Pulse check : Thoughts on Darko?

[BetterCallSaul]

The first 10-15 games were very very bad. The next handful were less bad but still bad. Since then, the issue has been more about:

-roster turnover
-Poeltl being hurt and having no NBA caliber backup center

The offence looks much better but there are some issues there in terms of figuring out roles. I think Darko sometimes is too guard heavy in how he wants to run things. But overall, I’m not mad about the offence anymore. In fact, I’m pretty happy with the offence most nights.

The defence has been mostly trash this season, but I’ve noticed some system improvements over the past two weeks. The biggest flash of improvement was the first half of that OKC game where we looked very very good on D. So we know we can get there. It’s now just a matter of getting there consistently.

Finally, I want to see better game management down the stretch. We have definitely given away a handful of games due to having the wrong guys on the court or not being deliberate enough with our possessions at the end of games.

Overall, there is clear growth from early in the season. I’m not sold but I don’t think he’s as bad as people think he is either. He’s just in a situation where the team is bad and nobody wants to blame the young players for not being good enough yet so the blame has to fall somewhere.

If Darko was absolutely perfect, at best we are a .500 team.

He deserves the rest of the year to show what he can do with a roster somewhat suited to his coaching style and with no more absurd turnover.
The benefits of trading OG and Pascal in December were that it gives the Knicks and Pacers a longer "runway" with those guys. The downside for us is it extended the roster uncertainty and transactional portion of the season. We basically had a month of clown ball with injuries and guys waiting to be traded.

[YogurtProducer]

This is also ignoring that FVV is a lot better than Schroder.

What would nurse do with Scotties improved 3pt shot?

I dunno but Scottie hated the man. Nick Nurse is a good coach. He's like Thibs, don't hire him if you aren't gonna have veterans running the show because he will grind guys down eventually.

Seems like Scottie hates a lot of people at this point. I do not buy a lot of those rumors, but if they are true it reflects more on Scottie than anyone else.

[agkagk]

What would nurse do with Scotties improved 3pt shot?

I dunno but Scottie hated the man. Nick Nurse is a good coach. He's like Thibs, don't hire him if you aren't gonna have veterans running the show because he will grind guys down eventually.

Seems like Scottie hates a lot of people at this point. I do not buy a lot of those rumors, but if they are true it reflects more on Scottie than anyone else.

I honestly dont think the veterans respect scottie

Fred, the look in pascals eye, brown literally immediately refusing his defensive assignment in the starting lineup.


I think this is the reason veterans like schroder, kelly and jakob were brought in — theyre team first guys

[YogurtProducer]

I dunno but Scottie hated the man. Nick Nurse is a good coach. He's like Thibs, don't hire him if you aren't gonna have veterans running the show because he will grind guys down eventually.

Seems like Scottie hates a lot of people at this point. I do not buy a lot of those rumors, but if they are true it reflects more on Scottie than anyone else.

I honestly dont think the veterans respect scottie

Fred, the look in pascals eye, brown literally immediately refusing his defensive assignment in the starting lineup.


I think this is the reason veterans like schroder, kelly and jakob were brought in — theyre team first guys

If that is true, which I doubt has anything to do with being a vet vs rookie or whatever, then Scottie needs to grow in that area.

[agkagk]

Seems like Scottie hates a lot of people at this point. I do not buy a lot of those rumors, but if they are true it reflects more on Scottie than anyone else.

I honestly dont think the veterans respect scottie

Fred, the look in pascals eye, brown literally immediately refusing his defensive assignment in the starting lineup.


I think this is the reason veterans like schroder, kelly and jakob were brought in — theyre team first guys

If that is true, which I doubt has anything to do with being a vet vs rookie or whatever, then Scottie needs to grow in that area.

I was trying to be a bit subtle; yes scottie needs to grow, but the american ball culture is veteran centric.

Like its still normal for guys with 100 million dollar contracts to try and make rookies and guys with non guarantees carry their bags and buy them meals that cost tens of thousands.


Its hard for the veteran stars and bruce brown apparently (eff bruce brown btw) to acquiesce to a younger player.


Hence management calling pascal selfish (he done changed).

[YogurtProducer]

I honestly dont think the veterans respect scottie

Fred, the look in pascals eye, brown literally immediately refusing his defensive assignment in the starting lineup.


