also agree on the hero ball. Kyrie and Rozier both play way too much iso ball and the ball movement goes right down the drain. Rozier was a -16 for the Bull's game. He was just 1-9 from the field and didn't really look to pass.
Also, Jayson Tatum was on fire and scored the team's first 7 points and then suddenly he didn't get the ball any more. He took just 9 shots and hit 5 of them.
These things are on the coach in my opinion. He should have called them out and told them to feed the hot hand. He should have stopped the hero ball and pulled them if they weren't putting out the effort. He said that he felt that the loss was on him and I think to a point, he was right. He can't make players give an effort but he can pull them when they show bad habits and fail to give effort.
Part of the problem is our so called leader, Kyrie, wasn't giving the effort on defense either. I know defense doesn't get you the accolades that scoring does but you don't win without the defense, even if you score a bunch of points. Marcus Smart after the game said that the team's effort was embarrassing and that they are letting teams outwork them. I think Smart is spot on. They all need to pick up their effort and show some heart out there, especially on defense.
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Post by jmost on Feb 24, 2019 22:42:03 GMT -5
Kyrie as much as said that he doesn't care about the regular season, so good luck getting everyone to play hard all the time when the self-appointed leader isn't going to.
Other teams seem much better about riding the hot hand. It drives me crazy when a guy is hot and someone else jacks up a quick shot instead of at least looking for his hot teammate. Too many egos. Maybe too many young players looking to make names - and the contracts that go with them - for themselves.
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Post by meangreen on Feb 26, 2019 16:49:27 GMT -5
Eja, good to hear from you...Your post was interesting...I'm not as critical of Kyrie...IMHO he's one of the 10-12 or so players that are ungaurdable in the league which makes him elite. I don't mind the "hero" ball in some cases w/him because he's shown he can hit huge shots on huge occasions. Plus he's avg about 7 dimes per so it's not like he's not trying to get guys involved. Besides that when the pressure is on isn't he the guy you want taking the shot? T Ro hasn't earned that yet for me. I agree w/most of you guys though that his D at times could be better especially if he's going to be the "leader" But his D this yr has been better where he's not a liability he's actually respectable. The problem is consistency. Not just w/him but w/guys who's specialty or one of is D (T Ro, JB). FL a good pt you made is that coach (Boy Genius) has to take a few hits. JMo pointed out the hot hand issue but for me its the fact that we don't adjust to the hot hand to try and cool it off. Kemba scoring 50-60 is a good example of that. The coach also has to take a hit on their shot selection. How hard is it to drive to the hoop for fouls/easy chances when the Js aren't falling? Tatum & Brown are good for just settling for the J instead of driving the ball. One more thing...Have you guys noticed that if we block a shot on D we more times than not the other team somehow gets it and gets an easy attempt/basket?...Tor tonight, UGH!
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Post by Roadrunner on Feb 26, 2019 19:42:23 GMT -5
Eja, good to hear from you...Your post was interesting...I'm not as critical of Kyrie...IMHO he's one of the 10-12 or so players that are ungaurdable in the league which makes him elite. I don't mind the "hero" ball in some cases w/him because he's shown he can hit huge shots on huge occasions. Plus he's avg about 7 dimes per so it's not like he's not trying to get guys involved. Besides that when the pressure is on isn't he the guy you want taking the shot? T Ro hasn't earned that yet for me. I agree w/most of you guys though that his D at times could be better especially if he's going to be the "leader" But his D this yr has been better where he's not a liability he's actually respectable. The problem is consistency. Not just w/him but w/guys who's specialty or one of is D (T Ro, JB). FL a good pt you made is that coach (Boy Genius) has to take a few hits. JMo pointed out the hot hand issue but for me its the fact that we don't adjust to the hot hand to try and cool it off. Kemba scoring 50-60 is a good example of that. The coach also has to take a hit on their shot selection. How hard is it to drive to the hoop for fouls/easy chances when the Js aren't falling? Tatum & Brown are good for just settling for the J instead of driving the ball. One more thing...Have you guys noticed that if we block a shot on D we more times than not the other team somehow gets it and gets an easy attempt/basket?...Tor tonight, UGH! Watch a Horford block versus a Williams block. Horford, not only does he block the shot, but usually gets it back. Williams, either sends the ball to the crowd (which is really exciting), or back to an opposing player. |
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