Aaron Gordon got a tip in to have the Nuggets go up 118-117. Then Lillard hits a three pointer to make it 120-118 Blazers. And Murray hits a three to have the Nuggets win the game 121-120 in the final second.
How many 40 point quarters do the Celtics get? I'm guessing 2 easy. 3 technicals on the Dubs as the game devolves into a whine fest, as we argue all game with the refs while getting blown out from the get. Our first taste of what we are really up against this year. Bring your own mouthwash.
Obviously, getting Malcolm Brogdon has helped out there offense a lot. But not having Robert Williams III out there in the lineup has weakened their defense.
I think we catch them on their worst performance of the year but still lose regardless because Marcus Smart will hit some bullshit ass shots at the end.
I was full on the moody train but he hasnt shown Me that he has more potential then what lamb is now, (thisonly applies if lamb actually is a 38% 3pt shooter) if not I'm taking whoever shoots better
Moody definitely has more potential as a perimeter guy than Lamb. Like, Moody's dribble still isn't great, but it's already better at attacking closeouts than Lamb. I think the shooting is probably a push as best, but I'd probably trust Moody in the long term.
Lamb rebounds enough to play some 4 though, which means he can find minutes right now, where Moody has trouble finding minutes at the 1-3 when Curry/Klay/Poole/DDV/Wiggins are healthy.
Moody's got like 3 inches of wingspan on Lamb though, and is 4 years younger. Once Moody builds up lower/core strength I would expect Moody to be able to defend a bit at the 4 as well.
Aside from Lamb's off the court issues, Moody is better now and has more long-term potential. Lamb's okay (on the court) but at best he's a 14th or 15th player. Moody can be a rotation player given a chance.
Yeah, you can make a fair argument for that. The numbers agree with you. Lamb's shooting started out amazing and he has cooled off a lot but overall, he has been solid and certainly far better than we had a right to expect. I think Moody is held back by playing a position where we're deep but then again, if he played brilliantly, he'd get more minutes. They're not so far apart though.
Now that Lamb has been named in a civil suit against against the University of Vermont complete with ugly details, Moody going away, but it wasn't really close even before that. He said/she said cases aren't fair to anybody but I guess that's why we have the courts.
No, from the article, they are going after the cultural leaders to have more systemic impact. Gotta fix the culture, then the bad actors will know they won’t have administrations running cover ups and interference… it’s a wonderful world we live in…
That article is horrifying to read. I hope the best for the plaintiffs, and given UVM is a public uni I hope the Vermont govt can wipe the BoT and admin out and start fresh.
I am very moody about moody and as a vegan cant do lamb, but maybe one day the dubs well get me back to being in a good mood and then moody will be good too
At this point neither player is an irreplaceable piece. But Moody is nearly five years younger. There is way more room to grow with Moody and grow into more than just a role player.
Have to agree with Sleepy. Look how good Looney is guarding on the perimeter. Slow as F with a 2" vertical. Moody has to learn what he can and can't do. Once he does, his size and length should do him well enough.
So much of becoming a better defender is all around strength. That can always be improved (see Steph) and will mostly likely improve given that he's only 20 and doesn't already look like he's in a grown man's body (eg. like Kuminga).
Strength is part of it but also being willing to commit major focus and energy to defense and learning to anticipate what the other team will do. Draymond has physical ability, as did Andre (don't know whether he still does) but they are excellent defenders in large part because they out-think the offense and anticipate accurately what's going to happen and are ready for it.
This. There's a reason one guy was a late lottery pick and the other guy was undrafted. That said, potential is nothing in the long run if it ends up being unactualized. But if I'm choosing between the two, it's Moody all the way.
However, I don't know if they'd have to choose between the two. Rollins' roster spot is shaky, IMO. He has potential. But why he gets the longer-than-usual contract and a roster spot is a bit puzzling to me.
Poole’s dropping for me. Deadly in space but not creating much of it himself. Tries to go God-mode when he’s really just Demi. Things get chaotic and so does Poole.
Agree. It's hard because JP3 has modeled much of his game after Steph and actually looks like him some of the time. But there is no second Steph, and Poole needs to learn to play within himself more and only experiment with going God-mode. Hard to start off trying to walk on water...
At least one good thing happening these days is that we are getting greater clarification on who goes in each playoff grouping -- I would suggest it's gonna go like this:
In Playoff Rotation for Significant Minutes: Curry, Klay, Draymond, Looney, Wiggins, Kuminga, DDV, Poole, Lamb
Edge case: Iguodala, who may be a hostage somewhere for all I know. Is he injured or just pensive?
Out of Playoff Rotation Unless They Step Up Somehow in the Next Few Months: Moody, PBJ, Rollins, Jerome, Wiseman, JMG.
I'd like to see the Dubs get at least another wing who can defend and cut if they can't do that and upgrade the front court rotation behind Loon and Dray. A wing could add some more depth behind Wiggs, with JK. Would like to see Lamb pushed down to 10/11 on the depth chart due to better players. But that may not happen so he will probably be converted to the 15th spot and be in the playoff rotation.
Steve has stated a few times that they are pretty much saving Andre for the second half of the season.
As I’ve observed before, Igoudala is the Ghost of Christmas Past. He is a magical being who has light coming from his head and is both young and old at the same time. He can lead the younger players on a journey to rediscover who they have been (raw talents who are learning), what they dreamed of (becoming champions and great players), and how they and the Warriors became who they are today (it’s complicated).