I think this is the reason veterans like schroder, kelly and jakob were brought in — theyre team first guys

If that is true, which I doubt has anything to do with being a vet vs rookie or whatever, then Scottie needs to grow in that area.

I was trying to be a bit subtle; yes scottie needs to grow, but the american ball culture is veteran centric.

Like its still normal for guys with 100 million dollar contracts to try and make rookies and guys with non guarantees carry their bags and buy them meals that cost tens of thousands.


Its hard for the veteran stars and bruce brown apparently (eff bruce brown btw) to acquiesce to a younger player.


Hence management calling pascal selfish (he done changed).

What are you talking about in terms of Bruce Brown?

[agkagk]

If that is true, which I doubt has anything to do with being a vet vs rookie or whatever, then Scottie needs to grow in that area.

I was trying to be a bit subtle; yes scottie needs to grow, but the american ball culture is veteran centric.

Like its still normal for guys with 100 million dollar contracts to try and make rookies and guys with non guarantees carry their bags and buy them meals that cost tens of thousands.


Its hard for the veteran stars and bruce brown apparently (eff bruce brown btw) to acquiesce to a younger player.


Hence management calling pascal selfish (he done changed).

What are you talking about in terms of Bruce Brown?

The rockets game, where we let up probably 25 straight line driving layups.

Brown was tasked with point of attack perimeter defence.


Ole!

The matador was literally smirking and looking at the spot on the floor one step away where he expected the drive to occur.


He turned into a smirking matador.


I hope he enjoys playing 20 minutes a night!

[BetterCallSaul]

What would nurse do with Scotties improved 3pt shot?

I dunno but Scottie hated the man. Nick Nurse is a good coach. He's like Thibs, don't hire him if you aren't gonna have veterans running the show because he will grind guys down eventually.

Seems like Scottie hates a lot of people at this point. I do not buy a lot of those rumors, but if they are true it reflects more on Scottie than anyone else.

Not sure how much he really hated Fred, Pascal, Dennis etc. Maybe there was just normal NBA tension that was magnified by the fans and Fred's awful shooting slump last year. But it's pretty clear he hated Nick. Didn't acknowledge him when we faced them, when asked about seeing him after the game he gave some very awkward/pointed "yeah, i saw him" type of answer.

[BetterCallSaul]

I was trying to be a bit subtle; yes scottie needs to grow, but the american ball culture is veteran centric.

Like its still normal for guys with 100 million dollar contracts to try and make rookies and guys with non guarantees carry their bags and buy them meals that cost tens of thousands.


Its hard for the veteran stars and bruce brown apparently (eff bruce brown btw) to acquiesce to a younger player.


Hence management calling pascal selfish (he done changed).

What are you talking about in terms of Bruce Brown?

The rockets game, where we let up probably 25 straight line driving layups.

Brown was tasked with point of attack perimeter defence.


Ole!

The matador was literally smirking and looking at the spot on the floor one step away where he expected the drive to occur.


He turned into a smirking matador.


I hope he enjoys playing 20 minutes a night!

I find it odd that you attribute Bruce's unmotivated defence with Scottie? I guess you mean he doesn't respect Scottie as a leader? I think it has way more with Bruce being plopped on a tanking team with a 50% chance of needing to pack his bags within 3 weeks. I'm expecting him to stop giving up non stop blow bys now that he knows he's here for the season.

[agkagk]

What are you talking about in terms of Bruce Brown?

The rockets game, where we let up probably 25 straight line driving layups.

Brown was tasked with point of attack perimeter defence.


Ole!

The matador was literally smirking and looking at the spot on the floor one step away where he expected the drive to occur.


He turned into a smirking matador.


I hope he enjoys playing 20 minutes a night!

I find it odd that you attribute Bruce's unmotivated defence with Scottie? I guess you mean he doesn't respect Scottie as a leader? I think it has way more with Bruce being plopped on a tanking team with a 50% chance of needing to pack his bags within 3 weeks. I'm expecting him to stop giving up non stop blow bys now that he knows he's here for the season.

True.


Thats a great example of the cultural differences im referencing.


Look how dennis handled being benched on a last place team — his effort and intensity show hes trying to win every set and play.


Look how jakobs handled himself.


