I'd love to see a poll of DUB FANS of how many fans think DUBS will be hanging on to 6th seed at the end of this road trip...Man, we were sniffing at 5th seed before STEPH went down, and we blew the last game...
I don't really love cupcakes. They can be pretty but the doughy part isn't that tasty or interesting or subtle, and the frosting is like a sugar kick to the head.
Well, to me it depends when Steph returns. If he misses the whole trip, I'd predict they go something like 3-3, which will almost definitely drop them to 8th. If Steph is back by Friday, then I can see them going 4-2 (4-1 plus the 0-1 start). T wolves will probably only lose 1 (let's go Denver), so they'd pass us, but hopefully the Clips will also lose 2 or maybe 3 - they play OKC and CLE, and then have a travel back to back at Orlando, who can be tough sometimes and I'm not sure that Kawhi is playing both games of B2B yet. So, with a quicker recovery by Steph and some help from DEN, OKC, CLE, ORL, and one other team playing the Wolves, we could still be hanging on to 6th - I'd put it at a 30% chance.
Then the trick is having a rested Steph back and finally beating Denver, and running the table in the last 6 games while MEM loses a bunch and/or LAC and MIN also lose 2 or 3.
Someone said something about March NBA basketball being boring because teams are tanking, but I am not at all bored with this race to the finish.
Where is Kuminga in the reintegration process? What should his role be? I got to see the first half of the game. I again saw some good offense, mostly when he had some space to work with, either because they were in transition or because the rim protector was puled away. I think he had one nice finish thogh in a crowded space.
On the negative side, the defense did not look connected during some of the time he was in -- not sure if it was his doing or just everyone was off. Oh, and he generated at least one predictable turnover on a drive.
I do wonder what Kerr will do to assist Kuminga's best assets to flourish.
As for the Miami game, I would have liked to see much more of him. He was seemingly the only one who solved the tricky question of "How do you score in an NBA game?"
I thought he looked good in the 2nd quarter, and pretty disconnected from everything in the 2nd half.
As far as progress, I'm not really worrying about it until the end of the regular season. We'll know if he's playable, and we have the luxury of depth, so Kuminga's kind of a 'nice to have' at this moment (unless you really think we're a title contender with peak Kuminga ... I don't).
And, while I'd love it if he were playing great, in some ways, if he doesn't play super-well, it makes a decision for Kerr that would be tough otherwise (cutting down to a 9-10 man playoff rotation).
>>>Jimmy Butler on his Miami tenure: “We was aight, we didn’t win nothing like we was supposed to. We made some cool runs, we had some fun, I think that’s all we did” <<<
FYI Walter Clayton Jr who has been carrying Florida today over UConn in NCAA MBB is projected to fall into the GSW draft range (the 40s) despite popping with analytics and being a first team All-American.
I swear I was just about to post that he's on my radar now after watching that game. Impressive.
Also fingers crossed that the GSW draft range is the late 30s, big game today for those purposes with San Antonio playing Toronto. San Antonio winning would greatly benefit the pick.
I'd add Darrion Williams. He's a junior, 6'6, seen him projected in the second round, and he has a high BPM. 2 to 1 A/TO ratio and a high FT%, nothing wrong with a wing who can pass. Higher BPM than Karaban from what I can tell (haven't looked at all the others).
U all can add who u want, if Kerr remains the 'coach' gsw are doomed again to fail. He does everything possible to help lose the game, over and over. Does not know his players or how and when to play them.
I will definitely request nominations for the Apricot Draft Tourney. Williams is an interesting one: he's #69 in BPM and #75 in PRPG so he was just past the cutoffs, but still highly ranked.
Karaban is #150 BPM but #39 PRPG. I don't personally think PRPG is very predictive, but it does bring interesting people into the field, so I'm using it for now.
If I loosen the BPM cutoff to 70, then I get this list
Makes sense, I love your draft tournaments so whatever method you use is working. That's interesting that Williams is close on both but qualifies on neither, maybe he would have fared better in like a "composite metric" or something.
Last time the Warriors went on a road trip to the East Coast, they looked sluggish to start the game. Their opponents were the Magic, who shot the ball very well from beyond the arc (11/28), and mauled the Warriors in the paint (56 points). They won thanks to Curry.
Last night, the Warriors didn't have Curry to bail them out. The team looked better in the 4th Q, but it was too late for the Warriors to make a comeback by that point. Unless the Warriors look bad again in Miami, I wouldn't worry too much about the team right now. They're not gonna look good every game.
They played pretty good after the first quarter, but was too much to overcome without Steph. Had this been a close game throughout, dubs win no doubt imo. On to Miami
Moody has shot 90.7% (49/54) from the line since the Butler trade and if he makes his next free throw he'll be at 80% for the season.
Curry/Hield/Moody/Butler/Green (with Green as the inbounder) is shaping up to be a very good "ahead at the end of the game and the other team is fouling" lineup. If Podz could up his FT% and replace Hield it'd be even better because I'd worry about a team trapping Hield and forcing him to make a decision rather than fouling him.
I would pay a good sum of money to have the Kerr critics be assigned for one week to actually coach the Warriors. Look the players and assistant coaches in the eyes. Make all the decisions. Actually see and know all the #@##&# that happens that they know nothing about. So easy to coach from your sofa in hindsight without knowing what is actually happening day to day.
I contest this critique. You're right, I can't coach as well as Kerr. That doesn't mean that everything he does is flawless and nothing I say has merit.
It's like saying "If you think Moody isn't hitting threes at a high enough rate, you try it. Let's see you hit even 10%"(Which I could not).
If we need to be world class athletes and coaches to have an opinion, I guess I can't say what movies or books are good, either, because I didn't make them.
I have to ask you to point out where I said everything Kerr does is flawless and nothing you say has merit?
My post was directed at a few people who constantly criticize and consistently come across like they would do better.
Coaching is very difficult. There are so many decisions, many split second, and so many factors that influence those decisions. So many personalities. Simple luck also plays a part in it all.
No coach is flawless. Coaches often get more credit than they deserve as well as more blame. A cliche but true.
To me personally, the greatest measure of a coach in terms of X’s and O’s, assuming the talent is pretty close between the teams, is getting better quality shots than your opponent. That encompasses defense and your offensive system/ style of play. By quality shots I mean player’s getting good shots that match their abilities. An open 3 for Steph is a quality shot. An open 3 for Looney is not. A driving opportunity without help for JK is a quality shot. For Looney not so much. Easy to pick on Looney.😊 In other words maximize your players strengths.
I don’t agree with everything Kerr does or has done but I am quite certain he is way more capable than me. I actually did coach for 25 years at the HS level and I absolutely know what I don’t know.
