I think passing is this team's biggest issue....in the past we had Batum or Plumlee who could put some zip on a pass....this season I feel they are almost afraid to pass because of turnovers....
The players were throwing the ball directly to the other team last night, over and over again. Also fumbling the ball like crazy, some forced, some unforced. It was abysmal. But last night wasn't an anomaly; it's habitual.
That Turner turnover when he jumped and passed to the man DIRECTLY behind him was Shaqtin' a fool... My son said: "Bum, bum, Shaqtin' a fool!"
Someone should tally each pass made during an entire game - one tally for passes made inside the 3-point line, and one tally for passes made outside the 3-point line. I bet 80% of our passes occur outside the 3-point line.
Plumlee operated in the high post. After the trade last year, Nurk operated in the high post and was a major distributor. So far this year, Nurk isn't getting the ball in the high post very often. When he does, he has the ability to find cutters and open up the floor a bit. I'm not sure why we've gone away from this.
Dame takes some ill advised shots, but he gets his teammates involved. CJ is a complete black hole... he makes up his mind he is going to take shot before seeing what the defense offers. When you have two players tho that prioritize getting their shots, your offense has no chance. It doesn’t matter who we bring in as role players or how talented they are... if they don’t get consistent touches in the offense they are set up for failure. Stop making excuses for McLillard... the stars are responsible for a teams success or failure... not the fringe players.
Yes, but it's the design of the offense. Plays aren't run for anyone else and because of that, when other players do get the ball, they don't have the confidence or the rhythm to take or create a shot. Then when they are wide open, often times they don't get the ball for the easy bucket.....and an assist for Dame or CJ.
But why does this surprise you? CJ has always played like that. I have no problem with that. He can take a game over. What I have a problem with is the other cats not holding their own when needed to. CJ and Dame are the only reason we are 13-11 and NOT 3-21.
But who the hell on this roster do you want shooting? I got blasted on the daily last season for claiming we only had 2 quality starters and a bunch of role playing bench guys on our club.
I want Harkless, Pat, Aminu, Noah, and Ed cutting to the hoop off screens and back-doors! I even want Noah shooting open 10-15-footers when the defense collapses on Nurk/Dame/CJ as they drive to the basket! Our player/ball movement is abysmal.
Not only are we dead last, we're projected to have the lowest season assist total of any team in the last 10 years. The reason is obvious: the play options run from the best player to the worst player in order, without fail. The longer a play runs, the more passes that occur, the worse our offense becomes. An example: Dame starts a play, is doubled off the pick, so he passes it to CJ; CJ's instantly doubled off of Aminu, so CJ passes it to Aminu. Aminu gets doubled off of Harkless, so he passes to Harkless. Now you have Harkless taking a three (or not because he's above 35% and about to earn $500,000) or he passes the ball at the last second to Nurkic, who isn't really in position. Everyone is running around like chickens with their heads cut off, but there's no useful PLACEMENT or SPACING in the motion. Nobody is forcing the defense to do their bidding; it's actually the opposite: the defense is ordering us around. The opposing defense leads the offensive action like sheepdogs herding sheep. They double off of increasingly worse offensive options, and our read offense obeys without fail, passing the ball to worse and worse players until you have your 5th option tossing a three. THEN in the 3rd and 4th quarters, Dame sees we're down 15 and decides that the offensive sets suck so he's going to stop passing the ball to players who can't shoot, and just shoot himself. Forum members scream about hero ball, but seriously, what is he supposed to do?
Tough for the cats to do much when they rarely see the ball in a position or situation that fits their strengths. Aminu, Harkless, Vonleh etc all finish very well on the break. Tough to blame them when Dame/CJ won't run. They aren't great outside shooters but there are other ways to get good shots and score. Being DEAD LAST in assists and fast break points tells me other teams are finding ways. If Dame/CJ/Nurk are so good, and draw so much attention, that means there are opportunities elsewhere period. I've broken down the TYPES of shots players are getting and how often they get missed in places of strength ad nauseam. Kersey couldn't shoot, neither could Buck, Drexler's shot was broken and Duck was only good for an occasional mid-range jumper....and that starting group did just fine.
It's at the point where while passing it to each other around the 3 point line, whoever has the ball other than Dame or CJ doesn't even look inside to make a pass or to drive through the key even if they are WIDE open because the offense is made to get the ball BACK to Dame or CJ. That's not a knock on our guards it's the majority of our offense. We need change one way or another.
Yeah, they're on a different level right now. I hate to say it, because his last two seasons gave me so much hope, but CJ is looking more like a slightly rich man's version of Jamal Crawford right now. It's hard to watch and probably harder still to share the court with.
that would explain you sleeping in the hallway of the hotel on the road....getting blasted by the players must be a bitch!