GT: Wizards @ Nets - 01/03/21, 6pm EST

[NyCeEvO]

I have zero problems with Nash. Rotations aren’t the problem. Going deeper into the bench (i.e. giving worse players more minutes) isn’t going to help. The only slight adjustment I would consider is having Chiozza run more backup PG since Caris doesn’t organize the unit well at all.

IMO, the issue is personnel, not coaching. I was clamoring for a 3&D wing and another 4/5 man during the offseason because I always felt that we were missing a wing defender who can cover 2s, 3s, & 4s as well as players who can actually fight for contested rebounds.

[Paradise]

Nash has to seriously work on rotations, timeouts. Among other things but it’s glaring as hell.

Also, there is no point in trying to send guards to the paint if they won’t be met with any resistance from Jordan.

He should never see the floor once Claxton is healthy..

The claxton stuff needs to just die. he is a d-league long shot that is a horrific rim protector/rebounder at the 5. he shouldnt see 1 second of real minutes this year

DJ: 0 4th quarter minutes
Allen: 3 4th quarter minutes

[DarkXaero]

I have zero problems with Nash. Rotations aren’t the problem. Going deeper into the bench (i.e. giving worse players more minutes) isn’t going to help. The only slight adjustment I would consider is having Chiozza run more backup PG since Caris doesn’t organize the unit well at all.

IMO, the issue is personnel, not coaching.

I don't think this is true. We have a legitimate rotation player in Tyler Johnson who is buried on the bench. TJ used to be a 6th man in Miami, and I realize that he had an awful year & a half before signing with us, but he played quite well for us in the bubble. He's a secondary shot creator/ball handler who can shoot off the dribble. We also have Bruce Brown who started 43 out of 58 games for the Pistons last season, and he's probably the best perimeter defender on the entire roster. He's a subpar player offensively, but he can make the corner 3, and he has some ball handling/playmaking ability as well. Then you already mentioned Chiozza.

Those are 3 options, that can all be tried over Shamet or the over reliance on Levert, who has arguably been the worst player in our rotation.

[CalamityX12]

Rotation needs to change
Including going deeper into the bench, play the cheese, TJ, Perry, Kurocs(he was a starter not long ago),Brown(did we trade a cheerleader for another cheerleader?)
Game plan needs major renovation

I expect a fallout after this.....

Thank you, this is exactly what I said last game. But your boy Prok over here saying that is a knee jerk reaction and only a overreacting child would do that . We can't keep expecting heavy minutes to these guys this early in the season. And it seems like every game we have to fight to win and it comes down to the wire, except for our 1st 2 wins. It can be energy draining real quick.

Yea, its not like this is our 1st loss in 7 games, this is our 4th loss in 5 games... The last 5 games, we lost 4 of them and this one, can’t blame shooting 2 for 239 from 3, it was not good basketball.

Miscommunication, poor attention, effort displayed is not that of a title contender by far, too much reliance of KD n KI by the 7th game... we were struggling vs the Wizards(no offense), we struggled against the Grizzlies without Morant(no offfense), we struggled vs the Hornets.. the ATL ok, a conference leader apparently that we split....

Not seeing improvements... we are not a team rebuilding, we signed the max stars, traded away future assets for current personnel, added coaches with high profile backgrounds and made a never before coach rookie as a head coach in what should be a window for the Conference title contention....

It’s not like the Wiz played us hard and we tip our cap, they weren’t impressive, we were bad to make them look better...

Also, over relying and killing KD n KI with high usage doesn’t feel long term wise.... not to mention now what would be automatic losses if they both sit out....

It all went down hill sitting both in game 4.

[gigantes]

Nash has to seriously work on rotations, timeouts. Among other things but it’s glaring as hell.

Also, there is no point in trying to send guards to the paint if they won’t be met with any resistance from Jordan.

He should never see the floor once Claxton is healthy..

