I didn't watch the game tonight

[Guest]

But it's clear we have more holes than everybody

thought...

1)The defense is horrible

2)The team gives up too many offensive stick backs

3)The team lacks passion and heart

4)They don't hustle

5)JT/Big Hog and Shareef are turnover prone players

6)We have no clutch players right now

7)The bench is extremely weak.

8)We lack atheletic ability so much

I figure alot of these things probably came into play

tonight.

[chillzatl]

the points you laid out aren't entirely true. We are just outmatched by Boston. They are a better team. Some of us thought otherwise and were wrong. We maybe have better talent on paper, I feel we do. But they are a better TEAM. And that's what it takes to win in this league.

JT has cut down his turnovers, as has Big Dog. Shareef is still coughing it up a bit too much. But he also gets put in a position that he can't get the ball to a teammate. At times it is his fault, at times his teammates.

Clutch players? We haven't been in a position to even NEED a clutch player. These two games against Boston put us in our place. We are not as good as them, period.

Our Bench is fine when used right. Once Nazr comes back we will be 9 deep. It's how they are used. Making 4 man substitutions from the bench is dumb.

Offensive rebounds. This is an absurd comment. Until these two games we were 6th in the league in offensive rebounds. We are outmatched by boston at this point in time.

Our defense is bad and it all starts with JT. He is a careless defender. He has the tools to play solid defense and he fails to do so because he gambles for stupid steals instead of playing his man straight up like he should. As quick is he is, few people should be able to get around him.

Passion and heart? wrong. They have the passion. We were just outmatched by boston. Don't blame their desire because they were outmatched, pure and simple. The problem here is that they accepted that they were out matched and played like it.

[MoonKnight]

GRob's turnovers are not getting better but worse. 8 turnovers, heck I thought he had more than that last night. His turnovers are momentum killers. His twenty plus points per game are offset by his silly, unbelieveable turnovers and his D. I just don't see GRob learning how to dribble or pass overnight so I don't see this situation improving until we deal with the 2 guard spot. Our lack of a true 2 guard who can handle the ball is killing us. I love Ira on the floor but can we afford to keep two 3s (Ira and GRob) on the floor at the same time without another guard to help JT. At clutch time I would put GRob on the pine and move Ira to the 3 spot with either Email or newly obtained true 2 guard at the 2 spot with JT at the 1. This would take guts for Lon to sit GRob in clutch time but he is simply a horrible 4th quarter player (I honestly don't believe Lon has the guts to sit GRob at clutch time). Thoughts?

[Guest]

I think we're all starting to truly see what the absence of DJ and his 3pt shot has on this team and spacing in crunch time. Honestly, as much as I like Ira, his inability to hit 3's at a decent clip makes spacing very difficult, thus passing lanes are more clogged, esp. in crunch times when teams are stepping up their D.

JT is the only person on the team with a decent 3pt shot...and it's starting to show. Teams can sag and clog lanes.

[Guest]

Offensive rebounds. This is an absurd comment. Until these two games we were 6th in the league in offensive rebounds. We are outmatched by boston at this point in time."

We are giving up offensive rebounds and allowing stick

backs OFTEN.

"Our Bench is fine when used right. Once Nazr comes back we will be 9 deep. It's how they are used. Making 4 man substitutions from the bench is dumb."

Guys like Ham don't belong on the floor.You can talk

about entergy....I'm sorry but he is getting 1PPG and

1RPG.He should never been on the floor because he

isn't good at anything.

"Passion and heart? wrong. They have the passion. We were just outmatched by boston. Don't blame their desire because they were outmatched, pure and simple. The problem here is that they accepted that they were out matched and played like it."

That is crud....They don't dive for loose balls,they never

make big plays and have choked in several games already.

[chillzatl]

I didn't include Ham in that. Dion, Hendu, Nazr and Email. Email isn't a great player. But He's good enough to spell JT 8 minutes or so per night. But ham belongs. In the right situation he's a good guy to have. I just don't think Lon uses him in the right situation.

As for choking, what do you really expect? I mean c'mon guy, you aren't dumb when it comes to basketball. You've been around, you know how the game is. I agreed they didn't bring it to those games. THey got out played and out hustled. But how often have you seen that this year? not once maybe? It was disturbing, no doubt. But don't pretend it happens nightly. I've seen all the games too. I've seen Hendu, Dion, JT, Crawford, Theo and Shareef ALL go to the wood for loose balls. They didn't do that against boston. But you and I both know it's not the norm.

As for big plays. We won 6 games and only one of them was a blowout. With many of those games tightening up near the end. Nobody hit any big shots in those games? uh huh Right.

Beyond that you just gotta give this team time. They have to learn how to win. LIsten to what Jordan says about his green, inexpereinced team. He says the same stuff about team. They don't know how to play with each other well, they have to learn how to win, etc. We have just as many new pieces in our lineup. We are no different than they. A young team with several good players and very little team chemistry.