Lee, I usually agree with you. I am not sure if it was just this one game but Max's pick and roll defense was horrendous!! They ran that play the whole fourth quarter and the OT. Almost all of Quinn's points came off the pick and roll up top. Max either didn't show hard enough or when he did, he wasn't quick enough to recover down to pick up the open man on the weak side. This is where Amir's quickness and length help us but he wasn't in the game. Even Kwame played it better then Max. Part of the problem was if Max didn't commit, he isn't long enough to contest the jump shot where both Kwame and Amir can cheat and still get a hand up. I knew if we left Max in to end this game, we were going to lose. They had no reason to abandon that play and I bet they scored 80% of the time out of it.
Maybe you were watching a different game. Amir had a ton of energy and was altering a lot of shots. He only got credit for 3 blocks but he played good defense. He was one of only two players that were a positive +/- for the game. He kept a lot of balls alive on the boards so his teammates had a chance to get them. There were a few instances where he was the only Piston against 3 guys going for rebounds. He will be missed in the play offs.
So will JMAX, based on the 2nd half just before that where he was not played. The only question - after we get waxed by Cleveland by 40 points the first couple of games, will Curry change anything - or repeat Carlisles old speech about letting things go as they will, he would not change anything.
