[Slater] Over the next month, Joe Lacob and Warriors management are expected to begin discussing the possibility of trading post-Stephen Curry era picks to improve the team now.
They gonna pick high, whether it's him or someone else. This is their league, everyone else is competing for second place for the next five years, unless something dramatic shifts. That's my objective analysis, of course my heart says GSW can take 'em. But actually the real hope is Wemby et. al.
We'll see about OKC. They're stacked, both with players and picks. They've got everything they need to dominate the league.
But dominance is a strange burden. Some teams wilt under the pressure of getting every opponent's best or from the high expectations ("anything less than a championship will be a disappointment"). Some organizations get complacent, and so do some players. Guys want to get their bag. They want a bigger role or more recognition. They wear down from the long seasons and don't train as hard. They aren't as hungry as they used to be. Small conflicts blow up into bigger ones. Bad or untimely injuries occur. This is not just stuff that /can/ happen; it /usually/ happens. The great teams overcome all of that, but not every team is great.
As you say, Wemby is stalking them. Jokic is still great. The Rockets are loaded. And that's just in the West.
I'm not saying OKC won't dominate the league for the next five years. I am saying that I'm slow to crown the next dynasty. Maybe let them repeat first...
They also have the 2016 W’s backup option where, if they do lose at some point in the playoffs, they may be able to just say f* it and trade for Giannis.
Look at the Assist/Turnover ratios of Dray and Steph. Those numbers are significantly worse than anything they've done in the last 10 years. Yep, there have always been turnovers, but there used to be the assists to balance. No more.
Though of course given as the Warriors lead the league in potential assists, it inevitably demands the question of how much of that is down to the "assist" part of assist-to-turnover ratio and if that will improve if MDJ can fix the bricklayer company that is our bench.
In recent threads the "fire Kerr!" cries have been loud. I have not joined them because Kerr's a proven, great coach and I love the guy. I don't know if he lost the locker room or his system is failing (statistically it's doing its job: generating good shots and good defense).
But listening to Alc's latest I had the thought that a new coach would not weigh past contribution like Kerr does. Kerr once had the creativity and independence to bench established stars to develop great young players. For whatever reason he isn't doing that so much now. A new coach would more likely use current performance and analytics to construct rotations.
Some not in the "fire Kerr!" camp suggested he take another hiatus so someone else without his biases could get creative. I'm in something like that line. Of course a blow-it-up trade may reset everything and restore Kerr's past creativity and freedom. That's what I am looking forward to now.
I posted basically the exact thing a day or two ago. Long time supporter of Kerr, I'm really starting to wonder. Coaches aren't really paid to make outstanding rosters win, like Daigneault. A lot of coaches could figure out what to do with the OKC roster. Coaches are paid to pull a Spoelstra -- make a team unexpectedly better.
It's been a long time since I thought Kerr was doing that. First five years of his career? Absolutely. Lately?
2022 was a hell of a job by Kerr - wildly exceeded expectations and made ballsy moves in the playoffs (having Steph come off the bench, willing to bench Draymond towards the end of games in the Finals).
The post-KD years have been marred by injuries, bruised egos, and genuinely horrible front office roster decisions. Two of those are out of Kerr's control, but I think refusing to hold Draymond accountable has been by far his biggest problem.
No real reprecussions for decking JP, and it probably didnt sit right for Klay or JK that they would be yanked for poor decisions but Draymond can throw it all over the place, hand the other team free pts with extremely avoidable techs, and take a half dozen terrible 3pa a gm but never have it hit his minutes. Granted, Draymond is/was so valuable on defense that it makes it harder to sit him, but there are effects on morale when you pick and choose how you enforce accountability
I'd have a stronger opinion if I had a sense of where the team is headed. It's not like the roster is just a coach away from contending. Also, if we get a new coach this season it better be THE coach for next season.
Trade dead line better be spicy else management is incapable of making decisions.
