If this pick hits for the Lakers im ready to crown them the best scouting/development FO of the last 30 years.
@jovanbuha
Anthony Davis mentioned Jalen Hood-Schifino as a player who stood out in camp: “He can really play. He’s shifty. He can shoot the basketball. He reads the floor well.”
It’s not the same front office. Pelinka has been there since 2017 and since then the only starter they’ve drafted or developed has been Reaves. Which certainly was a great get.
If you’re going back 30 years it’s really just giving credit to Jerry West.
I’m still hoping that at some point, maybe if they’re able to secure a comfortable playoff position, they’ll really lean into letting Kuminga explore working the post and midrange more. He’s shown a lot of flashes of being a tough shot maker, and the few times he did go from the post into a midrange shot or a running baby hook-floater, it *felt* like he never missed (he did miss some, of course, but overall it’s a very intriguing potential skill set of his).
Right now, Kuminga doing those things is very unlikely to be efficient enough to be worth it compared to the team’s other options, and compared to putting Kuminga as a roll man/cutter/spot up shooter. But at some point they need to invest in him like that.
I also strongly suspect that Kuminga does better when given more responsibility. He really got up for the challenge whenever they put him on guys like DeRozan, Lebron, Luka, etc., on the G League Ignite when they gave him center responsibilities, et cetera. And I am willing to bet that letting him explore his offensive game a bit more would likely result in him doing more of the little things as well, like boxing out. Is that ideal? Not really, but it’s not exactly unexpected for a guy who’s 21.
Regardless, they absolutely have to give him a longer leash. I don’t think he’s the kind of player that responds well to a short one.
Unless his dribble has improved markedly, I doubt he's going to be doing much one-on-one stuff. It would be relatively easy to shut him down ... just stunt a player at him, and he will always pick up his dribble.
But, I can certainly see him coming off a screen and shooting a middie. Defenders are going to have to stay back to avoid getting dunked on. It's just whether he can make them or not.
Agree, I'm looking for more action off high post screens, fake handoffs, etc. Would love to see him get more confident as a quick decision maker with the ball. Maaaaaybe a little wing 1:1 if he has a good matchup against bad bench D, but he primarily needs to be a hub that provides downhill pressure to create space for the shooters.
Starting to get excited about the Dubs' prospects this coming season. When healthy, they've got 10! key rotation players (last year's starting five, plus CP3, Saric, JK, Moody, GP2), and that doesn't even include Corey Joseph, TJD, Podz, Gay, Lester, or Garuba.
Hoping Kerr can trust his non-starters enough to give at least the top five subs enough minutes to keep them happy. If his starters could play a couple minutes less per game this year, then they'd be in great shape for the playoffs. WGBC?
A living hell for defenses? I'm looking forward to seeing that -- over and over and over again. I hope they run these kinds of actions until a learned helplessness sets in for the opponent.
Am I the one who’s been seeing pics and clips of Moody and think he’s looking like he’s beefed up a bit? In his rookie year, it looked like his biggest need was getting stronger and we hoped that wouldn’t be too difficult with those wide shoulders. Now it seems to be happening. Looks like he has shoulder pads on under his shirt: https://youtu.be/HcPBbwbRxM0?si=vR-LgIFFJXtzTUKS
To me, his biggest need was improving lateral quickness and defensive footwork, not getting stronger. He’s a burly guy with more than enough strength for a 2/3 at his age, but it doesn’t matter if he can’t manage defensive spacing and stay in front of people well enough.
People mentioned that he'd beefed up from his rookie year in the last training camp. I wonder if there could be a comparison between last year and this year.
Enjoyed the clip. Seems like he's good at giving you enough detail that it feels like he's giving the audience some insight while being smart enough to know not what to say.
If he's able to switch onto bigger 3s and 4s without being completely overmatched, that's a big plus for him, imo... being able to credibly defend 2s & 3s and switch 1-4 gives Kerr a lot of flexibility in how to utilize him.
He /does/ look like he's filled out. He also looks like a man now. Pro trainers, plenty of work in the weight room, and a couple of years for a 19 year old make a HUGE difference.
