Originally Posted by
ronoranina
This year and the playoff birth that came w it is just one stage in what we all knew was a multi-yr plan.
The only stated goal going in to this season, by both MDA and Donnie, was to MAKE THE PLAYOFFS.
That's it.
In my estimation there is 95- 99% MDA will be back next year if Donnie is resigned.
This team as it stands at this moment, is fundamentally flawed. The way we've competed inspite of the injuries and incomplete makeup of the team has been commendable IMO.
Let me list the things we have going against us currently:
1. The loss of Billups.. And we all know how important it is that we have a facilitator at the position. He's a scoring point guard, but he knows how to get a team into an offensive set. He's also able to help our spacing w his outside shooting, another thing we've missed dearly. As I've said before Billups injury killed our hopes at having any chance at beating the Celts, particularly in the last game where we didn't even look respectable.
2. We don't have Amare at 100%. I don't think this has anything to do w the minutes he's played over the course of the yr. Amare's averaged 37 min per game, which is not insane. Other stars around the league play comparable minutes. The injury also occurred in warmups when he tried to dunk the basketball, not in a game. It's a silly to say MDA is the cause. I think he managed Amare's minutes pretty well this season inspite of needing him to contribute significantly as he was our only star for more than half of the season.
Not having Amare available to play like Amare has put more pressure on guys like JJ and Turiaf to anchor the middle and they can't be asked do this w good effect for to long. How can anyone blame effort as the cause of the blowout on Fri when we were clearly overmatched along the front line? This is not MDA's fault. We're overmatched in the backcourt as well, which brings me to my next point.
3. Landry Fields... Where do I start w him?? His awkward, inept play has left a gaping chasm at the 2 so stupid-huge it's silly. This guy clearly is spent. He's never played a season like this before and he doesn't have his legs beneath him. He also hasn't figured out how to exist on the court w Melo. As a result, he's still not sure how to maximize the limited opportunities he now gets. I think the game-speed of the playoffs has effected him too. The game speeds up around this team of year. Good rookies can adjust to the speed of the regular season to a reasonable degree, but it becomes much more difficult to do this in the playoffs. This factor has exposed him IMO.
Unfortunately we don't have too many other options but to keep trotting him out there. I've been tempted towards wondering whether Mason would be a better option at this point, but I think MDA is reluctant to damage Field's confidence by benching him at the start of games, especially as it became clear to him that the team was fighting an uphill battle w out even factoring in the injuries to Billups and Amare. If we don't trade him, we'll need him believing in himself and trusting the coach next year when he'll likely be able to play effectively through the rigors of a long season w out the debilitating attrition we've seen.
4. Tony Douglas is not adequate as a backup facilitating PG. He has also been shown to be defenseless against both Rondo and Allen. They've both comprehensively destroyed the poor kid. He'll be better for it next yr, but I hope everyone sees clearly now that he simply isn't the answer at point in the future. No frigging way.
TD not being able to sustain us at his position made us look like D-league squad in game 3. Again how is MDA to blame for this?
Yes there have been some seeming errors. The pass to JJ in game 2.. People say Turiaf should have been in the game instead of him. Well to that I say Amare should have been available to carry us home along Melo. Also what guarantee do we have that Turiaf would have been able to finish w one of the best defensive bigs in the game closing on him. It's easy to blame MDA for the play drawn up and the personnel on the floor, but i'm not sure the options he had on the bench were that much better. We were outmatched and thus MUCH easier to stop. Think about how easy is it to double one star player and rotate your HOF big underneath the basket to defend the paint after Melo's pass smh. You say MDA was out- coached. I say he was outgunned. Amare would have finished that play as he has all season for us down the stretch. MDA didn't have this luxury.
There was one thing that I will say really bothered me w re: to MDA, and it also occurred in game 2. It was when Boston's guards were able to dribble the clock out behind the halfcourt line-- a clear error by our coach. Our guys should have been aware that Boston could do this.
This is really the only thing I can get on coach for.
Not having timeouts is important, but if you remember, we burned several in each of the games fighting for lose balls. I do think MDA should have atleast one 20 sec at the end of a game however.
Overall, I think this team has fought admirably in these games, especially in games 1 & 2. Let us also remember that the defense was really solid in both outings. In game 3 Boston basically figured out they were playing against a wounded team talent wise, a team also in a state of flux.
I'd like the team to continue under MDA, but as Musketeer has pointed out, historically his overall philosophy may not be conducive to winning a championship. I agree that he should make rm on his bench for a defensive minded assistant coach. He should also lengthen the rotation over the course of next season. Shortening it in the playoffs is fine but it really helps the defense when you can keep fresh guys coming in. This should be intuitive, especially on a team that likes to expend effort running..
Filling the holes this team has will also go a long way obviously aswell.
One more thought..
Can you guys imagine how we'd look if Melo and Amare had the whole season to develop chemistry as Wade and Lebron have?
Let's remember this team is one that has essentially played only 30 or so games together. To ask our guys to do more than we have thus far against a seasoned Boston squad w our injuries and lack of familiarity is asking alot, too much IMO. Team upheaval like we've seen should happen in the offseason, not mid-season. Realistically no one should've expected us to win more than one game in this series.
To simply blame MDA for where we're at w out rationally considering other factors that impinge on his options and flexibility during these games is downright silly. Some are using this opportunity based on said lack of options/flexibility to call for our coaches head and this IMO is not fair.
There's alot more to this thing than JUST D'ant guys. It's one thing to sort of carelessly gloss over these other factors. It's another thing to really understand and acknowledge how these issues affect our team and MDA's ability to coach effectively.
That said, in the playoffs and thruout the season, i think he's been a huge positive for us. He's shown he can really coach in a pinch, w massive change having gone on underneath him while dealing w the pressure of securing a playoff position-- no easy feat. This is something that bodes well for us as the team continues to change.
We're on the right track.
Though the losses to Boston hurt, but i'm not yet ready to say we need to go in another direction re: our coach.
Reply With Quote