It is fun to gripe sometimes about the coach or question why so and so isn’t playing more. That is not what I was talking about.
A criticism I have is why Kerr and his staff and of course his college coaches have not been insistent on TJD improving his ability to shoot and also score around the hoop?
Maybe they have and he just can’t do it. I don’t know.
I suggest we let go of the probable misunderstanding about how we expressed the points here, sounds like we generally agree.
For example I have long been frustrated about the very same thing.as you —- how can coaches not put guys like Looney and TJD in the gym every day and say you’re not leaving until you can hit a simple midrange shot reliably. I don’t know the best strategy to motivate each particular player because I don’t know them but of course a coach’s job includes finding the angle.
I used to ask myself if I was being dumb about this, that behind the scenes they were in fact, coaching those guys to learn how to shoot and I just wasn’t seeing it because of course I’m not at practice. But this year, Kerr started talking about how impressive it was that Looney was working over the summer on a mid range shot or a three-point shot, something like that and I thought, “what do you mean, you’re happy that he is doing it this year? Wasn’t he supposed to be doing it all the years?”
If guys like TJD and Looney can't hit deep contested threes, fine, we get it. But all we need is the threat of a midrange shot. David West showed that the ability to just knock that down has a lot of value even just as a threat.
I was middle of the pack as a kid in junior high or high school. I had a number of strengths like ball handling, defensive hustle, BBIQ, but I just wasn't a good shot. But even I could reliably hit a midrange uncontested jumper. Without coaching, without height, without the time to practice. TJD and Looney have all of those things.
Imagine this conversation from some parallel universe:
"Hey, why doesn't Steph set screens on bigger guys?"
"Steph is an amazing shooter and passer, and that's what we really need him to focus on. He's not big or strong enough to set screens on bigger, stronger guys and it would risk his health. Also, as he was coming up he focused on his shot and his handle and never really got good at screening. It's not a point of emphasis."
No offense taken but I'm not rolling with *whatever* Kerr says. I would say that 98% of the time the experts seem right, but I think they are falliable and the other 2% is interesting, and fun to weigh in on. Without that we'd just be watching games and going yay team. Or boo team, as the case may be.
Sure, but some of the comments (many fewer here than elsewhere) seem to suggest Kerr is a terrible coach who doesn't know anything about the game. Not critiquing you in particular Asher, but I often wish for more nuance whenever someone posts and am dismayed we collectively seem to resort to very binary viewpoints in cases that call for something else
Yeah we all saw Kerr start Wanamaker for half the season before Poole took over the spot and made the team way better, he made an error not making that move sooner and I think that is clear in retrospect. There will never be a coach that makes every correct move.
... maybe also worth noting that Post has played more NBA minutes than Reed Sheppard (556 to 536)
Remember during summer league when everyone was convinced Sheppard was the bee's knees and that everyone was a fool for not seeing he was the #1 player in the draft with a bullet? And that Post was ... just another late second round scrub?
Full disclosure: I actually kinda thought both of those things in summer league. ;-P
Well, Sheppard is on a championship contending #2 seed struggling to get minutes because his coach can’t just dole out minutes for development, while Post is on a meager play in team.
In fairness those other guys are 19,19, 20, and 20 years old so you would expect them to get quite a bit better. [Edit: though Post does compare pretty favorably with Zach Edey who is 22 and was taken #9]
Totally fair. I expected that as the first caveat. 21-25 are huge developmental years. Still not 100% sure I would trade Post for anyone in his class, though. Are you? Mayyybe Castle?
One guy, at a different position but with some other similarities, and who was getting a lot of early season buzz: Dalton Knecht. We basically got a 7-foot version, 35 picks later.
Post is just such a great fit for the Warriors and unlike Jacob Evans really was NBA ready at a time when the Warriors needed an NBA ready player, so you certainly wouldn't make any trade right now.
What about if we factor in his value over the next 10 years, including the second timeline? Still not 100% sure I’d trade him for anyone, though I’d probably need to do a deep dive on the whole draft. Risacher and Castle are both still very intriguing.
After a brief look at basketball-reference, I think you could make a case for Edey or Knecht however they are older players just as Post is. In retrospect, Post dropping to #52 looks rediculous and entirely due to age bias.
God bless you Dino, but this is like a parent wanting their kid to get back with their ex. like, really REALLY wanting them to get back together even though both parties seem to have moved on. "You guys were perfect for each other, remember all the good times you two had?" yes, mom, and those memories are great, but people and circumstances change, and it doesn't mean they can be had again.
Dino, how about proposing an actual legal trade? Or showing *any* evidence that Klay wants to be back at GSW. Otherwise, this is just the caps lock version of Wolverine caressing a picture of his crush. Though you do get points for rhyming PPG and Dunleavy.
lol....that's for FO to figure out, I just state what is intuitively obvious even to the most-casual TRUE FAN...love you, ERIC. There, edit-fix; 1st two lines were intended introductory commentary, next line was intended to be the TITLE...in more ways than the verse that followed...got all bunched together in here...
Meh, no doubt when he left, he did not. But, sugar changes, and MAVS IMPLODED. Opportunity there, everything in my psych-bones says. Worth a shot, and, if approached right, he may go for it...After all, misunderstandings and mistakes can be fixed. IMAGINE SPLASH BROTHERS/BUTLER/DRAY... for 2 years...a bit of faith and DUNLEAVY might have had it all...but, may still deliver...
There is a tried and true recipie for the front office to follow. Operation parent trap!
First they get FakeKlay and real Klay to switch wallets/ID/airline tickets, maybe when Klay has a minor injury. Then Klay goes to the game and sits on the bench and he remembers all the good times. He realize that his new team is empty of meaningful basketball. He gets back to Dallas, Nico resigns and Dallas decides it is time to rebuild. Klay forces his way into a buy out and becomes a free agent and comes back to play for the warriors for the vet minimum purely out of love for the game.
Anything is worth a try...Methinks STEPH is the best ambassador to ''buy''-in. I would do it myself during the off-season for (economy) plane fare and hotel expenses (meals on me) only...GREECE-BAY AREA-DALLAS (only if necessary)-BAY AREA-GREECE...
Get really inspired and do my best work; today, I read the ''poetic'' contributions below in the thread, and inspired this former twice Literary Editor in my second language...lol
We’re not a serious team until we take everybody seriously and start strong. Stop disrespecting the game and give these NBA teams the respect they deserve by snatching their belief from the jump. Even Jimmy said in the post game we didn’t start playing with maximum effort until it was too late. That is completely unacceptable for a team that’s fighting for their lives with only a couple of games remaining in the regular season.
Not to make too many excuses, but beyond the fact that Steph was missing and that ATL is a pretty good team who has been playing well lately: I had a bad feeling about a Western team that had been on the West Coast for a couple weeks trying to get their body clocks acclimated to a 4pm PST start.