The claxton stuff needs to just die. he is a d-league long shot that is a horrific rim protector/rebounder at the 5. he shouldnt see 1 second of real minutes this year

media3.giphy.com/media/l4pTsh45Dg7jnDM6Q/giphy.gif

That just seems like an absurdly premature take, though.

Clax has demonstrated to me repeatedly that he's a beast of a player, mostly limited by his frailness. Sure he's gonna have his weaknesses no matter what, but he really takes it to a defense in ways that DeJordan and Fro are nowhere close to IMO. He also just might be an incredibly active high-switcher on D, which is worth something, too.

[Stone]

Where do you even start......

• Poor Shot selection, settling for low percentage shots

• Passing was atrocious, again we look unprepared and predictable.

• We are lacking athleticism and play with low energy.

• Nash has been horrific. Why did he not call a time out at the 3 minute mark.

• Why did Kyrie have to take it upon himself to call a time out earlier ?

• Why did he leave Jay on the bench when the Wiz had their last possession?

• Like Rucco said......settle down and get a clean look

• Way too many turnovers, they also had double the amount of our steals. Triple on the turnovers. They took 104 shots we took 81.

• This team is too good to be this bad.

[Paradise]

This is flat out embarrassing from a team that won 33 games without Kyrie, KD. It’s almost like they look star struck on the floor and our offensive sets aren’t actually any too different from Kenny’s system minus the iso ball from Kyrie, KD.

This isn’t remotely a playoff level defense whatsoever and the bench isn’t giving any offensive punch to mask the horrific interior D, rebounds and overall physical effort. Guess who we see next? Gobert, Favors and Embiid, Howard.

[Paradise]

The claxton stuff needs to just die. he is a d-league long shot that is a horrific rim protector/rebounder at the 5. he shouldnt see 1 second of real minutes this year

media3.giphy.com/media/l4pTsh45Dg7jnDM6Q/giphy.gif

That just seems like an absurdly premature take, though.

Clax has demonstrated to me repeatedly that he's a beast of a player, mostly limited by his frailness. Sure he's gonna have his weaknesses no matter what, but he really takes it to a defense in ways that DeJordan and Fro are nowhere close to IMO. He also just might be an incredibly active high-switcher on D, which is worth something, too.

He also spaces the floor and we can’t get the with DJ or Allen which makes their poor rebounding and interior D in key moments even worse.

[NetsJets]

Wish we had a guy that can play with his back to the basket. Oh wait KD can...

[Paradise]

Caris on every pull up

[Shark]

media3.giphy.com/media/l4pTsh45Dg7jnDM6Q/giphy.gif

That just seems like an absurdly premature take, though.

Clax has demonstrated to me repeatedly that he's a beast of a player, mostly limited by his frailness. Sure he's gonna have his weaknesses no matter what, but he really takes it to a defense in ways that DeJordan and Fro are nowhere close to IMO. He also just might be an incredibly active high-switcher on D, which is worth something, too.

He also spaces the floor and we can’t get the with DJ or Allen which makes their poor rebounding and interior D in key moments even worse.

I mean, if you want spacing you might as well go with Green as a small ball 5. Claxton isn't the answer at the 5 as much as I like him. Maybe you could give him some spot minutes at the 4 if Prince continues to be poor.

[CalamityX12]

I have zero problems with Nash. Rotations aren’t the problem. Going deeper into the bench (i.e. giving worse players more minutes) isn’t going to help. The only slight adjustment I would consider is having Chiozza run more backup PG since Caris doesn’t organize the unit well at all.

IMO, the issue is personnel, not coaching. I was clamoring for a 3&D wing and another 4/5 man during the offseason because I always felt that we were missing a wing defender who can cover 2s, 3s, & 4s as well as players who can actually fight for contested rebounds.

Rotations do play a big part... going deep into the bench does serves its benefits, some guys can be hits some guys could be misses. Before the injury, the then current rotations had TLC seeing no action in competitive minutes(so we’re not counting blowout playtime).

