When he was in 8th grade he was really mature and close to if not at his adult height.
A friend of mine was a HS coach that was in the area where Kidd went to school and was hoping he was going to attend his school.
Kidd went to another high school and my friend uttered an all time classic line that I have never forgotten. “That’s ok, Kidd is an early maturer and won’t be that good. He is already a man.”
He spent the next 4 years being probably the best high school player in Bay Area history.
After he Kidd won his first state title, I asked my friend do you still think J Kidd is not going to be that good?😊
[Tomer]Kawhi will be held out certain drill work to Clippers training camp. They will focus on strengthening and loading. Inflammation has gone down but not completely.
[Charania] Clippers star Kawhi Leonard underwent a procedure on his knee in the offseason, sources tell me and @LawMurrayTheNU. The franchise said today Leonard will be limited to strengthening his knee to start Clippers training camp, but team officials are optimistic about his progress
> The Golden State Warriors have waived two-way guard Daeqwon Plowden, league sources told
@hoopshype. Plowden averaged 14.6 points and shot 39.6% from 3-point range in eight Summer League games combined in Las Vegas and California for the Warriors.
Which is the same competition for 2-way spots we were looking at before this move. Post gets a spot, and the other three compete for two spots. I imagine if Post sucks in camp and the others all look really good, he could lose that spot but it's unlikely. So... nothing has substantially changed.
Interesting move. You were right ... they went with a PG (Spencer).
I wonder if Mr. Plow will end up at SCW. Kind of shabby to sign him to a two-way in July and dump him in Sept., honestly (unless he got some pay as a two-way over the summer, which I doubt).
That's why Orlando traded his G-League rights to Atlanta... cuz they were expecting this kind of move. In the end, the Warriors needed to find a spot for Post, and they've clearly liked Spencer for a while now, and want to give him a good shot at proving himself.
Pretty soon we will know how the V’s get to choose players.
I really like the Liberty mascot Ellie the Elephant. I think it is extremely amusing. It would be nice if the V’s would have a similarly amusing, non-warrior specific, mascot.
“ He already has reached his goal of losing 10 to 15 pounds, and the 6-foot-9 center looks noticeably lean. “Loon is in phenomenal shape,” one source said.
As one of the NBA’s best rebounders the past few seasons, Looney played at 260 pounds and expects to play between 245 and 250 pounds this season, where he already is days away from training camp.”
And people were saying that Looney was his listed weight of 228 last season… lolz.
If I had a nickel for every offseason observation about how Loon is going to expand his game with the three-ball, I'd actually have a good number of nickels
> Looney’s main objective once the season concluded [...] was to expand his game and again restructure his body. That meant losing weight to play faster, be more versatile on the wing, guard the perimeter and yes, start shooting 3-pointers.
>
> He already has reached his goal of losing 10 to 15 pounds, and the 6-foot-9 center looks noticeably lean.
> As one of the NBA’s best rebounders the past few seasons, Looney played at 260 pounds and expects to play between 245 and 250 pounds this season [...] “I feel lighter, I feel a lot lighter,” Looney says. “I feel lighter on my feet, I feel like I can move better. I can move the way I want to for longer and I feel like I got a little more stamina. I’ll still be in the post and I got to defend those big bodies, so maintain that strength and improve weaknesses that I wanted.
If #wrongguy Looney can make a comeback, I'm pretty pumped about our defensive capability... especially with the leagues widely celebrated heavy tack toward allowing "defense" after the ASB. Can somebody make the argument that we're NOT going to be a top defense this year (that doesn't involve Dray's dumbass getting suspended for hella games again)?
Above average defenders: Dray, Loon, GP2, Anderson, Melton, "Good Wiggins"
Average defenders: Moody, Kuminga, TJD, Podz, Waters? Santos?
Below average defenders: Steph, Hield, "Bad Wiggins", Post?
If we get more "Good Wiggins" than "Bad Wiggins", which I'm very confident we'll get, we have a LOT of plus defenders in the rotation, and will rarely have multiple weak links out there. If we're getting "Bad Wiggins", Kerr better have a short leash and give those minutes to Moody/GP2/Podz/Melton instead (I think JK will be getting a full allotment of minutes, so can't really give him more). I felt obligated to put Steph in the "below average" group because of his visible decline, but he's really the best kind of "bad defender" in that he's relatively easy to hide, rebounds well, plays well within the scheme, and battles to the best of his abilities, and he may very well be more "average" for his position.
All in all, you can quibble about if we'll have a good offense, but there's no doubt in my mind that we'll have a hellacious defense, certainly top 10, quite probably top 5.
I’ve been on this train of thought for sure. A couple of additional thoughts:
1. The above average group has some really good-to-elite defenders in their ranks.
2. With consistent minutes, I could easily see any of the guys in the “average” group moving into “above average” cohort.
