Anyone else finding the Lakers incredibly boring to watch? I’m not saying they’re bad, and I guess it’s hard to live up to the speed of the Kings series, but *yawn*
One of the most illuminating revelations of the Draymond Green Podcast to me was realizing just how competitive Klay really is. You kind of knew it just by watching him play, but I never realized how absolutely hard-core competitive Klay is behind the scenes.
The biggest adjustment I noticed was that Klay stopped dribbling. I swear, he reminds me of a perimeter version of JaVale McGee (only slightly hyperbolic) when he starts trying to show off his handle and pull-up jumpers. I spent A LOT of game 1 yelling at Bobblehead Klay, the bobblehead that watches Warriors games with me. I don't know the splits, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a 10-20% difference in his shooting when he dribbles.
Kerr adjustments stand out. Beautifully-done, even the inadvertent ones. Speaking of resilient and elegant coaching, not surprised Mike Budenholzer got sacked in Bucks-Land. Never short of talented players, the two-time COY was blessed with 5 NBA All Stars in Atlanta, and a Giannis-led talented roster at Bucks. Along with the luminant Jason Kidd, before him, I have felt they under-achieved, and may have contributed significantly in any shortening of Giannis' career from injuries, due to their utilization of him and reliance on his uncanny athleticism and total abandon. I hope he continues to be as lucky as Jason is in landing, elsewhere....
Not going to challenge that coach Bud is a good playoff coach (he’s not) but he’d be really good for a team like the rockets that seems to have had no purpose or progress at learning to actually play basketball these last two years.
Aside from Horford, who is clearly a wins driver: Which other All-Star on that Hawks team carried coach Bud as opposed to the otherway round?
I love how Moody distance manages on defense allowing him to minimize his lack of footspeed and cover it up with his length. A dramatic improvement from the rest of the year.
It was the ONE thing keeping him off the floor earlier in the season... it was the ONE thing he needed to clean up to stay on the floor. And he showed over the last month of the season that he got it. And now he's playing with confidence. He's been awesome.
Would Kerr have benched looney even if he wasn’t sick? I thought he was going to bench him for sure but some of the reports of looneys illness make it seem that that’s the only reason he came off the bench
Worked in the 3rd less so in the 1st. The key was just playing 4 out most of the game. The non-Curry/Klay others are going to get practice threes all night. Klay and the others were cooking last night. On top of that, AD isn't a good match up for Looney, so we can stagger Dray and Looney such that Dray gets most of the defensive responsibility.
Watching that Warrior win sealed the deal for me. DESTINY rears its head. This was a classic Warrior win, a dominating one that will take this team into The Finals once again. Yes, Kerr made adjustments and kudos to him but without the execution of the players, the outcome may have been different. But this outcome showed the Lakers to be woefully unprepared for what they faced and has convinced me that the Lakers are finished. 5 games? 6 games? It doesn't matter. We dominated them and they had no adjustment to our boys which shows a team that will not stand the test of the Warriors.
One of the other delightful outcomes was the overall play from our bench. They actually held their own and I'm sure this will give Kerr some new ideas to spring on our opponents. Kudos to JMG, Looney, Klay, and Dray for stepping up his scoring. It's usually a good sign when Dray gets to the basket. Good to see Moody so lively. As for JFK, I do kind of see why he doesn't get more time in the playoffs. Something about his game and inability to execute. Don't know what it is about him. Maybe like Poole, too caught up in his own head.
There is nothing wrong with that. They are meant to replace the current core so you would want them to have the drive. The necessary fire in their belly. It is up to the coaches to stoke that fire.
JK did make progress this season but for some unknown reason he cannot get out of Kerr's doghouse.
Is it unknown? Seems like in the King series it was that he didn't read the game quickly enough and in this series the Warriors are prioritizing shooting. We might have thought it was odd that JMG was getting minutes over Kuminga in this series but that game clearly showed the theory behind it, Kerr wants to force AD to come out of the lane and you need a spread floor for that with Draymond at center (because he's the best AD defender in the league).
