2 Hints

- The Bench
- I hate Flip.

I think he was holding Theo's warm up jersey for him. Joe D may have screwed up in giving Flip another set of decisions to make in his twitchy brain. Dixon and Theo are both playing too much imo.

There are no excuses anymore. Before, we hadn't seen enough of him to say for sure that he was ready to get on the floor and not fuck things up. Now, we have seen him legitimately helping us win games over a 20+ game stretch in the rotation. And I'll be damned if AJ didn't make this team completely fun to watch again for the first time in a while.

Ratliff is a good player, and probably better than a 5th big man, but I don't care what people say, this team is better with Amir. Theo is a step or two slower rotating (not as good on the pick and roll defensively), and he can't run the floor, or make as many hustle plays as AJ. Most importantly, the team just seems to play better with Amir on the floor. He brings up everyone else's game. With Theo I don't see that.

Yes, AJ fouls a lot, but so does Theo. It's because AJ challenges every shot. He's not conceding layups every other possession like a lot of our guys. Ben Wallace is really the only big time shot blocker I have seen that stays out of foul trouble consistently, and later in his career in Detroit, he was guilty of conceding quite a few layups as well.

The Dixon issue is a whole separate thread. That guy is just terrible.

Dixon has hardly been terrible. Most of his turnovers came last night when big men left the spots he was passing to.

Amir wasn't playing with much energy last night. He didn't make a case for being on the floor. Theo was much more ready to play, and so he did.

Stop making up excuses for the kid when he has a bad game. He earns his time when he's out there or he doesn't. It isn't Flip's call.

Yeah, how about a "complain about how bad stuck is" thread? It's not like Amir was blowing anyone away out there.

Philly has the better player named "Rodney", which is kind of sad.

Amir looked kind of lethargic out there last night, IMO.

Amir wasn't playing with much energy last night. He didn't make a case for being on the floor. Theo was much more ready to play, and so he did.

Stop making up excuses for the kid when he has a bad game. He earns his time when he's out there or he doesn't. It isn't Flip's call.

While in theory that sounds great, why is there another set of rules for Amir than there is for every other bench player? If Amir has to "earn" his minutes every night, why do people like Jarvis, Max and Stucky get a free pass to go out there and suck every night? They're given their minutes, yet Amir has to prove he's allowed to play every night?

While in theory that sounds great, why is there another set of rules for Amir than there is for every other bench player? If Amir has to "earn" his minutes every night, why do people like Jarvis, Max and Stucky get a free pass to go out there and suck every night? They're given their minutes, yet Amir has to prove he's allowed to play every night?
Quiet, they earned their minutes too like Dixon supposedly did...lol


Philly has the better player named "Rodney", which is kind of sad.
And he'll look like puss poo when he faces another team ala scalabrine laws of gravity. Check his numbers and you'll find out that he's not who you think he is.


Dixon has hardly been terrible. Most of his turnovers came last night when big men left the spots he was passing to.
You're making excuses, and he made those same fastbreak leading passes in the boston game. when he gets stuck in the lane he looks dumbfounded at times. Either way dont call people out on supposedly making excuses then make ones for a guy who was turning it over so hard he got yanked for Rip asap.


Amir wasn't playing with much energy last night. He didn't make a case for being on the floor. Theo was much more ready to play, and so he did.
That sounds great if we didnt know better and haven't seen Flip's rotations the past 2 1/2 seasons. Theo was thrown in regardless of being ready, no need to lie and say he bust his ass to get there. Because thats just not true.


Stop making up excuses for the kid when he has a bad game. He earns his time when he's out there or he doesn't. It isn't Flip's call.
1.)Nobody made excuses for how he played, But you sure did for Dixon.
2.)Its not Flip's call? lol

"But we made a mistake -- we should have played him. We got in a situation where they were making such a run, and we thought at that point it was too late.
"First thing I said afterwards was, 'We should have played Amir, and we didn't.' "
So who is he apologizing for? Joe D? lol...Its absolutely his call, and he is not magically bound to playing the best performer, if that were true we might actually have a title under his reign as HC.

