Why Is MKG Not Starting?

[StakJak]

I think you have to be competitive and not always ride the ship for better or worse. I say stay competitive in games...the more the young players are able to produce in a tight game, late, the more minutes you give them. I believe over time, the young talent will become players that will be able to contribute more than than vets would, in that situation, even if the vets are hot. But for now, you have to stay competitive so your players can learn how to perform and execute in competitive games and not in garbage time.

Unfortunately, a rusty Kemba and MKG would have disrupted our offense and put us in position to squander another big lead (earlier than later). In that context, they would have been demoralized and playing garbage time following a would-be drought immediately following their entry.

However, Taylor and Hendo got experience in a crunch-time situation. Maybe there will be a game Kemba is off and Sesh plays...and because Sesh's hot hand keeps us in the game, MKG can perform and execute in a real game context where it's competitive and not in garbage time.

Offensively, in an Xs and Os context, Kemba, MKG, Biz, Hendo, and Thomas isjjust plain bad..doesn't mesh at all...I ask that Dunlap at least not leave that group in in a tight game as it is already a lost battle with the lack of shots that would be created aside from a Kemba isolation.

[QC Thundercats]

I can understand going with the hot hand, especially when offense is always a problem and a game is tight. However, an entire quarter of NBA basketball is very tough endurance wise, especially in a 4th quarter, especially in a huge comeback. Kemba was pulled with 5 minutes left in the third, so that comes to 17 minutes of this high energy expending brand of tough basketball.

This can cause your shot to fall flat towards the end of the game, as our guards didn't hit their jumpers as much, and it also can drain your legs on the defensive end in trying to get stops or chase down rebounds.

If anything, there should have been a rotation, especially with Kemba finding his groove early in the third. Whose to say he couldn't keep up with Sessions and Gordon on offense.

Two other things - Gordon, for as good as he shoots, is one of the worst ball handlers for a guard I have ever seen. Yes, he's good at making defenders look silly when getting his shot off in their grill, but he makes terrible decisions with the ball, tends to get tunnel vision when he is on, can't dribble under pressure, and spazzes out when double teamed. I love seeing his hot streaks, but in crunch time I'd prefer him on the bench, unless we need a 3.

Also, I think Kemba would've been better for defensive purposes in the 4th as well. Speaking for myself, as a tall guard who likes to play point, my eyes get huge whenever a bigger player is trying to guard me in isolation. I pretty much can get a shot off at will, either with a step back, or know I can get to the hole. No matter how good we think Taylor's defense is, he is no match in quickness to Kyrie, so we were basically daring him to hit open shots.

On the other hand, someone of similar size and quickness causes more trouble on defense, where the defender can move his feet quicker and can anticipate and recover instantly, or even sneak in for a steal. Kemba did semi hound Kyrie during the early part of the game and keeping his offense off balance. I'm not saying he could've stopped Kyrie, but I think he would've had a much better chance than Taylor down the stretch in staying in front of him and giving him more difficulty.

Oh well, keep marching on to that #2 pick that we'll win in the lottery again.

[StakJak]

Kemba and MKG didnt deserve to play, let the guys who made the run try to finish the job. anything else is a quick way to lose the respect of your players. which could league to incalculable long term damage to everything

At the end of the day, the Bobcats are a team. If a certain unit keeps you competitive by performing well, yes, they have earned the right to finish the job. Be fair and reward all players with PT for playing well.

@QC Thundercats: Agree to disagree...we can debate the ealier decision about essentially removing Kemba from the game late 3rd, for all we know Kemba may have broken some Xs and Os related rule that Dunlap was on his ass about...or it was just a judgement call. With around 8 minutes left, I see any earlier personel decision (or blunder) in the game as a sunk cost; and in the waning minutes I personally felt that group gave us the best chance to win at that time...which gets to my point about playing to win.

[DY_nasty]

Kemba and MKG didnt deserve to play, let the guys who made the run try to finish the job. anything else is a quick way to lose the respect of your players. which could league to incalculable long term damage to everything

This is a good post

[spectre]

I didn't have a big problem with what Dunlap did either and I thought Kemba wasn't playing with the intensity we're used to seeing. If it had been me I wouldn't have sat them for the entire 4th and half the 3rd (Kemba went out during the 5ish mark of the 3rd) but maybe he'll grow from it.

[alfie6]

Kemba and MKG didnt deserve to play, let the guys who made the run try to finish the job. anything else is a quick way to lose the respect of your players. which could league to incalculable long term damage to everything

this. 100% this. if you watched the game, Gordon and Sesh were feeling it like no other. Sesh getting to the line, Gordon not being denied. I doubt kemba or MKG could have done any better. They gave us the best shot to win at that point.

just sucks that Kyrie went beast mode....

[BlockParty]

A couple of observations...

I was surprised that Kemba never made it back in, but at the 3 minute mark in the 3rd, CLE had 86 points, until Kyrie went off, the Cavs had scored well south of 10 points in almost 12 minutes.

I was also surprised at how scrappy Tyrus was (MKG is usually playing the 4 spot late in games when we go small ball).

We had just had a 3 day break from games, in Dunlap's world, fatigue would not be an excuse if a player had to go 48 minutes.

Multiple times early in the game, Dunlap was visibly more frustrated with his team then I can ever remember. So not changing lineups once something was working makes sense.

Finally, Diop's minutes... horrible! Proof that some pro-contracts can be even less productive then a group of politicians.

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[Adam42R]

A couple of observations...

I was surprised that Kemba never made it back in, but at the 3 minute mark in the 3rd, CLE had 86 points, until Kyrie went off, the Cavs had scored well south of 10 points in almost 12 minutes.

I was also surprised at how scrappy Tyrus was (MKG is usually playing the 4 spot late in games when we go small ball).

We had just had a 3 day break from games, in Dunlap's world, fatigue would not be an excuse if a player had to go 48 minutes.

Multiple times early in the game, Dunlap was visibly more frustrated with his team then I can ever remember. So not changing lineups once something was working makes sense.

Finally, Diop's minutes... horrible! Proof that some pro-contracts can be even less productive then a group of politicians.

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk 2

Thought the same about Tyrus' scrap. I was concerned that he might have gone and hidden after the blunk but he didn't. Think he had a tip oob on the Cavs end following that and soon after, took the charge from Irving - I thought we needed that kind of grit out there and he delivered.

Diop's minutes were odd - I had missed most of the third so I wasn't sure why he was in - guess it was to spell a winded Haywood?? I hope it was that and not just a perk to let him log some minutes against his old team. He [Diop] seemed like he wanted to be aggressive but was very much a non-player.

And I thought the same thing re: Dunlap seeming frustrated. He cracked a nervous smile very early in the game but then several times he seemed quite irked. Even the post game that I caught he seemed to emote more than normal. Perhaps the W-L is starting to get to him as well - esp. if the execution doesn't match (his) intensity. And to me, that (intensity) did seem missing from much of the team for the first half (spare oddly enough TTime).

[Plowright]

At one point TT was staring at Dunlap in the 4th, he looked like he was trying to stare Dunlap to put him in... When Dunlap didnt make eye contact he started shaking his head like he was really dissapointed, don't know if anyone else saw? Also in the interview after the game he talked about how he had lost so many games over the time he had been in Charlotte, his body language was pretty bad, deflated.