The Warriors have a five-game winning streak this season, starting with the second game of the year. They haven't won two in a row since (Nov 1st and 3rd). They split the next two games and then that six-game losing streak on the homestand. Since Nov 20th they've been alternating wins and losses. Can they get a second win in a row tomorrow night? Stay tuned!
Yes. Trayce absolutely needs more playing time. He has a far more polished defensive game than Kuminga, and as long as JK is not shooting well, he's not that far behind on offense (we've seen what he can do with PnR and lobs).
For a team that has had as much outside shooting to spread the floor I'm surprised whenever we employ a lob play and go, well that looked easy. Genuinely curious, why don't we do it more?
Steals are such a goofy way to measure defense. GP2 gets 1.2/game and plays great D, Harden (1.7/game) plays lousy D. I don't think it's a good indicator of how well someone is doing defensively.
I think you can point to any number of indicators that Wiggins is underperforming (I say this as a Wiggs-stan). The next 20 games are pretty important for him. I suspect if he doesn't put it together by then (and maybe even well before then), Kerr's going to have to put Kuminga or Moody with the starters and move Wiggs to the reserves.
> Kerr's going to have to put Kuminga with the starters and move Wiggs to the reserves.
Why? What has Kuminga done to make us think he can play the 3? If Wiggins gets benched it will be for Moody, just like how when Wiggins was out against the Clippers it was Moody who started. Kuminga's a forward, Moody's a wing.
- And last season JK was very good towards the end and got DNPs in the lakers series - Kerr has not evolved, or rather the only thing he seems to want to do is to ride and die with the OGs!
- Well, all I can say is, the FO really needs help make those hard decisions because this group of OGs + wiggs + loon + Kerr is not going very far this year!
I don't know if it's great for the trade value, but Kuminga being in a role where minutes are not guaranteed is what should have been happening the whole time imo. He has not been playing well enough to have an every night locked in role. Are we sure it's a coincidence that he's had his two best games of the season after not even reaching double digit minutes against Sacramento?
There's no maybe about Draymond, he's been excellent when he's on the court (hell of a qualifier for him though lol).
Regardless, guaranteed? Or higher priority than Kuminga's minutes? Two different questions imo. Excluding TJD and Joseph, I think Kuminga and Podz should be at the bottom of the available rotation and used more situationally. If Kuminga plays his way up the rotation then great, he'll have earned it. But that's where his play over the first 20 games of the season should have him currently imo. Hopefully last night was the beginning of him putting some things together, but we'll see.
That would make sense if the rest of the team was playing well consistently that it is hard to find a spot for him. This has not been the case, almost the entirety of last year and this season as well!
The OGs have been poor this year and seems to be getting worse as the season progresses - I think it is largely fatigue - although wiggins appears to be something else. Instead of maximizing Curry, this Kerr approach is actually minimizing the chance that Curry can win another chip. He will run the OGs into the ground at the expense of slowly developing the young role player guys so that come playoffs, if we reach there, the OGs can be fresh and have the young guys play key roles.
Does anyone really think Klay will start adjusting his shot selection and stop taking so many low quality shots? I think it more likely that Klay will be Klay and poor shot selection is part of the package. Prove me wrong with data please.
I wonder this often. Perhaps they've figured out IF he does start adjusting his shot his confidence in his shot will fall and his overall shooting may actually get worse.
If we define a “good shot” as one that results in points at a better than average rate, Klay has been remarkable at this throughout his career despite always having a, um, liberal shot selection.
.549 Klay’s efg% (career)
.517 League efg% (during Klay’s career)
Even last season, where he clearly wasn’t “all-the-way-back” he was way above average in taking and making shots. I’m still optimistic that it’s just a rough patch to start the season and we’ll be seeing more 4 for 9’a and less 3 for 9’s at some point.
So there's this whole "Klay and Wiggins got a bad start to the season" thing. I'm wondering *why* they did. I saw a post, and only one post, indicating that Wiggins allegedly came into camp out of shape. Did Klay, also? We know that Klay is a historically slow starter. Why?
If the answer is that it's just one of those things that happens in life, well, OK, if they're going to heat up.
But if the answer is that they aren't putting in the work or doing the diet or lifting weights, that's a pretty big deal. How'd you like to be a young guy putting in all the work all summer, and then you don't get the minutes, stuck behind a guy who isn't giving the maximum? Is this what's happening?
Idk about Wiggs, I know his rib injury has been mentioned. I think Klay believed this was his best summer post injury. Last year he had to deal with mental hurdles while prepping for that season.
Because it's just one of those things. In my team at work, I have different standards/expectations for people with 15 years vs new college grads. If the NCG is not putting in long hours and delivering consistently on whatever task is assigned to them, it is disappointing. For the vets, it is a different thing - "he has always gotten it done and he will get it done".