3. Similarly, Post and Hield are guys who are good candidates to move up. Post showed really good shot blocking instincts and Hield needs to buy in or Kerr won’t play him big minutes.
So as long as you avoid playing SC and my buddy Buddy together, their defense will be SIF*, as the kids say.
I could quite easily see TJD/Kuminga/Podz moving into the "above average" cohort. We're going to have an excellent defense, definitely top 10.
Hot take, whether or not our defense is top 5 (aka elite), will depend on TJD's rise to prominence. Our one weak link on defense is the lack of rim protection which he provides in spades.
And that "hellacious defense" should lead to some early buckets off turnovers and help get the offense going at the beginning of games. Our slow starts were a problem much of last season. Really hope we look to emphasize pushing the ball up the floor in general, especially with Podz presumably heading the second unit this year instead of Paul.
And, of course, Real GM Radio just published a podcast episode where they had the Warriors just out of their projected Top 10 defenses next year behind OKC, Minny, Orlando, Boston, Memphis, New York, San Antonio, Miami, Cleveland, and Philly... it's all projections, and I suppose that list is hard to argue against... and they were talking about Zach Eddy a LOT in their Memphis discussion, which is "interesting".
Yeah, I kind of have this feeling that Memphis's defense might not be so cohesive this year even if some guys like JJJ are individually good. And I'll be curious what our defensive schemes will be like with the assistant coach changes.
Also, does Stack coach them to stick with the hot three point shooter in the corner, or do they stay with the Kenny approach of over helping in the lane? I didn't hate Kenny, but hated seeing that over and over again.
Just gonna disagree on a point I've been seeing too much. 'Bad Wiggins' was still our best perimeter defender. He wasn't as aggressive offensively as he could/should have been, but he gave effort on D every time.
Who cares if he gave effort, what I care about is production. Firstly, GP2 was our best perimeter defender last year. Secondly, while Wiggins was our second best perimeter defender last year, thats far more of an indictment of our perimeter defense than a positive for Wiggins. Thirdly, even while being our second best perimeter defender, Wiggins was still a poor defender last year.
His Crafted DPM had his defensive performance ranked in the 38th percentile. His DWS was 1.6, a precipitous -1.4 drop from his 2020-22 years. His defensive box plus minus was -1.2 (terrible). His defensive percentage point difference was a paltry -0.3% which is a tremendous 2.6% drop from his 2020-22 years. His STOCK % dropped 0.8% from the 2020-22 years.
Hopefully he'll play better this year and go back to his previous level of performance.
Mostly agree… but his defense suffered early last the season too. It came back around much quicker than his offense, and I expect both to be solid this season. Early 22/23 season Wiggins would be amazing for this team.
> If he, Dray, and Anderson can all be "competent low volume wide open 3 shooters", does that change... anything?
I can't see teams giving any of these guys more defensive attention, but say you could pencil in Dray every night for 10, and Anderson/Looney for another 10-15 (just because they aren't guarded), and maybe another 8 from TJD.
That's a fair bit of production from the two positions that historically haven't had much scoring production for the Dubs (with some exceptions: West, Speights leap to mind). It might go a fair way to replacing the production we would get from a 1a/2 wing scorer.
Trace average 8 in 16 minutes a game as a rookie. Play him 36 and he could flirt with 15-20 points and double digit rebounds and triple digit dunks and quadruple digit blocks and I’m getting carried away now.
Yeah, I don't see their 3pt shooting causing any meaningful uptick in their inside scoring, or pulling their defenders out of the paint. IMO, it just raises the floor of "what's the worst outcome of this half court possession", which is something, but not that much. Maybe worth ~0.2-0.3 points per game.
I don't think their shooting is going to move defenders, but if they can sink 1 out of 3 wide open ones (or a little better) that's a few more points on the board. That's what I meant anyway. You're correct that shooting a couple of threes a game isn't going to change how defenders play them.
Gotta be better than 1 in 3 - otherwise, defenses are going to "Westbrook" them and give them just enough room to easily launch their threes while also looking like they are trying to close out a little too late.
An alternative would be a dribble hand-off while setting a screen; if the original defender is too far away from the action, then the player getting the screen should have a good look.
1 in 3 isn't horrible for an end of possession shot attempt... the best NBA half court offenses only score ~1.05 point per possession, so a 3PA that nets 1 point per possession isn't bad in some contexts.
Passing to a cutter or getting a better shooter a midrange shot (or hitting 2s consistently themselves) could be more productive than sinking 1 out of 3 from distance.
Besides, those guys rarely take three 3-pt attempts per game. Draymond last took that many in 2019-20 and SloMo has only taken more than 1.6 3s per game once in his career ('20-'21). TJD took a grand total of 3 3-pointers in four years of college and averaged 0.7 last season. Looney averages 0.1 3PT attempts/game for his career. Our chances of lightning striking are almost as good as the chances of those guys taking 3 pg and sinking 1 out of 3 or better.
