All I can say is, Beno Udrih should never, never, never ever outrebound your starting PF.
There was spurts in the game where it finally seemed like we more or less got the hang of moving the ball. Good shots were taken, lots of passing, using the clock well. Glad to see that someone finally had the brains to figure out that if they had 3 defenders waiting for Tyreke at the free throw line, all you had to do was lob it up over the defence to Dalembert.
Some of my observations:
I really don't understand the coaching going on. Does Westphal even know the strengths of our players? Carl Landry - post scorer. Where do we make him take all his shots? No where near the basket. Jason Thompson - hustles for rebounds, scores off putbacks. Where do we play him? SF, on the perimeter.
Youth is one thing, but these guys have been playing basketball for a good number of years now. The level of stupidity on some of the plays that we make really amazes me at times. It's when you facepalm, and go "really? You're getting paid millions a year to do that? Really?" For example, Omri gets offensive rebound in the middle of the paint. Defence all around him, new shot clock. Pass it out and reset right? Nope, turn around shoot a fade get it swatted in your face. Tyreke, really known for his perimeter shooting. Pushes the ball up the floor, has no help but defence is already back. More than 15 seconds on the shot clock, no problem, turn around and pull up for 3! Inbounding the ball. Giving the ball to a guard on the break. These are common sense plays!!! Before I get carried away, I must remind myself of that good spurt of ball movement I talked about... at least they are learning slowly.
I never thought I'd say this but at this point I'm all for trading Landry and keeping Sammy long term. The guy has lost his touch (Free throws anyone?) and is clearly not being utilised to the best of his abilities by the coaching staff. Him being undersized is hurting us on both ends of the floor and I'm not comfortable having a PF shoot outside shots all day long as one of our main offensive plays. Dalembert has really made a big difference and we'd be a lot worse off without him. If he's willing to take much less money and stay with us I'm all for keeping him. He's also surprised me with some passing skills that I did not know he had.
Omri has been looking good so far, but still needs to improve on his passing and decision making. The same goes with Tyreke. It's good to see the two of them developing more chemistry and I think Casspi will benefit much more as Tyreke grows as a passer and an overall player. They could make a pretty good duo in the future.
Cousins has the potential, but right now he's trying to do too much. Typical rookie problem that he will overcome in time. This is the NBA, and it's not going to be as easy for him to dominate in the post with his size or quickness. He should try to refrain from putting the ball on the floor too much. If we could get him the ball down low a little earlier in the clock it would be good too. I noticed that when he gets the ball inside, he often immediately begins trying to back his defender down, turning to both sides trying to find space, picking up travelling calls etc. The best post players catch the ball, size up the defence, wait for guys to cut, then either face up or make a strong move.
Our team has great potential. But that's the problem ... it's just potential at the moment. I'm trying to be patient, but I'm just not convinced that the coaching staff are doing a very good job helping the players and team realise that potential at the moment.
Losing a game, at home, with Tyreke, to the lousier-than-us Twolves, without Flynn, without Ridnour, without Rubio, with Love being insignificant, is just not cool. This sucks.
(insert other sarcasm icon here)
