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W's lost the game because the ancillary shooters, JP, D.Lee, also Otto and Belly all failed at the same time. This allowed to Hornets to guard Steph with a 6'9" athletic wing. (Their version of Kuminga).

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Nov 14, 2021Liked by Eric Apricot

Thanks Eric. This is exciting stuff.

I thought Kimingas body position on defense looked like Dray or Andre; that perfect low stance with the off arm straight up. It’s hard to commit a foul from that position. Sky is the limit if he can nail his defense like those two have.

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Nov 14, 2021Liked by Eric Apricot

I guess this one is more of an Explain One Play[er], huh?

I'm pretty excited for how Kuminga is progressing. In his previous (garbage-time) NBA playtime, he's looked timid and all too ready to chuck up outside jumpers that aren't going in at a good rate. This time, we got to see him defend some quality players and (aside from falling for the pump fake on his first possession) he did really well. Not easy to force DeRozan into giving the ball up (with the shot clock running low!) or bother him into a long-midrange miss when he wanted to drive.

Then on offense it was great to see the rook drive to the basket, something that he did well in Summer League but hadn't gotten the chance to do against real NBA competition yet. I love that the team got him going with the simple inverse PnR with Steph—and credit to 00, he had the quickness and the handle to get around guys when they tried to help or recover to him. Seems like his aggressiveness continued into garbage time when he kept driving rather than just taking shots. He did have one wide-open 3pt attempt off a Bjelica drive-and-kick, which he took and clanked—but I don't mind as that sure looked like "a shot created [that] must be taken".

The parts I didn't really catch during the actual game were the communication—him pointing to ensure switches and stuff like that. Maybe I'm imagining things but it looks to me like he may even have called out to Porter to ensure he knew about the cross-switch. Oh, and I didn't see how the mixup on the rebound happened; the best my mind could process in the moment was, "oops, we're all out of position after an offensive rebound" which is, of course, typical. That sort of mixup is unfortunate but not something that'll hold him out of games, because pretty much everyone does it sometimes.

Honestly impressed with how both Kuminga and Moody are playing already. Kerr and the coaching staff must be very pleased, but it's only getting harder to find playing time for all the guys on this team who can contribute. We'll see about Klay and Wiseman when they're back from injury, but right now it feels like the entire roster should play every game.

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Nov 14, 2021Liked by Eric Apricot

Fantastic E1P (plus, the old music)!

Kuminga looked kind of lost in the summer league, but much less so during the Bulls game. Would be really great to see his growth continue. Thanks for doing such a nice job documenting this development, Eric.

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I'm thinking that nobody should be surprised that the Warriors defense is so good. Green and Iguodala have always been elite defenders, Wiggins has proven to be very capable on defense, Curry has always been better than he gets credit for as is Looney, and the guys they added, GPII was know as a defensive specialist before anybody noticed his ability to dunk, JTA proved himself last year, and Kuminga always had the physical attributes to be a good on ball defender. OPJ and Bjelica aren't great shot blockers but they are competent on defense. Poole is really the only serious weakness and even he has gotten better.

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Not only is kuminga have quick feet to stay in front and beat dribvlers to the spot, he so strong that even if they get a step on him he will bump them out of their spots and comfort zones, the kid is going to be nice.

I really want to see him play GP2s role though

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Nov 14, 2021Liked by Eric Apricot

“He just saw too many zero’s...” Trying to split kab00m and gl0ve.

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Nov 14, 2021Liked by punk basketball

I knew I liked Kuminga at his presser when he corrected Myers about GPII number ANCs stuck with 00 fire himself. Good people skills and leadership there.

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To me, that moment is kind of the tell that Myers didn’t know what he had in GP2.

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“Corrected Myers about GPII number and stuck with 00 for himself…” darn autocorrect

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Nov 14, 2021Liked by punk basketball

I did not like 00 at first, now I kinda do. Myers looked a bit confused unfortunately, but Kuminga showed maturity. I like the kid and he just has the body of a great basketball player. Hopefully he can reach that.

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So Klay will be back dec 20 vs kings or 23rd vs griz.

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Seems likely, as they will want it at home, and especially Klay has always been lethal vs the Kings.

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Lol… that ain’t playful, it’s straight complaint, and a legit one.

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It was probably the main reason, played out in the language of the game itself, why KD was destined not to stay in the Bay. Your point guard is the best screening guard and decoy in the NBA, and you can't even set a real screen for him.

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