Fire, please do not give undue credit to Rudy T. MJ said he was passive and he showed it. We would have been fine if we had just stuck with our 'usual' lineup. The Wiz would have had matchup problems too, if you want to look at it that way. As long as we were shooting the way we did we would have won the game. I have no difficulty with KT, OT and Tmo guarding MJ anytime yesterday. I do not believe that Cat was the answer. As far as commending RT, we should keep in mind that the team did not really run as much as they should or they said they were going to do; especially since the opponent shot 42% for the game. What do we need to run? The opponent shooting 38%? The nets run on you anytime. Also if we are not in the playoff race, and SF has physical problems, why not play OT, Tmo and Collier more instead of having 3 players log over 40 minutes.
Rock, very nice post on the 2nd paragraph. It bothers me that our guards don't run the break very well. I attribute it to that fact that our rebounding guards too often do not make the early pass during the fast break to advance the ball more quickly. It's just SF or Cat running the ball up the court which will rarely catch anybody off guard since they have to run 94 feet. If you make a 20-30 foot pass up court, you pass some defenders and apply more pressure. As far as our usual lineup. EG played but was not effective. As such, I can't find fault in Rudy's lineup. I beleive he didn't play well because the matchups didn't suit him. EG wasn't getting many looks on the permimeter and he was getting blocked when he went down low. On this day, the 3-guard lineup worked. I'm not advocating it all the time. I'm just saying it worked against the Wiz.
Fire, you know there is really no excuse for the lack of a fast breaks. If it is because of our rebounding guards, I would prevent them from going for the rebound. I do not think it is that because Kidd in a bid-time rebounding guard. It is really the mindset. Even if the break is not there, there is endless evidence that the offense have an advantage even when they force the issue and not allow the defense to set up. Either pass the ball or run it up faster. And it is not just the ball carrier, the other players are usually trotting up the floor instead of hustling up. Many times Stockton is the last one coming up on a break or a "hurry up". In that situation those ahead start causing the defense to react and give some openings. At that time SF and co. are looking to run a play instead of being opportunistic. Given the fact that we supposedly have great ball handlers, penetrators and jumper shooter, it seems a bit foolish that we pass up all these freebies. Like one of the team TV analyst once said, we play the hardest type of basketball.