Look how brown immediately went into business for himself and compare it to how kelly’s going to carry himself with us.


Browns effort and attitude show he feels hes above the team and the culture which scottie is both the face and head of.


Absolutely hes disrespected scottie and the entire team and management and fan base.

Were just used to it lol

[BetterCallSaul]

The rockets game, where we let up probably 25 straight line driving layups.

Brown was tasked with point of attack perimeter defence.


Ole!

The matador was literally smirking and looking at the spot on the floor one step away where he expected the drive to occur.


He turned into a smirking matador.


I hope he enjoys playing 20 minutes a night!

I find it odd that you attribute Bruce's unmotivated defence with Scottie? I guess you mean he doesn't respect Scottie as a leader? I think it has way more with Bruce being plopped on a tanking team with a 50% chance of needing to pack his bags within 3 weeks. I'm expecting him to stop giving up non stop blow bys now that he knows he's here for the season.

True.


Thats a great example of the cultural differences im referencing.


Look how dennis handled being benched on a last place team — his effort and intensity show hes trying to win every set and play.


Look how jakobs handled himself.


Look how brown immediately went into business for himself and compare it to how kelly’s going to carry himself with us.


Browns effort and attitude show he feels hes above the team and the culture which scottie is both the face and head of.


Absolutely hes disrespected scottie and the entire team and management and fan base.

Were just used to it lol

I agree with you, but I also believe this organization was a bit of a clown show the last month and I'll give him the rest of the year to redeem himself.

RE: Dennis. Yes, he tried to be a good leader but at the end of the day he came here to be a starter and made public comments about how he wanted to be a starter and now he got traded evidently because he was upset that he wasn't starting anymore.

[YogurtProducer]

The rockets game, where we let up probably 25 straight line driving layups.

Brown was tasked with point of attack perimeter defence.


Ole!

The matador was literally smirking and looking at the spot on the floor one step away where he expected the drive to occur.


He turned into a smirking matador.


I hope he enjoys playing 20 minutes a night!

I find it odd that you attribute Bruce's unmotivated defence with Scottie? I guess you mean he doesn't respect Scottie as a leader? I think it has way more with Bruce being plopped on a tanking team with a 50% chance of needing to pack his bags within 3 weeks. I'm expecting him to stop giving up non stop blow bys now that he knows he's here for the season.

True.


Thats a great example of the cultural differences im referencing.


Look how dennis handled being benched on a last place team — his effort and intensity show hes trying to win every set and play.


Look how jakobs handled himself.


Look how brown immediately went into business for himself and compare it to how kelly’s going to carry himself with us.


Browns effort and attitude show he feels hes above the team and the culture which scottie is both the face and head of.


Absolutely hes disrespected scottie and the entire team and management and fan base.

Were just used to it lol

I think you are looking waaaay to hard into something that is not there.

What we saw was a guy who thought he was gonna be traded in 10 days from a team he just got to. I would be unmotivated to really work as well.

[agkagk]

I find it odd that you attribute Bruce's unmotivated defence with Scottie? I guess you mean he doesn't respect Scottie as a leader? I think it has way more with Bruce being plopped on a tanking team with a 50% chance of needing to pack his bags within 3 weeks. I'm expecting him to stop giving up non stop blow bys now that he knows he's here for the season.

True.


Thats a great example of the cultural differences im referencing.


Look how dennis handled being benched on a last place team — his effort and intensity show hes trying to win every set and play.


Look how jakobs handled himself.


Look how brown immediately went into business for himself and compare it to how kelly’s going to carry himself with us.


Browns effort and attitude show he feels hes above the team and the culture which scottie is both the face and head of.


Absolutely hes disrespected scottie and the entire team and management and fan base.

Were just used to it lol

I agree with you, but I also believe this organization was a bit of a clown show the last month and I'll give him the rest of the year to redeem himself.

RE: Dennis. Yes, he tried to be a good leader but at the end of the day he came here to be a starter and made public comments about how he wanted to be a starter and now he got traded evidently because he was upset that he wasn't starting anymore.

Dennis never took a play off and never said one thing or acted poorly once — i think masai demonstrated his political acumen by doing right by dennis and landing him a high profile starters role — lets be real dennis could have netted us expirings and a late first.