Unfortunately to the injury to Dinwiddie and the massive letdown from Shamet thus far, TLC got a chance and look what we have? TLC is now, maybe forced, a real contributor. We wouldn’t have had the other conditions not fell thru. Far from perfect but he’s an example of getting his call.

Now to us fans, Caris as the lone option to lead a unit himself isn’t working. Not passing the eye test and its relflective on the scoreboard and now in the Ws n Ls.... he needs a primary ball handler next to him to efficiently play his game. even in the bubble he also had a cheese and TJ(short period Crawford) helping him. That could be solved be either handling the split time with KD n KI so that KI can play with Levert as KD rests or bring on the Cheese(who also did admirable in the MEM gm) or TJ.... we lost Spencer, we need to bring up the others. Brown is another guy too....

Also the timeouts... he needs to work on... he’ll learn hopefully

[Paradise]

That just seems like an absurdly premature take, though.

Clax has demonstrated to me repeatedly that he's a beast of a player, mostly limited by his frailness. Sure he's gonna have his weaknesses no matter what, but he really takes it to a defense in ways that DeJordan and Fro are nowhere close to IMO. He also just might be an incredibly active high-switcher on D, which is worth something, too.

He also spaces the floor and we can’t get the with DJ or Allen which makes their poor rebounding and interior D in key moments even worse.

I mean, if you want spacing you might as well go with Green as a small ball 5. Claxton isn't the answer at the 5 as much as I like him. Maybe you could give him some spot minutes at the 4 if Prince continues to be poor.

Claxton hasn’t seen the floor since he got injured last season and he was so good we ran lineups with him and Allen in the front court. I don’t expect him to fix our woes but Claxton could actually switch on guards, block shots and hit outside shots. It’s something to think about going forward.

We’re paying DJ around 10 million to sit on the bench. We could dish out a matched offer for Allen worth over 60 million and he disappears on key possessions and it’s been happening since the Sixers series. He still is inconsistent despite a nice stat line. Don’t get me started on Caris...

It’s not a thing to overlook when we have to pay this guy long term while having a kid with a rookie salary on the roster rehabbing with a similar skill set on a contender.

[CalamityX12]

We need new injection... legs, energy, a team desire to win a game.... looking like Mean Girls out there with everyone having their own agenda

[NyCeEvO]

I have zero problems with Nash. Rotations aren’t the problem. Going deeper into the bench (i.e. giving worse players more minutes) isn’t going to help. The only slight adjustment I would consider is having Chiozza run more backup PG since Caris doesn’t organize the unit well at all.

IMO, the issue is personnel, not coaching.

I don't think this is true. We have a legitimate rotation player in Tyler Johnson who is buried on the bench. TJ used to be a 6th man in Miami, and I realize that he had an awful year & a half before signing with us, but he played quite well for us in the bubble. He's a secondary shot creator/ball handler who can shoot off the dribble.

We also have Bruce Brown who started 43 out of 58 games for the Pistons last season, and he's probably the best perimeter defender on the entire roster. He's a subpar player offensively, but he can make the corner 3, and he has some ball handling/playmaking ability as well.

Those are 3 options, that can all be tried over Shamet or the over reliance on Levert, who has arguably been the worst player in our rotation.

Offense isn’t the problem. Despite Levert’s struggles, we’re still scoring the ball quite well as a team. Our main problems are wing/interior defense and rebounding. TJ, Bruce Brown, nor Chiozza are going to address any of those issues. But to address the players you mentioned...

Tyler Johnson
Tyler Johnson has arthroscopic knee surgery towards the end of the 2019 season and is nowhere near as good as he was when we signed him to an offer sheet in 2016. Hence the reason why he had an awful year & a half. There’s a reason why he wasn’t already on another team when we were heading into the bubble...he’s not that good.

And if one’s play in the bubble was an indication of how good a player is right now, Levert should be playing like a really good 6th man. Now, Tyler Johnson is a slashing guard who can shoot some 3s. He’s definitely no longer a ‘shot creator/ballhandler who can shoot off the dribble’. While I’m sure he’s a better spot-up shooter than Levert, there’s no way he’s a better ballhandler or shot creator.