By the the time they got their footing they had dug too big of a hole.
Years ago, I heard Fitz talking about a study that had been done player biometrics and traveling from east to west and playing a night game was single hardest obstacle to overcome, physically. I believe going east-to-west then playing a noon game was 2nd.
(The study probably should’ve included playing after a birthday party in your mid-30’s.)
Just watched game highlights of the full-strength Lakers getting blown out at home by 30 to the Bulls, narrowly avoiding giving up the quadruple-double to.... *checks notes*... Josh Giddy.
These are the types of games that prove to me that Kerr is a below average in game coach. It was obvious to me that Warriors were getting beat by ATL's height & athleticism. 7'0, 6'8,, 6'8, 6;7 guys out there on a regular basis playing against 4 Warriors who were 6'6 and under. This is a perfect game for a guy like TJD. A 6'8 PF who jumps out of the building, and who averages a double double, almost 2 blocks per game, and who shoots at a 57% fg clip on a per 36min basis. And sure enough, in just 4 min of playing time, TJD immediately contributes with 3 pts, 3 reb, 2 off reb, 1 ast, 1blk. Insanely small sample size but thats on track for 30pts, 30 reb, 20 off reb 10 ast, 10blk in 40 min of play. In other words, he dominated the few minutes he was allowed to play. With Curry hurt and the dubs clearly struggling, playing this guy 20+ min tonight seemed like a no brainer. And who knows, maybe it lights a fire under the other guys and a few possessions swing the other way here and there and the Warriors find themselves in a winnable game with a few min to go. I just hate how players almost randomly get thrown into Kerr's doghouse and are never given an opportunity. JK, Moody, Wiseman all fell victim to this over the years. I may be in minority on this, but its extremely frustrating for me to watch these types of game. TJD should be an asset to this team. I think he has the potential to be a future star. No reason for him not to be given a chance especially on a night like this.
Fan screeds for more playing time for their pet favorite players and #BadCoach are the life blood of sports blogs, but don’t mean much if you don’t specify whose minutes you’re proposing to cut.
Absolutely agree. I can never understand how a guy goes from being a starter to being a DNP. Nobody here is saying that TJD is the next Olajuwon, but he has strengths, as you mention. And they were on display in his brief stint. The counterargument is to go with faster, smaller, more skilled and experienced guys --- who got their asses kicked.
I mean, the "got their asses kicked" quip is a pretty standard line every angry fan trots out post-game when their team has lost and they want to pretend it's because the coach didn't play their favorite player enough.
In the real (non-counter-factual) world: the Warriors have been quite bad with TJD on the floor all season (-3.2 points per 100 possessions, in 926 minutes) and quite good with him on the bench (+5.0 pts per 100).
And again: calls for player X to play more are meaningless without specific calls for which Player Y should be playing less. The lion's share of TJD's former rotation minutes have gone to Post, who has been a complete revelation. Obviously he shouldn't be getting those minutes back, especially on a roster that is already slightly overloaded with mediocre or non-shooters (Dray, JK, GP2, JB, Loon). The whole geometry of the floor is transformed when you sub out TJD for Post.
You could call for giving him Loon's minutes, but we're talking only 15 mpg, and it's hard to imagine TJD's advantages in speed, jumping, and dunking offset Loon's advantages in size, strength, rebounding, screening, defense, passing, hoops IQ, decision-making, and synergy with the core. If it were the case, the on-off numbers would reflect it. They do not.
I guess there's also the possibility of randomly messing with other players' minutes and rotation patterns here and there to somehow cobble together the 20 minutes Jeff is demanding for TJD. And then we're messing with everyone's rhythm, including TJD's — with 11 games left in the season, when every win is critical. That's the exact opposite of what we need to be doing with the playoffs approaching, imo. It's been tricky enough to re-integrate JK into the rotation this late in the season, and now we want to throw in another wild card with "upside" and questionable skills, fit, and positive impact, because, like, we really, really like TJD and wish he could play more?
This post appears to label me an "angry" fan who engages in crazy talk adn deluded "counterfactuals," and wishes to "pretend" things in the interest of some biased agenda, while being foolish enough to not understand basics like the fact that minutes for one player cost another.
I see no reason to respond to all that. It's a fan site, I would hope we could refrain from attacking each other.
With the way the Hawks were defending tonight, TJD would not have scored double digits if he were to play more minutes tonight. Plus, Okongwu would simply shoot over him since TJD is not tall enough to defend him.
But I agree that extrapolating from a 4 minute sample of TJD minutes is silly.
TJD is 25. We kinda know what he is and is not at this point. He does not have “potential to be a future star.” He’s an undersized traditional center who can get you a few points in the paint, rebound his position at an average-ish level, and block some shots. Like a slightly less efficient Brandon Clarke.
Now that Knox is signed, I’d just as soon see most of of TJD’s potential minutes go to Knox. Similar size, better athlete, much more versatile skill set. Kind of a hybrid JK/TJD who can actually shoot.
I can't see TJD sticking in the league for long if he can't either learn to shoot a little bit away from the rim or become a rebounding/screening specialist like Looney. There are just too many guys at his size that can also shoot.
I like TJD, but he is not a PF, he is an undersized center. And there is 0 chance he is a future star. He's too limited for the modern game - too small, can't shoot, can't hit FTs. And he's already 25. His ceiling is a rotational big.
If something seems bafflingly inexplicable, then either you don't have the information that could make that decision seem more sane, or the person making that decision doesn't have the information or knowledge you do (or some mix of both).
I can decisively say that not playing TJD not only hasn't been a sign of bad coaching, but one could argue that taking so long to bench TJD was actually Kerr's error.
And I say this as someone who advocated for drafting him, but he's been really bad this season.
Steve Kerr has consistently said it is hard to play everyone and give them enough minutes. Many fans pick and choose usually after the fact based on recent or partial game performance.
Didn't get a chance to watch this one. Is it bad when your opponent plays 10 guys and only 1 of those 10 shoots worse than 50%? Also, from the stat lines, looks like JK had another empty calories game: 16 points, but 52.2% TS%, -18?
It's not very good but it is also close to his per game averages this season (53.5% TS to be fair).
If he was a guy who focused on defense and rebounding like Kerr has been trying for since he was drafted then his game-by-game performance wouldn't be so dependent on his ability to score, but it is. Hopefully he scores better.
The Kuminga dilemma: he would be a star on a worse team, but he would never reach his ceiling in terms of impact. He *could* reach that ceiling here, but how much opportunity cost are you willing to blow through waiting out the possibility of that happening? And how much opportunity cost is *he* willing to pay to stay here?
