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Originally Posted by jthig32
Very nice three quarters of basketball after a rough first quarter.
Let's start with Jet. Holy cow what a game. It was comical to see people moaning about Jet's lack of aggressiveness because of Josh being back during that first quarter. I've voiced concern over that, but the negativity and leaping to conclusions in the GDT was hilarious.
Loved seeing Josh back on the floor tonight. He kept us in it during the crappy first quarter. The extra scoring was very nice, but you know Josh is not nearly right when you see him only pulling down one rebound. I'm very ready to see this team rolling with a healthy Josh to see what they're capable of.
Dirk once again rolls out a nice night. He had the balled swiped from him too many times, but Dirk was there when it counted, and that Jet/Dirk pick and roll is just so, so money. And it always has been.
Let me get this out of the way right here: I'm a huge fan of what Kidd does for this basketball team. I will always trumpet his intangibles, his plays that don't show up in box scores. However, the last few games have reminded me a lot of last season where Kidd is concerned. He's not making his presence felt on the offense right now. As the team continues to move more towards the pick and roll offense and away from the motion, I really hope Carlisle and Kidd continue to find creative ways to take advantage of his talent.
I thought Damp played a pretty nice second half. He's playing really solid ball this season, and the drop off when he's not on the court is dramatic.
I thought the bench players (Jet is not a bench player) all represented themselves relatively well. Barea needs to work on his floater I think.
One thing I'm mystified by: I've let go of the Green thing. I was irritated that he didn't play more while people were hurt, but he really wasn't playing well enough to justify getting time while everyone is healthy.
However, what Carlisle is doing with Wright mystifies me. Wright was playing good, confident basketball before his injury. He's a good defender, and he bring a better offensive game than George. George has been defending well, but I don't understand why you don't continue to roll with Wright at the SG and see if he can contiue to contribute support points. Especially when you consider that his specialty is attacking the basket, an area of weakness on this team.
Good win tonight, I'm ready for Friday.
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Nice summary.
Re: Kidd, I think the reason his offensive impact is decreased right now is that they just aren't running that many halfcourt sets where he sets the table. The play where JET comes off the double baseline screen is one, but it doesn't really require any creativity from Kidd. I'd like to see them run some more screen and rolls with Kidd, but those ultimately aren't going to be that effective unless Kidd is willing to shoot when they leave him or drive when they overplay. Speaking of which, regardless of how much Kidd is handling the ball in the halfcourt, he is going to get plenty of open looks from the outside because of the attention drawn by Dirk, Terry, and Howard. He has to be aggressive in shooting those shots, because: a) he hits them at a high percentage, and b) he has to keep the defense honest. If he catches the kickout pass or the around the horn pass and doesn't step into that shot in rhythm, it just allows the defense to recover.