SocraticBallin22 wrote:Until we get a real point guard, and by real, I mean an NBA caliber starting point guard who could reasonably defend his position and be able to penetrate and score a little, we will continue to lose games like this OVER and OVER.

Calderon is the WORST defensive starting point guard in the entire NBA. He is probably in the bottom 2 or 3 overall. If there is no upgrade in this position by the deadline, this team is toast.

There's nothing out there. Not that we can trade for.

We can't get Jennings or Teague with what we have to offer. We just can't.

Hope for Jennings or Conley this summer. That's our only hope.

Finestrg wrote:

WaltLongmire wrote:

magicTs wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

magicTs wrote:Galloway is horrendous.

Some folks want him to start at PG over Jose.

That play illustrates why he isn't a starting PG, unfortunately.

Calderon is obviously done but Galooway will never be the answer he's just completely unreliable. We need massive upgrades on both of them.

Galloway is not a lead guard...and never was in college, either.

I hate to get on Galloway here--he's a good dude and he's got guts--feel bad for him in the end there, but I can't agree with you guys more here. On that play where we came up with the steal from Beal--Galloway was clueless and choked. You guys said it all among the few of you--he's no PG. I hate how he looks to give the ball up all the time. A real PG is able to make a play there, not force a pass that wasn't there and cough it up. I agree--he's no answer. He's a decent off-the-ball role player. He's a clutch little shooter when open but he's definitely not a guy you want with the ball in his hands where he has to put it on the floor and go make a play. Big difference. Decent bench player but not a top 2 or 3 guard on a winning team.

Who ever said Gallo is a natural point guard or even a starting point guard in the league? Obviously, he 's not. Everyone knows this. He's a gritty combo guard who comes off the bench. The only problem is that Calderon CANNOT defend his position. He either gets burned by opposing point guards or switches leading to easy baskets. Gallo is infinitely better defensively than Jose. You can't hide Jose defensively when's he's out there in crunch time.

Finestrg wrote:

WaltLongmire wrote:

magicTs wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

magicTs wrote:Galloway is horrendous.

Some folks want him to start at PG over Jose.

That play illustrates why he isn't a starting PG, unfortunately.

Calderon is obviously done but Galooway will never be the answer he's just completely unreliable. We need massive upgrades on both of them.

Galloway is not a lead guard...and never was in college, either.

I hate to get on Galloway here--he's a good dude and he's got guts--feel bad for him in the end there, but I can't agree with you guys more here. On that play where we came up with the steal from Beal--Galloway was clueless and choked. You guys said it all among the few of you--he's no PG. I hate how he looks to give the ball up all the time. A real PG is able to make a play there, not force a pass that wasn't there and cough it up. I agree--he's no answer. He's a decent off-the-ball role player. He's a clutch little shooter when open but he's definitely not a guy you want with the ball in his hands where he has to put it on the floor and go make a play. Big difference. Decent bench player but not a top 2 or 3 guard on a winning team.

Yeah - I love his heart. But he's the 4th guard on a good team. He plays with heart, but he cannot create with the dribble. That turnover really begged him to do so... and he couldn't.

Really what killed this game though was the league deciding to review the Afflalo layup but not the KP steal on Wall. Why review some plays but not others? Both were under a minute to go. Hate that crap.

dk7th wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

SocraticBallin22 wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

magicTs wrote:Galloway is horrendous.

Some folks want him to start at PG over Jose.

That play illustrates why he isn't a starting PG, unfortunately.

Are you kidding me? He had nowhere to go? He was double teamed because Melo stayed in the backcourt after he fell; no player came to the ball.

That was a horrible pass to Melo that led to the turnover. I love Galloway. He's not a point guard.

we don't need him to be pg we just need him to get better at entry passes.

Not Anthony's fault, but he can get into better position than that for a pass, and Gallo should be keeping his dribble and creating some better space or waving Anthony off to re-position himself...Am I wrong about this?

(Experience organized ballers...please help me on this.)

nixluva wrote:

SocraticBallin22 wrote:Until we get a real point guard, and by real, I mean an NBA caliber starting point guard who could reasonably defend his position and be able to penetrate and score a little, we will continue to lose games like this OVER and OVER.

Calderon is the WORST defensive starting point guard in the entire NBA. He is probably in the bottom 2 or 3 overall. If there is no upgrade in this position by the deadline, this team is toast.

Could any of our D League guards be any worse??? It's to the point where it's just OVER! Jose is a nice guy but he just isn't a starting PG at this stage. He should be 3rd string now.

Yes they could be much worse.

I would like to see Wroten who has proven he can score and defend at the NBA level.

I really want to see him get a shot here.

Our only real chances of getting a PG are in FA this summer with Jennings or Conley - and to be honest, it's a slim chance we get one of those two.