My read on it has been that he needs to try and fail at being a star to accept his best role which I see as an Aaron Gordon type (who tried and failed in Orlando before accepting his current role in Denver). I think it is a lot harder to do accept that on the team that drafted you though.
I do not think Kuminga would succeed if he was on a worse team with a bigger scoring role but I think Kuminga thinks he would succeed in that role and until that discrepancy is resolved I don't think he's going to be an "impact winning at or above the level of his contract" type of guy. I laughed at Toronto giving Brandon Ingram that contract, I hope I'm not crying at the contract Kuminga gets from the Warriors this summer.
I think the difference between us is that I see progress on those fronts over the arc of his career, and still see plenty of reason for optimism (his dribble is better since his rookie season, his defense, while not where it needs to get to now, was pretty good two seasons ago, his scoring, his finishing seems better, etc.) And, he's just 22.
Right now he's backslid quite a bit, but given a two month layoff, I wasn't expecting anything else. My guess is that this year, he's a spot sub in the playoffs, and that's about it.
If we keep him, I expect to see continued growth, though not at the pace we all are necessarily hoping to see.
The question is: will he accept less than a star role after his next contract is signed? I have no idea on that one. Right now, he seems like one very frustrated guy, and part of it is probably just that he feels he's better than he is showing.
> The question is: will he accept less than a star role after his next contract is signed?
I'm concerned it goes the other way. Kerr loses his leverage if Kuminga gets a big contract the way he did with Poole when he had to play Poole in 2023-2024 despite Poole's complete disinterest in defense. Right now Kerr is able to take away Kuminga's closing minutes (like last night) if Kuminga isn't doing what he wants, that goes out the window once the new deal is signed, it'll be more asking nicely and hoping.
I don't see any reason Kerr would have a problem benching Kuminga if needed, whatever his contract. He's his own man, and he's out of here in two years anyway. I'm also confident that he could explain his reasoning to MDJ and Lacob.
Good news is that the Kings and the Lakers lost tonight to the Bucks and the Bulls, respectively. I hope the Thunder beat the Clippers tomorrow as well.
The clippers have beaten the Cavs and grizzlies - they are the most dangerous team in the west - OKC is in for a rude awakening tomorrow. Lets hope we don’t meet the clips is a playin elimination
Bulls crush the Lakers 146-115. Bulls outscored the Lakers 81-53 in the 2nd half and shot 58% overall. Lakers also had 21 turnovers--11 more than the Bulls--which were converted to 27 points. Bulls had a whopping 74 points in the paint, 30 fastbreak points, and went 19/41 on threes. Also, Josh Giddey had a triple-double tonight: 22 points, 17 assists, and 10 rebounds. It could've been a quad-double if he got two more steals.
I'd love to see a poll of DUB FANS of how many fans think DUBS will be hanging on to 6th seed at the end of this road trip...Man, we were sniffing at 5th seed before STEPH went down, and we blew the last game...
I've not thought that since the beginning of this run. Minny's just got a cupcake schedule, we don't.
I don't really love cupcakes. They can be pretty but the doughy part isn't that tasty or interesting or subtle, and the frosting is like a sugar kick to the head.
Cant with that Steve Kerr around their neck! T he guy is hopeless.
re-posting someone else's useful link:
https://www.playoffstatus.com/nba/warriorsmig.html
The probabilities are increasingly leaning towards us ending up in 8th, then 7th, then 6th, then 5th. All other outcomes are currently unlikely.
Yep.
Well, to me it depends when Steph returns. If he misses the whole trip, I'd predict they go something like 3-3, which will almost definitely drop them to 8th. If Steph is back by Friday, then I can see them going 4-2 (4-1 plus the 0-1 start). T wolves will probably only lose 1 (let's go Denver), so they'd pass us, but hopefully the Clips will also lose 2 or maybe 3 - they play OKC and CLE, and then have a travel back to back at Orlando, who can be tough sometimes and I'm not sure that Kawhi is playing both games of B2B yet. So, with a quicker recovery by Steph and some help from DEN, OKC, CLE, ORL, and one other team playing the Wolves, we could still be hanging on to 6th - I'd put it at a 30% chance.
Then the trick is having a rested Steph back and finally beating Denver, and running the table in the last 6 games while MEM loses a bunch and/or LAC and MIN also lose 2 or 3.
Someone said something about March NBA basketball being boring because teams are tanking, but I am not at all bored with this race to the finish.
Spot-on. Methinks the NBA FO Brass are smiling as the Play-In is beyond their wildest expectations of fan interest this season....
Where is Kuminga in the reintegration process? What should his role be? I got to see the first half of the game. I again saw some good offense, mostly when he had some space to work with, either because they were in transition or because the rim protector was puled away. I think he had one nice finish thogh in a crowded space.
On the negative side, the defense did not look connected during some of the time he was in -- not sure if it was his doing or just everyone was off. Oh, and he generated at least one predictable turnover on a drive.
I do wonder what Kerr will do to assist Kuminga's best assets to flourish.
As for the Miami game, I would have liked to see much more of him. He was seemingly the only one who solved the tricky question of "How do you score in an NBA game?"
I thought he looked good in the 2nd quarter, and pretty disconnected from everything in the 2nd half.
As far as progress, I'm not really worrying about it until the end of the regular season. We'll know if he's playable, and we have the luxury of depth, so Kuminga's kind of a 'nice to have' at this moment (unless you really think we're a title contender with peak Kuminga ... I don't).
And, while I'd love it if he were playing great, in some ways, if he doesn't play super-well, it makes a decision for Kerr that would be tough otherwise (cutting down to a 9-10 man playoff rotation).
Guys, the biggest problem by far isS teve Kerr! Its like he cant read the simpliest of games with relevant rotations. He is the worst!
>>>Jimmy Butler on his Miami tenure: “We was aight, we didn’t win nothing like we was supposed to. We made some cool runs, we had some fun, I think that’s all we did” <<<
https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1ji17jp/jimmy_butler_on_his_miami_tenure_we_was_aight_we/
>>>Kings go scoreless (0/7 FG, 0/2 FT) in the last 4 minutes of a close game vs Bucks with some smooth bricks/airballs<<<
https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1ji2sir/lowlights_kings_go_scoreless_07_fg_02_ft_in_the/
I know the Kings did not have Sabonis and Monk last night, but my goodness. The shot selection by the Kings during crunch time was horrible.
FYI Walter Clayton Jr who has been carrying Florida today over UConn in NCAA MBB is projected to fall into the GSW draft range (the 40s) despite popping with analytics and being a first team All-American.
I swear I was just about to post that he's on my radar now after watching that game. Impressive.
