Pelicans VS Grizzlies January 11th

[Bricklayer]

btw, you can watch the video clips here:

http://www.espn.com/nba/video?gameId=400975355


And having watched that final play a couple of times, it's pretty clear that Boogie had an edge on Green, but it was a great defensive play by Gasol. He stepped in front, and Boogie actually wasn't forcing it, nmor did Boogie lose his dribble. He stopped, picked up his dribble, was looking to E'Twaun in the corner, but Tyreke was lurking there. I don't think Boogie had seen Miller behind him yet, but you can see E'Twaun actually pointing to Miller/trying to signal Boogie to pass it there instead. And if Boogie had had an extra second maybe that's where the game winning attempt would have come from (Darius Miller for the win, off a 1-6 shooting night from 3ptland??). There was Miller and Moore on the same side of the court, and only Tyreke to guard both. But before Boogie could get the pass off Gasol swiped down, and it was that swipe that knocked the ball loose.


So...that sucks, but when you watch the replay there is a lot less censure to go around there. I think the Pels just got beat by a great defensive play by Marc Gasol (shocker). Having your center drive and kick is risky as hell, but Boogie had the ball safely stopped, was in position to make the pass, and Gentry's play had left two 40%+ three point shooters (why a three only down 1?) with only 1 defender to guard them. If Gasol doesn't step up Boogie had an angle to the rim. Would have been contested, but possible. If Gasol doesn't swipe down, Boogie has an easy pass out to a wide open Miller (or Moore if Reke tries to close on Miller). It all could have worked if not for Gasol's timely swipe. So that's just a good defensive play and you worry more about how you got in that position in the first place.

[Mythrol]

You are being disingenuous to say the least. I work under the general impression that you are not stupid, and being not stupid you would recognize as well as everybody else it was the nature of the play rather than the recipient of the play that was problematic. It's not as if there are any centers in the league, or who have ever been in the league, who are going to consistently get a good result driving into a set defense from 25 feet out. And there was plenty of time to get something a lot better.

That's the point. He should have kicked instead of continuing to drive. The whole idea behind the play was for Cousins to create space to get a wide open look for one of our players. It worked until he didn't do his part and pass the ball.

[AusPel]

Diallo equal best +10 but can only get 6 minutes

[Bricklayer]

That's the point. He should have kicked instead of continuing to drive. The whole idea behind the play was for Cousins to create space to get a wide open look for one of our players. It worked until he didn't do his part and pass the ball.

Read the analysis above and watch that vid in the link. Cousins didn't actually force that. He stopped his dribble and was in the process of trying to kick when Gasol made a great swipe down on the ball to cause the turnover. That was a former DPOY making a great play rather than any Pel making a bad one (including Gentry btw -- a risky call, but the risk in it wasn't why it failed, and it resulted in a wide open shooter if Gasol doesn't knock the ball away).

[msw2024]

It’s hilarious how people on here make excuses for players...call it how it is. Boogie made a bad play at the end of the game and it cost us. Plain and simple...stop over analyzing everything geez. If it is Jrue or AD and they did the same then call them out. You don’t keep getting to make excuses for them. The team looks so much different w/o AD on the floor and Cousins and Jrue the main men which is not a good look.


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[Mythrol]

Read the analysis above and watch that vid in the link. Cousins didn't actually force that. He stopped his dribble and was in the process of trying to kick when Gasol made a great swipe down on the ball to cause the turnover. That was a former DPOY making a great play rather than any Pel making a bad one.

Your Cousins homerism doesn't allow you to properly evaluate things. You've constantly blamed others for Cousins shortcomings.

I've watched that play probably two dozen times or more. Cousins stopped his dribble because he ran into a 2nd defender and was looking for a shot at the rim. The play was NOT "Hey Cousins, drive to the basket into defenders and make something happen". It was to run an off ball action to try and pull defenders out of the paint, when that didn't happen Cousins was suppose to move toward the basket and kick to the open player. Everyone on the planet knew Memphis was going to double or triple team Cousins to not allow him to get the game winner off. Cousins tried to drive into the heart of their defense and got the ball stripped. If he had drive two steps and just kicked it out instead of looking for his own shot against multiple defenders the game winning shot would have come from a wide open player.

