protecting the paint

[winsomme]

until we can protect the paint, we are going to struggle. we certainly miss having Perk in the middle as our enforcer and we are going to  have figure out an alternative.

I don't know who is available out there, but since Danny put us in this position trading Perk he is going to have to work some serious magic to correct it. I hope by now he is aware of how important interior defense is to a team's success and will focus on filling the biggest current void on the roster.

Pierce getting healthy will certainly help our perimeter defense and overall team play and Pietrus will be a better option at backup SF than Quis and Pav but until we get a better rotation in the middle I think teams are going attack the rim with way too much ease.

other than Pryzybilla who the heck is even out there?

[vinnie]

How many times did Jarrett Jack get to the rim uncontested tonight? Jarrett Jack. Are you kidding me. There is no one on this team to make anyone afraid to drive to the hoop.

[hpantazo]

Doc said it wasn't the fault of the bigs tonight, it was the guards who kept reaching and letting guys go by them, which put pressure on the bigs. I agree with him.

[theswitch]

Doc said it wasn't the fault of the bigs tonight, it was the guards who kept reaching and letting guys go by them, which put pressure on the bigs. I agree with him.

I do as well. Seemed like off every pick, the guards just tried to swipe it from behind instead of battling and sticking with the man. I know they're tired, but man a lot of laziness.

[winsomme]

Doc said it wasn't the fault of the bigs tonight, it was the guards who kept reaching and letting guys go by them, which put pressure on the bigs. I agree with him.

that's a copout. we cannot protect the rim right now. there is no fear in opposing players attacking the rim with our current lineup. when Perk was here, even if a guy got past his man on the perimeter, he knew Perk was most likely gonna be rotating over.

or how about Big Baby's charges. anybody noticed the lack of Baby rotating over to take a charge?

[PosImpos]

Our primary bigs are way too slow on defensive rotations, which certainly doesn't help things any.  KG + JO would have been a very imposing front court even a few years ago, but now they look like they're trying to move around just fast enough to keep their joints from rusting into immobility.

[jdz101]

yeah the fact that Jarrett Jack was made to look like an absolute superstar is a complete joke and rondo should be ashamed of himself for that.

[winsomme]

Our primary bigs are way too slow on defensive rotations, which certainly doesn't help things any.  KG + JO would have been a very imposing front court even a few years ago, but now they look like they're trying to move around just fast enough to keep their joints from rusting into immobility.

Well KG is a lot more effective playing off a guy like Perk than JO or certainly Wilcox. We need someone with a nasty edge to put a little fear in opposing perimeter players.

you can't have players attacking the rim without any retribution.

[vinnie]

Wonder if KG and JO will be allowed to use those little motorized scooters they have at places like Disney? Might help. 

[winsomme]

Wonder if KG and JO will be allowed to use those little motorized scooters they have at places like Disney? Might help. 

It's not really about age. remember, this team was dominant with an over the hill Shaq in the middle. it's more about having the right mix of players.

we need to have a guy in the middle who can just clamp down on the dribble penetration.

[hpantazo]

Doc said it wasn't the fault of the bigs tonight, it was the guards who kept reaching and letting guys go by them, which put pressure on the bigs. I agree with him.

that's a copout. we cannot protect the rim right now. there is no fear in opposing players attacking the rim with our current lineup. when Perk was here, even if a guy got past his man on the perimeter, he knew Perk was most likely gonna be rotating over.

or how about Big Baby's charges. anybody noticed the lack of Baby rotating over to take a charge?

I disagree. I mean, this isn't junior high school, players are not afraid to drive because a guy like Perkins is in the paint. There were plenty of games with Perkins where we got killed just as badly inside. When guards allow drible penetration the whole defense falls apart and it's almost impossible to rotate quickly enough to cover up, and no intimidator will change that.  If you mean a shot blocker, Steimsma blocked 6 shots tonight and that didn't stop anyone from driving to the basket.

[vinnie]

Doc said it wasn't the fault of the bigs tonight, it was the guards who kept reaching and letting guys go by them, which put pressure on the bigs. I agree with him.

that's a copout. we cannot protect the rim right now. there is no fear in opposing players attacking the rim with our current lineup. when Perk was here, even if a guy got past his man on the perimeter, he knew Perk was most likely gonna be rotating over.

or how about Big Baby's charges. anybody noticed the lack of Baby rotating over to take a charge?

