Saw this quote from "All That Smoke" and thought it might be good advice for J Kuminga-
“Get a move that if it’s [the] fourth quarter — you can go to it. If it’s first quarter — like, my [expletive] was always my fade, beginning of the game and end of the game,” he said. “It helps you stop thinking so [expletive] much, like end of the game, you’re too skilled, you’re trying to think … get one move where it’s like, I don’t care who’s guarding you.”
Lamarcus Aldridge,
who said he had basically 3 moves and ended up with 20,000 points.
Never worried me too much, as a Blazer or a Spur. Once a good defender like Dray$ figured out those three moves, it seemed like a pretty simple matter to push him just enough out of his comfort zone that those “automatic” fades became contested long-twos that are the worst shot in basketball.
As it relates to JK: I hope he keeps refining the three ball and the moves that take him all the way to the cup, and never falls too in love with the mid-range J (though the latter is nice to have in his toolbox, esp. from 10-15 feet as opposed to 20).
Basically, try to be more like LeBron or Kawhi and less like LMA.
To me JK is still learning what to do (what he can do) when he drives inside.
It seems to me he is looking and thinking while he attacks instead of just going to a practiced move. He may be worrying about being successful or else getting benched. Some of his turnovers look to be off errant passes mid- indecisive moves.
He has the athletic ability that if he has one refined go to move when driving, he'll make enough of them. Obviously more consistent three point shooting will help anyone.
As someone who has seen an NBA game or two, I’m well aware Kawhi is an ace in the midrange, lol. But the biggest reason Kawhi has been so much more efficient than LMA over his career is that he became an ace three point shooter and driver in addition to plying the midrange. And even in the mid-range, he has tended to eschew the 15-20 foot “LMA range” in favor of easier 5-15 footers.
Anyway, I cited both him and LeBron to mean “somewhere in that range.” And I didn’t say Kuminga should totally stop exploiting the mid-range — just that he shouldn’t try to emulate LMA, whose love for his “three go-to moves” resulted in a very predictable, lowish efficiency, beatable player.
I thought Wiggins was coming around until the three games before this last game which were hard to believe, so now I don't know. But part of why they should go back to it is because there hasn't been a different starting lineup that's looked better, so you might as well keep trying to get Wiggins to turn it around.
Do we forget JK is 21? He was amazing last night, not just scoring, but his passing, vision and playing in the system(not getting tunnel vision despite scoring well). His defense(on ball and off) was great all night go watch the replay and hone in, he got most of the stops on DeRozan and lavine in the first quarter.
The only thing I will say is his rebounding effort has definitely dropped, he's not in there fighting anymore, wether it's boxing out or going for o boards
Hard to forget that when even Bob Fitzgerald is reminding us. JK was great and the potential there is staggering. I think the Warriors feel the same, which is why I think it is unlikely JK gets shipped out unless it's for a real difference-maker (that nobody is going to want to part with).
I would love to see how efficient siakam can score playing next to non scorers like gp2, draymond and looney. Imagine JK with a capable 5 out lineup with proper playmaking
I continue to be of two minds on JK. He played great most of the game, and his growth is clearly visible. For some reason, the negative play that stuck out to me was the last possession of Q2, where the Warriors had collapsed defensively. After Steph had made a 3 on a 2-for-1 opportunity to close it to single digits, and Coby White had answered in kind, the Warriors had the ball to close out the half. Steph was running down the clock, and FINALLY FOR ONCE he did not hold it to chuck up a contested prayer at the end, but passed it to JK with around 8s. Kuminga went straight to the basket to dunk, but left 6s on the clock. That allowed White plenty of time for one last shot, which went in for a 3, to push the lead back to 13. The Warriors would have been better off if JK had allowed a bit more time to look for a pass to a relocating shooter. You have to take the last shot in a situation like that, when the other team can't seem to miss. It's hard to fault him for not turning down a dunk opportunity, but a bit more awareness is needed.
We can’t mad at him for scoring! Ideally you want the last shot of the quarter but if the opportunity is there you take it. If there’s anything to complain about there it’s falling asleep defensively and allowing them to get that look with very little time remaining.