This is powerful magic, and it can help the young ‘uns decide how to respond to the things the Ghost of Christmas Present (Steve Kerr) will show them about the situation today and the challenges they must meet to become champions. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come will then show them the grim future that will come about if they don’t learn these lessons and fail to meet those challenges.
But Andre, the Ghost of Christmas Past, can only try to open the younger players’ eyes to see their potential and reach for their dreams. Achieving that better future is up to the players.
4 yrs ago Andre for sure. We'll have to see what his fitness looks like whenever he comes off ice. I wonder if they'll reinsert Iguodala closer to Lamb's 2-way limit?
I disagree with your assessment. But I know people can watch the same defense and come up with wildly different conclusions so I'm curious, how do you think Moody performed defensively last night?
Given the likelihood of some injury time off for our core five this might just be a season of riding the bubble and then coming on strong at the end for playoff seeding when lots of teams are coasting or tanking. By then, with Kuminga, DDV and Lamb fully integrated we should be just fine for our next run.
Yes. That's where I've been since preseason. Don't care about seeding. Just develop the youngsters.
We might even get things to gel by the end of the season, and be ready to make a playoff run.
Even if we're in the play-in, I wouldn't be uber-concerned. If we can't beat a 7-8-9 seed in a must-win game, then it wasn't meant to be, anyway. And, I would be *very* confident (barring injuries of course) that we would win that game against any of the likely teams (Kings, Dallas, Utah, Minny, LAL)
I don't care about seeding as long as it avoids the play-ins.
Anything can happen in a single game. Andy Numbnuts can post a 35-point triple double while the best shooter in the world can have a horrible shooting night. Somebody can still get COVID, etc.
This. If both sides are healthy, I think we'd beat the Kings or Mavs in that scenario but wouldn't want to bet the season on it. The Clips could be in that mix too, especially if Kawhi comes around. Even the Lakers could beat us in a one-game must-win if Davis is beasting like he has been, although if we're really gelling I think we can handle them.
> If we can't beat a 7-8-9 seed in a must-win game, then it wasn't meant to be, anyway.
That is one way to look at it, but the other way is to look at the massive contrast in the home and road record that the Warriors have and determine that home court actually matters a lot when trying to pursue an NBA championship. Championship teams rely on home court advantage all the time, unless you are way better than your opponent it can be the difference.
The Warriors of the last 10 years might be the championship team that least depends on having home court in the playoffs than anyone in NBA history.
Not only have they clinched more titles on the road than at home, they’ve won at least one road game in their last 27 playoff series, and counting. So they basically have been historically guaranteed to snatch home court back even when they don’t have it to start. Plus, they have an amazing record on the road in the playoffs.
Home court advantage matters to other teams. It hasn’t historically mattered to the Warriors. Maybe it does this year, but that is not a given by any means. And no, a handful of road games this year is not enough evidence to definitively say that one way or another yet.
Of the 4 championships the Warriors have won in the Kerr Era, only 2 came as the 1 seed. And in one of those, the 1 seed didn’t help in the Finals at all as they lost HCA immediately by dropping Game 1.
Of the 2 Finals they lost, they were the 1 seed in both of them, and either had HCA or took it by splitting on the road.
And of all the playoff series the Warriors have lost in the Kerr Era (a grand total of TWO), not a single one of them was lost in the other team’s building. In fact, every time the Warriors have been eliminated from the playoffs (including the play in), it happened on their home floor.
If anything, the Warriors recent history proves that they are a better bet when they make the dance as a lower seed. And the home/road thing is really not a factor for the Warriors, for better or for worse.
Instead of despair about the Dubs this year, might we note the improved quality of the competition. Seems to me there is a lot better 3-point shooting this year
It feels like it, but the warriors are around the middle for opponent fg and 3p percentages. So idk, feels like the team sometimes softens inside, which collapses the defense and allows perimeter shooters cleaner looks to get hot. And then we have to deal with some 2nd round pick having the game of his life.
I was amazed at how Kuminga could switch, help, recover and somehow still be solid everywhere. His BBIQ is improving rapidly and his is just so quick/fast. While he isn't really ready to play the 5, JMG clearly is not either, especially with those horrible fouls on help defense.
IMO, it's time to give Kuminga and Lamb all of those JMG minutes.
I think that "playing the 5" is a passé concern, as Draymond proved eight years ago. I mean, there are centers who will punish, like say Jokich or Zubac, etc., but we have learned to live with the tradeoffs. If it were me I'd consider ***everyone now will shout at me, I'll duck*** playing Kuminga over Looney in spots. Looney has proven himself solid in many ways but imagine Looney with ten more points a game.
Between this, saying that GP2 cannot guard full court as well as Kuminga, and that Kuminga is a future 27 PPG scorer (and a few other ones I think lol), you are riding an all-time high.
We still run into problems with long teams. Playing the 5 is not passé in all cases. Draymond is a unique player. Lamb is not that guy, and he still has to figure some things out; he's good but not THAT good — at least, not yet. I like Kuminga better at the 4. Then again, I might be one of the only fans who has not given up on getting some useful minutes from Wiseman by playoff time if he can get enough work at SC between now and March.