Some will argue Cousins shouldn't have had the ball at all. Ok, that's fine, last time when Jrue had the ball to win the game everyone complained then when it didn't work. Then the game where AD got the ball at the end for a wide open 3 everyone complained then that it was a bad call. Now Cousins gets the ball at the end of the game and it's STILL a bad call. So everything is a bad call, fine. That's stupid, but fine, let's say it was.

So Gentry made a bad call giving the ball to our "best" player with the game on the line. That STILL doesn't excuse Cousins for not running the play and instead of kicking to the wide open shooter trying to look toward the basket against at least 2 defenders. Here's the thing, Gentry's "bad call" still resulted in what would have been a wide open look, only Cousins blew it off for hero ball. The fact you can't even fault Cousins for such a blatant mistake shows you aren't worth continuing discourse with.

[Bricklayer]

Your Cousins homerism doesn't allow you to properly evaluate things. You've constantly blamed others for Cousins shortcomings.

I've watched that play probably two dozen times or more. Cousins stopped his dribble because he ran into a 2nd defender and was looking for a shot at the rim. The play was NOT "Hey Cousins, drive to the basket into defenders and make something happen". It was to run an off ball action to try and pull defenders out of the paint, when that didn't happen Cousins was suppose to move toward the basket and kick to the open player. Everyone on the planet knew Memphis was going to double or triple team Cousins to not allow him to get the game winner off. Cousins tried to drive into the heart of their defense and got the ball stripped. If he had drive two steps and just kicked it out instead of looking for his own shot against multiple defenders the game winning shot would have come from a wide open player.

Some will argue Cousins shouldn't have had the ball at all. Ok, that's fine, last time when Jrue had the ball to win the game everyone complained then when it didn't work. Then the game where AD got the ball at the end for a wide open 3 everyone complained then that it was a bad call. Now Cousins gets the ball at the end of the game and it's STILL a bad call. So everything is a bad call, fine. That's stupid, but fine, let's say it was.

So Gentry made a bad call giving the ball to our "best" player with the game on the line. That STILL doesn't excuse Cousins for not running the play and instead of kicking to the wide open shooter trying to look toward the basket against at least 2 defenders. Here's the thing, Gentry's "bad call" still resulted in what would have been a wide open look, only Cousins blew it off for hero ball. The fact you can't even fault Cousins for such a blatant mistake shows you aren't worth continuing discourse with.

That's a ridiculous take. One of us is being grossly biased in analyzing the play and its not me. And ironically in your desperation to blame Cousins for something, anything, you actually are badly tarring Gentry. Because you have now twisted yourself into arguing that the play really WAS a drawn up as a straight drive and kick from the 3pt line by your 270lb center. Which would be a moronic play call. In fact, more than moronic given that the center supposedly driving and kicking was also the one who had 5 of your team's 11 3 ptrs in the game, and had hit three in the 4th quarter alone, and hence clearly should be one of the kickees not kickers.

Far more likely that was an option play. Take it the rim if you can. If you are cut off, we'll set up open shooters to kick to. "Darius Miller FTW!!! On a 1-6 shooting night from out there" is not a major play in most coaches' playbooks. Not even this one's. Accusing Cousins of trying to play hero ball off of no evidence whatsoever really displays where your mind is at on all these things. You do realize that if Cousins doesn't drive hard and gt the angle on Green that Gasol never even leaves Miller open in the first place right? The whole idea is to make Gasol make a choice. If he chooses Miller, Boogie goes to the rim. If he chooses Boogie, the ball gets kicked. Unless of course Gasol swipes it away.

I'm not sure whether Boogie stole your gf or what, but you're not being honest, even with yourself. You'd think the man was kicking your dog every morning.

[23speedkillz]

It’s hilarious how people on here make excuses for players...call it how it is. Boogie made a bad play at the end of the game and it cost us. Plain and simple...stop over analyzing everything geez. If it is Jrue or AD and they did the same then call them out. You don’t keep getting to make excuses for them. The team looks so much different w/o AD on the floor and Cousins and Jrue the main men which is not a good look.


