RealGM

After todays game, Memphis will have faced all the Western teams holding playoff position except the Clippers, having yet to face the bottom half of the division, minus the Spurs who are on a 5 game losing skid.

Thunder 5-7
Blazers 5-8
Kings 4-7
Pelicans 3-9
GSW 2-11

I sure hope Jenkins wasn't coaching to win that game

Malone - rides Jokic & Murry the entire 1st quarter after a sluggish start to get them going, change momentum.

Jenkins - pulls Ja, Jonas at the 5min mark where Memphis led by 8 or 10 & Jonas had 12pts in 7mins, feeling it (Iced). He rides Jaren out who was struggling on both ends. Clarke is subbed in for Jonas who between him & Jaren, cannot handle Jokic's size/skill. Memphis coughs up the lead faster than the other games against lesser teams. Jenkins tries to reinsert Jonas a couple minutes later to counter Denver getting hot. Jonas comes back not unexpected, iced. Proceeds to miss & commit several careless TO's with the momentum in the game shifting in Denvers favor. As a result of having to reinsert Jonas early, the usual rotations/chemistry are thrown out of sync off a bad run leading to the worse Q of basketball Memphis has played all year in the 2nd Q.

What disappointed me most was that Memphis didn't play like they respected their opponent. A lackluster effort, low energy, poor demeaner capped by too much showboating that led to unnecessary TO's against a team that demands respect. Jonas throwing a blind back pass when he had a man open in front of him corner 3, trying to be like Ja, NO. When Crowder kicked off the game with 3 consecutive careless TO's, just knew it was going to be a long night. Alpha personalities naturally lead by example. Humans tend to mimic those they surround themselves with, picking up their traits. The team goes as Ja goes, so please Ja, less flair, more substance. He's out there trying to make every play, a highlight reel, instead of picking his spots.

Jaren - picked up his game when he started taking, hitting his 3's.

Ja - needs to work on his defense.

Jonas - started the game with 12pts in the first 7mins, contained by his own coach, finishes the game with 16.

Jenkins - If he was trying to win this game, his subs & rotations = F

Whole Truth wrote:I sure hope Jenkins wasn't coaching to win that game

Malone - rides Jokic & Murry the entire 1st quarter after a sluggish start to get them going, change momentum.

Jenkins - pulls Ja, Jonas at the 5min mark where Memphis led by 8 or 10 & Jonas had 12pts in 7mins, feeling it (Iced). He rides Jaren out who was struggling on both ends. Clarke is subbed in for Jonas who between him & Jaren, cannot handle Jokic's size/skill. Memphis coughs up the lead faster than the other games against lesser teams. Jenkins tries to reinsert Jonas a couple minutes later to counter Denver getting hot. Jonas comes back not unexpected, iced. Proceeds to miss & commit several careless TO's with the momentum in the game shifting in Denvers favor. As a result of having to reinsert Jonas early, the usual rotations/chemistry are thrown out of sync off a bad run leading to the worse Q of basketball Memphis has played all year in the 2nd Q.

What disappointed me most was that Memphis didn't play like they respected their opponent. A lackluster effort, low energy, poor demeaner capped by too much showboating that led to unnecessary TO's against a team that demands respect. Jonas throwing a blind back pass when he had a man open in front of him corner 3, trying to be like Ja, NO. When Crowder kicked off the game with 3 consecutive careless TO's, just knew it was going to be a long night. Alpha personalities naturally lead by example. Humans tend to mimic those they surround themselves with, picking up their traits. The team goes as Ja goes, so please Ja, less flair, more substance. He's out there trying to make every play, a highlight reel, instead of picking his spots.

Jaren - picked up his game when he started taking, hitting his 3's.

Ja - needs to work on his defense.

Jonas - started the game with 12pts in the first 7mins, contained by his own coach, finishes the game with 16.

Jenkins - If he was trying to win this game, his subs & rotations = F

Doesn't Jenkins usually pull Ja and Jonas fairly early though? That way JJJ gets run as the backup center. Otherwise we get killed due to not having a true backup center. (We could have pulled JJJ instead of JV but I think they are still trying to keep JV's minutes down.) This also lets Ja spread his minutes out enough to play the full game while staying under the 30min mark that seems to be his hard cutoff.

VCfor3 wrote:Doesn't Jenkins usually pull Ja and Jonas fairly early though? That way JJJ gets run as the backup center. Otherwise we get killed due to not having a true backup center. (We could have pulled JJJ instead of JV but I think they are still trying to keep JV's minutes down.) This also lets Ja spread his minutes out enough to play the full game while staying under the 30min mark that seems to be his hard cutoff.

Fair explanation of which there could be more reasons behind his decision making, which is why I prefaced my comment with if.

Whatever reason, it was a definitive turning point in the half & game.