Peja Stojakovic Get Healthy AND FAST!

[Balls of Steel]

Well Apollo, case closed, tanking it is. Oh, and the part about the benching for not following the program - that ain't coming from Triano. He'd rather break 200 clipboards and drop a dozen more f-bombs on live TV than to bench the Young Onez. The part about you mentioning that all teams need to do is to glue a player on Peja proves my point on floor spacing! Heck for ten minutes, one or two players will get "caught" cheating in help defense and leave a man open (that man usually stationed on the 3-point line, ready to receive a kick pass from a penetrating player).

Traditionally, the Raps have always had a good 3-point specialist from the bench (Curry, Tracy Murray, Walt Williams, etc.). They are far from super-athletic and mobile. On set plays, they're camping beyond the arc. Teams that can shoot the 3-rock succeeds for obvious reasons. I don't think you are in disagreement with me on this one. However, what I saw on offence (and much apart from their pathetic defense last night), was something that is not right. There's players that are handling the rock more than they should (Barbosa dribbling to penetrate and Calderon shifting to long-range shooting), Weems and Derozan not knowing where they should be and Bargs in his usual "limbo" state on offense, sometimes down-low or in the perimeter usually setting screens just seemed out of sorts. Bayless is being developed to pass more, drive more, kick more. Unfortunately, who is he kicking to? Teams know that once this jump shooting team's rhythm is off, everything else follows. However, if we had some semblance of anything that keeps teams honest, and the opponents have to actually go out and challenge a 3-point threat, the team could develop PROPERLY.

I agree with Mangokid when he said that we may have just lost 13 points rather than 20 with Peja in it. To me, I'd rather lose knowing that the roles are known and established: there's the 3-point specialist, the slasher, the perimeter defense guy, the rebounder, the scorer off the bench, etc. Instead, the team is coping with its deficiencies simply because certain players must be protected (ironic because they didn't seem to protect Evans even though he was a liability on offense, and a tradable commodity as well). The team I saw last night on both sides of the floor is a team out of sorts, a team whose players don't know their roles and a jump-shooting team whose entire game just hinges on the success of their perimeter offense. Players are now forced to take threes when they are not good at it, while other players dribble aimlessly when that is not their usual forte. Barbosa trying to defend Granger last night was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I am not down on this team. I actually think that they are over-achieving in many aspects. But as a fan, it breaks my heart when players are completely mis-utilized. What kind of system are they going to be passionate about? This is an aimless team that have no identity. You are right, Peja is not the answer, but for 10 minutes, he may give this team a semblance of normalcy. Ten minutes might not be much but successful teams have had that guy off the bench for spark. Every team deserves their own "Microwave"



I'm done with this thread.

[Apollo]

Well Apollo, case closed, tanking it is.

Never did I use the term "tanking" or suggest that they should try to lose games. There is big difference and sending the kids out there to get real game time experience and sending the stiffs out there for extended minutes in a hope of not winning games. My suggested goal was to gain the young kids lots of experience but the goal of tanking is specifically to lose games. Big difference in my honest opinion.

Oh, and the part about the benching for not following the program - that ain't coming from Triano. He'd rather break 200 clipboards and drop a dozen more f-bombs on live TV than to bench the Young Onez.

I agree. Jay is best suited to the assistant role.

The part about you mentioning that all teams need to do is to glue a player on Peja proves my point on floor spacing! Heck for ten minutes, one or two players will get "caught" cheating in help defense and leave a man open (that man usually stationed on the 3-point line, ready to receive a kick pass from a penetrating player).

No, it doesn't. Peja drawing a double would create floor space. Peja drawing tight single coverage doesn't move a man out of the paint or leave a guy open. When Kapono was here Colangelo described the proposed outcome you mentioned but there was one problem. Bosh could not consistently draw doubles and no other player on the roster was deserving of a double. Kapono flopped as a result because he could not get open looks. At this point in Peja's career he's no better than Kapono and I fail to see how tight man to man coverage on one guy who can't beat a sack of potatoes off the dribble is going to create space.

I am not down on this team. I actually think that they are over-achieving in many aspects. But as a fan, it breaks my heart when players are completely mis-utilized.

It's year one of a rebuild. What's happening is pretty standard stuff for a rebuild year. If anything, as you said, they're overachieving.

What kind of system are they going to be passionate about? This is an aimless team that have no identity.

There is no real leader on defense or offense. Reggie gave them a huge boost with his energy but good teams have more than one guy like this. Most of the guys playing impact roles are either not outgoing or are too young and inexperienced to take on the role at this time.

You are right, Peja is not the answer, but for 10 minutes, he may give this team a semblance of normalcy. Ten minutes might not be much but successful teams have had that guy off the bench for spark. Every team deserves their own "Microwave"

Why are you so confident that Peja can spark them? He's slow, his skills have diminished and he's playing on one leg. We're not talking about a Junk Yark Dog here. We're talking about a catch and shoot guy who already has one foot out the door.