Would Kerr hate him on this team? I tend to think that as long as he gives good defensive effort and plays within the system, he’s a seamless fit, and a legit #2 scoring option. Of course there are doubts that he would get fully on board with Kerrstyle, and just iso a lot.
But I’m just not so sure that we can count on Wiggins ever being dominant for a full season(he’d be included in the trade for BI obviously)... he’ll have his ups and downs, and that inconsistency could really hurt our playoff hopes. Playoff Wigs was special as well as we all saw, but I have my doubts that we will ever see that guy again
I've gone back and forth on him. I think he's a very talented guy who could be a good fit. Seamless is not the word I'd use, because I don't know how complimentary his game is to guys like Kuminga, or Dray. Even Steph. He immediately creates a challenge in building a good defense.
If you go back a couple years he was taking and making 3's at a higher volume. He had a really strong playoff series against the Suns where it made you think he could produce in pressure moments. If you thought he could go back to the higher volume of 3's, and actually increase to a guy who takes 7-8/game then I think you could make
Plus there's an upside that his cost is lower. So you're probably keeping 2 of 3 of Moody, Kuminga and Podz.
Ultimately, I think there's enough fit questions to make you pause. And there's enough questions about his reputation where you wonder, is this the guy you want to make a big bet on? It's a different world then it was a few years ago with the cap restrictions. So if you are going to pay a guy you want to make sure he can retain value.
Ingram's not good enough... He's a solid player with an all-star ego and expectations of an all-star contract. He doesn't make us a contender, and that's assuming we wouldn't have to trade any of our current rostered players for him. Also, (in contrast to the Jazz w/ Lauri) there's no motivation for the Pels to trade him after finishing 2 wins shy of the 4 seed in the west, and subsequently upgrading their roster w/ Dejounte Murray.
Lauri is the only player who's even conceivably available and would make us into a contender, it's Lauri or bust.
Interesting... I still think Lauri is enough of an offensive force to make them at least a fringe contender with all their depth, depending on how well Steph and Dray hold up.
Steph / Melton / (Kuminga? Wiggins?) / Draymond / Lauri is a balanced and formidable lineup w/ 3 top 50 players; Podz / GP2 / (Kuminga? Wiggins?) / Anderson / Trayce is a hockey substitution lineup that could rival the starters on some bad to mid teams.
nobody knows anything, we're talking about predicting the future.. best we can do is make our best guest by projecting past performances, this is a liability of all humans, fans and front office professionals alike.
Ingram is on an expiring deal this season, and he is eligible for a 4-year, $208M extension. The Pels reportedly are not willing to offer him all that. If he does not sign, he becomes an unrestricted FA. So there is your motivation for them to trade him.
I of course don't know whether the Pels would want Wiggs in that deal. BI currently makes $10M more than Wiggs.
The new CBA looms large in BI's world. 208mil is a lot to drop on a guy who vacillates between your 2nd and 3rd option on a title type team. But you could do worse. His play-making shouldn't be underrated, especially on a team like GSW. If it's Wiggs going out and BI coming in, you are definitely a better team. But you'd have to convince BI that its a good career move to leave some green at the table. Someone will probably give him the money, but does he want to spend the rest of his career on a losing team?
Ahh, c'mon now. I'll give you Wiggs on defense, but BI is far an away a more complete and efficient/impactful offensive player. BI logged 2/3 of last year's minutes at SG, which probably took away from his scoring as the team needed more play-making from him. He's just much more versatile and he is capable of taking over games offensively for periods of time which Wiggins never does. I like Wiggs, but if we want to get the ball out of Curry's hands a bit more, get him some relief on that side of the ball, BI can do it. When the ball gets into Wiggins' hands, the team offense generally slows to a stop as he dribble-jab-steps another 18 footer or drives to the basket, gets fouled and makes 1 of 2 free throws. With BI, I would expect the offense to keep moving because he can make those passes.
The defense? I'm ok with Melton, JK, Moody & GP2 picking up slack on that end.
BI is a ball stopper and a complete misfit for the Kerr/Warriors offense. Wiggins is happy to play 2nd/3rd/4th fiddle, is a better passer, and knows the system. BI for Wiggins would absolutely make the Warriors worse.
I find your assessment of BI's passing and willingness to pass vs Wiggins ... not mine.
I think good Wiggins is a better fit than good Ingram. The issue is the odds of getting the good version of either. If they keep Wiggins, I’ll trust they know more.
The idea that you can break a player down into good or bad, playoff or not, is ludicrous. Wiggins is an underachiever. For a #1 pick, his history lets you know that he has let all of his teams down except for one time in 2022. And his production for the last few years has been his worst.
You’re arguing from a vacuum. The question was Wiggins versus Brandon Ingram, a player who man consider to be an underachiever himself. He didn’t exactly remind anyone of Michael Jordan in the Pels’ most recent postseason.
Also, your claim that his last few years have been his worst is um, untruthy. He missed a bunch of games, but his shooting and efficiency in ‘22-23 were the best of his career.
