I've been watching bits of the last couple of games while also trying to work (I work from home, am dealing with multiple pinched nerves, so I spread my work-day out, I'm not a slacker), and here are a couple of observations.
- Earl's ankle isn't fully healed. Adrenaline got him through the Laker game, but I know he's feeling the pain and stiffness since. Evidence - a lay up attempt that barely reached the rim. No lift. One of his greated attributes is that he will play through pain. One of his biggest offensive problems is that he will play through pain. In Memphis he separated his shoulder, came back after missing a handful of games, and his shots were miserably short.
- The radio guys, Locke and I'm sorry I can't think of the other guy's name right now, said it perfectly last night. On the high pick and roll at the top of the key they need to string it out, make the point guard move laterally instead of toward the rim. I've seen the bigs do that a couple of times, but most of the time they're not moving their feet well enough, or are too scared that their guys will get the ball back. Seems to me there's a lack of trust on the defensive end that guys will cover for you if you help. Also seems well warranted, at least at times. Practice time on the defensive end is needed to fix that problem, and belief in teammates. Hoping they can get it done.
- People have said it, and it's true - the team needs outside shooting to stay competitive and open the lanes. A trade is likely necessary, but I'll leave the scenarios to others.
- Not sure about previous games, but in the last two on the offensive end there's been a lot of drives and either charges or blocks have been called at the rim. This is one thing that has always driven me crazy about the men's game, and they could probably learn a thing or two from the women's game. DON'T DRIVE ALL THE WAY TO THE BASKET! If guys are constantly standing in there, waiting for you to run over them, don't do it. Or at least mix it up. Pull up and use the glass to hit some 4 footers. Two things happen there - one, guys have to come out to guard you or you get that shot every time. If they come out then things may open up for teammates. If they don't come out then you're getting shots that may fall in, and you don't rely on the refs to make a call for or against you. There are times when it makes all the sense in the world to go at someone and try to draw fouls on them, but one of the Knicks players drew like 5 charges or something, and he also had a number of blocks called against him. Change your game up a bit. Shoot a short jumper and take advantage of the fact that the defense isn't expecting you to do that. Otherwise you're playing into their hands.
- Earl was posting Darren up last night. I didn't see if Devin was posting Darren up as well, or if it was just Earl. Wondering if that was something Ty was calling for, or if Earl took it upon himself to initiate. Definitely changed up the looks on the offensive end. Earl can post someone up if he's smaller, and when healthy can get good looks. Why? He's used to getting posted up and holding his own when he is, so he's got insight on how to get it done.
- Not sure if Ty or Earl is to blame for Earl not taking a 3 but instead passing it inside at the very end of the game. Could be that Ty called for a 2, or could be that Earl knew with his ankle he wasn't going to make a shot, but a 2 at that time wasn't going to help either.
- At points during the game I saw a lot of standing around on offense. With the players they have I believe they need to have a great deal more player movement. At least for the first unit. It's almost like on the second unit they're using game time also as practice time in some games. Earl tries to get guys in position, and there's a lot of standing while that happens, then they will start moving. Maybe it's again because of the lack of practice time and training camp that they have to make those adjustments. At the ends of quarters yeah, it's the guard's job to let guys know when to start moving to get the last shot play going, but it happens much more frequently than that. I haven't watched the first unti enough to see if this is happening with them very often, then again, I do see a lot of early clock jumpers so I'm not sure just how much the plays are being run versus guys doing their own things with that first unit.
Okay, I'm done. Feel free to tear apart.
- Earl's ankle isn't fully healed. Adrenaline got him through the Laker game, but I know he's feeling the pain and stiffness since. Evidence - a lay up attempt that barely reached the rim. No lift. One of his greated attributes is that he will play through pain. One of his biggest offensive problems is that he will play through pain. In Memphis he separated his shoulder, came back after missing a handful of games, and his shots were miserably short.
- The radio guys, Locke and I'm sorry I can't think of the other guy's name right now, said it perfectly last night. On the high pick and roll at the top of the key they need to string it out, make the point guard move laterally instead of toward the rim. I've seen the bigs do that a couple of times, but most of the time they're not moving their feet well enough, or are too scared that their guys will get the ball back. Seems to me there's a lack of trust on the defensive end that guys will cover for you if you help. Also seems well warranted, at least at times. Practice time on the defensive end is needed to fix that problem, and belief in teammates. Hoping they can get it done.
- People have said it, and it's true - the team needs outside shooting to stay competitive and open the lanes. A trade is likely necessary, but I'll leave the scenarios to others.
- Not sure about previous games, but in the last two on the offensive end there's been a lot of drives and either charges or blocks have been called at the rim. This is one thing that has always driven me crazy about the men's game, and they could probably learn a thing or two from the women's game. DON'T DRIVE ALL THE WAY TO THE BASKET! If guys are constantly standing in there, waiting for you to run over them, don't do it. Or at least mix it up. Pull up and use the glass to hit some 4 footers. Two things happen there - one, guys have to come out to guard you or you get that shot every time. If they come out then things may open up for teammates. If they don't come out then you're getting shots that may fall in, and you don't rely on the refs to make a call for or against you. There are times when it makes all the sense in the world to go at someone and try to draw fouls on them, but one of the Knicks players drew like 5 charges or something, and he also had a number of blocks called against him. Change your game up a bit. Shoot a short jumper and take advantage of the fact that the defense isn't expecting you to do that. Otherwise you're playing into their hands.
- Earl was posting Darren up last night. I didn't see if Devin was posting Darren up as well, or if it was just Earl. Wondering if that was something Ty was calling for, or if Earl took it upon himself to initiate. Definitely changed up the looks on the offensive end. Earl can post someone up if he's smaller, and when healthy can get good looks. Why? He's used to getting posted up and holding his own when he is, so he's got insight on how to get it done.
- Not sure if Ty or Earl is to blame for Earl not taking a 3 but instead passing it inside at the very end of the game. Could be that Ty called for a 2, or could be that Earl knew with his ankle he wasn't going to make a shot, but a 2 at that time wasn't going to help either.
- At points during the game I saw a lot of standing around on offense. With the players they have I believe they need to have a great deal more player movement. At least for the first unit. It's almost like on the second unit they're using game time also as practice time in some games. Earl tries to get guys in position, and there's a lot of standing while that happens, then they will start moving. Maybe it's again because of the lack of practice time and training camp that they have to make those adjustments. At the ends of quarters yeah, it's the guard's job to let guys know when to start moving to get the last shot play going, but it happens much more frequently than that. I haven't watched the first unti enough to see if this is happening with them very often, then again, I do see a lot of early clock jumpers so I'm not sure just how much the plays are being run versus guys doing their own things with that first unit.
Okay, I'm done. Feel free to tear apart.