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Exactly. But if a person is only a Pels fan because boogie joined the team what do you expect. Its like all the cavs fans that were heat fans not long ago. But still they should be able to honestly evaluate the game and players but I guess not. Im a Pels fan since the day New Orleans landed the franchise but if AD or anyone else played like trash I would call it like I see it.

[Bricklayer]

Exactly. But if a person is only a Pels fan because boogie joined the team what do you expect. Its like all the cave fans that were heat fans not long ago. But still they should be able to honestly evaluate the game and players but I guess not. Im a Pels fan since the day New Orleans landed the franchise but if AD or anyone else played like trash I would call it like I see it.

Watch. The. Video.

It really isn't terribly ambiguous after you study it. It would make no difference to me if that was a video of A.D., LeBron, or Susie Shumaker, power forward for her East Jacksonville middle school team. You can clearly see what was drawn up, what was about to happen, and then what Marc Gasol prevented from happening with a agame saving defensive play. And Marc Gasol has made a few of those over his career. That kind of stuff happens when you are down to one play at the end of the game. All the more reason not to get yourself into that position if you can avoid it.

[Bricklayer]

Here is that play moment by moment btw:


STAGE 1
The play begins. Green is up very tight on Boogie up top, likely to prevent either another three or an easy passing angle. E'Twaun is involved in a little flash down low, but he just changes direction and heads to the corner without even pausing to look for a pass (which Boogie couldn't have delivered anyway with Green smothering him), which suggests it was really just a fake to maybe make Tyreke either lose him or follow him out of the paint to clear it for Boogie. Jrue and Darius barely move the whole play from their spots spotting up on the elbows. I think there may have been a Rondo flash to the rim backdoor option, but it's hard to be sure. He moved very halfheartedly into position, and his defender was aware and completely smothered any idea there, so not sure. Notice that Gasol is maintaining contact with Darius.


STAGE 2
Boogie uses Green's tight play against him and has clearly gotten by him, and there is a straight line right to the hoop. Tyreke has seen this and is lingering in the paint, and Moore is getting open in that corner, albeit screened off behind the 7'1" Gasol. Still, that looks promising.


STAGE 3
Boogie still has the edge on Green, but Gasol makes his decision, abandons Miller out there, and steps in hard to shutdown that lane. This is the point in my initial watch where I thought that Boogie fumbled it, but it turns out that wasn't the case. Notice as Gasol steps into the lane Tyreke begins to cheat out toward Moore in the corner.


STAGE 4
Boogie stops his drive and picks up his dribble in face of a completely solid wall formed by Gasol and Green. Rondo is completely screened off. Jrue is just standing there I assume just as an outlet. But even though Boogie has been cut off, the play has still largely worked -- the star player has drawn the double team, and there is only 1 defender (Reke) to cover 2 guys (Moore and Miller) at the three point line. Miller is a little behind his field of vision, but you can see Boogie looking directly at Moore, but Reke has slid over to threaten that passing lane. Actually a half second before this frame as the double team wall was forming, it looked like Boogie may have been peeking through it to see if Rondo was there, but can't be sure -- he might have been just looking at the hoop. In any case, he's definitely looking at E'Twaun, but Reke's too big of a threat. Miller is still wide open though as he checks through the options...


STAGE 5
Except he doesn't get the chance, Gasol swipes down perfectly, in live motion it looks cleaner than that still, and Boogie doesn't have time to get it to Miller (who as mentioned was only 1-6 from 3pt land so not a wonderful option there but a wide open one) before it's stripped. Again in the live action it looks like right as he's being stripped Moore might be pointing out Miller to Boogie, but alas, too late. Despite freeze framing it, it all happened very quickly. If Gasol keeps his hands up rather than swiping though, Miller is going to get that wide open shot.


