I wonder how Durant feels. He probably left because he wanted to win with his "own" team, but now that he has a superteam and Harden is getting all the MVP and best player buzz, it might look very similar to the Warriors again.
Mar 27, 2021Liked by punk basketball, Daniel Hardee
For anyone that still feels down or discouraged about the last two games, keep these things in mind.
1. Poole, Nico, and Wiseman are getting big minutes and it's great. But, they are young and still need to learn to play alongside each other and the rest of the team, especially on the defensive end.
2. Draymond was effectively out both games. This is huge especially on defense when now you're relying on Wiseman to be calling out rotations, not to mention the caliber of defender Dray is.
3. To exacerbate those issues, we went up against two of the quickest, young PGs in Fox and Trae where you better be good at the point-of-attack. We were not good and so every defensive possession was an uphill climb from the get-go.
4. I don't think Dray was the only one with side-effects from the vaccine. Looney with 1 reb. and 4 fouls in 19 minutes? C'mon, we all know Looney by now. Possibly others affected as well...
I am expecting much better results next game because the issues we've had are temporary.
Bazemore's 3pt shooting has really come back down to earth, I mean it's still a pretty respectable % but has been trending downwards post ASB. This is the Baze I thought we would get, pretty good in spurts but generally pretty meh. I always thought he was way too erratic on both ends to be a consistent player on a winning team. I prefer Lee to take over his minutes as he can do what Baze can but better IMO. He might be better off as the emergency spark plug when the bench is struggling but that's just me.
I disagree with the assertion that the defense won't improve with Curry back. Poole is starting in place of Curry and Poole's defense is much worse. Then you have everyone right now just focusing on finding ways to score leaving less energy and focus on defense. When Curry makes it easy to score for himself and others, that confidence bleeds onto the defensive side of the ball.
So much doom and gloom. You know, the Lakers aren't doing so great missing 2 future hall of fame players from their starting 5 either.Everybody knew that Wiseman was a freakish athlete that was going to have problems adjusting to the NBA due to lack of experience. Everybody knew going in that once Thompson got injured, the Warriors were a fringe playoff team. 2/3rds of the way into the season, they are still a fringe playoff team. And everybody knew that the Warriors had luxury tax problems with so much money committed to Curry+Thompson+Wiggins+Green that the bench would be weak and there wasn't going to be a big upgrade. About the only thing that wasn't anticipated is that Chriss would break his leg. I guess people were just assuming the Warriors would exceed expectations.
Mar 27, 2021Liked by punk basketball, Daniel Hardee
Also, lets celebrate that Wiggins has been scoring efficiently like a maniac these last 5 games which will hopefully continue once Steph is back. Lets also celebrate that we've discovered Poole who will be an absolute spark plug of scoring once he's back on the bench.
We're better defensively than what we've shown . . . and Wiggins/Poole are going to inject newfound offense into our team. If Wiseman continues developing, things are looking up even if we've been losing these last few games.
Mar 27, 2021Liked by punk basketball, Daniel Hardee
Everybody is deservedly crapping on Wiseman's defense, but let's also celebrate his 18 points in 27 minutes on good efficiency. Regarding his lack of blocking,the vets on the team (Looney/Dray) play good defense without many blocks. Wiseman is typically a second late in the contests, that will come with some more experience as he tries to balance good positional defense + not fouling + timing. This is why he needs minutes.
Mar 27, 2021Liked by punk basketball, Daniel Hardee
Re: Wiseman, I think a lot more than we realize depends on him just getting more and more exposure to the speed of the NBA. I remember when Dray was talking about the game slowing down for him- that was years into his career. It will happen with Wiseman and make it so much easier for him to do what he’s good at. The maddening thing is that nobody knows when and you can’t force it.
Regarding the Curry-less defense, a locked in Draymond helps a lot and 25+ minutes of Wiseman hurts a lot. Against Memphis and Houston, they had the former and not the latter and looked good (except for all the fouling in Houston). Against Philly, they had both the former and the latter and were decent. Against Sacramento and Atlanta, they didn't have the former but had the latter and got destroyed.
