Post game Ruminations. At Spurs.

[coolcono]

The three bigs did a fine job. Gobert drew many fouls and was a defensive presence, Towns was the only reliable offensive player in the first half, and Reid did wonders in the third.
I was thinking why they didn't play Reid until the end of the 3rd quarter. Finch put him in and it worked, but then he needed to change it up again and we saw what happened.
In the NFL, when something works, you keep on doing it. When something doesn't work, you don't. Simple premise, but Finch needed to go big for the fourth and it killed the Timberwolves' run.
McDaniels did alright. I was he could rebound a bit better, but he is our best defensive player.
The guard play was atrocious. Forbes outplayed Ant in the first half.
I think we need a traditional point guard to play with Ant. Not D-Lo. But I am not sure whether it would be worth trading D-Lo. What assets do we possess?
Gregg Poppovich is the best coach of all-time.

[MN7725]

I'd advise not looking at the upcoming schedule
yikes

[shangrila]

I'd advise not looking at the upcoming schedule
yikes

Agreed.

I'm out for a while I think. No point in watching this clown show.

[TwolvesFanRome]

You can't lose with these Spurs (4 rotation player out). I've seen enough nonsense already this season. Just like in the series against Memphis. Houston (Finch) we have a problem here. We have to fix it as soon as possible.

[_AIJ_]

Dlo just sucks . End of story. Was freaking happy when he got traded here and defended him a lot. Now, its just a nightmare

[Neeva]

It really is sad we have the worst starting pg in the league:/

[Neeva]

Dlo just sucks . End of story. Was freaking happy when he got traded here and defended him a lot. Now, its just a nightmare

At least we are not giving him another gross contract (At least we better not be) with his god awful play.

[Rookie-Mistake]

In the same boat.
But the thing that annoys me is that he believes that he is a basketball savant and the smartest person in the room. Bro. You are BOG average.

Dlo just sucks . End of story. Was freaking happy when he got traded here and defended him a lot. Now, its just a nightmare

Sent from my SM-G991B using RealGM mobile app

[Note30]

The three bigs did a fine job. Gobert drew many fouls and was a defensive presence, Towns was the only reliable offensive player in the first half, and Reid did wonders in the third.
I was thinking why they didn't play Reid until the end of the 3rd quarter. Finch put him in and it worked, but then he needed to change it up again and we saw what happened.
In the NFL, when something works, you keep on doing it. When something doesn't work, you don't. Simple premise, but Finch needed to go big for the fourth and it killed the Timberwolves' run.
McDaniels did alright. I was he could rebound a bit better, but he is our best defensive player.
The guard play was atrocious. Forbes outplayed Ant in the first half.
I think we need a traditional point guard to play with Ant. Not D-Lo. But I am not sure whether it would be worth trading D-Lo. What assets do we possess?
Gregg Poppovich is the best coach of all-time.

We probably can't upgrade this roster anymore (atleast significantly) without losing Edwards.

It's why you don't make massive bets on guys who can't handle the ball. Our defense is still atrocious. Where's all the Gobert will fix our defense people now? He's a top 10 player right?

[winforlose]

The three bigs did a fine job. Gobert drew many fouls and was a defensive presence, Towns was the only reliable offensive player in the first half, and Reid did wonders in the third.
I was thinking why they didn't play Reid until the end of the 3rd quarter. Finch put him in and it worked, but then he needed to change it up again and we saw what happened.
In the NFL, when something works, you keep on doing it. When something doesn't work, you don't. Simple premise, but Finch needed to go big for the fourth and it killed the Timberwolves' run.
McDaniels did alright. I was he could rebound a bit better, but he is our best defensive player.
The guard play was atrocious. Forbes outplayed Ant in the first half.
I think we need a traditional point guard to play with Ant. Not D-Lo. But I am not sure whether it would be worth trading D-Lo. What assets do we possess?
Gregg Poppovich is the best coach of all-time.

We probably can't upgrade this roster anymore (atleast significantly) without losing Edwards.

It's why you don't make massive bets on guys who can't handle the ball. Our defense is still atrocious. Where's all the Gobert will fix our defense people now? He's a top 10 player right?