Hey, I still have my cliff side mansion on Wiseman Island. Sure, the place still needs work and time, but I think it has way more potential for working out than a lot of the fanbase thinks it does.
I also don’t think a trade from a backup big man is anywhere near as worth it as certain posters on here keep harping on it being. There aren’t many big men out there that would be better than the ones who are available on the buyout market every year, and the ones who are will cost too much in trade and will require a significant financial commitment to keep beyond a rental.
(And I’m sorry, but it is NOT worth it to trade what it costs for a guy like Jakob Poeltl when your only options are to keep him as a rental or to give him an extension of nearly 20 million a year, if not more)
I invite you to the bar on Wiseman Island, which is open for business, has great drinks, Warriors decor, big screens showing Dub and Sea Dubs games, and is powered by renewable green energy. And everyone here is a hopeful Wiseman fan.
Still not the easiest to do this at the 4 (although Wiggins helps a lot with his versatility). What they really need for him to be a constant POA defender is for him to develop enough to be able to play the 3 imo.
He's not good enough on the perimeter to play the 3 imo, can't shoot, can't dribble, and needs to improve his decision making (once again this season he's averaging more turnovers than assists although that's not the only indicator of course). And if Draymond is next to him I don't think he's really playing the 3 regardless, but I guess it depends on what you think of as the "3".
Draymond and Looney have years of experience that allows them to defend the 5.. The fear with Kuminga is racking up fouls while trying to do so. As for Kuminga over Looney, I don't think we will see him starting but many matchups will see Kuminga, Draymond, Steph, Wiggins and Klay/Poole getting the majority of the minutes.
What I don't think we are ready for is a ton of minutes with Kuminga and Lamb on the floor w/out Draymond or Looney.
The mistake-aversion of the Kerr era might need reexamination. He is slow to let rookies and young guys play significant minutes. I thought Kuminga could have done last year what he did last night. He showed those flashes last year. And my worry is that even now he'll get 20 bench minutes and rarely play when the game is on the line. To me, this guy has earned heavy sixth man minutes, including crunch time. He's not savvier than any of our starters of course but he brings a dimension or two that others can't. His full court on ball pressure no one can match, only GPII tried. His ability to create in the lane with sudden bursts is also a skill few have. I know that if he's played more he'll make mistakes and foul too much. But I think these next three months are the time to give him all the minutes he can eat, because he'll reward that in the playoffs.
I disagree wholeheartedly, Kerr had the young guys playing 40 minutes per night to start the season, we started off 3 and 7 with a 5 game losing streak. The defending champions. Coincidentally that streak ended when we benched the young guys. I think Kerr would happily let the kids make their mistakes if we had the depth to blow some teams out in the first half. Unfortunately so far this year it's just Curry/Wiggins/Green/Looney and pain.
If the team weren't struggling so much overall I think we'd see a lot more room for error, but you can only ask the starters to win each game 3 times over so many times before you start worrying about their physical and mental loads.
It's part of where the two timelines approach has failed. Kerr doesn't appear to be on board with allowing the young guys plenty of in-game time to develop. He yanks them when they make a mistake, which just seems deadly. To me, it's one thing if you yank a guy when he's not trying hard; such a player /needs/ to be sat. But for a guy making bad decisions in the heat of the moment, he needs correction and a chance to do it right.
At least, that's what my unofficial assistant youth coaching experience tells me.
I'm not really getting this whole two timeline thing. We have Poole and Wig's, JK is looking solid so really folks are just talking about Wiseman who had like 2 semi pro games before being drafted which is almost always a mistake. Moody is still an incomplete for sure but then who else?
I agree. I have been very frustrated with Kerr giving jmg ty and lamb more time over kaminga and moody - we might be below 500 but likely not much worse then we are now. Also , now i would rather see wise over jmg - lamb is actually ok and will play hard - wish his 3-pt shooting was a bit better
It’s about balancing the minutes just right so the team wins enough to make the playoffs. Because he will make mistakes that will cost us. But man, if we had won last night, that was on Kuminga. He beasted!
This season keeps finding new ways to torment. Last night was truly exquisite. I was almost impressed by the brutality of it, like a captive who begins to feel perverse admiration for the ingenuity of his inquisitor...
On the bright side: Kuminga is a future all-star. Imagine how good he'll be when he can dribble more than once.
It's kind of fair to say that Kuminga can't handle the ball but he's not at Looney levels. He brings it up, he can keep it with him on drives. He also messes it up, to be sure, and needs to improve, but I think he's not that far from decent. It was interesting/weird that for a game or two in the preseason they had him act as point guard.
I would say he can just barely keep it with him in drives.
As far as bringing it up the court ... well, sort of. If I were another team and saw him bringing it up the court, I'd run somebody at him. Make him make a decision under pressure (pass in a hurry). He can't dribble with anyone on him.
Necessary disclaimer: This is not to say that he shouldn't play. He should play, but more off-ball. Your mileage may vary. Only sold in stores within 2 miles of Asher. Not valid in the state of Pennsylvania.
Hopefully, this is a warning that every American citizen who travels to Russia will heed: Do not bring in any drug substance, prescribed or otherwise, so that the US government is not put in the position to give up high profile criminals for exchange.
Or just don't travel there (and probably a handful of other places). If it isn't bogus drug charges, they'll find something else to turn you into a pawn.
