good read Wayne… especially that “4 Down” play, i too have been noticing that baseline cut and have been wondering what it’s all about… especially when Parker do his.. but when i saw Manu and RJ connect, i thought for the first time that it has indeed an offensive purpose…

really, we are 2nd best rebounding team? how much does Blair have to do with it?

Manu used to get the ball back a lot back in early 2K on the baseline clear out. During the days he could reverse dunk it :P I think I have counted once this season when Timmy handed it off to somebody on that cut, I think it might have been Rage going strong.
But of course, the obvious thing in the absence of the handoff is the clear out so that Manu’s or Rage’s cover doesn’t double team Tim on the dribble or go for the strip. In fact, the one time this season, Mason acted dumb and hung around, his guy went and stripped the ball from Timmeh.

The other offensive wrinkle we have seen flashes off and which hold promise is the passer clearing out baseline, while Rage runs his man into Timmeh on the other side and goes to the basket for an alley oop. Think they have converted those a few times. Again, it goes back to my main query. We run plays to Tony’s, Timmy’s and Manu’s strengths. Why can’t Tony work his ass off and learn to work quite a few alley oops into the offensive flow of the game. So far, I know of only one play where they do it, and we don’t even see it every game. Could be RJ’s fault too for not being aggressive.

As far as defense, I am sure Dyess’s D will improve. From what I have seen, some games, he just commits a lot of lazy fouls. But I have enough faith in Dyess’s drive that he will be ready in the second half of the season.

Blair also will improve his defense I am hoping. When opponents don’t put the ball on the floor, they are shooting over Blair a bit too easily too close to the basket.

Hill’s defense against face-up shooters have to improve. Even with all his length, I have noticed Hill just basically hunches or squats down preparing to cut off the drive, and the shooter, like Rip yesterday, just basically stands and shoots over him. I like that he cut off the drive, just want him to contest that shot a bit more.

The above are the guys I am reasonably certain will improve their savvy. Tony’s guy will shoot mid range J’s on us all day long without Tony ever bothering the shot. I don’t have much hope there. Manu is slowly getting back to being a pest and gambler, so there is that with its own set of pros and cons. But I have hope for better team D and some individual improvement.

Could it be that Tony never looks for the ball in order to bait the defense until we really need a bucket? It seems whenever it’s a close game in the fourth, Pop calls a timeout and we always run a play where Tony exposes a cheating defender with a backside cut for a layup.

some really good stuff in here that i havent been able to get thru yet – but after one quick pass thru the list of chinese league players, i am astounded. its like a who’s who of miscellaneous guys from the thousands of college games i have watched over the past several years. some of these names (cedric bozeman, garrett siler, stromile swift, sidney moncrief, bob weiss, mengke bateer) just warm my old cold heart.

Just finish watching the game again on League Pass.

Over the recent games I have not been pleased with what I am seeing defensively. Its better than before but still no cigar.

I still feel we are under achieving defensively and it is not just one thing it is a few things I think I can put my fingers on.

1. We are not mixing up our defenses. We are guarding people the exact same way we just throw a different person at em, but they are all doing the same thing.

2. Like lionzion says GHILL and Bogans do crouch too much. That only tells the opponent that you are defending the drive so he should jab step and shoot over top. It also allows the opponent to see the floor, so even if you do send a double he will see it coming.

When GHill is playing defense he always tries to beat his man to the spot to take a charge. And that is fine. But you have to set the guy up for that call. Sometimes instead of trying to beat him to the spot, run with him and just force him to shoot over you or around you. And the moment he thinks he has you measured then you switch it up on him. It is little things like this that makes a great on ball defender. But every now and then you have to get up into someones grill and test their handle.

3. RJ does not block out the shooter sometimes. He will play good defense and then become a spectator. I notice he likes to get a head start on the break so I understand why he is not blocking out all the time, but we have to get the ball first.
With his size, he should be contesting then turn and block out his man. If he did this more consistently he would get an extra 2 or 3 trips to the FT line, just from over the back fouls. Our offense is too potent to be worried about fast break points. If they come great. But we should hang our hat on securing those defensive rebounds especially RJ.

4. Our rotations are not that clean. I see 2 guys running to the shooter which means someone is confused. This just simply can’t happen. Because that means somebody is not on the defensive glass where they are supposed to be, which will probably end up as 2nd chance pts for the other team.

5. Timmy’s shot blocking or lack of. He is not attacking the shooter anymore. Now this could be because he has gotten older in which case I understand. Believe me, it happens to us all. But he is just not getting his respect in there. Everyone is challenging Timmy like he ain’t even there. And they are doing it because they know Timmy is not going to jump. Every now and then Timmy has to pull a D. Howard and beat someone’s shot out of the gym.

If we buckled down and do these little things we would be blowing people out. Because lets face it we did give up 92 pts to the Pistons and they average 9pts, so we basically didn’t hold a team that can’t score below their avg.. The Spurs have the personnel to score 100pts every night even without Bonner and Finley shooting 3ptrs. So if we can hold teams to one and done. There is no way they could keep up with us.

Sorry about the length, but I had a lot of bitching to do. And yeah that was after a win. :)

Im surprised at the three pointer statistics. I was under the impression that we were shooting too much, but I guess that compared to the rest of the league this is not entirely accurate.

The defensive intensity that we played with in the last quarter, I know can’t be sustained for an entire game. But I think we can do it for at least a few minutes every quarter.

I liked the pressue defense and physicality that we showed, especially from Manu and Keith.

I’m not sure if I’m the only one who notices it, but Blair sets weak picks. He does. I didn’t see it too much in the last game. But he does. And it worries me. I mean has he ever seen a Robert Horry pick? Now that’s a pick. Maybe Blair hurries to his next spot, but Big Shot clearly shows that you can set a solid pick and still get to your spot. Just a pet peeve. Get those ACL-less legs under you, Beast.