2/11 - POSTGAME | Memphis Grizzlies (91) - (110) Oklahoma City Thunder

[Old Man Game]

'rhythm player'. hate that term. alex abrines is a high volume three point shooter. a 40% three point shooter doesn't shoot 40% from three every game. it's just variance, not 'rhythm'.

Offensive role players not looking likey they are 'in rhythm' is a valid concern with this team imo. Remember how they treated Morrow? Come in and just fire away? Just being part of the offense, touching the ball, certainly helps I think.

You could tell the way they were using him, especially early in the season, wasn't working though. They'd put him in for like 10 minutes, give him 2 3PAs and when he didn't hit either one people were like, "well this guy officially sucks now." Because he isn't good at other aspects of the game they were visibly asking him to do like screening, defending and rebounding. Basically the role Dono was asking of his was exacerbating his issues.

[spearsy23]

Completely forgot to mention this but Dakari had Marc Gasol in handcuffs. Best defense I've seen him play, Gasol could do absolutely nothing.

[spearsy23]

'rhythm player'. hate that term. alex abrines is a high volume three point shooter. a 40% three point shooter doesn't shoot 40% from three every game. it's just variance, not 'rhythm'.

Offensive role players not looking likey they are 'in rhythm' is a valid concern with this team imo. Remember how they treated Morrow? Come in and just fire away? Just being part of the offense, touching the ball, certainly helps I think.

You could tell the way they were using him, especially early in the season, wasn't working though. They'd put him in for like 10 minutes, give him 2 3PAs and when he didn't hit either one people were like, "well this guy officially sucks now." Because he isn't good at other aspects of the game they were visibly asking him to do like screening, defending and rebounding. Basically the role Dono was asking of his was exacerbating his issues.

If the only thing you can do is shoot and you're not doing it well then you're an awful player. If the only thing you can do is catch and shoot and you are doing it well you're still not a good player. Last night he was more active than he's ever been, and that might be a side effect of seeing the ball go in early in the game. He was playing hard defensively, handling, and chasing rebounds/loose balls. It's possible he just needs confidence to be an adequate player, but this is going to be a tough place for him to get it.

[Andre Roberstan]

'rhythm player'. hate that term. alex abrines is a high volume three point shooter. a 40% three point shooter doesn't shoot 40% from three every game. it's just variance, not 'rhythm'.

Offensive role players not looking likey they are 'in rhythm' is a valid concern with this team imo. Remember how they treated Morrow? Come in and just fire away? Just being part of the offense, touching the ball, certainly helps I think.

This is one of the reasons why some guys struggle next to a player like Bron and others thrive in places like Utah/San Antonio where they have a very structured offense.

[Old Man Game]

Offensive role players not looking likey they are 'in rhythm' is a valid concern with this team imo. Remember how they treated Morrow? Come in and just fire away? Just being part of the offense, touching the ball, certainly helps I think.

You could tell the way they were using him, especially early in the season, wasn't working though. They'd put him in for like 10 minutes, give him 2 3PAs and when he didn't hit either one people were like, "well this guy officially sucks now." Because he isn't good at other aspects of the game they were visibly asking him to do like screening, defending and rebounding. Basically the role Dono was asking of his was exacerbating his issues.

If the only thing you can do is shoot and you're not doing it well then you're an awful player. If the only thing you can do is catch and shoot and you are doing it well you're still not a good player. Last night he was more active than he's ever been, and that might be a side effect of seeing the ball go in early in the game. He was playing hard defensively, handling, and chasing rebounds/loose balls. It's possible he just needs confidence to be an adequate player, but this is going to be a tough place for him to get it.

If you ask a guy to do things he sucks at almost exclusively, viewers will come away thinking he sucks. Exhibit A, your own views of Abrines. This isn't Bruce Bowen for F's sake. Anthony Morrow couldn't do much but shoot either and he was a 10 year pro.

