Just peeked - hate to admit - at the old site; disgusted, don't know where they brought some mercenary commenters from; must have platooned them from across SB Nation/not DUB FANS. Anyway my thoughts after game 1....
- Don’t kid ourselves, Kerr’s challenge is to match Mark Jackson after a lottery/injury-plagued/covid-shortened season, and return Dubs to the playoffs/2nd round. MJax did it after lottery/injury-plagued/strike-shortened season with no David Lee after first playoff game, a hobbled/decoy Steph, a soph/spot-up-only-Klay, a 60 per cent Bogut, 3 rookies-who-got-starts in Green/Ezeli/playoff Barnes, and a 27th-ranked-Steph teammate-Jarrett Jack-off-the-bench who led Dubs in shooting efficiency/2d in scoring behind Steph for the ENTIRE playoffs of 2 rounds. Kerr is in a fairly similar position; perhaps, a bit better, if Wiggins starts playing like the top-draft-pick star he is, and our awesome rookie center plays up to his accelerated maturation capabilities.
- Do we miss flip-side Splash, 30-something-pts-qr-NBA-record/2d-most-3pts/3 ring/5 Finals-Klay….you know, the same Klay Thompson that led Dubs, with Steph hurting, over KD’s Thunder in spite of KD getting a couple of dozen pts in losing effort…you bet we do, a lot more than the dynasty-robbing-KD-acquisition…
This offense sucks without Dray being the playmaker and Klay being the executioner. Everyone just make a quick pop and miss or passing back and forth without off-the-ball movement, screening, cutting.
I feel like A LOT of wide open shots were missed. Oubre shot near 40% on catch and shoot 3s last year right? Wiggins ended up shooting 2/6 from 3 which is 33% so I guess we can't expect anything better there though I do think he has improved his shooting.
But honestly they should spam steph pnr with dray or wiseman lol. Even steph in his post game said he realizes most of his scores were when he was the primary handler
Adding some thoughts that I didn't see mentioned...
Wiseman had 13 shots and only maybe 2 or 3 felt forced or not within the flow of the offense (that sweeping hook and the Dirk fadeaway come to mind... on the fence about those two fast breaks).
We got beat 28 to 12 in fastbreak points. This should be one of our strengths but it all starts with defense. Not to keep beating down on Wiggins but there was one possession where he was scrambling for 3 or 4 rotations but literally wasn't guarding anyone because he was either late or confused as to who he should be rotating to. Draymond, we need you.
KD felt like he just popped out of the time machine from the 2019 playoffs pre-injury and continued balling... hoping for similar results for Klay.
Looking forward to more plays involving Steph and Wiseman, improved defense when Draymond comes back, and our wings hitting more open jumpers.
Will be very curious to see if Kerr sticks with Paschall as a starter in the next game if Draymond doesn't come back. I think starting Wiggins at the 4 against KD and now Giannis makes more sense from a short term basketball perspective, but I wonder if he has other considerations in mind (getting Wiggins and Oubre used to their usual roles, etc.). Definitely noticeable that he started the second half with JTA as the 4 instead of Paschall.
JTA and Paschall are an interesting comparison. Ideally you'd have Paschall playing the 3 so he could play next to Draymond if needed, but he can't really shoot so he has to stay at 4. JTA at the 3 is a disaster because he can't shoot, but he seems to have a remarkable ability to guard taller guys which allows him to play some 4 where it doesn't matter as much.
1. Wiseman, Wiseman, Wiseman. I did not hear a single report of legit shooting range during pre-draft talk. That he could nail a 3 and two long-2's in his debut is HUGE. This is a 19 year old's first game in over a year, and he was the second best player on the floor for us. His ultimate ceiling is an inhuman combination of a faster Embiid, stronger KG, and better shooting AD. Sky is truly the limit. By far the most important takeaway from this game, IMO.
2. Steph will be in MVP form this year. No concerns whatsoever there.
3. Start Lee. Bump Mulder into Poole's minutes. Shooting needs to be #1 priority.
4. I hate to say it cuz I love him and he's a Bruin, but we need to limit Looney minutes as much as possible. Too slow, too small, can't shoot. Thanks for the contributions in the Houston series, but I truly believe he needs to be moved towards the end of the bench once Dray is back.
1. Send Wiggins to the G-league. Start JTA in his place.
2. Make Oubre the 6th man and start Mulder or Lee at the 2.
3. Send Paschall to Ron Adams' intensive training camp for proper defensive positioning and don't let him on the floor again until he's done his homework there.
