nixluva wrote:It's a TEAM thing. The team is just playing at a consistent level of cohesiveness and chemistry on both ends. One guy isn't really gonna change the whole thing. We just need guys that can contribute and be part of the flow. Nate kind of isn't a real team oriented player, but guys like him and Al can be mitigated when the rest of the team is playing well.

that's what i was trying to tell u all along... this is not a 1 guy makes or breaks the winning or losing issue & never has been... the whole idea that having Nate out of the rotation being largely responsible for the wins in December was a farce... guys like Nate & Al can take over a game at any moment, but they can also shoot u out of a game as well... in the end it's all about having the right balance, u can't have a team full of Nate's & Al's & expect to win many games, just like u can't expect to have a team full of Chris Duhon's & Fishlip's & expect the same.

He can score there is no doubt about that. But he's not a PG. He's an very under sized two. Ideally you either have a PG in the game with him or an off-guard or forward who can run your half court offense. Otherwise you're at risk for what you got last night, Nate carries you for a few minutes but gives it back with TOs and your offense falls apart.

If he was a true two he'd be much easier to put in a role as a free shooting scorer off the bench, I still think that's his role, but he either comes in as the two guard and the team is undersized or the pg and having a PG being a free shooting scorer who makes bad decisions is going to fail miserably when he's not hitting his shots.

If its a off night, pull him. If he had 3 minutes 1/5 shooting and 2 TO, pull him. If its worse, pull him after 30 seconds.

If he gets it going, let him go until he cools off. Thats what his role should be, nothing else.

Thats what the guy can do. And he dont need a team to do it. It just doesnt matter. He will ge 1-on-5 and sometimes he will be unstoppable, sometimes he will be utter garbage. Thats a coaches thing to controll his minutes.

And for the December benching: It was necessary! It was not about BBall, but about the Teams relation to the coach. It was about the fact, that the team is supperior to the individual. And MDA showed he is the boss, he plays who he wants to play. Nate showed he can shut up, something thats important but not usual with pro sports millionaires.

They have the power to push buttons and see whats happening. Same with Hughes. Sit him and see how he reacts. Was Al injured tonight, or will we see a new Berman article "Al is a sad panda for not playing"?

Its the normal thing to do for a coach. He has to play "psychic" games with the players, good ones and bad ones. And its his job to do so, and he is employed to do so. If its not working, you can argue, but it IS working pretty well for us.

Last night Nate was a major part when THE TEAM fought it's way back into that game. He was also a major part of why THE TEAM almost blew that game. If a coach wants to play him every night because of the first part I can get on board with that. If a coach decides he doesn't make the proper decisions when needed and feels he should not be a part of the rotation I can get on board with that as well. I personally think he has the talent to be a major part of a playoff run here. But our team is playing so cohesively right now that if he messes up we really don't need him.