I am looking back at posts and thoughts I have had since they went through this rough patch and am starting to wonder if I am not just overreacting to what is actually happening here. Let's look at a couple things...
Realistically we should have lost to the Lakers. They are a great team as well and it was in their building on Christmas with us coming across the country. That really didn't surprise me. Golden State did indeed surprise me as I thought we would come out and crush them, but once again we were on the road and it was a back to back.
We responded to these losses by coming and out destroying a poor Kings team and the world is right again. Then we go up to Portland and play against a young hungry team that is very long and athletic that matches up against us well like the Hawks do. Was that loss on their home floor at the end of a tough road trip that surprising? It was a close game and our dead legs started to show at the end. We had some matchup issues with their size...
Then we come home and destroy the Wizards. Another great response. The Knicks did surprise me but they had a couple guys on fire and got some home cooking with the calls which allowed them to pull it out. If it wasn't for some horrible three point shooting by Ray we win this game I think. Even with as bad as we played.
Last year we had bad (unexpected) losses to Philly, Golden State, Toronto, Washington, and Charlotte. We lost 3 out of 4 in Mid January and then 3 in a row in Mid February. So we have had 2 bad losses this year. Is it possible that things aren't near as bad as they seem and this will all be a moot point come playoff time?
Thank you for that perspective, EJ. I feel a lot better now. We should've beaten GS and the Knicks. Portland is a frustrating loss, because that whole team and state seem to have an irrational hate for us, but I guess its understandable that we lost on the road at the end of a long trip.
I still think, though, that this is a sign of bad things to come because every team will continue to gun for us and we need to be prepared to win a lot of games. A lot, lot of game because we will need homecourt advantage.
So while I think your right its not as bad as it seems, this 4 out of 6 stuff is a slippery slope and we need to shore up our bench ASAP.