A.D. Was Gassed Last Night (vs. Boston)

[RENFO]

FYI: I'm never here to bash Monty. That's not how I live. Just an observation. Watching last night during the latter portion of the third quarter it was obvious A.D. was sucking air. After all, he hadn't played for a week and a half and going 41 and 42 minutes respectively is a lot to ask for someone coming out of the gates from injury. No doubt A.D. can still perform well and did, but he definitely hit the wall last night against the Celtics. I understand there's an adjustment for everyone when your superstar comes back into the lineup, but there still needs to be a sense of consistency to help that adjustment. And where we lacked consistency from our recent success is Monty choosing to sit Alexis for all but nine minutes of the game. Ajinca started the 2nd quarter, hits his first two shots grabs 4 rebs, dishes out an assist to Luke and blocks a shot, then gets yanked at about the 5:40 mark and doesn't return until the 4th and only plays two and a half minutes.

This, after he goes for 10 points, 11 rebs in 23 minutes vs. Detroit (with A.D. back); he goes for 13 points, 12 rebs in 25 minutes in Dallas; 10 points, 6 rebs in 21 minutes vs. Denver and of course the 24 point, 8 reb performance in 21 minutes against Miami. Monty has to trust Alexis and let him help spell Davis, at the same time providing much needed scoring and rebounding if we are to be successful in the immediate future without wearing down our superstar. We have a back to back, so I'd like to think Ajinca will get more of the playing time he's seemed to earn tonight against Memphis.

[NDHornet]

FYI: I'm never here to bash Monty. That's not how I live. Just an observation. Watching last night during the latter portion of the third quarter it was obvious A.D. was sucking air. After all, he hadn't played for a week and a half and going 41 and 42 minutes respectively is a lot to ask for someone coming out of the gates from injury. No doubt A.D. can still perform well and did, but he definitely hit the wall last night against the Celtics. I understand there's an adjustment for everyone when your superstar comes back into the lineup, but there still needs to be a sense of consistency to help that adjustment. And where we lacked consistency from our recent success is Monty choosing to sit Alexis for all but nine minutes of the game. Ajinca started the 2nd quarter, hits his first two shots grabs 4 rebs, dishes out an assist to Luke and blocks a shot, then gets yanked at about the 5:40 mark and doesn't return until the 4th and only plays two and a half minutes.

This, after he goes for 10 points, 11 rebs in 23 minutes vs. Detroit (with A.D. back); he goes for 13 points, 12 rebs in 25 minutes in Dallas; 10 points, 6 rebs in 21 minutes vs. Denver and of course the 24 point, 8 reb performance in 21 minutes against Miami. Monty has to trust Alexis and let him help spell Davis, at the same time providing much needed scoring and rebounding if we are to be successful in the immediate future without wearing down our superstar. We have a back to back, so I'd like to think Ajinca will get more of the playing time he's seemed to earn tonight against Memphis.

I completely agree with your assessment, however I truly doubt that Ajinca sees an increase in his playing time with the return of AD. Very seldom has Monty shown an ability to adequately adjust his player rotation and for that reason, there's a higher chance that Ajinca sees a DNP:CD than more time on the court.

[odine]

Monty has to realize that with Ryno being out, Ajinca is the new member of NO's three bigs. Moreover, Ajinca has proven that he can be on the same floor together with OA, something Ryno hasn'tt been able to do.