some quick hits vs. the buckaneers

- your celebrities of choice are tiki barber, zab judah, and yankee legend robinson cano...

- a bunch of empty seats tonight as a combination of 6-13 and the milwaukee buckaneers with the mighty andrew bogut didn't really inspire the masses to attend.

- DOO DOO. that's the best way to describe this one. DOO DOO. crowd was not into this one at all and the boo birds reigned supreme for a bunch of the night.

- nate starts, not b/c he's being showcased, but b/c of two things: 1. lb wants jamal to be the pg and can't play him there b/c he doesn't want steph at the sg and 2. he's our BEST backcourt defender. he did a pretty good job on tj ford keeping him out of the paint. it wasn't until nate left the game did the buckaneer guards begin to have their way with steph and penetrate at will.

- channing frye is water. 50% from the field on the season...14-18 tonight. he got the biggest cheer during intros. he shoots better than h20. but his defense is ATROCIOUS. he gets some nice weakside blocks and is OK on the boards but too many times he doesn't rotate back on screens and tends to leave his man open on the perimeter. he needs a stud rebounder to help him...problem is curry isn't that guy yet. (if he ever will be). but frye is our beacon of light. btw, you notice that play where he had it on top of the key and he pointed to curry on where to post in the box and delivered the bounce pass for an assist? high IQ my friends.

- in the 2nd half, the bucks made the adjustment on the pick & pop and didn't leave him open. lb has to adjust to this and post him up...especially if a guy like kukoc is on him. you see that sweet lefty hook? is he the best jumpshooting big man in the league right now?

- during the game, on the bench, crawford had the playbook and was showing it to qyntel woods, going over stuff. again, in the huddle of timeouts, he has the playbook in his hands like he's an assistant coach. it's pretty clear to me that he's doing only what lb tells him to do. i think lb wants him as a pg b/c we stopped running plays for him to get his shot off and after his 30 point outburst in seattle, we refocused the team into a "dump it down to the post" offense. craw is penciled in as the starting pg. problem is that steph isn't good enough for lb to move him to sg. so we're stuck. ultimately, one of them has to go, and chances are it will be steph.

- lb's post game comments: "i look out there, we're playing all young kids. right now we don't have anybody with a head that can, you know, get them in spots and take pressure off them and that's difficult." - that's a direct hit to steph.

- btw, lb gave us all a big F CK YOU. we all complain about AD starting and getting minutes or rose as well. so he gave us what we wanted. no AD, no rose. and guess what, no defense. our interior defense was crap. maybe that's why they kept starting and getting minutes. the one time he finally does what we ask, and it's 112-92.

- i will give nate alot of leeway. he never played point but is asked to now. thus 6 TO's. but his on the ball defense is pretty darn good as he constantly stays infront of nash, tj, and the rest of the bunch. he's 2nd on the team in rebounding to go along with 50% shooting. does he make mistakes? hell yeah he does but he's a rookie and plays hard. he's a keeper, just have to bring up his IQ. but NO WAY he should be starting.

- Q started for sentimental reasons. but he doesn't fit here.

- qyntel physically reminiscent of mr. fugazy out there. banged a 3, got a dunk, and played some d. not a bad debut. spidey sense is tingling but reduced minutes for ariza plus qyntel signing may mean ariza's time in nyc may be coming up.

- btw, did i say the game was DOO DOO. we left with 5 mins to go. that's the first time this year. hopefully not a sign of things to come.

- trade deadline approaching...i think q and the big game jerome james are as good as gone. and if we get into the artest sweepstakes, it'll probably be artest + croshere for AD + lee + ariza. but does brown want to deal with iverson X 100?

there's still a plan right? a method to lb's madness? right?

