Some interesting names I haven’t been following. Anybody know how the people drafted after Moody stack up to Moody? They only have Kuminga as number 9 overall so idk how to take their rankings.
So if Wiseman were in the 2022 NBA draft where would he rank among the prospects? Physically Jalen Duren looks fairly similar but I can't comment on skills comparisons. Is he still top 5? Lottery?
So with Simmons looking more and more likely out for the season, you think trading away Harden for Drummond, Seth abd a couple of picks was better than having a ‘half engaged Harden’ playing with Kyrie (away) and Kevin the rest of the year? Talking just strictly this year in regards to giving you the best chance to win a chip
Absolutely. I think trading Harden was addition-by-subtraction. Adding a legit scorer in Seth and a starting center in Drummond, to say nothing of the future picks, was totally a win for the talented-but-unreliable Harden. Of course, they also have the talented-but-unreliable Irving, who is cresting right now, so some of the gambles apparently do work out.
I keep thinking Seth is being undervalued in this trade. I don't know if it's better than having a pouty Harden for this year... He has a really good net rating so it seems about even because a third high usage guy is not what Brooklyn needs. And then you throw in another year of Seth at less than $9M on top of whatever Simmons gives you, that's a great deal for Brooklyn and ultimately makes them the winners of this trade in my book.
I expect they will rest Curry/Draymond/Klay for the Wizards game on March 27th (front end of a back to back with the Grizzly game on the other side), so Wiseman should be able to get as many minutes as his conditioning (and fouling) allows in that one.
@Orlando, @Sacramento, and either @San Antonio or @New Orleans would also be back to backs on the road against weak opponents where they could consider resting the starters and getting the young guys playing time. But while I think there's a very good chance they rest guys for that Wizard game, these ones will probably come down to how hard they pursue that 2 seed.
Echoing the Burninator, Kuminga didn't look ready because he was disengaged... Wiseman doesn't look ready, but he's definitely trying. It could be just that the G League game flow is not setup that well for bigs, it could be that he's also not that ready, and it could be that he's trying to dominate in ways he wouldn't try in the NBA. We'll see what he looks like in his actual NBA minutes.
Well another reason Kuminga looked bad in G-League games is that he was clearly trying to work on certain aspects of his game. Those developmental aspects were more important than just dominating.
Wiseman has been taking a whole lot of those short range fadeaways. Some of them have looked really good. While it's easy enough to say he should just be dunking on the little guys he can't just rely on that in the big leagues. It would make sense if they're trying to get him to add a finesse element to his game rather than just relying on his athleticism and physicality (especially with the repaired knee).
This is also just speculation on my part. He does clearly need to do a better job of catching the ball, but I'm really not too concerned about that at this point.
There are a lot of factors at play that *may* make it important for him to get minutes with the big club, even though he is far from a finished product right now.
Regarding last night, I saw what you saw. I've heard a lot of negative and positive takes on it from people of various qualifications. I think if we do see him on Sunday, it won't be for a lot of minutes, and he will look different than he did with the Sea Dubs as he will be operating off a very specific set of instructions.
Two extremes unfortunately. Those that believe that he’s a bust and those that believe he’s a top 2 pick player. I think the conventional arguments are a lot more varied for his outlook.
He can be reassigned at a moment's notice. Sea Dubs have a game on Saturday in Santa Cruz (and another on Sunday). So, if he's not assigned to Santa Cruz by Saturday morning, we should expect him to suit up for the Warriors on Sunday.
Last season I compared Wiseman to a young giraffe learning how to use its body. Given how little playing time and team practice he's logged since then, this still applies. The signals from his brain have yet to coordinate with his body. And yet, even if he doesn't improve much, he'll be a decent center in the league. But, over time, if his mind can catch up to his size and innate athleticism, he'll be an elite force. There's a lot for him to work on, which can be seen as a good thing given how talented he is already. But there are still some flags, things you'd hope he'd be at least a little better at by now: his hands are terrible; he gets boxed out by much smaller players, not to mention players anywhere near his size; he has zero anticipation; he tends to hunch over, often negating his height advantage; etc.
He's only 20, has barely played since high school, and bigs often take longer to develop, so I'm optimistic he can improve across the board, especially in the Warriors ecosystem. Time will tell.
For now, tho, it seems that Evan Mobley is who the Dubs wish Wiseman was. That's who I'll be measuring Wiseman against; should be a fun matchup to watch for years to come.
I am not as worried as others about his hands. That wasn't even a thing that fans brought up during his last month+ (or more) of playing last season because it became a non-issue*. We just saw Dray come back after missing a couple months and even he bobbled his handles and threw some bad passes a few times.
Wise was out for almost a year and just has to re-adjust to game speed again.