Bruce Brown
The Pistons won 20 games and were clearly tanking last season. Brown being a starter on that team means next to nothing. Derrick Rose was clearly the better PG, but at this point of his career, he’s better as a 6th man than as the daily starter.

Levert is still a better ballhandler You’re massively overrating Brown’s ballhandling/playmaking ability if you think he can essentially take over Levert’s position and run the team


IMO, Chiozza is clearly the best ballhandler and facilitator out of the 3 players you mentioned. The main issue is that if he’s on the floor for too long, the opposing team will take advantage of the size mismatch. I think Levert would look much better out there if he was paired with Chiozza, so that he could actually spend some time as a slasher and get his points from cuts to the basket and catch-and-shoot midrange shots. He’s clearly struggling handling full-time ball distributor duties.

[CalamityX12]

Imagine if we didn’t have KD and/or KI, this would be a winless team... lol

Ahhh scary... plenty of time to turn it around but gotta get to that direction first!

[MrDollarBills]

I have zero problems with Nash. Rotations aren’t the problem. Going deeper into the bench (i.e. giving worse players more minutes) isn’t going to help. The only slight adjustment I would consider is having Chiozza run more backup PG since Caris doesn’t organize the unit well at all.

IMO, the issue is personnel, not coaching. I was clamoring for a 3&D wing and another 4/5 man during the offseason because I always felt that we were missing a wing defender who can cover 2s, 3s, & 4s as well as players who can actually fight for contested rebounds.

Robert Covington could have been had. Instead, Marks chose to waste our window of opportunity by not getting a guy who is an established veteran.

Right now that Landry and Brown trade isn't helping us. I'm trying to stay patient but we don't have a large window of opportunity and KD already looks frustrated AFTER 7 GAMES, and rightfully so. Guys aren't stepping up, the bigs aren't doing their job.

This is quickly becoming a disaster.

[DarkXaero]

I have zero problems with Nash. Rotations aren’t the problem. Going deeper into the bench (i.e. giving worse players more minutes) isn’t going to help. The only slight adjustment I would consider is having Chiozza run more backup PG since Caris doesn’t organize the unit well at all.

IMO, the issue is personnel, not coaching.

I don't think this is true. We have a legitimate rotation player in Tyler Johnson who is buried on the bench. TJ used to be a 6th man in Miami, and I realize that he had an awful year & a half before signing with us, but he played quite well for us in the bubble. He's a secondary shot creator/ball handler who can shoot off the dribble.

We also have Bruce Brown who started 43 out of 58 games for the Pistons last season, and he's probably the best perimeter defender on the entire roster. He's a subpar player offensively, but he can make the corner 3, and he has some ball handling/playmaking ability as well.

Those are 3 options, that can all be tried over Shamet or the over reliance on Levert, who has arguably been the worst player in our rotation.

Offense isn’t the problem. Despite Levert’s struggles, we’re still scoring the ball quite well as a team. Our main problems are wing/interior defense and rebounding. TJ, Bruce Brown, nor Chiozza are going to address any of those issues. But to address the players you mentioned...

Tyler Johnson
Tyler Johnson has arthroscopic knee surgery towards the end of the 2019 season and is nowhere near as good as he was when we signed him to an offer sheet in 2016. Hence the reason why he had an awful year & a half. There’s a reason why he wasn’t already on another team when we were heading into the bubble...he’s not that good.

And if one’s play in the bubble was an indication of how good a player is right now, Levert should be playing like a really good 6th man. Now, Tyler Johnson is a slashing guard who can shoot some 3s. He’s definitely no longer a ‘shot creator/ballhandler who can shoot off the dribble’. While I’m sure he’s a better spot-up shooter than Levert, there’s no way he’s a better ballhandler or shot creator.

Bruce Brown
The Pistons won 20 games and were clearly tanking last season. Brown being a starter on that team means next to nothing. Derrick Rose was clearly the better PG, but at this point of his career, he’s better as a 6th man than as the daily starter.