You didn't refute anything. Maybe you weren't paying attention the last couple of seasons and don't see Wiggins game declining. Sure, once in a while he plays well but it is not consistent to what he is being paid. If you disagree, fine. I'm not trying to change your mind.
@Joe you have a couple comments in here about how there are legitimate criticisms of Kerr's coaching, just wondering what those are in your opinion (I'm not educated enough to have one currently).
Like any other coach (including the all-timers), Kerr has his faults. Some of the rotation/lineup stuff makes you scratch your head a bit, but I'm not as down on it as most people have been in the past and as of late.
But overall, I refrain from making my schtick be constant criticism of Kerr because at the end of the day, he has more basketball knowledge in his pinkie finger than I'll ever have. I'm also not privy to what happens behind the scenes on the team in terms of the strategic and tactical decisions. I'm just a guy online trying to make sense of what happens on the court and trying to translate it to something digestible to you guys here and to the general audience.
Does that stop me from having my own opinions on the decisions being made? Of course not. But I also can't pretend to know more than the people who know how to coach, know how to play, and have won championships at the highest level. So there.
There is one element in appraising a coach's or team's play that rarely gets talked about publicly but must have importance. Players almost never say anything negative about their coach or fellow players, publicly. They are always told to keep it in the house. This brings up the question of how happy are the campers playing for this iteration of Warriors and Kerr especially in the last couple of years? We probably cannot answer this question but we saw it happen with Klay leaving and still not really pointing his finger at anyone. Do we really believe that Klay was happy with the players around him? Dray, for that matter, saw him punching out one player, but I can't believe he is not simmering about some of the other teammates and their play of late.
For sure! To be clear, I'm not arguing against you or saying you don't have the right to have an opinion, I'm actually just curious as to what your opinion is and which specific moves you think *seem* like they're due to faults (seem emphasized because I agree with you that without the inside knowledge of what's going on all we can do is speculate), and which moves are head scratchers to you.
I'll start: I definitely have some qualms about the handling of Klay and Wiggins last year, although I mostly chalk it up to the more human side of coaching in handling players emotions and expectations. I feel like a harsher coach would have informed Klay that he's a bench player now instead of doing a trial run and letting him "work his way back" into a worse fit in the starting lineup. I wonder if Wiggins was given so much slack because Kerr just couldn't bear to bench him in the midst of what seems to be a very serious and terrible family matter.
On the flip side I feel like constantly praising Moody for his incredible -- almost unbelievable -- patience, and then continuing to exploit that patience fully through year 3 is pretty lame, especially since Moody has shown so many flashes on the court, passing both (my uneductated) eye test, and putting up some impressive advanced stats. This one I kinda chalk up to something I'm not understanding regarding Moody's deficiencies, and maybe there's something we're not seeing in practice? Otherwise it seems like a case of squeaky-wheel-gets-the-grease in Kuminga forcing the team to give him minutes, which I find pretty detestable and unfair, so I hope that isn't the deciding factor.
Do you mind if I ask what your specific criticisms are?
I think the squeakiest wheel was Klay. I totally get Kerr’s devotion (“Those guys made my career.”) to the big three, but Klay being gone (out of the way?) will hopefully make playing time distribution of minutes more fair.
I was personally more peeved with Moody's treatment in his second year than last year when we saw Kerr rely fairly heavily on two rookies. That absolutely could still be due to some personal quirk in Kerr's coaching/ basketball philosophy, but that at least made me feel like there's something in MM's game i'm not seeing that limits his role on this particular team.
mmm I don't think you need to have a killer skill to be a good player -- Kevin Huerter, Jalen Green, Devin Vassell, Max Strus.. hell even Mikal Bridges doesn't really have a killer skill.
A killer skill definitely helps mask any shortcomings but if you're well rounded (and I think Moody is) you can still be a good to great player.
"Free agent guard Devonte’ Graham has agreed on a one-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, sources tell ESPN. Graham played 46 games with the Spurs over the last two seasons."
I watched the US-Australia rugby game highlights. Honestly , I didn’t even know there was a women’s rugby event. The US women’s team has been around since 1987 and this is their first Olympic medal (Bronze) and they won it in a very clutch fashion to upset the Ausssies. Congratulations!
How is Germany so stinking good? Like I get most of them are NBA players but they don’t look individually like they should be this dominant. Have they just perfected FIBA ball?
Do you really think they can beat Team USA? I watched Japan almost beat France last night. I was totally amazed at the little guy that runs the starters, Kawamura. These guys outquicked the big French boys, both blocking shots, stealing balls, and deadeye 3 point shooting. Of course, size matters, and eventually those Frogs prevailed. But it made me feel that the French are not a very good team. What does that have to do with Germany? They haven't met this Team USA, yet. As long as we defend, we have the best team on the floor. And with Lebron and his superpower of will, should be able to muscle up to any challenger. Euro Cup loss has nothing to do with our team, except perhaps the coaching of Kerr. I don't see them losing with these players, the best in the world.
