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Post by jmost on Dec 14, 2016 18:26:37 GMT -5
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Dec 14, 2016 19:59:16 GMT -5
I don't think that we have seen what this team can do because of all of the injuries and they haven't been able to settle the rotation because someone has always been out. I do think they have made improvement and they are headed in the right direction.
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Post by joshrblabber on Dec 15, 2016 18:04:01 GMT -5
I see signs that point in both directions, unfortunately.
On the plus side, culture and chemistry seem to have improved since IT went down. Marcus has shown that he can become a great old-school PG - never mind scoring, he is potentially a great QB for the offense and his defense is beyond stellar. His assists are often brilliant, he has great vision. AB has quietly become an all-star caliber SG and Horford is an inspiration.
On the minus side, Stevens is showing signs of becoming the next Pitino/O'Brien. He seems to be happy when 40-50% of the shots are 3's. This is bad basketball, I can't watch it. If Stevens does not reign in the 3's we will be lucky to make the playoffs, never mind the 2nd round.
KO is playing his worst ball in a long time, his decisions are terrible. He passes up open shots, both dunks and 3's, to make the extra pass - usually to no good effect. In the spurs game he had a wide open dunk, and kicked it to the corner for yet another missed 3. I blame this on Stevens - KO does not understand his role.
Crowder has also taken a big step in the wrong direction, jacking up 3's instead of making basketball plays. See above.
The read&react offense needs veteran players and we only have two (Horford and AB). Our youngsters aimlessly pass the ball around the perimeter end up playing iso on a short clock. Bad basketball.
Bottom line, this team is no better than last year despite the addition of a real superstar in Horford. If Stevens can get his mojo back we still have a shot at the ECF. If not, there are a lot of good teams in the east that will be happy to leave us in the dust.
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Post by jmost on Dec 15, 2016 18:29:13 GMT -5
I agree with much of what you say, but I don't think the number of threes is necessarily a problem. It's how they come in the offense. Both the Cavs and Warriors actually take more threes. But so do the Nets, so you can't really read anything into the raw numbers. www.espn.com/nba/statistics/team/_/stat/offense-per-game/sort/avgThreePointFieldGoalsAttemptedI think KO's game is all about playing aggressively. When he takes the 3 right away he's pretty good. But as you say, he passes up the open 3 too often. That's the kind of 3 you want him to take, and I don't understand the hesitation. On the other hand, Smart has no conscience about shooting, even early in the shot clock. He's better than he was last year, but he shouldn't be shooting until other possibilities are explored. He IS showing better PG skills though. |
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Post by Roadrunner on Dec 15, 2016 23:52:01 GMT -5
One issue I have is playing time for Brown. Not enough.
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