GT: Thunder Vs Nets... Sunday @ 6:00

[MrDollarBills]

Really yall, wanting to crucify Nash 11 games in is really, really lazy analysis.

Start with the players. Guys played like garbage on defense tonight. Shamet and TLC played like they are both brain dead. Neither Allen or Jordan played well inside and we gave up a ton of lay ups and wide open shots. KD and LeVert were not that good tonight despite the cute statlines.

Guys need to play better. We need our best players to be available. I don't know whats wrong with Irving nor will I speculate but stuff like this will be used to create narratives, three straight games with no answer as to what is going on with him. People are going to start making assumptions.

Meanwhile, we have been delayed with building chemistry with both KD and Kyrie being out of the line up. So the inconsistent play will continue until we get everything back in order.

[MrDollarBills]

Brown should play instead of Shamet

Exactly. I would rather have Brown's hustle and defense on the floor. Shamet is unplayable right now.

[Hello Brooklyn]

Here come all the Nash defenders. What a joke. He has been AWFUlL.

The offense tonight sucked AGAIN. Just iso ball over and over again. No creativity at all. No plays. Nobody had any idea where to be or what to do.

Everyone was just **** winging it.

Rotation wise we keep playing Shamet, even thought its obvious Bruce Brown is better.

Brown won't solve all our problems but hes an elite defender and he plays HARD. Shamet is a net negative out there. Constantly making dumb plays and missing all his 3s.

I would even give Kurucs some burn. If hes unplayable at this point then **** waive him and give the roster spot to someone who can actually help us.

[Hello Brooklyn]

Oh wow we beat Philly and Utah.

Who cares? That means were playing like a .500 team. Of course we will win sometimes. The point is weve shown no ability to win consistently.

I don't care if we don't have Kyrie or KD or both. We are losing to all the worst teams in the league at home.

[MGrand15]

Shamet has been really, really really bad. I don't even think the shooting numbers tell the full story. The team is getting CRUSHED whenever he's on the floor. He's missing everything. Turning it over or making sloppy passes. Playing stupid defense. Not sure what's wrong with him. The coaching staff is trying to get him going but it's time to just go with Bruce Brown over him. I was a big fan of the trade and maybe he'll pick it up mid-season but we can't keep giving him chances.

Taking Brown out of the rotation was a clear mistake. He should probably stay in the starting lineup until we can get the defense stable. Our defense was just awful all night. OKC hit some tough shots but they had so many layups. It felt like we scrapped our whole defensive philosophy. We only gave up 3 OFF REBs and still gave up 129. Some strange decisions too - KD was guarding SGA for some reason. JA was getting roasted by Horford in the post.

We probably need to keep Joe in the 2nd unit until Kyrie is back. That squad just looks lost when Caris isn't on the floor. We were completely cruising and they fumbled the momentum right away. Joe is at least guaranteed to get buckets and stop the bleeding.

Really bad effort tonight. It felt like we just in cruise control. Sloppy TOs. Giving up on plays defensively. Once again, lots of miscommunications. Lots of shots with zero contest. I think we might need to go with Brown and Green in the starting lineup just to set a tone defensively.

[Hello Brooklyn]

I would start Brown again.

Kyrie
Brown
Harris
KD
Allen.

That should be our starting lineup from now on. Levert/Johnson/TLC/Prince/Jordan can be our bench unit.

No more Shamet. Hes a bench warmer for now.

[ecuhus1981]

What’s frustrating about this team is that we have no consistency. I have no idea which Nets team is going to show up from game to game.

Jekyll and Hyde team, fo sho

[drchaos]

I would start Brown again.

Kyrie
Brown
Harris
KD
Allen.

That should be our starting lineup from now on. Levert/Johnson/TLC/Prince/Jordan can be our bench unit.

No more Shamet. Hes a bench warmer for now.

I would move Harris to the second unit to pair with LeVert.

Let Prince and TLC split minutes with the first team.

[Hello Brooklyn]

I would start Brown again.

Kyrie
Brown
Harris
KD
Allen.

