What player improvements/regressions have you noticed?

yup, that makes sense. Drops 25+ points almost every game, still plays crappy defense. Must be the injuries...

 

I think the whole team plays a lot better now, compared to a couple of months ago. Those two Memphis losses really woke them up. Could it be that they've finally started to.. 'gel'?

 

Like Calvin says, he's Mr.Active or was it Mr.Everywhere? Something like that. Anyways, he gets his points and touches doing the dirty work in the paint chasing bricks and fighting for scraps like Chuck used to do.

 

Another angry Lin fan, I presume?

 

Regression: Dwight is back to flicking his free throws instead of stroking them.

Improvements: Harden's defense looks better.

Both observations are based on the PHX game.

 

There is nothing wrong with Harden's nor Garcia's shooting strokes. Their shooting percentages have gone down as a function of less spacing on this team compared to last year's team.

 

Nah, just referring to the double standard. Some people have been making Harden's ankle injury as a lame excuse for his rudimentary defense. But how are you supposed to attack aggressively the rim and do crazy stuff like the crossover, euro step, step back jump shot, etc. which Harden has been doing constantly the entire season when your ankle is hurt? I just don't buy it.

 

Maybe it's anecdotal but there seems to be a lot of games where Brooks was the only one that could hit a three. His shooting has saved their bacon in a lot of games. Overall the three point shooting for this team seems to have fallen off (along with the free throw shooting). I think our best hope for home court advantage in the playoffs is Omer coming back and getting some hot shooting from everybody not named Brooks.

 

I always think d-mo is gonna get called for a foul and time he defends someone

 

It's a lot easier to move with the ball because you're not reactive you're proactive. Just like it's easier to make a move as WR than a CB. An ankle or knee injury magnifies this.

And if you haven't noticed an improvement in Harden's defense as he's gotten more healthy then you're not watching closely.

 

Positive surprises:

Brooks. He still doesn't know how to set up the offense quickly. But he can hit the 3 consistently. And his attitude is what makes his presence so helpful to the team, especially consider all the injuries with our back court.

Howard. His post game has gotten better. His free throw is mocking the Hack-a-Dwight tactic. And he has been behaving in terms of his attitude.

Jones. The only thing I want to see him improve more is his man defense. He gets abused by bigger players posting him up.

Motiejunas. He plays much better defense than I expected. I have given up on him being a stretch 4. His 3pt shooting is just not very reliable to be a threat. I am still screaming to see that they will actually use his post game.

Negative surprises:

Gracia. 'nuff said.

Harden's 3pt shooting. I hope he will turn it around.

Coaching. My biggest beef with the coaching is defense. It should have been better. And it is on the coaching more than on the players. I am actually surprised that the still haven't figure it out.

Other thoughts.

Parsons has improved in an overall way. I disagree that his handle has improved. He just is getting better as knowing when to drive and when to pass. The major improvement is his shooting. He is very confident now. His promise as a good defensive player during his rookie year proved to be fool's gold. Now I kind of believe that he is just an average defender at best.

Lin. This dude is the classic Hyde and Jekyll.

Beverley. He was shooting great earlier. Now I guess it is regressing back to the mean. Bev is a great energy guy and an elite offensive rebounder. He is just not very talented as an offensive PG. He is basically a defensive wing with a PG body.

 

is this tricky question? how about everyone's three point shot. when you rely on threes and can't hit them, a couple of things happen, like it totally kills assists oh and allows the other team to get out and run.

 

paulftsk has really improved his fts

 

After a rocky start at the beginning of the season, Dwight Howard has been improving steadily. Got to say I'm impressed that a star who has been in the league that long can still improve parts of his game through hard work.

Carroll Dawson--that man works miracles with big men. First Hakeem, then Yao, now Dwight. Did CD ever play? My impression of him is he's very positive (like your fave grandfather) and must be a good teacher. I would credit CD not McHale for Dwight's post-play and good morale.

The only guy he failed with was Hasheem Thabeet (remember those days?) but he still had nice words to say about Hasheem.

 

He was a center in college. (He's 6'5", but he played in the 50s/60s).

 

Just a note about the Parson's stuff - I started watching the Rockets his rookie year - he was significantly more explosive and definitely a step quicker then (pre injuries and pre adding upper body weight) and I think that has affected his defense as much as focusing more on the other end of the floor has. He's definitely a more skilled/crafty player now, but he needs that pump fake now to get by people. He also used to really get up on the regular, now it's more rare for sure.

 

Elephant in the room - two words. Free throws. We are not treating them free.

 

It doesn't make sense to you because you probably never played a basketball game in your life with an injured foot.

 

Saying Harden still plays crappy D is like saying Lin is still a TO prone.

 

I still think Dwight should be used in the PnR more however he needs to set better picks. He always seems to set lazy picks as he is more worried about rolling to the basket. If he set picks like Asik, then rolled to the basket, he would be devastating with his athleticism. I have also been disappointed with his shot blocking and rebounding and think his post game is UGLY!! I admit I was not in favor of signing Dwight due to the "Dwightmare" and injuries but I have to admit his attitude has been extremely good and he looks healthy. If he would commit to running more PnR's and set better picks, he would average 25+.

Overall, I am disappointed with the team defense. They need to play more like the 90's teams where the perimeter guys force a drive to the middle where Dwight is waiting to swat it away like we used to do with Dream.