*seems like the main reddit thread on his hands was Feb/Mar 2021... I see no other discussions or search results after that time period
And playing with G Leaguers who simultaneously aren't as good at throwing lobs & throw-aheads and more ambitious when they do. I recall 2 basically uncatchable lobs, a throw ahead that put Wise in a tough spot, and a transition pass that was late and behind him. Not to even mention the times he beat everybody down the floor only for the pass not to come.
When fully healthy and integrated, he may not have the best hands, but they're not as bad as they look right now.
Bad hands also are often caused by the brain reacting faster than the body (like trying to run before the catch in football). It's often more of a mental ailment than a physical one, and not surprising when he's so hyped up to play. I'm betting once he calms down and gets integrated it won't be nearly as much of a problem.
There's a physical element too... hand eye coordination is real. Of course, I'd agree sub-optimal hand eye coordination & touch/feel is not the main driver of Wiseman's current struggles with holding onto the ball.
Certainly agreed that there's a physical element to it as well (which is part talent and part training). And also agreed that I don't think being physically unable to catch the ball is part of his current struggles. If his worth ethic is what we've been lead to believe then he'll get there.
Wiseman = a healthy Looney would be fantastic. But I doubt James will ever be as fundamentally sound as Loon. And this season, even w/o Wiseman, I'd say the Dubs are still a championship team (if the core is healthy).
We'll see. Wise has a rep as a smart guy. Loon is also smart, but I can't remember if he was so fundamentally sound in the early days. When his rookie contract came up for the renewal, the Ws /didn't/ renew it. Then he started coming on. Maybe J-Wise will have the same trajectory.
Bottom line, his trade value is low and his ceiling is high. No point in even considering a trade. Gotta give him a full off-season with tutoring or a big man camp, summer league, a full training camp, and see what he can do next year. Hopefully, he becomes at least serviceable, and beyond that, who knows?
Wiseman has some bad habits that I don't recall Loon having at a similar age, but as a several time small business owner, I always put a premium on people that are good learners, and I am doing that with Wiseman. The kid is smart and his reputation is that he's a sponge. Once the game starts to slow down for him, watch out!
Haha, yeah, the OGs are getting up there. Especially considering they played the equivalent of an entire extra season during their (first) championship run.
On the other hand, I'm impressed by the Dubs brass' ability to bridge current success to future success. Even tho the Dubs are contenders now, they also have one of the best young cores in the league. A lineup of Poole, Moody, JK, a PF, and Wiseman could be awesome. And don't forget old man Looney and Wiggs are only 26 and 27, respectively.
I really wish GP2 were available tonight. Boston’s guards are the exact kind that I’d expect to give Poole and possibly even Klay trouble. Having Gp2 available to come in frustrate them and tire them out would be a huge plus.
lol, that actually took me a second read to get... but also brought me down the rabbit hole...
> After the dissimilated French coronel made its way into English, late 16th century scholars started producing English translations of Italian military treatises. Under the influence of the originals, people started spelling it “colonel.” [...] In fact, the root is colonna, Italian for column.
Makes it real hard to argue he should be out there in closing minutes right now. From what Kerr has said though, I don't think the lineups are going to be as firmly set this season. Sounds like he's going to be real adaptive and flexible - which is good news for us because I kinda want to see what all the options look like before we get to the playoffs.
One thing I note is that the Celtics played (Iand beat) he Pistons 3 times in the last 10 games and lost badly to the Pacers. They also beat some good teams including a blowout of the Harden-less Sixers and Irving-less and KD-less Nets. It's hard to tell how much of their recent record is them playing well or just hitting a soft patch in their schedule.
They actually lost one of those 3 games against the Pistons. They're a decent team, and Boston will always be viewed as better than their record, like the Lakers. And they've got two young intriguing stars. Hard to know what to make of them for sure.
Personally, I'm looking for a repeat of our dominating game against Washington. Yes, I know that Boston is a better team but the Warriors were cruising from the get go. Draymond off the bench was like a revelation and the chemistry of Poole and Klay make for a fast starting, crazy shooting game. Add in Steph and fegeddaboutit. The energy was uplifting. JFK will have his hands full with Tatum if he is the one defending him. Slowing him down going to the basket should be enough.
Wiseman? WTF. Has there ever been a more perplexing player?
The only thing perplexing to me about Wiseman is all of the people who are already talking like he's a bust. I'm not saying he'll be a superstar (although I'm hopeful) but the dude played 3 games in college, hasn't had a training camp yet, and has played only around half of an NBA season. He's been out for a year with injuries and people are writing him off because he hasn't looked like a polished product in 3 G-League games.
Frankly what we've seen of him in the G-League so far is pretty much exactly what I'd expect: a young kid who's eager to play but still trying to figure out how to play at game speed. Nothing negative that I've seen can't be fixed with good coaching, work ethic and additional game reps. He's unpolished, but that's to be expected.