So...New Orleans seems very much in the Saints' pockets now, so let's use a football analogy. That played out very much like Drew Brees, in the red zone on the final play of the game, going through his checks. Sees one wide receiver blanketed in the back of the endzone (Rondo), wants to go left to another wide receiver (Moore) but the free safety is drifting underneath and without a perfect pass it's going to be either deflected or intercepted. But the defense brings a blitz off the corner at Brees, leaving his TE (Miller) wide open down the right sideline...except just before Brees can check down over to Miller he's suddenly sacked and the ball comes loose.

It's one of those plays that could have worked but did not because a great sack artist did his thing and made the big play to save the game. Gasol made a great play, you just have to tip your hat.

[DaFranchise80]

I guess you could live your life constantly complaining about something that cannot be fixed right now... Firing Gentry does NOTHING for this season and probably makes our chances of going to the playoffs even worse.

So sure. I'd rather still make the playoffs then afterwards bring in a new regime instead of just firing now with no good coaches available or willing to take over mid season and with no good coaches on the staff that I'd trust running the show for even half a season. Yeah, let's put Erman in charge for the rest of the year! The guy responsible for the worst part of our team!

Benson isn’t cleaning house if this team makes the playoffs. He’s in the business of making money and selling tickets. The Pels are the Cincinnati Bengals of the NBA. Rinse and repeat.

[luckyman]

I was told a few weeks ago that I shouldn't be disappointed in them dropping all these winnable games in this stretch.

Okay then.

[Mythrol]

Benson isn’t cleaning house if this team makes the playoffs. He’s in the business of making money and selling tickets. The Pels are the Cincinnati Bengals of the NBA. Rinse and repeat.

He fired Monty after making the playoffs. The idea was Monty wasn't maximizing the talent we had. I personally think that there is almost nothing Gentry could do to save his job at this point. It would take some type of insane run to end the season.

[AusPel]

Here is that play moment by moment btw:


STAGE 1
The play begins. Green is up very tight on Boogie up top, likely to prevent either another three or an easy passing angle. E'Twaun is involved in a little flash down low, but he just changes direction and heads to the corner without even pausing to look for a pass (which Boogie couldn't have delivered anyway with Green smothering him), which suggests it was really just a fake to maybe make Tyreke either lose him or follow him out of the paint to clear it for Boogie. Jrue and Darius barely move the whole play from their spots spotting up on the elbows. I think there may have been a Rondo flash to the rim backdoor option, but it's hard to be sure. He moved very halfheartedly into position, and his defender was aware and completely smothered any idea there, so not sure. Notice that Gasol is maintaining contact with Darius.


STAGE 2
Boogie uses Green's tight play against him and has clearly gotten by him, and there is a straight line right to the hoop. Tyreke has seen this and is lingering in the paint, and Moore is getting open in that corner, albeit screened off behind the 7'1" Gasol. Still, that looks promising.


STAGE 3
Boogie still has the edge on Green, but Gasol makes his decision, abandons Miller out there, and steps in hard to shutdown that lane. This is the point in my initial watch where I thought that Boogie fumbled it, but it turns out that wasn't the case. Notice as Gasol steps into the lane Tyreke begins to cheat out toward Moore in the corner.


STAGE 4
Boogie stops his drive and picks up his dribble in face of a completely solid wall formed by Gasol and Green. Rondo is completely screened off. Jrue is just standing there I assume just as an outlet. But even though Boogie has been cut off, the play has still largely worked -- the star player has drawn the double team, and there is only 1 defender (Reke) to cover 2 guys (Moore and Miller) at the three point line. Miller is a little behind his field of vision, but you can see Boogie looking directly at Moore, but Reke has slid over to threaten that passing lane. Actually a half second before this frame as the double team wall was forming, it looked like Boogie may have been peeking through it to see if Rondo was there, but can't be sure -- he might have been just looking at the hoop. In any case, he's definitely looking at E'Twaun, but Reke's too big of a threat. Miller is still wide open though as he checks through the options...


