Completely arbitrary number but Wiggins in his past 15 games, 29% from 3. I had confidence in Oubres shot coming around but I can't say the same for Wiggins. His career high is 35% from 3 in his 3rd year and since then it's been 33% every year. It's unlikely he improved it as much as it seemed earlier in the year, but I also think he's not this bad. I'm guessing his percentage will settle between 33-35 which honestly isn't that good. He's not aggressive enough going to the rim to make up for it imo. He settles way too often. I really wish he was on a better contract.
I ran through the opening possessions to figure out what went wrong leading up to the Lakers being up 18-5. Here's what I saw:
- Wiggins got torched by Schroder two or three times leading to at least 5 for the Lakers.
- Oubre, Wiggins, and Steph got decent looks from 3 but just missed them.
- Gasol made it impossible for Looney to score around the rim even when he got the ball in good position.
- Steph had some miscommunications on defense that led to the Lakers getting 3-point plays. (He and Looney didn't cleanly unswitch Morris under the basket; he and Oubre both jumped at KCP leaving Lebron an open 3 on a pick & pop.)
Later the Lakers closed the quarter on an 11-0 run, mostly fueled by turnovers and transition offense. Lebron forced two turnovers from Green, Steph just fell over, Bazemore took it into trouble... Then poor transition defense from Curry and Oubre left Wiseman in some tough spots defensively.
Mulder came in and played some really strong defense, but for naught. He, Steph, and others had good looks they just missed, and several guys just committed dumb fouls (a trend that would continue all night).
So, my takeaways from this game are that our whole team just played badly, Wiggins can't defend Schroder, and Gasol is still an elite rim protector. It's not fair to pin this one on guys like Wanamaker; we were down 20 before he even got in the game. It's really the starters who bear the most responsibility for this one.
Guys who did alright this game: JTA and Mulder, Paschall maybe. That's about it.
Hope Draymond's ankle injury is nothing. Anything else would be the worst takeaway of all.
I missed this game, dinner at Mom's, and DoorDash was 90 minutes (!) late, and even so it appears the Dubs had a more frustrating evening than my family did. I see Paschall got 18 and Wanamaker and Steph combined for 13 assists but the foul numbers look awful and everything else looks pretty meh. Most of the Lakers numbers look decent but not amazing. But that's just the obvious numbers. It sounds like the reality is we got used as a floor mop. Maybe I was better off missing it.
"If he fails to answer, he is lost. If he answers, he dies. What must he do?" Hmmm... drop the t-shirts, grab the rafters with his now-free hands, go hand-over-hand to the side, climb down, and flagrantly foul the man who shouted at him because that man must be the Buddha?
A boy was given a horse for his 16th birthday. The villagers said, "how lucky." The wise man said, "we'll see." The next day he fell off the horse and broke a leg. The villagers said, "how tragic." The wise man said, "we'll see." The next day a local warlord came and snatched up all the healthy male 16 year olds to fight in his sure to lose war. The villagers said, "how luck the boy is." The wise man said, "we'll see."
Process is all. Results can not be compelled, or even wholly earned, but are gifts from God. In other words, man plans, God laughs.
But it still doesn't mean we should sacrifice a goat every now and then. Or kill a chicken.
Well, onto the next game, which is the Blazers. They're gonna face against the Hornets tomorrow before they go up against us this Wednesday. They're also on a four-game losing streak.
Yes, please zap that from my memory. What a disappointing end to the weekend. I had planned on offering more positive comments rather than pointing out things I think the Dubs need to improve on, but, well, you know the rest…
Some thoughts/observations:
* One of my main issues with Curry is that he’s not more of a leader. He leads in the sense that he’s selfless and happy-go-lucky and the ethos and culture of the team takes after him. And that’s a joy to watch. But he’s not a leader in the sense of Chris Paul, LBJ, or Jordan. He doesn’t command that kind of respect. I don’t necessarily need him to be that; although it would be nice if he had a little more of that mentality. What I do want from him, though, is to be more assertive about his offensive role on the team. As a superstar and the greatest shooter of all time I’d like to see him stop trying to get others going and/or letting others get theirs before him, and be more demanding about getting the ball and making sure his teammates know that he’s the alpha, so they treat and play with him accordingly. In the vein of what D-West said: “F*ck those guys. You gotta go!”
* Can’t stress enough how detrimental Wanamaker’s play is to the team. Because he can’t facilitate or score, the second unit as a whole is pretty much guaranteed to lose any gains the starters make. This puts so much pressure on the first unit. Not to mention Kerr can’t trust him and thus can’t form a steady second unit or solid rotations. If Brad doesn’t step it up it’ll be pretty disappointing if Meyers doesn’t move him.
* I keep think-hoping the Dubs will stabilize and be more consistent. But now I’m not so sure that’s on the horizon. Can’t tell if it’s the team or if it’s a reflection of the times we live in.
* I was half-expecting Wiggins to eventually return to his baseline but the eye test says he’s dipped below that, especially from 3. Even his defense looks to be regressing. Anyone got any stats on him for the last month, as compared to the rest of the season?
* At least the starters got some extra rest and the bench got more work in.
Completely arbitrary number but Wiggins in his past 15 games, 29% from 3. I had confidence in Oubres shot coming around but I can't say the same for Wiggins. His career high is 35% from 3 in his 3rd year and since then it's been 33% every year. It's unlikely he improved it as much as it seemed earlier in the year, but I also think he's not this bad. I'm guessing his percentage will settle between 33-35 which honestly isn't that good. He's not aggressive enough going to the rim to make up for it imo. He settles way too often. I really wish he was on a better contract.