On a side note, there's been some discourse about how the U.S. basketball systems aren't producing great big men and I have to admit I'm not really seeing it.
When it comes to internationally developed big men, Jokic/Giannis/Porzingis/Sabonis come to mind.
When it comes to domestically developed big men, we have Embiid (he started playing basketball at 15 and largely developed within our system when he arrived in the US at 16)/Davis/Adebayo/Jackson Jr./KAT.
Their two superstar big men are better than our two superstar big men HOWEVER Bam/Jackson/Jr./KAT are much better than Porzingis/Sabonis IMHO so we got better depth. I'm just not seeing this idea that the US development system is so behind international leagues when it comes to big men development.
I can think of quite a few more internationally developed big men, including several who have played with the Warriors. Can you think of quite a few more domestically developed big men?
Seems like many of our domestically developed big men play football.
Oh, I see. OK, I’m thinking of Adams, Embiid ( sorry) Nurkic, Jurkich,, KAT , Saric, Porziņģis, Lopez, Lopez, Wembanyama, Gobert, then Jokic, etc.Those are just a few versus AD, Bam, JJJ.
My man, even if KAT is Dominican, that is entirely irrelevant to the question at hand. KAT was developed within the US Basketball system/environment playing for Lady of Fatimah/Theodore Middle school, St Joseph High scool, and Kentucky for college.
Embiid doesn't count either, he spent of his basketball development within the United States from 16 onwards (he started playing basketball at 15).
Robin/Brook Lopez both developed in the US Basketball system playing middle/high/college basketball in the United States.
Wembanyama hasn't played an NBA minute, I refuse to count him as evidence of good European development. Rudy Gobert is an example I forgot.
Also, as Attilla mentioned, I was talking about top-tier dominating superstars. If we wanted to talk about more second/third level players, I could bring up US Centers like Myles Turner, Ayton, and Jarrett Allen.
And you're talking about top-tier dominating superstars. There are plenty of second- or third-level guys who are good but not great, like Myles Turner, Ayton, Jarrett Allen, and Brook Lopez.
Not all of the guys that were listed in the initial posting were seven footers. Seems to me, and this is probably inappropriate to say, but it has a lot to do with Eastern European (Slavic) and western North African genes.
Let’s assume that there might be one or two other people, besides me, who couldn’t remember what portmanteau meant. Nevertheless, the second definition, which is the one you were favoring.
Wait... this is intended as a connection to the "ring" that is the basketball hoop? I was always wondering how you were going to refresh the account name to accommodate the additional championship rings... how weird, indeed!
One (double) question. When he’s not playing with Stephen and Klay, but leading the second unit, whose gravity is going to get him open? And also whose elite shooting is he going to be feeding?
The second team will function differently than the first -- as has been the case in the past. Sarić and Moody (or even Klay or Wiggs) will spread the floor. Kuminga, GP, or TJD will play PNR with CP. I'm looking forward to seeing the change-up offense.
But Saric (.391 from 3 last season), Kuminga (.370 at age 20), Moody (.363 at age 20, and .591 in the playoffs), Joseph (.389), Lester Q (.354 G-League), Podz (.438 college), Payton (.444 on low volume), and Garuba (.407 on low volume) can all shoot the ball, too.
Kuminga/Moody/Payton/Garuba have had those percentages on limited volume. Joseph/Lester/Podz (did not have an elite FT% in college at 77%) will rarely touch the floor given our guard depth.
Those percentages, placed within context, does not inspire confidence in shooting.
Klay/Wiggins will likely be on the floor alongside Chris/Saric in a lot of those minutes to help provide spacing for bench lineups.
Yes... hockey style line shifts don't seem to be very prevalent in basketball, so Chris will not be playing with an "all bench" lineup much, if ever. It'll be Chris with 2 starters, and 2 of the other bench guys, some of whom are decent shooters.
I think he's often going to be playing with at least one of Steph, Klay and Wiggs, so there should be some gravity in most situations. Saric and Moody can also provide a bit. Ideally, he should always have both an elite shooter option and a big man option (boy do I wanna see Chase become Lob City).