[Edited by - djsunyc on 12-13-2005 02:11 AM]

i noticed that assist from frye that you pointed out and i remember another one as well that impressed me a lot. i agree with you aboit the guy's game. and i still feel that the phoenix debacle was a great learning experience for him on the need to develop a go-to move on the blocks without traveling or getting called for 3 seconds. i love the look on the guy's face during games. he's all business and you can practically see him storing info when he screws up to go over later. one classy rookie.

nates's got to hit those damn free throws. he was atrocious there. but i continue to love his presence on the court. i'll live with his mistakes because he's learning the pro game. as i said in a different thread yesterday, i take both my solace and my optimism from our giving these kids the chances to make their mistakes now and learn. that will all pay off big time later on imo.

i hear you abouit qdog - i liked his presecne out there. he did bring back a bit of fugazy's initial good impression here - man wtf ever happend to that? totally o/t but i was at the garden in spring '04 against washington when tt went nuts, soemthing like 33 points and all these clutch baskets in the 4th quarter and ot. what the f happened!!!!

anyway i just got interrupted so lost my already tenuous train of thought. but 2 last things - dj, thanks for posting these reports. i'm real curious to see if your crawford theories are borne out. in my fantasy world, lb turns craw, steph and nate into a dynamic trio, and qrich works out his s**t and provides a deep threat.

one other note - i just read some of the game thread - - and i totally concur with enyspree - isles is a real solid dude and adds a valuable dimension to the forum. and believe me, he and i have NEVER agreed on a single topic, but i don't think the motives ascribed to him were right at all.

peace all and have an excellent day.

Posted by Killa4luv:

during the game, on the bench, crawford had the playbook and was showing it to qyntel woods, going over stuff. again, in the huddle of timeouts, he has the playbook in his hands like he's an assistant coach. it's pretty clear to me that he's doing only what lb tells him to do. i think lb wants him as a pg b/c we stopped running plays for him to get his shot off and after his 30 point outburst in seattle, we refocused the team into a "dump it down to the post" offense. craw is penciled in as the starting pg. problem is that steph isn't good enough for lb to move him to sg. so we're stuck. ultimately, one of them has to go, and chances are it will be steph.

Yeah, I’m sure LB told him:

Look Jamal for the month of December I want you to run out there and average 12 points while shooting 36% from the field. You’ve gotta try and be as inconsistent as possible out there okay. I want you to show me flashes of brilliance out there, but mainly mixed in with sub-par poor shooting performances. I want you to look scared and timid, ok Jamal?! No go out there an do it!

Exactly. What makes anyone think Craw is penciled in as our starting point guard? Find where LB said anything to that effect and I will never say a bad thing about Marbs again.

Posted by djsunyc:

hey, jamal is CLEARLY confused out there. i have no idea WTF is going on but after his run as the mid-range killer earlier in the season, we STOPPED setting up those plays. why do you just stop running those plays, especially if craw is supposed to be the sg? why does nate start in his place? there's something else going on...

[Edited by - djsunyc on 12-13-2005 10:38 AM]

Ok so let me get this straight. You believe:

1. A rookie is starting in place of Jamal because Jamal really is supposed to be the starting point guard.

2. Jamal was a mid-range killer, and LB puprosely stopped that and essentially stifled him because he doesn't want him to be a mid-range-killer but our starting pg.

That is totally illogical. But how about this:

Crawford doesn't start because he is a defensive liability, and an inconsistant offensive player. Crawford is truly the player that we have that does not fit. He has not found a role nor a way to play consistantly.

Posted by Killa4luv:

Posted by djsunyc:

hey, jamal is CLEARLY confused out there. i have no idea WTF is going on but after his run as the mid-range killer earlier in the season, we STOPPED setting up those plays. why do you just stop running those plays, especially if craw is supposed to be the sg? why does nate start in his place? there's something else going on...

[Edited by - djsunyc on 12-13-2005 10:38 AM]

Ok so let me get this straight. You believe:

1. A rookie is starting in place of Jamal because Jamal really is supposed to be the starting point guard.

2. Jamal was a mid-range killer, and LB puprosely stopped that and essentially stifled him because he doesn't want him to be a mid-range-killer but our starting pg.

That is totally illogical. But how about this:

Crawford doesn't start because he is a defensive liability, and an inconsistant offensive player. Crawford is truly the player that we have that does not fit. He has not found a role nor a way to play consistantly.

you could be 100% on all counts.

i don't think we'll really know what's going on until after the trade deadline. but the more time goes by, the more and more evident that steph and craw can not co-exist in lb's system b/c he's not playing jamal as the sg anymore.