crzymdups wrote:CrushAlot wrote:Finally. This one feels a lot better than the Bulls win. Seems like the Knicks may have figured somethings out.
Yeah - unfortunately the biggest thing appears to be that starting Noah is a problem.
It's starting Noah with KP at 4 and Melo at 3. Spacing is tighter. Less room. Noah is not a threat or taken seriously by the defense unless he is under the basket. KP posts up more as a big 4 and isn't great at it, Melo posts up as a bigger 3. It's bully ball that we're not great at playing and not Horny's style at all.
Horny wants this team to play fast, smooth and to get quick shots off. That's been his objective from camp. I think he was just hoping that Noah would step up and that Phil's plan for the team would kick in. It hasn't.
As good as our defense was, it was our offense that got this done. In the 1st half we dropped 64 points I think. That's the only way this team can be good, They have to spread the floor.
The team can be even better with KP as a stretch 5, playing less minutes. He may play 28 minutes a game instead of 34 because of foul trouble/some match up issues defensively but we have guys to help with Willy, Plumlee and O'Quinn (and Noah).
If we give this rotation 20 games, and use KP as a stretch 5 starter, keep rewarding guys who play hard physical defense like Baker, Plumlee etc. with the Lee/Jennings/Willy/Holiday off the bench our bench is better as well, I think in 20 games time, we'll see why Horny is a good coach and this group is good enough to be a playoff team.
Who knows what happens when Noah comes back and KP as well. I don't know what Hornachek will do. I hope he sticks to his guns and goes with this new direction. We should have beaten Atlanta, and we won the game against Chicago. In my book we should be 3-0 since moving Melo to the 4 spot.
Lets see what happens tomorrow. Horny has to get them to see they can't take the night off. This is a winnable game against Washington as is Pheonix on Saturday. Will these guys play the same way effort wise? Lets see. I do know that Plumlee, Baker, Kuz, all play with energy on a consistent basis. They should be staples in our rotation, just to set a good vibe for the team energy wise. Hustle is just not an easy thing to get out of Rose, Melo, Lee and Jennings on a consistent basis.
1/18/2017 9:57 PM