4. Start figuring out which lineups with Wiseman + either Looney or Chriss work, because we're going to want as many minutes as we can with two of those guys on the court. (All three were probably among our top 5 players tonight.)
5. Get Steph some new contact lenses.
6. Give Poole the reins when Steph sits. He's a little raw but he's got the energy to make things happen more than anyone else in the 2nd unit.
7. See if we can work out a trade with the Hawks to get Chelsea Lane back.
Train wreck tonight. Most upsetting to me was the huge number of sloppy live-ball turnovers in the middle of the court, particularly from Wiggins, Wanamaker, Bazemore, and Looney. Not a good start at all, but let's hope they just forget this one quickly. Very excited about the prospects of a real star in the stretch 5 position - Wiseman showed a lot tonight, although he did most of his damage in the absence of D. Jordan or J. Allen. JTA showed a lot of heart and Mulder continued to show his stroke, and D. Lee mixed it up inside to get some tough boards.
Let's hope that the poor games from Wiggins and Oubre were just isolated cases. If those guys can't put up numbers on a regular basis, we're going to be toast this year.
Of course if Dray would have played, we might have only lost by 23, so we have that going for us.
My impression was that the Warriors need to start every possession with a Curry pick and roll. Curry off ball is useless if he runs up to set a screen and his teammate stares blankly and they end up standing a few feet apart during the rest of the possession.
Curry giving up the ball to run around while his teammates bumble through awful offense isn’t fun to watch.
On D Wiseman played up early but then channeled his inner Whiteside and was backing away before changing direction and that seemed to lead to several open shots. Paschall should be glued to the bench when Curry is playing, Chriss needs more Curry run time, Looney was the only player who made Durant work, and Wiggins is not the answer for the second unit.
Bad first game jitters. Lost count of the point-blank shots that rolled out which were equaled or exceeded by the boneheaded turnovers. Looked exactly like the first game in 8 months with a bunch of guys who aren't used to each other. Patience...I'm having to tell myself. Patience.
Odds were that we were gonna get smoked anyways, and that's exactly what happened.
Loved what we got out of Wiseman and agree that we need to tinker the offensive priorities a bit to get him in pick and rolls with Steph.
Our defense is MILES away from being elite, much less average. Maybe the Nets are impossible to stop, but we are just way too soft , bad rotations, can't stop the dribble penetration. Just brutal. Combined with a paltry offensive showing and we have a recipe for a very very long season.
Hopefully it was just a bad night for Wiggins and Paschall. Got another tough one in a few days
This was a very ugly game for the Dubs. A total mismatch that went from bad to worse. Paschall on KD? First mistake. Kerr will try anything but he's really just short-handed. Pascall is not a real starter. Wiggins and Oubre trying to be heroes and not playing within their system. Oubre needs to control himself. Wiggins needs to push himself. Curry is the floor general whose troops are playing a different game than he is. There are no other leaders on the team, offensively. Everything needs to go through Steph and the wings must discipline themselves within this system. Shoot as you may won't work with this team. This is not the Warriors of the past.
Wiseman has turned out to be a revelation! A natural stretch 5 who can shoot at the perimeter. Who would have thought this? His offense is more developed than his defense, though. I didn't see the rebounder and rim defender I thought I would see but he's got the nose for the ball and he seems to be able to get his shot. He plays more like a SF. Great start to his career.
The Dubs can't match up with the Nets. They are too good and deep for us. This is the level we will have to attain to in order to really compete. The Dubs will have to bring their A game in order to beat ordinary teams, but their A game is not going to win many games against so many tough teams in the league. They have a long way to go to get it together. I'm not sure they have the talent, yet. Looks like this year will be the beginning of their rebuild. Even with Draymond adding his 10ppg, they are not offensively good enough. This is not a knock on Steph. He is only 1 player and this is a team game. They will have to re-tool this offense to finally include Wiseman in the starting 5. They couldn't run with the Nets. This was just about the worst start I've ever seen from them.
Paschall didn't look good in the preseason, and didn't look good tonight. The jumper doesn't look any better, and the rest of his offense and defense have been underwhelming. I thought he'd be a great scorer off the bench, now I'm not so sure.
Klay posts for first time after injury.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJHfN07M2kM/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
We miss you too Klay - not just your game but your personality. Heal up, brother (or as they say on The Expanse, beratna).