Either way I think Theo and Dixon are both playing too much. It wouldf be nice to have a coach who knows when to give them minutes and when to bring in his faster bigmen/better defensive 2 guards. Not gonna happen, doesnt mean bubbles shouldnt be allowed to vent much like you're allowed to believe what you want about Dixon/Theo playing.

Yeah, how about a "complain about how bad stuck is" thread? It's not like Amir was blowing anyone away out there.
Honestly i dont see reason to defend either guy as an individual talent/star. I think they do help the bench production. Stuckey handle the ball better than any other guy on the bench, get a few points every game, is a decent rebounder for a PG, and can get you a couple assists. Amir can rebound, run the court asap to kill fastbreaks, rebound very well, shot block fairly well, hustle his ass off, and nail a couple garbage buckets. From an individual standpoint they arent blowing you away absolutely agree with ya. From a team and bench as a whole standpoint, they are a big factor in our bench's positive production.

:flip:


Second-guessing
Despite Saunders going to the bench early and often, Amir Johnson disappeared in the second half. He had two rebounds and a blocked shot in nearly five minutes of time in the first half.

Saunders was asked why Johnson stayed on the bench in the second half.

"I thought about using him a little bit, but at the time, 'Sheed (Wallace) was going well, 'Dyess was rebounding the ball and we were getting open at the rim," Saunders said. "I mean, it's impossible for us to play 12. We do have to face that fact at some point.

"I can play Amir the next game, and you will ask me about not playing Jason (Maxiell ), and then you can ask me about not playing Theo (Ratliff ), so we could have this conversation every night."

Poor Flip. It must be difficult living a life when you're stupid and then are asked to make challenging decisions such as when to replace guys that are struggling. Here's a tip, Flip, when you see antonio mcdyess continually get abused by reggie evans or samuel dalembert (or whomever he's matched up with) both on the offensive glass and from scoring near the basket maybe, just maybe, that should raise red flags and you'll want to try someone else. I mean why not? It couldn't hurt.

Maybe playing Antonio Mcdyess 30+ minutes a night isn't working? Maybe you sould re-think the whole "all players on the floor must be able to hit a jumpshot" philosophy you've been killing this team with since your arrival.

Yeah, I don't have a problem pulling Amir when he has an off night. But why does Dyess go 1-10 every night and not get pulled for the young guys outplaying him?

After shooting %50 last night, Dyess boosted his FG% in March to a blistering %28. Also note that his rebounds dropped from 10.3 in February to 6.2 in March and his scoring from 8.4 to 5.2 in March.

I think he was holding Theo's warm up jersey for him. Joe D may have screwed up in giving Flip another set of decisions to make in his twitchy brain. Dixon and Theo are both playing too much imo.

I've been saying this for a while - the less actual decisions and juggling Flip has to make, the better off we are. I've always been an advocate of "1 strong backup at each position" and that's it. Maybe some injury insurance, but even that's an issue with Flip.

IBKDF

Yeah, I don't have a problem pulling Amir when he has an off night. But why does Dyess go 1-10 every night and not get pulled for the young guys outplaying him?


You don't bust a veteran starter out of a slump by sitting him unless you're planning on tossing him aside completely. If it's someone you're going to need sharp and ready for the playoffs you let him play through it.

You don't bust a veteran starter out of a slump by sitting him unless you're planning on tossing him aside completely. If it's someone you're going to need sharp and ready for the playoffs you let him play through it.
I agree with Geerussell in that Dyess is not the answer nor is he the problem. While he should probably see a few less minutes, its the rotation itself that is flawed.

IBKDF

too easy

[smilie=blaha.gif]

I agree with Geerussell in that Dyess is not the answer nor is he the problem. While he should probably see a few less minutes, its the rotation itself that is flawed.

Codeman and geerussel are correct in that dyess is not the answer nor is he really the problem but our coach is currently using him like he is the answer which is the main problem. Dyess doesn't qualify for the 2 things this team has lacked for may years: a big that can rebound on both ends and defend the rim (big ben was that guy but flip chased him out of town) and a consistent perimeter (2 or 3) scoring threat off the bench....but yet dyess is being used as that big that can board and block shots.