Also fingers crossed that the GSW draft range is the late 30s, big game today for those purposes with San Antonio playing Toronto. San Antonio winning would greatly benefit the pick.
He’s on my list using the my same formula from last year. Unfortunately, if he pops too hard in the Sweet Sixteen, he might rise into the first round.
I didn’t have time to make this an article, but the other people on the list (not all still in the tournament):
Nique Clifford
Johni Broome
Kam Jones
Alex Karaban
Braden Smith
Ryan Kalkbrenner
Max Shulga
Walter Clayton Jr.
Yaxel Lendeborg
Bennett Stirtz
Eric Dixon
John Tonje
Donovan Dent
In short, these are juniors and seniors who are in the Top 40 in BPM or Bart Torvik’s PRPG who are projected to be drafted in the second round.
I'd add Darrion Williams. He's a junior, 6'6, seen him projected in the second round, and he has a high BPM. 2 to 1 A/TO ratio and a high FT%, nothing wrong with a wing who can pass. Higher BPM than Karaban from what I can tell (haven't looked at all the others).
U all can add who u want, if Kerr remains the 'coach' gsw are doomed again to fail. He does everything possible to help lose the game, over and over. Does not know his players or how and when to play them.
I will definitely request nominations for the Apricot Draft Tourney. Williams is an interesting one: he's #69 in BPM and #75 in PRPG so he was just past the cutoffs, but still highly ranked.
Karaban is #150 BPM but #39 PRPG. I don't personally think PRPG is very predictive, but it does bring interesting people into the field, so I'm using it for now.
If I loosen the BPM cutoff to 70, then I get this list
Nique Clifford
Johni Broome
Kam Jones
Adou Thiero
Alex Karaban
Braden Smith
Ryan Kalkbrenner
Max Shulga
Milos Uzan
Walter Clayton Jr.
Darrion Williams
Yaxel Lendeborg
Bennett Stirtz
Sion James
Eric Dixon
John Tonje
Donovan Dent
Makes sense, I love your draft tournaments so whatever method you use is working. That's interesting that Williams is close on both but qualifies on neither, maybe he would have fared better in like a "composite metric" or something.
My cutoff is pretty arbitrary, so I wouldn’t read a lot into it except that it’s a good sign that he’s rated highly by both metrics.
Last time the Warriors went on a road trip to the East Coast, they looked sluggish to start the game. Their opponents were the Magic, who shot the ball very well from beyond the arc (11/28), and mauled the Warriors in the paint (56 points). They won thanks to Curry.
Last night, the Warriors didn't have Curry to bail them out. The team looked better in the 4th Q, but it was too late for the Warriors to make a comeback by that point. Unless the Warriors look bad again in Miami, I wouldn't worry too much about the team right now. They're not gonna look good every game.
They played pretty good after the first quarter, but was too much to overcome without Steph. Had this been a close game throughout, dubs win no doubt imo. On to Miami
Moody has shot 90.7% (49/54) from the line since the Butler trade and if he makes his next free throw he'll be at 80% for the season.
Curry/Hield/Moody/Butler/Green (with Green as the inbounder) is shaping up to be a very good "ahead at the end of the game and the other team is fouling" lineup. If Podz could up his FT% and replace Hield it'd be even better because I'd worry about a team trapping Hield and forcing him to make a decision rather than fouling him.
Nope, still not accepting any Kerr slander.
There is a lot of room between global slander and critique of certain choices.
Fair
I would pay a good sum of money to have the Kerr critics be assigned for one week to actually coach the Warriors. Look the players and assistant coaches in the eyes. Make all the decisions. Actually see and know all the #@##&# that happens that they know nothing about. So easy to coach from your sofa in hindsight without knowing what is actually happening day to day.
I contest this critique. You're right, I can't coach as well as Kerr. That doesn't mean that everything he does is flawless and nothing I say has merit.
It's like saying "If you think Moody isn't hitting threes at a high enough rate, you try it. Let's see you hit even 10%"(Which I could not).
If we need to be world class athletes and coaches to have an opinion, I guess I can't say what movies or books are good, either, because I didn't make them.
I don't find this a compelling line of argument.
I have to ask you to point out where I said everything Kerr does is flawless and nothing you say has merit?
My post was directed at a few people who constantly criticize and consistently come across like they would do better.
Coaching is very difficult. There are so many decisions, many split second, and so many factors that influence those decisions. So many personalities. Simple luck also plays a part in it all.
No coach is flawless. Coaches often get more credit than they deserve as well as more blame. A cliche but true.
To me personally, the greatest measure of a coach in terms of X’s and O’s, assuming the talent is pretty close between the teams, is getting better quality shots than your opponent. That encompasses defense and your offensive system/ style of play. By quality shots I mean player’s getting good shots that match their abilities. An open 3 for Steph is a quality shot. An open 3 for Looney is not. A driving opportunity without help for JK is a quality shot. For Looney not so much. Easy to pick on Looney.😊 In other words maximize your players strengths.
I don’t agree with everything Kerr does or has done but I am quite certain he is way more capable than me. I actually did coach for 25 years at the HS level and I absolutely know what I don’t know.
It is fun to gripe sometimes about the coach or question why so and so isn’t playing more. That is not what I was talking about.
A criticism I have is why Kerr and his staff and of course his college coaches have not been insistent on TJD improving his ability to shoot and also score around the hoop?
Maybe they have and he just can’t do it. I don’t know.
A great example of I know what I don’t know.
I suggest we let go of the probable misunderstanding about how we expressed the points here, sounds like we generally agree.
For example I have long been frustrated about the very same thing.as you —- how can coaches not put guys like Looney and TJD in the gym every day and say you’re not leaving until you can hit a simple midrange shot reliably. I don’t know the best strategy to motivate each particular player because I don’t know them but of course a coach’s job includes finding the angle.
I used to ask myself if I was being dumb about this, that behind the scenes they were in fact, coaching those guys to learn how to shoot and I just wasn’t seeing it because of course I’m not at practice. But this year, Kerr started talking about how impressive it was that Looney was working over the summer on a mid range shot or a three-point shot, something like that and I thought, “what do you mean, you’re happy that he is doing it this year? Wasn’t he supposed to be doing it all the years?”
Agreed.
Please don’t get me started on the TJD thing.
I would like 5 minutes with MDJ to hear him explain exactly what has been done with TJD since they drafted him.
Countless hours with a shooting coach and a skills coach? No?
Why not?
Yes. Why no improvement?
It would be enlightening.
If guys like TJD and Looney can't hit deep contested threes, fine, we get it. But all we need is the threat of a midrange shot. David West showed that the ability to just knock that down has a lot of value even just as a threat.