I think if SloMo, Draymond, Looney and TJD can combine for something approaching league average 3P%, that’s something.
Not only does it raise the floor worst possible shot attempt, but I think teams will respect them just enough to shade a little more their way. I think most team perception of a “league average 3-point shooter” is a guy you don’t want to leave wide open with his feet under him (especially in the corner), even if those are the only shots he takes to get league average.
It’s like those nights when Draymond gets hot from deep; after like 3 of them, he starts sticking his tongue out and yapping and they feel like they gotta play a little D on him just to wipe the smirk off his face.
There's levels to this tho... Dray has a slow shooting motion to get his feet and balance right, Anderson & Looney have been really slow, and TJD is who knows. And their shot releases are lower, on top of being slower, all of which lets their defender sag one more step away, which can be the difference between a clogged lane and an unclogged lane. If they can get their "wide open 3" up to 36%, that's decent, but it probably only moves their defender by half a step unless they speed up their motion, raise their shot release while also getting their percentage up. That kind of complete reconstruction is really hard.
I was trying to think of offensive centers on the Dubs, and I thought Bogues might have scored some.
Looking up his numbers though, Bogues' high for the Dubs was 7.3 ppg in the 2013-14 season and dwindled rapidly after that. So, his scoring was significantly less than Draymond's (who never was below 7 ppg after his 2nd year in the league).
Bogues was a scorer when he came into the league but a horrible elbow injury sapped his ability to score. On the other hand, that's why we were able to get him.
Podz is an oddity: a possible star or just a solid role player. Unless a big injury happens, he will be one of those two. But for the Warriors that difference is huge and critical. Will he be a Klay or Steph replacement or just a bit part of the next team? I'm not sure which way I'd bet....
I think the organization has him penciled in as a star in the future. The fact that they resisted trading him in a Markkanen deal speaks volumes about how the organization feels about him. He's not the most athletic, but his BBIQ, even at such a young age, is off the charts and he's motivated to get better. The dude's a winner and a great teammate doing what it takes to advance the cause. Everybody's trying to find someone to compare him to, but I think he's just Podz and maybe down the road folks will use his name as a comparison to some up-and-coming star.
Now if he could just get his FT percentage up above 80....
Even if he's not a star, I disagree that "solid role player" is his only other path. I think he's already a player type the Warriors have sought for a long time - a chaotic-energy-boost-but-still-under-control change-of-pace 2nd unit guy. To get so many charges called as a rookie is incredible - it was GP I or peak Marcus Smart territory. If his shot improves, I'm pretty sure we're got a nitro role player for 12-20 minutes a night who doesn't give the game away and on some nightsmight just take it over.
I bet he becomes a guy who averages about 15 a game, rebounds well, is a glue guy and average one on one defender.
I just see his size and lack of quickness and above average athleticism as a huge, not impossible hurdle to overcome in a league which becomes bigger and more athletic by the year. If he was 6-7 I would be a lot higher on him, no pun intended. Now before someone says Steph is in the same realm physically as Podz, they are completely different beyond the basic size, athleticism comp on paper. Steph has elite quickness in his own special way.
I was intrigued watching Podz in batting practice though. He looked good and that overall athletic ability is a big plus that could prove me wrong.
Hope I am wrong but I see his ceiling as a good NBA player, never an all star.
Either way it will be fun and interesting to watch and what more can you ask for?
As far as Podz' size, he's 6'4" (Basketball Ref says 6'5" but I don't think that's the official measurement) and 205 lb. That's fine for a 1/2 guard. He seems pretty strong, and he's 21 years old and will get stronger, being a hard worker. He has a high BBIQ and doesn't make a lot of mistakes, especially for a young 'un. If he develops into a good playmaker, which I think he will, and his three-point shot and FG % solidify, he can be a starting-quality, difference-making guard without being an elite athlete. Future All Star? I don't know about that. But hey, maybe at least once.
I agree. The reason I mentioned if he was 6-7 was the additional size would help compensate for the lack of high level athleticism, explosive first step,etc.
He certainly believes in himself so like I said, I hope I am wrong he tells me to eat my IPad😊
In terms of J Kidd comparison I don’t see it in terms of their skill set. They do have a lot of intangibles in common for sure.
I saw Kidd play probably 25 times from the his freshman year to his senior year in HS. I know some here remember them moving league games against Bishop O’Dowd to the Oakland Coliseum and 10,000 people attending.
Although I have no empirical evidence to back it up, something about Podz makes me think of Jason Kidd. Maybe it's just the competitive spirit and aggressive play.
Kidd and Podz are the same size, too. Klay and Peja Stojaković... well certainly the shooting. Stojaković was taller and a mite heavier (a 6'10" small forward!). I am trying to remember Peja as a defender and failing completely.