Just peeked - hate to admit - at the old site; disgusted, don't know where they brought some mercenary commenters from; must have platooned them from across SB Nation/not DUB FANS. Anyway my thoughts after game 1....
- Don’t kid ourselves, Kerr’s challenge is to match Mark Jackson after a lottery/injury-plagued/covid-shortened season, and return Dubs to the playoffs/2nd round. MJax did it after lottery/injury-plagued/strike-shortened season with no David Lee after first playoff game, a hobbled/decoy Steph, a soph/spot-up-only-Klay, a 60 per cent Bogut, 3 rookies-who-got-starts in Green/Ezeli/playoff Barnes, and a 27th-ranked-Steph teammate-Jarrett Jack-off-the-bench who led Dubs in shooting efficiency/2d in scoring behind Steph for the ENTIRE playoffs of 2 rounds. Kerr is in a fairly similar position; perhaps, a bit better, if Wiggins starts playing like the top-draft-pick star he is, and our awesome rookie center plays up to his accelerated maturation capabilities.
- Do we miss flip-side Splash, 30-something-pts-qr-NBA-record/2d-most-3pts/3 ring/5 Finals-Klay….you know, the same Klay Thompson that led Dubs, with Steph hurting, over KD’s Thunder in spite of KD getting a couple of dozen pts in losing effort…you bet we do, a lot more than the dynasty-robbing-KD-acquisition…
- The fun has just begun...LGW
This offense sucks without Dray being the playmaker and Klay being the executioner. Everyone just make a quick pop and miss or passing back and forth without off-the-ball movement, screening, cutting.
I feel like A LOT of wide open shots were missed. Oubre shot near 40% on catch and shoot 3s last year right? Wiggins ended up shooting 2/6 from 3 which is 33% so I guess we can't expect anything better there though I do think he has improved his shooting.
But honestly they should spam steph pnr with dray or wiseman lol. Even steph in his post game said he realizes most of his scores were when he was the primary handler
Adding some thoughts that I didn't see mentioned...
Wiseman had 13 shots and only maybe 2 or 3 felt forced or not within the flow of the offense (that sweeping hook and the Dirk fadeaway come to mind... on the fence about those two fast breaks).
We got beat 28 to 12 in fastbreak points. This should be one of our strengths but it all starts with defense. Not to keep beating down on Wiggins but there was one possession where he was scrambling for 3 or 4 rotations but literally wasn't guarding anyone because he was either late or confused as to who he should be rotating to. Draymond, we need you.
KD felt like he just popped out of the time machine from the 2019 playoffs pre-injury and continued balling... hoping for similar results for Klay.
Looking forward to more plays involving Steph and Wiseman, improved defense when Draymond comes back, and our wings hitting more open jumpers.
watching kd today kinda alleviates some of my fears about klay and his achilles injury.
Will be very curious to see if Kerr sticks with Paschall as a starter in the next game if Draymond doesn't come back. I think starting Wiggins at the 4 against KD and now Giannis makes more sense from a short term basketball perspective, but I wonder if he has other considerations in mind (getting Wiggins and Oubre used to their usual roles, etc.). Definitely noticeable that he started the second half with JTA as the 4 instead of Paschall.
JTA and Paschall are an interesting comparison. Ideally you'd have Paschall playing the 3 so he could play next to Draymond if needed, but he can't really shoot so he has to stay at 4. JTA at the 3 is a disaster because he can't shoot, but he seems to have a remarkable ability to guard taller guys which allows him to play some 4 where it doesn't matter as much.
Happy to join this site! Opening night thoughts:
1. Wiseman, Wiseman, Wiseman. I did not hear a single report of legit shooting range during pre-draft talk. That he could nail a 3 and two long-2's in his debut is HUGE. This is a 19 year old's first game in over a year, and he was the second best player on the floor for us. His ultimate ceiling is an inhuman combination of a faster Embiid, stronger KG, and better shooting AD. Sky is truly the limit. By far the most important takeaway from this game, IMO.
2. Steph will be in MVP form this year. No concerns whatsoever there.
3. Start Lee. Bump Mulder into Poole's minutes. Shooting needs to be #1 priority.
4. I hate to say it cuz I love him and he's a Bruin, but we need to limit Looney minutes as much as possible. Too slow, too small, can't shoot. Thanks for the contributions in the Houston series, but I truly believe he needs to be moved towards the end of the bench once Dray is back.
Stoked for this season! Playoffs for sure :)
So, first-game overreactions.
