Mad Scientist at Work - Bucks at Wolves GDT

[thedoper]

Seriously, after all the crap this fan base has had to put up with for the past 15 years, you should be pissed off about what's going on right now. We finally have some good pieces to build from, and we've got a clown show running things. I'm very angry, and have just about had it with this organization.

Don't do it cool. There are 15 more years of dysfunction ahead of us. We will miss your angry insight.

I'd love to be the happiest guy on the forum. I was all ready to be super pumped for this season. Then Flip gets sick, and the one guy I never wanted to see named coach gets the position by default. And then we've all seen the debauchery that's followed. It's just very, very, VERY disappointing to me. This preseason has been beyond dysfunctional. We're starting to make the 76ers look stable.

Some Ricky to Wiggins/Towns alley oops should make you feel a little better. It's like doing smack, totally bad for you but a quick fix.

[Coolbreeze44]

None of us have any legitimate evidence to argue that Sam is either a moron or a genius. But while I smile at Tim suggesting he's a genius (I suspect not even Tim believes that), I'm getting a little irked by how often, and with what little evidence, people around here are disparaging Sam's intelligence.

What has he done to deserve any of this? He prematurely named Zach a starter (something half this board and most of Sam's critics wanted) then pulled that away and decided to start Prince. In the preseason. Seriously? That's all it takes to be constituted as a moron? How quickly we forget Wittman, Rambis, Kahn . . . the list goes on. Next time you start thinking Sam is an idiot for not starting LaVine, stop and ask yourself how much playing time you think Popovich would give him?

All of the Zach/Prince stuff is kind of small potatoes anyway when all the minutes are counted up; he's at least preaching more D (we still need to see it on the floor) and allowing the guys to shoot more threes (which everybody on this board and their mother has been begging for).

Drew, how have we looked in the preseason games? You see anything positive?

[SameOldNudityDrew]

None of us have any legitimate evidence to argue that Sam is either a moron or a genius. But while I smile at Tim suggesting he's a genius (I suspect not even Tim believes that), I'm getting a little irked by how often, and with what little evidence, people around here are disparaging Sam's intelligence.

What has he done to deserve any of this? He prematurely named Zach a starter (something half this board and most of Sam's critics wanted) then pulled that away and decided to start Prince. In the preseason. Seriously? That's all it takes to be constituted as a moron? How quickly we forget Wittman, Rambis, Kahn . . . the list goes on. Next time you start thinking Sam is an idiot for not starting LaVine, stop and ask yourself how much playing time you think Popovich would give him?

All of the Zach/Prince stuff is kind of small potatoes anyway when all the minutes are counted up; he's at least preaching more D (we still need to see it on the floor) and allowing the guys to shoot more threes (which everybody on this board and their mother has been begging for).

Drew, how have we looked in the preseason games? You see anything positive?

We've been atrocious, no doubt. But what I don't get is why do we then jump on Sam's intelligence as the primary reason--it feels like practically the sole reason if you read some of these threads. We could highlight that we were missing Rubio until recently, or that nobody can hit a freaking shot, or that we're blending in a lot of guys who haven't played with each other, or that we're still not gelling defensively? Why not blame Wiggins for being underwhelming? Or better yet, LaVine, who has been terrible? Why is Sam getting called dumb for not starting a guy who's playing like a steaming plate of hot garbage for breakfast?

One point of criticizing Sam's intelligence is playing Zach at the point again (and nobody wants to see that less than me). But Sam's done that for a couple of games so far. Flip did that all of last year, mostly as a starter, and I don't remember anyone disparaging Flip's intelligence half as much. Sure we second-guessed his decision-making, but it just seems like people have been really quick to question Sam's intelligence itself, which seems like a more serious charge with even less evidence. If you think there isn't a difference between the two, ask yourself which would be more unfair and offensive right now--to question your decision making, or to call you a clown/idiot/moron?

[60WinTim]

Drew, how have we looked in the preseason games? You see anything positive?

It's how we have looked in the preseason that caused Sam to make the change. The LaVine-Wiggins tandem has been so badly over-matched on both ends of the court, Sam decided it wasn't good for anyone to keep getting trounced by 20+ point blowouts in the preseason, much less the regular season. Just look at the physical mismatches those two went up against in the first 3 games.

You could say "well, they won't always have that bad a mismatch". So okay, we just accept being trounced when we play the good teams, but maybe be competitive against the bad teams, and hope everyone develops?

Sam's new plan is designed so maybe we are the team that has the advantage on most nights. I like the concept, and am anxious to see how it pans out.

[Coolbreeze44]

None of us have any legitimate evidence to argue that Sam is either a moron or a genius. But while I smile at Tim suggesting he's a genius (I suspect not even Tim believes that), I'm getting a little irked by how often, and with what little evidence, people around here are disparaging Sam's intelligence.

What has he done to deserve any of this? He prematurely named Zach a starter (something half this board and most of Sam's critics wanted) then pulled that away and decided to start Prince. In the preseason. Seriously? That's all it takes to be constituted as a moron? How quickly we forget Wittman, Rambis, Kahn . . . the list goes on. Next time you start thinking Sam is an idiot for not starting LaVine, stop and ask yourself how much playing time you think Popovich would give him?

All of the Zach/Prince stuff is kind of small potatoes anyway when all the minutes are counted up; he's at least preaching more D (we still need to see it on the floor) and allowing the guys to shoot more threes (which everybody on this board and their mother has been begging for).

Drew, how have we looked in the preseason games? You see anything positive?

