W Thu 12 @ L.A. Lakers
L Sat 14 @ Phoenix
W Sun 15 @ Portland
L Wed 18 @ Denver
W Fri 20 @ Golden State
L Sat 21 @ Utah
W Tue 24 Indiana
W Wed 25 @ Atlanta
L Fri 27 @ Indiana
WSun 29 Phoenix
W Mon 30 @ Charlotte
7-4 is VERY realistic, but I see 6-5 or even 5-6 as more of a possibility based on the way we've been playing minus Hughes. I can't get a read on this team, even after 32 games. We show up against the top teams and play to the level of our competition against the garbage teams. But, there is another way to look at things:
Things even out - when we got off to the hot start, we weren't just winning, we were blowing teams out, shooting a ridiculous percentage game-in, game-out. You knew that was going to come to an end with a thud and it did on Thanksgiving at Indiana. We've been struggling mightily from behind the arc with proven shooters. One of these games, we're going to snap out of it and get rolling when we least expect it.
As evident from my various posts, I do not have the "rose-colored glasses." However, this is just an objective look at the dibacles against Houston and New York and why we shouldn't jump ship just yet.
We played terrible against Houston, but we caught them on the second night after a tough win the previous night. We also caught them when McGrady went off and got his 30+ without taking 30+ shots. If we play them a week earlier or three days later, no T-Mac and a sloppy, crappy performance like the one they gave results in a "W" and we are saying, "Ugly, but a win is a win."
As for NY, there were some troubling things that game, but NY is red hot right now. We got them on a bad night. It happens. This team has caught some hot teams this year, most notably the "bottom tier" teams that have given us our most disturbing losses. Look at Atlanta. They came in here riding a "Knicks-like" streak and having just beat SA. I AM NOT MAKING EXCUSES FOR THE AWFUL PLAY IN THESE THREE GAMES, but these are signs or immaturity moreso than talent problems. We have proven that head-to-head that we are right there with the tops in the East.
This team needs to play every game like it is Detroit, Miami, etc. And, they also have to realize what I see as a major problem: They are buying into the fact that they are a great home team. That's fine, but if you've noticed we've had our major clunkers against bad teams on our own floor. I think that these guys have the mentality that all they need to do is step out on the floor at home and they'll get it done. That's not the case.
Finally, when are we going to see Z and LeBron running the pick-n-roll or pick-n-pop? That was a major part of the offense last season and early this season, but it has gone by the wayside during this "bad stretch" (which is .500 basketball over the past 2 weeks). That suits Z's game better than isolated post-ups, ESPECIALLY NOW. He's getting double-teamed and nobody is hitting open shots.
