Round 2 Game 6: Warriors @ Lakers

[CDM_Stats]

I just think they picked up some baller role players and a coach who wasn't too chicken to play them. Curry, Wiggins, Looney, Moody, Kuminga, and some replacement players can complete. Draymond isn't the only player in the league who can pass or play defense and lately he's been as bad as he has been good.

I agree with half of this, but again reiterate my challenge for fans to exclusively watch the off-ball stuff and not worry who has the ball in your hands.

It'll deepen your hated for Poole for sure, but it will show just how important Dray is, and made it very easy to tell that Wiggins would fit here and Oubre never could. Reducing what Dray does to just 'pass or play defense' is missing out on why he's so good at defense and why he's good running the offense. There's a reason why you can't find many comparable players like him.. in fact, he just played one, except that one can also shoot and is way more athletic

There was a time where I thought the Warriors could salvage Ben Simmons and make him something of this type of player, but he appears to be broken beyond repair.

He is one of the few players who really could come in and potentially replace Draymond. I dont think he's broken per se, I think he's miscast. Like imagine Draymond not getting drafted by the Warriors and pairing up with Curry.. throw him on a terrible team and he'd look awful too. Put him on an iso-heavy team and he'd be wasted..

That said, I'd be willing to pay pennies on the dollar for Simmons, give or take some pennies.. but if Curry was ok with it, and if the Nets were willing to take Dray and Poole for Simmons and say.. Cam Thomas (no fkn idea if any of this is legal), then I wouldn't hate it. As long as Simmons' contract lined up with Curry's.. just like Dray, I have no interest in seeing Ben Simmons playing without Curry

[Achad92]

I still think LA gets swept next round.

Just like you thought you would win this series too I'm sure

[HiRez]

I agree with half of this, but again reiterate my challenge for fans to exclusively watch the off-ball stuff and not worry who has the ball in your hands.

It'll deepen your hated for Poole for sure, but it will show just how important Dray is, and made it very easy to tell that Wiggins would fit here and Oubre never could. Reducing what Dray does to just 'pass or play defense' is missing out on why he's so good at defense and why he's good running the offense. There's a reason why you can't find many comparable players like him.. in fact, he just played one, except that one can also shoot and is way more athletic

I mean sure, I'll meet you half way. If Dray will come back at a reasonable price that won't prevent us from filling out the roster, sure, he can stay. But I'm definitely not maxxing the dude out. What he'll actually stay for (or if he even wants to) is unknown.

They are so far over the cap that Draymond coming back for $10 million (about 1/3 of what he could opt into) or Klay taking $10 million (less than 1/4 of what he will make next season) won't allow GSW to sign free agents.

This whole focus on salaries just misses the point. Warriors don't have a lot of flexibility unless some other teams want to give them assets for big expiring contracts.

Yeah, purging Klay and Poole, and possibly using Kuminga and/or future picks as sweeteners is probably the only way it becomes realistic. But at this point you have to try, running this same team back a year later is insane. You're still deep in taxes and it's unlikely to work out any better -- hell, they were lucky to even make the playoffs.

First step is to resolve the Kerr and Myers situations because that really affects a lot of things.

[Achad92]

Warriors never had a real chance in the series fwiw. 25+ free throw advantage every game is pretty tough to overcome

Well yeah keep shooting threes then

[CDM_Stats]

I still think LA gets swept next round.

Just like you thought you would win this series too I'm sure

lol such LDE to be doing this on a burner.. they don't give out rings in the semis

[RussellandFlow]

Not surprised they lost(they were a bottom 3 team on the road all season) but just a pathetic performance from Klay and Jordan Poole, got outplayed by Reaves and freaking Russell. Klay is no longer a starter and based on his current play should be paid like a MLE at most player and Poole needs to be gone, he was just never right this season after the incident with him and Draymond. With the new CBA kicking in it will be very difficult for this team to improve enough to be considered a contender. Kerr is stubborn and set in his ways so I would not be upset if he decided to retire. I hope Denver wins it all. Bay Area professional sports suck right now.

[watch1958]

Actually, I just answered my own question:

In regular season games with at least 4 3pa, he shot 40.7% vs 30.5% with 3 or less 3pa.

In regular season games with at least 3 3pa, he shot 42.0% vs 20.0% with 2 or less 3pa.

If Moody is a 40% guy, he should start ahead of klay. Then try to focus more on wiggs as stephs second. It gives us a vastly different look while still being able to play motion offense.

Still a small sample size, and there's no context in those stats (like if they were in garbage time), but still a little surprising and definitely good to see.

