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BRAVEONAWARPATH

By BRAVEONAWARPATH
in The Tailgate

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G.A.C.O.L.B.

G.A.C.O.L.B.

Posted
Posted (edited)

I know we lost, but I'm still shocked that Beal played... and played well IMO. I thought he might play on Friday, so to see him tonight was sweet.

After tonight, I have absolutely no doubts that he's on the verge of suoerstardom. Like THIS season

Is it just me or does Mark Cuban look like he's gotten some work done? Like botox or a facelift or something

Edited by G.A.C.O.L.B.
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StillUnknown

StillUnknown

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Posted

I know we lost, but I'm still shocked that Beal played... and played well IMO. I thought he might play on Friday, so to see him tonight was sweet. 

 

That play late in game when he challenged Chandler at the rim and hung in the air forever to convert the shot.

 

 

Dude is absolutely fearless, if he stays healthy, he's a safe bet for stardom.

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Going Commando

Going Commando

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Posted

Wall is going to bounce back. I think he's going to go hard at Kyrie and eat the boy's lunch.

I thought there were some encouraging signs for sure. Pierce looks like he's finally getting comfortable. march did his thing and had a nice first half. Nene was decent. Humphries was an energizer bunny again. And Beal looked very good.

Beal coming back is going to push the offense to a new level. Him + Wall + the combination of Porter and Pierce is going to be awesome. Plus Nene and Gortat can score! That's a lot of different kinds of scoring for an opposing D to have to plan for.

That play late in game when he challenged Chandler at the rim and hung in the air forever to convert the shot.

 

 

Dude is absolutely fearless, if he stays healthy, he's a safe bet for stardom.

When Brave posted that highlight video, there were a lot of plays like that one. He gets some hang time, that's for sure. He's a special talent. So excited about him, Wall, and Porter moving forward.

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Going Commando

Going Commando

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Nene had another single digit scoring night... should he be starting over Humphries at this point?

I've been thinking the same thing. But I worry about the defense if you replace Nene with Humphries. The big guy is still our best defensive PF by a country mile and the only one who really defends the PnR pretty well.

Plus 7-3 is good enough that I would hesitate to make any changes to the regular starters. Bench time for Temple though. I appreciate him playing hurt, but he needs to get his hand right before he comes back out.

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Going Commando

Going Commando

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Loved Porter drilling the 3 tonight. I'm not gonna say he's gonna be a star like Wall and Beal, but dude is absolutely legit. And I love it. So many folks around the country mocking us and talking **** last season about Otto. Last laugh ****es

His offensive efficiency has been crazy this year. He's making everything he takes just about and he isn't turning it over. Just a model of smart, smooth, controlled basketball. My only complaint so far is that he's had a few games where he isn't aggressive enough, but in a young player getting his first real PT, that's normal.

What isn't normal is shooting 56% on two pointers (well over 60% from mid range!!) and 44 % from three. There is no way he can keep that up, but I also don't think his numbers are going to plummet.

I think he's going shoot close to 50-40-90 one day. I don't think he'll get to 90, but I think he can eventually get to like mid 80s from the FT line and I think the 50-40 part will be pretty easy for him. Wow.

I look forward to seeing his role steadily expand because he's looking really good now. Really smart player with a lot of nice scoring tools.

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CRobi21

CRobi21

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I look forward to seeing his role steadily expand because he's looking really good now. Really smart player with a lot of nice scoring tools.

 

Loved all his tipped passes tonight. That sequence where he tipped one, then blocked Barea's shot? Impressive.

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Going Commando

Going Commando

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Loved all his tipped passes tonight. That sequence where he tipped one, then blocked Barea's shot? Impressive.

Yeah that was nice. He makes those kinds of plays look natural. He gets tough rebounds in traffic too. I think that's an underrated skill in a player--coming down with the big rebounds when it should be the other team's ball. It shows heart.

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Destino

Destino

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Posted (edited)

I've been thinking the same thing. But I worry about the defense if you replace Nene with Humphries. The big guy is still our best defensive PF by a country mile and the only one who really defends the PnR pretty well.

He's not nearly good enough on defense to justify his contract. His scoring is down, fg% down, and ft% is down for the second straight year. He's now under .500 from the free throw line which is unacceptable from a guy that been way better virtually all of his career. I think he's got to be benched to hold him accountable if he keeps having one good game in three tries.

We heard all offseason that they were hungry but what I'm seeing is evidence of complacency. John Wall has made a habit of missing layups now, which is just inexcusable, and his shooting has taken a noticeable step backwards. Three decent teams, three losses, and John Wall played a big part of all three losses. He had 6 turnovers against Miami and shot under .300 against Toronto and Dallas. You guys know the NBA and you know that your star player can't be the guy missing layups or having way too many turnovers when the team has a tough game.