I think it’s really hard for Kerr to maintain any credibility with the young guys when he’s punishing them for failing to take care of the ball while letting Dray run around as one of the most wasteful players in the league with no accountability and then go into postgame press conferences and double down by insisting he’s under no obligation to worry about taking care of the ball
I agree, and I think it is also difficult to bench someone like Will Richard, who was playing well, in favor of an older guy who is not playing well (like Buddy). Understand, I like Buddy and want him to succeed. But even though he's given a good effort, he just hasn't been hitting his shots. Kerr basically said Richard was on the bench because he was a rookie. I strongly dislike that reasoning, and I imagine the young guys don't like it much either.
Same. Also, I think it’s problematic that, in a league where extreme effort (crashing the boards, pressing full court, running after makes, etc) is the big trend of the season, our team’s best players have the openly stated goal of avoiding max effort.
This has been a problem since the first losses of the season and it’s something that Kerr has failed to address.
In past seasons, playing end of the bench guys like GUI and Pat(eg JTA) would help solve it, but I think there are too many vets coasting and too many younger players who’ve been around a few years for it to work this year.
In retrospect, Steve really needed to empower the younger generation to take a bigger leadership role on this year’s team but that hasn’t happened. They still defer to all the vets and the vets don’t try consistently.
Looking at the last play again and that’s just unfortunate. You can say Moses should have secured the rebound but getting a clean box out in that situation with everything going on is easier said than done. The swipe down especially when it’s over the head and you’re behind the player is going to trigger a call the majority of the time whether it’s clean or not. Sigh.
Fair in every portion of the game but the last second. I swear there is *always* a foul in the last second of a super-close game and it is almost never called, for obvious reasons. If the game is gonna hinge on a foul call, it better be a ridiculously consequential foul. This one was not. It was a typical rebound scrum.
Ant showing Steph some love:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1pr07u8/anthony_edwards_says_he_took_photos_of_steph/
He’s such a cool kid. Would love to see him play alongside Steph on the Dubs but that’ll never happen.
#TANKFORKARIM will be my signature going forward
Steve Kerr on the Tom Tolbert show: 'I get a lot of emails from fans, like Joe Lacob. Occasionally I respond, but avoid anything controversial'.
Kerr is on the Bob Myers farewell tour
Scared the shit outta me man...
r/nba
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r/nba
[Slater] Over the next month, Joe Lacob and Warriors management are expected to begin discussing the possibility of trading post-Stephen Curry era picks to improve the team now.
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1pqzzpp/slater_over_the_next_month_joe_lacob_and_warriors/
Me, too!
Zubac for Kuminga, plus various sweeteners from Warriors. Clippers need picks. Do we have picks? We have picks, right?
Uhhhh can we tank for Darryn Peterson???
Imagine what a disaster it will be if he ends up on OKC
They gonna pick high, whether it's him or someone else. This is their league, everyone else is competing for second place for the next five years, unless something dramatic shifts. That's my objective analysis, of course my heart says GSW can take 'em. But actually the real hope is Wemby et. al.
We'll see about OKC. They're stacked, both with players and picks. They've got everything they need to dominate the league.
But dominance is a strange burden. Some teams wilt under the pressure of getting every opponent's best or from the high expectations ("anything less than a championship will be a disappointment"). Some organizations get complacent, and so do some players. Guys want to get their bag. They want a bigger role or more recognition. They wear down from the long seasons and don't train as hard. They aren't as hungry as they used to be. Small conflicts blow up into bigger ones. Bad or untimely injuries occur. This is not just stuff that /can/ happen; it /usually/ happens. The great teams overcome all of that, but not every team is great.
As you say, Wemby is stalking them. Jokic is still great. The Rockets are loaded. And that's just in the West.
I'm not saying OKC won't dominate the league for the next five years. I am saying that I'm slow to crown the next dynasty. Maybe let them repeat first...
Very true. Potential is always perfect, execution is hard.
Yeah. Sigh…
They also have the 2016 W’s backup option where, if they do lose at some point in the playoffs, they may be able to just say f* it and trade for Giannis.
Look at the Assist/Turnover ratios of Dray and Steph. Those numbers are significantly worse than anything they've done in the last 10 years. Yep, there have always been turnovers, but there used to be the assists to balance. No more.
Though of course given as the Warriors lead the league in potential assists, it inevitably demands the question of how much of that is down to the "assist" part of assist-to-turnover ratio and if that will improve if MDJ can fix the bricklayer company that is our bench.