Actually, Moody isn’t a good garbage time player. For the regular season, he shot 56% on threes when the score was close (within 5) and 30% when the spread was greater than 10.

[WarriorGM]

Honestly I'm curious to see what Curry can do with a different cast of characters that are chosen with the prerequisite that they gel with him. Klay and Draymond don't do so as well as they used to and the front office could be more successful picking players that do.

[Chupchup]

No legs today. All their 3s were coming up short. Oh well.

[CDM_Stats]

If Moody is a 40% guy, he should start ahead of klay. Then try to focus more on wiggs as stephs second. It gives us a vastly different look while still being able to play motion offense.

Still a small sample size, and there's no context in those stats (like if they were in garbage time), but still a little surprising and definitely good to see.

Actually, Moody isn’t a good garbage time player. For the regular season, he shot 56% on threes when the score was close (within 5) and 30% when the spread was greater than 10.

Makes sense, he's a system player not a freelancer. And for some reason Kerr has used the garbage time minutes as a test to see if players are ready.. and that gave rise to Poole and Kuminga, guys who do not fit in the system because thats not who they are

Myers' stock has risen tremendously in the past month in my eyes.. I really was shocked that Kerr didnt adjust in an elimination game that we trailed the whole way

[WarriorGM]

No legs today. All their 3s were coming up short. Oh well.

This is on Kerr for not finding suitable lineups to burn minutes.

[CalGTR]

I refuse to join the whiners here who are never happy except when they can crow about how awful this team is, how bad the coaching is, how the front office is clueless, etc. This is a great franchise right now. It's hard to win titles. It's hard to win playoff series. We've been spoiled. This year, the roster just wasn't right. Sure, we can find someone to blame, but who gets things right every time? Steph wasn't able to get it going tonight because he's gassed and had too little help. Somehow, the roster has to be deep enough so that the W's can comfortably make the playoffs without Steph playing heavy minutes. The early playoff series need to be easier so that we don't have to play seven games right off the bat. That is exactly what I was afraid of (and I know I'm not alone in that worry) when it took as long as it did to deal with Sacramento. With a more rested squad, I think the W's take this series. But, the roster was what it was. Let's see what the offseason brings.

[SpreeChokeJob]

Thank goodness didn’t watch this crap show. The Warriors are in for lean times because Curry is no longer the Curry of pre breaking the record where he could shoot it from anywhere, yet Kerr never adjusted to that new reality. If Curry could turn back the clock where he had the same swagger then anything is possible, if not they have to adjust to a new reality.

Curry is definitely still that guy, it's just a lot harder to do in the playoffs with the increased defensive intensity on both ends. Legs aren't there as much when you have to exert that much more energy on the other end.

No he is no longer that guy. Before he broke the 3 point record, he showed amazing range. Like every time he shot from 3/4 court you believed it had a chance to go in. He no longer has that mojo. Whether he can bring back that past magic, I hope he can find it again.

[powerball1373]

I still think LA gets swept next round.

Just like you thought you would win this series too I'm sure

[floppymoose]

Klay had some great months in the season and then he was just completely cooked this series. Reggie and Ray were still automatic from 3 into the late 30s they just lost the downhill foot speed. But Klays shot just looked cooked all series.

Maybe don’t play an older player with a history of leg injuries 35+ MPG

Maybe go back in time and trade him at the deadline, when he was “hot”.

[nismolos]

Selling low on Klay/Poole would be dumb. Let them build up their value again. Mainly poole…then trade him. We cant end the Curry/Klay/Dray (+ wigs) trio. They can still win a title but we need to find our next otto porter + bjelica. And a legit backup center

[powerball1373]

I agree with half of this, but again reiterate my challenge for fans to exclusively watch the off-ball stuff and not worry who has the ball in your hands.

It'll deepen your hated for Poole for sure, but it will show just how important Dray is, and made it very easy to tell that Wiggins would fit here and Oubre never could. Reducing what Dray does to just 'pass or play defense' is missing out on why he's so good at defense and why he's good running the offense. There's a reason why you can't find many comparable players like him.. in fact, he just played one, except that one can also shoot and is way more athletic

There was a time where I thought the Warriors could salvage Ben Simmons and make him something of this type of player, but he appears to be broken beyond repair.

He is one of the few players who really could come in and potentially replace Draymond. I dont think he's broken per se, I think he's miscast. Like imagine Draymond not getting drafted by the Warriors and pairing up with Curry.. throw him on a terrible team and he'd look awful too. Put him on an iso-heavy team and he'd be wasted..