STAGE 5
Except he doesn't get the chance, Gasol swipes down perfectly, in live motion it looks cleaner than that still, and Boogie doesn't have time to get it to Miller (who as mentioned was only 1-6 from 3pt land so not a wonderful option there but a wide open one) before it's stripped. Again in the live action it looks like right as he's being stripped Moore might be pointing out Miller to Boogie, but alas, too late. Despite freeze framing it, it all happened very quickly. If Gasol keeps his hands up rather than swiping though, Miller is going to get that wide open shot.


So...New Orleans seems very much in the Saints' pockets now, so let's use a football analogy. That played out very much like Drew Brees, in the red zone on the final play of the game, going through his checks. Sees one wide receiver blanketed in the back of the endzone (Rondo), wants to go left to another wide receiver (Moore) but the free safety is drifting underneath and without a perfect pass it's going to be either deflected or intercepted. But the defense brings a blitz off the corner at Brees, leaving his TE (Miller) wide open down the right sideline...except just before Brees can check down over to Miller he's suddenly sacked and the ball comes loose.

It's one of those plays that could have worked but did not because a great sack artist did his thing and made the big play to save the game. Gasol made a great play, you just have to tip your hat.

You need to go to the open shooter here. I don't care if he's 1-6. Miller's paid to shoot and utterly naked open. This is on Boogie trying to hero/bully ball when it's a terrible decision

[msw2024]

STAGE 5
Except he doesn't get the chance, Gasol swipes down perfectly, in live motion it looks cleaner than that still, and Boogie doesn't have time to get it to Miller (who as mentioned was only 1-6 from 3pt land so not a wonderful option there but a wide open one) before it's stripped. Again in the live action it looks like right as he's being stripped Moore might be pointing out Miller to Boogie, but alas, too late. Despite freeze framing it, it all happened very quickly. If Gasol keeps his hands up rather than swiping though, Miller is going to get that wide open shot.


So...New Orleans seems very much in the Saints' pockets now, so let's use a football analogy. That played out very much like Drew Brees, in the red zone on the final play of the game, going through his checks. Sees one wide receiver blanketed in the back of the endzone (Rondo), wants to go left to another wide receiver (Moore) but the free safety is drifting underneath and without a perfect pass it's going to be either deflected or intercepted. But the defense brings a blitz off the corner at Brees, leaving his TE (Miller) wide open down the right sideline...except just before Brees can check down over to Miller he's suddenly sacked and the ball comes loose.

It's one of those plays that could have worked but did not because a great sack artist did his thing and made the big play to save the game. Gasol made a great play, you just have to tip your hat.[/QUOTE]






So in conclusion of this really long post....Boogie made a bad decision and did not pass it to the wide open Miller who is arguably our best 3 point shooter when Miller man doubled Boogie which he held the ball and got it stolen...Sounds like Boogies fault to me.

[Bricklayer]

STAGE 5
Except he doesn't get the chance, Gasol swipes down perfectly, in live motion it looks cleaner than that still, and Boogie doesn't have time to get it to Miller (who as mentioned was only 1-6 from 3pt land so not a wonderful option there but a wide open one) before it's stripped. Again in the live action it looks like right as he's being stripped Moore might be pointing out Miller to Boogie, but alas, too late. Despite freeze framing it, it all happened very quickly. If Gasol keeps his hands up rather than swiping though, Miller is going to get that wide open shot.


So...New Orleans seems very much in the Saints' pockets now, so let's use a football analogy. That played out very much like Drew Brees, in the red zone on the final play of the game, going through his checks. Sees one wide receiver blanketed in the back of the endzone (Rondo), wants to go left to another wide receiver (Moore) but the free safety is drifting underneath and without a perfect pass it's going to be either deflected or intercepted. But the defense brings a blitz off the corner at Brees, leaving his TE (Miller) wide open down the right sideline...except just before Brees can check down over to Miller he's suddenly sacked and the ball comes loose.

It's one of those plays that could have worked but did not because a great sack artist did his thing and made the big play to save the game. Gasol made a great play, you just have to tip your hat.






So in conclusion of this really long post....Boogie made a bad decision and did not pass it to the wide open Miller who is arguably our best 3 point shooter when Miller man doubled Boogie which he held the ball and got it stolen...Sounds like Boogies fault to me.

