Jefferson and Gomes

[DERRENMATTS]

Doc needs to use these two guys heavily with the second unit. They are too valuable to leave on the bench. Doc uses Justin Reed a lot more than he does Gomes, but he needs to reverse this. Gomes offers too much on the offensive end with his natural feel for the flow of the game and he's always around the ball and getting his hands on the ball and knocking it loose. He's one of our better offensive rebounders and a guy who can contribute under the boards.

Big Al is a guy who can put up a lot of points in a hurry. In his first few minutes in tonight's game, he must have converted like 6 points in under 5 minutes or so. Then they stopped going to him. He's just too good at scoring to keep him out of the game.

These 2 guys need to be inserted within the 1st 2 substitutions of the game because our offense tends to sputter when the starters are out.

[mev17]

I also think, if he can stay out of jail, that Allen will help the second unit as well. He is the kind of player that makes things happen, and was showing off an improved offensive game during summer league. Just wish he would have kept his nose clean and not hurt that knee.

[DERRENMATTS]

Yep, Tony Allen will be a big help for us once he gets back onto the floor. He'll most likely push Ricky D back to the 6th man role, where he belongs. Tony is a disrupter, much like how Delonte is. He gets his hands on passes, he comes up with loose balls in traffic, he'll get the tough rebound in the paint, come up with enormous blocked shots, etc.. Plus too, he adds that element of surprise--he can dazzle the crowd like Ricky D with his breakway dunks.

Tony adds a lot to the team with his lethal athleticism, his slashing ability, and his defensive prowess. Can't wait to start including him in our conversations.

[ferbo]

I think Gomes backing up PP is faced with limited time. Reed backs up Davis, and things aren't much better t here. '

[meltinjohn]

Docs rotations are so messed up. God its no wonder they went down by 18 so quick last night.

Perkins, Scalabrine, Reed, Davis and Dickau is a terrible lineup. Its no wonder they were getting killed.

[DERRENMATTS]

Yep, I hope Doc doesn't use that lineup that often. They just have no offensive flow with that combination of players.

Ferbo, Gomes doesn't need to just backup Pierce. He can play alongside Pierce too. Gomes is going to prove to Rivers that he needs to use him as much as he can. Gomes is a straight up basketball player. He does the little things that no one pays attention to, but are glad that someone else does it. He's a garbage player who comes up with steals, with rebounds, and with points--all without having plays designed for him. Doc won't need to call a single play for him to get the ball in scoring position, but at the end of the night, Gomes would have 10 timely points that came up in crucial moments of the game. He's just a gamer who happens to be around the ball most of the time. Much like Big Al, he's intuitive and has a nose for the ball.

[meltinjohn]

Gomes is really good from what I saw of him. I just hope he gets to play tomorrow.

[esco33]

Very shortly I believe, if he gets the minutes, that Gomes can and will be an offensive threat on the second unit. Him and Big AL should be able to anchor that second unit if Pierce and/or Davis is out of the lineup. Gomes hasn't been used properly except in the Memphis game, actually he just hasn't been used.

Reed is a great defensive player, with a little offensive game as well. But if it is scoring that we need from the second unit, and that is apparent right now, Big Al and Gomes have to be the go to guys (other than Ricky when he is on the floor) Gomes has a post game and can put the ball in the basket, or get fouled and go to the line.

In a nutshell, Gomes needs to be used more as an offensive weapon off the bench, as well as creator (with his high and low post passing skills)

[DERRENMATTS]

Yep, I really feel that Gomes and Jefferson are going to make a good combo. Both are guys who score off of broken plays. They can score out of position and out of their comfort zone. Both have really good hands that allow them to recover loose balls and put it back up for the basket.

I see a good chemistry developing between Jefferson and Gomes. Jefferson should start getting a lot of touches in the post as we start going to him more often. And whenever the ball goes into the post, Gomes instinctively roams under the board on the opposite side, anticipating the putback. He's going to get some garbage points by scoring off of misses.

[esco33]

He definitely can score off of misses, garbage points, etc., but I think that he can do more as well such as get his own shot or pass to another player who can either score or get fouled. The guy just knows how to make plays. In the Memphis game for instance, it seemed that he was aggressive in that every time he touched the ball, he got into the triple threat position, which forced the defense to be on their toes. They didn't know whether he would shoot, pass, or dribble. He has that type of mentality and the idea to always make a play happen, if not for himself, then for someone else.

I am not saying he is the next Larry Bird (lol, that sounds ludicrous). I am only saying that he has good basketball instincts enough to be a real offensive threat off of the bench, either with shooting, passing, rebound tip ins etc. He seems to do all of these things really well.

[DERRENMATTS]

Yep, Gomes does have the ability to get his own offense. He's not just a garbage player. But that's what makes him such a solid role player because he can be an effective player just with his garbage play, but he's also got the ability to bail us out with his own offense. He hasn't show much from the perimeter as of yet, but he is very capable of knocking down perimeter shots. And he's good at running the breaks too. Plus he's good converting baskets around the hoop. But he never forces things--its all in the flow of things.