Agree. Wiseman's problems are directly linked to the highly unusual circumstances in which he arrived in the NBA -- a great high schooler who had virtually NO college career, no summer league, no training camp. Then he had part of a COVID-dominated season, an injury that took longer than expected to heal, causing the missing of another summer league and training camp, no practice with the team in his 2nd year for 70 games of an 82-game season. He's tall, athletic guy with a humongous reach, but little basketball experience overall and even less pro basketball experience.
Seems like the big mistake was not managing expectations better last year. They should never have started him on opening night, nor expected that he'd be able to 'figure it out' on court. That was a HORRIBLE miscalculation and borderline malpractice as far as handling a high-ceiling project big man.
When your peers are already all stars and you are nearly halfway through your rookie deal, you start having to perform and not just relying on tools. He still has huge upside, but anyone who suggests they'd still rather have him than Ball is in full on homer mode at this point.
And the other problem is he has never truly dominated a league even though his physical tools were always so much better than anyone else. Not college where he played so little. Not even high school showcases where players like Isaiah Stewart outplayed him. Not the G league. At some point, that has to be worrying.
Ball to Wiseman is an apples to oranges comparison. We have no idea what Ball would look like with the Warriors or what Wiseman could have done with the Hornets.
It's a lot more complicated than just saying "would you rather have so-and-so over so-and-so?" If the Warriors had drafted Ball would I be happy with that at this point? Probably (although I do think there are definitely questions about how he would fit alongside our bevvy of guards and with his playing style, but again, hard to say). Am I sad the Warriors picked Wiseman? At this point, no. Wiseman is still a giant question mark, and I choose to focus on the positive aspects of that rather than the negative.
I don't put much stock in HS showcases, three college games, or three G-league games when he's just barely back from injury. With what we've seen from him thus far it's easy to paint either a narrative that he has the potential to be a star, but without any sort of continuity to date hasn't been able to really put it all together, or a narrative that he's a bust in the making and that he's a huge disappointment and a waste of a second overall pick.
While it's clearly too soon to tell what he'll end up being I choose to be optimistic. He's only 20 years old and if he's able to live up even close to his potential then five years down the road we won't be fretting about whether or not we should have taken Ball instead.
Skilled big men are at such a premium in the league (and really the future of the NBA, I believe) that Wiseman was worth (and still is worth) taking a risk on.
Let's also not forget that Ball was a professional b-ball player before coming to the NBA. Certainly he was playing against a different level of competition than in the NBA, but he definitely has had more time and opportunities to hone his skillset prior to now. Wiseman was raw raw raw when he was drafted, and still essentially is. Time will tell all, but anyone who comes to any conclusion besides "too soon too tell" is either being overly optimistic or overly pessimistic.
Right? One all-star thus far in his class. Anthony Edwards will get there, but thus far only Ball (who likely wouldn't be an all-star if he'd been drafted by the Warriors).
All the doom and gloom around Wiseman is just silly. He hasn't proved anything yet one way or the other (beyond the fact that he's tall and athletic, which is awesome!)
Talent wise, you figure it out. There's always space for good passers in Kerr's offense. Ego-wise it might be tough, of course. But if you somehow get the mulligan option and can choose between Ball and Wiseman right now, yes you're a homer if you don't choose Ball and figure it out.
I mean, you're taking the one player in his entire draft class who's an all-star to date (playing on a bad team) and using that as the barometer for where Wiseman should be after two injury plagued seasons.
Our disagreement on the situation aside, of course I'm a homer. I'm a bigtime Warriors fan. I have no obligation to see things from an unbiased point of view, and I don't plan to anytime soon lol.
He’s not even that perplexing, bb. Little high level experience combined with injury combined with how long it takes for centers to cook = where things are.
Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022Liked by punk basketball
Thanks for mentioning Don Nelson. It's weird that he's been in the news lately because his reign as WINNINGEST NBA COACH EVER has now ended, and can't get any kind of a retrospective here. Or did I miss something.
I keep hope I run into him here on Maui. If I was in a bar and he entered, I’d probably say “In walks the Don, don’t stop the noise!” and only the two of us would know what I was talking about.
It seems to me that Dubs have to make some key decisions before next year and cannot wait and see. They have to deal with Loony being a free agent, they have to consider a center in their drafting picture as well as their free agent picture. I think they terribly miscalculated in hyping him when they chose him and not it might be hard for the front office to back down from that and admit that Wiseman has not panned out. I am amazed that his hands are not much better, nor is apparently his free throw skill level, the two things he could have worked on last 12 months without any difficulty.