I mean, he won’t be Steph, since being the best small basketball player of all time by a huge margin is hard to do.
But as young as he is, I could see his ceiling in terms of overall impact being roughly the level of Klay (even if his specific strengths and weaknesses are completely different).
Well, as a ceiling. He could also max out as just a solid, scrappy role player. I’d call that his floor.
I guess the obvious “upside comp” in terms of style would be Manu? I’d personally rate Manu slightly ahead of Klay on my all-time list, though I know many would not.
Podz is interesting. Right now, he seems like the ultimate glue guy. He makes the team better, but it’s not clear how high his offensive or defensive ceiling is. Thinking of other glue guy players (Andre Iguodala, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Marcus Smart), they’re all much better defenders than I expect Podz will be.
Jrue is more than a glue guy though. He's not a #1 but he can be a solid #3 and a go-to scorer when needed. He and Iggy were the top 2 guys in Phillie for awhile.
Warriors just waved Plowden and signed post to that 2-way slot. Sound like Plowden will get an Exhibit 10 and compete with Blake Hinson, among others, for one of the 2-way slots.
Does anyone know if Plowden actually gets paid ANYTHING for the couple months he was under contract?
I *believe* GSW can do whatever informal workouts they like before training camp. For instance, GSW can and has worked out various other free agents for a spot on the training camp team. There is some confusing language in the NBA CBA (VII.4.i) about "Summer Contracts". I *think* that is just about summer league and doesn't constrain other off-season activity.
However, "No player shall attend the regular training camp of any Team, or participate in games or organized practices with the Team at any time, unless he is a party to a Player Contract then in effect. " (NBA CBA II.13.b). The CBA also says every team can have a minimum of 14 NBA & Two-Way contracts & Non-Guaranteed Training Camp contracts and a maximum of 6 Non-Guaranteed Training Camp contracts.
New thread about GSW waiving Plowden and signing Post.
https://dubnationhq.com/p/gsw-signs-quinten-post-but-waive
When he was in 8th grade he was really mature and close to if not at his adult height.
A friend of mine was a HS coach that was in the area where Kidd went to school and was hoping he was going to attend his school.
Kidd went to another high school and my friend uttered an all time classic line that I have never forgotten. “That’s ok, Kidd is an early maturer and won’t be that good. He is already a man.”
He spent the next 4 years being probably the best high school player in Bay Area history.
After he Kidd won his first state title, I asked my friend do you still think J Kidd is not going to be that good?😊
Kawhi:
r/LAClippers
18 min. ago
bigblack3475
Fun Guy
emoji:kawhi2:
[Tomer]Kawhi will be held out certain drill work to Clippers training camp. They will focus on strengthening and loading. Inflammation has gone down but not completely.
r/LAClippers
23 min. ago
mastermind208
Robert Covington
emoji:roco:
[Charania] Clippers star Kawhi Leonard underwent a procedure on his knee in the offseason, sources tell me and @LawMurrayTheNU. The franchise said today Leonard will be limited to strengthening his knee to start Clippers training camp, but team officials are optimistic about his progress
This guy... can't get his knee right...
Shams is also reporting Kawhi had a procedure done on the knee recently.
> The Golden State Warriors have waived two-way guard Daeqwon Plowden, league sources told
@hoopshype. Plowden averaged 14.6 points and shot 39.6% from 3-point range in eight Summer League games combined in Las Vegas and California for the Warriors.
https://x.com/MikeAScotto/status/1838696374121996515
To sign QP
https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/1838706355768840625
> They still intend to bring Plowden to camp to compete for a two-way spot.
So Beekman vs. Mr. Plow vs. Spencer (though it feels more like Beek vs. Plow)
Has anyone seen Beekman play? Do I remember correctly that he is 6’1” tall? What is his attraction?
Please, not another short player.
He's short but he was a great college defender with long arms and ran a team well. I wrote a scouting report here: https://dubnationhq.com/p/meet-all-the-new-warriors-quinten?utm_source=publication-search
Which is the same competition for 2-way spots we were looking at before this move. Post gets a spot, and the other three compete for two spots. I imagine if Post sucks in camp and the others all look really good, he could lose that spot but it's unlikely. So... nothing has substantially changed.
Interesting move. You were right ... they went with a PG (Spencer).
I wonder if Mr. Plow will end up at SCW. Kind of shabby to sign him to a two-way in July and dump him in Sept., honestly (unless he got some pay as a two-way over the summer, which I doubt).
I did not predict they'd cut Plowden though, seem pretty dumb unless their "intention" to bring him to camp actually happens.
I hadn't seen that second tweet. OK, sounds like a lot of nothing, so far, other than it lets DP take another team's two-way spot, if one is on offer.
Here's hoping DP makes our team.