It's really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but in the moment I was thinking 'oooh that's why Steph always holds it himself, derp'. Momentum going into the half was definitely on the Bull's side as a result, but boogate wiped that away.
I'm with Capt. Jack here. If JK holds it, maybe the opportunity evaporates. He had a chance to go to the rim, and unlike Steph, who could wait and set up for a 3, JK has to take a dunk when the opening is there.
I said to a person in my life who knows well my rooting interests that in last night's game, which I had to miss, the Warriors won on the road against a decent team and a favorite player of mine, Kuminga, had an outstanding game. Then then offered the oh so innocent opinion that maybe it's because I did not watch that the team and player did well. Ha!! As anyone here can attest, it works like this: if I HAD been watching, Kuminga would have had double the points in half the minutes, and the Warriors would have won by twice as much. Please confirm that this is how things work for you.
Well, I'll just note that I turned off the game at halftime, and watched the second half delayed after getting the email notification from this site that they had won. So, it sure feels like they play poorly specifically to upset me when I'm watching live.
Ah damn it. Didn't realize it was a B2B at MIL today. It's not going to be fun watching TJD/Saric/Looney trying to guard Giannis. He might drop 60 tonight. Their defense sucks though so hopefully we can outgun them.
Just watched the replay, and what a refreshing game after that disappointing 7 game home stand. Boy have I missed those sweet sweet 17 points by Wiggs that we took for granted. Klay continues his good shooting since the turn of the new year and Kuminga vanquishes his shooting demons by going 100% on threes. That was probably one of the best offensive showings this season in which Steph was misfiring until the 4th (except for that bizarre stretch with Jerome Robinson; not sure what Kerr was thinking there).
Having said that, although the energy and intensity were markedly improved, the defence is still non existent (Granted, Draymond and GP2 are still out). It's the third game in a row and the fifth in the last seven that we've given up 130+ points. Scorching hot shooting by Klay and Kuminga and an efficient 17 by Wiggs made up for it this time, but that level of shooting is unsustainable. The coaching staff and players need to figure something out soon and string together a couple games of solid defence, or I'm afraid we'll be a perpetual 0.500 inconsistent team no matter what trades are made.
[Wojnarowski/Spears] The Warriors MUST include Jonathan Kuminga in any trade for Pascal Siakam and they must be prepared to offer Siakam the unequivocal max due to the looming interest in Siakam's free agency by the Indiana Pacers. Trade interest in Wiggins has been nearly non-existent.
From this, I read into the fact that the Raptors are asking for Chris Paul and Kuminga for Siakam instead of Wiggins/Chris Paul. That would leave a starting lineup of Curry/Klay/Wiggins/Siakam/Dray and a bench of Podz/GP2/Moody/Saric/TJD I think.
F these people. Seriously. Siakam is not going to make the Ws a contender, and we should not trade a big piece of the future for him. Hope he likes Indianapolis.
Adding both Draymond and Siakam would provide a lot more ballhandling than the team currently has though. Right now two out of their three top decision makers are out so it looks rough.
Idk even with Siakim or Dray on the floor having Podz run the 1 feels a little iffy given how it’s looked so far. And CoJo running anything has just been disappointing to say the least.
Pascal won't save this season. I'd rather trade JK and/or AW after the season when we'd know if Wiggins turned the corner, if JK continues improving when he can play off Dray, etc. Sia feels like he'd just exacerbate our spacing problems at this point, although his ballhandling would be really good to have.
In the last five games. ma boy Hartenstein had a 10 pt/20 rbd/5 blk game, a 17 pt/6 rbd/5 ast/2 stl/2 blk game, a 8 pt/19 rbd/5 stl/2 blk game. a 5 pt/14 rbd/4 ast/4 stl game, and a 8 pt/15 rbd/3 ast performance. All of this while being one of the best rim protectors in the NBA and having an incredibly small 11% usage percentage.
If only he was in a scheme which let him exploit his excellent passing . . . like the Warriors.
Hard to work out a trade for him that works for both teams. I like Hartenstein, though. Can he play D? He's a FA after the season. Maybe, if we get under the 2nd apron next season we can offer him the mid level and use him to replace a likely moving on to higher pay Šarić? (Or maybe we could offer the midlevel TO Šarić if the season goes well ...)
