James Wiseman is on the court getting work in. Warriors are debating whether he'll come on the trip tomorrow. If he stays, he'll hopefully have contact work when the team comes back.
Dec 28, 2021·edited Dec 28, 2021Liked by punk basketball, Daniel Hardee
I think everyone here will credit Myers for making the most of Durant’s departure, turning him into Wiggins and Kuminga.
Given Wiggins continued ascension and Kuminga showing more potential and being further along than we collectively thought, are we at the point where the team is better off than if Durant had stayed?
He wouldn’t have helped the lost season of ‘19-20, but would’ve been an upgrade over Wiggins a last season, but would it have been enough to contend? 🤷♂️ but probably.
It’s all hypothetical, but our present and future seem pretty good and I’m curious where the chemistry would be.
Is it just me or does every time GP2 get a backdoor layup, he looks like a fan photo-bombing the guys on the court. "Hey look at me, I just snuck into another picture." I want to see him hold up rabbit ears with his offhand every time he does it.
Watching the rerun of Steph's record breaking 3 since I missed the game live and saw Larry Riley and Bob McKillop was in the crowd too. Wow... so crazy. I think Larry was tearing up too. I still wonder what our franchise would look right now if Minnesota took Steph and we ended up trading #7 away for Stoudemire
Dec 28, 2021·edited Dec 28, 2021Liked by punk basketball
Specific lineups aside … how nice is it to fret for a moment about the absence of Dray … and then realize we still have Wiggs, Otto, Andre, Juan, Beli *and* JoKu who are all capable of pitching in at the 4?
For sure Jokic is very good. He’s fun to watch and a good team player. The thing I like least about him is how our idiotic home announcing crew call him ‘The Joker’ several hundred times a game. Twice is fine, but enough already!
Anyway, on the topic of Jokic having a monstrous, MVP type year. What do folks think about distinguishing an amazing, consistent high level of performance on a great team from being the best player who gets all the touches on a weak team? Contrast Curry 2015/16 vs. Westbrook 2016/17. Curry was utterly dominant on a team with many scoring options, leading the team to a great spot in the standings (1st ofc) and a deep playoff run. Westbrook was a triple double machine that made a decent team slightly better (and a solid 6th in the west). The other top scorers on that OKC team were Oladipo, Steven Adams and Enes Kanter! Of course Westbrook got all the touches and points - OKC had very little other offense. They got eliminated easily by Houston in the first round of the playoffs (I know, not supposed to be relevant to the regular season MVP question).
Not to get side tracked with the lovely Westbrook bashing. Seems like there are two different kinds of MVP performances - greatness making a great team better, or very goodness dominating the stats to make a meh team better. The latter seems unworthy. I know Westbrook was the MVP of OKC back then and Jokic is clearly the MVP of Denver this year. But the MVP of the league? Shouldn't the MVP voters be able to look past the gaudy counting stats at the team sich overall? This is the MVP of the League! By my logic Jokic shouldn’t be in the discussion this year. Basically Curry (obvious winner!) Durant and Giannis.
Not buying that there’s anything other than pure noise in tiny samples of minutes in which a given lineup appears to improve *43.6 points per 100 possessions* by switching out Juan for Andre, or *84.3 points per 100* (lolz) by switching out Juan + Otto for Andre + JoKu.
I’m inferring that Poole’s Covid was worse that Wiggins’. Hoping he doesn’t have lingering effects that keep him from playing like DLee did last season.
(I still contend Lee taking a lot of those Bazemore minutes could have been a difference-maker both down the stretch and in the play-in game.)
Predictions: Kerr works the team game, treating it as an extended scrimmage with less focus on Curry. Everyone gets on the court. Bjeli plays Jokic to a draw. Warriors' defense holds Denver to less than 90 points.
Wiggins and Andre both back!
We got the starters too, so I went ahead and published the Game Thread a bit early tonight: https://dubnationhq.com/p/game-thread-warriors-welcome-wiggins?justPublished=true
ooh! Wiseman getting closer!!
> @Con_Chron
James Wiseman is on the court getting work in. Warriors are debating whether he'll come on the trip tomorrow. If he stays, he'll hopefully have contact work when the team comes back.
I think everyone here will credit Myers for making the most of Durant’s departure, turning him into Wiggins and Kuminga.
Given Wiggins continued ascension and Kuminga showing more potential and being further along than we collectively thought, are we at the point where the team is better off than if Durant had stayed?
He wouldn’t have helped the lost season of ‘19-20, but would’ve been an upgrade over Wiggins a last season, but would it have been enough to contend? 🤷♂️ but probably.
