Obie-ball

["Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have to agree with what appears to be the consensus opinion thus far on
the forum that Obieball has made an unlooked-for return. Too many threes,
stagnant offense, and too much Waltah, or as someone so poignantly put it -- 
Obie's human white flag.

Waltah is emblematic of the entire problem. Here is a "power" forward who
can't rebound and is only good for one thing -- hoisting threes. I fear that
the Dallas win may have been a trojan horse, since it was triggered by a
spate of threes, in particular, by McCarty. Yet you will only win a few
games a year in such fashion, whereas the damage that the reversion to such
a style will wreak will be ever present. Their two losses since the Dallas
game can be traced in large measure to Obieball.

For example, just one instance in the game versus Utah -- down one point
with less than a minute left and Utah in the penalty -- do we go to the hoop
and hope to draw contact? Nah, pitch it out for one of the lowest percentage
shots in the game, a three... which in this instance (as in so many others)
led to a fast break for the other team that in this instance sealed the
game. The complete collapse of the offense in Atlanta was evident to all, so
I won't belabor the point.

One last note, however: why is Pierce racking up 40+ minutes a night while
battling the flu? Wasn't part of the point about obtaining Davis and two
more bigs about obtaining some roster flexibility? And if Obie doesn't yet
trust Davis to log some minutes for Paul, why not play Waltuh at the 3? God
knows, he's certainly not a 4.

And why oh why oh why must we always play a shorter, thinner, scrawnier team
than the opponents? 48 to 32 rebound differential?!? The studs are there,
but they can't rebound from the bench (or injured list). It would be nice
some time to just let the big boys play and cram the ball down the other
team's throat for a change...

OK that was two more notes, but I'm done for today. After all, things will
only get better from here on out, right?

Happy holidays everyone!

-TomM