Levert is still a better ballhandler You’re massively overrating Brown’s ballhandling/playmaking ability if you think he can essentially take over Levert’s position and run the team


IMO, Chiozza is clearly the best ballhandler and facilitator out of the 3 players you mentioned. The main issue is that if he’s on the floor for too long, the opposing team will take advantage of the size mismatch. I think Levert would look much better out there if he was paired with Chiozza, so that he could actually spend some time as a slasher and get his points from cuts to the basket and catch-and-shoot midrange shots. He’s clearly struggling handling full-time ball distributor duties.

Offense is absolutely a problem, we're getting NOTHING outside of KD, Kyrie, and Joe (when he has good games). Have you look at KD & Kyrie's numbers? They're putting up awesome numbers on god tier efficiency that isn't sustainable, playing heavy minutes and yet we're still 3-4. Sure, the incredibly sloppy turnovers will reduce in frequency over time, and we'll perhaps start running better/more offensive sets as the season progresses. But our bench has been a huge problem and its a clear struggle offensively for those guys, and that's what I'm referring to. Our "depth" gets outplayed by the other team's depth.

Tyler Johnson averaged 12 PPG, 3 APG, and 3 RPG on 55.2% TS% in the 8 seeding games in the bubble. He followed that up by averaging 14 PPG on 58.7% TS% in the 4 playoffs games against the Toronto Raptors. It's incredibly unfair to bring up Levert's play in the bubble as a comparison to downplay what Tyler Johnson did there. Levert has been inconsistent his whole NBA career. Tyler Johnson has shown nothing but positive play here when he has actually been given playing time. I don't see why you feel the need to downplay or dismiss this. All I'm saying is that he deserves a chance and that he actually makes sense for our bench unit atm.

Bruce Brown was an okay starter on that Pistons team, and certainly proved himself to be a NBA player. I've mentioned what he actually showed last season: a legitimately really good perimeter defender who actually has some ball handling/playmaking skills, but a poor shooter who can only hit the corner 3. I said he has "some ballhandling/playmaking ability", and you somehow took that as "massively overrating Brown's ballhandling/playmaking ability if you think he can essentially take over Levert’s position and run the team". What are you on, man?

[MrDollarBills]

He also spaces the floor and we can’t get the with DJ or Allen which makes their poor rebounding and interior D in key moments even worse.

I mean, if you want spacing you might as well go with Green as a small ball 5. Claxton isn't the answer at the 5 as much as I like him. Maybe you could give him some spot minutes at the 4 if Prince continues to be poor.

Claxton hasn’t seen the floor since he got injured last season and he was so good we ran lineups with him and Allen in the front court. I don’t expect him to fix our woes but Claxton could actually switch on guards, block shots and hit outside shots. It’s something to think about going forward.

We’re paying DJ around 10 million to sit on the bench. We could dish out a matched offer for Allen worth over 60 million and he disappears on key possessions and it’s been happening since the Sixers series. He still is inconsistent despite a nice stat line. Don’t get me started on Caris...

It’s not a thing to overlook when we have to pay this guy long term while having a kid with a rookie salary on the roster rehabbing with a similar skill set on a contender.

Marks was right to not pay Allen. He's not worth the money that he is looking for. He made some horrific errors tonight.

We need to see some changes quickly. This is not a championship roster as presented.

[MrDollarBills]

I don't think this is true. We have a legitimate rotation player in Tyler Johnson who is buried on the bench. TJ used to be a 6th man in Miami, and I realize that he had an awful year & a half before signing with us, but he played quite well for us in the bubble. He's a secondary shot creator/ball handler who can shoot off the dribble.

We also have Bruce Brown who started 43 out of 58 games for the Pistons last season, and he's probably the best perimeter defender on the entire roster. He's a subpar player offensively, but he can make the corner 3, and he has some ball handling/playmaking ability as well.

Those are 3 options, that can all be tried over Shamet or the over reliance on Levert, who has arguably been the worst player in our rotation.

