There are about 6 games and 1 road trip that I am paying attention to the most for the rest of the season. I think this team is a borderline surprise team to make noise in the playoffs. The talent, hard work, and chemistry is getting there. What's missing is the maintaining composure under heavy defensive pressure. There are a few teams that seem to really disrupt our offense very well. Or simply disrupt us. And so these are the games I will look at to see how much this team has grown and how ready they are for the playoffs: Wed, Jan 29 @Dallas The last time we went there we choked up a big lead under a very loud crowd and a suffocating Dallas perimeter D. Sound familiar? I think this was the first big collapse we had. It will be a good early test as you know Cuban wants to beat us as a statement game - in other words, we get the intensity from this team. How we play here will say a lot about our growth so far this season. Wed, Feb 19 - Wed Feb 26th @ Los Angeles Lakers @ Golden State @ Phoenix @ Sacramento @ Los Angeles Clippers This is the most important road trip of the seasons. 3 of these teams are playoff teams, and 4 of them have beaten us. They are all WC foes where our record isn't much above .500. And the last game is against a team we've really struggled against. The Clippers tend to do everything we do well better against us. And their length and quickness disrupts our offense as well. If we win 4 of 5 here that's big. If one of those wins includes beating the clippers, that's huge! Tue, Mar 4 Miami Sun, Mar 16 @Miami Anytime you play the champ it's interesting and tells you a little bit. But Miami isn't a particular take the regular season seriously type of team, so unless we win both of these or lose both I don't see it as that telling. Fri, Mar 7 vs Indiana The way they beat us in their arena was by domination. Perhaps the best defensive team in the league - it will tell us a lot at how polished our offensive game has become. If we fall apart against this defense and struggle mightily, it probably is a good indicator that we still need to add some scoring talent to this team. Tue, Mar 11 @Oklahoma City These guys have really made life difficult for us especially on James Harden. He needs to have a good game on the road here and show that he can handle a team that knows his game and has the defensive personnel to slow him down. That or someone else on this team can really step it up. After the 19 point half, there's a lot of pressure to show we can hang with this team. There are other games I am leaving out (SA, OKC at home) but I wanted to highlight games that will serve as strong measuring sticks of the current team is, not just ones that are going to be exciting or tough for us to win.
I think they are all Key games tbh, you can't really say anything given this teams ability to play down.
I'd say all of them. It's going to come down to facing off with the 4th or 5th seed for home court. I'd say whoever gets it will win the series.
Playing down to the level is just part of growth and inexperience. They are young in both age and chemistry. So the fact that this team can continuously beat down good teams means there's a LOT of potential for the future. I would say at this point of the team, it's more key to play good against the crappy teams to build consistent chemistry than have an ultra good game against a really good team.
Sure, all games are important, that's not what I am saying. I am saying which games give us some insight into how this team will do in the playoffs. It's not necessarily about the end result in these games I mention except for the road trip, but rather how we look against these teams. I dont mind losing against Miami twice if we look competitive and don't fall completely apart when the defense picks up for instance.
Man...Miami looks like they have some pretty big holes this year...and it doesn't have to do with them coasting.
I wouldn't count out a championship team led by James. As long as their healthy enough they are the favorite.
So far, Durant seems way scarier this year though. He's absolutely beasting. I really, really hope we only see them in WCF finals, or not at all. XD
OKC is a scary team. We struggle with teams that know how to play intense perimeter defense and have rim protection to back it up. Teams like the Clippers and OKC really give us a hard time. And Dallas has tough perimeter players and Dirk who is nearly unguardable. Dallas is a scary team when they are clicking. Whenever we play those 3 teams - pay close attention. They are the teams that will give us a hard time. If Chris Paul is back, the Clippers will be a tough one for us. If not, those games aren't as good of a measuring stick.
You'd think McHale would have figure out a way to counter them. We already lost to them so many times in similar way.
It's not the x's and o's. It's the execution of the plays. The players know what to do. Basketball at this level is so fast and the margin for error is so thin. One mis-step, one split second hesitation, one slight error and the whole play can go to moot. You can say this guy should be in versus this guy, but the coach as pretty much tried all the combination already. He knows who is able to execute in pressure situations and not. It's not like they can do anything radically different than they do in practice and it will work out fluidly, ya know? With a young team and the opposition all of a sudden bodying you up and playing very physical defense, you tend to tighten up and not play fluidly. And it's very hard to execute plays well like that. Just takes experience having played in many of those situations. Over time, players learn that they can't let those situations change what they do, they have to maintain "composure" so to speak. Just takes time.
Yup. They are struggling when one of their Big 3 goes down with an injury. Also, their bench seems to lack firepower and this will be a problem for them come playoff time.
Not sure which little b**** sent me this below stupid neg rep comments, but I think the last 2 losses to Grizzles speakers supported what I said louder than words. And for your record, Sweet Lou 4 2 is one of the posters in CF I respect alot. His posts are always well thought out and very well written. Its guys like you trying to make everything about lof/loh that makes this board un-readable.
Don't underestimate the importance of home court advantage in the playoffs. Rox will have to earn it in the highly competitive western conference.
Well it wasn't neg rep was it? I get rep like that as well, look at it this way, they are helping you get to Hakeem status faster! Honestly I forgot that Gasol was back - Memphis is a seriously good team. I think they will be in the playoffs for sure. There's no shame in losing to a team that is as experienced and tough as they are. You can see how Memphis bodies us up and took away both our inside game with their physical low-post presence and closes Harden down with physical play. That's playoff basketball. This is where having a point guard that can break down a physical defense is enormously helpful. It's why a guy like Tracy McGrady was so valuable despite how much he got dogged on here. He was so strong give him a Yao Ming pick and he was going to get into the lane and cause problems. I think our biggest problem with this team is being able to score against strong physical defenders. It's something that will come with experience.
