don’t recall that i said Avery Johnson was a great coach – i just said he schooled Q last night. I suppose this is simplistic but to reply to your comment that Q had the team prepared – playing a system and sharing the ball – there is a difference between preparing a team to play and managing game situations. A coach may be good at one and bad at the other or they may be good at both or suck at both. Last night Q did a terrible job of managing a game situation when his team had the lead at the end of the 4th period. I was not discussing whether or not he had them prepared.

and while Don Nelson schooled Avery in that playoff series, he had the advantage of intimately knowing every player on that Dallas roster, their strengths, weaknesses, spots were they want the ball, and what puts them into a discomfort zone. Personally, since Nellie showed exactly how you take Dirk out of his game i am surprised that more coaches haven’t caught on to what he did.

You are treated according to the tone of your posts. When you post relevant posts that make cogent points, there’s civil engagement. When you post diatribes that try and make it seem like I’m an idiot for writing whatever it is that I put time into, then yeah, I’m not going to respond all that civilly. Pretty easy formula really.

As for the Harris/Lopez thing, the Pistons don’t have two clear go-to players, so there’s much more pressure on the coach in that respect. NJ can always have a guy who can get a bucket, particularly in Lopez. Kuester has to be scheming all the time to get flawed players in a position to maximize the random skills they do have. That’s a lot more pressure than a coach like Johnson, who has two established go-to players, is under during a game.

“i’d LOVE to “have to go to lopez or harris every time.” most good basketball teams have go-to players. we can’t even narrow it down to a solid five to close MOST games. our rotation is apparently just ten guys who are equally average, most of whom do the same things as the others.”

Just stop. You argue points that don’t exist. Did I ever say that it was a bad thing that NJ has those players? Absolutely not. But it is much, much easier to coach a team when you know who the ball is going to on most plays. I don’t think Johnson should be credited for getting his two best players the ball a lot. That’s the easiest thing he could do.

Good to see you’re comfortable in here. But don’t forget who runs this town tonight. Comments sections are great, but you don’t own this place down here. Bleacher Report is always looking for witty writers who can yammer on about the same thing over and over without using any data other than “I saw’ll it with my own eyes” to back up a statement. They might even help you fix your issues with capital letters. You’d be a featured columnist before you know it. Just something to think about.

As for your assertion that one game has proven you right in your McGrady assertions, I’ll simply ask this: did he look healthy to you last night? He didn’t do anything to cement himself as the team’s permanent SF. He didn’t do anything to suggest he’s totally healthy and going to remain that way.

I hope McGrady gets some semblance of a game back. I’m less than confident he will, and if he doesn’t, I’m pretty confident that his minutes will go to other players.