There aren't any good centers in the coming draft that are both likely to fall to the Warriors and would be better than Wiseman. Their best bet is re-signing Looney and Bjelica (or somebody like him) and hoping that Wiseman improves enough that he is either playable or trade-able. It wouldn't be light years ahead to sell low on Wiseman (unless there is some other team out there that just loves the guy and will back up the truck to get him).
I feel like for the Center spot, the priority is re-signing Looney.
Then sign/draft a 3rd string Center. Should be plenty of those kinds of guys in the late 1st or can go with a vet minimum signing as well.
With how Poole, JK, and Moody have grown, and with everybody saying the right things about Wiseman's work ethic, I gotta give the benefit of the doubt to the Warriors development staff at least until next year.
If they are serious about winning a championship (are they?), they gotta add a better option for a traditional center than Wiseman imo. I'm going to cry if they do this thing again where they don't sign anyone in the offseason and then we find out Wiseman isn't ready and then they don't sign anyone during the season because "no one is available".
If they’re not serious about winning a championship, I guess no teams in the league are, because there’s not a 1-15 roster that I’d trade these guys for.
I'll be very disappointed if they don't grab another traditional big this offseason, for sure.
If a starting quality 5 is the goal, probably going to have to explore trades for Wiggins' expiring contract, which they probably should be doing anyways with JoKu and Moody on the rise.
Is Looney not a “starting quality center”? Before Draymond went down, they were essentially the best team in the league (without Klay!) with Looney as their starting center.
Take a look at some of the mock drafts. Skilled big men are in short supply this year. If the Warriors can't re-sign Looney, Mitchell Robinson is going to be a FA but would probably cost more so I tend to agree that Looney should be a priority. Even though he has been a rock this year his injury history is likely to keep the price reasonable along with the fact that with his skill set he probably isn't a starter on any other team but is perfect for the Warriors.
I havent followed this draft class nearly as close as last year, so I've just got box score watching going on.
But a quick glance at mocks and I see Walker Kessler and Mark Williams all over the place outside the lottery but maybe still not enough to drop to the 28th/29th pick.
Even after that, I think Christian Koloko looks interesting. He'd be an older (22yo) prospect at draft, but decent rebounder, good block rate, and 74% FT%.
Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022Liked by Eric Apricot
Shooting free throws in a gym in sweats is not the same as shooting free throws in a game when you're running up and down the floor, especially when you're not in game shape.
GT is up: https://dubnationhq.com/p/game-thread-with-green-back-in-the?s=w
Rookie ladder: https://www.nba.com/news/kia-rookie-ladder-march-16-2022-edition
Some interesting names I haven’t been following. Anybody know how the people drafted after Moody stack up to Moody? They only have Kuminga as number 9 overall so idk how to take their rankings.
So if Wiseman were in the 2022 NBA draft where would he rank among the prospects? Physically Jalen Duren looks fairly similar but I can't comment on skills comparisons. Is he still top 5? Lottery?
Yes, IMO. His physical gifts give him a sky high ceiling. Soft touch near the rim with his floater. improved rebounding. Ez top 5
So with Simmons looking more and more likely out for the season, you think trading away Harden for Drummond, Seth abd a couple of picks was better than having a ‘half engaged Harden’ playing with Kyrie (away) and Kevin the rest of the year? Talking just strictly this year in regards to giving you the best chance to win a chip
Absolutely. I think trading Harden was addition-by-subtraction. Adding a legit scorer in Seth and a starting center in Drummond, to say nothing of the future picks, was totally a win for the talented-but-unreliable Harden. Of course, they also have the talented-but-unreliable Irving, who is cresting right now, so some of the gambles apparently do work out.
To go along with the talented-but-unreliable Simmons.
I keep thinking Seth is being undervalued in this trade. I don't know if it's better than having a pouty Harden for this year... He has a really good net rating so it seems about even because a third high usage guy is not what Brooklyn needs. And then you throw in another year of Seth at less than $9M on top of whatever Simmons gives you, that's a great deal for Brooklyn and ultimately makes them the winners of this trade in my book.
Oddly enough, I actually could use a banana slicer for when I prepare meals for the 15 parrots I care for at the animal sanctuary where we volunteer.
That's our Goofus!
Per 95.7, Wiseman recalled by the Dubs, so practicing with the big team and then maybe some minutes on Sunday looks likely (ruled out for tonight).
I hope Kerr/Lacob do not sacrifice winning over development for Wiseman. I don’t see him playing during crucial times.
I expect they will rest Curry/Draymond/Klay for the Wizards game on March 27th (front end of a back to back with the Grizzly game on the other side), so Wiseman should be able to get as many minutes as his conditioning (and fouling) allows in that one.
@Orlando, @Sacramento, and either @San Antonio or @New Orleans would also be back to backs on the road against weak opponents where they could consider resting the starters and getting the young guys playing time. But while I think there's a very good chance they rest guys for that Wizard game, these ones will probably come down to how hard they pursue that 2 seed.