I think people sometimes forget that CP3 is not just an elite mid-range shooter from the elbows — he's also an elite shooter from three when open with his feet set (e.g. the eye-opening 52.3% on catch-and-shoot threes that Joe Viray cites here, with six seasons in his career over 38% from three, despite rarely having good shots created for him) and elite FT shooter (87% career, with four seasons over 90%).
He's not gonna hunt threes regularly, or get his shot off in a nanosecond like #30; and of course he's too short to get his shot off over defenders, like Klay does. But he's a lot like Nash and Stockton in that his elite passing and floor-generalship has often made fans overlook how elite he is as a shooter, from every part of the floor, including beyond the arc. Nash after retiring and witnessing Steph's ascendance expressed regret about not hunting his own shot more at his peak; and I think anyone who rooted against the Jazz in the '90s (both vs. our lowly Warriors and in the Finals vs. the less-lowly Bulls) knew that little bastard Stockton could not miss, and were relieved every time he passed up an open look.
Joe's (typically) awesome diary lays out some of the way getting CP3 off ball more, in less predictable offensive sets, can leverage his elite shooting more than we've seen to date. Maybe Nash or Stockton would have been able to pull out a 'chip at some point in their careers if they had been better able to exploit their own historically elite shooting rather than having to be on ball and "manage the offense" 24/7/365? The hope here is that Kerr + Steph can help the Point God get the 'chip that eluded both Nashty and that dirty little talented bastard Stockton.
On a related note: both Nash and Stockton were still elite in their age 38 seasons. 😊
Good comment. We've worried for several seasons about "who can get us the tough 2s" when the offense stagnates. Well, guess who seems to always get an open elbow jumper when his team needs a bucket? CP3. Perfect fit.
Yeah, I agree that the Chris' mid-range prowess can add much-needed diversity to the O, especially in late clock situations when other actions have been thwarted.
At the same time, the mid-range two, even from someone who's awesome at it, is not typically a great primary offensive option. All the times we went against CP3, I was never really terrified of him "going to work" in the mid-range off the dribble. The time he scared me most was on those '18-19 Rockets teams, when the threat of him both on- and off-ball, both from two and from three, with other great scorers/shooters/cutters all around him.
I guess my point is that even if the traditional CP3 P&R ballhandling and mid-range elbow Js remain his bread-and-butter, his elite off-ball shooting, screening, and all around genius IQ decision-making give him the potential to add more dimensions than that on the Warriors.
I dunno, I've rewatched some of the 2018 WCF against those Rockets and he was really making hay finding mid-range creases when the Rockets couldn't hit threes. Nobody is saying it should be a primary option, but a +50% look at a two point shot when you aren't getting other good looks and the game has settled into a halfcourt rock fight is a wonderful option. Think back to the few times when the Warriors were throttling a team defensively but couldn't score for minutes at a time...
Yeah, I like it as pace-changer, for sure. Offensive diversity is a great thing (and predictability can be deadly). I'm just saying he can be even more dangerous if he's doing more than just plying the mid-range all day.
>But he's a lot like Nash and Stockton in that his elite passing and floor-generalship has often made fans overlook how elite he is as a shooter
This, seconded. I keep thinking about how Steph's elite shooting and willingness to play off-ball make fans overlook how elite he is as a passer, and the opposite is true of CP3. Really going to be fascinating to see them working together.
Oct 6, 2023·edited Oct 6, 2023Liked by Eric Apricot
The Warriors are hopeful Dray will be ready for the last two preseason games, but "are sure he will be back by opening night". He was not wearing a boot, on crutches, or limping yesterday. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSFcCNAlDLo
Why do you think they aren't being overly cautious? I haven't done a study or anything but the Warriors training staff is consistently among the most conservative in the NBA.
I watched the raw practice footage and was encouraged; this analysis makes me anticipate their interaction even more. Thanks
If this pick hits for the Lakers im ready to crown them the best scouting/development FO of the last 30 years.
@jovanbuha
Anthony Davis mentioned Jalen Hood-Schifino as a player who stood out in camp: “He can really play. He’s shifty. He can shoot the basketball. He reads the floor well.”