That's why Orlando traded his G-League rights to Atlanta... cuz they were expecting this kind of move. In the end, the Warriors needed to find a spot for Post, and they've clearly liked Spencer for a while now, and want to give him a good shot at proving himself.
very good point, and one I'd forgotten (clearly).
Warriors' Steve Kerr on Olympics, Curry & DNC Speech | The TK Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5sDQsuqBic
Great interview, but I guess Steve didn't get Eric's request to keep it free from politics :)
Feel free to reply in the youtube comments ;)
Happy to have him discussing it extensively on the TK Show, just not here
There's a spelling error in Quinten Post's name.
"Are you talking about the rookies like Quentin Post? Or are you working with the younger guys like Kuminga, Moody, and Podziemski?"
Just remember that he has 9 older brothers. Quinone, Quintwo, Quinthree...
I'm still waiting for a good "not just a single Quinone, but two Quiñones" joke.
The second youngest, Quinine, loves his Gin and Tonic.
With the typo I thought his brothers were Quengold, Quensilver, Quencopper, and Quenzinc. Thanks for clearing this up.
It's nice to know that I'm not alone in this world of bad jokes. So glad that we can work together in alloygnment.
Bessemer if you just lay off the metal puns. But ingot this one.
I forgot that the first brothers were actually twins, named Quinones (Lester).
I thought he had four brothers and they were Quintuplets.
Well maybe at least he's the Quintessential stretch 5 we've been looking for
QuinX
Used to be called "Quintwitter"
So would it be a Quintwitter post or a queet?
That's smart.
I get this wrong very often myself
Auto correct gets it wrong too.
In related news, I told my computer to remember "Hield" and "Podz"...
I need to do that for Valkyries. Did I spell it right?
Pretty soon we will know how the V’s get to choose players.
I really like the Liberty mascot Ellie the Elephant. I think it is extremely amusing. It would be nice if the V’s would have a similarly amusing, non-warrior specific, mascot.
Im extremely excited by the possibility of the V's gettign Alyssa Thomas in Free Agency!
Valerie the Velociraptor?
Veronica the Vole?
If it helps, "kyrie" is in the name...
He should marry a “Val”. I say this as one half of a Jenny Craig
https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/kevon-looney-evolution-year-10/1784545/?partner=yahoo&cid=yahoo
Long form Looney article on NBCSBA, reinforcing what we've heard all summer... but with a IG video of him making 2 consecutive corners 3s.
If he, Dray, and Anderson can all be "competent low volume wide open 3 shooters", does that change... anything?
8 more sleeps till training camp! 12 more sleeps till gameday!
“ He already has reached his goal of losing 10 to 15 pounds, and the 6-foot-9 center looks noticeably lean. “Loon is in phenomenal shape,” one source said.
As one of the NBA’s best rebounders the past few seasons, Looney played at 260 pounds and expects to play between 245 and 250 pounds this season, where he already is days away from training camp.”
And people were saying that Looney was his listed weight of 228 last season… lolz.
Wow, I did not realize he was THAT heavy last season. He's obviously a big guy but... yikes. No wonder he looked so slow.
Correction: 11 till gameday -I doubt I'll be able to sleep!
If I had a nickel for every offseason observation about how Loon is going to expand his game with the three-ball, I'd actually have a good number of nickels
It's almost like Ben Simmons' annual summer videos showing him sinking 3s. Then reality bites.
Loon-three? Doesn't exactly flow, will have to workshop some nick names once he starts splashing threes nightly
Kevon Durant!
Kevon Loorant?
"Loon from the Moon!"
> Looney’s main objective once the season concluded [...] was to expand his game and again restructure his body. That meant losing weight to play faster, be more versatile on the wing, guard the perimeter and yes, start shooting 3-pointers.
>
> He already has reached his goal of losing 10 to 15 pounds, and the 6-foot-9 center looks noticeably lean.
> As one of the NBA’s best rebounders the past few seasons, Looney played at 260 pounds and expects to play between 245 and 250 pounds this season [...] “I feel lighter, I feel a lot lighter,” Looney says. “I feel lighter on my feet, I feel like I can move better. I can move the way I want to for longer and I feel like I got a little more stamina. I’ll still be in the post and I got to defend those big bodies, so maintain that strength and improve weaknesses that I wanted.
If #wrongguy Looney can make a comeback, I'm pretty pumped about our defensive capability... especially with the leagues widely celebrated heavy tack toward allowing "defense" after the ASB. Can somebody make the argument that we're NOT going to be a top defense this year (that doesn't involve Dray's dumbass getting suspended for hella games again)?
Above average defenders: Dray, Loon, GP2, Anderson, Melton, "Good Wiggins"
Average defenders: Moody, Kuminga, TJD, Podz, Waters? Santos?
Below average defenders: Steph, Hield, "Bad Wiggins", Post?