Gobert has already done a lot to improve our interior defense. That said, he isn’t a silver bullet. Guys still need to defend the perimeter better. We need still need to play POA defense. We need to scheme better to keep Rudy low and rotate to the corners. Some of this takes time, some of it is a failure of personnel. But, forcing opponents into the mid range more and forcing them to shoot more 3s with low percentage shooters are wins for our defense. Our offense keeps dropping the ball with too many turnovers, way too low a 3% percentage on open shots, misses at the rim, failing to offensive rebound, and hero ball.

Where our defense does need work is in transition. You can argue that Rudy is too slow to get back fast enough, but you can also point out he is the only guy who fights for offensive boards half the time. Some of this failure is also an energy failure which is on everyone, but especially on the coach for failing to motivate his team.

Finding a vet leader in free agency might be a priority (cut Rivers to make it happen.) Another tweak is to move Forbes and get a POA defender. A two way PG might also make some sense. But overall you are correct that we are limited. Moreover, you are correct that this was the danger in overpaying. But, you are incorrect that 7 games in we need to make big moves. I showed in the around the league thread, a lot of teams are figuring stuff out right now. Our shooting is unusually bad, this leads to hero ball. Or schemes not being run properly, this leads to breakdowns. We haven’t even seen if we can rise to the challenge against top end competition yet. The Suns, Bucks, Cavs, and Griz are all on our schedule in the near future. If we play well against teams like that, it says a lot about our locker room dynamics.

[_AIJ_]

Well, maybe they’ll play well against the better team. Idk

[Note30]

The three bigs did a fine job. Gobert drew many fouls and was a defensive presence, Towns was the only reliable offensive player in the first half, and Reid did wonders in the third.
I was thinking why they didn't play Reid until the end of the 3rd quarter. Finch put him in and it worked, but then he needed to change it up again and we saw what happened.
In the NFL, when something works, you keep on doing it. When something doesn't work, you don't. Simple premise, but Finch needed to go big for the fourth and it killed the Timberwolves' run.
McDaniels did alright. I was he could rebound a bit better, but he is our best defensive player.
The guard play was atrocious. Forbes outplayed Ant in the first half.
I think we need a traditional point guard to play with Ant. Not D-Lo. But I am not sure whether it would be worth trading D-Lo. What assets do we possess?
Gregg Poppovich is the best coach of all-time.

We probably can't upgrade this roster anymore (atleast significantly) without losing Edwards.

It's why you don't make massive bets on guys who can't handle the ball. Our defense is still atrocious. Where's all the Gobert will fix our defense people now? He's a top 10 player right?

Gobert has already done a lot to improve our interior defense. That said, he isn’t a silver bullet. Guys still need to defend the perimeter better. We need still need to play POA defense. We need to scheme better to keep Rudy low and rotate to the corners. Some of this takes time, some of it is a failure of personnel. But, forcing opponents into the mid range more and forcing them to shoot more 3s with low percentage shooters are wins for our defense. Our offense keeps dropping the ball with too many turnovers, way too low a 3% percentage on open shots, misses at the rim, failing to offensive rebound, and hero ball.

Where our defense does need work is in transition. You can argue that Rudy is too slow to get back fast enough, but you can also point out he is the only guy who fights for offensive boards half the time. Some of this failure is also an energy failure which is on everyone, but especially on the coach for failing to motivate his team.

Finding a vet leader in free agency might be a priority (cut Rivers to make it happen.) Another tweak is to move Forbes and get a POA defender. A two way PG might also make some sense. But overall you are correct that we are limited. Moreover, you are correct that this was the danger in overpaying. But, you are incorrect that 7 games in we need to make big moves. I showed in the around the league thread, a lot of teams are figuring stuff out right now. Our shooting is unusually bad, this leads to hero ball. Or schemes not being run properly, this leads to breakdowns. We haven’t even seen if we can rise to the challenge against top end competition yet. The Suns, Bucks, Cavs, and Griz are all on our schedule in the near future. If we play well against teams like that, it says a lot about our locker room dynamics.

I mean we can't beat low end competition that was should tank for this year.

