CoolBreeze's 2 Things I Didn't Like Last Night Plus 1

[Coolbreeze44]

Now that we found the win column again, time to get another 2 + 1 out. Wouldn't it have been nice if the first two games of the year could have followed last nights 2nd half script? Man, would 4-3 be a nice place to be right now. Nonetheless, we have to keep digging out of this early season hole. I'm looking for a big win against the Clippers Saturday. That would do wonders for our psyche. Here is the 1st in the league int 3pt % version of the 2 + 1:

1) Kris Dunn seems to be a popular topic, so I will start there. After the first 3 games I was ready to crown this guy ready to be the starter. Not so fast CoolBreeze. Now I can't wait for Ricky to get back. Our offense is so good, we really don't need anything more than Ricky at the PG position. But we do need his leadership and floor generalship. Kris should be fine down the road, but he is redundant to Ricky without the guile and passing ability. One of these guys will get traded eventually. I'm kind of hoping it's Dunn at this point.

2) What's the best way for us to play right now? Do we just outscore the opposition until our defense can catch up and be more of a factor? This team doesn't look anything like I thought it would. I figured Thibs would stifle our offense a bit while he focused on being more effective on the defensive end. The opposite has happened. Our offense actually looks improved, while I haven't seen any improvement on D - save for Zach and Wig's enhanced intensity on that end of the floor. The thing is, is it really a bad idea to just put points up in bunches and make teams try to keep pace? It might be our best recipe for wins right now. We just score so easily from so many different sources. It's kind of exciting.

Plus 1 - How about our wings last night? Drives, 3 pointers, difficult shots in traffic - you name it and they seemed to score with it. It's nights like this that allow us to believe we actually have a big 3 in the making. Again, they seem to score so easily at times. The only concern for me is at this point of his career, I think Wig is more suited to the 2 guard position. So there is a little redundancy with these guys. I like the 9 man rotation which allows wig some time against smaller defenders. Good luck Clippers, these guys are on a roll.

And that's Cool's 2 things I didn't like +1.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I guess it is that time of year again for this board to jump all over rookies for not being solid NBA players the second they step on the court. Ingram and his 9.78 PER and 6/3/1 on 36/24/79 shooting must be a cautionary prospect as well. Embiid is the only rookie in the league right now making a non-typical rookie impact for his team and he's been preparing for 2 years to play in the league. Maybe we give Dunn more than 7 games before we start saying that we should be keeping Ricky long-term over him. It's just like clockwork on this board for anyone not named Towns to already start questioning them and what they might become.

[Coolbreeze44]

I guess it is that time of year again for this board to jump all over rookies for not being solid NBA players the second they step on the court. Ingram and his 9.78 PER and 6/3/1 on 36/24/79 shooting must be a cautionary prospect as well. Embiid is the only rookie in the league right now making a non-typical rookie impact for his team and he's been preparing for 2 years to play in the league. Maybe we give Dunn more than 7 games before we start saying that we should be keeping Ricky long-term over him. It's just like clockwork on this board for anyone not named Towns to already start questioning them and what they might become.

To be fair, I did say Dunn should be fine down the road. But there is redundancy between the two, and I don't see them being a long term fit together. At this point I just think Ricky is the better fit.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I guess it is that time of year again for this board to jump all over rookies for not being solid NBA players the second they step on the court. Ingram and his 9.78 PER and 6/3/1 on 36/24/79 shooting must be a cautionary prospect as well. Embiid is the only rookie in the league right now making a non-typical rookie impact for his team and he's been preparing for 2 years to play in the league. Maybe we give Dunn more than 7 games before we start saying that we should be keeping Ricky long-term over him. It's just like clockwork on this board for anyone not named Towns to already start questioning them and what they might become.

To be fair, I did say Dunn should be fine down the road. But there is redundancy between the two, and I don't see them being a long term fit together. At this point I just think Ricky is the better fit.

If the offense is going to be run through Lavine/Wiggins/Towns, I would argue Dunn is a better fit. He's already a superior defender to Ricky and has position versatility Ricky doesn't have because of his size and athleticism.

[Coolbreeze44]

I guess it is that time of year again for this board to jump all over rookies for not being solid NBA players the second they step on the court. Ingram and his 9.78 PER and 6/3/1 on 36/24/79 shooting must be a cautionary prospect as well. Embiid is the only rookie in the league right now making a non-typical rookie impact for his team and he's been preparing for 2 years to play in the league. Maybe we give Dunn more than 7 games before we start saying that we should be keeping Ricky long-term over him. It's just like clockwork on this board for anyone not named Towns to already start questioning them and what they might become.