Nice breakdown. My first thought was: no time for development. But I guess we have a good number of B2Bs...
Watching him play last night he is FAR from ready.
Kuminga did not look ready either. I’d venture to say Wiseman looked alot better than Kuminga during their most recent G League stints
Echoing the Burninator, Kuminga didn't look ready because he was disengaged... Wiseman doesn't look ready, but he's definitely trying. It could be just that the G League game flow is not setup that well for bigs, it could be that he's also not that ready, and it could be that he's trying to dominate in ways he wouldn't try in the NBA. We'll see what he looks like in his actual NBA minutes.
Well another reason Kuminga looked bad in G-League games is that he was clearly trying to work on certain aspects of his game. Those developmental aspects were more important than just dominating.
Wiseman has been taking a whole lot of those short range fadeaways. Some of them have looked really good. While it's easy enough to say he should just be dunking on the little guys he can't just rely on that in the big leagues. It would make sense if they're trying to get him to add a finesse element to his game rather than just relying on his athleticism and physicality (especially with the repaired knee).
This is also just speculation on my part. He does clearly need to do a better job of catching the ball, but I'm really not too concerned about that at this point.
Thank you for expressing what I wished to express.
Team effort.
Haha, Kuminga look about as engaged in his G-League stints as he did in the rising stars ASG.
There are a lot of factors at play that *may* make it important for him to get minutes with the big club, even though he is far from a finished product right now.
Regarding last night, I saw what you saw. I've heard a lot of negative and positive takes on it from people of various qualifications. I think if we do see him on Sunday, it won't be for a lot of minutes, and he will look different than he did with the Sea Dubs as he will be operating off a very specific set of instructions.
Two extremes unfortunately. Those that believe that he’s a bust and those that believe he’s a top 2 pick player. I think the conventional arguments are a lot more varied for his outlook.
He can be reassigned at a moment's notice. Sea Dubs have a game on Saturday in Santa Cruz (and another on Sunday). So, if he's not assigned to Santa Cruz by Saturday morning, we should expect him to suit up for the Warriors on Sunday.
Last season I compared Wiseman to a young giraffe learning how to use its body. Given how little playing time and team practice he's logged since then, this still applies. The signals from his brain have yet to coordinate with his body. And yet, even if he doesn't improve much, he'll be a decent center in the league. But, over time, if his mind can catch up to his size and innate athleticism, he'll be an elite force. There's a lot for him to work on, which can be seen as a good thing given how talented he is already. But there are still some flags, things you'd hope he'd be at least a little better at by now: his hands are terrible; he gets boxed out by much smaller players, not to mention players anywhere near his size; he has zero anticipation; he tends to hunch over, often negating his height advantage; etc.
He's only 20, has barely played since high school, and bigs often take longer to develop, so I'm optimistic he can improve across the board, especially in the Warriors ecosystem. Time will tell.
For now, tho, it seems that Evan Mobley is who the Dubs wish Wiseman was. That's who I'll be measuring Wiseman against; should be a fun matchup to watch for years to come.
I am not as worried as others about his hands. That wasn't even a thing that fans brought up during his last month+ (or more) of playing last season because it became a non-issue*. We just saw Dray come back after missing a couple months and even he bobbled his handles and threw some bad passes a few times.
Wise was out for almost a year and just has to re-adjust to game speed again.
*seems like the main reddit thread on his hands was Feb/Mar 2021... I see no other discussions or search results after that time period
And playing with G Leaguers who simultaneously aren't as good at throwing lobs & throw-aheads and more ambitious when they do. I recall 2 basically uncatchable lobs, a throw ahead that put Wise in a tough spot, and a transition pass that was late and behind him. Not to even mention the times he beat everybody down the floor only for the pass not to come.
When fully healthy and integrated, he may not have the best hands, but they're not as bad as they look right now.
Bad hands also are often caused by the brain reacting faster than the body (like trying to run before the catch in football). It's often more of a mental ailment than a physical one, and not surprising when he's so hyped up to play. I'm betting once he calms down and gets integrated it won't be nearly as much of a problem.
There's a physical element too... hand eye coordination is real. Of course, I'd agree sub-optimal hand eye coordination & touch/feel is not the main driver of Wiseman's current struggles with holding onto the ball.
Certainly agreed that there's a physical element to it as well (which is part talent and part training). And also agreed that I don't think being physically unable to catch the ball is part of his current struggles. If his worth ethic is what we've been lead to believe then he'll get there.
Wiseman = a healthy Looney would be fantastic. But I doubt James will ever be as fundamentally sound as Loon. And this season, even w/o Wiseman, I'd say the Dubs are still a championship team (if the core is healthy).
