GOD FORBID Shumpert ever goes down, develops leg cramps like we saw again tonight late, or just plain old gets tired and is forced to take a seat, this team is gonna struggle...BIG TIME.
We're OK at the 3, 4 & 5...And even though Melo and Amar'e struggled shooting the ball in this game, the defense was much better than the first time we saw these guys the other night (we played real solid defense for about 85-90% of this game) and that's what pulled us through...Same problems remain however -- we're getting very little outta this backcourt save for Shumpert. That kid's a flat out baller...Everyone else isn't reliable at all. All wild cards, the lot of 'em...Douglas, to his credit, looked a little better tonight esp. defensively but he still can run the team and make good decisions on the offensive end...And Fields -- I don't even know what to say man. I'm rockin' my Landry shirt right now as I write this but the dude's a problem. His whole game has gone south like a duck in winter. And as well as Bibby's been playing Mike couldn't even get him in there because he wouldn't have been able to matchup defensively against anyone (Augustin, Walker, Henderson at the 2, etc.).
EARTH TO GRUWALD: DO SOMETHING!!! If we're not gonna give this kid Lin a shot other than in garbage time, get him the F outta here and look for an upgrade immediately. Someone who can come in and give us important mins. throughout a game. I want more than just a practice player -- I want someone with talent who can push Toney for mins and maybe even take his job...Someone who can handle the ball, facilitate and score it a little. And while we're at it, get Walker the hell outta here as well. I'm not ready to quit on Landry -- I still believe in him -- I think he's just playing way too tight for some reason. Thinking too much..But when he's off we can't possibly go to a backup SG that's even worse. Walker's the pits. I don't even know why the F we picked up his option. We should've let him walk and looked for an upgrade as soon as the lockout ended.
Unless someone has something better, I say cut Lin and Walker and bring in Willie Warren and another bigger guard with solid talent like a Manny Harris or maybe buy out Sylven Landesberg from his Israeli contract and get him in here. Trying to make a trade now could be tough -- who's gonna want Fields & Douglas at this point? They each have zero trade value right now...I'm not even saying get rid of these guys -- keep Douglas & Fields and see if they can regain their form and work through their problems...But until they do, we can't possible go with guys like Lin & Billy Walker. Lin's probably not even good enough to play meaningful mins and Walker just sucks...These guys can't help us at all. I mean we saw our achilles heel on full display tonight -- backcourt depth. With Shump in the game it's obviously not magnified as much because he's good, but if he has to sit, we're in trouble. DO SOMETHING NOW!!! Don't tell me the plan is to stand pat and wait for Davis. Be proactive dammit!!! Infuse the backcourt with some better talent -- upgrade over what we currently have.. Even if a trade doesn't present itself, there's still things we can do. Good things, for the betterment of the team. I mean for Christ's sake, we had Alan Hahn put up a list of available players that could help us on the pre-game show, including two guys I've been talking about lately, Patty Mills and Al Thornton. Grunwald's done a nice job so far overall, but come on, a GM's job is never done until you win a title. Infuse this backcourt with a little more talent, upgrades over Lin and Walker...That's all I ask.
We're OK at the 3, 4 & 5...And even though Melo and Amar'e struggled shooting the ball in this game, the defense was much better than the first time we saw these guys the other night (we played real solid defense for about 85-90% of this game) and that's what pulled us through...Same problems remain however -- we're getting very little outta this backcourt save for Shumpert. That kid's a flat out baller...Everyone else isn't reliable at all. All wild cards, the lot of 'em...Douglas, to his credit, looked a little better tonight esp. defensively but he still can run the team and make good decisions on the offensive end...And Fields -- I don't even know what to say man. I'm rockin' my Landry shirt right now as I write this but the dude's a problem. His whole game has gone south like a duck in winter. And as well as Bibby's been playing Mike couldn't even get him in there because he wouldn't have been able to matchup defensively against anyone (Augustin, Walker, Henderson at the 2, etc.).
EARTH TO GRUWALD: DO SOMETHING!!! If we're not gonna give this kid Lin a shot other than in garbage time, get him the F outta here and look for an upgrade immediately. Someone who can come in and give us important mins. throughout a game. I want more than just a practice player -- I want someone with talent who can push Toney for mins and maybe even take his job...Someone who can handle the ball, facilitate and score it a little. And while we're at it, get Walker the hell outta here as well. I'm not ready to quit on Landry -- I still believe in him -- I think he's just playing way too tight for some reason. Thinking too much..But when he's off we can't possibly go to a backup SG that's even worse. Walker's the pits. I don't even know why the F we picked up his option. We should've let him walk and looked for an upgrade as soon as the lockout ended.
Unless someone has something better, I say cut Lin and Walker and bring in Willie Warren and another bigger guard with solid talent like a Manny Harris or maybe buy out Sylven Landesberg from his Israeli contract and get him in here. Trying to make a trade now could be tough -- who's gonna want Fields & Douglas at this point? They each have zero trade value right now...I'm not even saying get rid of these guys -- keep Douglas & Fields and see if they can regain their form and work through their problems...But until they do, we can't possible go with guys like Lin & Billy Walker. Lin's probably not even good enough to play meaningful mins and Walker just sucks...These guys can't help us at all. I mean we saw our achilles heel on full display tonight -- backcourt depth. With Shump in the game it's obviously not magnified as much because he's good, but if he has to sit, we're in trouble. DO SOMETHING NOW!!! Don't tell me the plan is to stand pat and wait for Davis. Be proactive dammit!!! Infuse the backcourt with some better talent -- upgrade over what we currently have.. Even if a trade doesn't present itself, there's still things we can do. Good things, for the betterment of the team. I mean for Christ's sake, we had Alan Hahn put up a list of available players that could help us on the pre-game show, including two guys I've been talking about lately, Patty Mills and Al Thornton. Grunwald's done a nice job so far overall, but come on, a GM's job is never done until you win a title. Infuse this backcourt with a little more talent, upgrades over Lin and Walker...That's all I ask.
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