please gimme dante

by skott75 on Apr 23, 2010 2:00 AM PDT

I can understand favoring experience over athleticism, but things just got serious and I thing we can all agree that Howard is not going to be the difference maker we need in this series. Dante absolutely could be. gimme some energy and some intensity cause besides bayless and webster nobody else has it. gimme dante!!! I'm sure its being considered, but it needs to be 20 min a game at least. No matter if his shot is falling or not, he is going to compete and that can't be said about a lot of our cast right now. This has been a big worry of mine over the last 15 games or so. the tightened rotation has taken out one of our highest energy guys. It hasn't cost us many games, but it has left an energy gap in our second unit and we need that now more than ever. So please gimme more DANTE!!

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Agreed

When Howard switches to Nash the refs have the right to call a blocking foul on principle. The Suns could force the Nash switch whenever they wanted to. You cant win when its that easy.

by Kaanyr Vhok on Apr 23, 2010 2:15 AM PDT reply actions

How easy is it?

Too easy!

21+52=

by KINGofMACct on Apr 23, 2010 5:27 AM PDT up reply actions

Agreed.

I just think Dante makes more sense, he did fine yesterday, at least not any worse than Howard, and he’s got more offensive tools. I also wonder why Pendergraph isn’t getting more minutes…I mean, he’s played well this year, and what do we have to lose? Maybe those guys can give the bench a little spark.

by stavrogin on Apr 23, 2010 7:16 AM PDT reply actions

Pendergraph has been absolutely eaten alive on defense. He’s too slow to stay in front of his man so he basically just fouls.

by atomiccafe on Apr 23, 2010 7:55 AM PDT up reply actions

He’s too slow to stay in front of his man so he basically just fouls.

Your reason for JP’s fouls does not make a lot of sense to me. Is it possible breakdowns by other players have something to do with his foul rate? I believe Howard is on the floor with him quite a bit and Howard gets beat a lot. Now, he really cannot move his feet! Are you saying that when comparing Howard and JP … Howard moves better? Jumps better? Is more athletic?

I do not see any of JP’s problems finding their genesis in a lack of athleticism. If anything he seems to get too active and enthusiastic—he overhelps/tries to block everything—and thus gets himself out of position.

21+52=

by KINGofMACct on Apr 23, 2010 8:29 AM PDT up reply actions

I’m not entirely positive what the reason for it is (whether it’s being too slow, too enthusiastic, too small to be a center, or too inexperienced), but the numbers on Jeff’s limited minutes show he’s basically a borderline NBA player. Ben did a breakdown (which I couldn’t find to link after pretty extensive googling) that showed Pendergraph allows about 10 perc. points better FG% than Howard or Aldridge. He also fouls an astounding 6.8 times per 36. Pendy’s given us really good effort this year, but he certainly hasn’t earned himself a spot in the playoff rotation.

by atomiccafe on Apr 23, 2010 8:58 AM PDT up reply actions

Was not attempting to dispute numbers

I was already aware of some of those as well. It is hard not to see Jeff foul and get out of position—he is pretty good at getting himself out of position and having to make some sort of desperation play.

What I was questioning was the reason behind his problems. Jeff is fairly athletic and much more athletic than Juwan at this point. I am not sure that Juwan was ever more athletic than JP. JP is a rookie, with a lot to learn, who has not had the benefit of a whole lot of court time.

21+52=

by KINGofMACct on Apr 26, 2010 12:03 PM PDT up reply actions

If I could

I would rec this so many times that Nate would not be able to ignore it. Dante may be a rookie, but he is ready to play. Put him in. Put him in now and forever more. I would rather see him than B-rex, Rudy, Martel, Juwan.

Lets try this line up
Miller
Dante
Batum
Aldridge
Camby

Then throw in Pendy when Amare starts getting a little hot just to bang him. DO it like they do in Hockey…bring in the enforcer and use all of his fouls. Bang em till their ears are ringing.

by BlazerFanFromDenver on Apr 23, 2010 7:49 AM PDT reply actions

Howard over Dante down the stretch

is Nate’s most glaring error as coach this season. Dante had outplayed Howard consistently in the middle chunk of the season, on both ends of the court, and was starting to get heavy minutes—and then he was inexplicably bench down the stretch run. His defense, in particular, is so much better than Howards, that it truly impacts the game, in a positive way, where as Howards impacts it in a negative way.

I think this is an example of No-Risk Nate frequently going with the safest option, choosing consistently mediocre over potentially excellent but with possibility for bad moments. (A false dichotomy if there ever was one, we’ve all seen Juwan make head-scratching errors at a similar rate to Dante).

Dante is going to be a player in this league. While I think Nate has screwed up by denying DC the opportunity to contribute to actual games this season, it has a worse effect of delaying his development and denying him real-life game time to hone his skills and learn his role.

Everything you need to know about Dante was on display last night. He came into a playoff game totally fearless, make some clutch shots, without hesitation, and stepped up and played excellent defense. The kid is a keeper and the more minutes we can get him, the better.

the poster formerly known as sergioftw, in recovery

by NoLook on Apr 23, 2010 9:20 AM PDT reply actions

Dante's a stud

The guy never loses faith, and hustles whenever he’s on the court, and is an excellent backup to LA and Batum. I felt like he and Miller were to guys that really triggered our near-comeback last night (Props to Rudy for finding his shot!). we still need Juwan’s hard fouls in the lane and rapport with the refs, but the dude is way under used. Maybe it’s just that the defense doesn’t know how to handle him, and teams would figure him out after a couple games, but if it helps us win a playoff game, DO IT! PLAY DANTE!

by HailOden! on Apr 23, 2010 9:56 AM PDT reply actions

The only way to figure out Dante

is to not help on team defense and stay with him to defend the 15-20 foot jumpshot. If the other team did that and took their 4 out of the paint and out of help defense . . . I’m thinking the rest of the team would be happy with Dante not shooting another shot. ;)

the poster formerly known as sergioftw, in recovery

by NoLook on Apr 23, 2010 10:49 AM PDT up reply actions

even if they did that

his defensive hustle and aggressive rebounding make it worth it. He’s got enough quickness to guard some perimeter guys, and he’s strong enough to bang with Amar’e.

by HailOden! on Apr 23, 2010 12:38 PM PDT up reply actions

I think you missed my point.

If they do that, it’s exactly what we want them to do. You don’t play Dante so he cane score a bunch of points in isolation offense, you put him in to take open looks or make his guy cover him and open up the court.

the poster formerly known as sergioftw, in recovery

by NoLook on Apr 23, 2010 2:46 PM PDT up reply actions