1. Send Wiggins to the G-league. Start JTA in his place.
2. Make Oubre the 6th man and start Mulder or Lee at the 2.
3. Send Paschall to Ron Adams' intensive training camp for proper defensive positioning and don't let him on the floor again until he's done his homework there.
4. Start figuring out which lineups with Wiseman + either Looney or Chriss work, because we're going to want as many minutes as we can with two of those guys on the court. (All three were probably among our top 5 players tonight.)
5. Get Steph some new contact lenses.
6. Give Poole the reins when Steph sits. He's a little raw but he's got the energy to make things happen more than anyone else in the 2nd unit.
7. See if we can work out a trade with the Hawks to get Chelsea Lane back.
Train wreck tonight. Most upsetting to me was the huge number of sloppy live-ball turnovers in the middle of the court, particularly from Wiggins, Wanamaker, Bazemore, and Looney. Not a good start at all, but let's hope they just forget this one quickly. Very excited about the prospects of a real star in the stretch 5 position - Wiseman showed a lot tonight, although he did most of his damage in the absence of D. Jordan or J. Allen. JTA showed a lot of heart and Mulder continued to show his stroke, and D. Lee mixed it up inside to get some tough boards.
Let's hope that the poor games from Wiggins and Oubre were just isolated cases. If those guys can't put up numbers on a regular basis, we're going to be toast this year.
Of course if Dray would have played, we might have only lost by 23, so we have that going for us.
My impression was that the Warriors need to start every possession with a Curry pick and roll. Curry off ball is useless if he runs up to set a screen and his teammate stares blankly and they end up standing a few feet apart during the rest of the possession.
Curry giving up the ball to run around while his teammates bumble through awful offense isn’t fun to watch.
On D Wiseman played up early but then channeled his inner Whiteside and was backing away before changing direction and that seemed to lead to several open shots. Paschall should be glued to the bench when Curry is playing, Chriss needs more Curry run time, Looney was the only player who made Durant work, and Wiggins is not the answer for the second unit.
But hey at least they won garbage time!
Bad first game jitters. Lost count of the point-blank shots that rolled out which were equaled or exceeded by the boneheaded turnovers. Looked exactly like the first game in 8 months with a bunch of guys who aren't used to each other. Patience...I'm having to tell myself. Patience.
Ouch.
Odds were that we were gonna get smoked anyways, and that's exactly what happened.
Loved what we got out of Wiseman and agree that we need to tinker the offensive priorities a bit to get him in pick and rolls with Steph.
Our defense is MILES away from being elite, much less average. Maybe the Nets are impossible to stop, but we are just way too soft , bad rotations, can't stop the dribble penetration. Just brutal. Combined with a paltry offensive showing and we have a recipe for a very very long season.
Hopefully it was just a bad night for Wiggins and Paschall. Got another tough one in a few days
They need a few games to shake off the rust. This was not real fun to watch.
This was a very ugly game for the Dubs. A total mismatch that went from bad to worse. Paschall on KD? First mistake. Kerr will try anything but he's really just short-handed. Pascall is not a real starter. Wiggins and Oubre trying to be heroes and not playing within their system. Oubre needs to control himself. Wiggins needs to push himself. Curry is the floor general whose troops are playing a different game than he is. There are no other leaders on the team, offensively. Everything needs to go through Steph and the wings must discipline themselves within this system. Shoot as you may won't work with this team. This is not the Warriors of the past.
Wiseman has turned out to be a revelation! A natural stretch 5 who can shoot at the perimeter. Who would have thought this? His offense is more developed than his defense, though. I didn't see the rebounder and rim defender I thought I would see but he's got the nose for the ball and he seems to be able to get his shot. He plays more like a SF. Great start to his career.
The Dubs can't match up with the Nets. They are too good and deep for us. This is the level we will have to attain to in order to really compete. The Dubs will have to bring their A game in order to beat ordinary teams, but their A game is not going to win many games against so many tough teams in the league. They have a long way to go to get it together. I'm not sure they have the talent, yet. Looks like this year will be the beginning of their rebuild. Even with Draymond adding his 10ppg, they are not offensively good enough. This is not a knock on Steph. He is only 1 player and this is a team game. They will have to re-tool this offense to finally include Wiseman in the starting 5. They couldn't run with the Nets. This was just about the worst start I've ever seen from them.
Paschall didn't look good in the preseason, and didn't look good tonight. The jumper doesn't look any better, and the rest of his offense and defense have been underwhelming. I thought he'd be a great scorer off the bench, now I'm not so sure.