Coolbreeze's 2 Things I Didn't Like Tonight Plus 1

[Coolbreeze44]

A much needed win tonight for the home team. It wasn't always an artistic success, but it was crucial to get the W before heading to LA for back to backs Sunday and Monday. We continue to learn more about this team with every outing, and some of those things will be discussed below. Here is tonight's 2 + 1:

1) We don't play as hard on the defensive end as we do on offense. Outscoring teams is fine occasionally, but it just isn't a recipe for long term success. And it certainly isn't the way to go if we are fortunate enough to make the playoffs. If our opponents are just a little patient, they seem to get a wide open look just about every time down the floor. As this team gains experience in playing together, it's paramount that they treat each end of the floor with the same importance.

2) Ricky needs another running mate. Too often he is walking the ball up the court and initiating a half court set. One reason is other than Brewer, no one in the starting lineup can flourish on the break. It's one reason why I wish Derrick would become consistent enough to be able to play more with Ricky. The two of them could be dynamic along with Brewer. But I really feel Rubio's game is limited somewhat by the style he is forced to play most of the time. He's built to fly up an down the court wheeling and dealing. Another finisher on the break sure wouldn't hurt.

Plus 1 - Initially, I was really skeptical about how Martin would fit on our team. I didn't realize how smart and how savvy he is. But he is showing how outstanding of an offensive player we have. The difference he provides from our guard play last year is dramatic. The down side is when we have to play a few games without him. When that happens we are going to really struggle. Getting Bud back will help, but we are becoming so reliant on KMart. Stay healthy KEVIN!

And that's CoolBreeze's 2 things I didn't like tonight Plus 1

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Thanks Cool!

In terms of running though, I don't think Williams runs the floor very well at all. Brewer's amazing at that, and Martin's been pretty good, but if you watch Derrick, he's actually rarely down the court quickly.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

On #1, I noticed Pek a couple times not even attempting to challenge a guy coming into the paint. There was one time Jae Crowder was trailing on the break and he went right by Pek for an easy hoop. It looked like he could have given Pek a fist bump right before going in for the layup. Something's wrong with Pek. I hope it's simply a matter of conditioning and getting his sea legs under him. That being said, Dallas has been a very good offensive team this year. Calderon is just money from the outside.

Martin has been just huge for us. So far I have been really impressed with him, Love, and Brewer. Pek and Rubio have been disappointments. The bench has been horrific.

Here's the good news: The only guy that has been out-of-his-mind-this-can't-possibly-keep-up is Kevin Martin, with his 58% shooting from beyond the arc. That won't continue. However, if you look at the shooting of a lot of other players, it's hard to envision anything other than an upward trend to the mean at some point. Here are some numbers:

Rubio - 30% FG, 23% 3pt
Pekovic - 40% FG
Brewer - 20% 3 Pt
Barea - 23% 3 pt
Shved - 20% FG; 17% 3 Pt
Williams - 14% 3 pt

We're 4-2 with these piss-poor shooting numbers from guys not named Love and Martin. And Love has by no means been on fire. So as Martin's 3-point shooting reverts closer to his career average, I can't believe that these other guys won't pick up the slack and then some by simply getting closer to their career averages.

[Lipoli390]

Cool - I usually don't read your 2 plus 1 until after posting my game report. I should probably just cut and paste your post into my report. You nailed some key take-aways I took from tonight's game. I hadn't thought of your point about Ricky, but I think you are absolutely right. Now it's time to get to work on my report although I might wait until after the Portland game.

[TAFKASP]

Cool - I usually don't read your 2 plus 1 until after posting my game report. I should probably just cut and paste your post into my report. You nailed some key take-aways I took from tonight's game. I hadn't thought of your point about Ricky, but I think you are absolutely right. Now it's time to get to work on my report although I might wait until after the Portland game.

Slacker. You aren't going to get that raise you were looking for with that attitude mister.

[Lipoli390]

Cool - I usually don't read your 2 plus 1 until after posting my game report. I should probably just cut and paste your post into my report. You nailed some key take-aways I took from tonight's game. I hadn't thought of your point about Ricky, but I think you are absolutely right. Now it's time to get to work on my report although I might wait until after the Portland game.

Slacker. You aren't going to get that raise you were looking for with that attitude mister.

Damn! I need the money.

[markkbu [enjin:6588958]]

Cool - I usually don't read your 2 plus 1 until after posting my game report. I should probably just cut and paste your post into my report. You nailed some key take-aways I took from tonight's game. I hadn't thought of your point about Ricky, but I think you are absolutely right. Now it's time to get to work on my report although I might wait until after the Portland game.

Slacker. You aren't going to get that raise you were looking for with that attitude mister.

Hehehe......funny TheSP

[mjs34]

I agree with Q about Pek, but I did notice a change when he finally challenged a shooter at the basket in the second half. From that point on he seemed to be more aggressive. One thing that really worried me tonight was Adelman leaving Pek in for 17 consecutive minutes without a rest. If we want to keep him healthy, Adelman has got to limit his minutes in those stretches. I like the idea of keeping Pek, Love or Martin on the floor, but there are better ways to go about that.

Cool, I think you are on to something with Ricky. I think it goes a little further than an extra running mate though. It seems like we are running very few PnR's compared to last season, and that means less time with the ball in Ricky's hands in the half court sets. I think that it minimizes Ricky's opportunities to be effective. I understand the corner offense is designed to use the bigs, but I think anytime we use Pek as a passer (thus taking him away from the rim) rather than Ricky is not using our resources wisely.

I also think our bench is struggling because of JJ monopolizing the ball. He doesn't even try to setup the other guys while he is out there, and the opponents have realized this and are playing him accordingly. Adleman has to get JJ to change what he is doing.

One other question I have is why aren't we using Dieng at all. I realize he was struggling a bit, but we need an extra big out there, and he needs to get some court time. Even a couple minute stretches in each half would help the starters out.

The thing I like is that Love really seems to be pleased having Martin on the floor to help out late in games. They seem to have a really good chemistry developing.