We'll see. Wise has a rep as a smart guy. Loon is also smart, but I can't remember if he was so fundamentally sound in the early days. When his rookie contract came up for the renewal, the Ws /didn't/ renew it. Then he started coming on. Maybe J-Wise will have the same trajectory.
Bottom line, his trade value is low and his ceiling is high. No point in even considering a trade. Gotta give him a full off-season with tutoring or a big man camp, summer league, a full training camp, and see what he can do next year. Hopefully, he becomes at least serviceable, and beyond that, who knows?
Wiseman has some bad habits that I don't recall Loon having at a similar age, but as a several time small business owner, I always put a premium on people that are good learners, and I am doing that with Wiseman. The kid is smart and his reputation is that he's a sponge. Once the game starts to slow down for him, watch out!
Totally agree. He's been through a lot, starting in college, that has derailed his development.
PS - I dig your thumbnail icon.
Thanks! If I ever find the mythical spare coin, I will get a hoodie and wear it to games.
Haha, yeah, the OGs are getting up there. Especially considering they played the equivalent of an entire extra season during their (first) championship run.
On the other hand, I'm impressed by the Dubs brass' ability to bridge current success to future success. Even tho the Dubs are contenders now, they also have one of the best young cores in the league. A lineup of Poole, Moody, JK, a PF, and Wiseman could be awesome. And don't forget old man Looney and Wiggs are only 26 and 27, respectively.
Draymond on the first game back with Steph and Klay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzWAaoElEls
Steph has apparently bet Draymond that if Davidson loses, he will come into the next Warriors games dressed as Sparty.
I really wish GP2 were available tonight. Boston’s guards are the exact kind that I’d expect to give Poole and possibly even Klay trouble. Having Gp2 available to come in frustrate them and tire them out would be a huge plus.
> @anthonyVslater
Nemanja Bjelica now joins Andrew Wiggins with a questionable tag tonight vs Celtics with general illness.
General Illness is a shitty general. Would not follow into battle.
Is nobody going to mention Major Payne?
I feel very much disappointed by all of you.
"I figure, if the Marines wanted me to have a wife, they'd have issued me one".
Private Parts, on the other hand.......
Private Parts won't stand at attention any more, refuses to follow orders... OK, seeing myself out now...
Hahahah ah , thats funny
Corporal Punishment as well.
A fan of special ops, I see
🤣
Will definitely go to the trenches with...
He's not as bad as Major Illness
Just be glad Commander COVID is on vacation
If you think those guys are bad, you should run into Colonel An-
Well, you know.
lol, that actually took me a second read to get... but also brought me down the rabbit hole...
> After the dissimilated French coronel made its way into English, late 16th century scholars started producing English translations of Italian military treatises. Under the influence of the originals, people started spelling it “colonel.” [...] In fact, the root is colonna, Italian for column.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/58515/why-colonel-spelled-way
Celtics stats:
Offense:
16 in points scored (109.5)
18 in points in paint (45.5)
25 in fastbreak points (10.5)
13 in offensive efficiency
19 in shooting % (45.6%)
23 in three point % (34.3%)
14 in two point % (53.7%)
9 in off. rebound % !!! (24.2%)
15 in def. rebound % (77.2%)
13 in total rebound % (50.3%)
11 in opponent blocks (4.6)
14 in opponent steals (7.5)
16 in assists (24.0)
14 in turnovers (13.7)
Defense:
3 in points allowed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (103.9)
2 in opponent points in paint!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (42.0)
6 in opponent fastbreak points!!!!!!!!!!! (11.3)
1 in defensive efficiency!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 in opponent shooting % !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (43.1%)
3 in opponent three point % !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (33.8%)
1 in opponent two point % !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (49.3%)
2 in blocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (6.0)
19 in steals (7.2)
1 in opponent assists!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (21.5)
11 in opponent turnovers (14.0)
Both Celtics and Warriors are tied at #1 defensive efficiency according to Hollinger's NBA Team Stats.
We will have to match their defense tonight and play better offense.
On that Poole/Lavine tweet, shouldn't Steph also be there? Kyrie too if he qualifies.
Considering the matchups, may finally get to witness the return of SBDS.
Now, which one to go for?
I always thought Curry-Klay-Wiggins-OPJ-Draymond would be the go-to playoff closing lineup.
But also got Curry-Poole-Klay-Wiggins-Draymond if they want to trade some defense/length/rebounding for offense.
Wiggs might not play tonight due to illness. But the way he's been playing, I'd be happy with Steph-Poole-Klay-Dray-OPJ to close anyway.
the free throws too.
Makes it real hard to argue he should be out there in closing minutes right now. From what Kerr has said though, I don't think the lineups are going to be as firmly set this season. Sounds like he's going to be real adaptive and flexible - which is good news for us because I kinda want to see what all the options look like before we get to the playoffs.
