My column from Orlando about Game 1 of the Bobcats-Orlando playoff series can be seen here.
Here are three thoughts I couldn't fit into the column but I thought were still interesting from Orlando's 98-89 victory.
1)Seated in the second row under one basket, I could hear exactly why Stephen Jackson got himself an early technical. After scoring on a contested layup, Jackson screamed: "That's a [bleeping] foul!"
Jackson now has bigger problems -- his hyper-extended left knee meant he had to hobble around for the second half and didn't play at all for the final nine minutes. The fact that the Bobcats don't play again until Wednesday may work to their advantage on that injury.
2) Charlotte really needs someone else to score a little off the bench -- D.J. Augustin needs to make a couple of threes, Tyrus Thomas needs to do more, etc. There's too much pressure right now for either Jackson, Gerald Wallace or Raymond Felton to carry the offense on practically every possession.
3) Charlotte's "Hack-a-Dwight" strategy worked very well Sunday. Dwight Howard scored only 5 points and missed 5 of his 6 free throw attempts. You can see why when you watch him shooting free throws up close. The ball looks like a cantaloupe in his hands. It literally seems too small for him to shoot it correctly.
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9 years ago
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I agree with your second point. DJ clearly needs to get his offense going in this series. Tyrus was fine offensively tonight, I think he was 2-2. But he just didn't get much time. The problem with our bench scoring is that we play Larry Hughes too much. He's not a great scorer. He shoots a pretty rotten percentage. If he is encouraged to shoot more, he'll easily shoot us out of games. I'd argue for Stephen Graham to get more time. He's a pretty good defender and he's not afraid to take it inside and be physical. And when he doesn't see something he likes, he'll just kick it out and pass it to the point. Just my two cents, I guess.
I absolutely agree with the comment about Larry Hughes. Stephen Graham is a much better team player and would helpby driving the ball inside.
The major point here is the lack of scoring. for the past two months we've been scoring in the 80's. That maybe be good enough to win on some nights, but that will not work in the playoffs. And it especially won't work against a team like the Magic, who makes 3's like they make layups.
Scott,
I have no idea why Larry Huges is out there over Ghraham or even Hendo. This is the one aspect of LB's coaching that I loathe.
The "his hands are too big to shoot properly" argument is terrible. Yao Ming, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dirk Nowitzki all seem(ed) to shoot free throws above a 70% clip. The difference is not the hand size. These are international guys who learn how to shoot outside as they develop their game at a young age. In America the big guys tend not to develop an outside game because they do not have to. They just overpower everyone and don't work enough on their technique for outside shooting. Please stop using this as an excuse for poor free throw shooting.
The most puzzling thing is Larry Huges over Stephen Graham. I mean Graham basically won us the game against this same opponent less than a month ago. What more does he have to do to get Hughes' minutes. Graham went off against Orlando and made it look easy
Scott, why do you call them "kids" in the headline of your article? It's that kind of demeaning attitude that makes me dislike your columns.
What if they call you a blogger "kid" rather than a "journalist." Wouldn't you be annoyed?
You're both professionals at your careers - show some class.
@ anonymous 12:39
Please read the article before you post. It could save a lot of time, and also save you a lot of embarrassment.
"'We were like little kids on the first day of school,' Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace said."
That's a DIRECT quote from Gerald Wallace. Scott just took this analogy further and expanded upon it. Nothing wrong with that. Or are you saying that Gerald Wallace, co-captain of the team and the first ever Bobcats all star, is demeaning his own team?
I didn't think so.
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