payitforward wrote:Can anyone pick out Joel Ayayi in this group?
Dark T-shirt, tannish yellowish booty shorts. Like he took his little brother's shorts. He's the only guy playing defense. Well, Kuzma is but only when facing Dinwiddie.
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payitforward wrote:Can anyone pick out Joel Ayayi in this group?
payitforward wrote:Can anyone pick out Joel Ayayi in this group?
closg00 wrote:The video is back up again
Ruzious wrote:closg00 wrote:The video is back up again
I would have liked to see Spencer make some jumpers, but otherwise, I thought he looked good. I thought Kuzma played poorly at both ends, but it was just a scrimmage.
Ruzious wrote:closg00 wrote:The video is back up again
I would have liked to see Spencer make some jumpers, but otherwise, I thought he looked good. I thought Kuzma played poorly at both ends, but it was just a scrimmage.
badinage wrote:We should be talking more about the fact the Spurs wanted him — that they were trying to acquire him in a DeRozan trade.
I remember thinking WTF? The Spurs? For DeRozan?
It made me look at Kuz through new eyes. If the Spurs want you, are targeting you, you can’t be bad.
doclinkin wrote:Looking at shot charts for our mismatches is instructive and intriguing.
Kuzma, man. The thing that astounded me was how remarkably average he was. Like ridiculously consistently average. He is within a percentage of ordinary at every spot on the floor.
DCZards wrote:I haven't been a fan of Kuzma's game the last couple of years. Seemed like he was not showing up when the Lakers needed him the most. Yet, among the new guys on the roster, Kuzma is the player I'm most intrigued by and somewhat excited about.
Kyle's experience playing next to LBJ and AD and on a championship team will prove invaluable. But, more importantly, I believe that now that he's out from under the shadow of LBJ and AD he has a real opportunity to shine.
Kuzma is still young (26 years old) and if he plays well he's a keeper and not someone you look to move simply because you want to develop and find minutes for youngsters like Deni, Kispert and Rui. At the end of the day, Kuzma could prove to be a better NBA player than all three of them.
doclinkin wrote:DCZards wrote:I haven't been a fan of Kuzma's game the last couple of years. Seemed like he was not showing up when the Lakers needed him the most. Yet, among the new guys on the roster, Kuzma is the player I'm most intrigued by and somewhat excited about.
Kyle's experience playing next to LBJ and AD and on a championship team will prove invaluable. But, more importantly, I believe that now that he's out from under the shadow of LBJ and AD he has a real opportunity to shine.
Kuzma is still young (26 years old) and if he plays well he's a keeper and not someone you look to move simply because you want to develop and find minutes for youngsters like Deni, Kispert and Rui. At the end of the day, Kuzma could prove to be a better NBA player than all three of them.
Yeah he has shown tantalizing flashes of talent, but has only managed to be consistently average. However it sounds like has learned a great deal from the example of LeBJ as a team leader and exemplar of hard work, and on defense picking up tips and principles from AD. He simply may not have that killer mindset, the rage to compete that enables the best players to live up to their talents and improve all the time. He is candid about not caring enough on defense his first couple years in the league, and the championship run taught him a great deal. His focus on rebounding, that he was able to rack better stats in this regard once he decided to do so, suggests that yeah there is untapped talent there.
He stated his desire over the summer was to get stronger so that he will be a better defender, and to work on his handle so he can be a playmaker and not merely a catch and shoot player. Okay, both of those things are worthy goals. You can see him making sharp crisp passes at times. I expect he sees the model that LeBJ exemplifies as a playmaking Big and thinks he can approximate that role. Having seen it done, he can model it for others.
I'm curious if he has another level. You see his dunk reels and have to be impressed at the potential. He is mobile, long, athletic and seems smart. If he gets stronger ok maybe he gets the confidence to impose his will on the game. Even if not, he can still be a useful player, just not a consistent mismatch in our favor.
Ruzious wrote:There's essentially no difference between the 3 and 4 with the Wiz and most teams on offense. The only teams I can think of that it makes a real difference are Milwaukee (and even they started playing Giannis more at center as the playoffs went on) and LAL (when they're not using Anthony Davis at center).
Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:Ruzious wrote:There's essentially no difference between the 3 and 4 with the Wiz and most teams on offense. The only teams I can think of that it makes a real difference are Milwaukee (and even they started playing Giannis more at center as the playoffs went on) and LAL (when they're not using Anthony Davis at center).
Way back in the day Louisville Cardinal basketball had the McCray brothers. They were about 6’7 “ or 6’8”. Rodney and Scooter. And it seem to me that all the other players on their team or in that 6’5” vicinity.
I’ve always thought a team of five Magic Johnsons would be pretty damn good.
In my mind I already think of basketball as position-less. I did not play at a high enough level to understand why there needs to be a 1,2,3,4, or five if guys have that functional skill set—that they can operate at any level.
(I do not see why I am NBA team and its coaching staff Could not arbitrarily put a fat 6 foot five guy with the build of DeJuan Blair at Center. Convention and practicality suck at times)
I said this before and I know it sounds crazy but I would have a team full of zeros or sixes.
payitforward wrote:I understand what you mean, Ruz. But, that's at a level of abstraction irrelevant to my point.
If we have, let's say, Dinwiddie, Beal, KCP & Gafford on the floor with Kuzma, then he is playing the 4 by definition.
OTOH, if we have Kuzma on the floor with, say, Gafford & Harrell, then even if he isn't playing the 3 "by definition" the effect is the same.
Ruzious wrote:payitforward wrote:I understand what you mean, Ruz. But, that's at a level of abstraction irrelevant to my point.
If we have, let's say, Dinwiddie, Beal, KCP & Gafford on the floor with Kuzma, then he is playing the 4 by definition.
OTOH, if we have Kuzma on the floor with, say, Gafford & Harrell, then even if he isn't playing the 3 "by definition" the effect is the same.
But your examples are only true because of the players you chose to team him with - which usually won't be the case. I think the "definitions" you're using there are not relevant most of the time. Gafford and Harrell might never play together, for example.