I mean, technically they have in the pre-Olympic friendly, and that turned out well for us. We’ll see what adjustments both coaches make if they meet in the knockout rounds
FYI Secondhand report of a reporter’s opinion. Also, Ainge has in the past repeatedly taken perverse pleasure in trading players who are fan favorites who want to stay.
[[
Markkanen and his family have reportedly really taken to Utah and Lauri has forged a close relationship with Jazz head coach Will Hardy. Utah can still however trade him, although Jazz reporter Tony Jones of the Athletic says it’s unlikely. (h/t realgm/x, via Tony Jones)
That’s fine with me. It’d depend on the price, but I’ve been leaning #standpat. The Warriors as constructed aren’t bottom-feeders, and could contend if things go reasonably right.
And if Lauri is happy and involved in the community, I hope he gets his wish to stay.
Yeah, it feels like we're putting a bit too much stock in last year's "too many guys" failure...
There's a few different outcomes from the "we got a lot of good looking rotation players!" scenario we were in, and we find ourselves in"
1. Nobody really separates, some guys underperform, people get injured for short durations, nobody gels, coach tinkers around to try to "find what works", people get anxious about their role on the team
2. People get injured, and rotation gets set by their absence, and the team moves forward
3. A few guys pop and take more prominent roles, setting a team hierarchy
Last year was mostly scenario 1, and the team still somehow ended up 10 games above 0.500 by the end of the season. Looking ahead to this year, we've got 2 foundational pieces in Steph & Dray, from whom we know what we're getting. Between Wiggins, Melton, JK, Podz, and Moses, we need ~50% of them to be "good" versions of their 2024 potential to have a solid wing spot. Then we need one of TJD or Loon to be a good center, and we can take what we get from Anderson, Hield, and GP2. Ideally, the wing group pushes GP2 into "expendable" territory.
"Too many rotation guys" is only a problem if nobody separates themselves, and that's not guaranteed to happen.
Honestly, if Post is actually getting regular minutes on the main team by the end of the year, that's a win.
I don't think it's reasonable to expect him to come in and be effective immediately. TJD's assets (quickness, hops, good roll game) were fairly easy to plug into the lineup. Post is going to need some time to learn how to defend at this level, I'm guessing. He doesn't have TJD's quickness to bail him out of bad reads.
If he ever gets regular minutes in the NBA at all, that's a win because he'll be beating the odds. The league isn't exactly overflowing with #52 picks.
So true. But the center position is one that we are weak in so maybe their is a chance that Post will get a look if TJD or Looney falter, or he plays so well in the exhibition games that somehow, Kerr's mind clicks into his and they give him a shot. Still, very unlikely, and he should make the most out of his gleague time, proving himself ready and worthy of time on the Dubs.
Post definitely has a feel for the game. Knows how to be in the right spots. If he can rebound and shoot 3’s at a high clip, he’ll grab a sizable chunk of the minutes at the 5 by the last Q of the season.
Simply spreading the floor, like he’s highly capable of doing consistently, will go a very long way
Fair, but I'm not really worried about his offense. It's pretty easy to plug a shooter into an offense.
It's defending switches. You know he's going to get tested to see if he can defend a smaller player adequately in space. And, if you can't defend in space, you just get played off the floor these days.
Yea no kidding. He wants to be there. Should reward stars that want that. I get it from a GM point of view if he’s being offered a kings ransom…long game mentality of adding picks in stacked drafts…but when a guy wants to play for your crappy squad, make it so (#2)
Exactly what I was thinking. He may actually like living and playing in Utah, but I also think he and his family would like living and playing in the Bay Area. Putting out that he is content staying in Utah to the media serves to put pressure on teams to up their trade offers. Also notice that the reports are suggesting that he will renegotiate/re-sign after August 6th, which would make it impossible to trade him before the trade deadline. IMO, it sounds like leverage, but at the same time it could also be true that he doesn't mind staying in Utah.
He has a wife and two kids. I can see a guy from a small city in Finland shying away from the hustle and bustle of most NBA cities. The cold alpine winters probably remind him of home.
The fact that nothing has been said from his camp is telling.
Most players have their “preferred teams” list…he and his camp obviously aren’t talking to the media…so yes, we don’t know for sure…but every report has been consistent that he wants to be there.
It also speaks as to why no teams are throwing in their known talent plus picks, because there’s no guarantee Lauri will agree to an extension
The whole "we're going to re-sign Lauri and it's going to be sunshine and rainbows through this rebuild" talk is so phony to me. Lauri himself might want that but I have no idea why Utah would consider that from a basketball standpoint
The judo gold medal match was way more boring than the other non-medal matches I watched... I don't know anything about judo but to me it was just "attempt to make a move but if it doesn't work, fall down to the ground to reset" x 100.
Free agent F Dominick Barlow has agreed on a two-way deal with the Atlanta Hawks, Todd Ramasar of @LifeSportsAGNCY tells ESPN. He played 61 games with the Spurs the past two seasons.