I've been burning up the trade machine trying to sort this out. Tried to delude myself that Thibs might want Wiggins for old times' sake. Realistically though Hartenstein will want to go FA and he will be out of the Warriors' price range.
Nah, this isn't about trading for him. I've given up on trying to figure that shit out. This is just whining about the fact we didn't grab him after he left the Cavs (which I was hungry for).
Their announcers thought it shifted when Coby White had to leave the game because of some really ticky-tack foul calls. I kinda agree, at least on the ticky-tack. But with that ultra-bouffant hairstyle he was practically screaming "Look at me!!!" Why couldn't he just do colored sneakers like the rest of the NBA?
Today we have the rare E1P on the front end of a back-to-back: https://open.substack.com/pub/dubnation/p/explain-one-play-the-klay-thompson?r=3lm3s&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcome=true
Saw this quote from "All That Smoke" and thought it might be good advice for J Kuminga-
“Get a move that if it’s [the] fourth quarter — you can go to it. If it’s first quarter — like, my [expletive] was always my fade, beginning of the game and end of the game,” he said. “It helps you stop thinking so [expletive] much, like end of the game, you’re too skilled, you’re trying to think … get one move where it’s like, I don’t care who’s guarding you.”
Lamarcus Aldridge,
who said he had basically 3 moves and ended up with 20,000 points.
LMA career TS: .544.
Never worried me too much, as a Blazer or a Spur. Once a good defender like Dray$ figured out those three moves, it seemed like a pretty simple matter to push him just enough out of his comfort zone that those “automatic” fades became contested long-twos that are the worst shot in basketball.
…
As it relates to JK: I hope he keeps refining the three ball and the moves that take him all the way to the cup, and never falls too in love with the mid-range J (though the latter is nice to have in his toolbox, esp. from 10-15 feet as opposed to 20).
Basically, try to be more like LeBron or Kawhi and less like LMA.
To me JK is still learning what to do (what he can do) when he drives inside.
It seems to me he is looking and thinking while he attacks instead of just going to a practiced move. He may be worrying about being successful or else getting benched. Some of his turnovers look to be off errant passes mid- indecisive moves.
He has the athletic ability that if he has one refined go to move when driving, he'll make enough of them. Obviously more consistent three point shooting will help anyone.
> Basically, try to be more like LeBron or Kawhi
You're way off base with Kawhi, who takes a ton of midrange shots. Looking at current year shooting splits:
Rim: 70 of 79
3-9: 66 of 127 (52%)
10-15: 74 of 147 (50%)
16-<3p: 15-50 (32%)
3pt: 78 of 181 (43%)
Not a lot at the basket and he's eliminated long twos, but a ton of shots in the midrange. LeBron is entirely different.
Personally, I think JK is more Kawhi than LeBron and I think his midrange is something he needs to continue to exploit.
As someone who has seen an NBA game or two, I’m well aware Kawhi is an ace in the midrange, lol. But the biggest reason Kawhi has been so much more efficient than LMA over his career is that he became an ace three point shooter and driver in addition to plying the midrange. And even in the mid-range, he has tended to eschew the 15-20 foot “LMA range” in favor of easier 5-15 footers.
Anyway, I cited both him and LeBron to mean “somewhere in that range.” And I didn’t say Kuminga should totally stop exploiting the mid-range — just that he shouldn’t try to emulate LMA, whose love for his “three go-to moves” resulted in a very predictable, lowish efficiency, beatable player.
That little turnaround fade in the paint is looking *nice* for JK..
Wow - really sad to hear that the crowd, including kids who never saw the jordan bulls play live, booing jerry Krause!
Steve Kerrs response below:
https://twitter.com/Will_Gottlieb/status/1746018106470727742
When Draymond comes back, I think they should probably try out the original starting lineup again tbh.
With all the games in the standings they gotta make up.
I wonder if they just go straight to Dray at the 5
Absolutely. Both Klay and Wiggins were sinkholes when it was underperforming.
Now, Klay is doing fine, and Wiggs looks like he's coming around.
