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i gotta agree with you 100%...our depth is weak, we won tonight's game partly because the starters played almost all played 40 mins...if you look at the +/- for the starters, it's been positive for the last five gamesQuote:
Originally Posted by ALong13
the biggest difference maker is also diaw...when he comes out of the game everything comes to a halt. juwan can add a presence in the post and score a couple of points, but the ball movement stops
We are on pace to 39-43 wins (according to post trade pace or post Detroit game pace = post trade after training together). So it is doable. But we played a lot home games already... If we don't make it we will get a pick and with Larry picking we could be have a very good next seaosn. So it could be a win-win situation at best.
BTW check Hollinger power rankings - he has us at 15th place. Yup we actually made the first page of the rankings:)
Not only are we getting more respect, but we are "earning" it with our team play! And looking at the +/- numbers, we score 91.0 and give up 92.9. We are only 1.9 differential which is very solid considering our history. I expect us to close that gap up even more! Yeah!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ohara831
Totally agree, It was funny listening to them talk about how we are the worst offensive team so much but only mentioned we have the fourth best defense in the league just once. But in the final score, we held them below our "average points earned" per game.
Calling us out as the worst offensive team was fair enough; so far we have been. That's just the facts. But then they extended that by appraising our 4th ranked defense as being a result of our poor offense. When you slow it down so much and take so many shots; the other team takes less too.
That made me laugh a little; and I hoped by the end of the game the Cats would make them understand how naive that is. And so, in the 4th quarter, when the Czar was calling out and giving props to LB's defensive calls as they happened, I thought, "now you understand." I found that wonderful :D . It's like somewhere along the way he realized that oh-yeah Larry Brown has been actively coaching these guys since September.
Just because some commentators don't realize at first what kind of team the Bobcats are becoming, I give them credit and enjoy watching them adjust.
It IS funny to watch/listen to the commentators of bad opposing teams talk about the Bobcats as so much worse off then they are; and then (hopefully) we kick their butts. The Minnesota guys were much much worse, and therefore so much funnier.
As for playoffs....there's 6 teams that are ahead of the pack at the moment:
Boston, Cleveland, Orlando are dominating, while Atlanta, Detroit and Miami are well over .500.
That leaves Milwaukee and New Jersey to marginally round out the top eight. Are we worse than those 2 teams? I don't think so.
The other contenders for the playoffs are well, everyone else except the Wizards....and its a close bunch; record-wise - so right now the 7th and 8th spots are there for any one of them to take.
I don't think NY or Indiana have any hope, but if Chicago, Philly or Toronto can get it together, I think the spots are their's to fight over.
But right now all of those 3 remain in self-destruct mode and may continue to be beaten. I'm not sure there's any great signs of life yet.
The Cats have already beaten Chicago and Philadelphia. We lost to Toronto.
So the good news is...pending a Biscuit-like collapse during crucial games; the Cats have lots to play for in the foreseeable future and lots of very-beatable eastern conference teams to play with. Enjoy the ride!
What else do we have to play for? The 12th Rookie Pick? Hell, this is as good a year as any to give that pick back to Denver for AA.
We bumped NJ down a spot in rankings, and we were bumped above Indiana by last night's game. Looking a the schedule there are 4 wins 2 losses likely in the next 6, that puts us at 15-21 putting us at a good (for us) 41%. Now if we shock the celtics (we did it once, almost twice last year) we could be 16-20, which is only a handful of games below 50/50.
One thing to point out, we lost to Toronto at home with J-Rich. I think with Diaw we would have had a better chance.
After the Cavs loss last night, we are still only 3.5 games behind the Bucks for the #8 spot. Our next 3 games are on the road vs:
Philly: 15 - 20
Wash: 7 - 27
Detroit: 21 - 12
Entering the 2 games with Boston and Cleveland, if we knew ahead of time we'd get a split, every one of us would have taken that deal. If we can find a way to man up and take out Philly and Wash., then even losing to Detroit makes us 3-2 over that 5 game stretch. It is not hopeless - unless we keep playing like the Cleveland game. But we have Raja back for the Philly game, so that should help. I'm not giving up on this team quite yet. We still have life in us.
i'm not giving up...but i wonder though if our players are giving up?Quote:
Originally Posted by ohara831
how we come out for that philly game will show a lot about this team. whether LB can have any effect on the players and whether we have any poise
i don't want us to lose, but if we are in a close game with philly and lose by the usual last second shot, i wont be upset because at least we are showing up and maturing
I really thought that the problem with the Cleveland game was we were just tired from the Celtic game. We came out flat, and they jumped on us. I really believe this team wants to win and has the desire. I think the effort and heart were there last night, but the body was just worn out.