[spearsy23]

You could tell the way they were using him, especially early in the season, wasn't working though. They'd put him in for like 10 minutes, give him 2 3PAs and when he didn't hit either one people were like, "well this guy officially sucks now." Because he isn't good at other aspects of the game they were visibly asking him to do like screening, defending and rebounding. Basically the role Dono was asking of his was exacerbating his issues.

If the only thing you can do is shoot and you're not doing it well then you're an awful player. If the only thing you can do is catch and shoot and you are doing it well you're still not a good player. Last night he was more active than he's ever been, and that might be a side effect of seeing the ball go in early in the game. He was playing hard defensively, handling, and chasing rebounds/loose balls. It's possible he just needs confidence to be an adequate player, but this is going to be a tough place for him to get it.

If you ask a guy to do things he sucks at almost exclusively, viewers will come away thinking he sucks. Exhibit A, your own long held views of Abrines. This isn't Bruce Bowen for F's sake. Anthony Morrow couldn't do much but shoot either and he was a 10 year pro.

A-mo was literally the best catch and shoot three point shooter of all time pre Curry and klay. He also was a better defender than abrines and still bounced around the league struggling to find a big role on a good team.

Obviously players are better when they are doing what they're good at, but if Abrines never does anything except hit catch and shoot threes at 38% while being abused defensively then he's going to continue being awful. He's going to have to do things besides shoot the ball, that's just the way the game works.

[slick_watts]

If the only thing you can do is shoot and you're not doing it well then you're an awful player. If the only thing you can do is catch and shoot and you are doing it well you're still not a good player. Last night he was more active than he's ever been, and that might be a side effect of seeing the ball go in early in the game. He was playing hard defensively, handling, and chasing rebounds/loose balls. It's possible he just needs confidence to be an adequate player, but this is going to be a tough place for him to get it.

If you ask a guy to do things he sucks at almost exclusively, viewers will come away thinking he sucks. Exhibit A, your own long held views of Abrines. This isn't Bruce Bowen for F's sake. Anthony Morrow couldn't do much but shoot either and he was a 10 year pro.

A-mo was literally the best catch and shoot three point shooter of all time pre Curry and klay. He also was a better defender than abrines and still bounced around the league struggling to find a big role on a good team.

Obviously players are better when they are doing what they're good at, but if Abrines never does anything except hit catch and shoot threes at 38% while being abused defensively then he's going to continue being awful. He's going to have to do things besides shoot the ball, that's just the way the game works.

FWIW-- alex abrines is shooting 42.3% on catch and shoot threes according to stats.nba.com. slightly behind anthony morrow's 45.2% in 2014-15.

issue is a ) doesn't get enough C&S attempts and b ) he's very poor at making threes off hand-off, screens, or pull-up. this accounts for his lower overall %.

if we could get abrines the 4-5 C&S attempts per game anthony morrow was getting he'd be a lot more useful.

[Old Man Game]

If you ask a guy to do things he sucks at almost exclusively, viewers will come away thinking he sucks. Exhibit A, your own long held views of Abrines. This isn't Bruce Bowen for F's sake. Anthony Morrow couldn't do much but shoot either and he was a 10 year pro.

A-mo was literally the best catch and shoot three point shooter of all time pre Curry and klay. He also was a better defender than abrines and still bounced around the league struggling to find a big role on a good team.

Obviously players are better when they are doing what they're good at, but if Abrines never does anything except hit catch and shoot threes at 38% while being abused defensively then he's going to continue being awful. He's going to have to do things besides shoot the ball, that's just the way the game works.

FWIW-- alex abrines is shooting 42.3% on catch and shoot threes according to stats.nba.com. slightly behind anthony morrow's 45.2% in 2014-15.

issue is a ) doesn't get enough C&S attempts and b ) he's very poor at making threes off hand-off, screens, or pull-up. this accounts for his lower overall %.

if we could get abrines the 4-5 C&S attempts per game anthony morrow was getting he'd be a lot more useful.

Bingo. And that comes down to Donovan figuring out how to maximize the roster's potential instead of almost actively harming them. Recall how Brooks had Morrow looking like a decent 6th man only to see him fall into the abyss once Billy got here. Billy just isn't good at this aspect of coaching.