Just a few random musings...
Did anyone else notice that, in the third quarter, it took Peja five and a half minutes to even get a touch, and that when he did get one, he hit a shot? Then they went away from him again?
I fully expected to see Peja getting touches, to see the offense run through him to start the second half. But Mike and Cuttino isolated at the top of the key and threw up bad shots with the rest of the team standing around for the first half of the second quarter. Cuttino finally got the right idea and started attacking the rim, but not until we were down by 21.
I don't know where Rick was as far as making Peja a bigger part of the offense, and I don't know why Peja didn't go get the ball, but that's a big problem, and I think it's the reason why we didn't make the third quarter run that all of us Kings fans were expecting at half-time.
By the way, we really saw Mike struggle, and I think it has something to do with Webber's absence. Saturday was Mike's first playoff game without Chris and their patented two-man game. The defense is really going to concentrate on keeping Mike uncomfortable, and they did a good job of it. 1-16 with three points is atrocious, and I don't expect to see it again. But we have to find a way to balance out the amount of shots our hot players are taking with the ones our cold players are taking. In other words, Mike doesn't need to be 1-16 if Peja is shooting 50%. Mike, don't force it, but don't back off. Find other ways to contribute, run some two-man offense with Peja, and make sure that you're solid on D.
Cuttino needs to be more consistent. It's as simple as that. We need to either be able to rely on him to give us an efficient 16-20 points a game in the playoffs and play some solid D, or we need to make other plans. Whether we retain him beyond this season will likely have a lot to do with how he plays in April and (hopefully) May.
Rick, put our big thug on their big thugs. Seattle is obviously a lot more physical inside than Skinner and Thomas are willing to be, so let Greg mix it up with them. Give him the opportunity to contribute; he's been taking advantage of it in the past 2 weeks or so. He can be a big plus for us, and there's a reason we're paying him. Go to him early, not just when we're down by 15 points.
Peja, rebound. Peja, get the ball. Peja, become what we need you to become in the postseason. Calling Peja, please. Peja, please. We need you out there, and we need you to play when you're out there.
Okay, I'm done. Thoughts, comments, suggestions, gripes, criticisms, etc., are all welcome and warranted.
Did anyone else notice that, in the third quarter, it took Peja five and a half minutes to even get a touch, and that when he did get one, he hit a shot? Then they went away from him again?
I fully expected to see Peja getting touches, to see the offense run through him to start the second half. But Mike and Cuttino isolated at the top of the key and threw up bad shots with the rest of the team standing around for the first half of the second quarter. Cuttino finally got the right idea and started attacking the rim, but not until we were down by 21.
I don't know where Rick was as far as making Peja a bigger part of the offense, and I don't know why Peja didn't go get the ball, but that's a big problem, and I think it's the reason why we didn't make the third quarter run that all of us Kings fans were expecting at half-time.
By the way, we really saw Mike struggle, and I think it has something to do with Webber's absence. Saturday was Mike's first playoff game without Chris and their patented two-man game. The defense is really going to concentrate on keeping Mike uncomfortable, and they did a good job of it. 1-16 with three points is atrocious, and I don't expect to see it again. But we have to find a way to balance out the amount of shots our hot players are taking with the ones our cold players are taking. In other words, Mike doesn't need to be 1-16 if Peja is shooting 50%. Mike, don't force it, but don't back off. Find other ways to contribute, run some two-man offense with Peja, and make sure that you're solid on D.
Cuttino needs to be more consistent. It's as simple as that. We need to either be able to rely on him to give us an efficient 16-20 points a game in the playoffs and play some solid D, or we need to make other plans. Whether we retain him beyond this season will likely have a lot to do with how he plays in April and (hopefully) May.
Rick, put our big thug on their big thugs. Seattle is obviously a lot more physical inside than Skinner and Thomas are willing to be, so let Greg mix it up with them. Give him the opportunity to contribute; he's been taking advantage of it in the past 2 weeks or so. He can be a big plus for us, and there's a reason we're paying him. Go to him early, not just when we're down by 15 points.
Peja, rebound. Peja, get the ball. Peja, become what we need you to become in the postseason. Calling Peja, please. Peja, please. We need you out there, and we need you to play when you're out there.
Okay, I'm done. Thoughts, comments, suggestions, gripes, criticisms, etc., are all welcome and warranted.
