I am at a complete and total loss.
I have no idea how to fix this and I don’t know if we even have the people in place to fix this.
I just know that this is an absolute disaster and any hopes of real post season success are going further and further away from us as we continue to lose to cupcake teams that the league so graciously gave us to start our season.
I mean in all honesty we have an ideal beginning season schedule, sure there are a lot of road games but a lot of them are against teams who either did not make the playoffs last year or were very low seeds with a few contenders sprinkled in. Giving us another massive home stand to end the season and maybe secure home court advantage, right now that is the absolute farthest thing from my mind. I think I’ll just be happy to make the playoffs at this point in time and really can no longer concern myself with playoff positioning.
I think that is my biggest problem this year, it’s not that we are playing any worse than in years past I mean for the love of God I had to sit through the O’Brien years. But in all honesty I came into the season actually thinking this year was going to be something different. Not the normal different that I hope for every year but the real honest difference that comes with actually being one of the best teams in the league.
I mean if I’m honest I will admit that once Danny went down with injury I figured that everybody else would step up, that our depth would show brighter than it ever had and frankly I thought that Paul George would develop into option A as a scorer leaving me with the very unenviable task of having to defend Danny against all of Paul’s fans who would want him moved because Paul was doing so well.
That has all collapsed.
In fact as I type this I am listening to NBAtv in the background & tonight Ernie Johnson is in studio as host and he just called Danny Granger a superstar. Yes you read that right he called him a SUPERSTAR. I didn’t even believe it myself so I just went back & rewound it to make sure I heard him right.
I find this so frustrating because in the pre-season preview NBAtv had nothing good to say about Danny.
I digress.
I’ll quote General Beringer from War Games: I’d **** on a spark plug if I thought it would do any good.
That’s where I am right now, I have no idea.
Is it Frank? He needs to accept a lot of the blame & maybe he needs the vast majority of the blame, I don’t know.
His sets are predictable and frankly every team in the league knows them. Tonight Calderon was turning around on defense showing the Raptors what play the Pacers were running by hand signal. In other words whatever Frank held up Jose made sure that his team mates saw it.
But as much as I think Frank deserves blame here, and believe me I’m not giving him a break, I just don’t know how much of this is all on him.
I mean honest to God Roy Hibbert is now missing 3-5’ bunny hook shots that are just rolling out of the rim. These were plays called specifically to get Roy an open look, which he got, but then just missed the shot. Frank also has the disability of not having anyone on the roster who can just flat out square up and shoot the ball.
Think about this Calderon changed the game in the first quarter and how did he do it? It wasn’t wizardry or deadeye long distance shooting. Simply put he just squared up and started hitting 13-15’ jump shots. Now the argument can be made that Frank doesn’t design plays to get those types of looks but then the counter argument to that would be even if he did who is going to hit that shot? I have no idea, sometimes David West can but the past couple of games he has not been a real threat from the field.
I mean collectively the team shot 32% from the field. Some of that was on the coach for the type of shots but some of that is on the team for missing wide open shots and taking poor off balance shots as well (some of that is the fault of Frank I’ll grant you).
I wanted the win at the end of the day, because like I said for whatever reason I haven’t been able to give up the ghost on playoff positioning, but frankly we didn’t deserve to win.
I can’t tell you how disgusting it is to feel that the team was out hustled by a team that played a triple overtime the night before half the country away. By the end of the 4th quarter the Raptors were beyond running on vapors. It was a sad pathetic way to spend the night to be honest with you.
Also does anyone have any idea why Kevin Pritchard is out watching College Basketball instead of watching the Pacers and trying to figure out what is wrong with our team? Don't we have college scouts anymore or did we let them go and Pritchard has to do that as well?
I’m just doing grades tonight & as you can imagine they won’t be pretty. Also as a reminder to people game grades are based on the game played that does not mean the player can not get a lower or higher grade in another game.
David West: D
Just didn’t produce. Played nearly 40 min and came away with 11 points & 6 rebounds. No Bargnani didn’t light him up either but unlike the first game where he saved us tonight he just could not hit shots. Also side note, on that last possession where he was taken out he was limping and wincing coming to the bench.
