Nobody is overreacting about Yi's defense. It sucks. Bad. Maybe everyone is under reacting regarding the rest of the team's defense. Yi is expected to be a more capable and consistent defender than a rookie who is similarly built and has the same problems on defense. Why is that so wrong?
I've kind of wondered what would happen when Devin isos don't translate into wins. It's hard to argue either with the team results or with his efficiency in the stretch of games he's played since exploding on Detroit. On the other hand, he can't forget -- and it's up to Frank and Carter to remind him -- that he's got a backcourt mate who's made a career of 4th quarter, crunch scoring and playmaking and that diversity in offensive approach is going to be best for the team in the long run. And I think it's a huge mistake to NOT run the offense through Vince a good part of the 4th quarter. He still does more than Devin to keep the team involved in the offense, and so his touches and control of the ball are important for team offensive rhythm. It would also be nice if he saw the ball a little more often earlier in the game so that he has some kind of feel by the time the 4th rolls around. Of course none of this has anything to do with the icky team defense tonight. And WTF is up with Vince's free throws this year? He's freakin horrible (for him).
As I said earlier in the game thread, Vince looked really tired tonight...he was slow, he had no concentration, he was passive....not the Vince we're used to seeing this year.
Everyone's overreacting. Puh puh puh please don't jump on Devin for taking too many shots. It simply was not our night. It was Al Harrington's. That motherfucker played like a morph between Karl Malone and Dirk Nowitzki.
Agreed. It doesn't seem that long ago that Devin had a horrible night shooting in Sacramento...and then, in crunch time, he had the courage to put up a jumper and help us get an improbable win. He is one of two go-to guys in the clutch for us, so you have to live with some makes and some misses. I was cringing too, with all the jump shots in this game. Ly_yng has it right...free throw discrepency killed us. And being unable to get any stops when we needed them.
Carter looked pissed coming into the locker room yesterday as I waited for him by the Nets tunnel at the half. He wouldn't give anyone high fives including these little kids who were devastated. As he came back out for the 3rd I said Vince smile a little....he looked at me and shook his head. Wonder if he was pissed off about not getting enough shots. But Vince doesn't seem like that kind of guy so I think the media is reading into it too much.
It didnt matter one iota. The Nets shot 53%, 41% from the arc. They scored 109 points. They couldnt guard a Brinks truck with a machine gun. Knicks just kept scoring...no stops.
Perimeter defenders get beat all the time if they try to guard their man. But then it's the center's job to rotate and keep people out of the paint. Lopez didn't do his job (or rebound) and hung Yi out to dry. Poor Bobby has to play the paint to cover for Lopez, leaving his man wide open. Yeh, right, it's all Yi's and Bobby's and the coach's fault.
It wasn't a matter of Harris taking too many shots...it was his shot selection. In the last 7-8 minutes, Harris basically brought the ball up, pulled up and took a shot. The team didn't run its offense and use ball movement to create shots for anybody.