This. Brittney may have been careless, but she could just as easily have been framed. Russia doesn't seem really big on due process. They had an objective and apparently accomplished it.
My intent was not to claim that she was framed but rather that even if she hadn't had the stuff with her, they could easily have found some way to frame her. Clearly, they are not operating from good faith.
Something else I found out that is interesting. According to an article I saw (wish I could find it now, will keep looking, I think it was CBS News) the normal sentence in Russia for that small amount is a few weeks in the slammer, not 9 years. So that changes the picture considerably.
Seriously… there’s way too many professors mysteriously falling out of high windows in that country. Can’t expect fairness. If they want to find something, they will find it even if they have to fabricate it first.
It was a tough call, no doubt, given how dangerous Viktor Bout is. On the other hand it apparently was the only deal on the table if we wanted to free Griner. It seems we were not going to get Paul Whelan out at any price. I don't know about Marc Fogel, though I imagine including him was proposed and rejected. At any rate, it's a done deal, and Griner is free. I suggest Americans not play sports or do business in Russia; the climate sucks.
Looks like a formal lawsuit has now been filed in the Anthony Lamb situation. Not technically against Lamb (it is being filed against the University of Vermont), however it does reveal the existence and name of his accuser and gives a lot more details on what happened.
I think the mistake students who are victims of crimes make is seeing the University as the community and making their reports on campus rather than going straight to the local police. This is what I would insist one of my children do if in that situation. It’s analogous to going to see the Bishop to report a crime committed by one of his priests.
Police tend to mishandle sexual assault cases to an alarming degree. That’s putting aside the fact that some larger universities (no clue if Vermont is one such uni) may well have their own actual police department.
There’s no easy solution to gaining some measure of justice for sexual assault or attempted sexual assault, and that goes doubly so on college campuses.
Sadly, it seems that LOTS of organizations mishandle it -- professional sports teams, the Olympic teams, churches, universities, various law enforcement agencies. Lord, have mercy... it's a mess -- and tragic.
Aaron Gordon got a tip in to have the Nuggets go up 118-117. Then Lillard hits a three pointer to make it 120-118 Blazers. And Murray hits a three to have the Nuggets win the game 121-120 in the final second.
Heat beat the Clippers 115-110.
Blazers leasing nuggets by 9 in third
but no one will ever know because they’re all over on the other thread😂
How many 40 point quarters do the Celtics get? I'm guessing 2 easy. 3 technicals on the Dubs as the game devolves into a whine fest, as we argue all game with the refs while getting blown out from the get. Our first taste of what we are really up against this year. Bring your own mouthwash.
About 3 is my guess- dubs starters will be sitting about half way through 3rd
0
Quick look at the stats shows:
#9 -> #1 offensive efficiency
#1 -> #14 defensive efficiency
Obviously, getting Malcolm Brogdon has helped out there offense a lot. But not having Robert Williams III out there in the lineup has weakened their defense.
well, the more urgent matter could be whose leg marcas smart dives into and breaks!
I think we catch them on their worst performance of the year but still lose regardless because Marcus Smart will hit some bullshit ass shots at the end.
They’ve had a few bad losses. That got blown out *twice* by the terri-Bulls, which makes no sense. Basketball!
Moody or lamb who would you rather have going forward?
I might have to bookmark this one, I apologize in advance.
I was full on the moody train but he hasnt shown Me that he has more potential then what lamb is now, (thisonly applies if lamb actually is a 38% 3pt shooter) if not I'm taking whoever shoots better
Moody definitely has more potential as a perimeter guy than Lamb. Like, Moody's dribble still isn't great, but it's already better at attacking closeouts than Lamb. I think the shooting is probably a push as best, but I'd probably trust Moody in the long term.
Lamb rebounds enough to play some 4 though, which means he can find minutes right now, where Moody has trouble finding minutes at the 1-3 when Curry/Klay/Poole/DDV/Wiggins are healthy.
Moody's got like 3 inches of wingspan on Lamb though, and is 4 years younger. Once Moody builds up lower/core strength I would expect Moody to be able to defend a bit at the 4 as well.
Aside from Lamb's off the court issues, Moody is better now and has more long-term potential. Lamb's okay (on the court) but at best he's a 14th or 15th player. Moody can be a rotation player given a chance.
There is no way moody is better now
Yeah, you can make a fair argument for that. The numbers agree with you. Lamb's shooting started out amazing and he has cooled off a lot but overall, he has been solid and certainly far better than we had a right to expect. I think Moody is held back by playing a position where we're deep but then again, if he played brilliantly, he'd get more minutes. They're not so far apart though.
Yea it’s not far apart but lamb is the better player currently and moody did get his chance at the beginning of the year
Now that Lamb has been named in a civil suit against against the University of Vermont complete with ugly details, Moody going away, but it wasn't really close even before that. He said/she said cases aren't fair to anybody but I guess that's why we have the courts.
No, from the article, they are going after the cultural leaders to have more systemic impact. Gotta fix the culture, then the bad actors will know they won’t have administrations running cover ups and interference… it’s a wonderful world we live in…
That article is horrifying to read. I hope the best for the plaintiffs, and given UVM is a public uni I hope the Vermont govt can wipe the BoT and admin out and start fresh.
Moody. He's younger and got plenty of potential. Also, didn't a lot of people on this site wanted the Warriors to draft him last year?