They've feasted teams they are easily better than but the starters are failing to come up big, the bench is bailing them out. We need far more consistent, and efficient, scoring from Wall and Nene if this team is going to take a step forward. Im not panicking or giving up on anyone, just saying the expectations are higher and this teams big salary players need to step their games up.

Edited by Destino
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Going Commando

Going Commando

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Posted

He's not nearly good enough on defense to justify his contract. His scoring is down, fg% down, and ft% is down for the second straight year. He's now under .500 from the free throw line which is unacceptable from a guy that been way better virtually all of his career. I think he's got to be benched to hold him accountable if he keeps having one good game in three tries.

We heard all offseason that they were hungry but what I'm seeing is evidence of complacency. John Wall has made a habit of missing layups now, which is just inexcusable, and his shooting has taken a noticeable step backwards. Three decent teams, three losses, and John Wall played a big part of all three losses. He had 6 turnovers against Miami and shot under .300 against Toronto and Dallas. You guys know the NBA and you know that your star player can't be the guy missing layups or having way too many turnovers when the team has a tough game.

They've feasted teams they are easily better than but the starters are failing to come up big, the bench is bailing them out. We need far more consistent, and efficient, scoring from Wall and Nene if this team is going to take a step forward. Im not panicking or giving up on anyone, just saying the expectations are higher and this teams big salary players need to step their games up.

They do. But Wall is just slumping. It happens. Judging by his history, he'll dig himself out with a torrid month or so of play soon enough. And he'll keep assisting and playing defense in the mean time. I'm not worried about Wall.

Nene... he's losing the inside scoring part of his game unfortunately. His ability to finish inside against length is gone. But he is an excellent defensive player and makes an impact on that end. Covering PnRs, switching out onto guards and not having that be a loss like GACOLB pointed out. Taking charges. At one point he was averaging two steals a game. And he's a good passer still.

Nene hasn't been great this season, but he's been solid and he's powered us to a couple wins. The starters have been playing 4 on 5 the past couple weeks, and they're still adjusting to each other IMO. Pierce is just now finding his game. Beal getting back should be a HUGE lift, particularly to the offense.

And mainly, Humphries isn't a good enough defender to supplant Nene IMO. We should have enough offense outside the PF position in the starting line up, a good defender at that spot is a bigger gain net-net.

Nene's contract is what it is, but it hasn't really held us back before and it won't next season since we aren't really planning to make any big moves this summer. We've been fortunate to have Wall and Beal on rookie deal money for Nene's first three seasons here.

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G.A.C.O.L.B.

G.A.C.O.L.B.

Posted
Posted (edited)

Someone mentioned Vesely the other day. I I didn't know this:

Assuming there are no later revelations to the contrary, Ray was the last top-six pick to exit the NBA as quickly as Vesely without injury or drugs playing a major factor. Just as the Wizards imagined in 2011, Vesely ultimately made history.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/07/21/jan-vesely-exits-nba-historically-quickly/

Ray is James Ray out of Jacksonville University and drafted by the Nuggets 5th overall...in 1980. Is what it is. Just thought I'd share.

Edited by G.A.C.O.L.B.
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RonArtest15

RonArtest15

Posted
Posted

John presses WAAAAY too much.  Especially against top-tier teams.  Dude is good enough that the game can come to him, but he tries to do too much, and in the end, we'll see something like what he did last night w/ the ill-advised 3 in the closing seconds of the game.  He'll be fine in the long run, but now is the time for him to really figure out how to best apply his skill set to make the team better.  Especially when you're playing elite squads and the games are tight.  IF he can do this, he'll be an unquestioned top-3 PG in the game.  He's not there yet...but he has the ability to get there. 

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Going Commando

Going Commando

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Posted

I think John is still learning to cope with his newfound stardom to some degree. I think he feels like now that he's getting the accolades, he needs to carry the team the whole time and put up numbers. I think that's where all those angled shots and floaters and that late game three came from. Forced shots every one of them.

He doesn't need to be worrying about that crap. All he needs to do is play basketball the way he knows how. The game will come to him.

I think his slump is frustrating him out there, messing with his patience. He's doing a lot of thinking and not doing. And the results have been poor on offense. He just needs to get in a groove. I think getting Beal back will do a lot for him, and take a lot of the pressure to score off him. If Beal gets rolling, the team will get rolling.

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Duckus

Duckus

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Posted

I still can't get over that hilarious sequence by Temple last night

 

He gets the ball in the corner and launches a 3. It hits the side of the back board but the ball stays in play and we get the rebound. Ge runs to the opposite corner, get the ball, launches another 3 and air balls it.

It was sort an amazing 20 seconds. 

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