Game #5: Toronto Raptors 90 - Charlotte Bobcats 92 (F)

[Joey]

Another thing. By not fouling Henderson. 2 things could happen:

1. Henderson makes the shot. Game over.
2. Ball hits the rim. Ball popped out. Game over.

Where is Casey's head at???

Wouldn't be surprised if Casey makes the Shaqtin a Fool tonight! LOL

3. Shot-Clock violation - He looks smart...ish.
4. Raps get Steal, Call TO - He looks smart...ish.

But still, there's no denying it was the wrong call.
And yet... Casey actually manged to do just that as well (Post-Game Video).
Its actually cringe-worthy to watch him defend the move.

This has to be coming from the Top. MU is a little too quiet in all of this uproar.

[Machine]

watching tonights episode of "the starters" on NBATV and they are all laughing and making fun of Casey for last night.. it was kinda funny and I was actually glad to see it because Casey seriously needs a wakeup call.. he does not belong in the NBA

[lilmamba_]

watching tonights episode of "the starters" on NBATV and they are all laughing and making fun of Casey for last night.. it was kinda funny and I was actually glad to see it because Casey seriously needs a wakeup call.. he does not belong in the NBA

loool what'd they say

[Machine]

loool what'd they say

they were all just baffled, and made fun of how he tried to defend himself after the game by saying "if they made two free throws, we lose the game" yeah well.. we lost

[lilmamba_]

they were all just baffled, and made fun of how he tried to defend himself after the game by saying "if they made two free throws, we lose the game" yeah well.. we lost

hahahah xD.... good i hope Casey watched it

[lilmamba_]

[Machine]

LOL "a boy named sue" that's classic, I love JV, im assuming Q turned him on to the man in black

[isaacthompson]

Finally watched the game. A couple observations:

- Hansbrough was our best player by far.

- Lack of competitiveness/focus is really starting to cost us. Winning jump balls that go right into the hands of the Cats, allowing open layups out of timeouts.. it's absolutely disgraceful. If you aren't playing hard (especially on the defensive end), you shouldn't be allowed to step on the court.

- DeMar is never going to have success driving into traffic if he continues to go in straight up. He needs to bend his knees a little and get lower to the ground, because right now, a good chunk of his drives are out of control.

- Perimeter defense is a problem. Henderson was beating DeMar at his own game (midrange jumpers) for most of the game. If we can’t stop a guy like him going off, I don’t know how we’re going to compete with the upper echelon teams in the East.


As for the end of the game, I have no idea how not fouling would've worked in that situation. If there's only a 2-second difference in between shot clock/game clock, that should act as no difference, because that extra two seconds will be used up while the ball is in the air. Just brutal coaching.

[Craiger]

Finally watched the game. A couple observations:

- Hansbrough was our best player by far.

- Lack of competitiveness/focus is really starting to cost us. Winning jump balls that go right into the hands of the Cats, allowing open layups out of timeouts.. it's absolutely disgraceful. If you aren't playing hard (especially on the defensive end), you shouldn't be allowed to step on the court.

- DeMar is never going to have success driving into traffic if he continues to go in straight up. He needs to bend his knees a little and get lower to the ground, because right now, a good chunk of his drives are out of control.

- Perimeter defense is a problem. Henderson was beating DeMar at his own game (midrange jumpers) for most of the game. If we can’t stop a guy like him going off, I don’t know how we’re going to compete with the upper echelon teams in the East.


As for the end of the game, I have no idea how not fouling would've worked in that situation. If there's only a 2-second difference in between shot clock/game clock, that should act as no difference, because that extra two seconds will be used up while the ball is in the air. Just brutal coaching.

Two things with that statement:

- if a team/player beats you because they are hitting mid range jumpers, thats a loss you should be happy with because in the long run (the course of a season) those jumpers will miss more often than not. Its when you lose because you are giving up pts in the paint and uncontested 3s that a team should be concerned

- the bigger issue is that mid range jumpers are 'Demar's game' rather than Henderson beat him at it.

[Nilanka]

Two things with that statement:

- if a team/player beats you because they are hitting mid range jumpers, thats a loss you should be happy with because in the long run (the course of a season) those jumpers will miss more often than not. Its when you lose because you are giving up pts in the paint and uncontested 3s that a team should be concerned

- the bigger issue is that mid range jumpers are 'Demar's game' rather than Henderson beat him at it.

We should point out the difference between contested midrange jumpers and wide open midrange jumpers.

[isaacthompson]

Two things with that statement:

- if a team/player beats you because they are hitting mid range jumpers, thats a loss you should be happy with because in the long run (the course of a season) those jumpers will miss more often than not. Its when you lose because you are giving up pts in the paint and uncontested 3s that a team should be concerned

- the bigger issue is that mid range jumpers are 'Demar's game' rather than Henderson beat him at it.

I agree mostly with this. However, there are certain subsets of this that are worrying..

For example, Henderson was hitting a lot of his midrange shots off of downscreens. DeMar was allowing himself to be screened 100% of the time; there is no fight in him when it comes to getting around screens.. actually there's no fight in him when he has to do anything defensively.

Actually never mind. The fact that his defense is atrocious shouldn't be surprising anymore. lol

[Craiger]

We should point out the difference between contested midrange jumpers and wide open midrange jumpers.

sure I agree with that, but I meant to assume all else being equal (ie. contested or uncontested shots near the bucket or from 3 or from mid range). I think I just poorly phrased by only including 'uncontested 3s'

Or maybe a hierachy would explain it better:

any (maybe most is a better qualifier) shots in the paint > uncontested 3 > uncontested 2 > contested 3 > contested mid range

*(inverse for defensive success)

[DanH]

sure I agree with that, but I meant to assume all else being equal (ie. contested or uncontested shots near the bucket or from 3 or from mid range). I think I just poorly phrased by only including 'uncontested 3s'

Or maybe a hierachy would explain it better:

any (maybe most is a better qualifier) shots in the paint > uncontested 3 > uncontested 2 > contested 3 > contested mid range

*(inverse for defensive success)

I think you have to qualify your paint shots as well - the expected points off an uncontested 3 are significantly higher than a tightly contested shot in the paint (which are very common, as defenses tend to collapse).

[Craiger]

I think you have to qualify your paint shots as well - the expected points off an uncontested 3 are significantly higher than a tightly contested shot in the paint (which are very common, as defenses tend to collapse).

I think you are probably right there, but I also think there maybe (to my knowledge anyways... which I'll be the first to admit could be wrong or lacking) a lack of information on that front.

I'd be interested to see the shooting % of contested pts in the paint vs uncontested 3s.

According to Sloan, NBA players shot 50% while at the net and defended (mind you thats within 5ft and whether within 5 ft is 'contested or not' could definetely be questioned), so just assuming that as a standard, that equals 'average' 3pt shooting (both contested and not contested). So right off the bat, that would seem that an unconstested 3 (assuming it is scored at a higher rate than an average 3) > contested at the net.

But that also doesn't include the likelyhood of being fouled (which doesn't count as a FG.... with the caveat that the FG from an and1 does) and going to the free throw line, which tend to happen the closer a player gets to the net, as do offensive rebounds.

So could we say:

uncontested at the net > uncontested 3 >/= contested at net >......?

But no matter what - the team wants to be shooting from at the net or 3 whenever possible.

side note: according to Sloan's Dwight Howard effect 70% of shots at the net = pts, foul shots or an offensive rebound

[rocwell]