If we get more "Good Wiggins" than "Bad Wiggins", which I'm very confident we'll get, we have a LOT of plus defenders in the rotation, and will rarely have multiple weak links out there. If we're getting "Bad Wiggins", Kerr better have a short leash and give those minutes to Moody/GP2/Podz/Melton instead (I think JK will be getting a full allotment of minutes, so can't really give him more). I felt obligated to put Steph in the "below average" group because of his visible decline, but he's really the best kind of "bad defender" in that he's relatively easy to hide, rebounds well, plays well within the scheme, and battles to the best of his abilities, and he may very well be more "average" for his position.
All in all, you can quibble about if we'll have a good offense, but there's no doubt in my mind that we'll have a hellacious defense, certainly top 10, quite probably top 5.
I’ve been on this train of thought for sure. A couple of additional thoughts:
1. The above average group has some really good-to-elite defenders in their ranks.
2. With consistent minutes, I could easily see any of the guys in the “average” group moving into “above average” cohort.
3. Similarly, Post and Hield are guys who are good candidates to move up. Post showed really good shot blocking instincts and Hield needs to buy in or Kerr won’t play him big minutes.
So as long as you avoid playing SC and my buddy Buddy together, their defense will be SIF*, as the kids say.
* stingy as fuck
I could quite easily see TJD/Kuminga/Podz moving into the "above average" cohort. We're going to have an excellent defense, definitely top 10.
Hot take, whether or not our defense is top 5 (aka elite), will depend on TJD's rise to prominence. Our one weak link on defense is the lack of rim protection which he provides in spades.
Moody could become an above average on-ball defender at least. He has "poor man's Iggy" hands, quite disruptive.
Yeah... I downplayed how I really think a lot of those guys can perform in an effort to challenge my pro-Warriors bias.
And that "hellacious defense" should lead to some early buckets off turnovers and help get the offense going at the beginning of games. Our slow starts were a problem much of last season. Really hope we look to emphasize pushing the ball up the floor in general, especially with Podz presumably heading the second unit this year instead of Paul.
I'm really hoping they find their defensive identity early. I think the offense might be a WIP for a while.
And, of course, Real GM Radio just published a podcast episode where they had the Warriors just out of their projected Top 10 defenses next year behind OKC, Minny, Orlando, Boston, Memphis, New York, San Antonio, Miami, Cleveland, and Philly... it's all projections, and I suppose that list is hard to argue against... and they were talking about Zach Eddy a LOT in their Memphis discussion, which is "interesting".
Yeah, I kind of have this feeling that Memphis's defense might not be so cohesive this year even if some guys like JJJ are individually good. And I'll be curious what our defensive schemes will be like with the assistant coach changes.
Also, does Stack coach them to stick with the hot three point shooter in the corner, or do they stay with the Kenny approach of over helping in the lane? I didn't hate Kenny, but hated seeing that over and over again.
Just gonna disagree on a point I've been seeing too much. 'Bad Wiggins' was still our best perimeter defender. He wasn't as aggressive offensively as he could/should have been, but he gave effort on D every time.
Sorry, I just tire of the Wiggins slander.
Who cares if he gave effort, what I care about is production. Firstly, GP2 was our best perimeter defender last year. Secondly, while Wiggins was our second best perimeter defender last year, thats far more of an indictment of our perimeter defense than a positive for Wiggins. Thirdly, even while being our second best perimeter defender, Wiggins was still a poor defender last year.
His Crafted DPM had his defensive performance ranked in the 38th percentile. His DWS was 1.6, a precipitous -1.4 drop from his 2020-22 years. His defensive box plus minus was -1.2 (terrible). His defensive percentage point difference was a paltry -0.3% which is a tremendous 2.6% drop from his 2020-22 years. His STOCK % dropped 0.8% from the 2020-22 years.
Hopefully he'll play better this year and go back to his previous level of performance.
Mostly agree… but his defense suffered early last the season too. It came back around much quicker than his offense, and I expect both to be solid this season. Early 22/23 season Wiggins would be amazing for this team.
It seemed like he was out of shape, which leads one to suspect he had bigger things going on than getting a lot of run in.
One of the things was 100% "starting the offseason with freshly broken ribs"...
> If he, Dray, and Anderson can all be "competent low volume wide open 3 shooters", does that change... anything?
I can't see teams giving any of these guys more defensive attention, but say you could pencil in Dray every night for 10, and Anderson/Looney for another 10-15 (just because they aren't guarded), and maybe another 8 from TJD.
That's a fair bit of production from the two positions that historically haven't had much scoring production for the Dubs (with some exceptions: West, Speights leap to mind). It might go a fair way to replacing the production we would get from a 1a/2 wing scorer.
Trace average 8 in 16 minutes a game as a rookie. Play him 36 and he could flirt with 15-20 points and double digit rebounds and triple digit dunks and quadruple digit blocks and I’m getting carried away now.