That should be our starting lineup from now on. Levert/Johnson/TLC/Prince/Jordan can be our bench unit.

No more Shamet. Hes a bench warmer for now.

I would move Harris to the second unit to pair with LeVert.

Let Prince and TLC split minutes with the first team.

Harris helps immensely with spacing so I would keep him.

TLC is too inconsistent to start. Prince is another option but I trust Brown to bring effort more.

[Pablo Escobar]

Here come all the Nash defenders. What a joke. He has been AWFUlL.

The offense tonight sucked AGAIN. Just iso ball over and over again. No creativity at all. No plays. Nobody had any idea where to be or what to do.

Everyone was just **** winging it.

Rotation wise we keep playing Shamet, even thought its obvious Bruce Brown is better.

Brown won't solve all our problems but hes an elite defender and he plays HARD. Shamet is a net negative out there. Constantly making dumb plays and missing all his 3s.

I would even give Kurucs some burn. If hes unplayable at this point then **** waive him and give the roster spot to someone who can actually help us.

Doesn't D'antoni run the offense and Vaughn the defense? Nash seems like the calming presence that players can relate to. Of course his experience playing helps a ton and earns him respect with his players. From an outsider perspective I agree, it seems like Kd and Kyrie just take turns scoring which isn't a bad problem to have but getting easy buckets from movement is always good. And if others chip in it makes the game easier for 7/11 but for me your defense will be your main issue. You have a lot of guys who are bad defenders and a front court that'll get cooked on switching out especially on a pick n roll where either Allen or Dj will guard the better offensive player. And speaking about Dj, I've never seen a lazier defender off of a screen in my life, he either drops super far back or just sticks his arm out to look like he's trying lol.

[therealbig3]

Here come all the Nash defenders. What a joke. He has been AWFUlL.

The offense tonight sucked AGAIN. Just iso ball over and over again. No creativity at all. No plays. Nobody had any idea where to be or what to do.

Everyone was just **** winging it.

Rotation wise we keep playing Shamet, even thought its obvious Bruce Brown is better.

Brown won't solve all our problems but hes an elite defender and he plays HARD. Shamet is a net negative out there. Constantly making dumb plays and missing all his 3s.

I would even give Kurucs some burn. If hes unplayable at this point then **** waive him and give the roster spot to someone who can actually help us.

Nobody really defends Nash all that much, in fact, most people have criticized him. I just don't see what he did all that wrong in this case. We did beat two good teams with the same lineups.

And our offense can be ugly to watch...so was Houston's. But it doesn't really matter if it's ugly...is it effective? We score like crazy, it's obviously effective.

The problem is our defense. Memphis and OKC are two of the worst offensive teams in the league, and they scored 115 and 129 points on us in back to back games. If we can't stop bad offensive teams from scoring, then we're not going to win a lot of games. Just because we're not scoring 120+ points in order to match them doesn't mean our offense sucks. That's just not realistic to expect, especially with some combination of Kyrie and Durant being out. We should be able to win those games if we score 110 points, which we have in both of these games, even being down both Kyrie and Durant against Memphis, and down Kyrie against OKC.

Like, Kyrie and Durant when they play have looked like MVP-level players, and we have one of the most efficient offenses in the league. Just because it's ISO-heavy doesn't mean it's not effective.

[therealbig3]

Like, I love how everyone wants to just pile on Nash and MDA as if the offense has been anywhere close to the same problem as our defense has been. How come Vaughn just gets away scot-free without any blame at all? Shouldn't he get SOME crap for the lazy effort that DeAndre plays with? What about the silly mistakes that TLC and Shamet and Caris and Prince make all the time? What about when Allen gets roasted by a washed up Al Horford?

That's the thing too. How does Allen outplay Gobert and Embiid in back to back games...and then get his lunch money taken by Horford? He's clearly not bringing his max effort on a consistent basis, part of me feels he really ramps up his energy for the national TV games, and then kind of loafs it for the non-national TV games...similar to what Rondo used to do back in the day. That's an Allen problem, not a Nash problem.