That being said I do think 7 games is a little early to make massive decisions like trades, as well. I definitely didn't mean to make an indication that we do yet.

[winforlose]

We probably can't upgrade this roster anymore (atleast significantly) without losing Edwards.

It's why you don't make massive bets on guys who can't handle the ball. Our defense is still atrocious. Where's all the Gobert will fix our defense people now? He's a top 10 player right?

Gobert has already done a lot to improve our interior defense. That said, he isn’t a silver bullet. Guys still need to defend the perimeter better. We need still need to play POA defense. We need to scheme better to keep Rudy low and rotate to the corners. Some of this takes time, some of it is a failure of personnel. But, forcing opponents into the mid range more and forcing them to shoot more 3s with low percentage shooters are wins for our defense. Our offense keeps dropping the ball with too many turnovers, way too low a 3% percentage on open shots, misses at the rim, failing to offensive rebound, and hero ball.

Where our defense does need work is in transition. You can argue that Rudy is too slow to get back fast enough, but you can also point out he is the only guy who fights for offensive boards half the time. Some of this failure is also an energy failure which is on everyone, but especially on the coach for failing to motivate his team.

Finding a vet leader in free agency might be a priority (cut Rivers to make it happen.) Another tweak is to move Forbes and get a POA defender. A two way PG might also make some sense. But overall you are correct that we are limited. Moreover, you are correct that this was the danger in overpaying. But, you are incorrect that 7 games in we need to make big moves. I showed in the around the league thread, a lot of teams are figuring stuff out right now. Our shooting is unusually bad, this leads to hero ball. Or schemes not being run properly, this leads to breakdowns. We haven’t even seen if we can rise to the challenge against top end competition yet. The Suns, Bucks, Cavs, and Griz are all on our schedule in the near future. If we play well against teams like that, it says a lot about our locker room dynamics.

I mean we can't beat low end competition that was should tank for this year.

That being said I do think 7 games is a little early to make massive decisions like trades, as well. I definitely didn't mean to make an indication that we do yet.

From the other thread.

October 29 2022.

OKC beat Dallas in Dallas 117-111
Utah beat Memphis in Utah 124-123
Charlotte beat GSW in Charlotte (without Ball,) 120-113
Kings beat Miami in Sac 119-113

October 30 2022

Pistons beat GSW in Detroit 128-114
Lakers beat Denver in LA 121-110
Spurs beat us in San An 107-98

[bluethunder0005]

It's been 7 games folks. The Spurs and Jazz are both 5-2, the Spurs have beaten the 76ers and the Jazz have beaten the Nuggets and the Pelicans. I guess those teams should panic too? Through 17 games, the 2010 Miami Heat, who had the best player, another top 3 player, and another top 10-15 player started off 9-8. If everyone saw our opening schedule and thought we'd be 6-1 or 7-0 they should have thought about how many new pieces we have. It takes a long time to develop chemistry.

[LSWF]

I agree with the critique of Dlo in this thread. He is probably our 8th or 9th best player on the team. His fat contract is killing us.

The first unit lack of offensive execution in the half court is disgusting. Finch needs to put up some guard rails. Run some Horns, Spanish P&R or anything to correct the inefficient Iso BS that we keep seeing.

[Note30]

It's been 7 games folks. The Spurs and Jazz are both 5-2, the Spurs have beaten the 76ers and the Jazz have beaten the Nuggets and the Pelicans. I guess those teams should panic too? Through 17 games, the 2010 Miami Heat, who had the best player, another top 3 player, and another top 10-15 player started off 9-8. If everyone saw our opening schedule and thought we'd be 6-1 or 7-0 they should have thought about how many new pieces we have. It takes a long time to develop chemistry.

Anderson, Gobert, Forbes... That's pretty much it. Outside of Gobert they don't even play high minutes.

What chemistry, outside of Gobert, this starting lineup is familiar with each other. Yes we lost Beas, Bev, and V8. But outside of that our 'Big 3' is the same as last year.

We're making excuses. Yes 7 games is an early time to jump the gun, but we are playing poorly, especially compared to last year.

[minimus]

Both Gobert and Towns are out of shape. It is evident when they play.

