re: Pels 96 v Pacers 92/ 3 IN A ROW

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I'm curious to see how AD fits with Boogie when he comes back. If they're winning I'm sure Cousins will buy in, I just worry AD might go back to deferring. The team not falling apart after Boogie's injury has been all about AD and Jrue becoming aggressive. Cousins might have to go out of his way to get out of their way.


That Houston game where he was injured he had 11 assists while taking 12 shots. That's probably more the way he'll need to play when he comes back so we don't lose the growth AD and Jrue have had. 21/12/7 would be a decent stat line for him to have coming back from that injury. Keep the rebounds the same and change a few scores into assists.

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Two things with this that I think will help. First is that AD is not taking a ton of shots when he doesn't have to like he was when Boogie first went down. He is being a leader and taking over games without completely dominating the ball. I think the immediate post-injury period where he went "Russ" and was taking 30 shots allowed for a change in mentality providing the confidence and agressiveness of a star. That has carried over even though the "Russ" style fo play has subsided.

I am actually more concerned about Jrue's play with Boogie coming back. I want him to continue to be aggressive.The second thing that helps with both AD and JRue is that Demarcus will be worked back slowly. My hope is that watching the team succeed this year combined with a level of limitation in his minutes/abilities when he returns will allow him to complete the transition in his game to a more team friendly style of play.

You reference that Houston game where he was awesome and showed us what the team can do. That was what the team was working towards with him and actually in those last 10-15 games or so before he went down, Boogie had almost as many games with under 15 shots as he did over.

I also think the injury (hopefully combined with the security of a playoffs appearance) gives the team an excuse to limit his minutes and keep him fresher for defensive purposes.