That said, I'd be willing to pay pennies on the dollar for Simmons, give or take some pennies.. but if Curry was ok with it, and if the Nets were willing to take Dray and Poole for Simmons and say.. Cam Thomas (no fkn idea if any of this is legal), then I wouldn't hate it. As long as Simmons' contract lined up with Curry's.. just like Dray, I have no interest in seeing Ben Simmons playing without Curry

He seems mentally broken is what I meant. Such an insane drop-off from what he was just a few years ago. It's like he's a completely different player/person.

[CDM_Stats]

There was a time where I thought the Warriors could salvage Ben Simmons and make him something of this type of player, but he appears to be broken beyond repair.

He is one of the few players who really could come in and potentially replace Draymond. I dont think he's broken per se, I think he's miscast. Like imagine Draymond not getting drafted by the Warriors and pairing up with Curry.. throw him on a terrible team and he'd look awful too. Put him on an iso-heavy team and he'd be wasted..

That said, I'd be willing to pay pennies on the dollar for Simmons, give or take some pennies.. but if Curry was ok with it, and if the Nets were willing to take Dray and Poole for Simmons and say.. Cam Thomas (no fkn idea if any of this is legal), then I wouldn't hate it. As long as Simmons' contract lined up with Curry's.. just like Dray, I have no interest in seeing Ben Simmons playing without Curry

He seems mentally broken is what I meant. Such an insane drop-off from what he was just a few years ago. It's like he's a completely different player/person.

I agree that he's played soft lately.. but I'm gonna dust off one of my favorite jokes of all time for this:

Watch on YouTube

Like.. if you were hired at a job, and you're really good at something, but they never ask you to do it, and judge you based on how you do things you aren't good at.. you'd probably be pretty unhappy. Especially if you couldn't leave... and then if you go from one of those places to somewhere that really needed that thing you're good at.. might make you a whole different person. I think we saw that to a lesser degree with Wiggins, who was miscast as a #1 scoring option/face of the franchise. When he just got to play ball, be the 2 way player he is without focusing on scoring, he went from a bad contract to a bargain. I dont think we can do that with Simmons, but I bet if we got a hold of his contract, it'd be worth a lot more in a year than it would be if we didn't

[weekend_warrior]

Selling low on Klay/Poole would be dumb. Let them build up their value again. Mainly poole…then trade him. We cant end the Curry/Klay/Dray (+ wigs) trio. They can still win a title but we need to find our next otto porter + bjelica. And a legit backup center

Curry will be 36 by next POs, Klay and Draymond 34 each. They were healthy these POs but just not good enough anymore. We need fresh legs and an environment, where younger guys can thrive, not get punched or rot on the bench to hopefully get the old guys going.

This trio is done winning and it was abundantly clear many months ago. Now Curry by himself is good enough that he still carried this team to a somewhat competive second round, but that shouldn't fool people.

[powerball1373]

He is one of the few players who really could come in and potentially replace Draymond. I dont think he's broken per se, I think he's miscast. Like imagine Draymond not getting drafted by the Warriors and pairing up with Curry.. throw him on a terrible team and he'd look awful too. Put him on an iso-heavy team and he'd be wasted..

That said, I'd be willing to pay pennies on the dollar for Simmons, give or take some pennies.. but if Curry was ok with it, and if the Nets were willing to take Dray and Poole for Simmons and say.. Cam Thomas (no fkn idea if any of this is legal), then I wouldn't hate it. As long as Simmons' contract lined up with Curry's.. just like Dray, I have no interest in seeing Ben Simmons playing without Curry

He seems mentally broken is what I meant. Such an insane drop-off from what he was just a few years ago. It's like he's a completely different player/person.

I agree that he's played soft lately.. but I'm gonna dust off one of my favorite jokes of all time for this:

Watch on YouTube

Like.. if you were hired at a job, and you're really good at something, but they never ask you to do it, and judge you based on how you do things you aren't good at.. you'd probably be pretty unhappy. Especially if you couldn't leave... and then if you go from one of those places to somewhere that really needed that thing you're good at.. might make you a whole different person. I think we saw that to a lesser degree with Wiggins, who was miscast as a #1 scoring option/face of the franchise. When he just got to play ball, be the 2 way player he is without focusing on scoring, he went from a bad contract to a bargain. I dont think we can do that with Simmons, but I bet if we got a hold of his contract, it'd be worth a lot more in a year than it would be if we didn't

At least Wiggs was still playing hard and putting up empty stats tho. At this point, I don't even know if Ben Simmons enjoys playing basketball... like at all.