I thought Wiggins was coming around until the three games before this last game which were hard to believe, so now I don't know. But part of why they should go back to it is because there hasn't been a different starting lineup that's looked better, so you might as well keep trying to get Wiggins to turn it around.
A lot of them looked like shit during that stretch. I think the “everyone is in the table except Steph” stuff might’ve shook them a bit.
Might have shook everybody up in a good way…
I don't even think it's going to get a three game run if it isn't working. We can't afford to drop too many games anymore.
Wiggins starting yesterday was probably an indication of that
Do we forget JK is 21? He was amazing last night, not just scoring, but his passing, vision and playing in the system(not getting tunnel vision despite scoring well). His defense(on ball and off) was great all night go watch the replay and hone in, he got most of the stops on DeRozan and lavine in the first quarter.
The only thing I will say is his rebounding effort has definitely dropped, he's not in there fighting anymore, wether it's boxing out or going for o boards
Hard to forget that when even Bob Fitzgerald is reminding us. JK was great and the potential there is staggering. I think the Warriors feel the same, which is why I think it is unlikely JK gets shipped out unless it's for a real difference-maker (that nobody is going to want to part with).
We got people here saying to trade him for a siakam rental lol
We have Raptor fans wanting JK and frps.
I may not agree with it, but it’s a defendable position. Timpf makes a great case for it.
I would love to see how efficient siakam can score playing next to non scorers like gp2, draymond and looney. Imagine JK with a capable 5 out lineup with proper playmaking
I continue to be of two minds on JK. He played great most of the game, and his growth is clearly visible. For some reason, the negative play that stuck out to me was the last possession of Q2, where the Warriors had collapsed defensively. After Steph had made a 3 on a 2-for-1 opportunity to close it to single digits, and Coby White had answered in kind, the Warriors had the ball to close out the half. Steph was running down the clock, and FINALLY FOR ONCE he did not hold it to chuck up a contested prayer at the end, but passed it to JK with around 8s. Kuminga went straight to the basket to dunk, but left 6s on the clock. That allowed White plenty of time for one last shot, which went in for a 3, to push the lead back to 13. The Warriors would have been better off if JK had allowed a bit more time to look for a pass to a relocating shooter. You have to take the last shot in a situation like that, when the other team can't seem to miss. It's hard to fault him for not turning down a dunk opportunity, but a bit more awareness is needed.
We can’t mad at him for scoring! Ideally you want the last shot of the quarter but if the opportunity is there you take it. If there’s anything to complain about there it’s falling asleep defensively and allowing them to get that look with very little time remaining.
I get it, but given the level of brainfarts from the OG, I'd give him a pass.
He was absolutely wrecking people around the rim, and his defense was fine, IMHO.
It's really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but in the moment I was thinking 'oooh that's why Steph always holds it himself, derp'. Momentum going into the half was definitely on the Bull's side as a result, but boogate wiped that away.
I'm with Capt. Jack here. If JK holds it, maybe the opportunity evaporates. He had a chance to go to the rim, and unlike Steph, who could wait and set up for a 3, JK has to take a dunk when the opening is there.
I mean, if that’s what we’re complaining about with a 21 year old, I’ll take it :-)
Right!?
I said to a person in my life who knows well my rooting interests that in last night's game, which I had to miss, the Warriors won on the road against a decent team and a favorite player of mine, Kuminga, had an outstanding game. Then then offered the oh so innocent opinion that maybe it's because I did not watch that the team and player did well. Ha!! As anyone here can attest, it works like this: if I HAD been watching, Kuminga would have had double the points in half the minutes, and the Warriors would have won by twice as much. Please confirm that this is how things work for you.
No, things don't work that way for me. It's just I'm not delusional. Not that there's anything .....
*it’s just you (apparently) lack Asher’s sense of humor?
sense of humor?
Sure, if you’re offering. I’d love one
Two for a buck
pretty sure he wasn't serious. :)
I was deadly
hmm ... and how does that make you feel?
Well, I'll just note that I turned off the game at halftime, and watched the second half delayed after getting the email notification from this site that they had won. So, it sure feels like they play poorly specifically to upset me when I'm watching live.
