Post#11 » by G R E Y » Sun Dec 13, 2020 5:35 am
lol fair enough, gump, it's just after all that talk about LMA fitting in with the team and then force feeding him a career-high 10 3 attempts, his hitting a whopping 3 was one thing. The utter lack of effort in finding players to box out, the getting beaten on drives, the lack effort contesting shots was abysmal. It's like he took shooting 3s and stripped it to the worst version, doing nothing else but.
He was better in the second half. But I just hope this wasn't passive aggressive LMA returning. We can't afford 10 first games of him getting acclimated and accepting his role before he decides to give it his all. That's what bothered me - he knows he can do better and give more but the first half was a low GAF level.
DD was a half court player again. Part of it was having two new starters again in Rudy and Jakob. Rudy at the 3 was fine going against other Spurs but this was a reality check in his going up against quicker opponents. He was the leading starting scorer but was -8, second worst behind DeMar's -10. He hit a 3, but I know better than to expect this in the regular season.
The combination of the three vets in the starting line-up with LMA in a new role made for some confusing D missed assignments - sometimes the switches didn't pan out, other times the middle part of the key, long established as the no-go zone under Pop as we've always tried to force guys to drive out not in, was a welcome mat. Jesus.
With the three vets in the starting line-up we went away from what was so successful in the bubble for us and that was a downer. I can accept it given that Lonnie is just coming off back spasms and has barely practiced with the team. He only played 13 minutes so he was brought along slowly. Ok. He's shown some nice progress in working on his handles in the off-season and hopefully we get to see some more of his game.
Hopefully this three-vet line-up was just for this one game, or just so Lonnie gets his wind in him. I'd much rather see a DJ-Lonnie-DD-LMA-Jakob or DJ-Lonnie-DD-Trey-Jakob starting group, and that's only because it seems we absolutely have to start LMA for some reason (probably so he doesn't go into full blown passive aggressive mode). As it stands, we are once again in that in-between place of going half pushing the ball and half half-court play.
We didn't run back on D, we didn't run on O, got our assignments on D mixed up, didn't communicate, etc., etc., especially in the first half.
Luka needs to actually play with players who will get him the ball so he has more than 4 shots in 12 minutes. He seems to try to do too much with the few chances he gets. In the final game of the bubble, he settled in after some early nerves because he wasn't just an afterthought on the court. He's got too many tools to just be the garbage cleanup guy. I think he's worked hard to get stronger, he switched well on D even though he got caught a couple of times going under screens which burned him, and on O it looked like he tried too much with the few O chances he got. Pokusevski shot it 12 times in 23 minutes. His teammates got him the ball. Would Luka have gone 1-9 like Trey did? I think Luka has a far more pure shot. Trey was too tentative time and again in trying to guide his shots in rather than letting them fly. People talk about a lack of confidence and intensity with Luka but Trey is in his fifth year and is showing the same issues. He got starter minutes at 23 yet was the worst shooter of the night and that's saying a lot.
Devin flat out is a baller. He defends well, drives without hesitating, has a great 3 shot form, rebounds, moves the ball, and even led us at the FT line going 4-5 - just a terrific all around performance, all the more impressive given this was his first ever pro game.
I agree with gump about Keita - bigger than I thought, and has some nice moves. Cam showed well, too, looking for his shot, trying to make a good impression.
DJ shot poorly, but unlike gump I thought he showed a tighter handle and better court vision. I think he's burning to show more, but we're maddeningly going to LMA time and again to get him involved even if it hurts the team.
Despite his inexplicable 0-4 FTs, Jakob was a terrific rebounder (10) and shot blocker (4!) also going 3-3FGAs. It was a solid performance next to LMA who once again took up so much of the O focus.
Patty was as promised - FIBA version, looked for his shots, led us in FGAs (16, tying LMA) and points (24).
I guess I was hoping we'd continue where we left off in the bubble and would run a lot more than the shoehorned version of sticking the half-court into a transition game that DOES NOT WORK. We know because we got burned by it last season. I hope this was just some attempt at getting the legs under the guys. I hope we go back to our transition game. We played an opponent with an almost completely different roster, our advantage is supposed to be our continuity with most of the same roster, yet they looked the more cohesive team. They pushed the ball, we were slow in getting back on D, they ran P&Rs we didn't communicate on coverage, they drove and kicked and we kept giving away open shots with late coverage as if seeing each shot for the first time.
WE NEED BUBBLE BALL. Whatever it takes. Even if it takes bringing LMA off the bench which will never happen, but I'm so over appeasing him. Already little patience for him and it's just the first game.
Here's what I think we need: DJ, Lonnie, DD, Trey, Jakob ultimately, until Derrick and Keldon return. Rudy needs to be a 4 coming from the bench; LMA can be with him there if he doesn't feel like hustling from the get-go; shorter minutes, hopefully conserve some energy for greater impact.
Simply put: something's off about the energy of the team with both LMA and DD on the court together again. We handed things over to the young guys only for LMA especially and DD to dominate the conversation again. I think LMA has to accept a smaller role not just a different one, and the young guys need to be fully given the green light to take over.
When Derrick returns, DJ, Derrick, DD, Trey, Jakob - fast, versatile, solid D if not enough 3 shooting. Small ball DJ, Derrick, Keldon, DD, Jakob is solid, too. I just thought / hoped we'd see something cohesive after all that talk about the new style of play taking over. I also was surprised we got beaten down the court on D a lot and didn't show the defensive intensity in the bubble. I will try not to make too much of the way we played with two new starters (again) but we simply MUST decide on the transition style of play and stick to it, no matter who is in the line-up.
On to the next one.