I was middle of the pack as a kid in junior high or high school. I had a number of strengths like ball handling, defensive hustle, BBIQ, but I just wasn't a good shot. But even I could reliably hit a midrange uncontested jumper. Without coaching, without height, without the time to practice. TJD and Looney have all of those things.
Imagine this conversation from some parallel universe:
"Hey, why doesn't Steph set screens on bigger guys?"
"Steph is an amazing shooter and passer, and that's what we really need him to focus on. He's not big or strong enough to set screens on bigger, stronger guys and it would risk his health. Also, as he was coming up he focused on his shot and his handle and never really got good at screening. It's not a point of emphasis."
Sure, but still, im rolling with whatever Steve Kerr says over 4-time fan champion Asher B. No offense
No offense taken but I'm not rolling with *whatever* Kerr says. I would say that 98% of the time the experts seem right, but I think they are falliable and the other 2% is interesting, and fun to weigh in on. Without that we'd just be watching games and going yay team. Or boo team, as the case may be.
Sure, but some of the comments (many fewer here than elsewhere) seem to suggest Kerr is a terrible coach who doesn't know anything about the game. Not critiquing you in particular Asher, but I often wish for more nuance whenever someone posts and am dismayed we collectively seem to resort to very binary viewpoints in cases that call for something else
Agreed. Nuance when posting would be welcome not just regarding coaching, nor indeed just sports.
We do indeed already have enough SGA IS A MEAN LOW-DOWN FOUL GRIFTING JERK posts for ten lifetimes.
Yeah we all saw Kerr start Wanamaker for half the season before Poole took over the spot and made the team way better, he made an error not making that move sooner and I think that is clear in retrospect. There will never be a coach that makes every correct move.
I'd like to see them just coach a high school team. 5th grade CYO, anyone?
Especially after one loss.
(Per 36 minutes)
A: 17.5 pts on **.545 TS** / 5.4 reb / 1.8 ast
B: 17.0 pts on **.489 TS** / 9.0 reb / 3.1 ast
C: 11.7 pts on **.428 TS** / 4.2 reb / 3.6 ast
D: 19.5 pts on **.520 TS** / 4.5 reb / 5.1 ast
E. 18.6 pts on **.623 TS** / 8.2 reb / 3.0 ast
Players A-D are #1-4 draft picks Risacher, Sarr, Sheppard, and Castle.
Player E is #52 pick Quinten Stroopwafel Post.
Strafewaffle
…
Throwing in Knecht (age 24 in three weeks) per the convo below.
16.9 pts on .591 TS / 5.2 reb / 1.6 ast
Not Post-caliber, but it’s still utterly ridiculous that Harrison did not demand him in the Luka trade.
... maybe also worth noting that Post has played more NBA minutes than Reed Sheppard (556 to 536)
Remember during summer league when everyone was convinced Sheppard was the bee's knees and that everyone was a fool for not seeing he was the #1 player in the draft with a bullet? And that Post was ... just another late second round scrub?
Full disclosure: I actually kinda thought both of those things in summer league. ;-P
Well, Sheppard is on a championship contending #2 seed struggling to get minutes because his coach can’t just dole out minutes for development, while Post is on a meager play in team.
>while Post is on a meager play in team
... desperate for the one undeniable skill he has ... shooting.
That said, Post drafted in the 50s is a huge steal, however you slice the comparisons.
In fairness those other guys are 19,19, 20, and 20 years old so you would expect them to get quite a bit better. [Edit: though Post does compare pretty favorably with Zach Edey who is 22 and was taken #9]
Moody is still a year and a half away from being the same age as Chris Duarte when he was drafted, by the way.
Yes, also, Kevin Knox is just 6 mo. older than Post despite being in (and out of) the league for ages.
Moody is a revelation. I know you’ve had him the whole time.
Totally fair. I expected that as the first caveat. 21-25 are huge developmental years. Still not 100% sure I would trade Post for anyone in his class, though. Are you? Mayyybe Castle?
One guy, at a different position but with some other similarities, and who was getting a lot of early season buzz: Dalton Knecht. We basically got a 7-foot version, 35 picks later.
Post is just such a great fit for the Warriors and unlike Jacob Evans really was NBA ready at a time when the Warriors needed an NBA ready player, so you certainly wouldn't make any trade right now.
What about if we factor in his value over the next 10 years, including the second timeline? Still not 100% sure I’d trade him for anyone, though I’d probably need to do a deep dive on the whole draft. Risacher and Castle are both still very intriguing.
I have to admit I would have never ever expected to see this post about Post, sorry, a few months ago.
I am not being sarcastic or even questioning it, it just really shows how unpredictable the draft can be.
Good job MDJ.
Not only does he feel such an important need, he is entertaining as well.😊
After a brief look at basketball-reference, I think you could make a case for Edey or Knecht however they are older players just as Post is. In retrospect, Post dropping to #52 looks rediculous and entirely due to age bias.
From what I recall the leader in the clubhouse for ROY was Jared McCain until he got hurt, but tbh I didn't watch him play.
I remember when you used to make us guess...
DNHQ needs a [SPOILER]spoiler code!![/SPOILER]
No STEPH, no ''mediocre''...at least when KLAY was at SG, RARELY would BOTH be off, and either was capable of 30 ppg...
GET KLAY BACK FOR NEXT 2 SEASONS, DUNLEAVY!=TITLE
When you under-appreciate the likes of KLAY,
Many an FO-egg you’re condemned to lay.
As the Dynastic Team was not STEPH’s alone,
SPLASH BROTHERS/DRAY CORE, HOF, all, homegrown.
MJAX heralded them NBA’s ever best,
LOGO confirmed it true; knew game-changing WEST.
KERR ran with it; credit, Truth, never denied,
Yet, in the end, breakup/loss, strangely, he not becried.
They’ve played more games than you and I,
Though JOE’s money TRUMPS it all is no LIE.
So, ON, SCHROEDER!HIELD!MELTON!ANDERSON!LINDY!PODZ!MOODY! Run!
As sad/underutilized KLAY in DALLAS, COMBINED bests you ALL!
God bless you Dino, but this is like a parent wanting their kid to get back with their ex. like, really REALLY wanting them to get back together even though both parties seem to have moved on. "You guys were perfect for each other, remember all the good times you two had?" yes, mom, and those memories are great, but people and circumstances change, and it doesn't mean they can be had again.
Don't mean you do not even reach out and try....
Dino, how about proposing an actual legal trade? Or showing *any* evidence that Klay wants to be back at GSW. Otherwise, this is just the caps lock version of Wolverine caressing a picture of his crush. Though you do get points for rhyming PPG and Dunleavy.
https://youtu.be/AYIFqMJbu54
lol....that's for FO to figure out, I just state what is intuitively obvious even to the most-casual TRUE FAN...love you, ERIC. There, edit-fix; 1st two lines were intended introductory commentary, next line was intended to be the TITLE...in more ways than the verse that followed...got all bunched together in here...
