What Went Wrong {merged with} The Floyd Era (Error?)

[akshun]

1.) Tim Floyd needed to realize that he has become the most easy to defend coach in the NBA. The high pick and roll, while an offensive staple in this league, must be used sparingly. When teams use corner traps and render it ineffective, you cannot continue to run that offense over and over. You must be able to run something else. Apparently, we don't have anything else to run other than that on offense, thus the early jump shots by us which played right into the Heat's hands.

2.) The Hornets needed to establish Mags in the halfcourt to slow down the Heat and to get to the foul line and that is exactly what they did not do. Taking your first freebies with seven minutes left to go in the third quarter will never get it done in a game seven

3.) Regarding Mags, he has to realize that in big games, he has got to dig down and be aggressive. Too many times tonite I saw him not run down and entry pass that may have been a little off because it wasn't perfectly thrown.

4.) Shammond Williams should have seen action much earlier in the game than he did. Everyone on this board knows what a capable penetrator he is, and coach should have known that, too. It was too little, too late for Williams as he got his first action in the middle of the fourth.

5.) Baron Davis should have been told unequivocaly that he was done for the night after he limped to the locker room with the tailbone injury. Even upon letting him come back into the game, I feel that he was in there too long, and an absolute defensive liability. I love Baron's heart, but he was clearly hurting us out there tonight after the injury.

6.) Lamar Odom played a good portion of the fourth quarter with five fouls. There should have been more double-team defense on him to get him out of the game. Remember he hit the the big shot that put them back up by six as P. J. watched him tip the ball in.

There are a few others, but I am tired. Besides, I don't know what else I need to say. Take nothing away from the Heat. This game was going to be tough no matter what. I just wish that we could have remedied some of the easily correctible items listed above.

[Unknown Poster]

Might as well make a brief appearance at the end of the season, eh?

Well, contrary to my belief, Tim Floyd did a poor job at controlling his players and motivating his team. The playoff series and even Game 7 alone is a microcosm for the whole season. Inconsistent play from quarter-to-quarter and day-to-day.

I'll say this for Floyd, he's an excellent college coach but a mediocre (not horrible) NBA coach. That is, all things being equal with a decent roster he can probably get a team 40-50 wins a season. Unfortunately, such a team probably should be getting 50-60 wins realistically.

From the posts I've read from my fellow posters whose inside information has been reliable in the past it looks like the axe will fall on Floyd before the week's out.

If this indeed happens, to me, that says a lot. If you consider Tom Benson who lets below average coaches rot on his team year-in-and-year out and parrot his nonsensical 'we woikin' to win in noo awweans,' and compare him with George Shinn who is prepared to take immediate action, I think you'll see a clear difference in ownership.

People rip Shinn mercilessly. Yes, he made a big mistake with Floyd, however, give the man credit: he's willing to own up to it and start to correct it asap and not wallow at .500 like the other pro franchise in town.

Is he cheap? We will see who the next hire is, but I get the feeling there will be major changes.

Rick Stein wrote some silly article on ESPN.com saying that a loss to the Heat could mean the end of pro hoops in New Orleans. Nonsense.

Is attendance in decline? Yes, but seriously, folks, no matter what, some team in the league will always be dead last in attendance. Is that team going to move just because of that? Of course not.

George Shinn has everything he needs right now. Plenty of money from luxury suites, a city that doesn't despise him, etc. Why move? It makes no sense. This team is under no threat of moving until George Shinn is no longer owner, end of story.

Will rebuilding turn fans off? No. Not so long as a clear plan is in place to build around Baron Davis and David West. It'll be a test to see how much we can get for Mashburn, Wesley, etc. in the offseason but, with the right trades and free agent signings, it wouldn't suprise me to see the team in the playoffs in the West (granted not a top seed but still competing).

I think Bass probably needs to step down and I get the feeling... after the results of this season, he may very well be asked to do so.

[say-what-x]

Glad you're making your cameo. Now don't be a stranger. Things will get better.

Can't say I disagree with anything you said there. Pretty accurately sums things up.

Here's to a better off season - on and off the court.

Oh yeah, here's to a return to sanity on the boards - well at least until we get word of the first candidate to repalce Floyd.

[MonsterMash]

Great post.

And really, are the bugs that far off? Look at what Minnesota did...they're the #1 seed out West after adding Spree and Cassell. They didn't have all that much around Garnett to begin with. The Bugs might have more tradable assets than they did.

Baron Davis isn't Garnett and we won't soon be a #1 seed, but w/ the right deals, we don't have to be dead out west...

[alon504]

Amen to the post! Nice to see ya!

[Slidell Hornet]

Good post UKP.

Good to see you around.

Stay awhile. Things are going to get real interesting.

[West Coast Hornet]

UKP, stick around. I need someone to antagonize me. Things are changing here. No more CLT board. They have their team now. They will just be like any other foreigner venturing over here from other teams. I hope to see you around more often.

[NYKF Hornet]

Hey, nice post. Don't stay away too long, we have an exciting offseason to look forward too. Glad you came back.

[Unknown Poster]

If they hire Tic Price or Melvin Simon or Perry Clark or Dale Brown or, God forbid, Sue Gunther -- I'm leaving for good!

[rainwater]

Originally posted by Unknown Poster
People rip Shinn mercilessly. Yes, he made a big mistake with Floyd, however, give the man credit: he's willing to own up to it and start to correct it asap and not wallow at .500 like the other pro franchise in town.

No, he will improve the team so it will barely wallow just above .500 just like it has the last 10 years. Where have you been?

[say-what-x]

Originally posted by Unknown Poster
If they hire Tic Price or Melvin Simon or Perry Clark or Dale Brown or, God forbid, Sue Gunther -- I'm leaving for good!

No, we're thinking bigger - Pokey Chatman

[jedi517]

He never made the right decision on when to put certain players in the game like when he should have put steve smith in this whole game instead of darrell armstrongs bricklaying self.

[West Coast Hornet]

Originally posted by jedi517
He never made the right decision on when to put certain players in the game like when he should have put steve smith in this whole game instead of darrell armstrongs bricklaying self.

Agreed, although I have watched Smitty for years. It can't be said that he would have put up the same numbers throughout. Smitty is a pro with lots of playoff experience, including elim games. He stepped up tonight because of that. I think he can be our Steve Kerr if he comes cheap. If memory serves, he cost us $1M this year. I'd pay that to bring him back next year and insert him into games in Kerr-like situations, e.g., the designated 3-pt. shooter. The rest of the Hornets need to be grounded from that option for awhile (not completely, but mostly).

[Harvey Hornet-x]

I know that Unknown Poster!!! Glad to see you back. Stay!

[killah]

the iron era?

[Superfluous_Nut]

first things first. give old floyd his pink slip, pun intended.

[luciano]

Nice post UKP, good to see you around again!