[winforlose]

It's been 7 games folks. The Spurs and Jazz are both 5-2, the Spurs have beaten the 76ers and the Jazz have beaten the Nuggets and the Pelicans. I guess those teams should panic too? Through 17 games, the 2010 Miami Heat, who had the best player, another top 3 player, and another top 10-15 player started off 9-8. If everyone saw our opening schedule and thought we'd be 6-1 or 7-0 they should have thought about how many new pieces we have. It takes a long time to develop chemistry.

Anderson, Gobert, Forbes... That's pretty much it. Outside of Gobert they don't even play high minutes.

What chemistry, outside of Gobert, this starting lineup is familiar with each other. Yes we lost Beas, Bev, and V8. But outside of that our 'Big 3' is the same as last year.

We're making excuses. Yes 7 games is an early time to jump the gun, but we are playing poorly, especially compared to last year.

Basketball players are not like Video games. Just because your console can run them, doesn’t mean you will get the same experience with every game. Rudy fundamentally shifts both your offense and defense. He changes your pace, spacing, timing, rebounding, and more. You also should remember that most of these guys haven’t played competitive basketball since April, and those who have probably are still adjusting to the difference in NBA pace.

Another factor is role changes. KAT has a new defensive role. MCD has new roles on both offense and defense. Ant to a large degree has a new role. Dlo has a new defensive role. Nowell and Naz have new roles (Naz role is Nowell’s old one.) It takes time.

That said, losing to short handed spurs or healthy Jazz really sucks. It would feel better if we lost to the Suns or Pels or Mavs. But, losing to teams who shouldn’t matter in March means we don’t have to worry about tie breakers going against us. Moreover, we sometimes play down to bad teams or teams we think are bad. It will be very intriguing to see how we rise to the occasions of the Suns on the road and Bucks at home. We might **** the bed again, or we might play with some extra fire.

[Biff Cooper]

Shooting 40, 14, and 70 against a bunch of 2nd tier players was not good. Not going to get too excited about one game. Reid has been incredibly effective every time he has played this year. I know Finch is under pressure to make the Towns / Gobert lineup work, but on the games it is not working, I would love to see him go to the bench sooner.

[KGdaBom]

We probably can't upgrade this roster anymore (atleast significantly) without losing Edwards.

It's why you don't make massive bets on guys who can't handle the ball. Our defense is still atrocious. Where's all the Gobert will fix our defense people now? He's a top 10 player right?

Gobert has already done a lot to improve our interior defense. That said, he isn’t a silver bullet. Guys still need to defend the perimeter better. We need still need to play POA defense. We need to scheme better to keep Rudy low and rotate to the corners. Some of this takes time, some of it is a failure of personnel. But, forcing opponents into the mid range more and forcing them to shoot more 3s with low percentage shooters are wins for our defense. Our offense keeps dropping the ball with too many turnovers, way too low a 3% percentage on open shots, misses at the rim, failing to offensive rebound, and hero ball.

Where our defense does need work is in transition. You can argue that Rudy is too slow to get back fast enough, but you can also point out he is the only guy who fights for offensive boards half the time. Some of this failure is also an energy failure which is on everyone, but especially on the coach for failing to motivate his team.

Finding a vet leader in free agency might be a priority (cut Rivers to make it happen.) Another tweak is to move Forbes and get a POA defender. A two way PG might also make some sense. But overall you are correct that we are limited. Moreover, you are correct that this was the danger in overpaying. But, you are incorrect that 7 games in we need to make big moves. I showed in the around the league thread, a lot of teams are figuring stuff out right now. Our shooting is unusually bad, this leads to hero ball. Or schemes not being run properly, this leads to breakdowns. We haven’t even seen if we can rise to the challenge against top end competition yet. The Suns, Bucks, Cavs, and Griz are all on our schedule in the near future. If we play well against teams like that, it says a lot about our locker room dynamics.

I mean we can't beat low end competition that was should tank for this year.

That being said I do think 7 games is a little early to make massive decisions like trades, as well. I definitely didn't mean to make an indication that we do yet.

Other than the Lakers every team we've played this year is .500 or better.