It's up to Kerr to win playoff games first and foremost, if that strategy doesn't include Kuminga then oh well. The playoffs aren't for development they are for winning, everyone has to get in where they fit in.
Didn't JK only get like 4 mins of burn in that series? The Kings were a bad match for him so I get it.
But for these series, he can actually help. As I recall he did an OK job on LeBron during the regular season. I thought the regular season was to develop the youngsters to prepare them to be useful during the playoffs. A 4 minute stretch can't be enough to just label him as unplayable the rest of the playoffs.
We'll never know. It would be great if they could step out of the shadow of Steph in the future. If they want to be max players, they are really going to have to show a different side of their game. Luckily, we do have Steph and a very awesome starting 5.
I wonder how Ham will adjust their pick and roll defense against Steph. Steph and Dray diced up the trapping strategy. Does he try to pull a Udoka and guard Steph straight up in game 3 and try to stop everyone else?
Put AD on Wiggins, see if Wiggins can beat you from deep (maybe a bad idea but currently Wiggins is shooting 28% from three, they might want to at least test it out).
Timpf thinks they'll start with AD in drop. Once Steph starts cooking that by pulling up and torching 3's, they'll have to do straight up perimeter switch. That opens up the paint with tons of driving lanes and cuts.
Probably worth a shot... Timpf had the same suggestion. But, I don't know... the Celtics tried this... switching is really the best option against Curry.
I think when the Warriors as a team are EXECUTING, no tactic on Steph will be effective. We have some serious shooters and passers. Klay stepped up big time. This is the Warrior Way. No one does it better and the Kerr system is more or less infallible but only when they are focused.
I don't think it matters that much. Curry is inevitable. They can face-guard and double him, and he'll beat them by creating shots for all of his teammates. They can guard him straight up and he'll torch them for 40-50 while thrilling their fans and turning them against their team.
Poor coach Bud (well handsomely paid while unemployed coach Bud.) The owners and FO don’t shell out to keep Tucker after winning it all. Middleton’s been a shell of himself coming back from injury. And the coach gets the blame and the axe after having the best record in the NBA when they had to play with half a Giannis.
Maybe they’ll hire Mark Jackson, he deserves another coaching gig.
I actually think it would be a good balance. Nurse is the fire to Kerr's water, a tactician to Kerr's ego management, a defensive innovator to Kerr's offensive genius (which is funny since Nurse came into the league known as an offensive mind).
Agreed. They need a communicator in the HC position. Not sure a guy who looks like an English teacher is the right fit.
Sleepy was suggesting that we get Stephen Silas back if Kenny leaves. At first I thought going outside the organizational tree would be better, but given all the angst around the team, I think he's onto something. Silas seems to have very good, low-key communication skills.
LeBron, Rui, and Vanderbilt shot 8/16 from 3 (including a ridiculous prayer), and we still beat them.
LeBron was completely worthless on a few weak side help rotations, even the very first Warriors score of the game, when he didn't even try to contest Dray's wide open layup... I think part of our adjustment was to attack LeBron's defense like that.
Steph and Klay - 52 points (again) on 30 shots (instead of 49)
I initially thought Klay's last 3 was incredibly audacious... but on replay, he knows Reaves isn't challenging that shot at all. If Klay can dominate that matchup, we're in really good shape.
I think that's one thing he noticed on game 1 film. He was doing that quick pump fake in game 1 when it really wasn't needed. Reeves' contests haven't been worth a pump fake. He can just keep his legs in a smooth rhythm, rather than throwing that hitch in the motion.
LeBron will try on D in game 3. They need to make him work anyway. Should be fun if the refs don’t reward the bobble head dribble drives with nonsense fouls.
The Lakers will live and die this series depending on AD's play. Ham is gonna need to find a way to slow the games down and AD will need to play like a top 5 player for them to beat the Warriors 3 more times. If Dray keeps playing like he did tonight, I like our chances.
Given AD's inconsistency, I expect he'll be "bad AD" for one or two more games at least... and given he's going up against DPOYmond, even if AD has 3-4 more "great AD" games, Dray's gonna keep him in check for 2 of those... and as the series goes longer, it's only going to get harder for AD...