No NCG ever goes why am I not getting the most complex design while the vet is struggling. They know that the sky is the limit but they gotta deliver consistently no matter how small the task.
However, the difference here is that - despite the young guys showing they can play, there appears to be an active and clear distrust from Kerr in letting them get extended minutes.
How do we have a deep team - most of the OGs suck, so it CANNOT be a deep team, if "deep" here means many players who are playing well.
Hearing Kerr's presser last night talking about JK was actually very depressing. His body language was poor almost like he was "unhappy" that JK was actually good because yet again, he was proved wrong in the span of a few games with his player rotations. Just like when he screwed up by not playing Moody at the end of the sac game.
The classic Steph strategy is to feed others the ball early to get them involved, give them shooting opps, discover if they can ‘flame on’ a hot hand. Last night neither Wiggs or Klay could get things going, so Steph had to take over. Same thing LBJ does. I’m sure guys like Jokic are paying attention.
Saw this post by Tk on Kerrs closing lineup thoughts. Basically he will close with Steph, Cp3, Klay, Draymond most games with that 1 spot being flexible.
When they make me head coach, I'll close with Steph, Moody, JK, Green, and Saric egos be damned. The fact is that Moody is outplaying Klay by a lot right now, and JK has been at least somewhat better than Wiggs who quite frankly has been awful. I don't know what's going on with Klay and Wiggs, but right now they aren't earning their pay.
So, what did JK do tonight that was different? He didn’t attempt a three. He’s just not consistent enough from three for it to pay off when opponents play off him. When he’s not getting to the rim or deep in the paint he struggles on offense as a result.
Tonight’s result against a legitimately good defense (seriously, Thybull is a beast) is encouraging. Hopefully a sign of things to come. I do think he will be able to improve his three point shot, but it’s just not there yet.
All he has to do is shoot the 3 ball like his first 2 years and he'll be fine, could just be a slump, Kerr was utilizing kuminga more early in the year now he's getting put in a corner in lineups featuring gp2 and or Wiggins. Cp3 klay moody kuminga green/saric and use kuminga as the vertical spacer we'll see his efficiency get back up to the 600 mark
Portland's defense was over-aggressive and left lanes to drive, so it played into Kuminga's skill set (maybe that's what Kerr meant about the game calling out for Kuminga).
We'll see how he does against a team that lays off a little bit and protects the paint. He (and the coaches) are going to need to find a way to make him effective in those situations.
14.5 games for Dray in reality, got kicked out of the Minny game after only a single minute, and got kicked out of the Cleveland game midway through the 3rd quarter.
Gianmarco Tamberi, current gold medal for high jump, and mad for basketball ( he attended Celebrity All Star Game on 2022) commented in this way Kuminga’s dunk:
Sad to say, but Klay this season has played horribly. Moody should replace him. Kuminga, this game, looked like the young Kobe Bryant I thought he could be. If he continues that trend consistently, he should replace Wiggins.
New thread: https://dubnationhq.com/p/explain-jonathan-kuminga-dunks-on
The Warriors have a five-game winning streak this season, starting with the second game of the year. They haven't won two in a row since (Nov 1st and 3rd). They split the next two games and then that six-game losing streak on the homestand. Since Nov 20th they've been alternating wins and losses. Can they get a second win in a row tomorrow night? Stay tuned!
Kerr is always about experimenting with lineups, how about Wiggins as the small ball 5 when we play against a 2nd unit that has a shitty center?
Wiggs is a better on-ball defender than a help defender, IMHO.
If we're going to experiment with different bigs, I'd like to see Trayce out there more with the second unit.
Yes. Trayce absolutely needs more playing time. He has a far more polished defensive game than Kuminga, and as long as JK is not shooting well, he's not that far behind on offense (we've seen what he can do with PnR and lobs).
Lol
For a team that has had as much outside shooting to spread the floor I'm surprised whenever we employ a lob play and go, well that looked easy. Genuinely curious, why don't we do it more?
21 games in, Wiggins is averaging 0.4 steals per 36 minutes. Almost hard to believe.
Steals are such a goofy way to measure defense. GP2 gets 1.2/game and plays great D, Harden (1.7/game) plays lousy D. I don't think it's a good indicator of how well someone is doing defensively.
Payton averages 2.5 per 36, one of the highest marks in the league.
Wiggs was averaging 1 block a game at one point. His decline in steals/blocks is pretty drastic.
I think you can point to any number of indicators that Wiggins is underperforming (I say this as a Wiggs-stan). The next 20 games are pretty important for him. I suspect if he doesn't put it together by then (and maybe even well before then), Kerr's going to have to put Kuminga or Moody with the starters and move Wiggs to the reserves.