Noooo I like the rhyme. PP Gee and Dunleavy DO rhyme.
And from what I can see, Klay doesn’t want to be here. Let the man fly and try something new…
Free, free, set them free… 🎵
Meh, no doubt when he left, he did not. But, sugar changes, and MAVS IMPLODED. Opportunity there, everything in my psych-bones says. Worth a shot, and, if approached right, he may go for it...After all, misunderstandings and mistakes can be fixed. IMAGINE SPLASH BROTHERS/BUTLER/DRAY... for 2 years...a bit of faith and DUNLEAVY might have had it all...but, may still deliver...
There is a tried and true recipie for the front office to follow. Operation parent trap!
First they get FakeKlay and real Klay to switch wallets/ID/airline tickets, maybe when Klay has a minor injury. Then Klay goes to the game and sits on the bench and he remembers all the good times. He realize that his new team is empty of meaningful basketball. He gets back to Dallas, Nico resigns and Dallas decides it is time to rebuild. Klay forces his way into a buy out and becomes a free agent and comes back to play for the warriors for the vet minimum purely out of love for the game.
(`:-) 😉
Anything is worth a try...Methinks STEPH is the best ambassador to ''buy''-in. I would do it myself during the off-season for (economy) plane fare and hotel expenses (meals on me) only...GREECE-BAY AREA-DALLAS (only if necessary)-BAY AREA-GREECE...
Ma che cazzo bevete in Grecia?
Ouzo, tsipouro, and retsina!
Get really inspired and do my best work; today, I read the ''poetic'' contributions below in the thread, and inspired this former twice Literary Editor in my second language...lol
We’re not a serious team until we take everybody seriously and start strong. Stop disrespecting the game and give these NBA teams the respect they deserve by snatching their belief from the jump. Even Jimmy said in the post game we didn’t start playing with maximum effort until it was too late. That is completely unacceptable for a team that’s fighting for their lives with only a couple of games remaining in the regular season.
AMEN.
I think we are a good solid team. I know we are not some dominant juggernaut.
In all honesty while watching that game did you really feel we are way more talented than these guys especially without Steph?
This is going to be a grind with a bunch of ups and downs. Look at the Lakers last night.
They even shot the ball well and got destroyed.
I felt like everything changed when GP2 went in, and wondered why he didn’t go in earlier.
Not to make too many excuses, but beyond the fact that Steph was missing and that ATL is a pretty good team who has been playing well lately: I had a bad feeling about a Western team that had been on the West Coast for a couple weeks trying to get their body clocks acclimated to a 4pm PST start.
By the the time they got their footing they had dug too big of a hole.
I called that out pregame as my biggest concern…
Years ago, I heard Fitz talking about a study that had been done player biometrics and traveling from east to west and playing a night game was single hardest obstacle to overcome, physically. I believe going east-to-west then playing a noon game was 2nd.
(The study probably should’ve included playing after a birthday party in your mid-30’s.)
BAHAHAHAHAHA!
Just watched game highlights of the full-strength Lakers getting blown out at home by 30 to the Bulls, narrowly avoiding giving up the quadruple-double to.... *checks notes*... Josh Giddy.
Lovely end to a trying day.
I’m here trying to find something positive. This is it. Thank you!!
These are the types of games that prove to me that Kerr is a below average in game coach. It was obvious to me that Warriors were getting beat by ATL's height & athleticism. 7'0, 6'8,, 6'8, 6;7 guys out there on a regular basis playing against 4 Warriors who were 6'6 and under. This is a perfect game for a guy like TJD. A 6'8 PF who jumps out of the building, and who averages a double double, almost 2 blocks per game, and who shoots at a 57% fg clip on a per 36min basis. And sure enough, in just 4 min of playing time, TJD immediately contributes with 3 pts, 3 reb, 2 off reb, 1 ast, 1blk. Insanely small sample size but thats on track for 30pts, 30 reb, 20 off reb 10 ast, 10blk in 40 min of play. In other words, he dominated the few minutes he was allowed to play. With Curry hurt and the dubs clearly struggling, playing this guy 20+ min tonight seemed like a no brainer. And who knows, maybe it lights a fire under the other guys and a few possessions swing the other way here and there and the Warriors find themselves in a winnable game with a few min to go. I just hate how players almost randomly get thrown into Kerr's doghouse and are never given an opportunity. JK, Moody, Wiseman all fell victim to this over the years. I may be in minority on this, but its extremely frustrating for me to watch these types of game. TJD should be an asset to this team. I think he has the potential to be a future star. No reason for him not to be given a chance especially on a night like this.
Minutes are zero sum.
Fan screeds for more playing time for their pet favorite players and #BadCoach are the life blood of sports blogs, but don’t mean much if you don’t specify whose minutes you’re proposing to cut.
Absolutely agree. I can never understand how a guy goes from being a starter to being a DNP. Nobody here is saying that TJD is the next Olajuwon, but he has strengths, as you mention. And they were on display in his brief stint. The counterargument is to go with faster, smaller, more skilled and experienced guys --- who got their asses kicked.
I mean, the "got their asses kicked" quip is a pretty standard line every angry fan trots out post-game when their team has lost and they want to pretend it's because the coach didn't play their favorite player enough.
In the real (non-counter-factual) world: the Warriors have been quite bad with TJD on the floor all season (-3.2 points per 100 possessions, in 926 minutes) and quite good with him on the bench (+5.0 pts per 100).
And again: calls for player X to play more are meaningless without specific calls for which Player Y should be playing less. The lion's share of TJD's former rotation minutes have gone to Post, who has been a complete revelation. Obviously he shouldn't be getting those minutes back, especially on a roster that is already slightly overloaded with mediocre or non-shooters (Dray, JK, GP2, JB, Loon). The whole geometry of the floor is transformed when you sub out TJD for Post.
You could call for giving him Loon's minutes, but we're talking only 15 mpg, and it's hard to imagine TJD's advantages in speed, jumping, and dunking offset Loon's advantages in size, strength, rebounding, screening, defense, passing, hoops IQ, decision-making, and synergy with the core. If it were the case, the on-off numbers would reflect it. They do not.
I guess there's also the possibility of randomly messing with other players' minutes and rotation patterns here and there to somehow cobble together the 20 minutes Jeff is demanding for TJD. And then we're messing with everyone's rhythm, including TJD's — with 11 games left in the season, when every win is critical. That's the exact opposite of what we need to be doing with the playoffs approaching, imo. It's been tricky enough to re-integrate JK into the rotation this late in the season, and now we want to throw in another wild card with "upside" and questionable skills, fit, and positive impact, because, like, we really, really like TJD and wish he could play more?