Finestrg wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

SocraticBallin22 wrote:Until we get a real point guard, and by real, I mean an NBA caliber starting point guard who could reasonably defend his position and be able to penetrate and score a little, we will continue to lose games like this OVER and OVER.

Calderon is the WORST defensive starting point guard in the entire NBA. He is probably in the bottom 2 or 3 overall. If there is no upgrade in this position by the deadline, this team is toast.

There's nothing out there. Not that we can trade for.

We can't get Jennings or Teague with what we have to offer. We just can't.

Hope for Jennings or Conley this summer. That's our only hope.

See, I disagree. Why not take a flier on Russ Smith? I tell you what--Russ Smith would've created something on that play Galloway choked on. No doubt.

I'd rather do Wroten than Russ Smith. I'm a little biased, because I've seen Wroten play a lot more. He's a very good NBA player, Wroten, if he's healthy. He defends. Streaky shooter but can get hot. Good playmaker. Good ballhandler. Maybe it's a character thing or he hasn't recovered from his injury - but talent-wise, the dude is an NBA guard.

KP's post game and shot selection looked great.
Galloway's emergence continues. He's a hot/cold player, sort of like Afflalo, but unlike Afflalo, I like that Galloway defends and looks to pass.
The Triangle and drag screen/pnr all looked much better tonight. We constantly ran the same sets and it got better as the game went on.
Melo got good shots and no coincidence shot better.
Lopez/Melo/KP all had strong games like a team with our talent should.
We shot 53 percent as a team and that is good for a team like ours. I think our season average is 44.
Seraphin/Williams/Galloway all looked great off the bench. All had big positive in the +/- ratings

Negatives

We LOST another heart breaker (maybe like the 7th time at home this season?)
Defense stunk most of the game but better in the 2nd half.
Jose was 0-4 and just awful. You can't play a player like him if he doesn't score. He has to be able to knock down 3's.
With our size we pose a big advantage on offense and the boards when we run the offense well but on defense it leaves us vulnerable to 3's.
Sense that with us wanting to go bigger, we'll lose the love we have for Lance. Don't think Rambis loves him as much as Fisher. Nice role player, but I think we're looking to invest in DWill who is both younger and more talented.

My conclusion for tonight is that Rambis is a better coach than Fisher, it's obvious right away. However, Rambis has to solve the defensive problems and won't be able to so long as he plays big lineups without athletic guards. If we play big, we have to play athletic guards like Galloway in the backcourt. I also will say something I think all of us know. If we had a quality point guard we'd be about 7 wins better right now. You could literally flip our record if we had someone much better than Jose, or Grant as our traditional PG's this year. I think Phil knows this, but won't waste quality assets to get one via trade. He's going to wait till the summer.

I also think right now all we can look forward to the rest of the season is hopeful progression from players like Porzingis, Williams and Galloway in the offense. Maybe Seraphin as well. All are 25 and younger, and could be back next year if they close the season strong (obvious KP will be regardless). I'm no longer focused on the wins the rest of the season, even though I would love to win as many games as possible. My focus is to see Porzingis develop his shots closer to the basket and improve his man defense. Galloway to keep showing he can play big minutes. Perhaps Williams and Seraphin show they are worth investing 3 year contracts in the offseason. Calderon and Afflalo should be phased out within a year or two.

I'm not expecting more than 32 wins at this point. Dream of being a winning/.500 caliber team are dead. I'm settling for the guys to show they deserve to be called back next year with a high quality point guard or ballhandling guard added via free agency (and hopefully a sniper that can replace Sasha as well).

Finestrg wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

SocraticBallin22 wrote:Until we get a real point guard, and by real, I mean an NBA caliber starting point guard who could reasonably defend his position and be able to penetrate and score a little, we will continue to lose games like this OVER and OVER.

Calderon is the WORST defensive starting point guard in the entire NBA. He is probably in the bottom 2 or 3 overall. If there is no upgrade in this position by the deadline, this team is toast.

There's nothing out there. Not that we can trade for.

We can't get Jennings or Teague with what we have to offer. We just can't.

Hope for Jennings or Conley this summer. That's our only hope.

See, I disagree. Why not take a flier on Russ Smith? I tell you what--Russ Smith would've created something on that play Galloway choked on. No doubt.

Russ Smith can penetrate and create.

Tony Wroten can penetrate and create.

We have no player on the team who could do this except for Jerian who lost his confidence on the roster.

This is killing us.

SocraticBallin22 wrote:

nixluva wrote:

SocraticBallin22 wrote:Until we get a real point guard, and by real, I mean an NBA caliber starting point guard who could reasonably defend his position and be able to penetrate and score a little, we will continue to lose games like this OVER and OVER.

Calderon is the WORST defensive starting point guard in the entire NBA. He is probably in the bottom 2 or 3 overall. If there is no upgrade in this position by the deadline, this team is toast.