But this lack of consistency is mainly on the defensive end. So again, what is Vaughn doing in terms of lighting a fire under these guys' asses as the defensive coordinator? Nash should too, but he's clearly a players' coach who's there to make sure everyone gets along ok. Vaughn is supposed to be the hard-ass behind the scenes.

[MrDollarBills]

No one is defending Steve Nash, but it is clear that some folks want to find a scapegoat for our 5-6 start.

It's the same thing year after year. When things don't go the way that we want them to, people on here need to thrust the blame solely on one person and act like they are the problem when there are 15 grown ass men on this roster and some of them aren't doing their jobs that they are paid to do, some haven't been available (through no fault of their own), or their effort has been inconsistent.

Lets start there. Steve Nash isn't on the floor getting beat on 50/50 balls, watching defensive rebounds bounce right into the hands of the opponent with his feet cemented to the floor, bricking every three that he takes, carelessly turning over the ball, poorly defending the pick and roll, and not rotating to where they are supposed to be on defense.

Those problems aren't because of the coach, it is because of the player. Most of these problems are due to lack of hustle, effort, and poor concentration/sloppiness.

You want Nash to take the blame for how dumb TLC and Prince are at times? Okay. Let's bench them and play...oh yeah, we don't have anyone else better to take their place in the rotation. I guess that is Steve Nash's fault too?

Kyrie Irving, I hope to God he is alright and that his absence is due to something serious/family related, but he has been AWOL for three straight games, to the detriment of the team's chemistry. Kevin Durant has been out because he came into contact with someone who unfortunately is sick with Covid. Is that Steve Nash's fault too?

No, it isn't, and to get on here and throw a tantrum as if everything is his fault is silly. As always, in basketball, and all pro sports, when you are losing games and getting outworked by your opponent 99% of the problem is the personnel ON THE FLOOR.

I'm pissed off too, but ****. I'm tired of this blame game nonsense. We win as a team, we lose as a team it isn't just because of one person for ****'s sake!!

[MrDollarBills]

I would start Brown again.

Kyrie
Brown
Harris
KD
Allen.

That should be our starting lineup from now on. Levert/Johnson/TLC/Prince/Jordan can be our bench unit.

No more Shamet. Hes a bench warmer for now.

I would move Harris to the second unit to pair with LeVert.

Let Prince and TLC split minutes with the first team.

Harris helps immensely with spacing so I would keep him.

TLC is too inconsistent to start. Prince is another option but I trust Brown to bring effort more.

I want Irving/Brown/Durant/Green/Allen OR Irving/Brown/Harris/Durant/Allen. Put Brown on the floor, let him hustle and make plays.

[MGrand15]

It's clear that without Spencer, our margin for error is a lot smaller. Not only was he a do-it-all starter - he was insurance whenever Kyrie was out. Feels like everyone is discounting that we lost a MAJOR piece and even then, we haven't been at full strength since the Washington game. The starting lineup yesterday literally played 0 minutes together before yesterday. The 2nd unit literally played 0 minutes before yesterday.

I would love to just rampage through the league - regardless of who's on the floor - but it takes time to build chemistry and develop an identity. We played yesterday with just 1 pseudo-PG in Caris LeVert. That's just not a recipe for success. That's partially on Nash for not trusting Chiozza or Brown - but we're also down Kyrie and Spencer.

We definitely need to turn this around quickly but our ceiling is so high, I'm not mad at all at this slow start. KD looks like a legit superstar. Not 90%. Not just an all-star. Straight up MVP level player. KD + Kyrie are crushing teams when they play together. JA looks like he's taken another step up. LeVert is starting to get more comfortable. Joe Harris is playing really well. Our role players are struggling big time but we have the pieces for a CHAMPIONSHIP team. Ya'll can sit here and be mad but I'll gladly take a team with a championship ceiling vs. a team hoping to win 2 games in the 1st round.

[Paradise]

Like, I love how everyone wants to just pile on Nash and MDA as if the offense has been anywhere close to the same problem as our defense has been. How come Vaughn just gets away scot-free without any blame at all? Shouldn't he get SOME crap for the lazy effort that DeAndre plays with? What about the silly mistakes that TLC and Shamet and Caris and Prince make all the time? What about when Allen gets roasted by a washed up Al Horford?