I wanted him at 7 but now question his potential
Moody is younger, better, and AFAIK, has not been accused of rape.
I am very moody about moody and as a vegan cant do lamb, but maybe one day the dubs well get me back to being in a good mood and then moody will be good too
Moody, easily. (I love Lamb, tho).
Why
Right now? Neigher really. They don't move the needle at all however I would say Moody just because of age and contract.
At this point neither player is an irreplaceable piece. But Moody is nearly five years younger. There is way more room to grow with Moody and grow into more than just a role player.
Due to moodys athletic limitations is there really more room to grow? I’m probably taking the better shooter out of the two since they are so similar
Have to agree with Sleepy. Look how good Looney is guarding on the perimeter. Slow as F with a 2" vertical. Moody has to learn what he can and can't do. Once he does, his size and length should do him well enough.
How did the athletic limitations of Steph, KD, Jokic, Booker, Bird, et al. work out for them?
What the hell
Idk if we can say KD has athletic limitations in the same way the others do, but yeah 100
Oden was bigger?
And lamb has the size advantage
Moody. He has potential as a 3-and-D wing that Lamb does not have.
Is a defined 3 & D player a feature in a Kerr offense? That said, I am hard core rooting for Moody develop as one.
Does moody have the lateral quickness to ever become a good defender though?
Lamb. I see higher upside because he can get inside and plays well with Steph. Threes feel like a toss up at this point.
Lamb is 24 and has shown just as much 3nd potential as moody
He's 25 in less than 2 months.
That’s fine, I guess my question is does moody have the potential to become a better defender then lamb in the future? I’m not sure
So much of becoming a better defender is all around strength. That can always be improved (see Steph) and will mostly likely improve given that he's only 20 and doesn't already look like he's in a grown man's body (eg. like Kuminga).
Strength is part of it but also being willing to commit major focus and energy to defense and learning to anticipate what the other team will do. Draymond has physical ability, as did Andre (don't know whether he still does) but they are excellent defenders in large part because they out-think the offense and anticipate accurately what's going to happen and are ready for it.
Moodys defensive issue is lateral quckness, he eill never be a poa defendwr
You dont think lamb looks like what mpody could possibly become in a couplr years? Lamb has strength and a couple inches on moody, both are slow
This. There's a reason one guy was a late lottery pick and the other guy was undrafted. That said, potential is nothing in the long run if it ends up being unactualized. But if I'm choosing between the two, it's Moody all the way.
However, I don't know if they'd have to choose between the two. Rollins' roster spot is shaky, IMO. He has potential. But why he gets the longer-than-usual contract and a roster spot is a bit puzzling to me.
Rumor has it that Rollins has these compromising photos of Bob Myers that we won't get to see unless Rollins gets cut. Okay, I just made that up.
More donte over poole unless hes hot, more kuminga less jmg and we are even better then last year imo
Poole’s dropping for me. Deadly in space but not creating much of it himself. Tries to go God-mode when he’s really just Demi. Things get chaotic and so does Poole.
He’s young, he just needs Kerr to tighten the leash on him and hold him more accountable so he can refine his game
Agree. It's hard because JP3 has modeled much of his game after Steph and actually looks like him some of the time. But there is no second Steph, and Poole needs to learn to play within himself more and only experiment with going God-mode. Hard to start off trying to walk on water...
Poole has been very Jamal Crawford like this year.
Poole's a much better passer than Crawford ever was. More this-year Jordan Clarkson if you want to make a comparison, IMO.
Really? I feel like he and Crawford have pretty similar assist rates, which considering the current pace of play would favor Crawford.
Hey, Marriage for All protected by US law! The Pols read the polls.
Until the fascist get rid of the constitution 😀
At least one good thing happening these days is that we are getting greater clarification on who goes in each playoff grouping -- I would suggest it's gonna go like this:
In Playoff Rotation for Significant Minutes: Curry, Klay, Draymond, Looney, Wiggins, Kuminga, DDV, Poole, Lamb
Edge case: Iguodala, who may be a hostage somewhere for all I know. Is he injured or just pensive?
Out of Playoff Rotation Unless They Step Up Somehow in the Next Few Months: Moody, PBJ, Rollins, Jerome, Wiseman, JMG.
You good with that?
Too early to make the call on Moody, IMO. As for the other guys, I'd /love/ to be surprised, but I would be surprised.
It's too early to make the call on some of the guys who are "in playoff rotation" too imo
I'd like to see the Dubs get at least another wing who can defend and cut if they can't do that and upgrade the front court rotation behind Loon and Dray. A wing could add some more depth behind Wiggs, with JK. Would like to see Lamb pushed down to 10/11 on the depth chart due to better players. But that may not happen so he will probably be converted to the 15th spot and be in the playoff rotation.
Steve has stated a few times that they are pretty much saving Andre for the second half of the season.
As I’ve observed before, Igoudala is the Ghost of Christmas Past. He is a magical being who has light coming from his head and is both young and old at the same time. He can lead the younger players on a journey to rediscover who they have been (raw talents who are learning), what they dreamed of (becoming champions and great players), and how they and the Warriors became who they are today (it’s complicated).