Ah damn it. Didn't realize it was a B2B at MIL today. It's not going to be fun watching TJD/Saric/Looney trying to guard Giannis. He might drop 60 tonight. Their defense sucks though so hopefully we can outgun them.
I pity Damian Lillard, forced to contend with Stephen Curry. It's hardly even fair to them.
Let's hope Steph is up for this one. He hasn't looked like the best version of himself of late.
Caruso is an elite perimeter defender. Now that Milwaukee doesn't have Holiday, I'm guessing Steph is up for tonight's game.
The only concern is whether he needs rest, IMHO.
He got it going by the end of the game. Might be the turning point for the season
Steph Curry clutch update:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Games: 26 (1st)
Wins: 15 (T1st, Klay Thompson)
Minutes: 84.1 (3rd)
Points: 113 (1st; 2nd Mikal Bridges 86)
FG: 32 (1st) of 62 (1st) (51.6%)
3P: 19 (1st) of 38 (1st) (50.0%)
FT: 30 (3rd) of 31 (T3rd) (96.8%, 1st)
All stats courtesy of nba.com
Adding a few more:
ORtg: 119.4
DRtg: 111.4
eFG%: 66.9%
TS%: 74.7%
% Team's FGM: 43.2%
% Team's 3PM: 61.3%
% Team's FTM: 61.2%
% Team's PTS: 49.6%
😳
Clutch POY? Do they actually go off of clutch time stats or is it more of a narrative based award? I don't recall
The NBA doesn't provide much criteria that I know of, it's up to the voters to do the legwork. Some do, some don't....
Just feelings baby. And Steph has sooo much “not clutch” feelings built up in the eyes of national folks… it’s ridiculous, of course
I think you are giving the majority of folks who vote on these awards too little credit. Not all of them, of course...
Well, off for a road trip of my own to Japan for two weeks. Hopefully my VPN lets me stream YouTubeTV lol
Have fun! Make sure you visit Yokohama!
Yokohama Chinatown is for sure on my checklist.
I look forward to another Jerome Robinson shift tonight, and for his progression to a firm spot in the rotation.
< if this doesn't get Substack to give us a sarcasm font, nothing will >
> ...and for his progression to a firm spot in the rotation.
... in Santa Cruz.
Nothing shocks me these days
Just watched the replay, and what a refreshing game after that disappointing 7 game home stand. Boy have I missed those sweet sweet 17 points by Wiggs that we took for granted. Klay continues his good shooting since the turn of the new year and Kuminga vanquishes his shooting demons by going 100% on threes. That was probably one of the best offensive showings this season in which Steph was misfiring until the 4th (except for that bizarre stretch with Jerome Robinson; not sure what Kerr was thinking there).
Having said that, although the energy and intensity were markedly improved, the defence is still non existent (Granted, Draymond and GP2 are still out). It's the third game in a row and the fifth in the last seven that we've given up 130+ points. Scorching hot shooting by Klay and Kuminga and an efficient 17 by Wiggs made up for it this time, but that level of shooting is unsustainable. The coaching staff and players need to figure something out soon and string together a couple games of solid defence, or I'm afraid we'll be a perpetual 0.500 inconsistent team no matter what trades are made.
Defense was better yesterday, not as many blowbys, overhelp, or breakdowns… it was more that the Bulls made every single open shot in the first half.
Key word being “open”
[Wojnarowski/Spears] The Warriors MUST include Jonathan Kuminga in any trade for Pascal Siakam and they must be prepared to offer Siakam the unequivocal max due to the looming interest in Siakam's free agency by the Indiana Pacers. Trade interest in Wiggins has been nearly non-existent.
From this, I read into the fact that the Raptors are asking for Chris Paul and Kuminga for Siakam instead of Wiggins/Chris Paul. That would leave a starting lineup of Curry/Klay/Wiggins/Siakam/Dray and a bench of Podz/GP2/Moody/Saric/TJD I think.
Sounds like Toronto's FO trying to twist the Dubs FO's arm.
Stay strong, MDJ. The last thing we need is another tweener who can't shoot.
'MUST.'
F these people. Seriously. Siakam is not going to make the Ws a contender, and we should not trade a big piece of the future for him. Hope he likes Indianapolis.
