I mean, sure we were trying to get Lin in some, and Greg Smith was doing poorly as backup center, but more than anything losing Carlos Delfino killed us tonight. His smarts, savvy and shot making were sorely missed. Get well soon sweet Prince, see ya next year ! DD
Agreed 110%, Delfino would have hit 3-4 3s and played D on Durant when Garcia was on the bench with foul trouble. Not having him was a huge loss, we could have really used him in the 2nd quarter when their bench went bezerk on us.
I don't think so. We kinda won without him last time. I mean his loss certainly hurt, but it wasn't what hurt us most. That was Kevin Martin and Derek Fisher having good games.
Yup and that combined with Harden not being anywhere close to 100% was just too much. It was tough not having the depth. The drop off to James Anderson was just too steep. But it was a hell of a year and this team was really fun to watch. The league also got a lot of exposure to our young team too. Let's hope the post season goes great!
Delfino out. Harden with Strep. Beverley in foul trouble early. Garcia in foul trouble all game. Lin nowhere near ready to play a lot of minutes due to injury. Just too many things for this roster to overcome.
If Anderson was given more minutes, either at the end of the regular season or in the first few games of the playoffs, his chemistry would have been better. iirc, this was the first time he played in this series, right? Not talking garbage minutes. The loss of Delfino did hurt though - Garcia took contested 3s pretty much all game. He couldn't really create any separation in playing off the ball.
It was a good year, we were the 8th seed for a reason, I was hoping for game 7, but in truth, am happy with the progress this year. DD
Not having Delfino definitely didn't help, but it was the return of Jeremy Lin that really wrecked our chances in this game. He destroyed the chemistry, played like a chicken with its head cut off, and pretty much killed any chance of winning. But hey, he keeps all the YOFs on board, and Less Alexander can't live without their money.
I feel the same way as you my man; I'm a big Lin fan but even i thought he shouldn't be playing tonight due to our past 2 games momentum, that said, with the minimum minutes he played, he's not the reason we lost while the entire city put the blame on him, no one even said a damn word about carlos delfino, the one that served KD the facial! he's big coming off the bench for us! Definitely no upset, we shocked the world with a 6 games series, when everyone thought we'd be swept! Great young team and this can only be better for us!
But he'd hit 3s in the flow of the game usually in the 3rd when they made a big push. I think this game would've ended like game 5 had we had another shooter like delfino in place of Anderson. They died by the 3 in the 4th and had no other shooters to give a spark.
Completely, utterly agree. All the Lin talk is missing the point. We got nothing from the bench today. Wouldn't have even been a close one if Parsons played to his average. Last few games were won because the offense kept rolling throughout, even as the defense came and went with Asik like it usually does. Lack of bench power is not a surprise when you yank Garcia AND Beverley off their usual roles and play them with the starters, especially when none of our 4s got minutes to replace that. Loss of Delfino was enormous.
Good year indeed. We might be readier than OKC from years ago... but an iota of magic ingredient is still lacking.... another superstar or star, closer?
A superstar is a player who can wreak havoc offensively and defensively, get other players involved and close in the clutch. We need a superstar. LeBron is the only player who fits that bill at this time.
He was very important this year, vet presence in this young team. I tend not to like gunners but he has really matured quite a bit.
Hakeem took years to trust his teamates, give Harden time he will figure it out, he is our best player, he just needs to learn that doesnt mean he has to do it by himself. DD
MICHAEL JORDAN, too. Harden's no Jordan. And people will take the comment to mean "Yeah Hakeem and Jordan can do that - Harden CAN'T". But when there's a gap between the #1 and 2 in offensive ability and starpower, the #1 might feel they gotta take things into their own hands too much and not put into others. Tim Duncan and Shaq never had to do that, they had solid #2s coming in or with Duncan probably WERE the "#2". Same with Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird came into talent. But even non HOF stars they gotta develop some trust, develop the leadership On Delfino, maybe just for mental purposes they shoulda held out the conclusive "out for playoffs" announcement until the 1st round was over. Kind of a downer maybe getting bummer news like that
Is it a coincidence that we lose when Lin returns? nope Did you see how well played and had a sizeable lead on the thunder resembling game 5? And right on que everything went south after Lin checked in. Hes a great great guy though.