Will you get me some of that tea that me and Lapsang got when we were free climbing the Mayan ruins?
Just give into the power of the tea...
I ran through the opening possessions to figure out what went wrong leading up to the Lakers being up 18-5. Here's what I saw:
- Wiggins got torched by Schroder two or three times leading to at least 5 for the Lakers.
- Oubre, Wiggins, and Steph got decent looks from 3 but just missed them.
- Gasol made it impossible for Looney to score around the rim even when he got the ball in good position.
- Steph had some miscommunications on defense that led to the Lakers getting 3-point plays. (He and Looney didn't cleanly unswitch Morris under the basket; he and Oubre both jumped at KCP leaving Lebron an open 3 on a pick & pop.)
Later the Lakers closed the quarter on an 11-0 run, mostly fueled by turnovers and transition offense. Lebron forced two turnovers from Green, Steph just fell over, Bazemore took it into trouble... Then poor transition defense from Curry and Oubre left Wiseman in some tough spots defensively.
Mulder came in and played some really strong defense, but for naught. He, Steph, and others had good looks they just missed, and several guys just committed dumb fouls (a trend that would continue all night).
So, my takeaways from this game are that our whole team just played badly, Wiggins can't defend Schroder, and Gasol is still an elite rim protector. It's not fair to pin this one on guys like Wanamaker; we were down 20 before he even got in the game. It's really the starters who bear the most responsibility for this one.
Guys who did alright this game: JTA and Mulder, Paschall maybe. That's about it.
Hope Draymond's ankle injury is nothing. Anything else would be the worst takeaway of all.
Bring Nico up to take Brad's spot. It's time
I missed this game, dinner at Mom's, and DoorDash was 90 minutes (!) late, and even so it appears the Dubs had a more frustrating evening than my family did. I see Paschall got 18 and Wanamaker and Steph combined for 13 assists but the foul numbers look awful and everything else looks pretty meh. Most of the Lakers numbers look decent but not amazing. But that's just the obvious numbers. It sounds like the reality is we got used as a floor mop. Maybe I was better off missing it.
"If he fails to answer, he is lost. If he answers, he dies. What must he do?" Hmmm... drop the t-shirts, grab the rafters with his now-free hands, go hand-over-hand to the side, climb down, and flagrantly foul the man who shouted at him because that man must be the Buddha?
Lmao Apricot, I don't know what kind of write up this is, but I absolutely love it!
We need to save HB from Sactown. 28-6-6 and still gets the L.
Championship defense meets mediocre offense and results in an ugly loss unless scorers other than Steph rise to the challenge.
Wiggins better not be in Schroder next time we play them. At this point I feel like Steph would do better
Lmao!!!
Worst game of the year. Best post-game write-up.
A boy was given a horse for his 16th birthday. The villagers said, "how lucky." The wise man said, "we'll see." The next day he fell off the horse and broke a leg. The villagers said, "how tragic." The wise man said, "we'll see." The next day a local warlord came and snatched up all the healthy male 16 year olds to fight in his sure to lose war. The villagers said, "how luck the boy is." The wise man said, "we'll see."
Process is all. Results can not be compelled, or even wholly earned, but are gifts from God. In other words, man plans, God laughs.
But it still doesn't mean we should sacrifice a goat every now and then. Or kill a chicken.
Well, onto the next game, which is the Blazers. They're gonna face against the Hornets tomorrow before they go up against us this Wednesday. They're also on a four-game losing streak.
6. “The wild Dubs do not intend to cast their reflections; the Lakers have no mind to retain their image.” — Zenrin Kushu
Yes, please zap that from my memory. What a disappointing end to the weekend. I had planned on offering more positive comments rather than pointing out things I think the Dubs need to improve on, but, well, you know the rest…
Some thoughts/observations:
* One of my main issues with Curry is that he’s not more of a leader. He leads in the sense that he’s selfless and happy-go-lucky and the ethos and culture of the team takes after him. And that’s a joy to watch. But he’s not a leader in the sense of Chris Paul, LBJ, or Jordan. He doesn’t command that kind of respect. I don’t necessarily need him to be that; although it would be nice if he had a little more of that mentality. What I do want from him, though, is to be more assertive about his offensive role on the team. As a superstar and the greatest shooter of all time I’d like to see him stop trying to get others going and/or letting others get theirs before him, and be more demanding about getting the ball and making sure his teammates know that he’s the alpha, so they treat and play with him accordingly. In the vein of what D-West said: “F*ck those guys. You gotta go!”
* Can’t stress enough how detrimental Wanamaker’s play is to the team. Because he can’t facilitate or score, the second unit as a whole is pretty much guaranteed to lose any gains the starters make. This puts so much pressure on the first unit. Not to mention Kerr can’t trust him and thus can’t form a steady second unit or solid rotations. If Brad doesn’t step it up it’ll be pretty disappointing if Meyers doesn’t move him.
* I keep think-hoping the Dubs will stabilize and be more consistent. But now I’m not so sure that’s on the horizon. Can’t tell if it’s the team or if it’s a reflection of the times we live in.
* I was half-expecting Wiggins to eventually return to his baseline but the eye test says he’s dipped below that, especially from 3. Even his defense looks to be regressing. Anyone got any stats on him for the last month, as compared to the rest of the season?
* At least the starters got some extra rest and the bench got more work in.
Can't believe the Warriors got a 4 day break in between games. Can't wait to play the Blazers and try to extend this winning streak to 4!