Sure it was Boogie's fault, although from the video I don't think he truly saw Miller, so saying he made a "bad decision not to pass to him" isn't quite accurate. I think he missed him, and was slow to find him rather than intentionally not passing it to him. That entire sequence from beginning to end took 3.5 seconds. From the time he was stopped and had to pick up the ball until Gasol stripped him was maybe 1.5 seconds. He got stopped, looked for Moore, hesitated when he saw Tyreke there, and never had a chance to switch gears and look for Miller. You can see his head hasn't even turned yet by the time Gasol's swat hits the ball.

I think it would be fair to say that he should have figured out Miller was open when Gasol suddenly appeared in front of him, but again, it was a bang bang play and Miller was a little behind him while E'Twaun was ahead of him and within his field of vision.

[Bricklayer]

You need to go to the open shooter here. I don't care if he's 1-6. Miller's paid to shoot and utterly naked open. This is on Boogie trying to hero/bully ball when it's a terrible decision

Look at his eyes the whole time there. I don't think he ever saw Miller. Maybe out of his peripheral vision at the very end, but that's easy for us to say with our "God view' and stop motion camera frames. That whole sequence took 3.5 seconds. Certainly if he had seen Miller there was no reason for Boogie not to pass it to him there at the end after Boogie has been stopped and is looking for an outlet, but he hasn't even looked that way yet.

[msw2024]

Sure it was Boogie's fault, although from the video I don't think he truly saw Miller, so saying he made a "bad decision not to pass to him" isn't quite accurate. I think he missed him, and was slow to find him rather than intentionally not passing it to him. That entire sequence from beginning to end took 3.5 seconds. From the time he was stopped and had to pick up the ball until Gasol stripped him was maybe 1.5 seconds. He got stopped, looked for Moore, hesitated when he saw Tyreke there, and never had a chance to switch gears and look for Miller. You can see his head hasn't even turned yet by the time Gasol's swat hits the ball.

I think it would be fair to say that he should have figured out Miller was open when Gasol suddenly appeared in front of him, but again, it was a bang bang play and Miller was a little behind him while E'Twaun was ahead of him and within his field of vision.

Since you only think we only know football...I will compare this to recent occurrence with Drew Brees who has been one of the all time greats at QB...The Falcons game at Atlanta this year...Brees threw a pick in the final part of the game in the endzone that lost the game. It was a split second decision that looked like Josh Hill was open, but the linebacker abandoned Mark Ingram to under cut the route and make a good play. Brees should of thrown it to Ingram or taken the sack to kick a game tying field goal. Is it still Drew Brees fault that he did not see the linebacker? Hell ya it is and he even admitted it after the game like a true hall of fame QB. You can't make excuses you have to be better and even though you did not "see" someone does not mean it is not your fault. Dude you are just making excuses for Boogie. He screwed up plain and simple. He should of known obviously that Miller was open seeing Gasol was covering Miller and came over...Stop just stop.

[DaFranchise80]

Bricklayer, I really like Boogie as an elite talent, but he can be a headcase at the worst possible time. He has got to stop having these mental mistakes when the game is on the line. This type of attitude or demeanor is not healthy for the younger players on the team including AD. I really want him to succeed with the Pels but he has to get his emotions in check and start putting the team first.

[Bricklayer]

Since you only think we only know football...I will compare this to recent occurrence with Drew Brees who has been one of the all time greats at QB...The Falcons game at Atlanta this year...Brees threw a pick in the final part of the game in the endzone that lost the game. It was a split second decision that looked like Josh Hill was open, but the linebacker abandoned Mark Ingram to under cut the route and make a good play. Brees should of thrown it to Ingram or taken the sack to kick a game tying field goal. Is it still Drew Brees fault that he did not see the linebacker? Hell ya it is and he even admitted it after the game like a true hall of fame QB. You can't make excuses you have to be better and even though you did not "see" someone does not mean it is not your fault. Dude you are just making excuses for Boogie. He screwed up plain and simple. He should of known obviously that Miller was open seeing Gasol was covering Miller and came over...Stop just stop.

