Charlotte Bobcats at Orlando Magic 12/29

[spectre]

As bad as Mek is guarding perimeter oriented 4s I think Nazr would be much worse. Crash should probably be moved to the 4 IMO when we play teams with guys like Lewis, but he's not a stellar man defender either. I still think Duds would work well in that equation (undersized 4 that plays tight man D).

My question is why don't we at least TRY to make the other teams react to us vs. the opposite? Keep them both in there and have one defend Howard and the other protect the paint against the drive? Instead of using our strengths we give them up.

DNB absolutely...and only go from it when it's obviously not working. Even then I think we'd be better off sinking and swimming with a set rotation in the long run.

[ohara831]

spectre, my friend, we are all frustrated with the Bobcats right now. But Crash has more assists than either McInnis or Ray. He is our leading assist man in recent games when he should not be as concerned with that as with scoring and rebounding. He is doing everything for us right now, and that will take its toll later in the season. That is why it upsets me with our PG situation. Yes, J-Rich sucks on Defense, but his offense now is at least off setting it. If we can get someone with that kind of fire power who can play some Defense, then I would much rather play him than J-Rich. Until such time, we are stuck with him. I agree that Nazr is a Center and cannot play the 4. Okafor is a 4 who cannot shoot outside of 5 feet. He can guard well inside, but not on the perimeter when another more talented 4 takes him out there. But my biggest concern with Okafor is my fear that he is mentally being taken out of the games. He seems timid and afraid to shoot, which will kill us. He's shooting less than 10 shots a game the last several games, and it just seems he is afraid to shoot now. Troubling is not a strong enough word for what I fear about Okafor right now.

[spectre]

Yeah Ohara I agree...but all that (Mek) boils down to confidence, which points directly at the coach. Mek has none and we're seeing it played out on the floor.

I like Crash distributing the ball, and that's been by design...not by accident. Felts crosses the timeline and gives it up first thing to him at the top of the circle. Not every time obviously, but it seems more and more.

He's the most explosive of all our players with the best chance of finishing. Who better than him will command the worry of the defense enough to commit to him rather than their own man? Those 7 TOs tho pretty much wiped out his assists, but I'm more than willing to take it as eventually it'll pay dividends down the road hopefully.

[ohara831]

Yeah Ohara I agree...but all that (Mek) boils down to confidence, which points directly at the coach. Mek has none and we're seeing it played out on the floor.

I like Crash distributing the ball, and that's been by design...not by accident. Felts crosses the timeline and gives it up first thing to him at the top of the circle. Not every time obviously, but it seems more and more.

He's the most explosive of all our players with the best chance of finishing. Who better than him will command the worry of the defense enough to commit to him rather than their own man? Those 7 TOs tho pretty much wiped out his assists, but I'm more than willing to take it as eventually it'll pay dividends down the road hopefully.

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You know, I have not really considered that the Okafor confidence thing could be linked directly to the Coach. Interesting idea. I think players give the ball to Crash so often since he is clearly out most lethal offensive weapon, although recently J-Rich has started to heat up.

I think why I get so pissed with the PG issue is that it means we have to play 2 PGs on the court at once. That leaves out someone else, be it J-Rich, Nazr, Okafor or Crash. That is redundant and wasted space. You only need one PG on the floor at a time. When the Coach is playig them both together, then we lose another important player and that just drives me up a wall. I think this is why I hammer on the PG issus so hard.