It's insane that Wiggins has gone from All-Star Starter to fringe starter on his own team within the space of a few months.
Yeah, it's been something many have said since the beginning of the season, but just lots of potential smallball units this year.
I'm actually pretty curious to see how a Curry-Poole-Klay-JK-Draymond lineup looks.
If we assume Steph, Poole, Klay and Dray are part in the closing lineup, anyone of JFK, OPJ and GP2 is intriguing.
One thing I note is that the Celtics played (Iand beat) he Pistons 3 times in the last 10 games and lost badly to the Pacers. They also beat some good teams including a blowout of the Harden-less Sixers and Irving-less and KD-less Nets. It's hard to tell how much of their recent record is them playing well or just hitting a soft patch in their schedule.
They actually lost one of those 3 games against the Pistons. They're a decent team, and Boston will always be viewed as better than their record, like the Lakers. And they've got two young intriguing stars. Hard to know what to make of them for sure.
Personally, I'm looking for a repeat of our dominating game against Washington. Yes, I know that Boston is a better team but the Warriors were cruising from the get go. Draymond off the bench was like a revelation and the chemistry of Poole and Klay make for a fast starting, crazy shooting game. Add in Steph and fegeddaboutit. The energy was uplifting. JFK will have his hands full with Tatum if he is the one defending him. Slowing him down going to the basket should be enough.
Wiseman? WTF. Has there ever been a more perplexing player?
The only thing perplexing to me about Wiseman is all of the people who are already talking like he's a bust. I'm not saying he'll be a superstar (although I'm hopeful) but the dude played 3 games in college, hasn't had a training camp yet, and has played only around half of an NBA season. He's been out for a year with injuries and people are writing him off because he hasn't looked like a polished product in 3 G-League games.
Frankly what we've seen of him in the G-League so far is pretty much exactly what I'd expect: a young kid who's eager to play but still trying to figure out how to play at game speed. Nothing negative that I've seen can't be fixed with good coaching, work ethic and additional game reps. He's unpolished, but that's to be expected.
Agree. Wiseman's problems are directly linked to the highly unusual circumstances in which he arrived in the NBA -- a great high schooler who had virtually NO college career, no summer league, no training camp. Then he had part of a COVID-dominated season, an injury that took longer than expected to heal, causing the missing of another summer league and training camp, no practice with the team in his 2nd year for 70 games of an 82-game season. He's tall, athletic guy with a humongous reach, but little basketball experience overall and even less pro basketball experience.
Seems like the big mistake was not managing expectations better last year. They should never have started him on opening night, nor expected that he'd be able to 'figure it out' on court. That was a HORRIBLE miscalculation and borderline malpractice as far as handling a high-ceiling project big man.
When your peers are already all stars and you are nearly halfway through your rookie deal, you start having to perform and not just relying on tools. He still has huge upside, but anyone who suggests they'd still rather have him than Ball is in full on homer mode at this point.
And the other problem is he has never truly dominated a league even though his physical tools were always so much better than anyone else. Not college where he played so little. Not even high school showcases where players like Isaiah Stewart outplayed him. Not the G league. At some point, that has to be worrying.
Ball to Wiseman is an apples to oranges comparison. We have no idea what Ball would look like with the Warriors or what Wiseman could have done with the Hornets.
It's a lot more complicated than just saying "would you rather have so-and-so over so-and-so?" If the Warriors had drafted Ball would I be happy with that at this point? Probably (although I do think there are definitely questions about how he would fit alongside our bevvy of guards and with his playing style, but again, hard to say). Am I sad the Warriors picked Wiseman? At this point, no. Wiseman is still a giant question mark, and I choose to focus on the positive aspects of that rather than the negative.
I don't put much stock in HS showcases, three college games, or three G-league games when he's just barely back from injury. With what we've seen from him thus far it's easy to paint either a narrative that he has the potential to be a star, but without any sort of continuity to date hasn't been able to really put it all together, or a narrative that he's a bust in the making and that he's a huge disappointment and a waste of a second overall pick.
While it's clearly too soon to tell what he'll end up being I choose to be optimistic. He's only 20 years old and if he's able to live up even close to his potential then five years down the road we won't be fretting about whether or not we should have taken Ball instead.
Skilled big men are at such a premium in the league (and really the future of the NBA, I believe) that Wiseman was worth (and still is worth) taking a risk on.
Let's also not forget that Ball was a professional b-ball player before coming to the NBA. Certainly he was playing against a different level of competition than in the NBA, but he definitely has had more time and opportunities to hone his skillset prior to now. Wiseman was raw raw raw when he was drafted, and still essentially is. Time will tell all, but anyone who comes to any conclusion besides "too soon too tell" is either being overly optimistic or overly pessimistic.
His peers are all stars?
LaMelo was on the All Star team this year.