Guinea trying desperately to score one goal down 3-0 in extra time is honestly kinda annoying. They are sending everyone on goal right now. The US defense is airtight
Shoulda sold themselves out down two nil but they weren’t attacking as aggressively. They didn’t care about the win they just didn’t want to be shutout. Made for some tense moments but somewhat unnecessary
1) The smaller court and the shorter 3pt line work somewhat to Steph’s disadvantage, and it brings me back to those breathless suggestions we used to hear in the early days of his prime about moving the line back, or expanding the court to accommodate a deeper corner. It’s funny because the idea at the time was to rein in the 3pt revolution he represented, but it would have made Steph, himself, even more of an outlier. Of course many recognized that in the moment, but these games give a visual sense of why: more space is always better for Steph.
2) It’s kind of bittersweet seeing Steph and KD on the same team again. Hopefully they’ll share the court a bit more as we go, since, you know, there’s pretty decent proof-of-concept there. If the 2019 Finals injuries hadn’t happened, and if interpersonal stuff hadn’t gone sideways, those guys might have just finished up their eighth season together. Is it crazy to think they’d have won six titles in that time (matching MJ’s Bulls and giving Steph seven, overall)? I’d say only insofar as some version of collapse by injury, fatigue, and/or internal tension was probably inevitable. But on talent? That team still kills everyone.
I’ve watched a few of his games but haven’t the time to write it up. I will probably eventually do a video. I’ve watched interesting full games online vs UNC (Bacot), Duke (Filipowski) and Virginia (Beekman, Dunn), among other games.
That's crazy. I can't think of a time when that actually happened in a 4 point game.
It was at least a bit tricky for Japan with 10 seconds to go as the shot goes up. The game isn't over over. If France makes that they can still extend the game with fouling.
It looks like a tough call against the Japanese, though there was a wildness in how they were closing out on the shooters there that may have had the refs ready to blow the whistle.
Yeah, except like a zillion times worse. Up 3, you are actually in a bit of tough spot. since if you intentionally foul (nominally the right move) you risk doing it a second too late and giving up three FTs — as the Ws demonstrated with Chet.
Up 4 by contrast there’s no reason to be *anywhere near* near the shooter. You’re better off just having all your players huddle up under your own basket.
You gotta play some D. Can't just let 'em shoot a warmup shot. They should not call that foul at any point in any game ever. That was good D. (Talking specifically about this game. That OKC loss was a lame foul by us)
Ok let’s shift our eye toward a BI trade
Would Kerr hate him on this team? I tend to think that as long as he gives good defensive effort and plays within the system, he’s a seamless fit, and a legit #2 scoring option. Of course there are doubts that he would get fully on board with Kerrstyle, and just iso a lot.
But I’m just not so sure that we can count on Wiggins ever being dominant for a full season(he’d be included in the trade for BI obviously)... he’ll have his ups and downs, and that inconsistency could really hurt our playoff hopes. Playoff Wigs was special as well as we all saw, but I have my doubts that we will ever see that guy again
I've gone back and forth on him. I think he's a very talented guy who could be a good fit. Seamless is not the word I'd use, because I don't know how complimentary his game is to guys like Kuminga, or Dray. Even Steph. He immediately creates a challenge in building a good defense.
If you go back a couple years he was taking and making 3's at a higher volume. He had a really strong playoff series against the Suns where it made you think he could produce in pressure moments. If you thought he could go back to the higher volume of 3's, and actually increase to a guy who takes 7-8/game then I think you could make
Plus there's an upside that his cost is lower. So you're probably keeping 2 of 3 of Moody, Kuminga and Podz.
Ultimately, I think there's enough fit questions to make you pause. And there's enough questions about his reputation where you wonder, is this the guy you want to make a big bet on? It's a different world then it was a few years ago with the cap restrictions. So if you are going to pay a guy you want to make sure he can retain value.
Ingram's not good enough... He's a solid player with an all-star ego and expectations of an all-star contract. He doesn't make us a contender, and that's assuming we wouldn't have to trade any of our current rostered players for him. Also, (in contrast to the Jazz w/ Lauri) there's no motivation for the Pels to trade him after finishing 2 wins shy of the 4 seed in the west, and subsequently upgrading their roster w/ Dejounte Murray.
Lauri is the only player who's even conceivably available and would make us into a contender, it's Lauri or bust.
I'm not even sure if Markkanen makes them into a contender, I really think it was Paul George or bust on that front.
Interesting... I still think Lauri is enough of an offensive force to make them at least a fringe contender with all their depth, depending on how well Steph and Dray hold up.
Steph / Melton / (Kuminga? Wiggins?) / Draymond / Lauri is a balanced and formidable lineup w/ 3 top 50 players; Podz / GP2 / (Kuminga? Wiggins?) / Anderson / Trayce is a hockey substitution lineup that could rival the starters on some bad to mid teams.
Actually, you don't know that. It is just what you are projecting. Fans do this often. It's our liability.
Projecting is very common in this discussion group. It is amusing and occasionally accurate. This example does not seem more egregious than any other.
nobody knows anything, we're talking about predicting the future.. best we can do is make our best guest by projecting past performances, this is a liability of all humans, fans and front office professionals alike.