It’s not the same front office. Pelinka has been there since 2017 and since then the only starter they’ve drafted or developed has been Reaves. Which certainly was a great get.
If you’re going back 30 years it’s really just giving credit to Jerry West.
Vet says nice thing about rookie teammate. Stop the presses?
“If this pick hits for the Lakers…”
I’m still hoping that at some point, maybe if they’re able to secure a comfortable playoff position, they’ll really lean into letting Kuminga explore working the post and midrange more. He’s shown a lot of flashes of being a tough shot maker, and the few times he did go from the post into a midrange shot or a running baby hook-floater, it *felt* like he never missed (he did miss some, of course, but overall it’s a very intriguing potential skill set of his).
Right now, Kuminga doing those things is very unlikely to be efficient enough to be worth it compared to the team’s other options, and compared to putting Kuminga as a roll man/cutter/spot up shooter. But at some point they need to invest in him like that.
I also strongly suspect that Kuminga does better when given more responsibility. He really got up for the challenge whenever they put him on guys like DeRozan, Lebron, Luka, etc., on the G League Ignite when they gave him center responsibilities, et cetera. And I am willing to bet that letting him explore his offensive game a bit more would likely result in him doing more of the little things as well, like boxing out. Is that ideal? Not really, but it’s not exactly unexpected for a guy who’s 21.
Regardless, they absolutely have to give him a longer leash. I don’t think he’s the kind of player that responds well to a short one.
Unless his dribble has improved markedly, I doubt he's going to be doing much one-on-one stuff. It would be relatively easy to shut him down ... just stunt a player at him, and he will always pick up his dribble.
But, I can certainly see him coming off a screen and shooting a middie. Defenders are going to have to stay back to avoid getting dunked on. It's just whether he can make them or not.
Agree, I'm looking for more action off high post screens, fake handoffs, etc. Would love to see him get more confident as a quick decision maker with the ball. Maaaaaybe a little wing 1:1 if he has a good matchup against bad bench D, but he primarily needs to be a hub that provides downhill pressure to create space for the shooters.
Starting to get excited about the Dubs' prospects this coming season. When healthy, they've got 10! key rotation players (last year's starting five, plus CP3, Saric, JK, Moody, GP2), and that doesn't even include Corey Joseph, TJD, Podz, Gay, Lester, or Garuba.
Hoping Kerr can trust his non-starters enough to give at least the top five subs enough minutes to keep them happy. If his starters could play a couple minutes less per game this year, then they'd be in great shape for the playoffs. WGBC?
WGBC!
https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/playoff-loss-warriors-returned-lab/1660811/?amp=1
No LeBron tomorrow. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38577305/lakers-lebron-james-not-play-saturday-preseason-opener
Also the Kings signed Jeremy Lamb to an Exhibit 10 training camp deal. I wondered where he would resurface. https://twitter.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/1710121976751136792
I wonder where Anthony Lamb will resurface.
On Sacramento, apparently? He shaved his head, dropped 40 lbs., and started calling himself “Jeremy.”
Ooops wrong Lamb. Feeling sheepish.
I think it be-hooves you to learn their first names.
You should feel ba-aa-ad
Ewe got that right!
Get the flock outta here. No need to lambast them like that...
Didn't see this till now. It was fun.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bh2ecAij2JQ
Austin Reaves is not playing tomorrow.
https://twitter.com/khobi_price/status/1710364908632879370
Chickens!
Court Work: Breaking down how Steph Curry & Chris Paul can work together on the floor | NBA Today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8OSaBfQ1C4
(A bunch of other stuff first including Harden. Skip to 6:31 for the title-promised content)
.
.
.
(Joe does it better)
Joe's was much better. That one was meh.
Yes.
A living hell for defenses? I'm looking forward to seeing that -- over and over and over again. I hope they run these kinds of actions until a learned helplessness sets in for the opponent.
Am I the one who’s been seeing pics and clips of Moody and think he’s looking like he’s beefed up a bit? In his rookie year, it looked like his biggest need was getting stronger and we hoped that wouldn’t be too difficult with those wide shoulders. Now it seems to be happening. Looks like he has shoulder pads on under his shirt: https://youtu.be/HcPBbwbRxM0?si=vR-LgIFFJXtzTUKS
To me, his biggest need was improving lateral quickness and defensive footwork, not getting stronger. He’s a burly guy with more than enough strength for a 2/3 at his age, but it doesn’t matter if he can’t manage defensive spacing and stay in front of people well enough.