Yeah, I don't see their 3pt shooting causing any meaningful uptick in their inside scoring, or pulling their defenders out of the paint. IMO, it just raises the floor of "what's the worst outcome of this half court possession", which is something, but not that much. Maybe worth ~0.2-0.3 points per game.
I don't think their shooting is going to move defenders, but if they can sink 1 out of 3 wide open ones (or a little better) that's a few more points on the board. That's what I meant anyway. You're correct that shooting a couple of threes a game isn't going to change how defenders play them.
Gotta be better than 1 in 3 - otherwise, defenses are going to "Westbrook" them and give them just enough room to easily launch their threes while also looking like they are trying to close out a little too late.
An alternative would be a dribble hand-off while setting a screen; if the original defender is too far away from the action, then the player getting the screen should have a good look.
1 in 3 isn't horrible for an end of possession shot attempt... the best NBA half court offenses only score ~1.05 point per possession, so a 3PA that nets 1 point per possession isn't bad in some contexts.
But if the shot clock is running down, the defenders are more likely to contest the shots knowing the player with the ball has to shoot
I was literally about to say this, are we twins!
Passing to a cutter or getting a better shooter a midrange shot (or hitting 2s consistently themselves) could be more productive than sinking 1 out of 3 from distance.
Besides, those guys rarely take three 3-pt attempts per game. Draymond last took that many in 2019-20 and SloMo has only taken more than 1.6 3s per game once in his career ('20-'21). TJD took a grand total of 3 3-pointers in four years of college and averaged 0.7 last season. Looney averages 0.1 3PT attempts/game for his career. Our chances of lightning striking are almost as good as the chances of those guys taking 3 pg and sinking 1 out of 3 or better.
The premise of the original post was that they became decent 3 point shooters.
I agree it's low probability.
I think if SloMo, Draymond, Looney and TJD can combine for something approaching league average 3P%, that’s something.
Not only does it raise the floor worst possible shot attempt, but I think teams will respect them just enough to shade a little more their way. I think most team perception of a “league average 3-point shooter” is a guy you don’t want to leave wide open with his feet under him (especially in the corner), even if those are the only shots he takes to get league average.
It’s like those nights when Draymond gets hot from deep; after like 3 of them, he starts sticking his tongue out and yapping and they feel like they gotta play a little D on him just to wipe the smirk off his face.
There's levels to this tho... Dray has a slow shooting motion to get his feet and balance right, Anderson & Looney have been really slow, and TJD is who knows. And their shot releases are lower, on top of being slower, all of which lets their defender sag one more step away, which can be the difference between a clogged lane and an unclogged lane. If they can get their "wide open 3" up to 36%, that's decent, but it probably only moves their defender by half a step unless they speed up their motion, raise their shot release while also getting their percentage up. That kind of complete reconstruction is really hard.
But that half step isn’t insignificant.
As an aside to this:
I was trying to think of offensive centers on the Dubs, and I thought Bogues might have scored some.
Looking up his numbers though, Bogues' high for the Dubs was 7.3 ppg in the 2013-14 season and dwindled rapidly after that. So, his scoring was significantly less than Draymond's (who never was below 7 ppg after his 2nd year in the league).
Bogues was a scorer when he came into the league but a horrible elbow injury sapped his ability to score. On the other hand, that's why we were able to get him.
Podz is an oddity: a possible star or just a solid role player. Unless a big injury happens, he will be one of those two. But for the Warriors that difference is huge and critical. Will he be a Klay or Steph replacement or just a bit part of the next team? I'm not sure which way I'd bet....
I think the organization has him penciled in as a star in the future. The fact that they resisted trading him in a Markkanen deal speaks volumes about how the organization feels about him. He's not the most athletic, but his BBIQ, even at such a young age, is off the charts and he's motivated to get better. The dude's a winner and a great teammate doing what it takes to advance the cause. Everybody's trying to find someone to compare him to, but I think he's just Podz and maybe down the road folks will use his name as a comparison to some up-and-coming star.
Now if he could just get his FT percentage up above 80....
Even if he's not a star, I disagree that "solid role player" is his only other path. I think he's already a player type the Warriors have sought for a long time - a chaotic-energy-boost-but-still-under-control change-of-pace 2nd unit guy. To get so many charges called as a rookie is incredible - it was GP I or peak Marcus Smart territory. If his shot improves, I'm pretty sure we're got a nitro role player for 12-20 minutes a night who doesn't give the game away and on some nightsmight just take it over.
I bet he becomes a guy who averages about 15 a game, rebounds well, is a glue guy and average one on one defender.