There are other factors (the Mannion/Poole combo was getting abused by the bigger Sixers, the schedule was tough around the break, Looney was out for the second Memphis game and they played Smiley instead, and Curry is indeed a good defender). But I'd say Draymond's energy and Wiseman's minutes are the two main factors.
The good news: They now have 2 days off and a full practice on Sunday, then the Bulls game. After the Bulls game they have another 2 days off, and another full practice (I think). That's 2 days of practice in one week, rare this year. And word is Wiseman may even attend!
Wes Goldberg's a doofus. If the Warriors' defensive issues have only "emerged" over the last several games, it's more likely to be some combo of random variation and fatigue than something that needs to be "solved."
Also, Steph is a good defender. And (as Slater alludes to) the energy he forces teams to expend on D takes something out of O. Plus, it's easy to play free and easy on O when you've built a 15-20 point lead. It's all interconnected.
Was this Draymond's worst game this year, energy wise? Kinda looked like he only had the energy to talk to guys and not actually play for some of the possessions. Not sure I've ever seen him just roll the ball halfway to someone on a simple pass around the perimeter before.
I wonder how Durant feels. He probably left because he wanted to win with his "own" team, but now that he has a superteam and Harden is getting all the MVP and best player buzz, it might look very similar to the Warriors again.
I just saw LMA to Nets 😂
I dont even know where to start on that one
For anyone that still feels down or discouraged about the last two games, keep these things in mind.
1. Poole, Nico, and Wiseman are getting big minutes and it's great. But, they are young and still need to learn to play alongside each other and the rest of the team, especially on the defensive end.
2. Draymond was effectively out both games. This is huge especially on defense when now you're relying on Wiseman to be calling out rotations, not to mention the caliber of defender Dray is.
3. To exacerbate those issues, we went up against two of the quickest, young PGs in Fox and Trae where you better be good at the point-of-attack. We were not good and so every defensive possession was an uphill climb from the get-go.
4. I don't think Dray was the only one with side-effects from the vaccine. Looney with 1 reb. and 4 fouls in 19 minutes? C'mon, we all know Looney by now. Possibly others affected as well...
I am expecting much better results next game because the issues we've had are temporary.
If this were our starting lineup right now...
Steph
Klay
Wiggins
Dray
Wiseman
...how much would the various strengths provide cover for Wiseman’s weaknesses?
Bazemore's 3pt shooting has really come back down to earth, I mean it's still a pretty respectable % but has been trending downwards post ASB. This is the Baze I thought we would get, pretty good in spurts but generally pretty meh. I always thought he was way too erratic on both ends to be a consistent player on a winning team. I prefer Lee to take over his minutes as he can do what Baze can but better IMO. He might be better off as the emergency spark plug when the bench is struggling but that's just me.
I disagree with the assertion that the defense won't improve with Curry back. Poole is starting in place of Curry and Poole's defense is much worse. Then you have everyone right now just focusing on finding ways to score leaving less energy and focus on defense. When Curry makes it easy to score for himself and others, that confidence bleeds onto the defensive side of the ball.
So much doom and gloom. You know, the Lakers aren't doing so great missing 2 future hall of fame players from their starting 5 either.Everybody knew that Wiseman was a freakish athlete that was going to have problems adjusting to the NBA due to lack of experience. Everybody knew going in that once Thompson got injured, the Warriors were a fringe playoff team. 2/3rds of the way into the season, they are still a fringe playoff team. And everybody knew that the Warriors had luxury tax problems with so much money committed to Curry+Thompson+Wiggins+Green that the bench would be weak and there wasn't going to be a big upgrade. About the only thing that wasn't anticipated is that Chriss would break his leg. I guess people were just assuming the Warriors would exceed expectations.
