Fultz4thewin 2,464 Report post Posted February 7, 2011 Obviously Stan made an adjustment at half time telling the team to not go to Dwight. It was a calculated risk that didn't pay off. We did go to Dwight. He just sucked in the 2nd half. He went 0-6 until a last minute "gimme" bucket. He also went 4-4 from ft's. 20 shot attempts (not counting ft's and turnovers) is more than enough attempts for Dwight. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Miller4Prez66 545 Report post Posted February 7, 2011 I think it is obvious now that we only got to the Finals because Kevin Garnett got injured that year and not only him, Celtics another PF Leon Powe was also injured. That is why playing Lewis against them at PF that year was not suicidal. I hope you remember last year, how Celtics dominated us in ECF and how badly Rashard played... You can have your own opinion, I have mine. I know the facts...I am repeating same thing again, 3 years in a row we were beaten by a stronger, taller, tougher teams-Pistons, Lakers, Celtics. They all were using the same strategy-single cover for Dwight, cover shooters on the perimeter. Did SVG learn anything? No. He started the season with Rashard at PF again and his team shooting 3s all game long. Did you watch a game vs Boston? We took 24!!! 3 pointers, made 3! Dwight played great in the first half, then was completely forgotten in the second. I personally prefer Dwight to get the ball in the post and attack rather than shooting those 3s...But our coach is stubborn guy who wants his team to shoot 3 on every opportunity.... We may have never been into position to beat Boston without KG if Stan didn't make Shard the stretch four. Stan was the first, and only, coach to properly utilize Hedo's talents that were critical in our playoff run, and if we started Lewis at SF chances are he would've been stuck as a role player getting limited minutes. All this success that has spoiled our fanbase may have never happened if Stan chose to start Lewis at the three. As far as last year's ECF, it's a couple of things. First of all, Lewis isn't the same guy he was when he first got here. Watch him in Washington, he's playing the three and not really doing all that much despite playing on a team where they need his offense more. On top of that, dude was fighting through a viral infection and still played outstanding defense on KG. The problem with this team is NOT shooting threes. That's what makes us such a difficult team to defend, it gives Dwight room inside to operate and his presence creates space for our shooters. If a team like Boston can single cover Dwight and stay on the shooters, it obviously gives us problems, but what is Stan supposed to do? We do NOT have individual scorers that can go 1 on 1 and break down the defense consistently and create offense. If we had someone like Melo this wouldn't be a problem because Dwight would be scoring 1 on 1 and so would Melo. However, nobody on our roster can do that. The best we can do is run pick and rolls to create offense but Boston is so great at pick and roll defense that it bothers guys like Hedo and Jameer and bogs down our offense even more. 24 threes isn't even that bad, what is bad is us missing so many open looks. Q had at least two threes go in and out, JJ, J-Rich, and Anderson missed some open looks too. If we just make a handful of those open threes, we win. I know what you're gonna say, that if threes aren't falling you need to look for other ways to score. Again, like how? I agree that Dwight should get the ball more, but to seriously expect him to carry the entire offense on his back against a team like Boston....is just not good. Dwight has having a hard time with the touches he did get in the second half anyways. Nobody on the perimeter for this team is capable of scoring on his own consistently. Not sure how that is Stan's fault. This system he runs is the best fit for the talent we have on our roster believe it or not. It's also way harder without Bass playing since he's the only guy on the team besides Dwight who isn't a three point shooter and he usually gets to the line. Stan doesn't tell everyone to shoot threes every time down the floor, unless it's a set play that's totally up to the player. Stan has given players the green light to shoot open threes and it's not like we weren't getting some good looks. Hedo and Anderson are the only ones who really "force" any threes. Just answer me this...what do you expect? Do you expect Stan to wave a magic wand and make Jason Richardson an All Star guard who can create for himself? Our best hope is that Arenas somehow gets healthy and gets somewhat close to his old form. At this point he's just a glorified Duhon, but if he gets healthier he has a chance to be our secret weapon. A healthy Arenas is actually capable of scoring on his own. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Babir_9 95 Report post Posted February 7, 2011 Miller4Prez66, I will write it again... SVG is a head coach of this team. For three years in a row his team was beaten in a same way by Pistons, Lakers and Celtics. So, he knew he has a problem vs physical teams, who don't double Howard and play good perimeter defense. So he and Otis had 3 offseasons to solve the problem but they did not (Devos family were and are ready to spend).... And look, I don't agree that nobody in Orlando can create his own shot or take the ball to the rim agressively. This is a terrible excuse, how come these professional basketball players are not able of doing that. Even if they could not, coaching staff has to work on that. Richard Jefferson was considered as a really good SF but Popovich was not happy with his fundamental skills! So, his asisstants worked with Jefferson during the offseason and he has improved. This is one of the samples, if someone can't drive or create a shot, you have to work on it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GhostAnime 50 Report post Posted February 7, 2011 The problem is really passing + Howard just missing shots. I saw them try to pass to Howard as much as they could, but very few of them can get him the ball in his good spots fast enough. I saw them looking straight at him. I never really thought it was IQ; I think teams have just learned how to deny the ball from him better. Only Hedo really has that talent of passing him the ball in great spots. No one else really has that passing ability. Even when Howard got it, he was just.. meh. He just can't be that huge scorer against top defenses at least consistently. He would still need help from the perimeter players. Miller is right that there isn't much this team can do. It's just Howard and a bunch of jumpshooters. You shouldn't be surprised to hear this. Just yelling "get to the rack" isn't going to magically turn someone into a shot creator. You either are one or you're not. Richardson just shoots off screens, Arenas isn't healthy, and Nelson isn't going to always dominate his match-up (I'm convinced Rondo still has the advantage, anyway). Defensively, they just continue to get shredded and any time Howard is in foul trouble, it's over. Their defense has dropped not because of talent but.. Richardson, Nelson, Arenas, and Turkoglu isn't exactly a good defensive perimeter and that puts even more pressure on Howard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Manu Ginobili 61 Report post Posted February 7, 2011 I dont have anything against shooting 3s, or going to Dwight. I think the offensive playmaking is mostly in good state. What bothers me is the physical part. As one poster was saying, we always get beat by more physical teams. Bigger teams. I repeat, the Gortat move was an error. I like JRich and Turk, but maybe we gave too much with Gortat. I think SVG's stubbornes was in not playing them more together. Gortat was more starter material than anyone else. Now, he did a good job with Bass and Ryan. But what Otis gambled with the trades, is that Dwight will play 45 mins per game in the playoffs. I think it all comes to that. Dwight's (mental) ability to stay the whole game in the playoffs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KillingInTheNameOf 63 Report post Posted February 7, 2011 We did go to Dwight. He just sucked in the 2nd half. He went 0-6 until a last minute "gimme" bucket. Dwight got shots in 3rd, true, but by the time they went to Dwight, C's had a double digit lead. After a first half where Dwight outscores rest of team combined and rest of team combined shoots below 25%, I don't want to see Meer, RA, & J-Rich jackin up bad shots to start the 2nd half. And, I doubt Dwight does either. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Hi-Top 791 Report post Posted February 7, 2011 We did go to Dwight. He just sucked in the 2nd half. He went 0-6 until a last minute "gimme" bucket. He also went 4-4 from ft's. 20 shot attempts (not counting ft's and turnovers) is more than enough attempts for Dwight. Six shot attempts (+2 for the 4 free throws) is not "going to Dwight" in the second half, that's Dwight as an afterthought, 20 shot attempts is not enough when 14 of them come in the first half. Dwight needs to consistently be around 25-30% of our shots. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Raven 12 Report post Posted February 7, 2011 Six shot attempts (+2 for the 4 free throws) is not "going to Dwight" in the second half, that's Dwight as an afterthought, 20 shot attempts is not enough when 14 of them come in the first half. Dwight needs to consistently be around 50% of our shots. Much better Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Franchero MVP 391 Report post Posted February 7, 2011 Dwight needs to consistently be around 50% of our shots I like those odds! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Secretly Space Jesus 670 Report post Posted February 7, 2011 Much better You want Dwight taking 40+ FGAs per game? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GhostAnime 50 Report post Posted February 7, 2011 Dwight: the new Kobe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Penny Hardaway's Ghost 260 Report post Posted February 7, 2011 You want Dwight taking 40+ FGAs per game? that would, at the very least, be interesting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