Just crazy-talk, IMO.
This post appears to label me an "angry" fan who engages in crazy talk adn deluded "counterfactuals," and wishes to "pretend" things in the interest of some biased agenda, while being foolish enough to not understand basics like the fact that minutes for one player cost another.
I see no reason to respond to all that. It's a fan site, I would hope we could refrain from attacking each other.
With the way the Hawks were defending tonight, TJD would not have scored double digits if he were to play more minutes tonight. Plus, Okongwu would simply shoot over him since TJD is not tall enough to defend him.
Okongwu is 6-8.
But I agree that extrapolating from a 4 minute sample of TJD minutes is silly.
TJD is 25. We kinda know what he is and is not at this point. He does not have “potential to be a future star.” He’s an undersized traditional center who can get you a few points in the paint, rebound his position at an average-ish level, and block some shots. Like a slightly less efficient Brandon Clarke.
Now that Knox is signed, I’d just as soon see most of of TJD’s potential minutes go to Knox. Similar size, better athlete, much more versatile skill set. Kind of a hybrid JK/TJD who can actually shoot.
I can't see TJD sticking in the league for long if he can't either learn to shoot a little bit away from the rim or become a rebounding/screening specialist like Looney. There are just too many guys at his size that can also shoot.
I like TJD, but he is not a PF, he is an undersized center. And there is 0 chance he is a future star. He's too limited for the modern game - too small, can't shoot, can't hit FTs. And he's already 25. His ceiling is a rotational big.
If something seems bafflingly inexplicable, then either you don't have the information that could make that decision seem more sane, or the person making that decision doesn't have the information or knowledge you do (or some mix of both).
Didn't watch this game but your frustrations are sentiments that have been expressed many many times on this site.
I can decisively say that not playing TJD not only hasn't been a sign of bad coaching, but one could argue that taking so long to bench TJD was actually Kerr's error.
And I say this as someone who advocated for drafting him, but he's been really bad this season.
That’s what I’m seeing too, and I was a massive TJD cheerleader.
In this line.
Warriors fans’ perception of big men has been hopelessly warped over the decades.
*on basically every hoops site after a team loses.
It’s fun to play armchair coach, especially when we get to imagine everyone can play more and no one has to play less.
Steve Kerr has consistently said it is hard to play everyone and give them enough minutes. Many fans pick and choose usually after the fact based on recent or partial game performance.
Didn't get a chance to watch this one. Is it bad when your opponent plays 10 guys and only 1 of those 10 shoots worse than 50%? Also, from the stat lines, looks like JK had another empty calories game: 16 points, but 52.2% TS%, -18?
On to the next.
> 16 points, but 52.2% TS%
It's not very good but it is also close to his per game averages this season (53.5% TS to be fair).
If he was a guy who focused on defense and rebounding like Kerr has been trying for since he was drafted then his game-by-game performance wouldn't be so dependent on his ability to score, but it is. Hopefully he scores better.
^To all the people who clamor for more Kuminga, this is why you get more Moody and Podz instead.
The Kuminga dilemma: he would be a star on a worse team, but he would never reach his ceiling in terms of impact. He *could* reach that ceiling here, but how much opportunity cost are you willing to blow through waiting out the possibility of that happening? And how much opportunity cost is *he* willing to pay to stay here?
My read on it has been that he needs to try and fail at being a star to accept his best role which I see as an Aaron Gordon type (who tried and failed in Orlando before accepting his current role in Denver). I think it is a lot harder to do accept that on the team that drafted you though.
I do not think Kuminga would succeed if he was on a worse team with a bigger scoring role but I think Kuminga thinks he would succeed in that role and until that discrepancy is resolved I don't think he's going to be an "impact winning at or above the level of his contract" type of guy. I laughed at Toronto giving Brandon Ingram that contract, I hope I'm not crying at the contract Kuminga gets from the Warriors this summer.
That's a pretty good analysis, I think.
Until JK can either:
1. Grow into a medium-high efficiency scorer
or:
2. Defend and rebound at a high-ish level.
he's going to struggle.
I think the difference between us is that I see progress on those fronts over the arc of his career, and still see plenty of reason for optimism (his dribble is better since his rookie season, his defense, while not where it needs to get to now, was pretty good two seasons ago, his scoring, his finishing seems better, etc.) And, he's just 22.
Right now he's backslid quite a bit, but given a two month layoff, I wasn't expecting anything else. My guess is that this year, he's a spot sub in the playoffs, and that's about it.
If we keep him, I expect to see continued growth, though not at the pace we all are necessarily hoping to see.
The question is: will he accept less than a star role after his next contract is signed? I have no idea on that one. Right now, he seems like one very frustrated guy, and part of it is probably just that he feels he's better than he is showing.
> The question is: will he accept less than a star role after his next contract is signed?
I'm concerned it goes the other way. Kerr loses his leverage if Kuminga gets a big contract the way he did with Poole when he had to play Poole in 2023-2024 despite Poole's complete disinterest in defense. Right now Kerr is able to take away Kuminga's closing minutes (like last night) if Kuminga isn't doing what he wants, that goes out the window once the new deal is signed, it'll be more asking nicely and hoping.
It's not a bet I'd make, personally.
I don't see any reason Kerr would have a problem benching Kuminga if needed, whatever his contract. He's his own man, and he's out of here in two years anyway. I'm also confident that he could explain his reasoning to MDJ and Lacob.
I hear everything you’re saying and this is one reason I think he will be signed and traded.
I wonder what team (or teams) will be interested
Good news is that the Kings and the Lakers lost tonight to the Bucks and the Bulls, respectively. I hope the Thunder beat the Clippers tomorrow as well.
The clippers have beaten the Cavs and grizzlies - they are the most dangerous team in the west - OKC is in for a rude awakening tomorrow. Lets hope we don’t meet the clips is a playin elimination
Agree; all healthy...
Lakers will now go on the road to play four games in:
3/24- @ Magic
3/26- @ Pacers
3/27- @ Bulls
3/29- @ Grizzlies
Bulls crush the Lakers 146-115. Bulls outscored the Lakers 81-53 in the 2nd half and shot 58% overall. Lakers also had 21 turnovers--11 more than the Bulls--which were converted to 27 points. Bulls had a whopping 74 points in the paint, 30 fastbreak points, and went 19/41 on threes. Also, Josh Giddey had a triple-double tonight: 22 points, 17 assists, and 10 rebounds. It could've been a quad-double if he got two more steals.
Lakers: We have everyone back, and we have the best defense in the league since the ASB.
Bulls: LOL
LeBron being 40 and injured may be a big problem for them.