To be fair, I did say Dunn should be fine down the road. But there is redundancy between the two, and I don't see them being a long term fit together. At this point I just think Ricky is the better fit.

If the offense is going to be run through Lavine/Wiggins/Towns, I would argue Dunn is a better fit. He's already a superior defender to Ricky and has position versatility Ricky doesn't have because of his size and athleticism.

I don't understand why you and so many others think Dunn can play the 2. Zach is a 2. Wiggins is a 2. Dunn.........not so much.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I guess it is that time of year again for this board to jump all over rookies for not being solid NBA players the second they step on the court. Ingram and his 9.78 PER and 6/3/1 on 36/24/79 shooting must be a cautionary prospect as well. Embiid is the only rookie in the league right now making a non-typical rookie impact for his team and he's been preparing for 2 years to play in the league. Maybe we give Dunn more than 7 games before we start saying that we should be keeping Ricky long-term over him. It's just like clockwork on this board for anyone not named Towns to already start questioning them and what they might become.

To be fair, I did say Dunn should be fine down the road. But there is redundancy between the two, and I don't see them being a long term fit together. At this point I just think Ricky is the better fit.

If the offense is going to be run through Lavine/Wiggins/Towns, I would argue Dunn is a better fit. He's already a superior defender to Ricky and has position versatility Ricky doesn't have because of his size and athleticism.

I don't understand why you and so many others think Dunn can play the 2. Zach is a 2. Wiggins is a 2. Dunn.........not so much.

6'4 205
6'4 220
6'3 190
6'2 180
6'5 185

Who's who?

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Answers

Dunn
D Wade
CJ McCullom
Avery Bradley
Zach Lavine

You're just too focused on the offensive side of the ball to see he has the size and athleticism to play the 2. He's not an ideal 2 because he's not a great shooter, but plenty of guards/wings have cash in the bank because of their defensive prowess. Don't let an inch and a jump shot be the decider of where he can play. You play what you can guard and he has all the tools to guard 1 and 2. He'll put on more weight in the next two summers to solidify this fact as well.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

The problem with just trying to outscore our opponents with a turbo-charged offense is that even we have cold stretches where either the shots aren't falling or we don't execute properly. It happens to every team (even Golden State goes cold every once in a while). And when this happens, it feels like it immediately translates to our defense too. So we end up with these epic collapses where we lose quarters by 10, 15, or 20 points.

The bottom line is that when the other team ups its defensive intensity - usually in 3rd quarters - we have got to match them defensively. We need to lose the quarters where we go cold offensively by only 6 or 7 points instead of double-digits.

I think at the end of this season, Thibs is going to have to make a change which entails either getting in a much more rugged, defensive-minded Center that can play next to KAT and/or a SF with a similar makeup. That obviously has a domino effect on people like Gorgui Dieng and Zach LaVine.

[Coolbreeze44]

Answers

Dunn
D Wade
CJ McCullom
Avery Bradley
Zach Lavine

You're just too focused on the offensive side of the ball to see he has the size and athleticism to play the 2. He's not an ideal 2 because he's not a great shooter, but plenty of guards/wings have cash in the bank because of their defensive prowess. Don't let an inch and a jump shot be the decider of where he can play. You play what you can guard and he has all the tools to guard 1 and 2. He'll put on more weight in the next two summers to solidify this fact as well.

Okay I got you, but a couple things: 1) They are called "shooting" guards for a reason. That is a major skill needed at that position. If you can't do it, you better be other worldly at everything else. That's why Ricky is an effective PG. He can't shoot but he does everything else at an elite or near elite level 2) Speaking of Ricky, it would be one thing to put Dunn next to a point guard who could really shoot. That would help overcome the lack of shooting from the SG position. But when they both can't shoot it, that is a huge problem. It affects every other aspect of your offense in a negative way. You become twice as easy to defend.

So what you are presenting works in theory. But I can't see how it works for this team.

[Duke13]

I really appreciate Tyus' ability to penetrate the defense and make the defense react allowing him to find open shooters. Ricky is a good passer but isn't able to use the dribble drive that way. He gets pushed off his spot so easily. Tyus is able to do this even tho he's not the quickest. Dunn will be able to do this also when he gains more confidence.