This is powerful magic, and it can help the young ‘uns decide how to respond to the things the Ghost of Christmas Present (Steve Kerr) will show them about the situation today and the challenges they must meet to become champions. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come will then show them the grim future that will come about if they don’t learn these lessons and fail to meet those challenges.
But Andre, the Ghost of Christmas Past, can only try to open the younger players’ eyes to see their potential and reach for their dreams. Achieving that better future is up to the players.
So....Iguodala?
4 yrs ago Andre for sure. We'll have to see what his fitness looks like whenever he comes off ice. I wonder if they'll reinsert Iguodala closer to Lamb's 2-way limit?
Moody is in the edge case category. His issue is not "stepping up", it's a crowded backcourt.
Yeah, looks like the roster, except Andre is going to be there. He’s being brought along slowly.
I wonder if Kerr is seeing Moody more and more as a strictly 3 & D guy who’s inserted situationally.
The thingnis hes not good defensively right now
He was great defensively last night.
He’s not been good defensively at all this year on or off the ball he does hustle though
I disagree with your assessment. But I know people can watch the same defense and come up with wildly different conclusions so I'm curious, how do you think Moody performed defensively last night?
Wasnt paying to much attention to last night honestly
Given the likelihood of some injury time off for our core five this might just be a season of riding the bubble and then coming on strong at the end for playoff seeding when lots of teams are coasting or tanking. By then, with Kuminga, DDV and Lamb fully integrated we should be just fine for our next run.
Yes. That's where I've been since preseason. Don't care about seeding. Just develop the youngsters.
We might even get things to gel by the end of the season, and be ready to make a playoff run.
Even if we're in the play-in, I wouldn't be uber-concerned. If we can't beat a 7-8-9 seed in a must-win game, then it wasn't meant to be, anyway. And, I would be *very* confident (barring injuries of course) that we would win that game against any of the likely teams (Kings, Dallas, Utah, Minny, LAL)
I don't care about seeding as long as it avoids the play-ins.
Anything can happen in a single game. Andy Numbnuts can post a 35-point triple double while the best shooter in the world can have a horrible shooting night. Somebody can still get COVID, etc.
This. If both sides are healthy, I think we'd beat the Kings or Mavs in that scenario but wouldn't want to bet the season on it. The Clips could be in that mix too, especially if Kawhi comes around. Even the Lakers could beat us in a one-game must-win if Davis is beasting like he has been, although if we're really gelling I think we can handle them.
> If we can't beat a 7-8-9 seed in a must-win game, then it wasn't meant to be, anyway.
That is one way to look at it, but the other way is to look at the massive contrast in the home and road record that the Warriors have and determine that home court actually matters a lot when trying to pursue an NBA championship. Championship teams rely on home court advantage all the time, unless you are way better than your opponent it can be the difference.
The Warriors of the last 10 years might be the championship team that least depends on having home court in the playoffs than anyone in NBA history.
Not only have they clinched more titles on the road than at home, they’ve won at least one road game in their last 27 playoff series, and counting. So they basically have been historically guaranteed to snatch home court back even when they don’t have it to start. Plus, they have an amazing record on the road in the playoffs.
Home court advantage matters to other teams. It hasn’t historically mattered to the Warriors. Maybe it does this year, but that is not a given by any means. And no, a handful of road games this year is not enough evidence to definitively say that one way or another yet.
You can subscribe to the theory that seeding and home court advantage do not matter if you like. I do not agree.
You can not agree all you want.
The proof is in the pudding.
Of the 4 championships the Warriors have won in the Kerr Era, only 2 came as the 1 seed. And in one of those, the 1 seed didn’t help in the Finals at all as they lost HCA immediately by dropping Game 1.
Of the 2 Finals they lost, they were the 1 seed in both of them, and either had HCA or took it by splitting on the road.
And of all the playoff series the Warriors have lost in the Kerr Era (a grand total of TWO), not a single one of them was lost in the other team’s building. In fact, every time the Warriors have been eliminated from the playoffs (including the play in), it happened on their home floor.
If anything, the Warriors recent history proves that they are a better bet when they make the dance as a lower seed. And the home/road thing is really not a factor for the Warriors, for better or for worse.
> Of the 4 championships the Warriors have won in the Kerr Era, only 2 came as the 1 seed.
Lol. Okay then, why don't you tell me what seeds they were? How many magical runs did the Warriors make to the championship as the 7 seed?
I am not going to argue about the concept of "margin for error" with you when it is fairly self-evident.
Plus in every four and six game series (of which we've played a ton) no one had home court advantage.
Instead of despair about the Dubs this year, might we note the improved quality of the competition. Seems to me there is a lot better 3-point shooting this year
It feels like it, but the warriors are around the middle for opponent fg and 3p percentages. So idk, feels like the team sometimes softens inside, which collapses the defense and allows perimeter shooters cleaner looks to get hot. And then we have to deal with some 2nd round pick having the game of his life.
I was amazed at how Kuminga could switch, help, recover and somehow still be solid everywhere. His BBIQ is improving rapidly and his is just so quick/fast. While he isn't really ready to play the 5, JMG clearly is not either, especially with those horrible fouls on help defense.
IMO, it's time to give Kuminga and Lamb all of those JMG minutes.