It’s all hypothetical, but our present and future seem pretty good and I’m curious where the chemistry would be.
The type of game that cold shooting will probably doom.
JFK!!
> @BontaHill
Jonathan Kuminga is averaging 11.5 pts in 18.5 minutes per game in his last four.
The shooting percentages are also coming along: (556 FG%, .583 3P%, 15-27 FG, 7-12 from 3).
Is it just me or does every time GP2 get a backdoor layup, he looks like a fan photo-bombing the guys on the court. "Hey look at me, I just snuck into another picture." I want to see him hold up rabbit ears with his offhand every time he does it.
The NBA has a dearth of interesting nicknames these days which is why I'm hoping "Bones" Hyland carves a role out in the league.
Nuggets stats:
Offense:
20 in points scored (106.3)
14 in points in paint (44.8)
15 in fastbreak points (12.0)
20 in offensive efficiency
9 in shooting % !!!! (46.2%)
15 in three point % (34.8%)
4 in two point % !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (54.5%)
29 in off. rebound % (19.1%)
13 in def. rebound % (77.8%)
22 in total rebound % (49.3%)
18 in opponent blocks (5.0)
4 in opponent steals!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (6.8)
5 in assists!!!!!!!!!! (25.7)
10 in turnovers!! (13.6)
Defense:
11 in points allowed (106.6)
26 in opponent points in paint (48.5)
13 in opponent fastbreak points (11.8)
21 in defensive efficiency
25 in opponent shooting % (46.7%)
11 in opponent three point % (34.0%)
28 in opponent two point % (54.9%)
27 in blocks (4.0)
19 in steals (7.4)
20 in opponent assists (24.4)
17 in opponent turnovers (13.8)
Watching the rerun of Steph's record breaking 3 since I missed the game live and saw Larry Riley and Bob McKillop was in the crowd too. Wow... so crazy. I think Larry was tearing up too. I still wonder what our franchise would look right now if Minnesota took Steph and we ended up trading #7 away for Stoudemire
So no love for Looney in these stats, eh! Okay okay (*cue Steph's nodding gif*)
Specific lineups aside … how nice is it to fret for a moment about the absence of Dray … and then realize we still have Wiggs, Otto, Andre, Juan, Beli *and* JoKu who are all capable of pitching in at the 4?
For sure Jokic is very good. He’s fun to watch and a good team player. The thing I like least about him is how our idiotic home announcing crew call him ‘The Joker’ several hundred times a game. Twice is fine, but enough already!
Anyway, on the topic of Jokic having a monstrous, MVP type year. What do folks think about distinguishing an amazing, consistent high level of performance on a great team from being the best player who gets all the touches on a weak team? Contrast Curry 2015/16 vs. Westbrook 2016/17. Curry was utterly dominant on a team with many scoring options, leading the team to a great spot in the standings (1st ofc) and a deep playoff run. Westbrook was a triple double machine that made a decent team slightly better (and a solid 6th in the west). The other top scorers on that OKC team were Oladipo, Steven Adams and Enes Kanter! Of course Westbrook got all the touches and points - OKC had very little other offense. They got eliminated easily by Houston in the first round of the playoffs (I know, not supposed to be relevant to the regular season MVP question).
Not to get side tracked with the lovely Westbrook bashing. Seems like there are two different kinds of MVP performances - greatness making a great team better, or very goodness dominating the stats to make a meh team better. The latter seems unworthy. I know Westbrook was the MVP of OKC back then and Jokic is clearly the MVP of Denver this year. But the MVP of the league? Shouldn't the MVP voters be able to look past the gaudy counting stats at the team sich overall? This is the MVP of the League! By my logic Jokic shouldn’t be in the discussion this year. Basically Curry (obvious winner!) Durant and Giannis.
Not buying that there’s anything other than pure noise in tiny samples of minutes in which a given lineup appears to improve *43.6 points per 100 possessions* by switching out Juan for Andre, or *84.3 points per 100* (lolz) by switching out Juan + Otto for Andre + JoKu.
I’m inferring that Poole’s Covid was worse that Wiggins’. Hoping he doesn’t have lingering effects that keep him from playing like DLee did last season.
(I still contend Lee taking a lot of those Bazemore minutes could have been a difference-maker both down the stretch and in the play-in game.)
Odd that the JTA lineups are so much worse given that the only big difference is that he isn't hitting his 3s so far this season.
Predictions: Kerr works the team game, treating it as an extended scrimmage with less focus on Curry. Everyone gets on the court. Bjeli plays Jokic to a draw. Warriors' defense holds Denver to less than 90 points.