Onus wrote:TB wrote:It's not the Steph minutes (or lack of minutes) that are the main problem.
- The problem is CP3's non Steph minutes to start the 4th were with: Podz, Wiggins, Klay, Trayce.. .they have a -52 net rating this year.
- The problem has continued to be trying to optimize splash bro minutes together, when the sad reality is they need to be split. Nobody has played more minutes with Steph than Klay, and he's been the worst net player with Steph this season.
- Moody/Saric/Loon have all been removed from the rotation even though there are plenty of scenarios they should be playing.
- Moody fits with almost any lineup and could get 10+ minutes a game just by splitting Steph and CP3/Klay.
- CP3/Klay/Saric without Steph are a +14 net... but again, this has been totally abandoned due to Saric struggling in other lineups and/or this lineup simply not being used for whatever reasons.
- Steph/Dray/Trayce is a positive. Steph/Dray/Loon w/o Klay is a positive. Yet we have gone away from Loon entirely and only now starting to utilize Dray/Trayce... but almost always with Klay which pushes him into those 30+ minute ranges again.
We know we have a good small ball unit with Steph/Podz/Wiggins/Kuminga/Dray. We know we can play Loon or Trayce with Steph/Dray and win minutes (especially w/o Klay). We know CP3/Klay/Dario can win non-Steph minutes. We know Moody can be a positive when given consistent minutes.
Yet, almost none of those things are happening since it would mean cutting Klay and CP3 minutes under 20 per game. Something Kerr has not been willing to do.
Kerr has been cutting cp's minutes. Cp only played 20 last night and hasn't played more than 24 since curry came back from injury.
Kerr hasn't found away to cut Klay's minutes so he's cutting Curry's minutes, which is hilarious.
After looking at the lineup data I have to say the idea that Curry and Klay need to be split is not entirely true. There seems to be a number of lineups where they are positive together but the key is Draymond. Klay basically only has a positive net rating in 2-man lineups with Draymond, CP3, and Kuminga and barely at that. Despite the murmurs of Klay and TJD having some kind of connection it certainly isn't showing up in the numbers, that pair is actually pretty bad.
Your point that Moody, Saric, and Looney have uses in certain situations should be heeded. CP3 and Looney units look like they merit more exploration. Moody being good in just about any lineup might be true in many cases but not in ones where you are trying to fit him in with any two of CP3, Klay or TJD. I've been trying to find promising lineups with those three guys together and have been failing. It's slim picking with even just two of them but among the more promising ideas for CP3 and TJD together are lineups with Saric mirroring your point that Saric looks playable with CP3 and Klay.
Some of the positive lineups that I saw when trying to find ones a combination of CP3, Klay or TJD might play in follow. Podziemski is prominent in nearly all of them indicating to me the vital need for a secondary playmaker.
(Numbers are games, minutes, offensive rating, defensive rating, net rating)
C. Paul - J. Kuminga - M. Moody - T. Jackson-Davis - B. Podziemski
5 22 122.2 107.0 15.2
C. Paul - K. Thompson - D. Green - T. Jackson-Davis - B. Podziemski
5 18 137.1 110.3 26.9
S. Curry - K. Thompson - J. Kuminga - T. Jackson-Davis - B. Podziemski
9 18 120.0 93.0 27.0
K. Thompson - J. Kuminga - T. Jackson-Davis - L. Quinones - B. Podziemski
5 17 110.3 97.4 12.9
C. Paul - K. Thompson - K. Looney - J. Kuminga - B. Podziemski
2 14 131.0 86.7 44.4
C. Paul - S. Curry - A. Wiggins - J. Kuminga - T. Jackson-Davis
5 13 134.5 113.8 20.7
C. Paul - D. Saric - G. Payton II - T. Jackson-Davis - B. Podziemski
2 12 129.2 79.2 50.0
C. Paul - D. Saric - M. Moody - T. Jackson-Davis - B. Podziemski
3 11 131.8 50.0 81.8