He really should be used in a way that is constent with the player he actually is, a very good back up player that doesn't hurt you too much and can help help you a lot if used in the right situations and in limited minutes.

I also think Joe Dumars needs to shoulder some of this blame for not making the choices obvious for each of these needs if only to help his mentally challenged head coach. He has in a sense asked his head coach to choose between 2 rookies and a washington wizard failure to shore up his perimeter scoring problem and has asked his coach to choose between an energy player in maxiell (who has regressed this year) and a kid that was playing in high school 3 years ago to potentially be that big this team so desperately needs.

Sure Dixon and Ratliff are added to the mix but are either of them good enough? We'll find out.

Am I actually saying Joe Dumars may be more responsible for this teams "failures" than Flip Saunders?

You don't bust a veteran starter out of a slump by sitting him unless you're planning on tossing him aside completely. If it's someone you're going to need sharp and ready for the playoffs you let him play through it.
No, you don't play a 6th man of the year in your starting lineup with a similar player next to him. You play him off the bench where he can be one of the 3 main options on the floor so your bench isn't filled with guys who have no NBA experience as main scorers.

The problem isn't that Dyess sucks, it's that he shouldn't be in that role in the first place. It should be Max starting and Dyess off the bench with Amir (with Max and Amir doing the hustle stuff and Sheed and Dyess scoring).

It's not that hard:

C Sheed 30 MPG/Dyess 18 MPG
PF Max 25 MPG/Dyess 8 MPG/Amir 15 MPG

Easy to say that now Chris, but in reality he'd been on the hot seat starting maxiell at the beginning of the season with Maxiell's early troubles rebounding.

Easy to say that now Chris, but in reality he'd been on the hot seat starting maxiell at the beginning of the season with Maxiell's early troubles rebounding.
I'm not sure what you are talking about. In November Max averaged one rebound every 4.13 minutes while Dyess averaged 1 rebound every 3.95 minutes. I'm not sure where the large disparity is there.

I'm not really bagging on Flip from not doing this from the start anyway. Amir hadn't really established himself in the rotation. My beef is that once Amir got PT for the most part, he should not have been pared with Max. This switch should have been made somewhere around Christmas time IMO. Another time when the switch should have been made was when Stuckey came back. That was another opportunity to take scoring pressure off the young guys by bringing Dyess off the bench. Either time would have been seen as Dyess to their rescue, not a demotion.

Maxiell's defensive rebounding was considered sub par at the beginning of the season. i remember a couple articles on it.

Either way my point is that you're trying to say its an easy move, when its not. Nothing is that simplistic unfortunately.

Top

Fuck Flip. Dude is such a hack, yet his team is talented enough to save his ass and make him look decent in the regular season. Pisses me off that he can get away with this garbage. This team should be so much better than this.

Nothing is that simplistic unfortunately.
Heresy.

All Flip has to do is use the following rotation to guarantee a championship:

PG- Stuckey 40 mins/Dixon 4 mins/Hunter 4 mins
SG- Afflalo 40 mins/Dixon 4 mins
SF- Valter 40 mins/Hayes 8 mins
PF- Amir 47 mins/Dice 1 min
C- Samb 40 mins/Ratliff 8 mins

Then bring Chauncey, Rip, Prince and Sheed back into the rotation 30 seconds before the start of the ECF.

It's simple and it'd please the crowd here. Oh, and fire Flip retroactive to the start of the season. Can't. Lose.

Heresy.

All Flip has to do is use the following rotation to guarantee a championship:

PG- Stuckey 40 mins/Dixon 4 mins/Hunter 4 mins
SG- Afflalo 40 mins/Dixon 4 mins
SF- Valter 40 mins/Hayes 8 mins
PF- Amir 47 mins/Dice 1 min
C- Samb 40 mins/Ratliff 8 mins

Then bring Chauncey, Rip, Prince and Sheed back into the rotation 30 seconds before the start of the ECF.

It's simple and it'd please the crowd here. Oh, and fire Flip retroactive to the start of the season. Can't. Lose.

Bullshit.






That is way too many minutes for Dice.

Amir should average 50 minutes.

Amir should average 50 minutes.

:cogent:

What about Max? Maybe give him the minute that was supposed to be for Dice?