Hornets @ Blazers 1/25/2010 Game Thread

I think the key is you are assuming that Webster or Rudy would come off those screens with an open 15ft jumper. Detroit called a similar play at the end of the game the other day, LMA jumped the curl and poked the ball out without losing contain of the post player he was defending. We got a decent look in our 2nd to last possession, Detroit never even got an attempt up.

I'm guessing when Nate puts Miller in the post against Collison or Paul, he knows the odds of Miller getting a high percentage look or NOH having to double team is high. Putting Blake in the opposite corner makes it difficult for teams to rotate correctly. Now, again, this is assuming all goes right (which obviously it didn't).

Had Miller made that high percentage shot (IMO) then I don't think people would be criticizing the play.

 

BUT HE DIDN"T PUT MILLER IN THE POST AGAINST COLLISON - unless you consider 20 feet from the basket "in the post". Go back and watch the plays over. Miller started the ISOs on the left wing 20 feet from the basket and was not able to get by the quicker Collison.

BNM

 

Certainly not a scientific poll or the most renowned NBA source, but it appears many people think you are 180 degrees wrong.

Orlando Sentinel

This will be 3 straight years Nate is likely to be in the discussion for COY...

 

To be fair, the people who visit the Orlando Sentinel's blog probably don't have as much exposure to Nate and his ways as we do.

 

With just under a minute, I swear Miller missed a 5-7 foot shot in the post... Am I wrong?

 

Absolutely correct... It's the same reason Laker fans bag on Phil, Magic fans rip Van Gundy, and even Houston fans shred Adleman after losses. If you watched any team as much as you watched the Blazers, you'd notice opposing coaches flaws too.

I'm lucky to get to watch between 500-1000 games a year to get a real feel of what other teams run and how other coaches handle in of game situations. I'm convinced we have one of the top 5-7 coaches in the league.

 

If you want Bayless in at the end of the game, then why sit his ass on the bench the for most of the fourth quarter and put him in with three seconds left?

Thats tough on any player.

 

Who else do you give the ball with three seconds left? (It should have never come down to that) I say either him or Miller . . . and I don't think that is enough time for Miller to do his thing.

 

The posts you often see at LG and Clutchfans are often of the knee jerk variety and lack little substance.

You're disparaging BNM and BfWa's posts by indirectly comparing them to the ones made by Laker fans and the like.

 

I think there are plenty of posts here that fit under the same category. I'm not saying every critical thread about a coach is a knee-jerk reaction that has typical armchair quarterback commentary, but it seems to be a high percentage here just like any other forum.

I bet those Laker and Rocket fans would come on here after we lost by 1 to the Hornets without Roy, Oden, Outlaw, and Joel and get a chuckle that we are upset about our coach given the success we've had with this hodgepodge roster.

I think BFWA has a great grasp of the game and just because I don't agree with him doesn't mean I'm putting him down in anyway. I think if he were a Rockets fan he would have similar complaints about what the Rockets run down the stretch of close games. And if he doesn't like tons of ISO and P&R over and over down the stretch, he would hate 2/3 of NBA coaches because that's what most everyone runs.

 

My point is if you want him in at the end, don't bring him off the bench cold.

Bayless forced that jumper, and he shot it early with just over a second left. If you look at the replay, he could have driven into traffic, taken that contested jumper, or dished to a wide open Martell Webster.

 

Webster was wide open for the dish from Bayless, and was 4-6 from deep! Ride the hot hand!

We've got a list of bad loses going where we had control of the game and simply choked.

 

I think if there were 8 seconds on the clock, he wouldn't have gone in. When you are under 4 seconds and your other 3 guards are some of the slowest in the league, I don't think he had much of a choice. I thought for sure he wouldn't put Bayless in for the same reason you cite, but he gave us our best chance at getting a clean look. I would have rather Brandon Roy get the shot, but that wasn't an option. I'd love for LMA to want to ball and have the ability to catch it at 17ft and take 1-2 dribbles, but he doesn't want the ball down the stretch. Rudy got the ball down the stretch in the Boston game, but that didn't work out so well....

 

From where I was sitting, it didn't look like he got anywhere close to 5 - 7 feet from the basket. He started over 20 feet from the basket and maybe got as close as 10 - 12 feet before he forced up a contested shot as the shot clock wound down.

When I say "in the post", I mean on the low block. Against a smaller quicker player, it would be much more effective to have Miller post him up on the low block and then receive an entry pass than try to start with the ball 20-feet from the basket and try to dribble around or through the much quicker Collison.

BNM

 

And if I'm Paul Allen there is about sixty million reasons that shit pisses me off.

 

The shot chart shows a shot from Miller taken at or just inside the left block with 55 seconds left. I'm not saying that it's 100% accurate, but my memory was it was somewhere between 5-7ft. I understand you not liking the lack of movement, it's very conservative.

 

I sat right in front of that play, and in Andres defense, I think you are right the shot was more like five to seven feet and it looked good when he took it. The other breakdowns were more troubling to me. Aldridge not wanting to shoot and dishing it back to Miller with five seconds left....and the lack of ball movement to the outside, when we had been hitting it pretty good there for much of the game.

 

When was the last time the Lakers lost a game they were winning by 8 points with less than 4 minutes left by scoring only a single point for the rest of the game? When was the last time they did it twice, at home, in a span of less than 3 weeks to teams that lose twice as many road games as they win?

I spite of all the rah rah feel good vibes about this team overachieving in the face of all the injuries, it's still inexcusable to piss away games you have won, at home, because your coach can't or won't call anything but ISO plays over the last three minutes of the game. Not only is it stupid to not learn from your failures, it also does a great disservice to the players who worked their asses off to have a lead, and the game won, only to see it all pissed away by the same stupid, moronic play calling that cost you a win the last time you were in the same situation.

Sorry, as hard as this team has worked, they don't deserve to lose games like this - and they wouldn't if they had a coach who knew how to call plays that involve more than one player. Nate doesn't get a free pass on this. This loss and the Memphis loss rest squarely on his shoulders. I'm sure he'll blame it on "poor execution" down the stretch, but it's hard to execute a play when the other team and everyone in the gym knows exactly what play you're going to run and how to stop it.

BNM

 

I'm not sure the answer to your question, but you could look it up as easily as I could. When you look it up, make sure that you are doing it in games where Kobe is out, along with Bynum, and two other significant rotation players.

If you think running ISO plays over and over down the stretch of close games is uncommon from the top teams in the NBA, you are mistaken. In fact, it's is quite the norm. Watch what Cleveland, Denver, LA, and Dallas run down the stretch. P&R for Lebron, ISO for Kobe, P&R for Dirk, ISO for Carmello or Billiups. Over and over, they beat it like a dead horse deep into the playoffs.

Try watching another NBA team for an entire season and you would be shocked at how much smarter you think you are than that head coach as well. The game is really really easy to coach sitting in front of your TV. Trust me, I'm the best ref to never call and NBA game and I do it from my couch on a nightly basis!