Noticed last year from the start of the season to the end that he was putting on some muscle mass.
People mentioned that he'd beefed up from his rookie year in the last training camp. I wonder if there could be a comparison between last year and this year.
https://youtu.be/hdHVEXNvSV8?si=0K5_0FLzPNiR23Id
Yeah, I thought he was looking more bulked up in his media day interview
https://youtu.be/xW_yUxVYyck?si=QKClCDNdR9dB3BnS
Enjoyed the clip. Seems like he's good at giving you enough detail that it feels like he's giving the audience some insight while being smart enough to know not what to say.
That was one of the knocks on him coming in (not strong, couldn't sit in a defensive stance for long), so I'm sure he's working very hard on it.
I know you're not wrong, but I have to chuckle at scouts knocking a 19 year old for not being strong enough.
For sure, he seems broader and with some added bulk too.
If he's able to switch onto bigger 3s and 4s without being completely overmatched, that's a big plus for him, imo... being able to credibly defend 2s & 3s and switch 1-4 gives Kerr a lot of flexibility in how to utilize him.
Iggy with a jumper!
He will not have that Iguodala athleticism or those hands...
Or Igoudala's sardonic sense of humor.
He /does/ look like he's filled out. He also looks like a man now. Pro trainers, plenty of work in the weight room, and a couple of years for a 19 year old make a HUGE difference.
Maaaaan, the mention of D'Antoni/Nash's Suns has me reminiscing.
They were SO much fun to watch and 7 Seconds or Less just sounds so freaking cool.
Nash was just incredible. almost a career 50/40/90 and was a pass first guy that had such vision. so great.
On a side note, there's been some discourse about how the U.S. basketball systems aren't producing great big men and I have to admit I'm not really seeing it.
When it comes to internationally developed big men, Jokic/Giannis/Porzingis/Sabonis come to mind.
When it comes to domestically developed big men, we have Embiid (he started playing basketball at 15 and largely developed within our system when he arrived in the US at 16)/Davis/Adebayo/Jackson Jr./KAT.
Their two superstar big men are better than our two superstar big men HOWEVER Bam/Jackson/Jr./KAT are much better than Porzingis/Sabonis IMHO so we got better depth. I'm just not seeing this idea that the US development system is so behind international leagues when it comes to big men development.
I can think of quite a few more internationally developed big men, including several who have played with the Warriors. Can you think of quite a few more domestically developed big men?
Seems like many of our domestically developed big men play football.
I'm talking about big men who are currently in the league.
Oh, I see. OK, I’m thinking of Adams, Embiid ( sorry) Nurkic, Jurkich,, KAT , Saric, Porziņģis, Lopez, Lopez, Wembanyama, Gobert, then Jokic, etc.Those are just a few versus AD, Bam, JJJ.
How are the Lopez twins internationally developed?! And KAT?
KAT is Dominican and played with DR national team at 16. ( Wiki). Lopez, Ybarra thinking of Spanish player.
My man, even if KAT is Dominican, that is entirely irrelevant to the question at hand. KAT was developed within the US Basketball system/environment playing for Lady of Fatimah/Theodore Middle school, St Joseph High scool, and Kentucky for college.
Embiid doesn't count either, he spent of his basketball development within the United States from 16 onwards (he started playing basketball at 15).
Robin/Brook Lopez both developed in the US Basketball system playing middle/high/college basketball in the United States.
Wembanyama hasn't played an NBA minute, I refuse to count him as evidence of good European development. Rudy Gobert is an example I forgot.
Also, as Attilla mentioned, I was talking about top-tier dominating superstars. If we wanted to talk about more second/third level players, I could bring up US Centers like Myles Turner, Ayton, and Jarrett Allen.
And you're talking about top-tier dominating superstars. There are plenty of second- or third-level guys who are good but not great, like Myles Turner, Ayton, Jarrett Allen, and Brook Lopez.