In recent threads the "fire Kerr!" cries have been loud. I have not joined them because Kerr's a proven, great coach and I love the guy. I don't know if he lost the locker room or his system is failing (statistically it's doing its job: generating good shots and good defense).
But listening to Alc's latest I had the thought that a new coach would not weigh past contribution like Kerr does. Kerr once had the creativity and independence to bench established stars to develop great young players. For whatever reason he isn't doing that so much now. A new coach would more likely use current performance and analytics to construct rotations.
Some not in the "fire Kerr!" camp suggested he take another hiatus so someone else without his biases could get creative. I'm in something like that line. Of course a blow-it-up trade may reset everything and restore Kerr's past creativity and freedom. That's what I am looking forward to now.
I posted basically the exact thing a day or two ago. Long time supporter of Kerr, I'm really starting to wonder. Coaches aren't really paid to make outstanding rosters win, like Daigneault. A lot of coaches could figure out what to do with the OKC roster. Coaches are paid to pull a Spoelstra -- make a team unexpectedly better.
It's been a long time since I thought Kerr was doing that. First five years of his career? Absolutely. Lately?
2022 was a hell of a job by Kerr - wildly exceeded expectations and made ballsy moves in the playoffs (having Steph come off the bench, willing to bench Draymond towards the end of games in the Finals).
The post-KD years have been marred by injuries, bruised egos, and genuinely horrible front office roster decisions. Two of those are out of Kerr's control, but I think refusing to hold Draymond accountable has been by far his biggest problem.
No real reprecussions for decking JP, and it probably didnt sit right for Klay or JK that they would be yanked for poor decisions but Draymond can throw it all over the place, hand the other team free pts with extremely avoidable techs, and take a half dozen terrible 3pa a gm but never have it hit his minutes. Granted, Draymond is/was so valuable on defense that it makes it harder to sit him, but there are effects on morale when you pick and choose how you enforce accountability
I'd have a stronger opinion if I had a sense of where the team is headed. It's not like the roster is just a coach away from contending. Also, if we get a new coach this season it better be THE coach for next season.
Trade dead line better be spicy else management is incapable of making decisions.
I think it’s really hard for Kerr to maintain any credibility with the young guys when he’s punishing them for failing to take care of the ball while letting Dray run around as one of the most wasteful players in the league with no accountability and then go into postgame press conferences and double down by insisting he’s under no obligation to worry about taking care of the ball
I agree, and I think it is also difficult to bench someone like Will Richard, who was playing well, in favor of an older guy who is not playing well (like Buddy). Understand, I like Buddy and want him to succeed. But even though he's given a good effort, he just hasn't been hitting his shots. Kerr basically said Richard was on the bench because he was a rookie. I strongly dislike that reasoning, and I imagine the young guys don't like it much either.
I don't like agreeing with this, but I think it's true.
Same. Also, I think it’s problematic that, in a league where extreme effort (crashing the boards, pressing full court, running after makes, etc) is the big trend of the season, our team’s best players have the openly stated goal of avoiding max effort.
This has been a problem since the first losses of the season and it’s something that Kerr has failed to address.
In past seasons, playing end of the bench guys like GUI and Pat(eg JTA) would help solve it, but I think there are too many vets coasting and too many younger players who’ve been around a few years for it to work this year.
In retrospect, Steve really needed to empower the younger generation to take a bigger leadership role on this year’s team but that hasn’t happened. They still defer to all the vets and the vets don’t try consistently.
> Not the losses where you get outplayed by better teams. Those you can stomach.
This. I have no problem with losing as long as we play to our potential. I'm trying to recall the last time we really did that.
What if this *is* the reality of the team’s potential?
Looking at the last play again and that’s just unfortunate. You can say Moses should have secured the rebound but getting a clean box out in that situation with everything going on is easier said than done. The swipe down especially when it’s over the head and you’re behind the player is going to trigger a call the majority of the time whether it’s clean or not. Sigh.
Fair in every portion of the game but the last second. I swear there is *always* a foul in the last second of a super-close game and it is almost never called, for obvious reasons. If the game is gonna hinge on a foul call, it better be a ridiculously consequential foul. This one was not. It was a typical rebound scrum.