It's funny because all of my goals from my prior post came true, well except the cheesesteak. They didn't serve any!!!! As far as the game, the gameplan was to drive and kick to the open man. This team is not going to be very good defensively but if we keep the ball moving, we will make some noise. The lowlight of the game was during the 2nd quarter. Phoenix started to get hot and adding our strategy, Phoenix took the lead. Our strategy was to dump the ball in the post to Murphy and he looked out of sync. He is playing with no confidence whatsoever. When Marion was blocking his shots, it lead to fast breaks. Murphy also crashes the glass every offensive possession. This lead to him out of position to run the floor and Phoenix had a huge advantage running the fast break. Murphy was whining the the ref for a good portion and Monty benched him. The 2nd half Dunleavy, Davis and Richardson made it their mission to drive the lane and kick out to the open man. Great basketball. Defensively we are still having problems with our rotations. Dunleavy and Murphy seemed lost and Monty laid into them. Dunleavy had some great rebounds in traffic and played good D on Marion. He's surpassed teenleavy and is twenty year oldleavy. He played like the best player on the floor. Player impressions: Davis:stud. little careless and took some bad shots but that's his game. He knows how to play the game and can see plays before they happen. Had some nice 3 pointers. JRich: was driving to the basket a lot. Looks smoother getting to the basket. FT's suck, great looking mid range J and solid 3 point shooter. Plays with intensity and will be solid. Dunleavy: Looked phenomenal. Biedrins: Was a big reason for us getting back into the game in the 3rd. Ran the floor, active, cuts to the basket well. He doesn't have much of a post game but we can wait on that. Slowing down the game is not a priority unless we have a stud downlow. Everyone on the team loves the kid, he's like the team pet. Zarko: He's in the doghouse. Monty pulled him off the 2nd unit in garbage time. He was also getting an earfull from the coaches. Needs to calm down on the floor. Very tall and skilled. Fisher: It's funny because he never played the point guard position. He came in and played 2 with baron, then Miles replaced Baron, then just Fisher but Dunleavy was bringing the ball up the floor. Soon after that he fell and left the game. Montay: Quick, higher bball IQ than advertised and will get minutes this year! His shot needs some work but at least it falls in. Can create his own shot. Pietrus: Played well. He's clearly banged up. Got some big rebounds for our team and started limping throughout the game. Made it a mission to drive to the basket. He needs some rest....badly. Amazing alley-op from Baron. I screamed so loud I lost my voice. Foyle: Terrible basketball instincts. He does look slimmer but even in warmups can't shoot a lick. I found it odd but Taft loves him. Always sitting next to him, touching him, talking to him....odd Taft: Huge kid. Big feet, hands, legs, arms, head etc. Showed nice hands with a putback, really nice touch on a fadeaway jumper over 2 guys. Dove for a loose ball. Needs to lose weight. Ray Young: awful. Should never be allowed to touch a basketball....ever. Miles: No Arenas or even Montay but is an actual point guard. He'll be solid for this team. Finds the open man and with Fisher, JRich, Baron, Dunleavy, Murphy, Montay, Pietrus...can you say 3 pointer? Murphy: Struggling to find his identity. Wants to become a low post scorer but doesn't have the skills for it. Marion easily slowed him down. Playing with no confidence unless he's shooting jumpers. Monty really wants a low post scorer. He gave set plays for Foyle & Murphy, it was terrible. When Diogu gets to play, just his low post threat will space the floor for our shooters.
We totally need to drop Ray Young. We got plenty of 2 guards WAY better than him. Ellis is better than Young, AND he's still a project.