You know, i was thinking on it and i think some of it falls on darko — re: youre clown shoe comment and as someone, possibly you, already mentioned, browns bags are packed.


Perhaps it was ignorant for darko to put brown in the stopper role. Look how often og gets banged up, let alone legit injured.


I think, in hindsite, maybe darko needs to do a better job of reading the characters. Perhaps he set up barnes to look bad with brown. Perhaps!

I saw similar lack of foresight when he immediately started quickley.

The smart play was start one new starter, the veteran rj next to schroder for continuity’s sake and let quickley whos been chomping at the bit for this opportunity to study the starters for a few games ajd get comfortable before schroder passed the baton.

[BetterCallSaul]

True.


Thats a great example of the cultural differences im referencing.


Look how dennis handled being benched on a last place team — his effort and intensity show hes trying to win every set and play.


Look how jakobs handled himself.


Look how brown immediately went into business for himself and compare it to how kelly’s going to carry himself with us.


Browns effort and attitude show he feels hes above the team and the culture which scottie is both the face and head of.


Absolutely hes disrespected scottie and the entire team and management and fan base.

Were just used to it lol

I agree with you, but I also believe this organization was a bit of a clown show the last month and I'll give him the rest of the year to redeem himself.

RE: Dennis. Yes, he tried to be a good leader but at the end of the day he came here to be a starter and made public comments about how he wanted to be a starter and now he got traded evidently because he was upset that he wasn't starting anymore.

Dennis never took a play off and never said one thing or acted poorly once — i think masai demonstrated his political acumen by doing right by dennis and landing him a high profile starters role — lets be real dennis could have netted us expirings and a late first.

You know, i was thinking on it and i think some of it falls on darko — re: youre clown shoe comment and as someone, possibly you, already mentioned, browns bags are packed.


Perhaps it was ignorant for darko to put brown in the stopper role. Look how often og gets banged up, let alone legit injured.


I think, in hindsite, maybe darko needs to do a better job of reading the characters. Perhaps he set up barnes to look bad with brown. Perhaps!

I saw similar lack of foresight when he immediately started quickley.

The smart play was start one new starter, the veteran rj next to schroder for continuity’s sake and let quickley whos been chomping at the bit for this opportunity to study the starters for a few games ajd get comfortable before schroder passed the baton.

Schroder made several public comments and he also signed with the Lakers on the condition he would be a starter. He's always wanted to be a starter. It's his #1 priority. He put himself above the team at the end of the day

[agkagk]

I find it odd that you attribute Bruce's unmotivated defence with Scottie? I guess you mean he doesn't respect Scottie as a leader? I think it has way more with Bruce being plopped on a tanking team with a 50% chance of needing to pack his bags within 3 weeks. I'm expecting him to stop giving up non stop blow bys now that he knows he's here for the season.

True.


Thats a great example of the cultural differences im referencing.


Look how dennis handled being benched on a last place team — his effort and intensity show hes trying to win every set and play.


Look how jakobs handled himself.


Look how brown immediately went into business for himself and compare it to how kelly’s going to carry himself with us.


Browns effort and attitude show he feels hes above the team and the culture which scottie is both the face and head of.


Absolutely hes disrespected scottie and the entire team and management and fan base.

Were just used to it lol

I think you are looking waaaay to hard into something that is not there.

What we saw was a guy who thought he was gonna be traded in 10 days from a team he just got to. I would be unmotivated to really work as well.

Dude.


Our coach is naive to tell a guy we just acquired and plan to immediately trade to go get beat up like og so scottie can look good and stay fresh.

In turn, browns reaction is disrespectful to scottie.

Ole!

I dont think im overreading into thing.

But discussing it with you is making me see that darko needs to do a better job of managing personalities.

It was unfair of us to ask brown to take on og’s role of government mule.

The fallout: The last houston game was an embarrassment.

[agkagk]

I agree with you, but I also believe this organization was a bit of a clown show the last month and I'll give him the rest of the year to redeem himself.

RE: Dennis. Yes, he tried to be a good leader but at the end of the day he came here to be a starter and made public comments about how he wanted to be a starter and now he got traded evidently because he was upset that he wasn't starting anymore.

Dennis never took a play off and never said one thing or acted poorly once — i think masai demonstrated his political acumen by doing right by dennis and landing him a high profile starters role — lets be real dennis could have netted us expirings and a late first.