Does football really have a lot of 7-footers though?
Not all of the guys that were listed in the initial posting were seven footers. Seems to me, and this is probably inappropriate to say, but it has a lot to do with Eastern European (Slavic) and western North African genes.
Sabonis seems more like a hybrid than pure international guy. He was born in the U.S., moved away then played two seasons at Gonzaga.
Programming notes:
In case anyone is interested, NBA TV's preview of the Warriors is airing at 4PM Pacific today.
Also, the second Minny/Dallas game is on very early tomorrow (9AM Pacific)
Yesterday, I finally figured out where your handle derives from.
Super clever, one of my favorites here now!
never thought about it, but yeah! altho should be a double two-ring test, yes? maybe make a portmanteau of Fourier and Turing? FourRing Test
A word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two different words, as chortle, from chuckle and snort.
(this isn't meant to be snarky, but) did someone ask what portmanteau meant. maybe I missed it.
that and onomatopoeia are two of my fave words. and you happened to pick a word (chortle) that is a portmanteau of two onomatopoeias, I believe :-)
Altho I never thought it was a portmanteau. thought it was just a word, but...
"1871: coined by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking Glass; probably a blend of chuckle and snort."
so huzzah to you, good sir or madam or other!
Let’s assume that there might be one or two other people, besides me, who couldn’t remember what portmanteau meant. Nevertheless, the second definition, which is the one you were favoring.
Not following this one at all.
One hoop at one end, one hoop at the other, hence TwoRingTest.
Regardless, I spent all of three minutes thinking it up, and I'm pretty happy with it. So, I'm not going to do a Fourier transform on it. :)
🔔 Who's that?🔔 Oh Hi Karl Malone!
Since bots fabricate but do not yet cleverly mislead with sarcasm, you pass the meatsack test.
I didn't connect hoop with ring. I was thinking championship rings, of which we have four recent ones :-)
and props for knowing that Fourier transforms!
Ah ... how weird. The connection to championship rings never crossed my mind. Amazing people communicate at all sometimes.
Wait... this is intended as a connection to the "ring" that is the basketball hoop? I was always wondering how you were going to refresh the account name to accommodate the additional championship rings... how weird, indeed!
Thanks!
Great article as always.
CP3 is going to be amazing here. He’ll be taking those backbreaking elbow jumpers with nobody close to him thanks to Steph and Klay’s gravity.
Those jumpers are sweet, but now that he's on the Warriors, the league will take away a couple of the other tools he has left in repertoire: https://www.nba.com/news/how-nba-referees-will-assess-new-flopping-violations
So long as Celebrini can keep him healthy. Do your thing, Dr. Rick...
One (double) question. When he’s not playing with Stephen and Klay, but leading the second unit, whose gravity is going to get him open? And also whose elite shooting is he going to be feeding?
The second team will function differently than the first -- as has been the case in the past. Sarić and Moody (or even Klay or Wiggs) will spread the floor. Kuminga, GP, or TJD will play PNR with CP. I'm looking forward to seeing the change-up offense.
Good answer.
And who in the bench has the ‘elite shooting’?
I bet they rotate him a lot with Klay.
But Saric (.391 from 3 last season), Kuminga (.370 at age 20), Moody (.363 at age 20, and .591 in the playoffs), Joseph (.389), Lester Q (.354 G-League), Podz (.438 college), Payton (.444 on low volume), and Garuba (.407 on low volume) can all shoot the ball, too.
As can Chris himself.
Kuminga/Moody/Payton/Garuba have had those percentages on limited volume. Joseph/Lester/Podz (did not have an elite FT% in college at 77%) will rarely touch the floor given our guard depth.
Those percentages, placed within context, does not inspire confidence in shooting.
Klay/Wiggins will likely be on the floor alongside Chris/Saric in a lot of those minutes to help provide spacing for bench lineups.
Yes... hockey style line shifts don't seem to be very prevalent in basketball, so Chris will not be playing with an "all bench" lineup much, if ever. It'll be Chris with 2 starters, and 2 of the other bench guys, some of whom are decent shooters.