Offense isn’t the problem. Despite Levert’s struggles, we’re still scoring the ball quite well as a team. Our main problems are wing/interior defense and rebounding. TJ, Bruce Brown, nor Chiozza are going to address any of those issues. But to address the players you mentioned...

Tyler Johnson
Tyler Johnson has arthroscopic knee surgery towards the end of the 2019 season and is nowhere near as good as he was when we signed him to an offer sheet in 2016. Hence the reason why he had an awful year & a half. There’s a reason why he wasn’t already on another team when we were heading into the bubble...he’s not that good.

And if one’s play in the bubble was an indication of how good a player is right now, Levert should be playing like a really good 6th man. Now, Tyler Johnson is a slashing guard who can shoot some 3s. He’s definitely no longer a ‘shot creator/ballhandler who can shoot off the dribble’. While I’m sure he’s a better spot-up shooter than Levert, there’s no way he’s a better ballhandler or shot creator.

Bruce Brown
The Pistons won 20 games and were clearly tanking last season. Brown being a starter on that team means next to nothing. Derrick Rose was clearly the better PG, but at this point of his career, he’s better as a 6th man than as the daily starter.

Levert is still a better ballhandler You’re massively overrating Brown’s ballhandling/playmaking ability if you think he can essentially take over Levert’s position and run the team


IMO, Chiozza is clearly the best ballhandler and facilitator out of the 3 players you mentioned. The main issue is that if he’s on the floor for too long, the opposing team will take advantage of the size mismatch. I think Levert would look much better out there if he was paired with Chiozza, so that he could actually spend some time as a slasher and get his points from cuts to the basket and catch-and-shoot midrange shots. He’s clearly struggling handling full-time ball distributor duties.

Offense is absolutely a problem, we're getting NOTHING outside of KD, Kyrie, and Joe (when he has good games). Have you look at KD & Kyrie's numbers? They're putting up awesome numbers on god tier efficiency that isn't sustainable, playing heavy minutes and yet we're still 3-4. Sure, the incredibly sloppy turnovers will reduce in frequency over time, and we'll perhaps start running better/more offensive sets as the season progresses. But our bench has been a huge problem and its a clear struggle offensively for those guys, and that's what I'm referring to. Our "depth" gets outplayed by the other team's depth.

Tyler Johnson averaged 12 PPG, 3 APG, and 3 RPG on 55.2% TS% in the 8 seeding games in the bubble. He followed that up by averaging 14 PPG on 58.7% TS% in the 4 playoffs games against the Toronto Raptors. It's incredibly unfair to bring up Levert's play in the bubble as a comparison to downplay what Tyler Johnson did there. Levert has been inconsistent his whole NBA career. Tyler Johnson has shown nothing but positive play here when he has actually been given playing time. I don't see why you feel the need to downplay or dismiss this. All I'm saying is that he deserves a chance and that he actually makes sense for our bench unit atm.

Bruce Brown was an okay starter on that Pistons team, and certainly proved himself to be a NBA player. I've mentioned what he actually showed last season: a legitimately really good perimeter defender who actually has some ball handling/playmaking skills, but a poor shooter who can only hit the corner 3. I said he has "some ballhandling/playmaking ability", and you somehow took that as "massively overrating Brown's ballhandling/playmaking ability if you think he can essentially take over Levert’s position and run the team". What are you on, man?

The bench's inefficacy is almost 100% because of Caris LeVert's unwillingness to pass the ball to anyone other than Jarrett Allen and looking only for his shot.

When was the last time LeVert kicked the ball out to someone for an open 3?

I would absolutely run Chiozza with the 2nd unit and move LeVert to SG. If he wants to be a black hole, he'll get the ball in the flow of the offense. The 2nd unit's possessions are basically all LeVert either holding the ball to shoot a brick or making one pass. What happened to 7 seconds or less?

This team needs a serious wake up call. Ever since the Charlotte game this team has been awful defensively and the offense has become a stagnate ISO fest.