there's simply no flow, and Jalen is not making the game easier for anyone. we have a pre-eminent shooting talent in KAT and Jalen is looking for his.

given that 75+% of Jalen's contribution to this team is offense, not defense, and given his high usage, he should own up and realize he has talented offensive guys standing around watching him dribble.

Thibs got outcoached too. guys came out flat and all this could do is his stupid bobble head and complain at the refs. they had Jalen guarding ausar (sp?) which was fine and good thought, but Bickerstaff had him cutting to the hoop, and JB kept getting burned. Thibs, make an adjustment

really super disappointing. All that said, we hit our free throws we win

we will win the series but Jesus, things could have been so much simpler if we were less selfish and less stupid. Now Pistons will be energized etc.

We miss Johnny Flynn. We have a bunch of useless dinosaurs on our bench.

VDesai wrote:Duren won them that game. Without Mitch - he got every board. KATs inability to box him out has been a major issue.

Felt like those Duren buckets hurt but I saw both Kat/Mitch having to contest at rim and nobody else putting a body on Duren (only 9 points and offset by Mitch’s 13).

Bigger issue IMO was Brunson guarding high/screen roll and failing to impede Cade AT ALL which lead to Cade flying down lane either for layups or numerous dump offs for Thompson (who we made look like Pippen tonight).

Thompson avg 10 on the season and 7.5 in 4 games going into tonight and he had 22 (BALL GAME).

We have been way too bad on fast breaks

LivingLegend wrote:

VDesai wrote:Duren won them that game. Without Mitch - he got every board. KATs inability to box him out has been a major issue.

Felt like those Duren buckets hurt but I saw both Kat/Mitch having to contest at rim and nobody else putting a body on Duren (only 9 points and offset by Mitch’s 13).

Bigger issue IMO was Brunson guarding high/screen roll and failing to impede Cade AT ALL which lead to Cade flying down lane either for layups or numerous dump offs for Thompson (who we made look like Pippen tonight).

Thompson avg 10 on the season and 7.5 in 4 games going into tonight and he had 22 (BALL GAME).

personally I didn't have an issue with Brunson on the high screen and roll. I thought he was just there to buy a second to give OG or Bridges some time to recover.

My issue is they had him guarding Thompson, which worked in prior game. But Bickerstaff countered by having Thompson cut to hpp. and Jalen was too hypnotized by ball and did nothing.

Detroit did NOT play a good game. They just played a better game than us which is shameful given home court etc.

Chandler wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:Disgusting game - so many unforced TO’s, dumb fouls and just putrid offense and defense at key times.

Can Brunson or Deuce stop a paper bag? Schroeder killing us at key points and Jalen can’t even step up for a spilt second and slow Cade down off high screen.

Once again Kat literally ignored all night on offensive end —- I don’t recall a single pass from Brunson to Towns.

Shitty offense and Thibs is useless standing on sideline watching this turd burger offense.

this is the story of the game. KAT is our best shooter, not Jalen. Jalen has had pretty good defenders on him. DUren and Harris are not good defenders. SO what's our game plan? Stand around and watch Jalen???

Freaking ridiculous. This is really, really dumb, selfish, egotistical basketball. Simplify the game.

It’s just too easy for us to get into the hero Brunson ball.

Best minutes of entire season were the game 4 1st quarter minute where we were flying around and ball was moving - that lasted ~1 quarter and it;s been gone ever since.

I don’t think Jalen is selfish but more so it’s how he operates—— I wish he’d move the ball more.

VDesai wrote:Worst play of the game was Mikal's utter bonehead pass to Mitch from like 40 feet away in a tie game. In what world is that a good play? We had a chance to grab some momentum and create a lead.

We have been way too bad on fast breaks

Mitch was butter fingers once again. I will give him credit for more activity but his and Jalen's missed FTs were critical.

