Sheldon + grungy hair&beard looks more like Pau than Mark, or is it just me?

I wonder how we’re going to adjust to the defensive schemes that the Bobcats run. Larry Brown has had lots of success in game planning against our offensive sets and they’ll do similar things that were successful for the Hawks (and Boston in last years finals). They will deny ball entries to the wing, they’ll half front the post, they’ll deny ball reversals, and they’ll be very aware of the flash to the highpost from the weakside big. All of this is meant to disrupt our timing. Against the Hawks our guys did not do a good job of establishing the timing in our sets. (Sidebar-a while back Gatinho posted a link to a video where Phil and Tex were talking about the principles of our offense. In that video they stressed that one of the major principles is players reading the defense and reacting to what they are doing and moving accordingly. Essentially when the defender is five feet from the ball, we should be passing to the open player who should have been working to get open because he was reading that the pass would be coming soon-end sidebar.) Anyways, I’d like to see crisper sets tonight. Better timing, harder screens, sharper cuts, and-overall-more fluid movement.

On defense, I’d like to see us do a better job containing Felton off the dribble and matching the effort of Wallace and Okafor. I’d also like to see Odom do a number on Diaw and have LO use his length to disrupt what Boris likes to do on the block. Last game Diaw got it going using his Euro craftiness and it fed his confidence which led to better shot making throughout the rest of the game.

Or maybe it’s just a slow news day and, like Kurt says, I just want the playoffs to roll around.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/bobcats/story/633020.html

It was interesting to compare Griffin and last year’s college Player of the Year, Tyler Hansbrough. While Griffin has a decided edge in sheer talent and athleticism, Hansbrough makes more of what he has than does Griffin.

To wit, Hansbrough’s post defense (on Griffin) was superb — fronting, dancing and totally discomforting the bigger man. Hansbrough always worked hard on every play, whether he had possession of the ball or not. In fact, half of Hansbrough’s eight points were created by his alert, hustling, weak-side cuts.

But Hansbrough is as good as he’ll ever be. He’ll make a marginally acceptable pro only because of his intelligence, his instincts, his competitive spirit, and his work ethic.

As for Griffin … learning how to defend is one key element that will largely determine his future in the NBA. But the most critical factors will be his capacity to develop a mid-range jumper and a face-up game from the wings.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/9394210/Does-OU%27s-Griffin-have-goods-for-NBA-stardom?