Five postgame thoughts after witnessing Charlotte's impressive 107-95 win over the Denver Nuggets Tuesday:
1) I knew Stephen Jackson could score before he got here, but wow, what a passer. He had 25 points and six assists Tuesday, but as Larry Brown pointed out, it would have been a dozen assists had the Bobcats' big men more often finished down low. Jackson has made both Gerald Wallace and Raymond Felton more effective.
2) Bobcats center Tyson Chandler looked absolutely terrible Tuesday -- a far too frequent occurrence this season. Chandler had five fouls, four turnovers, two rebounds and one point in 13 minutes. The Bobcats function far more smoothly when Nazr Mohammed is playing center right now.
3) It was interesting to see the Nuggets (16-6) really lose their cool late when it was apparent they were going to lose to the Bobcats (9-11). Both Carmelo Anthony (34 points) and Chauncey Billups drew technicals in the final minute, and then Billups heaved the ball into the stands -- in frustration, not exultation -- as the game ended.
4) Raymond Felton -- the subject of my column for Wednesday's paper -- is playing such smart basketball right now. He only took two shots in the fourth quarter, but they were both huge, contested layups in traffic.
5) Ty Lawson -- the NBA's fastest player, according to Allen Iverson, after Lawson made him look silly Monday night -- should be taking over for Arron Afflalo in the Nuggets' starting lineup by midseason. Once he gets the NBA routine down, Lawson is better offensively and far faster than Afflalo.
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9 years ago
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8 comments:
Why would you have Lawson start in front of Afflalo? Lawson is a point guard, it would not make sense to have two PGs on the floor in the starting lineup.
I think your observations are quite right about Chandler & Mohammed. I think Mohammed is a better Center than Tyson....however, LB love to play him (Chandler) at center than Mahammed. He looks very lazy last night and couldn't even handle the ball quite well.I know his complained has been injury, but when is he going to play at his best?
Three players need critical assessment; Diop, Augustin & Chandler.....they seems to be fading in play.
I better the team trading Chandler, Diop and Augustin for a quality power forward than trade Diaw....Diaw is not playing good as compared to last year, but he'll come along. He probablly need more work and to scale down some weight.
No NBA team would give us value for Chandler in a trade right now. We need him to step it up because we are stuck with him and can't afford to buy him out... Before you spit out some half thought out, "awesome" idea for a trade, think about it logically for a second "If the Bobcats don't want him... why would any other team try to give us good players for him"
Lawson will not be starting by mid season. Afflalo fills the void left by losing Dante Jones to Indiana, a slasher/defender roll. Lawson playing behind Billups is a perfect situation for him, he gets to learn from a veteran and play in matchups that will build his confidence. Just being fast is not enough, he's still got alot to learn but he's getting there.
Sometimes I wonder what is the native language of many of the posters here. For instance...
"I think Mohammed is a better Center than Tyson....however, LB love to play him (Chandler) at center than Mahammed. He looks very lazy last night and couldn't even handle the ball quite well.I know his complained has been injury, but when is he going to play at his best?"
Did you grow up in Poland? or...
"I better the team trading Chandler, Diop and Augustin for a quality power forward than trade Diaw....Diaw is not playing good as compared to last year, but he'll come along. He probablly need more work and to scale down some weight."
Not bad for a Vietnamese refugee. On the other hand, pretty awful for a bubba from Metrolina.
WOW! You think Lawson will start in place of Afflalo? Billups is 6-3 and Lawson is 5-11. I don't think karl will be playing small ball. JR may start, but he shoots too much! JR can shoot all he wants with the 2nd unit. Afflalo is a perfect fit for their 1st team. He balances their roster. Melo and Billups take the majority of their shots, so you need a player who can play defense and can hit the open shot if left open. Last year they had Jones at the 2 spot and he and afflalo are the same type of players.
Could anyone imagine the following sentence last year? "The Bobcats function far more smoothly when Nazr Mohammed is playing center right now." If I could have gotten rid of anyone on the team last year it would have been Mohammed. He really got himself turned around last summer!
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