> Kerr's going to have to put Kuminga with the starters and move Wiggs to the reserves.
Why? What has Kuminga done to make us think he can play the 3? If Wiggins gets benched it will be for Moody, just like how when Wiggins was out against the Clippers it was Moody who started. Kuminga's a forward, Moody's a wing.
Don't think they'll need to bench Wiggins though.
I edited on you and added Moody before you responded, I think.
My thinking is they want at least one driver on the starters. That may be wrong.
Kuminga/Draymond/Looney spacing would be untenable imo
from CP3's post-game presser in relation to +JK
"I am impressed with his professionalism"
- And last season JK was very good towards the end and got DNPs in the lakers series - Kerr has not evolved, or rather the only thing he seems to want to do is to ride and die with the OGs!
- Well, all I can say is, the FO really needs help make those hard decisions because this group of OGs + wiggs + loon + Kerr is not going very far this year!
I don't know if it's great for the trade value, but Kuminga being in a role where minutes are not guaranteed is what should have been happening the whole time imo. He has not been playing well enough to have an every night locked in role. Are we sure it's a coincidence that he's had his two best games of the season after not even reaching double digit minutes against Sacramento?
Other than Steph and maybe Draymond, who *is* playing well enough that his minutes should be guaranteed?
There's no maybe about Draymond, he's been excellent when he's on the court (hell of a qualifier for him though lol).
Regardless, guaranteed? Or higher priority than Kuminga's minutes? Two different questions imo. Excluding TJD and Joseph, I think Kuminga and Podz should be at the bottom of the available rotation and used more situationally. If Kuminga plays his way up the rotation then great, he'll have earned it. But that's where his play over the first 20 games of the season should have him currently imo. Hopefully last night was the beginning of him putting some things together, but we'll see.
That would make sense if the rest of the team was playing well consistently that it is hard to find a spot for him. This has not been the case, almost the entirety of last year and this season as well!
The OGs have been poor this year and seems to be getting worse as the season progresses - I think it is largely fatigue - although wiggins appears to be something else. Instead of maximizing Curry, this Kerr approach is actually minimizing the chance that Curry can win another chip. He will run the OGs into the ground at the expense of slowly developing the young role player guys so that come playoffs, if we reach there, the OGs can be fresh and have the young guys play key roles.
Does anyone really think Klay will start adjusting his shot selection and stop taking so many low quality shots? I think it more likely that Klay will be Klay and poor shot selection is part of the package. Prove me wrong with data please.
I wonder this often. Perhaps they've figured out IF he does start adjusting his shot his confidence in his shot will fall and his overall shooting may actually get worse.
If we define a “good shot” as one that results in points at a better than average rate, Klay has been remarkable at this throughout his career despite always having a, um, liberal shot selection.
.549 Klay’s efg% (career)
.517 League efg% (during Klay’s career)
Even last season, where he clearly wasn’t “all-the-way-back” he was way above average in taking and making shots. I’m still optimistic that it’s just a rough patch to start the season and we’ll be seeing more 4 for 9’a and less 3 for 9’s at some point.
Well we will find out. My point is pretty rhetorical. I really doubt Klay will change, at least in regard to shot selection.
He has shown flashes of doing it.
So there's this whole "Klay and Wiggins got a bad start to the season" thing. I'm wondering *why* they did. I saw a post, and only one post, indicating that Wiggins allegedly came into camp out of shape. Did Klay, also? We know that Klay is a historically slow starter. Why?
If the answer is that it's just one of those things that happens in life, well, OK, if they're going to heat up.
But if the answer is that they aren't putting in the work or doing the diet or lifting weights, that's a pretty big deal. How'd you like to be a young guy putting in all the work all summer, and then you don't get the minutes, stuck behind a guy who isn't giving the maximum? Is this what's happening?
Idk about Wiggs, I know his rib injury has been mentioned. I think Klay believed this was his best summer post injury. Last year he had to deal with mental hurdles while prepping for that season.
Because it's just one of those things. In my team at work, I have different standards/expectations for people with 15 years vs new college grads. If the NCG is not putting in long hours and delivering consistently on whatever task is assigned to them, it is disappointing. For the vets, it is a different thing - "he has always gotten it done and he will get it done".
No NCG ever goes why am I not getting the most complex design while the vet is struggling. They know that the sky is the limit but they gotta deliver consistently no matter how small the task.
However, the difference here is that - despite the young guys showing they can play, there appears to be an active and clear distrust from Kerr in letting them get extended minutes.
How do we have a deep team - most of the OGs suck, so it CANNOT be a deep team, if "deep" here means many players who are playing well.