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills or something. It's not like Kuminga's worth is hypothetical. He was who he was in the regular season, a big part of why we won as many as we did. he shouldn't have to re-audition. It's insulting.
Also f*ck Dennis Schroder and his sh*t eating grin.
Anyone else finding the Lakers incredibly boring to watch? I’m not saying they’re bad, and I guess it’s hard to live up to the speed of the Kings series, but *yawn*
https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1654505205596037120
I know these guys weren't playing but I can't imagine having guys on the team accepting defeat that early.
One of the most illuminating revelations of the Draymond Green Podcast to me was realizing just how competitive Klay really is. You kind of knew it just by watching him play, but I never realized how absolutely hard-core competitive Klay is behind the scenes.
The biggest adjustment I noticed was that Klay stopped dribbling. I swear, he reminds me of a perimeter version of JaVale McGee (only slightly hyperbolic) when he starts trying to show off his handle and pull-up jumpers. I spent A LOT of game 1 yelling at Bobblehead Klay, the bobblehead that watches Warriors games with me. I don't know the splits, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a 10-20% difference in his shooting when he dribbles.
Kerr adjustments stand out. Beautifully-done, even the inadvertent ones. Speaking of resilient and elegant coaching, not surprised Mike Budenholzer got sacked in Bucks-Land. Never short of talented players, the two-time COY was blessed with 5 NBA All Stars in Atlanta, and a Giannis-led talented roster at Bucks. Along with the luminant Jason Kidd, before him, I have felt they under-achieved, and may have contributed significantly in any shortening of Giannis' career from injuries, due to their utilization of him and reliance on his uncanny athleticism and total abandon. I hope he continues to be as lucky as Jason is in landing, elsewhere....
Not going to challenge that coach Bud is a good playoff coach (he’s not) but he’d be really good for a team like the rockets that seems to have had no purpose or progress at learning to actually play basketball these last two years.
Aside from Horford, who is clearly a wins driver: Which other All-Star on that Hawks team carried coach Bud as opposed to the otherway round?
By the way, I need to state, again, my appreciation for the edit feature on this Number ONE, Dub Fan Site.
That live broadcast comment about how the Dubs had to face a set defense after all of the FT's in G1 makes a lot of sense/difference.
https://youtu.be/SgI4e5ODHGE
Moody has a good motor. Would be nice if he became our Mikal Bridges.
First, the Warriors player you're dreaming of is Andrew Wiggins.
Second, you've said it backwards. Try this:
"It would be nice if Mikal Bridges becomes Brooklyn's Andrew Wiggins." ;)
Moody becoming Mikal Bridges-like would be incredible for us.
I love how Moody distance manages on defense allowing him to minimize his lack of footspeed and cover it up with his length. A dramatic improvement from the rest of the year.
It was the ONE thing keeping him off the floor earlier in the season... it was the ONE thing he needed to clean up to stay on the floor. And he showed over the last month of the season that he got it. And now he's playing with confidence. He's been awesome.
No doubt he'll get faster as he gains experience, confidence, and ages practicing with Steph...
Would Kerr have benched looney even if he wasn’t sick? I thought he was going to bench him for sure but some of the reports of looneys illness make it seem that that’s the only reason he came off the bench
The plan was to play JMG more but not to start him.
Probably not. This seems more like by accident than by design. We got lucky it worked.
Worked in the 3rd less so in the 1st. The key was just playing 4 out most of the game. The non-Curry/Klay others are going to get practice threes all night. Klay and the others were cooking last night. On top of that, AD isn't a good match up for Looney, so we can stagger Dray and Looney such that Dray gets most of the defensive responsibility.
Watching that Warrior win sealed the deal for me. DESTINY rears its head. This was a classic Warrior win, a dominating one that will take this team into The Finals once again. Yes, Kerr made adjustments and kudos to him but without the execution of the players, the outcome may have been different. But this outcome showed the Lakers to be woefully unprepared for what they faced and has convinced me that the Lakers are finished. 5 games? 6 games? It doesn't matter. We dominated them and they had no adjustment to our boys which shows a team that will not stand the test of the Warriors.