Paul George: D+
Again I’m just going on tonight’s game if I went on expectations I’m sorry it would be an F but I’ll hold that go with the D+. The guy just has no idea how to drive to the basket and has almost no ability to dribble in traffic. His defense is outstanding and his rebounding is solid but right now we need a true elite level scorer from the wing position.
Roy Hibbert: F
I tweeted at half time that when Roy walked on the floor from the locker room he looked totally out of it and disengaged. In other words I wonder if Frank didn’t call up Jim on the phone to give Roy a half time talk. I told Diamond Dave that there was just no way that he was going to be of any functional use. Sorry guys this is a real problem because we are in a full fledged mental melt down by the big man. I’m not sure how to snap him out of it but sadly our fortunes are tied to him.
Lance Stephenson: C+
Dude plays with fire and purpose. He may play out of control a lot but even that is much less than it used to be. However give me some of that edge and fire over cool nonchalant demeanor any day of the week. No he didn’t give us enough but for what is expected of him this was a decent game.
George Hill: C+
Shot putrid from the field but at the end of the day this guy does not shy away from big moments and really is about the only player on our team (other than maybe Lance) who can get his own shot. Now understand he had some poor passing early in the game but if it wasn’t for him we would have probably not outscored the Raptors in the final quarter (not that it really mattered).
Tyler Hansbrough: B
You wouldn’t think it by looking at his stats but I’m telling you he was a difference maker on the floor. He tapped a lot of balls and he drew a couple of charges & poked balls loose. Not all of that shows up as a favorable stat for him but he really upped the energy level out there as well. So far this season he has been a pleasant surprise.
Gerald Green: D
Ian Mahinmi: C-
Just as a reminder we are paying him 2 million more a year than what Greg Stiemsma is making with the Wolves. I bring that up because I wanted Greg and they are both producing the same results. Its obvious Frank doesn’t trust him very much either with is really bad considering Roy is having a nervous breakdown.
D.J. Augustin: C-
He hit a shot, he hit a free throw, and these are massive up grades over what he has done in the past. Other than that though once again Frank shows almost zero faith in him letting him play a whopping 11 min on the floor.
You guys tell me what's wrong.
I have no idea how to fix this and I don’t know if we even have the people in place to fix this.
I just know that this is an absolute disaster and any hopes of real post season success are going further and further away from us as we continue to lose to cupcake teams that the league so graciously gave us to start our season.
I mean in all honesty we have an ideal beginning season schedule, sure there are a lot of road games but a lot of them are against teams who either did not make the playoffs last year or were very low seeds with a few contenders sprinkled in. Giving us another massive home stand to end the season and maybe secure home court advantage, right now that is the absolute farthest thing from my mind. I think I’ll just be happy to make the playoffs at this point in time and really can no longer concern myself with playoff positioning.
I think that is my biggest problem this year, it’s not that we are playing any worse than in years past I mean for the love of God I had to sit through the O’Brien years. But in all honesty I came into the season actually thinking this year was going to be something different. Not the normal different that I hope for every year but the real honest difference that comes with actually being one of the best teams in the league.
I mean if I’m honest I will admit that once Danny went down with injury I figured that everybody else would step up, that our depth would show brighter than it ever had and frankly I thought that Paul George would develop into option A as a scorer leaving me with the very unenviable task of having to defend Danny against all of Paul’s fans who would want him moved because Paul was doing so well.
That has all collapsed.
In fact as I type this I am listening to NBAtv in the background & tonight Ernie Johnson is in studio as host and he just called Danny Granger a superstar. Yes you read that right he called him a SUPERSTAR. I didn’t even believe it myself so I just went back & rewound it to make sure I heard him right.
I find this so frustrating because in the pre-season preview NBAtv had nothing good to say about Danny.
I digress.
I’ll quote General Beringer from War Games: I’d **** on a spark plug if I thought it would do any good.
That’s where I am right now, I have no idea.
Is it Frank? He needs to accept a lot of the blame & maybe he needs the vast majority of the blame, I don’t know.
His sets are predictable and frankly every team in the league knows them. Tonight Calderon was turning around on defense showing the Raptors what play the Pacers were running by hand signal. In other words whatever Frank held up Jose made sure that his team mates saw it.