Ingram is on an expiring deal this season, and he is eligible for a 4-year, $208M extension. The Pels reportedly are not willing to offer him all that. If he does not sign, he becomes an unrestricted FA. So there is your motivation for them to trade him.
I of course don't know whether the Pels would want Wiggs in that deal. BI currently makes $10M more than Wiggs.
well he's still not good enough ;P
The new CBA looms large in BI's world. 208mil is a lot to drop on a guy who vacillates between your 2nd and 3rd option on a title type team. But you could do worse. His play-making shouldn't be underrated, especially on a team like GSW. If it's Wiggs going out and BI coming in, you are definitely a better team. But you'd have to convince BI that its a good career move to leave some green at the table. Someone will probably give him the money, but does he want to spend the rest of his career on a losing team?
> If it's Wiggs going out and BI coming in, you are definitely a better team
No
Ahh, c'mon now. I'll give you Wiggs on defense, but BI is far an away a more complete and efficient/impactful offensive player. BI logged 2/3 of last year's minutes at SG, which probably took away from his scoring as the team needed more play-making from him. He's just much more versatile and he is capable of taking over games offensively for periods of time which Wiggins never does. I like Wiggs, but if we want to get the ball out of Curry's hands a bit more, get him some relief on that side of the ball, BI can do it. When the ball gets into Wiggins' hands, the team offense generally slows to a stop as he dribble-jab-steps another 18 footer or drives to the basket, gets fouled and makes 1 of 2 free throws. With BI, I would expect the offense to keep moving because he can make those passes.
The defense? I'm ok with Melton, JK, Moody & GP2 picking up slack on that end.
BI is a ball stopper and a complete misfit for the Kerr/Warriors offense. Wiggins is happy to play 2nd/3rd/4th fiddle, is a better passer, and knows the system. BI for Wiggins would absolutely make the Warriors worse.
I find your assessment of BI's passing and willingness to pass vs Wiggins ... not mine.
> I tend to think that as long as he gives good defensive effort and plays within the system, he’s a seamless fit
So if he becomes a completely different player?
Is that really possible?
BI was one of the better playmaking wings in the league, also wigs became a completely different player for us for a season or 2....
Was Wiggins a different player, or did he just do the things that he was capable of doing but with more force?
Why can't BI come in and do that?
My memory is that Kerr benched BI on team USA for fiba….so I’m inclined to say that Kerr would rather have wiggs than BI
IMO a BI trade is even less likely than a LM trade.
I think good Wiggins is a better fit than good Ingram. The issue is the odds of getting the good version of either. If they keep Wiggins, I’ll trust they know more.
Go watch Wiggins in the kings playing game.
Smoking layups, couldn't shoot and couldn't guard a Damm thing
In Wiggins defense, we had a lot of players not show their good side that day.
That’s not the “good Wiggins” I was referring to.
The idea that you can break a player down into good or bad, playoff or not, is ludicrous. Wiggins is an underachiever. For a #1 pick, his history lets you know that he has let all of his teams down except for one time in 2022. And his production for the last few years has been his worst.
You’re arguing from a vacuum. The question was Wiggins versus Brandon Ingram, a player who man consider to be an underachiever himself. He didn’t exactly remind anyone of Michael Jordan in the Pels’ most recent postseason.
Also, your claim that his last few years have been his worst is um, untruthy. He missed a bunch of games, but his shooting and efficiency in ‘22-23 were the best of his career.
Think what you will, I'm disinterested in both of these players.
Funny that when I refute your claim about Wiggins, your best response is “Say what you will.” Is that your version of “I was wrong.”?
You didn't refute anything. Maybe you weren't paying attention the last couple of seasons and don't see Wiggins game declining. Sure, once in a while he plays well but it is not consistent to what he is being paid. If you disagree, fine. I'm not trying to change your mind.
@Joe you have a couple comments in here about how there are legitimate criticisms of Kerr's coaching, just wondering what those are in your opinion (I'm not educated enough to have one currently).
Like any other coach (including the all-timers), Kerr has his faults. Some of the rotation/lineup stuff makes you scratch your head a bit, but I'm not as down on it as most people have been in the past and as of late.
But overall, I refrain from making my schtick be constant criticism of Kerr because at the end of the day, he has more basketball knowledge in his pinkie finger than I'll ever have. I'm also not privy to what happens behind the scenes on the team in terms of the strategic and tactical decisions. I'm just a guy online trying to make sense of what happens on the court and trying to translate it to something digestible to you guys here and to the general audience.
Does that stop me from having my own opinions on the decisions being made? Of course not. But I also can't pretend to know more than the people who know how to coach, know how to play, and have won championships at the highest level. So there.
