Post game party thread: Warriors win big! Everything is ok again?
Post game party thread: Warriors win big! Everything is ok again?
It's the rebuilding Spurs, but a win is a win!
The Golden State Warriors rested Klay Thompson, which bumped Jordan Poole back up into the starting lineup on his first ever bobblehead night. Poole responded with his best game of the season - heck his best game in a good long while! Poole scored a season-high 36 points (on just 20 field goal attempts), making this the first Golden State win of the season where Stephen Curry was not the team’s leading scorer.
Poole’s offense will (rightfully) grab all the headlines, but his defense - particularly in man-to-man situation looked markedly crisper and more focused. This is good stuff!
Yeah, yeah, it’s the Spurs. And it is just one game, but it sure does feel nice to see the roster construction finally come together for a full game. Looney, Wiggins and Green were their usual excellent selves, Moody and Kuminga looked fantastic, and even Klay Thompson’s contributions from the announcer booth were on point.
It was a good night, all told!
The Warriors get one day off before taking on the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.
Biggest lesson coming out this season, imo, is that playing too many young guys and unfamiliar guys ain't a good thing. (I'm throwing out the game we played against a G-League team last night.) It's a 5-man game and mistakes on court aren't cumulative, they are exponential. So the more inexperience that is on the court at the same time, the more mistakes multiply. It's like compound interest on a credit card. If someone doesn't pay their card on time, next statement, they are paying interest on their interest and what was once $40 bucks becomes $80 in the long run. At the end of a road loss, the starters are not issued a WIN for their great minutes on the court together. It's one team and the whole team takes the L. The experience, and lack thereof, needs to be more balanced in our 5-man rotations. And by the eye test, it appears that Kerr is throwing more support into non-Curry minute rotations (my definition of all 2nd units).
My second issue, still a work in progress and tied to the first, is the use of the "shock collar" on the young guys for their rotation minutes. We expect a lot of Yo-Yos to start a year as Kerr experiments with rotations. But in my mind, Kerr was sending a lot of kids on timeouts, blaming them for their play when they were put in situations not to succeed by Kerr's "trickle down" rotations. It feels like we have added pressure on the kids unnecessarily. If they screw up and we don't win, they don't play and it's their fault and we are gonna rub their faces in that plus/minus report. It is a two-way street, the kids do have to perform. But I think we will see much better results if Kerr takes off the shock collar. This ain't Triskelion, for God's sake.
Lastly, Wiseman. Wiseman will or he won't succeed in this league. But I think the solution for him and this team is extraordinarily simple. We need to take a page out of modern baseball. In baseball, there are starters and there are relievers. However, a new (and annoying) trend has created a new role: the opener. A reliever starts the game, pitches maybe 1st inning, then the starter comes in in the 2nd. The benefit of this method is to allow the starter to pitch deeper into a game when the innings are more critical, like the last 5 minutes of a basketball game. This is precisely what Wiseman should be doing and how the Warriors should approach his development.
Looney is a starter. Sure. Wiseman is a reserve. I get it. But who in the world sees Wiseman being the defensive anchor, glue guy and high energy offensive focal point of the 2nd unit? I believe in the Easter Rabbit, but I do have my limits. As an "opener", Wiseman would start every 1st & 3rd Qtr. Here are the benefits as I see them.
*He knows when he is playing, it's set in stone, he doesn't have to worry one mistake will get him a DNP. He can gain additional playing time on the spot when he is performing well. But no matter what, he knows when he is coming back in and he will have something to build on.
*He will be surrounded by All-Stars. If 4 All-Stars can't hide one defensive liability, then what does it say about them? And if Wiseman can't make it with them, then no more hand-wringing patience.
*Drawing fouls and eating minutes against the behemoths of the league. What is bad for us? Early fouls on Dray & Loon and extended minutes banging with the big guys in a long playoff series. When do those early (often ticky-tack) fouls get called? Early. Early fouls inside are like the pregame layup line for refs. They are just getting their whistles wet. And we don't want Dray and Loon picking up a bunch. And we need another big body to eat minutes against the bigs. This may not help directly, but it helps indirectly by not exhausting Dray and Loon. Bang and draw some fouls. Use Wiseman like the soldiers on the beach at Normandy. Just throw him at the bullets so that Dray and Loon are in a better position to finish the job later in games WHEN IT MATTERS. (Yes, the first 6 minutes of the 1st & 3rd quarters are not as important as the last 6 minutes of the 2nd & 4th. There, I said it.)
*Having teams target Wiseman can be a good thing. Why? Because we know its coming. The same way teams targeted Curry for years. When you know what your opponent wants to do, you can scheme around it. Get them to attack where you want them to attack. Would you rather have Jokic muscle Wiseman at the rim for 2 points or MPJ stroking a 3? I would send a cab to anyone who wants to take Wiseman one-on-one down low and hunt 2s and then we'll see who can race down the floor the fastest.
*Remember, Looney doesn't play starter minutes. He's a 22-26 type of guy. If he comes in off the bench, you are shortening the game, thereby turning him into more of a traditional starter. He will be fresher down the stretch. He will be playing more minutes in more relevant moments of the game. Looney is critical to this team. Shortening every game from 48 to 42 minutes can only be good for the team.
*There are also thoughts that a second unit is better served by playing a little slower, hunting fouls, getting more rest for the starters, slow the up and down pace that can lose you games, etc. James needs to run. It is one of his greatest assets. Put him in the lineup that most rewards running.
I think the development path that Wise has been on is the wrong path for what we need him for and if the Dubs continue on this path, they might as well trade him. I want him to develop into the role that would best serve the Warriors, hold ground against the bigs, sacrifice himself so that Dray and Loon can help us win games when it matters, race up and down the court and feast off the leftovers. He is not the Looney of the 2nd Unit. Stop trying to turn him into that.
That's my story and I'm standing by it.
Still on the Wiseman train. I don't know how long it'll take but he'll eventually find his place on this team.