One of the other delightful outcomes was the overall play from our bench. They actually held their own and I'm sure this will give Kerr some new ideas to spring on our opponents. Kudos to JMG, Looney, Klay, and Dray for stepping up his scoring. It's usually a good sign when Dray gets to the basket. Good to see Moody so lively. As for JFK, I do kind of see why he doesn't get more time in the playoffs. Something about his game and inability to execute. Don't know what it is about him. Maybe like Poole, too caught up in his own head.
Poole got Steph Curry highlights in his head and JK got Kobe highlights in his. Instead of playing within their own game.
There is nothing wrong with that. They are meant to replace the current core so you would want them to have the drive. The necessary fire in their belly. It is up to the coaches to stoke that fire.
JK did make progress this season but for some unknown reason he cannot get out of Kerr's doghouse.
Is it unknown? Seems like in the King series it was that he didn't read the game quickly enough and in this series the Warriors are prioritizing shooting. We might have thought it was odd that JMG was getting minutes over Kuminga in this series but that game clearly showed the theory behind it, Kerr wants to force AD to come out of the lane and you need a spread floor for that with Draymond at center (because he's the best AD defender in the league).
It's up to Kerr to win playoff games first and foremost, if that strategy doesn't include Kuminga then oh well. The playoffs aren't for development they are for winning, everyone has to get in where they fit in.
Didn't JK only get like 4 mins of burn in that series? The Kings were a bad match for him so I get it.
But for these series, he can actually help. As I recall he did an OK job on LeBron during the regular season. I thought the regular season was to develop the youngsters to prepare them to be useful during the playoffs. A 4 minute stretch can't be enough to just label him as unplayable the rest of the playoffs.
I agree with everything stated here.
My only addition to this would be, GP2 shouldn't get minutes over Kuminga. Kuminga is a better fit for this series and probably a better shooter.
This.
We'll never know. It would be great if they could step out of the shadow of Steph in the future. If they want to be max players, they are really going to have to show a different side of their game. Luckily, we do have Steph and a very awesome starting 5.
https://twitter.com/957thegame/status/1654338407454363648
Game 7 fan
Great stuff. Thanks for sharing Dan.
Mad props to this fan. When I saw him there in Game 7 I told my wife that's a true Warriors fan. What a legend!
From one legend to another!
I wonder how Ham will adjust their pick and roll defense against Steph. Steph and Dray diced up the trapping strategy. Does he try to pull a Udoka and guard Steph straight up in game 3 and try to stop everyone else?
Honestly? I would just pre-switch AD to help him remain in the paint and have a bunch of switchable defenders.
Put AD on Wiggins, see if Wiggins can beat you from deep (maybe a bad idea but currently Wiggins is shooting 28% from three, they might want to at least test it out).
If the Lakers defense becomes "Give Andrew Wiggins 10 wide open 3s a game", he's gonna get in rhythm tho...
Is that percentage for the whole playoffs for Wiggins, or just these 2 games?
Whole playoffs, just read it off of here, he's 13 for 46 so far:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wiggian01.html
EDIT: 3 for 9 in the Laker series so far for 33%.
Timpf thinks they'll start with AD in drop. Once Steph starts cooking that by pulling up and torching 3's, they'll have to do straight up perimeter switch. That opens up the paint with tons of driving lanes and cuts.
I would like to see them dare Steph with drop coverage. AD may have better closing speed than Horford but I bet Steph will kill them if they do it.
Probably worth a shot... Timpf had the same suggestion. But, I don't know... the Celtics tried this... switching is really the best option against Curry.
I think when the Warriors as a team are EXECUTING, no tactic on Steph will be effective. We have some serious shooters and passers. Klay stepped up big time. This is the Warrior Way. No one does it better and the Kerr system is more or less infallible but only when they are focused.
