OGT: The battle for 12-19. Knicks @ Pistons (12/29/09)

[Kstat]

because it doesn't have to be like this. They are beating themselves now. They have the roster to be a 50-win team, although injuries have killed any chance of that, they can still be a damn good team if they just use their roster correctly.

What bugs me more is that some idiots are going to put this on Rip or Gordon or V, or some other stupid shit, because god forbid anybody says anything negative about Jerebko. Apparently he has to start, consequences be dammed. He got pummeled like a $2 whore against Al Harrington and Jared Jeffries. Come the fuck on.

You cannot tell me that we dont a roster capable of rebounding or playing D. That's the reason we're losing, not offense.

[FP22]

What bugs me more is that some idiots are going to put this on Rip or Gordon or V, or some other stupid shit, because god forbid anybody says anything negative about Jerebko. Apparently he has to start, consequences be dammed. He got pummeled like a $2 whore against Al Harrington and Jared Jeffries. Come the fuck on.

Pummeled by Harrington and Jeffries? Were we watching the same game? We lost because no one could contain David Lee or guard the 3 point line. Jeffries was a pest on D, but this is not Jerebko's fault. Jonas was not a stand-out, but to single him out is ridiculous. He's one of the few that has shown a pulse lately.

It doesn't help that Rip is a black-hole on offense. People complain about Rodney taking 17 shots a game with no one else in the lineup, but it's no problem when Rip bricks till his heart is content (nearly all from 20+ feet out) with everyone back. At least when Rodney misses shots (drives) there's a chance for a put-back with the collapsed D. Continuously chucking from the perimeter puts your defense in a bad spot.

As for Ben Wallace not playing a lot... To be fair, he was getting torched by Lee when he was in (same as against Bosh and West recently). I'm sure the word has come down to go easy on his minutes. He has already fallen off noticeably since the beginning of the year. At this pace, he won't be able to play by the all-star break.

I do agree that Kuester cannot afford to go to small-ball. They were winning before because Jonas is a very good rebounder/defender at the 3. At the 4, he's a bit undersized, and seems to be more foul prone Now, they're subbing guys that hustle/rebound for Rip and Tayshaun, who do not. Obviously these areas are going to take a hit.

At this point, Rip needs to go. He's the 3rd best SG on this team at the moment, and he acts like he thinks he's Kobe Bryant. The guys who feel "entitled" need to be removed, and the roster rebalanced so that Kuester doesn't feel forced into weird lineups just to keep the prima-donnas happy.

[Kstat]

Rips' been back for all of 2 games. He deserves more slack than that.

The guy thrives on coming off screens. It's hard to do that when only one guy on the floor knows how to set one.

[Pharaoh]

I think people are over-reacting to the situation.

Yes, we were busting our asses with a shitty team not so long ago and everyone was ok with things.

Now, we get back 3 serious offensive cogs and people assume the team is just gonna click overnight?

WTF?

You guys watch enough/know enough about the game to know that if you insert one serious offensive weapon into a line-up it takes time to work shit out.

We added 2 and a half (lol). How the fuck is it gonna happen in 2 games?

Blah, blah, blah, the lack of effort on D, blah, blah, blah someone's fault, blah, blah, blah someone's injured blah, blah, blah

It's a process. Once Nova and Bynum are healthy and the team can play full-strength for a week or 2 we might actually see where we're at.

As for a lack of effort from certain dudes on D - what do you expect? The guys that just came back aren't in top shape and will not be going all out on both ends yet (do they ever?).

And the guys that were playing before the trio returned have now had their minutes/roles adjusted as the Coach searches for combinations that work with his offensive guys.

Surely we're all smart enough to see that, right?

Why the big hissy fit?

[Kstat]

Jonas Jerebko is not suited to play power forward on this team. You can give him another 50 games, it won't matter. Same with Wilcox playing center. They physically cannot perform the task.

Last night they played poorly as a team, but they also lost a ton of individual matchups, things that had nothing to do with dealing with a new rotation. We were out-muscled all night by a knicks team that is pretty small themselves. I don't care if we had 12 new players, that's a sign that you arent putting good enough rotations out there.

[Pharaoh]

Or it's a sign the Knicks looked at the schedule and thought "Fuck - we could win this if we make an effort"

They made the effort - we struggled to fit in pieces and we missed shots.

So we lost.

Time for the next game... let's see how the Coach and players respond.