Game Thread: Charlotte Bobcats at Indiana Pacers 12/10

[ziggy]

The Indiana Pacers are an interesting team, they are:

.500 at home
.500 on the road
.500 over their last 10 games
.500 within their division

So, I guess our chances of getting a win tonight are about... .500

Will it happen?

[BlockParty]

Hopefully someone on the Bobcats staff will identify guarding the 3 point shot as a priority. Indiana is 42-100 in the last 4 games from behind the arc. I really don't want to give them an extra 10 points just because of Larry's lack of acceptance that the 3 point line IS part of today's NBA game.

Stat from: http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/notes.pdf

[teej]

Given that this team has a .500 chance of showing up, and that Indy wins .500 of their games no matter what, I'm going to place our odds of winning tonight at 25%.

[ohara831]

Fought bravely, but we were bested. Oh well.

[BlockParty]

LB's post game comments very telling:

"we don't share the ball"
"we don't trust each other"
"Jack is only one that passed the ball tonight"
"we aren't a .500 team"
"we don't set picks for each other"

Hmm Larry...usually it's the coaches role to make all of those things happen. I understand the players execute and the coach isn't on the court, but it's the coaches job to motivate the personalities he has (not just the ones he wants to have).

[ohara831]

LB forgot to mention : We get out coached every damn game!

[Toocool]

Show up one game, get blown away the next. McGuire got 23 minutes...wtf!

[Fred Williamson]

Why THE F*CK is McGuire getting 25minutes?

Fire LB now.

[spectre]

LB's post game comments very telling:

"we don't share the ball"
"we don't trust each other"
"Jack is only one that passed the ball tonight"
"we aren't a .500 team"
"we don't set picks for each other"

Hmm Larry...usually it's the coaches role to make all of those things happen. I understand the players execute and the coach isn't on the court, but it's the coaches job to motivate the personalities he has (not just the ones he wants to have).

It's the coaches' job to motivate them and make all that other happen? This isn't junior high school!

I understand everyone wants LB gone...but these players have at least some responsibility (I'd say more than "some"). They know what they're supposed to do...all the starters were here last year.

Just a few days ago I saw this same team play Denver just like they were the team from last year. Last night they again reverted to the Sam Vincent era. That's the guys on the court...not Larry Brown. They're being lazy and selfish and like LB said they're not trusting each other on defense.

But why are they being this way? Crash & Jax aren't slackers. Crash has never been a stellar perimeter defender...but never THIS bad.

When Livingston was in the game in the 4th and we were making that comeback our D was MUCH better. Without replay I can't really tell...but are they "cheating" when DJ is in from a perception that he's going to get beat thus leaving their guy more open and the fact that we don't have a defensive C to cover it?

For a few sets I made a point of just focusing on Crash on defense and he was continually sagging off his man in order to protect against penetration...and he'd get burned for it.

I think we need a defensive C who can protect the rim for starters. IMO until we get that we're going to continue to look dysfunctional. We also need DJ to be a helluva lot more aggressive than he has been. He does it for 2-3 minute stretches during the game but we need MUCH more from that outta him.

He wanted this team...make it yours dude.

We need to make some changes badly or we need to hit "reset". Jordan set us back with his cost saving moves (LOL!) this offseason. If he wants to save this season then he needs to do something about our lack at C...and I mean yesterday.

[spectre]

http://www.rufusonfire.com/2010/12/1...nters#comments

Is DJ's poor defense why we're not defending the 3 well?

Is it that guys keep coming over to help him, leaving their man open on the perimeter?
on behalf of tha dirty south: soul food, carolina blue, southern hospitality, and tha queen city


by southtunnel on Dec 10, 2010 8:52 PM PST up reply actions




Bingo


by Bring Back Primoz on Dec 10, 2010 9:00 PM PST up reply actions
I'm not buying that

Opposing teams are hitting 3s from all over the court, from many different players. Are ALL five opponents on the court D.J.‘s responsibility? And what about when he’s on the bench? The 3s don’t stop falling when D.J. takes a breather.
I’m not saying that Augustin’s biggest weakness by far isn’t his defense; it’s definitely public enemy #1, followed by his tendency to not look for his shot (I think any game where he takes less than 10 shots is a tragedy). However, to suggest that the reason our opponents light up the box score from beyond the arc night after night is because he alone doesn’t guard well enough would be throwing him under the bus…again.
Thank you, San Francisco!


by Newsinz on Dec 10, 2010 9:15 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs


It's more the fact that our other defenders are hanging back in the paint per LB's orders.

If you watch the games you will see DJ’s man pass to someone wide open (translation, more than 1 zone coverage assignment away from the person supposedly covering him) and then watch a Bobcats defender come tearing out of the paint in a (usually failed) sudden effort to get out to the line before the guy can release the shot. Keep count for a couple of games. If it happens less than a dozen times per game on average I promise to not mention David Stern’s name for an entire month unless it’s to praise him for the outstanding work he’s doing for the NBA. I’m that certain of it. (Just don’t hold me to the promise. I’m pretty sure an entire month of praising Stern is listed under the “cruel and unusual punishment” restrictions in the documents of the Geneva Convention.)
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by Ourdaywillcome on Dec 10, 2010 10:49 PM PST up reply actions



The bold is exactly what I was seeing last night.