My point was you said peers (plural).
Right? One all-star thus far in his class. Anthony Edwards will get there, but thus far only Ball (who likely wouldn't be an all-star if he'd been drafted by the Warriors).
All the doom and gloom around Wiseman is just silly. He hasn't proved anything yet one way or the other (beyond the fact that he's tall and athletic, which is awesome!)
I guess I'm in full on homer mode for thinking that a center prospect is more valuable to this team right now than Lamelo Ball.
Talent wise, you figure it out. There's always space for good passers in Kerr's offense. Ego-wise it might be tough, of course. But if you somehow get the mulligan option and can choose between Ball and Wiseman right now, yes you're a homer if you don't choose Ball and figure it out.
I mean, you're taking the one player in his entire draft class who's an all-star to date (playing on a bad team) and using that as the barometer for where Wiseman should be after two injury plagued seasons.
Our disagreement on the situation aside, of course I'm a homer. I'm a bigtime Warriors fan. I have no obligation to see things from an unbiased point of view, and I don't plan to anytime soon lol.
He’s not even that perplexing, bb. Little high level experience combined with injury combined with how long it takes for centers to cook = where things are.
This. Your said it in so many fewer words than I did!
Yes.
Thanks for mentioning Don Nelson. It's weird that he's been in the news lately because his reign as WINNINGEST NBA COACH EVER has now ended, and can't get any kind of a retrospective here. Or did I miss something.
I keep hope I run into him here on Maui. If I was in a bar and he entered, I’d probably say “In walks the Don, don’t stop the noise!” and only the two of us would know what I was talking about.
we got a three day break coming up, I'll see what I can do
It seems to me that Dubs have to make some key decisions before next year and cannot wait and see. They have to deal with Loony being a free agent, they have to consider a center in their drafting picture as well as their free agent picture. I think they terribly miscalculated in hyping him when they chose him and not it might be hard for the front office to back down from that and admit that Wiseman has not panned out. I am amazed that his hands are not much better, nor is apparently his free throw skill level, the two things he could have worked on last 12 months without any difficulty.
There aren't any good centers in the coming draft that are both likely to fall to the Warriors and would be better than Wiseman. Their best bet is re-signing Looney and Bjelica (or somebody like him) and hoping that Wiseman improves enough that he is either playable or trade-able. It wouldn't be light years ahead to sell low on Wiseman (unless there is some other team out there that just loves the guy and will back up the truck to get him).
I feel like for the Center spot, the priority is re-signing Looney.
Then sign/draft a 3rd string Center. Should be plenty of those kinds of guys in the late 1st or can go with a vet minimum signing as well.
With how Poole, JK, and Moody have grown, and with everybody saying the right things about Wiseman's work ethic, I gotta give the benefit of the doubt to the Warriors development staff at least until next year.
JaVale!
If they are serious about winning a championship (are they?), they gotta add a better option for a traditional center than Wiseman imo. I'm going to cry if they do this thing again where they don't sign anyone in the offseason and then we find out Wiseman isn't ready and then they don't sign anyone during the season because "no one is available".
If they’re not serious about winning a championship, I guess no teams in the league are, because there’s not a 1-15 roster that I’d trade these guys for.
I'll be very disappointed if they don't grab another traditional big this offseason, for sure.
If a starting quality 5 is the goal, probably going to have to explore trades for Wiggins' expiring contract, which they probably should be doing anyways with JoKu and Moody on the rise.
Is Looney not a “starting quality center”? Before Draymond went down, they were essentially the best team in the league (without Klay!) with Looney as their starting center.
Yeah, I guess I meant more like starting quality traditional Center. Like, be a threat on the roll and rim protector.
Take a look at some of the mock drafts. Skilled big men are in short supply this year. If the Warriors can't re-sign Looney, Mitchell Robinson is going to be a FA but would probably cost more so I tend to agree that Looney should be a priority. Even though he has been a rock this year his injury history is likely to keep the price reasonable along with the fact that with his skill set he probably isn't a starter on any other team but is perfect for the Warriors.
I havent followed this draft class nearly as close as last year, so I've just got box score watching going on.
But a quick glance at mocks and I see Walker Kessler and Mark Williams all over the place outside the lottery but maybe still not enough to drop to the 28th/29th pick.
Even after that, I think Christian Koloko looks interesting. He'd be an older (22yo) prospect at draft, but decent rebounder, good block rate, and 74% FT%.
This is all just conjecture. You have no idea what the warriors brass is thinking or feeling about Wise
Shooting free throws in a gym in sweats is not the same as shooting free throws in a game when you're running up and down the floor, especially when you're not in game shape.
An oldie but goodie: https://ballislife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/kIdaI12.jpg
Fascinating white board. And give it up for Meeks!
On the Internet, anything is possible.