I think that "playing the 5" is a passé concern, as Draymond proved eight years ago. I mean, there are centers who will punish, like say Jokich or Zubac, etc., but we have learned to live with the tradeoffs. If it were me I'd consider ***everyone now will shout at me, I'll duck*** playing Kuminga over Looney in spots. Looney has proven himself solid in many ways but imagine Looney with ten more points a game.
Between this, saying that GP2 cannot guard full court as well as Kuminga, and that Kuminga is a future 27 PPG scorer (and a few other ones I think lol), you are riding an all-time high.
We still run into problems with long teams. Playing the 5 is not passé in all cases. Draymond is a unique player. Lamb is not that guy, and he still has to figure some things out; he's good but not THAT good — at least, not yet. I like Kuminga better at the 4. Then again, I might be one of the only fans who has not given up on getting some useful minutes from Wiseman by playoff time if he can get enough work at SC between now and March.
> I might be one of the only fans who has not given up on getting some useful minutes from Wiseman by playoff time
Ditto. We're all huddled around the campfire, hoping for spring to arrive.
I'm still on Wiseman island too but I'm starting to think he might not be ready until next year... if we end up keeping him.
Hey, I still have my cliff side mansion on Wiseman Island. Sure, the place still needs work and time, but I think it has way more potential for working out than a lot of the fanbase thinks it does.
I also don’t think a trade from a backup big man is anywhere near as worth it as certain posters on here keep harping on it being. There aren’t many big men out there that would be better than the ones who are available on the buyout market every year, and the ones who are will cost too much in trade and will require a significant financial commitment to keep beyond a rental.
(And I’m sorry, but it is NOT worth it to trade what it costs for a guy like Jakob Poeltl when your only options are to keep him as a rental or to give him an extension of nearly 20 million a year, if not more)
Where is Dwight Howard? He's knucklehead and old, but he can still play. He'd be at least as good as Boogie was.
He's in Taiwan.
I invite you to the bar on Wiseman Island, which is open for business, has great drinks, Warriors decor, big screens showing Dub and Sea Dubs games, and is powered by renewable green energy. And everyone here is a hopeful Wiseman fan.
I rather see kuminga at the 4 honestlt so he can guard ball
Still not the easiest to do this at the 4 (although Wiggins helps a lot with his versatility). What they really need for him to be a constant POA defender is for him to develop enough to be able to play the 3 imo.
Also he can play the “3“ just needs draymond at the five with shooters around hik
He's not good enough on the perimeter to play the 3 imo, can't shoot, can't dribble, and needs to improve his decision making (once again this season he's averaging more turnovers than assists although that's not the only indicator of course). And if Draymond is next to him I don't think he's really playing the 3 regardless, but I guess it depends on what you think of as the "3".
Lamb and klay can guard 4s whioe kuminga is on ball
Draymond and Looney have years of experience that allows them to defend the 5.. The fear with Kuminga is racking up fouls while trying to do so. As for Kuminga over Looney, I don't think we will see him starting but many matchups will see Kuminga, Draymond, Steph, Wiggins and Klay/Poole getting the majority of the minutes.
What I don't think we are ready for is a ton of minutes with Kuminga and Lamb on the floor w/out Draymond or Looney.
"Hi, it's Bob. Hey, we're kicking the tires on maybe trading JaMychal, and we're wondering if you might want to trade -- hello? Hello? You there?"
I would totally approve of a trade of JMG for Taylor Swift, plus a pick swap.
Taylor Swift had all ten songs in the top ten at one time. That's colossal. And you think you can get her for JMG plus a pick swap? Think again.
I'll bet she even moves better on the perimeter than he does.
I think the best we can get for JMG is that out-of-tune singer down at the local dive bar.
Why you gotta out me on the spot?
Would you turn down a minimum NBA salary for half a season?
Hell nah, I'd do wayyy dumber stuff for that lol. I pay money to sing terribly in public right now
Oh, just ask me...
In that case, back to “racing babies” halftime shows.
think of the halftime shows!!!
The mistake-aversion of the Kerr era might need reexamination. He is slow to let rookies and young guys play significant minutes. I thought Kuminga could have done last year what he did last night. He showed those flashes last year. And my worry is that even now he'll get 20 bench minutes and rarely play when the game is on the line. To me, this guy has earned heavy sixth man minutes, including crunch time. He's not savvier than any of our starters of course but he brings a dimension or two that others can't. His full court on ball pressure no one can match, only GPII tried. His ability to create in the lane with sudden bursts is also a skill few have. I know that if he's played more he'll make mistakes and foul too much. But I think these next three months are the time to give him all the minutes he can eat, because he'll reward that in the playoffs.
I disagree wholeheartedly, Kerr had the young guys playing 40 minutes per night to start the season, we started off 3 and 7 with a 5 game losing streak. The defending champions. Coincidentally that streak ended when we benched the young guys. I think Kerr would happily let the kids make their mistakes if we had the depth to blow some teams out in the first half. Unfortunately so far this year it's just Curry/Wiggins/Green/Looney and pain.
If the team weren't struggling so much overall I think we'd see a lot more room for error, but you can only ask the starters to win each game 3 times over so many times before you start worrying about their physical and mental loads.
As far as the "mistake-aversion" decisions made last year, I remind you we won a championship. Case closed.
It's part of where the two timelines approach has failed. Kerr doesn't appear to be on board with allowing the young guys plenty of in-game time to develop. He yanks them when they make a mistake, which just seems deadly. To me, it's one thing if you yank a guy when he's not trying hard; such a player /needs/ to be sat. But for a guy making bad decisions in the heat of the moment, he needs correction and a chance to do it right.