You know, i was thinking on it and i think some of it falls on darko — re: youre clown shoe comment and as someone, possibly you, already mentioned, browns bags are packed.


Perhaps it was ignorant for darko to put brown in the stopper role. Look how often og gets banged up, let alone legit injured.


I think, in hindsite, maybe darko needs to do a better job of reading the characters. Perhaps he set up barnes to look bad with brown. Perhaps!

I saw similar lack of foresight when he immediately started quickley.

The smart play was start one new starter, the veteran rj next to schroder for continuity’s sake and let quickley whos been chomping at the bit for this opportunity to study the starters for a few games ajd get comfortable before schroder passed the baton.

Schroder made several public comments and he also signed with the Lakers on the condition he would be a starter. He's always wanted to be a starter. It's his #1 priority. He put himself above the team at the end of the day

Ya he said that before signing.

I dont recall him acting out publicly in any way while he was here.

What did he say or do during his tenure in toronto to give you the impression he put himself above the team?

[YogurtProducer]

True.


Thats a great example of the cultural differences im referencing.


Look how dennis handled being benched on a last place team — his effort and intensity show hes trying to win every set and play.


Look how jakobs handled himself.


Look how brown immediately went into business for himself and compare it to how kelly’s going to carry himself with us.


Browns effort and attitude show he feels hes above the team and the culture which scottie is both the face and head of.


Absolutely hes disrespected scottie and the entire team and management and fan base.

Were just used to it lol

I think you are looking waaaay to hard into something that is not there.

What we saw was a guy who thought he was gonna be traded in 10 days from a team he just got to. I would be unmotivated to really work as well.

Dude.


Our coach is naive to tell a guy we just acquired and plan to immediately trade to go get beat up like og so scottie can look good and stay fresh.

In turn, browns reaction is disrespectful to scottie.

Ole!

I dont think im overreading into thing.

But discussing it with you is making me see that darko needs to do a better job of managing personalities.

It was unfair of us to ask brown to take on og’s role of government mule.

The fallout: The last houston game was an embarrassment.

I just don’t see how Scottie is even involved in this

[agkagk]

I think you are looking waaaay to hard into something that is not there.

What we saw was a guy who thought he was gonna be traded in 10 days from a team he just got to. I would be unmotivated to really work as well.

Dude.


Our coach is naive to tell a guy we just acquired and plan to immediately trade to go get beat up like og so scottie can look good and stay fresh.

In turn, browns reaction is disrespectful to scottie.

Ole!

I dont think im overreading into thing.

But discussing it with you is making me see that darko needs to do a better job of managing personalities.

It was unfair of us to ask brown to take on og’s role of government mule.

The fallout: The last houston game was an embarrassment.

I just don’t see how Scottie is even involved in this

Idk they stand beside each other on the court maybe focus on that mental image for a bit haha

[Scase]

The first 10-15 games were very very bad. The next handful were less bad but still bad. Since then, the issue has been more about:

-roster turnover
-Poeltl being hurt and having no NBA caliber backup center

The offence looks much better but there are some issues there in terms of figuring out roles. I think Darko sometimes is too guard heavy in how he wants to run things. But overall, I’m not mad about the offence anymore. In fact, I’m pretty happy with the offence most nights.

The defence has been mostly trash this season, but I’ve noticed some system improvements over the past two weeks. The biggest flash of improvement was the first half of that OKC game where we looked very very good on D. So we know we can get there. It’s now just a matter of getting there consistently.

Finally, I want to see better game management down the stretch. We have definitely given away a handful of games due to having the wrong guys on the court or not being deliberate enough with our possessions at the end of games.

Overall, there is clear growth from early in the season. I’m not sold but I don’t think he’s as bad as people think he is either. He’s just in a situation where the team is bad and nobody wants to blame the young players for not being good enough yet so the blame has to fall somewhere.

If Darko was absolutely perfect, at best we are a .500 team.

Roster instability is the biggest factor, you've got guys coming in and out, and other guys knowing they are on the move, and just dogging it. Hopefully we will see some better play in the rest of the season. The games are already more enjoyable to watch now, I fully expect some stinkers as we go, but I'll expect that to be more the result of development than just bad systems.