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Post by DERRENMATTS on Sept 12, 2006 2:23:23 GMT -5
Here's your chance to explain to the world why you are optimistic about this team. What will it take for us to win 45 games. That would be a 12 game improvement over last year's team. Be as specific as possible, and don't worry about sounding like a homer because there are a bunch of homers here (I being one of them).
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Post by BCHISTORIAN on Sept 12, 2006 3:30:20 GMT -5
the main thing is to stay healthy. last year we lost 24 games with 5 points or less and we were constantly injured or playing turds (blonut). second important thing is doc's coaching - he has to better his game-time coaching.
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Post by mev17 on Sept 12, 2006 4:09:29 GMT -5
Doc figuring out a rotation within the first half of the season; Perkins staying healthy and taking "the next step" into being an NBA center; Theo Ratliff staying healthy and helping us defensively; Gomes continuing to play well and AJ staying healthy and taking his "next step".
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Sept 12, 2006 9:48:12 GMT -5
No Blount... this should win us an extra 6 games alone... Old Stone Hands I am sure cost us several games by his uninspired play and multitude of turnovers and lack of rebounding... We should be healthy this season... A healthy Al Jefferson in excellent condition should account for at least 5 of those close games we lost.... A healthy Pierce should give us 3 more games A healthy Wally should give us 4 more games A healthy Perk (without Blount and Raef to eat up his minutes) should give us 2 more games A pure point to run the fast break should give us 5 more games Ratliff as a back up center instead of Raef should give us 3 more games Improvement from our young players hard work over the summer should give us 5 more wins.Clifford Ray working with our bigs and the resulting increase in rebounding should give us at least 5 more wins... Better chemistry without Blount and Banks 2 more winsDoc having better assistant coaches who can help him with in game decisions... priceless.... By my accounting, we should win 40 more games than last year... Maybe I should lay off the koolaid for a bit... But I do believe that we can win at least 45 and maybe even 50 games this year. With all of the above improvements we should improve at least 12 games or more....
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Post by freshnthehouse on Sept 12, 2006 15:34:14 GMT -5
To have winning year, we'll need
Our players to Really COMMIT to defense.
Cut down on turnovers.
Become at least average on the boards(more minutes to perk and Al will help remedy this)
Doc must have a settled rotation early in the season.
Al must stay relatively healthy and become more of an option on offense.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Sept 13, 2006 0:07:29 GMT -5
If we can do all these things, there's a real possibility that we can win 50 games and be Atlantic champs.
-Spreading the wealth. We know Pierce can score, we know Wally can score, and there's hope that Jefferson can do some too. Between the 3 of them, they could average 53 pts a game (Pierce 23, Wally 17, Jefferson 13). But if we want to be at the top of our game, our role players need to be consistent scorers. Delonte, Gerald and Gomes are who I see coming off our bench and they need to bring some offense. They need to average 25 ppg between the 3 of them and they are certainly able to do so (Gerald 10, Delonte 8, Gomes 7).
Defense. Too many easy points, not enough defensive stops..... It was an all too familiar song for us last season. Things have to change on this end if we are ever to move forward (especially if we are aiming to win 45 ~ 50 games). Perkins has emerged as our best shot blocker, and teaming him up with Theo Ratliff gives us a nice looking shot blocking duo. And putting them in the hands of the proven Clifford Ray, we need to see Perk and Rat combine for 4 ~ 5 blocks per night.
Rebounding the ball. Its no secret; teams who rebound well win games. For the first time in awhile, we actually have some big men who I like, and we may actually have a rebounding crew to write home about. Perkins, Jefferson, Ratliff and Gomes are all solid rebounders and with some time, Dwayne Jones and Leon Powe will be battling the boards as well. Plus, Pierce is an exceptional rebounding wing and so is Delonte West.
-Big Al averages double digit points from the post: this will prove to be huge because we are overly perimeter oriented. We have little to no inside presence and this hinders our ability to be a consistent big time offense. If he stays healthy and gets 25 mpg, Big Al will tip in some shots for easy points and also give us a low post option.
Push the tempo. Our offense can get ugly when we are stuck in slow motion and our shots aren't falling. Doc experimented with a lineup of Raef, Gomes, Pierce, Wally and Delonte. This lineup had no speed, no athleticism, and no excitement. It relied heavily on perimeter shots and when the shots didn't fall, this lineup was terrible. Delonte did an admirable job manning the Point last season, but we need someone better. We now put our hopes on Sebastian Telfair and Rajon Rondo to run the Point and make things happen.
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