Also, lets celebrate that Wiggins has been scoring efficiently like a maniac these last 5 games which will hopefully continue once Steph is back. Lets also celebrate that we've discovered Poole who will be an absolute spark plug of scoring once he's back on the bench.
We're better defensively than what we've shown . . . and Wiggins/Poole are going to inject newfound offense into our team. If Wiseman continues developing, things are looking up even if we've been losing these last few games.
Everybody is deservedly crapping on Wiseman's defense, but let's also celebrate his 18 points in 27 minutes on good efficiency. Regarding his lack of blocking,the vets on the team (Looney/Dray) play good defense without many blocks. Wiseman is typically a second late in the contests, that will come with some more experience as he tries to balance good positional defense + not fouling + timing. This is why he needs minutes.
Re: Wiseman, I think a lot more than we realize depends on him just getting more and more exposure to the speed of the NBA. I remember when Dray was talking about the game slowing down for him- that was years into his career. It will happen with Wiseman and make it so much easier for him to do what he’s good at. The maddening thing is that nobody knows when and you can’t force it.
Oh yeah, they should really tell Wiseman to stop shooting stepback threes. Or stepback twos standing on the three point line, as he seems to prefer.
Regarding the Curry-less defense, a locked in Draymond helps a lot and 25+ minutes of Wiseman hurts a lot. Against Memphis and Houston, they had the former and not the latter and looked good (except for all the fouling in Houston). Against Philly, they had both the former and the latter and were decent. Against Sacramento and Atlanta, they didn't have the former but had the latter and got destroyed.
There are other factors (the Mannion/Poole combo was getting abused by the bigger Sixers, the schedule was tough around the break, Looney was out for the second Memphis game and they played Smiley instead, and Curry is indeed a good defender). But I'd say Draymond's energy and Wiseman's minutes are the two main factors.
The good news: They now have 2 days off and a full practice on Sunday, then the Bulls game. After the Bulls game they have another 2 days off, and another full practice (I think). That's 2 days of practice in one week, rare this year. And word is Wiseman may even attend!
Wes Goldberg's a doofus. If the Warriors' defensive issues have only "emerged" over the last several games, it's more likely to be some combo of random variation and fatigue than something that needs to be "solved."
Also, Steph is a good defender. And (as Slater alludes to) the energy he forces teams to expend on D takes something out of O. Plus, it's easy to play free and easy on O when you've built a 15-20 point lead. It's all interconnected.
Was this Draymond's worst game this year, energy wise? Kinda looked like he only had the energy to talk to guys and not actually play for some of the possessions. Not sure I've ever seen him just roll the ball halfway to someone on a simple pass around the perimeter before.
Notable stats:
Hawks:
Collins: (+21)
38 points 14/19 FGs 4/5 three pointers 6/7 FTs
12 rebounds (1 off.) 2 assists 1 steal
Capela: (+17)
18 points 8/10 FGs 2/4 FTs
15 rebounds (3 off.) 1 turnover 2 steals 3 blocks
Young: (+13)
21 points 6/14 FGs 1/6 three pointers 8/9 FTs
3 rebounds 15 assists 4 turnovers
Gallinari: (+5)
12 points 5/9 FGs 2/4 three pointers
1 assist 2 turnovers
Bogdanovic: (+0)
11 points 5/9 FGs 1/5 three pointers
1 rebound (1 off.) 5 assists 1 turnover 1 steal
Warriors:
Wiggins: (-23)
29 points 10/19 FGs 4/7 three pointers 5/7 FTs
7 rebounds (1 off.) 3 assists 2 turnovers 2 blocks
Poole: (-8)
15 points 5/11 FGs 3/6 three pointers 2/3 FTs
4 assists 3 turnovers
Wiseman: (-17)
18 points 7/13 FGs 0/1 three pointer 4/4 FTs
5 rebounds 1 turnover 1 steal
Oubre: (-8)
14 points 5/13 FGs 1/5 three pointers 3/7 FTs
6 rebounds (2 off.) 2 assists 2 steals 1 block