There is one element in appraising a coach's or team's play that rarely gets talked about publicly but must have importance. Players almost never say anything negative about their coach or fellow players, publicly. They are always told to keep it in the house. This brings up the question of how happy are the campers playing for this iteration of Warriors and Kerr especially in the last couple of years? We probably cannot answer this question but we saw it happen with Klay leaving and still not really pointing his finger at anyone. Do we really believe that Klay was happy with the players around him? Dray, for that matter, saw him punching out one player, but I can't believe he is not simmering about some of the other teammates and their play of late.
I think the other thing we can’t know is all the interpersonal relationships, egos and alliances…and the impact it has on decisions.
For sure! To be clear, I'm not arguing against you or saying you don't have the right to have an opinion, I'm actually just curious as to what your opinion is and which specific moves you think *seem* like they're due to faults (seem emphasized because I agree with you that without the inside knowledge of what's going on all we can do is speculate), and which moves are head scratchers to you.
I'll start: I definitely have some qualms about the handling of Klay and Wiggins last year, although I mostly chalk it up to the more human side of coaching in handling players emotions and expectations. I feel like a harsher coach would have informed Klay that he's a bench player now instead of doing a trial run and letting him "work his way back" into a worse fit in the starting lineup. I wonder if Wiggins was given so much slack because Kerr just couldn't bear to bench him in the midst of what seems to be a very serious and terrible family matter.
On the flip side I feel like constantly praising Moody for his incredible -- almost unbelievable -- patience, and then continuing to exploit that patience fully through year 3 is pretty lame, especially since Moody has shown so many flashes on the court, passing both (my uneductated) eye test, and putting up some impressive advanced stats. This one I kinda chalk up to something I'm not understanding regarding Moody's deficiencies, and maybe there's something we're not seeing in practice? Otherwise it seems like a case of squeaky-wheel-gets-the-grease in Kuminga forcing the team to give him minutes, which I find pretty detestable and unfair, so I hope that isn't the deciding factor.
Do you mind if I ask what your specific criticisms are?
I think the squeakiest wheel was Klay. I totally get Kerr’s devotion (“Those guys made my career.”) to the big three, but Klay being gone (out of the way?) will hopefully make playing time distribution of minutes more fair.
agreed!
I was personally more peeved with Moody's treatment in his second year than last year when we saw Kerr rely fairly heavily on two rookies. That absolutely could still be due to some personal quirk in Kerr's coaching/ basketball philosophy, but that at least made me feel like there's something in MM's game i'm not seeing that limits his role on this particular team.
Yeah definitely telling... makes you wonder what Moody's missing
Lat foot speed?
I dunno, I was thinking it must be either ball handling or court vision or maybe play execution? Whatever it is it's hard to put a finger on.
A killer skill. He’s missing a killer skill. He’s a good shooter, but not great, a good defender, but not great.
mmm I don't think you need to have a killer skill to be a good player -- Kevin Huerter, Jalen Green, Devin Vassell, Max Strus.. hell even Mikal Bridges doesn't really have a killer skill.
A killer skill definitely helps mask any shortcomings but if you're well rounded (and I think Moody is) you can still be a good to great player.
"Free agent guard Devonte’ Graham has agreed on a one-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, sources tell ESPN. Graham played 46 games with the Spurs over the last two seasons."
https://x.com/wojespn/status/1818397433778360574
Thanks for the updates SoL.
I watched the US-Australia rugby game highlights. Honestly , I didn’t even know there was a women’s rugby event. The US women’s team has been around since 1987 and this is their first Olympic medal (Bronze) and they won it in a very clutch fashion to upset the Ausssies. Congratulations!
The finish is worth the minute it takes to watch. Great stuff!
How is Germany so stinking good? Like I get most of them are NBA players but they don’t look individually like they should be this dominant. Have they just perfected FIBA ball?
Do you really think they can beat Team USA? I watched Japan almost beat France last night. I was totally amazed at the little guy that runs the starters, Kawamura. These guys outquicked the big French boys, both blocking shots, stealing balls, and deadeye 3 point shooting. Of course, size matters, and eventually those Frogs prevailed. But it made me feel that the French are not a very good team. What does that have to do with Germany? They haven't met this Team USA, yet. As long as we defend, we have the best team on the floor. And with Lebron and his superpower of will, should be able to muscle up to any challenger. Euro Cup loss has nothing to do with our team, except perhaps the coaching of Kerr. I don't see them losing with these players, the best in the world.
I mean, technically they have in the pre-Olympic friendly, and that turned out well for us. We’ll see what adjustments both coaches make if they meet in the knockout rounds
The Wagners are surprisingly good I think, and they play together which probably helps.
FYI Secondhand report of a reporter’s opinion. Also, Ainge has in the past repeatedly taken perverse pleasure in trading players who are fan favorites who want to stay.
[[
Markkanen and his family have reportedly really taken to Utah and Lauri has forged a close relationship with Jazz head coach Will Hardy. Utah can still however trade him, although Jazz reporter Tony Jones of the Athletic says it’s unlikely. (h/t realgm/x, via Tony Jones)
]]
https://www.threads.net/@warriorstalk/post/C-DwJkhSYGa?xmt=AQGzdD66vFHVdotkyVAZmkdXg6I2YlPHxdgFETqub2QvIA
What a douche.
