After all that.....

[MarkPrice25]

We are still the #4 seed after an injury-riddled two weeks where we won 1 game out of 7. Now, I know that we are 1/2 a game from being the sixth seed, but I expect that this trip was our clunker for the year. I fully expect to tread water for the next couple of weeks until Hughes gets back and then make our run over the final month and a half of the season.

I'm not naive enough to think that the one win turns everything around, but we are coming home and have a few days to catch our breath and get those nagging injuries rested.

Indiana, without Artest, can't string anything together and Milwaukee had a chance to make-up ground and couldn't. The 4 seed is ours for the taking unless we continue to tank. 47-48 wins is going to get it.

Get Indiana on Tuesday at home, payback Atlanta, and we are on our way. Let's hope that we play Phoenix as well as we played on ABC last season. We ALWAYS showed up for those games (whipped the Knicks, beat Dallas, and beat the Lakers). Charlotte is just awful. I see no reason why we can't end this month taking AT LEAST 3 of 4, putting is at 24-18.

So, figuring we can finish the month strong with a few home games and some roadies against poor teams, we'll still be on pace for 48 wins with a stretch where we didn't win one game for the better part of two weeks. We'll still be the 4th seed as well. And, as icing on the cake, we are another week closer to Larry coming back. Let's not forget what we did the last time Larry played.

 

[aaronr]

Amen to all that (and 48 wins, which was my pick before the season). Keep the team together until Hughes gets back, and we'll be tough heading into the playoffs. No time for panic.

 

[RuanuLaw]

What have I been saying all along? WAIT TILL AFTER THE ALL-STAR BREAK!...

 

[Mac]

Whats the official date for Hughes to come back???

 

[The George]

Whats the official date for Hughes to come back???

i am not sure about the "official" date is but if i were a betting man (which i most certainly am) i would put money on him being back after the allstar break....if we can get him back by then everyone better watch out for this team because our defense is 5 times better than what it was and Gooden and Z are starting to kill it and you add in our best on ball defender and a slasher/ shooter type who can get our offense to what is used to be......whoa boy I cant wait

 

[NarlCavs]

They mentioned during the broadcast last night that Hughes is about 4 weeks away from returning.
Hopefully Sasha continues to get minutes and maybe even minutes are found for Luke. I'd also like to see Newble play very limited minutes, if at all.

 

[Karma]

One of the few positives to come out of the road trip, was that we could play poorly but stick around by getting enough stops. Our offense was very reliant on Ilgauskas and James, but now we have Drew back to chip in here and there, and Sasha at the two which has proven to be a winner. Keep the defensive effort up, and at home we should start rolling. The confidense rises and we take that to the road where with any luck we take those poorer teams.

 

[cdt]

Everyone thought Hughes wasn't doing much but we realized how much he really did.

Ballhandler, awesome penetrator and got easy buckets for Alan, Drew, and Z.

Hit the perimeter jumper fairly well, made you guard him out there.

Slashed and got us to the line..

Played tough D on their number one every night.

 

[cavincali]

Everyone thought Hughes wasn't doing much but we realized how much he really did.

Ballhandler, awesome penetrator and got easy buckets for Alan, Drew, and Z.

Hit the perimeter jumper fairly well, made you guard him out there.

Slashed and got us to the line..

Played tough D on their number one every night.

i think it is a combination of things. hughes was shooting 40% from the field which is bad, but the bigger issue was who came in to take his spot, luke/ira/sasha/damon. these guys played even worse, if they would have played decent then hughes' absence wouldnt be as big as it is because those games we lost by a couple would have been wins.

 

[Karma]

Larry Hughes played good defense, but he also created his own and others offense. Jones cant create or defend, Ira cannot create or shoot but is ok defensively. Finally though sanity prevailed and Sasha got the opportunity to show that he can score, create his own offense and defend (albeit with some fouls).

 

[cavincali]

Larry Hughes played good defense, but he also created his own and others offense. Jones cant create or defend, Ira cannot create or shoot but is ok defensively. Finally though sanity prevailed and Sasha got the opportunity to show that he can score, create his own offense and defend (albeit with some fouls).

Dont get me wrong here, just because Larry wasnt shooting very well doesnt mean he wasnt palying well in other aspects. You almost have to put all three of those guys together to get Hughes.

 

[Mac]

Larry wasnt performing very well, but it just shows how important his presence sp? alone means.

He wasnt scoring like we would have liked, but since he was on the court, he opened the floor for other people to do things, he performed well on defense and again, him just being out there made it easier for other players.

 

[ootbttnlagitnbasf]

i agree one million percent. all summer all i heard was how deep indiana was and then milwauke signs maglore and they think that they are deep. hah. we're the team dealing with injuries and still atop the playoff race. indiana has not been missing anybody except for tinsely and o'neil. they played all last year without artest so his loss doesn't count. they are a franchise in shambles. they only won one measely playoff series last year. and milwauke has not had any injuries at all this season except for smith and ford, but that's only two starters. we'll get our team back when hughes and gooden are plenty ready to play, and then no one will be able to beat us. we'll even be able to beat atlanta.

this is the year that we'll break the thirty playoff win total. guaranteed to make you smile.

 

[Troy Wingate]

Once Larry gets back, his finger will be good and hopefully his achilles problem will have gone, so hopfully we'll have the Larry Hughes that the Wizards had last season.

If that happens, good things are ahead.

 

[Mac]

Pacers lost Reggie Miller, dont discount how big a part of the team he really was. Its hard to replace the leadership he brought to that team. Then to lose Artest, one of the leagues best players. That hurts.