Your tenacious squabbling over minutiae is getting kind of annoying.

It, as in the final play, or second to final, not working out for the Pels can only be Boogie's fault because he was the guy with the ball when it was taken from him.

But it "being his fault" doesn't therefore mean that he did every possible thing wrong because we're mad and we're gonna throw a tantrum. There is a tangible distinction between not seeing Miller, and in seeing Miller but DECIDING not to pass it to him for whatever reason. Both are failures, but one of them involves a conscious decision not to make the right play, which would be a problem. The other? Happens. You win some and you lose some, but as long as you were trying to play it right you'll have another shot sooner or later.

So I posted the video. You can see where he appears to be looking as well as I can. You can also see that the entire play took 3.5 seconds, and that the entire time of searching for a passing outlet took 1.5 seconds. I know we're all perfect here, but in such a short period of time while being heavily pressured it's entirely possible for a player to have not identified all the kickout opportunities yet.

Gasol ended that play prematurely. The difference between choosing not to pass it to an open Miller and in having simply not spotted Miller yet, is that if you are consciously not passing it to him, then even if Gasol doesn't make that play you presumably won't give the ball up. If you simply had not spotted him in the 1.5 seconds you had before Gasol swiped the ball away, then it's quite likely all you needed was a little more time.

[msw2024]

Your tenacious squabbling over minutiae is getting kind of annoying.

It, as in the final play, or second to final, not working out for the Pels can only be Boogie's fault because he was the guy with the ball when it was taken from him.

But it "being his fault" doesn't therefore mean that he did every possible thing wrong because we're mad and we're gonna throw a tantrum. There is a tangible distinction between not seeing Miller, and in seeing Miller but DECIDING not to pass it to him for whatever reason. Both are failures, but one of them involves a conscious decision not to make the right play, which would be a problem. The other? Happens. You win some and you lose some, but as long as you were trying to play it right you'll have another shot sooner or later.

So I posted the video. You can see where he appears to be looking as well as I can. You can also see that the entire play took 3.5 seconds, and that the entire time of searching for a passing outlet took 1.5 seconds. I know we're all perfect here, but in such a short period of time while being heavily pressured it's entirely possible for a player to have not identified all the kickout opportunities yet.

Gasol ended that play prematurely. The difference between choosing not to pass it to an open Miller and in having simply not spotted Miller yet, is that if you are consciously not passing it to him, then even if Gasol doesn't make that play you presumably won't give the ball up. If you simply had not spotted him in the 1.5 seconds you had before Gasol swiped the ball away, then it's quite likely all you needed was a little more time.

Hahahaha I am pretty sure the board agrees with me that you are the only one being annoying by continually posting excuses and the same argument....Play is over move on we lost. Portland is next, and we need a win since they are above us in playoff contention.


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[Bricklayer]

Bricklayer, I really like Boogie as an elite talent, but he can be a headcase at the worst possible time. He has got to stop having these mental mistakes when the game is on the line. This type of attitude or demeanor is not healthy for the younger players on the team including AD. I really want him to succeed with the Pels but he has to get his emotions in check and start putting the team first.

What does that have to do with that play? He tried to make a play, the Grizz closed the door, and then Gasol took it away. There's nothing headcasey there.

You have to come into a scene like that full of preexisting bias to try to turn a battle with Marc Gasol that Marc Gasol, former DPOY, won on that play, into some sort of larger problem than not being able to pull out this one win.

I recall this famous old MJ commercial:

[DaFranchise80]

It wasn't just last night's game. It's a collection of historical situations involving him and his mental mistakes. The occasional lack of effort on the defensive end and the endless pouting when he doesn't get a call is quite disturbing and not helping the team mentally. I just don't see him as a guy that can lead a playoff contender just yet. When AD goes down, the wheels just fall off.