That’s fine with me. It’d depend on the price, but I’ve been leaning #standpat. The Warriors as constructed aren’t bottom-feeders, and could contend if things go reasonably right.
And if Lauri is happy and involved in the community, I hope he gets his wish to stay.
Yeah, it feels like we're putting a bit too much stock in last year's "too many guys" failure...
There's a few different outcomes from the "we got a lot of good looking rotation players!" scenario we were in, and we find ourselves in"
1. Nobody really separates, some guys underperform, people get injured for short durations, nobody gels, coach tinkers around to try to "find what works", people get anxious about their role on the team
2. People get injured, and rotation gets set by their absence, and the team moves forward
3. A few guys pop and take more prominent roles, setting a team hierarchy
Last year was mostly scenario 1, and the team still somehow ended up 10 games above 0.500 by the end of the season. Looking ahead to this year, we've got 2 foundational pieces in Steph & Dray, from whom we know what we're getting. Between Wiggins, Melton, JK, Podz, and Moses, we need ~50% of them to be "good" versions of their 2024 potential to have a solid wing spot. Then we need one of TJD or Loon to be a good center, and we can take what we get from Anderson, Hield, and GP2. Ideally, the wing group pushes GP2 into "expendable" territory.
"Too many rotation guys" is only a problem if nobody separates themselves, and that's not guaranteed to happen.
Not going to let the Q Post slander stand!
More seriously, I could imagine a TJD / Post combo adding up to a "good" center by the playoffs.
Honestly, if Post is actually getting regular minutes on the main team by the end of the year, that's a win.
I don't think it's reasonable to expect him to come in and be effective immediately. TJD's assets (quickness, hops, good roll game) were fairly easy to plug into the lineup. Post is going to need some time to learn how to defend at this level, I'm guessing. He doesn't have TJD's quickness to bail him out of bad reads.
If he ever gets regular minutes in the NBA at all, that's a win because he'll be beating the odds. The league isn't exactly overflowing with #52 picks.
true! I think the expectations around here are perhaps a little optimistic. Just because he's big and can shoot does not mean he can play.
So true. But the center position is one that we are weak in so maybe their is a chance that Post will get a look if TJD or Looney falter, or he plays so well in the exhibition games that somehow, Kerr's mind clicks into his and they give him a shot. Still, very unlikely, and he should make the most out of his gleague time, proving himself ready and worthy of time on the Dubs.
Post definitely has a feel for the game. Knows how to be in the right spots. If he can rebound and shoot 3’s at a high clip, he’ll grab a sizable chunk of the minutes at the 5 by the last Q of the season.
Simply spreading the floor, like he’s highly capable of doing consistently, will go a very long way
Fair, but I'm not really worried about his offense. It's pretty easy to plug a shooter into an offense.
It's defending switches. You know he's going to get tested to see if he can defend a smaller player adequately in space. And, if you can't defend in space, you just get played off the floor these days.
Playoffs?! PLAYOFFS?!?!!!!!!
In the playoffs, should we get there, it will be a Dray led center rotation, and Kyle Anderson will be in the mix too.
Yea no kidding. He wants to be there. Should reward stars that want that. I get it from a GM point of view if he’s being offered a kings ransom…long game mentality of adding picks in stacked drafts…but when a guy wants to play for your crappy squad, make it so (#2)
> He wants to be there.
Allegedly. As far as I know, we’ve heard nothing from him or his agent to date.
Exactly what I was thinking. He may actually like living and playing in Utah, but I also think he and his family would like living and playing in the Bay Area. Putting out that he is content staying in Utah to the media serves to put pressure on teams to up their trade offers. Also notice that the reports are suggesting that he will renegotiate/re-sign after August 6th, which would make it impossible to trade him before the trade deadline. IMO, it sounds like leverage, but at the same time it could also be true that he doesn't mind staying in Utah.
1. He wants the full max with his shiny new contract.
2. He and his family like living in SLC
3. Zero pressure and (obviously) zero itch to consistently compete(happy to lead the tankathon)
4. Danny isn’t gaining much leverage by spreading this particular rumor. Teams likely know where Lauri stands
5. Danny has been of the mind that if a team offered him a kings ransom, only then would he pull the trigger. No team has or will
I’ll put it at a 5% chance it happens before Aug 6th.
He has a wife and two kids. I can see a guy from a small city in Finland shying away from the hustle and bustle of most NBA cities. The cold alpine winters probably remind him of home.
The fact that nothing has been said from his camp is telling.
Most players have their “preferred teams” list…he and his camp obviously aren’t talking to the media…so yes, we don’t know for sure…but every report has been consistent that he wants to be there.
It also speaks as to why no teams are throwing in their known talent plus picks, because there’s no guarantee Lauri will agree to an extension
The whole "we're going to re-sign Lauri and it's going to be sunshine and rainbows through this rebuild" talk is so phony to me. Lauri himself might want that but I have no idea why Utah would consider that from a basketball standpoint
Olympic hot take: Conceptually, fencing is far more exciting than its reality. It’s like their trying to make swordfigting boring.