But as much as I think Frank deserves blame here, and believe me I’m not giving him a break, I just don’t know how much of this is all on him.
I mean honest to God Roy Hibbert is now missing 3-5’ bunny hook shots that are just rolling out of the rim. These were plays called specifically to get Roy an open look, which he got, but then just missed the shot. Frank also has the disability of not having anyone on the roster who can just flat out square up and shoot the ball.
Think about this Calderon changed the game in the first quarter and how did he do it? It wasn’t wizardry or deadeye long distance shooting. Simply put he just squared up and started hitting 13-15’ jump shots. Now the argument can be made that Frank doesn’t design plays to get those types of looks but then the counter argument to that would be even if he did who is going to hit that shot? I have no idea, sometimes David West can but the past couple of games he has not been a real threat from the field.
I mean collectively the team shot 32% from the field. Some of that was on the coach for the type of shots but some of that is on the team for missing wide open shots and taking poor off balance shots as well (some of that is the fault of Frank I’ll grant you).
I wanted the win at the end of the day, because like I said for whatever reason I haven’t been able to give up the ghost on playoff positioning, but frankly we didn’t deserve to win.
I can’t tell you how disgusting it is to feel that the team was out hustled by a team that played a triple overtime the night before half the country away. By the end of the 4th quarter the Raptors were beyond running on vapors. It was a sad pathetic way to spend the night to be honest with you.
Also does anyone have any idea why Kevin Pritchard is out watching College Basketball instead of watching the Pacers and trying to figure out what is wrong with our team? Don't we have college scouts anymore or did we let them go and Pritchard has to do that as well?
I’m just doing grades tonight & as you can imagine they won’t be pretty. Also as a reminder to people game grades are based on the game played that does not mean the player can not get a lower or higher grade in another game.
David West: D
Just didn’t produce. Played nearly 40 min and came away with 11 points & 6 rebounds. No Bargnani didn’t light him up either but unlike the first game where he saved us tonight he just could not hit shots. Also side note, on that last possession where he was taken out he was limping and wincing coming to the bench.
Paul George: D+
Again I’m just going on tonight’s game if I went on expectations I’m sorry it would be an F but I’ll hold that go with the D+. The guy just has no idea how to drive to the basket and has almost no ability to dribble in traffic. His defense is outstanding and his rebounding is solid but right now we need a true elite level scorer from the wing position.
Roy Hibbert: F
I tweeted at half time that when Roy walked on the floor from the locker room he looked totally out of it and disengaged. In other words I wonder if Frank didn’t call up Jim on the phone to give Roy a half time talk. I told Diamond Dave that there was just no way that he was going to be of any functional use. Sorry guys this is a real problem because we are in a full fledged mental melt down by the big man. I’m not sure how to snap him out of it but sadly our fortunes are tied to him.
Lance Stephenson: C+
Dude plays with fire and purpose. He may play out of control a lot but even that is much less than it used to be. However give me some of that edge and fire over cool nonchalant demeanor any day of the week. No he didn’t give us enough but for what is expected of him this was a decent game.
George Hill: C+
Shot putrid from the field but at the end of the day this guy does not shy away from big moments and really is about the only player on our team (other than maybe Lance) who can get his own shot. Now understand he had some poor passing early in the game but if it wasn’t for him we would have probably not outscored the Raptors in the final quarter (not that it really mattered).
Tyler Hansbrough: B
You wouldn’t think it by looking at his stats but I’m telling you he was a difference maker on the floor. He tapped a lot of balls and he drew a couple of charges & poked balls loose. Not all of that shows up as a favorable stat for him but he really upped the energy level out there as well. So far this season he has been a pleasant surprise.
Gerald Green: D
Ian Mahinmi: C-
Just as a reminder we are paying him 2 million more a year than what Greg Stiemsma is making with the Wolves. I bring that up because I wanted Greg and they are both producing the same results. Its obvious Frank doesn’t trust him very much either with is really bad considering Roy is having a nervous breakdown.
D.J. Augustin: C-
He hit a shot, he hit a free throw, and these are massive up grades over what he has done in the past. Other than that though once again Frank shows almost zero faith in him letting him play a whopping 11 min on the floor.
You guys tell me what's wrong.
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