Post#132 » by CharityStripe34 » Thu Feb 11, 2021 7:15 pm
I wasn't able to see the game, but saw the highlights and the game appeared to slip away at the start of the 4th when the Suns closed the gap and then took the lead. The team has to discover what it wants/needs to do in clutch-time situations both offensively and defensively. They lack an ability to control tempo on either end when needed. It's a bit maddening that the starting lineup is something like 28th in the NBA in half-court defensive efficiency (per CBS Sports, I think) when your best three players are the reigning DPOY, Middleton and perhaps the best on-ball defensive G. Brook can still protect the paint and Donte at least understands how to stay in front of his man and contest. It may be a product of subtle tweaks of defensive switching and all that.
As for that last shot, I'm actually okay with it. Hoping that your team can succeed in the clutch with your best player being a decoy on offense, for me personally, is a non-starter. The attempt looked good and he actually shot it with solid rhythm and it actually looked good when I saw the clip, just a tad long as it hit back iron. Middleton is an all-world shooting threat so I question the motivation to not give him the ball by Bud, actually. Jrue's presence was sorely missed in the 4th in that type of game. Both defensively and offensively.
The super-encouraging development was Gianni being 17-21 from the FT line. That's huge. The maddening aspect is how one or both of Gianni/Bud thinks that him playing 28 feet from the basket is doing the team any favors. Analytics be damned, there's no excuse for an NBA coach to let this kid pretend he's a 6'11" hybrid version of LeBron/Westbrook. I don't mind if he takes threes, but within the flow of a swing/swing pass. He should take 2-3 a game this way and that's it. I know he's only 26 but I'm dreading the possibility that he doesn't take that next step to become a mid-range/paint unstoppable monster and he just resorts to trying to barrel his way into the lane from the top of the key.
Tying all that together it's crazy how smooth his shot looks when he's sure of what he's doing and doesn't think about it. I'm convinced that his mid-range jumper/FT is right there waiting to be unlocked, cause for his wingspan and giant tentacle hands he has a pretty good touch. That last shot looked perfectly nice, as do many of his mid-range turnarounds or baby-hooks when he doesn't sit there pounding the ball and analyze what he's trying to do in real time.
"Wes, Hill, Ibaka, Allen, Nwora, Brook, Pat, Ingles, Khris are all slow-mo, injury prone ... a sandcastle waiting for playoff wave to get wrecked. A castle with no long-range archers... is destined to fall. That is all I have to say."-- FOTIS