That's the thing too. How does Allen outplay Gobert and Embiid in back to back games...and then get his lunch money taken by Horford? He's clearly not bringing his max effort on a consistent basis, part of me feels he really ramps up his energy for the national TV games, and then kind of loafs it for the non-national TV games...similar to what Rondo used to do back in the day. That's an Allen problem, not a Nash problem.

But this lack of consistency is mainly on the defensive end. So again, what is Vaughn doing in terms of lighting a fire under these guys' asses as the defensive coordinator? Nash should too, but he's clearly a players' coach who's there to make sure everyone gets along ok. Vaughn is supposed to be the hard-ass behind the scenes.

That’s understandable but Nash is the guy to make the tough decisions in the game. The fact he said they “disrespected the game of basketball” while Caris says he disagrees isn’t a good look as a coach.

Udoka and Vaughn aren’t impressing whatsoever as defensive coaches but Nash look worse looking back on winnable games where he makes routinely slow timeouts, poorly timed subs, etc.

[Claud]

Nash was meh once again but the main reason we lost last night was BAD DEFENSE and that is on the players.

This team currently is very hard to read.

Good wins vs. tougher opponents, losing vs. teams we're suppoused to beat even short-handed.

I think winning the first 2 games looking how we did everyone expected we'd rampage and tear the league apart but these guys haven't played much basketball together as a cohesive unit. We've lost Din and we haven't had KD/Ky for every game either... tough to build continuity. Most of our Ls came in tight games except this last one and one of the ATL games which is a decent indication that this team is still searching for an identity and chemistry.

I still think this can be a special year and all that matters is that we are rolling by playoffs time. Homecourt is meaningless during COVID.

Our bench was godawful last night.

TLC is super inconsistent, no playmakers, poor defense, Shamet has been SHOCKING. Absolutely horrible start to his BK career.

As soon as Kyrie and Tyler Johnson are back they should be part of the rotation. We've tried multiple guys as our bench pg but nothing has worked so far. Tyler can score and is a threat from 3 at the very least and has solid playmaking skills.

Starters: Ky/Brown/KD/Green/Fro
Bench: Johnson/Caris/Joe/Prince/DJ

[Sharcm1]

I don’t like the constant switching on defense. I think it confuses them and causes too many mismatches that lead to bad defense and players out of position for rebounds. Obviously some switching is necessary but they switch almost everything. I see far too often the players confused about if they are switching or not and lose their man.

[MrDollarBills]

It's clear that without Spencer, our margin for error is a lot smaller. Not only was he a do-it-all starter - he was insurance whenever Kyrie was out. Feels like everyone is discounting that we lost a MAJOR piece and even then, we haven't been at full strength since the Washington game. The starting lineup yesterday literally played 0 minutes together before yesterday. The 2nd unit literally played 0 minutes before yesterday.

I would love to just rampage through the league - regardless of who's on the floor - but it takes time to build chemistry and develop an identity. We played yesterday with just 1 pseudo-PG in Caris LeVert. That's just not a recipe for success. That's partially on Nash for not trusting Chiozza or Brown - but we're also down Kyrie and Spencer.

We definitely need to turn this around quickly but our ceiling is so high, I'm not mad at all at this slow start. KD looks like a legit superstar. Not 90%. Not just an all-star. Straight up MVP level player. KD + Kyrie are crushing teams when they play together. JA looks like he's taken another step up. LeVert is starting to get more comfortable. Joe Harris is playing really well. Our role players are struggling big time but we have the pieces for a CHAMPIONSHIP team. Ya'll can sit here and be mad but I'll gladly take a team with a championship ceiling vs. a team hoping to win 2 games in the 1st round.

This. I'm mad that we aren't destroying people but if we stay healthy we eventually will. The blowouts aren't flukes.

[CalamityX12]

I think it said we are 1-4 vs sub .500 teams....

Thats not good