One of CP's superpowers is getting to his midrange spots, where he's money.
I think he's often going to be playing with at least one of Steph, Klay and Wiggs, so there should be some gravity in most situations. Saric and Moody can also provide a bit. Ideally, he should always have both an elite shooter option and a big man option (boy do I wanna see Chase become Lob City).
Those would be big man, Saric, and big man GP2, too?🙃
I think people sometimes forget that CP3 is not just an elite mid-range shooter from the elbows — he's also an elite shooter from three when open with his feet set (e.g. the eye-opening 52.3% on catch-and-shoot threes that Joe Viray cites here, with six seasons in his career over 38% from three, despite rarely having good shots created for him) and elite FT shooter (87% career, with four seasons over 90%).
He's not gonna hunt threes regularly, or get his shot off in a nanosecond like #30; and of course he's too short to get his shot off over defenders, like Klay does. But he's a lot like Nash and Stockton in that his elite passing and floor-generalship has often made fans overlook how elite he is as a shooter, from every part of the floor, including beyond the arc. Nash after retiring and witnessing Steph's ascendance expressed regret about not hunting his own shot more at his peak; and I think anyone who rooted against the Jazz in the '90s (both vs. our lowly Warriors and in the Finals vs. the less-lowly Bulls) knew that little bastard Stockton could not miss, and were relieved every time he passed up an open look.
Joe's (typically) awesome diary lays out some of the way getting CP3 off ball more, in less predictable offensive sets, can leverage his elite shooting more than we've seen to date. Maybe Nash or Stockton would have been able to pull out a 'chip at some point in their careers if they had been better able to exploit their own historically elite shooting rather than having to be on ball and "manage the offense" 24/7/365? The hope here is that Kerr + Steph can help the Point God get the 'chip that eluded both Nashty and that dirty little talented bastard Stockton.
On a related note: both Nash and Stockton were still elite in their age 38 seasons. 😊
Splash uncle?
Good comment. We've worried for several seasons about "who can get us the tough 2s" when the offense stagnates. Well, guess who seems to always get an open elbow jumper when his team needs a bucket? CP3. Perfect fit.
Yeah, I agree that the Chris' mid-range prowess can add much-needed diversity to the O, especially in late clock situations when other actions have been thwarted.
At the same time, the mid-range two, even from someone who's awesome at it, is not typically a great primary offensive option. All the times we went against CP3, I was never really terrified of him "going to work" in the mid-range off the dribble. The time he scared me most was on those '18-19 Rockets teams, when the threat of him both on- and off-ball, both from two and from three, with other great scorers/shooters/cutters all around him.
I guess my point is that even if the traditional CP3 P&R ballhandling and mid-range elbow Js remain his bread-and-butter, his elite off-ball shooting, screening, and all around genius IQ decision-making give him the potential to add more dimensions than that on the Warriors.
I dunno, I've rewatched some of the 2018 WCF against those Rockets and he was really making hay finding mid-range creases when the Rockets couldn't hit threes. Nobody is saying it should be a primary option, but a +50% look at a two point shot when you aren't getting other good looks and the game has settled into a halfcourt rock fight is a wonderful option. Think back to the few times when the Warriors were throttling a team defensively but couldn't score for minutes at a time...
Yeah, I like it as pace-changer, for sure. Offensive diversity is a great thing (and predictability can be deadly). I'm just saying he can be even more dangerous if he's doing more than just plying the mid-range all day.
>But he's a lot like Nash and Stockton in that his elite passing and floor-generalship has often made fans overlook how elite he is as a shooter
This, seconded. I keep thinking about how Steph's elite shooting and willingness to play off-ball make fans overlook how elite he is as a passer, and the opposite is true of CP3. Really going to be fascinating to see them working together.
The Warriors are hopeful Dray will be ready for the last two preseason games, but "are sure he will be back by opening night". He was not wearing a boot, on crutches, or limping yesterday. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSFcCNAlDLo
It's ramp up season!
Training Ramp
That’s great news!
Why do you think they aren't being overly cautious? I haven't done a study or anything but the Warriors training staff is consistently among the most conservative in the NBA.
#trustinrick