At least, that's what my unofficial assistant youth coaching experience tells me.
I'm not really getting this whole two timeline thing. We have Poole and Wig's, JK is looking solid so really folks are just talking about Wiseman who had like 2 semi pro games before being drafted which is almost always a mistake. Moody is still an incomplete for sure but then who else?
I agree. I have been very frustrated with Kerr giving jmg ty and lamb more time over kaminga and moody - we might be below 500 but likely not much worse then we are now. Also , now i would rather see wise over jmg - lamb is actually ok and will play hard - wish his 3-pt shooting was a bit better
It’s about balancing the minutes just right so the team wins enough to make the playoffs. Because he will make mistakes that will cost us. But man, if we had won last night, that was on Kuminga. He beasted!
This season keeps finding new ways to torment. Last night was truly exquisite. I was almost impressed by the brutality of it, like a captive who begins to feel perverse admiration for the ingenuity of his inquisitor...
On the bright side: Kuminga is a future all-star. Imagine how good he'll be when he can dribble more than once.
It's kind of fair to say that Kuminga can't handle the ball but he's not at Looney levels. He brings it up, he can keep it with him on drives. He also messes it up, to be sure, and needs to improve, but I think he's not that far from decent. It was interesting/weird that for a game or two in the preseason they had him act as point guard.
I would say he can just barely keep it with him in drives.
As far as bringing it up the court ... well, sort of. If I were another team and saw him bringing it up the court, I'd run somebody at him. Make him make a decision under pressure (pass in a hurry). He can't dribble with anyone on him.
Necessary disclaimer: This is not to say that he shouldn't play. He should play, but more off-ball. Your mileage may vary. Only sold in stores within 2 miles of Asher. Not valid in the state of Pennsylvania.
Stockholm Fandom
OT: WNBA Star Brittney Griner Has Been Freed From a Russian Prison
https://www.kqed.org/news/11934567/wnba-star-brittney-griner-has-been-freed-from-a-russian-prison?fbclid=IwAR2MLDGqw8Sl5R_eninz_mnSg12gxsIfpIK48cuwq8At4SN5OR0ZJUVQ1hY
Hopefully, this is a warning that every American citizen who travels to Russia will heed: Do not bring in any drug substance, prescribed or otherwise, so that the US government is not put in the position to give up high profile criminals for exchange.
Or just don't travel there (and probably a handful of other places). If it isn't bogus drug charges, they'll find something else to turn you into a pawn.
This. Brittney may have been careless, but she could just as easily have been framed. Russia doesn't seem really big on due process. They had an objective and apparently accomplished it.
I don't think she denies that she had the stuff with her.
My intent was not to claim that she was framed but rather that even if she hadn't had the stuff with her, they could easily have found some way to frame her. Clearly, they are not operating from good faith.
Something else I found out that is interesting. According to an article I saw (wish I could find it now, will keep looking, I think it was CBS News) the normal sentence in Russia for that small amount is a few weeks in the slammer, not 9 years. So that changes the picture considerably.
Seriously… there’s way too many professors mysteriously falling out of high windows in that country. Can’t expect fairness. If they want to find something, they will find it even if they have to fabricate it first.
Not a fan of the trade, TBH. It's like trading Stephen Curry for Eric Bledsoe.
Yea, I think the magnitude is even greater than that... at least Steph and Bledsoe were in the same league.
It was a tough call, no doubt, given how dangerous Viktor Bout is. On the other hand it apparently was the only deal on the table if we wanted to free Griner. It seems we were not going to get Paul Whelan out at any price. I don't know about Marc Fogel, though I imagine including him was proposed and rejected. At any rate, it's a done deal, and Griner is free. I suggest Americans not play sports or do business in Russia; the climate sucks.
For Real??? AWESOME! We have a roster spot!
https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/lawsuit-uvm-mishandled-rape-allegation-against-basketball-star-anthony-lamb/Content?oid=37097413&fbclid=IwAR2fgwkUQMAR1EaW-FgdUKa2ofTPTv0fOLMBLqJPblOxvPcvw5FFiu-FEX0
Looks like a formal lawsuit has now been filed in the Anthony Lamb situation. Not technically against Lamb (it is being filed against the University of Vermont), however it does reveal the existence and name of his accuser and gives a lot more details on what happened.
yikes, first I'm hearing of this... disappointing
I think the mistake students who are victims of crimes make is seeing the University as the community and making their reports on campus rather than going straight to the local police. This is what I would insist one of my children do if in that situation. It’s analogous to going to see the Bishop to report a crime committed by one of his priests.
Police tend to mishandle sexual assault cases to an alarming degree. That’s putting aside the fact that some larger universities (no clue if Vermont is one such uni) may well have their own actual police department.
There’s no easy solution to gaining some measure of justice for sexual assault or attempted sexual assault, and that goes doubly so on college campuses.
Sadly, it seems that LOTS of organizations mishandle it -- professional sports teams, the Olympic teams, churches, universities, various law enforcement agencies. Lord, have mercy... it's a mess -- and tragic.
Campus 👮♀️ would seem iffy to me.
Horrible, and I hope the women who were victimized get some form of recompense.