Switch vs Steph PnRs and foul the shit out of him to wear him down has been the only way to stop him
I don't think it matters that much. Curry is inevitable. They can face-guard and double him, and he'll beat them by creating shots for all of his teammates. They can guard him straight up and he'll torch them for 40-50 while thrilling their fans and turning them against their team.
Haha yea, So glad that guy's on our team
Poor coach Bud (well handsomely paid while unemployed coach Bud.) The owners and FO don’t shell out to keep Tucker after winning it all. Middleton’s been a shell of himself coming back from injury. And the coach gets the blame and the axe after having the best record in the NBA when they had to play with half a Giannis.
Maybe they’ll hire Mark Jackson, he deserves another coaching gig.
maybe one of the van gundy’s cuz im tired of hearing them on national broadcasts n ruining the games
Sadly Stan really blew his last shot. Maybe jvg?
whatever it takes, maybe raptors, anywhere, shoot try college ball, just leave please
If it gets JVG off the air, I'm all for it. Whether Giannis and Jrue deserve that is another question.
It would be fun to watch JVG lose the room by training camp tho
#BudToTheBay
I dont think there's any chance, but I would lose my shit if they could snag Nick Nurse as an assistant
I don’t know if Nurse’s vibe would be a good balance to Kerr. The Players seem to do better with someone more relaxed there.
I actually think it would be a good balance. Nurse is the fire to Kerr's water, a tactician to Kerr's ego management, a defensive innovator to Kerr's offensive genius (which is funny since Nurse came into the league known as an offensive mind).
Agreed. They need a communicator in the HC position. Not sure a guy who looks like an English teacher is the right fit.
Sleepy was suggesting that we get Stephen Silas back if Kenny leaves. At first I thought going outside the organizational tree would be better, but given all the angst around the team, I think he's onto something. Silas seems to have very good, low-key communication skills.
I suppose, but I'd just love his creativity on a squad that has so much flexibility
LeBron, Rui, and Vanderbilt shot 8/16 from 3 (including a ridiculous prayer), and we still beat them.
LeBron was completely worthless on a few weak side help rotations, even the very first Warriors score of the game, when he didn't even try to contest Dray's wide open layup... I think part of our adjustment was to attack LeBron's defense like that.
Steph and Klay - 52 points (again) on 30 shots (instead of 49)
Let's see how G3 goes...
I initially thought Klay's last 3 was incredibly audacious... but on replay, he knows Reaves isn't challenging that shot at all. If Klay can dominate that matchup, we're in really good shape.
I think that's one thing he noticed on game 1 film. He was doing that quick pump fake in game 1 when it really wasn't needed. Reeves' contests haven't been worth a pump fake. He can just keep his legs in a smooth rhythm, rather than throwing that hitch in the motion.
Klay will be eating this series. Reaves might as well give him his lunch money. 😁
Klay can dominate that matchup.
Then we're in good shape!
LeBron will try on D in game 3. They need to make him work anyway. Should be fun if the refs don’t reward the bobble head dribble drives with nonsense fouls.
Maybe... but if he does, he's gonna wear himself out...
Exactly! Win win for the Warriors
The Lakers will live and die this series depending on AD's play. Ham is gonna need to find a way to slow the games down and AD will need to play like a top 5 player for them to beat the Warriors 3 more times. If Dray keeps playing like he did tonight, I like our chances.
Given AD's inconsistency, I expect he'll be "bad AD" for one or two more games at least... and given he's going up against DPOYmond, even if AD has 3-4 more "great AD" games, Dray's gonna keep him in check for 2 of those... and as the series goes longer, it's only going to get harder for AD...
Just need to either win a good AD game of break the every other and force two bad AD games in a row.
Great game. But the fact that kerr cant even substitute kuminga in for a defensive possession or anything is fucking crazy
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills or something. It's not like Kuminga's worth is hypothetical. He was who he was in the regular season, a big part of why we won as many as we did. he shouldn't have to re-audition. It's insulting.
My only thought is it's some kind of behind the scenes thing a la Jordan Bell that got him thrown in the doghouse
Yeah it doesn’t look like Atkinson can take a joke.
That'll do, Dubs, that'll do.