First of all, thanks for the firsthand account, dlev. Appreciate it.
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Originally Posted by Dlev59  1) I was in shock when AJ popped off the bench to replace Sheed instead of Maxiel. I just knew AJ was about to have a breakout game, after a couplle of minutes he really looked tentative out there, IMO Flip has robbed him of his confidence. He is terrified of making a mistake. |
That's something I noticed with Stuckey early on, and Afflalo as well, before Dixon came in and the DNP's started piling up. Our bench guys sometimes look like they're thinking too much, and it hurts a player like Amir most, because being tentative = doomsday for a shotblocker. It's how he picked up most of his more recent fouls. The acquisition of Theo has hurt Amir the most, imo. It doesn't help that Flip simply pulls him if he makes mistakes instead of letting him play through it as he does with Maxiell and to a greater extent, Stuckey. You can hear Flip yelling orders at him the whole time he's in there. The "Box out," command was good, but I've never heard Flip yell that to Max, who doesn't consistently box out either.
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2) Sheed and Dyess are terrible defending the paint. At times it seems as if their feet are nailed to the floor!! They do things that your Boys and Girls Club coaches tell you not to do when playing defense - REACH, REACH, REACH! Saying they are slow on their feet is a huge understatement.
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Nothing to add, I just agree wholeheartedly.
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6) Stuckey needs to somehow develop a consistent J to be effective. Teams are not respecting his shooting at all. He is fearless and can almost get to the basket whenever he wants but until he proves he can knock down that 15-17 footer defenses will pack it in on him.
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Stuckey isn't ready for prime time. At least not yet. It was too much to expect a rookie from a small school to try and learn the PG position and back up one of the best in the league on a championship contender in the playoffs this soon anyway, even if he'd had a full season. They put too much pressure on him. That said, I expect him to do much better next year.