I'll take Pascal Siakam and a first round pick for Jerome Robinson and I'll feel bad for Jerome. The rest of this is a no.
If the last few games have taught me anything it’s that we cannot survive trading CP3 away if we don’t get another PG back. CoJo cannot cut it.
Adding both Draymond and Siakam would provide a lot more ballhandling than the team currently has though. Right now two out of their three top decision makers are out so it looks rough.
Idk even with Siakim or Dray on the floor having Podz run the 1 feels a little iffy given how it’s looked so far. And CoJo running anything has just been disappointing to say the least.
Pascal won't save this season. I'd rather trade JK and/or AW after the season when we'd know if Wiggins turned the corner, if JK continues improving when he can play off Dray, etc. Sia feels like he'd just exacerbate our spacing problems at this point, although his ballhandling would be really good to have.
Good, keep insisting on this. Let's let someone else pick up that max deal.
That's insane.
Pacers can have him, no thanks.
He's a great fit for them I think. Better than the Warriors, and certainly better than Sia on a max on the warriors lol
Splash Bros quietly crested the 7K mark last night.
Total combined threes (reg season + playoffs) by Steph and Klay: 7,009
Total combined threes (reg season + playoffs) by everybody in the NBA from 1979-1984*: 5,992
*the first five seasons of the three-ball era
This is insane!
In the last five games. ma boy Hartenstein had a 10 pt/20 rbd/5 blk game, a 17 pt/6 rbd/5 ast/2 stl/2 blk game, a 8 pt/19 rbd/5 stl/2 blk game. a 5 pt/14 rbd/4 ast/4 stl game, and a 8 pt/15 rbd/3 ast performance. All of this while being one of the best rim protectors in the NBA and having an incredibly small 11% usage percentage.
If only he was in a scheme which let him exploit his excellent passing . . . like the Warriors.
Hard to work out a trade for him that works for both teams. I like Hartenstein, though. Can he play D? He's a FA after the season. Maybe, if we get under the 2nd apron next season we can offer him the mid level and use him to replace a likely moving on to higher pay Šarić? (Or maybe we could offer the midlevel TO Šarić if the season goes well ...)
I've been burning up the trade machine trying to sort this out. Tried to delude myself that Thibs might want Wiggins for old times' sake. Realistically though Hartenstein will want to go FA and he will be out of the Warriors' price range.
Nah, this isn't about trading for him. I've given up on trying to figure that shit out. This is just whining about the fact we didn't grab him after he left the Cavs (which I was hungry for).
Oh, Ok I am ALL for a space for us to whine when we want to. Sorry I got in the way. Go for it!
Our guy Trayce putting up (per 36)…
17.6 pts on **.701 true shooting**
11.1 reb
2.6 ast
2.0 blocks
+9.7 net on-off
… makes me feel a bit less bad about not getting Hartenstein.
Free Hawaiian Punch for a month on TJD Atoll.
You'll get no argument from me, I love Trayce.
Free Hawaiian Punch for a month on TJD Atoll.
Kudos to Wiggins for setting Curry up today. Curry needed it.
It was nice to see two automatic 3 point shooters out there again today. Even if Curry wasn’t one of them.
Steph shot 40% from three, 43% if you don’t count the three quarters court heave. Klay made one more three on the same number of attempts.
Bulls fans on r/chicagobulls thought the momentum shifted after the ceremony.
Clearly the team is tired of whatever Steve has to say becuase whoever did the halftime speech instead did a helluva job lol
Their announcers thought it shifted when Coby White had to leave the game because of some really ticky-tack foul calls. I kinda agree, at least on the ticky-tack. But with that ultra-bouffant hairstyle he was practically screaming "Look at me!!!" Why couldn't he just do colored sneakers like the rest of the NBA?
Love his hair. Kind of a cross between a classic Medusa statue and the tentacles waving out of the top of a sea anemone.
Eh, there were a lot of momentum shifts in that game. Halftime was one of them.
And Kerr wasn’t in the locker room?
That whole Bulls Dynasty thing must have awoken the 3rd Quarter Warriors of Championships past!!
The Bulls will never honor Steve Kerr again after tonight!