Hearing Kerr's presser last night talking about JK was actually very depressing. His body language was poor almost like he was "unhappy" that JK was actually good because yet again, he was proved wrong in the span of a few games with his player rotations. Just like when he screwed up by not playing Moody at the end of the sac game.
The classic Steph strategy is to feed others the ball early to get them involved, give them shooting opps, discover if they can ‘flame on’ a hot hand. Last night neither Wiggs or Klay could get things going, so Steph had to take over. Same thing LBJ does. I’m sure guys like Jokic are paying attention.
People keep insisting that coaching staff needs to massage egos and get Klay and Wiggs to take side seat.
Same issue as when Dray misbehaves.
You need buyin from Steph. And I doubt you see Steph's acceptance of Klay losing his erstwhile role this season.
Half the fanbase wanted not to sign Dray while Steph is chanting three more years. Guess whose opinion did FO take into account.
The person who is going to be rotated out to play JK or MM as a starter is Loon.
Wiggs still playing pretty good D though
Ummm
Saw this post by Tk on Kerrs closing lineup thoughts. Basically he will close with Steph, Cp3, Klay, Draymond most games with that 1 spot being flexible.
https://twitter.com/DaltonJ_Johnson/status/1732577984467681306?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1732577984467681306%7Ctwgr%5E04ba0cc6f6af75e8aecd64f44d0aaf398b4cb0ce%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforums.realgm.com%2Fboards%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ft%3D2337421start%3D60
To anyone wanting Klay benched, not happening.
When they make me head coach, I'll close with Steph, Moody, JK, Green, and Saric egos be damned. The fact is that Moody is outplaying Klay by a lot right now, and JK has been at least somewhat better than Wiggs who quite frankly has been awful. I don't know what's going on with Klay and Wiggs, but right now they aren't earning their pay.
Steph, CP3. Klay lineups suck...
Steph, CP, Klay lineups are +8.4 per 100 this season. It sure does feel small, but they've been successful.
I don't think a 10-11 record is successful.
Small, slow, and limited ability to penetrate
Again, true, but the results don't lie.
That happened before the game, and as we saw he closed with JK over CP3. So hopefully his thinking has already changed.
malpractice
Tale of two halfs. 1st half, "damn MM making JK expendable". 2nd half, "damn don't trade JK for anything!". Nice problem to have.
So, what did JK do tonight that was different? He didn’t attempt a three. He’s just not consistent enough from three for it to pay off when opponents play off him. When he’s not getting to the rim or deep in the paint he struggles on offense as a result.
Tonight’s result against a legitimately good defense (seriously, Thybull is a beast) is encouraging. Hopefully a sign of things to come. I do think he will be able to improve his three point shot, but it’s just not there yet.
He got around Portland's rim protection. That was a big part of it.
All he has to do is shoot the 3 ball like his first 2 years and he'll be fine, could just be a slump, Kerr was utilizing kuminga more early in the year now he's getting put in a corner in lineups featuring gp2 and or Wiggins. Cp3 klay moody kuminga green/saric and use kuminga as the vertical spacer we'll see his efficiency get back up to the 600 mark
Portland's defense was over-aggressive and left lanes to drive, so it played into Kuminga's skill set (maybe that's what Kerr meant about the game calling out for Kuminga).
We'll see how he does against a team that lays off a little bit and protects the paint. He (and the coaches) are going to need to find a way to make him effective in those situations.
JK was also crafty in his attacks, and didn't just beeline to the front of the rim. Really hope that trend continues.
It will be interesting tomorrow night how Kerr plays (minutes) bench players against OKC.
Is he ready to 'let go' or is he still stuck in the past? There's a lot going on in his head right now.
Folks talking about limiting minutes. They forgot about Dray.
When he gets tired his play becomes so uncontrolled. On both ends.
He’s averaging 25.0 minutes per game. Just 325 total minutes through 21 Warrior games.
* 16 games for Dray$
14.5 games for Dray in reality, got kicked out of the Minny game after only a single minute, and got kicked out of the Cleveland game midway through the 3rd quarter.
Gianmarco Tamberi, current gold medal for high jump, and mad for basketball ( he attended Celebrity All Star Game on 2022) commented in this way Kuminga’s dunk:
“ Kuminga make me feel a pipsqueak!”😂
Sad to say, but Klay this season has played horribly. Moody should replace him. Kuminga, this game, looked like the young Kobe Bryant I thought he could be. If he continues that trend consistently, he should replace Wiggins.
Not sure one game counts as a trend, and I love me some JK.
Klay’s been garbage for the majority of his post-injury career
He led the league in 3s last year, but sure, whatever.
He only shot 41% on those too
scrub