I don't know why Mikal or anyone else at this point is passing the ball to Mitch. On the rare occasion he catches cleanly, instead of going straight up for some stupid reason he brings the ball down before attempting to alleviate, facilitating the all too frequent strip. this is HS stuff. c'mon man. Grown up

VDesai wrote:

Chandler wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:

VDesai wrote:Duren won them that game. Without Mitch - he got every board. KATs inability to box him out has been a major issue.

Felt like those Duren buckets hurt but I saw both Kat/Mitch having to contest at rim and nobody else putting a body on Duren (only 9 points and offset by Mitch’s 13).

Bigger issue IMO was Brunson guarding high/screen roll and failing to impede Cade AT ALL which lead to Cade flying down lane either for layups or numerous dump offs for Thompson (who we made look like Pippen tonight).

Thompson avg 10 on the season and 7.5 in 4 games going into tonight and he had 22 (BALL GAME).

personally I didn't have an issue with Brunson on the high screen and roll. I thought he was just there to buy a second to give OG or Bridges some time to recover.

My issue is they had him guarding Thompson, which worked in prior game. But Bickerstaff countered by having Thompson cut to hpp. and Jalen was too hypnotized by ball and did nothing.

Detroit did NOT play a good game. They just played a better game than us which is shameful given home court etc.

Brunson kept giving him baseline when he just needed to cut that off and make him take an open corner 3. He cant make that. He can only beat you baseline

agree 100% but frankly I don't think it's right to say he was "giving" because it makes it sound like it was an intentional choice on Brunsopn's point. JB was hypnotized by the ball and not focused on the issue at hand.

Chandler wrote:

VDesai wrote:

Chandler wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:

VDesai wrote:Duren won them that game. Without Mitch - he got every board. KATs inability to box him out has been a major issue.

Felt like those Duren buckets hurt but I saw both Kat/Mitch having to contest at rim and nobody else putting a body on Duren (only 9 points and offset by Mitch’s 13).

Bigger issue IMO was Brunson guarding high/screen roll and failing to impede Cade AT ALL which lead to Cade flying down lane either for layups or numerous dump offs for Thompson (who we made look like Pippen tonight).

Thompson avg 10 on the season and 7.5 in 4 games going into tonight and he had 22 (BALL GAME).

personally I didn't have an issue with Brunson on the high screen and roll. I thought he was just there to buy a second to give OG or Bridges some time to recover.

My issue is they had him guarding Thompson, which worked in prior game. But Bickerstaff countered by having Thompson cut to hpp. and Jalen was too hypnotized by ball and did nothing.

Detroit did NOT play a good game. They just played a better game than us which is shameful given home court etc.

Brunson kept giving him baseline when he just needed to cut that off and make him take an open corner 3. He cant make that. He can only beat you baseline

agree 100% but frankly I don't think it's right to say he was "giving" because it makes it sound like it was an intentional choice on Brunsopn's point. JB was hypnotized by the ball and not focused on the issue at hand.

He’s giving up 6-8 inches and has no chance at disrupting an alley oop to Thompson on the baseline

DLeethal wrote:

Chandler wrote:

VDesai wrote:Worst play of the game was Mikal's utter bonehead pass to Mitch from like 40 feet away in a tie game. In what world is that a good play? We had a chance to grab some momentum and create a lead.

We have been way too bad on fast breaks

Mitch was butter fingers once again. I will give him credit for more activity but his and Jalen's missed FTs were critical.

I don't know why Mikal or anyone else at this point is passing the ball to Mitch. On the rare occasion he catches cleanly, instead of going straight up for some stupid reason he brings the ball down before attempting to alleviate, facilitating the all too frequent strip. this is HS stuff. c'mon man. Grown up

Mikal will pass it to the ball boy before trying to score on his man.

Unless we’re down double digits and in desperation mode then he’ll start trying to score

Mikal, OG, and KAT can all shoot it. it's Jalen's job, not theirs, to create some flow. At the moment, they're being used as bail out options.

as I said earlier, Jalen is being covered by pretty good defenders. Duren is guarding KAT, he's not a good defender. Hardaway is guarding someone. C'mon Jalen. this isn't Einstein stuff