I just see his size and lack of quickness and above average athleticism as a huge, not impossible hurdle to overcome in a league which becomes bigger and more athletic by the year. If he was 6-7 I would be a lot higher on him, no pun intended. Now before someone says Steph is in the same realm physically as Podz, they are completely different beyond the basic size, athleticism comp on paper. Steph has elite quickness in his own special way.
I was intrigued watching Podz in batting practice though. He looked good and that overall athletic ability is a big plus that could prove me wrong.
Hope I am wrong but I see his ceiling as a good NBA player, never an all star.
Either way it will be fun and interesting to watch and what more can you ask for?
As far as Podz' size, he's 6'4" (Basketball Ref says 6'5" but I don't think that's the official measurement) and 205 lb. That's fine for a 1/2 guard. He seems pretty strong, and he's 21 years old and will get stronger, being a hard worker. He has a high BBIQ and doesn't make a lot of mistakes, especially for a young 'un. If he develops into a good playmaker, which I think he will, and his three-point shot and FG % solidify, he can be a starting-quality, difference-making guard without being an elite athlete. Future All Star? I don't know about that. But hey, maybe at least once.
I agree. The reason I mentioned if he was 6-7 was the additional size would help compensate for the lack of high level athleticism, explosive first step,etc.
He certainly believes in himself so like I said, I hope I am wrong he tells me to eat my IPad😊
In terms of J Kidd comparison I don’t see it in terms of their skill set. They do have a lot of intangibles in common for sure.
I saw Kidd play probably 25 times from the his freshman year to his senior year in HS. I know some here remember them moving league games against Bishop O’Dowd to the Oakland Coliseum and 10,000 people attending.
Very cool that you saw so much of Kidd in HS! I remember seeing him once in his year at Cal but mostly just saw him in the NBA.
Although I have no empirical evidence to back it up, something about Podz makes me think of Jason Kidd. Maybe it's just the competitive spirit and aggressive play.
Kidd and Podz are the same size, too. Klay and Peja Stojaković... well certainly the shooting. Stojaković was taller and a mite heavier (a 6'10" small forward!). I am trying to remember Peja as a defender and failing completely.
BTW, similarly, somehow Klay Thompson made me think of Peja Stojaković.
In between star and role player is "starter." I'd be pretty happy with that, and I think the Dubs would be too.
I mean, he won’t be Steph, since being the best small basketball player of all time by a huge margin is hard to do.
But as young as he is, I could see his ceiling in terms of overall impact being roughly the level of Klay (even if his specific strengths and weaknesses are completely different).
Wow, even a comp to Klay is damn high praise, given the guy is 21.
Well, as a ceiling. He could also max out as just a solid, scrappy role player. I’d call that his floor.
I guess the obvious “upside comp” in terms of style would be Manu? I’d personally rate Manu slightly ahead of Klay on my all-time list, though I know many would not.
Sure, but naytheless. If you draft a guy you think might have Klay's upside, that's a pretty damn good pick (even if the final result is TBD).
Manu's an interesting thought.
Really looking forward to seeing if Podz can play point this year. If not, then I think there may be some limits we'll need to deal with.
Podz is interesting. Right now, he seems like the ultimate glue guy. He makes the team better, but it’s not clear how high his offensive or defensive ceiling is. Thinking of other glue guy players (Andre Iguodala, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Marcus Smart), they’re all much better defenders than I expect Podz will be.
Jrue is more than a glue guy though. He's not a #1 but he can be a solid #3 and a go-to scorer when needed. He and Iggy were the top 2 guys in Phillie for awhile.
The thing about ‘glue’ is that you need actual solid pieces to glue together.
Too many glue guys and you just get a gooey mess!
Murph: […] you said you’ve been working out with some of the young kids. Are you talking about the rookies like Quentin Post?
Unless I missed it, Post is not signed. Are the Warriors allowed to do anything with him that isn’t contract negotiations?
Warriors just waved Plowden and signed post to that 2-way slot. Sound like Plowden will get an Exhibit 10 and compete with Blake Hinson, among others, for one of the 2-way slots.
Does anyone know if Plowden actually gets paid ANYTHING for the couple months he was under contract?
https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2024/9/24/24253653/warriors-news-quinten-post-two-way-contract-waive-daeqwon-plowden
I *believe* GSW can do whatever informal workouts they like before training camp. For instance, GSW can and has worked out various other free agents for a spot on the training camp team. There is some confusing language in the NBA CBA (VII.4.i) about "Summer Contracts". I *think* that is just about summer league and doesn't constrain other off-season activity.
However, "No player shall attend the regular training camp of any Team, or participate in games or organized practices with the Team at any time, unless he is a party to a Player Contract then in effect. " (NBA CBA II.13.b). The CBA also says every team can have a minimum of 14 NBA & Two-Way contracts & Non-Guaranteed Training Camp contracts and a maximum of 6 Non-Guaranteed Training Camp contracts.
Thanks for the transcript! Good stuff, Q is always interesting to hear from.