I disagree. I mean, this isn't junior high school, players are not afraid to drive because a guy like Perkins is in the paint. There were plenty of games with Perkins where we got killed just as badly inside. When guards allow drible penetration the whole defense falls apart and it's almost impossible to rotate quickly enough to cover up, and no intimidator will change that.  If you mean a shot blocker, Steimsma blocked 6 shots tonight and that didn't stop anyone from driving to the basket.

At least Perkins would put a hard foul on a guy who drove to the rim. Who does that now? No one. Not saying that would turn these losses into wins, but right now, the lane looks to be about 50 feet of wide open space to anyone who wants to drive it.

[hpantazo]

Wonder if KG and JO will be allowed to use those little motorized scooters they have at places like Disney? Might help. 

It's not really about age. remember, this team was dominant with an over the hill Shaq in the middle. it's more about having the right mix of players.

we need to have a guy in the middle who can just clamp down on the dribble penetration.

I agree, it's not age, and it's not an intimidator in the middle either. Our defense was great with an old Shaq, and it was great with an injured Erden as well. It's not the center's job though to clamp down on dribble penetration, it's the job of he guards, and tired guards (Rondo) start reaching too much.

[hpantazo]

Doc said it wasn't the fault of the bigs tonight, it was the guards who kept reaching and letting guys go by them, which put pressure on the bigs. I agree with him.

that's a copout. we cannot protect the rim right now. there is no fear in opposing players attacking the rim with our current lineup. when Perk was here, even if a guy got past his man on the perimeter, he knew Perk was most likely gonna be rotating over.

or how about Big Baby's charges. anybody noticed the lack of Baby rotating over to take a charge?

I disagree. I mean, this isn't junior high school, players are not afraid to drive because a guy like Perkins is in the paint. There were plenty of games with Perkins where we got killed just as badly inside. When guards allow drible penetration the whole defense falls apart and it's almost impossible to rotate quickly enough to cover up, and no intimidator will change that.  If you mean a shot blocker, Steimsma blocked 6 shots tonight and that didn't stop anyone from driving to the basket.

At least Perkins would put a hard foul on a guy who drove to the rim. Who does that now? No one. Not saying that would turn these losses into wins, but right now, the lane looks to be about 50 feet of wide open space to anyone who wants to drive it.

How many hard fouls did Perkins give in the 2008 playoffs? He rode the bench most of the time while we played Posey with the big three and Rondo. The difference was that we didn't let guys get past us on the perimeter, which Posey was great at stoping as well.

[vinnie]

Doc said it wasn't the fault of the bigs tonight, it was the guards who kept reaching and letting guys go by them, which put pressure on the bigs. I agree with him.

that's a copout. we cannot protect the rim right now. there is no fear in opposing players attacking the rim with our current lineup. when Perk was here, even if a guy got past his man on the perimeter, he knew Perk was most likely gonna be rotating over.

or how about Big Baby's charges. anybody noticed the lack of Baby rotating over to take a charge?

I disagree. I mean, this isn't junior high school, players are not afraid to drive because a guy like Perkins is in the paint. There were plenty of games with Perkins where we got killed just as badly inside. When guards allow drible penetration the whole defense falls apart and it's almost impossible to rotate quickly enough to cover up, and no intimidator will change that.  If you mean a shot blocker, Steimsma blocked 6 shots tonight and that didn't stop anyone from driving to the basket.

At least Perkins would put a hard foul on a guy who drove to the rim. Who does that now? No one. Not saying that would turn these losses into wins, but right now, the lane looks to be about 50 feet of wide open space to anyone who wants to drive it.

How many hard fouls did Perkins give in the 2008 playoffs? He rode the bench most of the time while we played Posey with the big three and Rondo. The difference was that we didn't let guys get past us on the perimeter, which Posey was great at stoping as well.

You are right. Perk was absolutely garbage during the playoffs. I am just glad we got rid of him. But, I can't wait to watch his team in the finals this year.