12/13 DiLeo's Team vs. the Wiz

[anklebreaker]

As much as I think Thad should be a starter, I'm actually starting to warm up to the idea of him coming off the bench... especially after DiLeo announced his intentions to go with a strict 9 man rotation.  Looks like our bench is going to consist of Lou, Thad, Speights, and Evans (although I'd rather it be Marshall).  Between Lou, Thad, and Speights you have a nice mix of offense coming off the bench that will probably be mixing in with two of Iguodala, Brand, and Miller.  It's easier to gel when your consistently mixing it up with the same players/lineups.  I know it was the Wizards, but that bench lineup really produced last night...

Lou - 15 points, 5 assists
Young - 14 points, 4 rebs, 5-9 fg's
Speights - 8 points, 3 boards in 11 minutes, 6-6 from free throw line. 

It'll be interesting to see how we come out against the Bucks on Wednesday after a few DiLeo practices.  It really was a good time to make the coaching change with an easy stretch in the schedule and a few days to go the drawing board.

[jemagee]

And that my friends is the kind of point guard play i want on this team

[tk76-]

The two most impressive players in terms of improved play were Sam and Miller.

I'm sure the fact that those two are also the most likely to be traded had something to do with their renewed focus after the coaching change.

[anklebreaker]

The two most impressive players in terms of improved play were Sam and Miller.

I'm sure the fact that those two are also the most likely to be traded had something to do with their renewed focus after the coaching change.

If guys like Chandler and Biedrins can rebound with consistency there is no reason why Sam can't.  Rebounding should be the one constant in his game.  No reason why he shouldn't have that presence every night.  His inconsistency is so damn frustrating. 

Hopefully Miller relishes being a set up man like he was throughout his career sans last year.  If Williams, Green, Igoudala, and Young can all be active without the ball then it's going to open up opportunities for them and make it easier for Brand to go to work.  Miller can score when needed, but his ability facilitate the ball is far too valuable for us not to utilize.  Bottom line, Miller is a better point guard than he is scorer and needs to crawl back into that niche.  I believe they threw a stat out during last night's game that says the sixers are something like 4-0 when Miller takes 8 shots or less (something like that).  DiLeo threw out a few plays last night where Lou came off screens for catch and shoot situations, and looked pretty comfortable doing so.  We also isolated Thad in the post once or twice and Miller took advantage of one or two post up opportunities.... both of which were successful last year and have not been utilized nearly as much thus far this season.  I'm hoping DiLeo comes out on Wednesday with more plays for Thaddeus and Lou. 

[jemagee]

If guys like Chandler and Biedrins can rebound with consistency there is no reason why Sam can't. 

basketball IQ would be one reason - two of those names have it - one doesn't

[Skates]

Watching the game I never would have guessed that Miller had that many assists, primarily because I saw less ball handling by him.  Under Mo this team was too dribble dependent, by design or other wise.  Other than Lou who uses his dribble to drive and score or occasionally drop off a pass and Brand in his iso's backing down defenders, the biggest diffrence I noted was less over handling by the guards.  I am not sure how many team assists we racked up, but there was considerably more plays where two or three passes were made before a shot.  This team does still have a problem with passing up open shots at times however, there are no great shooters on the team, take the best shot when it is in your range.

BTW, Caron Butler has a nice game for Thad to model and possibly improve on.  The guys scores very efficiently.

[rickortreat]

So after one game the bucks, wizards and pacaers are just tune up games huh?

Pretty much, yeah.  The Pacers have lost 6 in a row, the Bucks have a similar record to us, but didn't have the dead weight of a dumb coach on their backs. And, you already know about the Wizards.

Actually every game is something of a challenge. Until proven otherwise the Sixers are a suspect team.  But based on my subjective perception of talent, the Sixers would have a hard time loosing to any of these teams.

And no matter how well they play against them, it will provide little or no indication of how they will play the Celtics.