We've been atrocious, no doubt. But what I don't get is why do we then jump on Sam's intelligence as the primary reason--it feels like practically the sole reason if you read some of these threads. We could highlight that we were missing Rubio until recently, or that nobody can hit a freaking shot, or that we're blending in a lot of guys who haven't played with each other, or that we're still not gelling defensively? Why not blame Wiggins for being underwhelming? Or better yet, LaVine, who has been terrible? Why is Sam getting called dumb for not starting a guy who's playing like a steaming plate of hot garbage for breakfast?

One point of criticizing Sam's intelligence is playing Zach at the point again (and nobody wants to see that less than me). But Sam's done that for a couple of games so far. Flip did that all of last year, mostly as a starter, and I don't remember anyone disparaging Flip's intelligence half as much. Sure we second-guessed his decision-making, but it just seems like people have been really quick to question Sam's intelligence itself, which seems like a more serious charge with even less evidence. If you think there isn't a difference between the two, ask yourself which would be more unfair and offensive right now--to question your decision making, or to call you a clown/idiot/moron?

My opinion of Sam was formed long before this preseason stint. And it's based far more on a lack of competency than a lack of intelligence.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Drew - I can assure you that I disparaged Flip's intelligence for starting Zach at PG last year! Go back and look at the threads. It was one of my biggest beefs with Flip....That and his love of long 2's.

Also, the issue isn't as much that Mitchell demoted Zach; it's that he committed to him so damn early to begin with! You don't do that to a young player without giving him due process! I'm sorry, but it's dumb to announce someone as a starter that early in camp and then to yank his chain when things don't go as planned. Well Sam, may be you should have actually watched a couple of pre-season games before making that declaration to begin with!

All of that being said, there is a difference between making a dumb decision and being dumb. I'm like you - I don't consider Mitchell a genius or moron. But I certainly think that the way he handled that particular situation with Zach was dumb.

[Carlos Danger]

We've been atrocious, no doubt. But what I don't get is why do we then jump on Sam's intelligence as the primary reason--it feels like practically the sole reason if you read some of these threads. We could highlight that we were missing Rubio until recently, or that nobody can hit a freaking shot, or that we're blending in a lot of guys who haven't played with each other, or that we're still not gelling defensively? Why not blame Wiggins for being underwhelming? Or better yet, LaVine, who has been terrible? Why is Sam getting called dumb for not starting a guy who's playing like a steaming plate of hot garbage for breakfast?

One point of criticizing Sam's intelligence is playing Zach at the point again (and nobody wants to see that less than me). But Sam's done that for a couple of games so far. Flip did that all of last year, mostly as a starter, and I don't remember anyone disparaging Flip's intelligence half as much. Sure we second-guessed his decision-making, but it just seems like people have been really quick to question Sam's intelligence itself, which seems like a more serious charge with even less evidence. If you think there isn't a difference between the two, ask yourself which would be more unfair and offensive right now--to question your decision making, or to call you a clown/idiot/moron?

It's a ton of frustration coming out from some of us. Yeah, Sam's getting the brunt of it vs. the players. Maybe that's not right. But this is Sam's team now, so that's what happens. He hasn't helped himself with the handful of decisions he's made. And the results on the court this preseason have been abysmal. That's why he's getting hammered (right or wrong). The good news is, he probably can't lower our expectations any more than we have now....so everything from here should be an uptick!

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Drew, how have we looked in the preseason games? You see anything positive?

It's how we have looked in the preseason that caused Sam to make the change. The LaVine-Wiggins tandem has been so badly over-matched on both ends of the court, Sam decided it wasn't good for anyone to keep getting trounced by 20+ point blowouts in the preseason, much less the regular season. Just look at the physical mismatches those two went up against in the first 3 games.

You could say "well, they won't always have that bad a mismatch". So okay, we just accept being trounced when we play the good teams, but maybe be competitive against the bad teams, and hope everyone develops?

Sam's new plan is designed so maybe we are the team that has the advantage on most nights. I like the concept, and am anxious to see how it pans out.

Tim, this logic strains the bounds of credulity. Sam Mitchell sat on the bench all last season and watched Zach play SG with Wiggins at SF for a good month. Yet within the span of three pre-season games he completely came to a different conclusion? And without Rubio in the mix?

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Drew - I can assure you that I disparaged Flip's intelligence for starting Zach at PG last year! Go back and look at the threads. It was one of my biggest beefs with Flip....That and his love of long 2's.

Also, the issue isn't as much that Mitchell demoted Zach; it's that he committed to him so damn early to begin with! You don't do that to a young player without giving him due process! I'm sorry, but it's dumb to announce someone as a starter that early in camp and then to yank his chain when things don't go as planned. Well Sam, may be you should have actually watched a couple of pre-season games before making that declaration to begin with!

All of that being said, there is a difference between making a dumb decision and being dumb. I'm like you - I don't consider Mitchell a genius or moron. But I certainly think that the way he handled that particular situation with Zach was dumb.

Based on what we know, yeah, it looks bad. I laid out some reasons why he should have stuck with Zach as the starter a few threads back, and one of the strongest was that committing to him as the starter would strengthen Sam's leadership through backing up his word, showing consistency, and demonstrating patience with a player going through a rough stretch. If there were no other reason than LaVine's play, I think it was a mistake to make that move so quick. The thing is--we don't really know goes on behind the scenes.

As for Flip, starting LaVine at the point most of the season last year arguably earned him your disparagement, Q! Seriously though, I wish Flip all the best with his health and hope we see him well again soon.

[Monster]

Drew I agree with your points and good posts.