Could any of our D League guards be any worse??? It's to the point where it's just OVER! Jose is a nice guy but he just isn't a starting PG at this stage. He should be 3rd string now.

Exactly.

I know for a FACT that Russ Smith, Elliot Williams, Tony Wroten and Toure Murry would be a significant upgrade over Jose of you insert them in the starting lineup. What did jose give us tonight in 28 minutes? Forget his lack of offense, but his defense? I can't watch it anymore. He's too old and slow; it's painful to watch.

I agree with you here wholeheartedly. Russ Smith/Elliot Williams would be my first choice, followed by Russ Smith/Terrico White. After that, there are still several quality combinations of DL guards that could help us. Please Phil--take a good look at a few of these guys!!!

SocraticBallin22 wrote:

nyknickzingis wrote:Positives are

KP's post game and shot selection looked great.
Galloway's emergence continues. He's a hot/cold player, sort of like Afflalo, but unlike Afflalo, I like that Galloway defends and looks to pass.
The Triangle and drag screen/pnr all looked much better tonight. We constantly ran the same sets and it got better as the game went on.
Melo got good shots and no coincidence shot better.
Lopez/Melo/KP all had strong games like a team with our talent should.
We shot 53 percent as a team and that is good for a team like ours. I think our season average is 44.
Seraphin/Williams/Galloway all looked great off the bench. All had big positive in the +/- ratings

Negative

We LOST another heart breaker (maybe like the 7th time at home this season?)
Defense stunk most of the game but better in the 2nd half.
Jose was 0-4 and just awful. You can't play a player like him if he doesn't score. He has to be able to knock down 3's.
With our size we pose a big advantage on offense and the boards when we run the offense well but on defense it leaves us vulnerable to 3's.

My conclusion for tonight is that Rambis is a better coach than Fisher, it's obvious right away. However, Rambis has to solve the defensive problems and won't be able to so long as he plays big lineups without athletic guards. If we play big, we have to play athletic guards like Galloway in the backcourt. I also will say something I think all of us know. If we had a quality point guard we'd be about 7 wins better right now. You could literally flip our record if we had someone much better than Jose, or Grant as our traditional PG's this year. I think Phil knows this, but won't waste quality assets to get one via trade. He's going to wait till the summer.

I also think right now all we can look forward to the rest of the season is hopeful progression from players like Porzingis, Williams and Galloway in the offense. Maybe Seraphin as well. All are 25 and younger, and could be back next year if they close the season strong (obvious KP will be regardless). I'm no longer focused on the wins the rest of the season, even though I would love to win as many games as possible. My focus is to see Porzingis develop his shots closer to the basket and improve his man defense. Galloway to keep showing he can play big minutes. Perhaps Williams and Seraphin show they are worth investing 3 year contracts in the offseason. Calderon and Afflalo should be phased out within a year or two.

Fair assessment.

I saw a lot more KP featured in this game, especially in the 3rd when he took over. Positive sign. He and Melo had good chemistry.

Seraphin got decent run and proved he can be a reliable scorer in the post.

Negatives:

No excuse for Calderon getting 28 minutes on 0-4 shooting with 0 points playing no defense and getting crunch time minutes. Big mistake.

Don't like jerian getting a DNP and Sasha playing his minutes. Jerian needs confidence and to develop. He is the only one on the roster right now who could penetrate.

We need a point guard badly.

I agree with you guys - the offensive sets seemed better. Melo got better looks. We kept finding KP - didn't shy away from him. Seraphin got good looks and didn't look useless.

Stuff to build on.

The pain at guard is real. I would love to see someone brought in on that front. Wroten. Murry. D-League guy. I don't think we have what it takes to make a trade.

Finestrg wrote:

SocraticBallin22 wrote:

nixluva wrote:

SocraticBallin22 wrote:Until we get a real point guard, and by real, I mean an NBA caliber starting point guard who could reasonably defend his position and be able to penetrate and score a little, we will continue to lose games like this OVER and OVER.

Calderon is the WORST defensive starting point guard in the entire NBA. He is probably in the bottom 2 or 3 overall. If there is no upgrade in this position by the deadline, this team is toast.

Could any of our D League guards be any worse??? It's to the point where it's just OVER! Jose is a nice guy but he just isn't a starting PG at this stage. He should be 3rd string now.

Exactly.

I know for a FACT that Russ Smith, Elliot Williams, Tony Wroten and Toure Murry would be a significant upgrade over Jose of you insert them in the starting lineup. What did jose give us tonight in 28 minutes? Forget his lack of offense, but his defense? I can't watch it anymore. He's too old and slow; it's painful to watch.

I agree with you here wholeheartedly. Russ Smith/Elliot Williams would be my first choice, followed by Russ Smith/Terrico White. After that, there are still several quality combinations of DL guards that could help us. Please Phil--take a good look at a few of these guys!!!