GT #56: Bullets @ Warriors 10 PM (NBCSW/980 AM)

[Dat2U]

Nunn is a better player than some of you give him credit for being. He had two very good seasons with the Heat and was second to Morant in rookie of the year voting his first season…not bad for an undrafted player. Nunn missed all of last season with a knee injury and then was in and out of the rotation the first half of this season with the Lakers.

He's capable of both creating his own shot and setting up teammates….as his 12 assists over the last two games attest to.

How many marginal backup shooting guards you want?

We already got Corey Kispert who is more of a 2 than a 3 because he can't defend 3s. You got Johnny Davis who was the 10th pick in the draft and you got Quenton Jackson who played very well in the G-League. I don't think Nunn brings anything to the table the isn't replaceable or upgradeable.

[payitforward]

...Kendrick Nunn is useless if he's not scoring, and even in games when he's doing it efficiently like tonight he just kills ball movement. So many Barton vibes from him.

No one would confuse me with a Kendrick Nunn fan, but come on... he did have six assists & a steal -- aside from scoring 13 points on 7 shots & 2 FTAs. He sure as hell didn't cause us to lose last night!

As to Barton... guy didn't even play last night & he is still taking heat!

Will Barton has had a solid 11 year NBA career.
As to this year, he's had one problem & one problem only -- his shot won't fall.

I don't mean the 3-ball; he's shooting them at 38%. & I don't mean FTs either. His 2-point shots however just aren't going in.

Nor does Will Barton "kill ball movement" -- not on his career & not this year either. The opposite, in fact. This year, Barton is logging 35% more assists than average for a 2.

I'm talking about Wizards' Barton, because frankly any other past iterations of Barton are irrelevant to me. There's a reason why Barton is a disastrous -11.8 on-off this year, and from watching the disaster that he's been on the court, two things have stuck out to me: he is a matador on defense and he shot jacks, and does both with startling consistency. Also as poorly and selfishly as Barton has played this year, I don't mind in the least him taking some extra heat even if he's sitting. Which btw is because he's seeking a buyout, because even WUJ, who loves to give veterans any extra minutes he can, knows that Barton is basically unplayable in this current iteration. So feel free to mention logging more assists, and the likes all you want, but the numbers ring hollow without proper context.

As I noted, regarding Nunn, he was scoring efficiently last night, but I felt (yes, my personal opinion) that a lot of the good he does is negated by poor effort elsewhere, defense being the glaring obvious and being overly concerned with pounding the rock. To that, he's a very similar player to Barton, that he plays bad defense and he's too hyper focused on looking out for himself and his scoring.

Fair enough -- nor would I argue that Barton has been anything but BAD this year!
Really, what I was reacting to was seeing the words "kills ball movement" & "Barton vibes" right next to each other. I.e., I don't see how you can imagine he's played "selfishly" this year -- "poorly" is another matter; that's certainly true!

& it still seems kind of odd to criticize Nunn for his play last night. He came off the bench & turned 7 shots & 2 FTAs into 13 points. Given that he logged 6 assists your criticism that he "kills ball movement" didn't ring right either.

Minor matters all of this stuff.... Both Will Barton & Kendrick Nunn are likely to be gone soon....

[payitforward]

Watched the entire game…and I’ve been (along with PIF) Jackson’s most vocal fan on here since he was signed to training camp.

But his impact on last night’s game was minimal at best.

Most of this thread has been a tempest in a teapot, that's for sure!!

We lost an away game to the Golden State Warriors. What a shock! Such a surprise! How is it possible?

Nothing is definitive in this or any individual game.

Will Barton is not a villain.
He's just a veteran at the end of his career who can't sink a 2-point attempt this season. Other than that he's fine. He's not selfish, doesn't stop the ball, doesn't fail to give effort, etc.

Kendrick Nunn is neither a villain nor incompetent.
Zards is obviously right to praise a kid who goes undrafted yet makes it in the league. OTOH, no, Kendrick Nunn is not "a good player" by any set of objective measures. Not if "good" means "above average overall at his position.'

But, any player can have good games, & Nunn certainly had one last night. What is the point of failing to give him credit for it, I wonder.

Quenton Jackson is a kid with potential. It's enough just to recognize that.
He played 3 minutes last night. Took a shot & sank it. Good. Committed a foul. Less good. As to "impact on the game," that's just silly. It's not even praise, really.

[FAH1223]

Watched the entire game…and I’ve been (along with PIF) Jackson’s most vocal fan on here since he was signed to training camp.

But his impact on last night’s game was minimal at best.

Jackson was impactful in his 3 minutes. Whose fault is it that he didn’t play more? Whose fault is it that Goodwin collects DNPs? It wasn’t garbage time, it was the start of the 4th quarter. That lineup cut the lead to 7. Sub the starters back in and instantly it jumps to 16.

Deni was +13 and still played less than Kendrick Nunn who was -3, whose fault?? Why did Monte Morris(who was awful) play 29 minutes vs 19 for Wright? Wright is far and away the better player.

Everyone knows Unseld Jr is a mediocre coach. It’s clear as day that he has no idea how to manage a game or evaluate players. Most NBA coaches are not needle movers either, but there’s no reason to blindly defend an extremely mediocre coach.

Goodwin can't play anymore games on his 2-way contract.

Read on Twitter

[payitforward]

...Everyone knows Unseld Jr ...has no idea how to manage a game or evaluate players....

Tell me, Nat, do you really think you have the ability -- & enough knowledge of specific facts -- to make a statement like that?

You in particular, I mean -- you, a fan who watches the games on TV?

Or are you just venting an understandable frustration with the fact that the Washington Wizards are a pretty bad team?

[doclinkin]

It doesn’t really matter how many empty box score numbers Nunn puts up. He’s a net negative player.

According to mathematics, on the Wiz so far this is incorrect.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/n/nunnke01/on-off/2023

In his 190 minutes the Wiz are overall +15.6 with him on court. His empty box score numbers currently outpace his negative effect on defense by more than double (total 8.6 net on-off, even accounting for the +7 that opponents score with him on court).

Shrug. May be unsustainable, but the numbers currently like Wizards Nunn.

[Dolevi]

GSW is an above-level team to compete with. Too smart. Way too smart. They took advantage of our 2-big lineup with KP and Gafford, made them chase shooters with off-ball screens, That was a problem and they punished us. This is where this lineup meets his kryptonite.