The judo gold medal match was way more boring than the other non-medal matches I watched... I don't know anything about judo but to me it was just "attempt to make a move but if it doesn't work, fall down to the ground to reset" x 100.
Yeah... watched some of that gold medal bout that should have been really exciting and... :shrug:
Needs more Ariya Stark and Jon Snow…and how great a story would Jamie be returning to competition after having to switch?
Free agent F Dominick Barlow has agreed on a two-way deal with the Atlanta Hawks, Todd Ramasar of @LifeSportsAGNCY tells ESPN. He played 61 games with the Spurs the past two seasons.
https://x.com/wojespn/status/1818359406448558160
Guinea trying desperately to score one goal down 3-0 in extra time is honestly kinda annoying. They are sending everyone on goal right now. The US defense is airtight
Annoying why?
That's how injuries happen. Should have put the peddle to the mettle a lot earlier.
Shoulda sold themselves out down two nil but they weren’t attacking as aggressively. They didn’t care about the win they just didn’t want to be shutout. Made for some tense moments but somewhat unnecessary
Two random Olympics thoughts:
1) The smaller court and the shorter 3pt line work somewhat to Steph’s disadvantage, and it brings me back to those breathless suggestions we used to hear in the early days of his prime about moving the line back, or expanding the court to accommodate a deeper corner. It’s funny because the idea at the time was to rein in the 3pt revolution he represented, but it would have made Steph, himself, even more of an outlier. Of course many recognized that in the moment, but these games give a visual sense of why: more space is always better for Steph.
2) It’s kind of bittersweet seeing Steph and KD on the same team again. Hopefully they’ll share the court a bit more as we go, since, you know, there’s pretty decent proof-of-concept there. If the 2019 Finals injuries hadn’t happened, and if interpersonal stuff hadn’t gone sideways, those guys might have just finished up their eighth season together. Is it crazy to think they’d have won six titles in that time (matching MJ’s Bulls and giving Steph seven, overall)? I’d say only insofar as some version of collapse by injury, fatigue, and/or internal tension was probably inevitable. But on talent? That team still kills everyone.
5"8 dude trying to contest a 3 by crowding a shooter's airspace is an awful combination.
I'm well aware it's a soft ass call but you're not going to get the benefit of the doubt being right underneath the shooter
Has there been a deep dive into Quinten Post?
I might do one like I did for TJD last year, just to see what we got in him.
Go for it!
I’ve watched a few of his games but haven’t the time to write it up. I will probably eventually do a video. I’ve watched interesting full games online vs UNC (Bacot), Duke (Filipowski) and Virginia (Beekman, Dunn), among other games.
Would love that. I was in Alaska and missed most of his play.
Japan has only one play on offense: "on ball screen for their 5'8" PG". France narrowly escapes with a win.
I went from pretty neutral to rooting for Japan. I don't like how this game is being reffed seemingly in France's favor.
Same, although I’m naturally predisposed to root against Gobert.
Why? He seems like such a likable guy…
Gobert is in the lead for most hated player in the league. Like Draymond and Brooks would be second in that vote.
I think the Professor knows that 😉
Generous too. He was giving people COVID without them even asking for it.
5 minute OT periods if the game is tied after 4.
Japan fouls the 3-point shooter while up 4 with time running out.
Why is this so fucking hard for players not to foul in those situations?
That's crazy. I can't think of a time when that actually happened in a 4 point game.
It was at least a bit tricky for Japan with 10 seconds to go as the shot goes up. The game isn't over over. If France makes that they can still extend the game with fouling.
It looks like a tough call against the Japanese, though there was a wildness in how they were closing out on the shooters there that may have had the refs ready to blow the whistle.
Wait … Japan really lost after being up 4 in the closing seconds?
Yeah, it infuriates my basketball brain to see anyone do that…and I get Chet Holmgren flashbacks.
Yeah, except like a zillion times worse. Up 3, you are actually in a bit of tough spot. since if you intentionally foul (nominally the right move) you risk doing it a second too late and giving up three FTs — as the Ws demonstrated with Chet.
Up 4 by contrast there’s no reason to be *anywhere near* near the shooter. You’re better off just having all your players huddle up under your own basket.
I bet Kerr broke some clipboards just now.
Does Kerr know that is the wrong play?
I couldnt see where the foul was, tbh... probably shouldve just not contested...
I watched the replay a few times. I don’t see any contact made by the Japanese player.
https://youtu.be/7lOKdviyJzA?si=4w_2ICH-r2eW7vp5
You shouldn’t put yourself in position to even have a doubt.
You gotta play some D. Can't just let 'em shoot a warmup shot. They should not call that foul at any point in any game ever. That was good D. (Talking specifically about this game. That OKC loss was a lame foul by us)
Why not let them take a free shot? Risking a foul is essentially the only way to possibly lose the game.
Yeah, I guess when up by 4 with that little time left ...
Yeah, I didn't see much of a foul either...