[redrum]

Here is that play moment by moment btw:


STAGE 1
The play begins. Green is up very tight on Boogie up top, likely to prevent either another three or an easy passing angle. E'Twaun is involved in a little flash down low, but he just changes direction and heads to the corner without even pausing to look for a pass (which Boogie couldn't have delivered anyway with Green smothering him), which suggests it was really just a fake to maybe make Tyreke either lose him or follow him out of the paint to clear it for Boogie. Jrue and Darius barely move the whole play from their spots spotting up on the elbows. I think there may have been a Rondo flash to the rim backdoor option, but it's hard to be sure. He moved very halfheartedly into position, and his defender was aware and completely smothered any idea there, so not sure. Notice that Gasol is maintaining contact with Darius.


STAGE 2
Boogie uses Green's tight play against him and has clearly gotten by him, and there is a straight line right to the hoop. Tyreke has seen this and is lingering in the paint, and Moore is getting open in that corner, albeit screened off behind the 7'1" Gasol. Still, that looks promising.


STAGE 3
Boogie still has the edge on Green, but Gasol makes his decision, abandons Miller out there, and steps in hard to shutdown that lane. This is the point in my initial watch where I thought that Boogie fumbled it, but it turns out that wasn't the case. Notice as Gasol steps into the lane Tyreke begins to cheat out toward Moore in the corner.


STAGE 4
Boogie stops his drive and picks up his dribble in face of a completely solid wall formed by Gasol and Green. Rondo is completely screened off. Jrue is just standing there I assume just as an outlet. But even though Boogie has been cut off, the play has still largely worked -- the star player has drawn the double team, and there is only 1 defender (Reke) to cover 2 guys (Moore and Miller) at the three point line. Miller is a little behind his field of vision, but you can see Boogie looking directly at Moore, but Reke has slid over to threaten that passing lane. Actually a half second before this frame as the double team wall was forming, it looked like Boogie may have been peeking through it to see if Rondo was there, but can't be sure -- he might have been just looking at the hoop. In any case, he's definitely looking at E'Twaun, but Reke's too big of a threat. Miller is still wide open though as he checks through the options...


STAGE 5
Except he doesn't get the chance, Gasol swipes down perfectly, in live motion it looks cleaner than that still, and Boogie doesn't have time to get it to Miller (who as mentioned was only 1-6 from 3pt land so not a wonderful option there but a wide open one) before it's stripped. Again in the live action it looks like right as he's being stripped Moore might be pointing out Miller to Boogie, but alas, too late. Despite freeze framing it, it all happened very quickly. If Gasol keeps his hands up rather than swiping though, Miller is going to get that wide open shot.


So...New Orleans seems very much in the Saints' pockets now, so let's use a football analogy. That played out very much like Drew Brees, in the red zone on the final play of the game, going through his checks. Sees one wide receiver blanketed in the back of the endzone (Rondo), wants to go left to another wide receiver (Moore) but the free safety is drifting underneath and without a perfect pass it's going to be either deflected or intercepted. But the defense brings a blitz off the corner at Brees, leaving his TE (Miller) wide open down the right sideline...except just before Brees can check down over to Miller he's suddenly sacked and the ball comes loose.

It's one of those plays that could have worked but did not because a great sack artist did his thing and made the big play to save the game. Gasol made a great play, you just have to tip your hat.

Nice try but, Drew Brees would have known the play and realized exactly where and how open Miller was.

[Bricklayer]

It wasn't just last night's game. It's a collection of historical situations involving him and his mental mistakes. The occasional lack of effort on the defensive end and the endless pouting when he doesn't get a call is quite disturbing and not helping the team mentally. I just don't see him as a guy that can lead a playoff contender just yet. When AD goes down, the wheels just fall off.

When A.D. goes down the team is not very talented, and yet they are also 3-3 in those games, 17-17 with A.D. The wheels have hardly fallen off, in fact the power of having two stars is revealed . It's not a deathknell. But the team definitely gets talent-starved in a hurry, and with no A.D. there are always those game losing stretches of Asik/Diallo etc. as the big man to try to survive.

The bigger mental adjustment has been when A.D. keeps on going down during games -- they reacted awfully to that in the early season, but they rallied and got the last one of those too vs. Detroit.