longstrangetrip wrote:11 assists and 17 TOs...not going to win many games with that kind of offensive ineptitude.
I know it's early, but this is poor play of an epic proportion, and Thibs needs to send a strong Pop-like message before the next game. I wouldn't start anyone not named Karl (and he may be out injured also). Let the young guys know they aren't automatically entitled to a starting position.
KAT (if healthy)
Belly
Bazz
Rush
Tyus
And watch the young guys come in a lot hungrier...hopefully,
The 2nd unit has been THE problem in every game but this one. What needs to happen is they need to put their stats aside and start playing as a team. There is no cohesion on offense, especially once we face a little adversity.
+1
We are back to the iso shit again. Even KAT has played statistically great the last 2 game but I'm not sure if he has had one meaningful pass in those 2 games.
We miss ricky (not saying he will solve our problems). Also I would love to see the stats on odd man fast breaks TOs to assist ratio because just from the eye test it has been bad
He didn't get off to a great start in the first three games, and you could just see that he was determined to get himself going in these last 2. That's great and we need him being our best player, but it can't come at the expense of Zach and Wig.
Agreed even though I think those 2 it was their fault today. They forced bad shots, Wig went into passive jump shot wiggins ( could be because they let them play physical today) but this is the first game I think he has done this. Also lavine forced some real tough shots. We don't get easy shots with ricky out. Also terrible transition offense I think can cause poor confidence.
longstrangetrip wrote:11 assists and 17 TOs...not going to win many games with that kind of offensive ineptitude.
I know it's early, but this is poor play of an epic proportion, and Thibs needs to send a strong Pop-like message before the next game. I wouldn't start anyone not named Karl (and he may be out injured also). Let the young guys know they aren't automatically entitled to a starting position.
KAT (if healthy)
Belly
Bazz
Rush
Tyus
And watch the young guys come in a lot hungrier...hopefully,
What has rush, tyus, Belly done to deserve to start. Bazz is the only bench player to do anything this year
Not much...but at least they didn't have the atrocious +/- numbers the starters had tonight, and have had in the third quarter of 4 out of five games. When Pop makes a hockey shift change, it isn't because the guys coming in have necessarily earned it. It's more about lighting a fire under the guys he's benching. Thibs needs to do something different...this is inexcusable play against teams that aren't all that good.
Just a counter to your point it is easier to go to your bench when it is filled with vets that won't kill you like the spurs bench has like ginobili, mills, diaw. Like we are going to undersized 2nd year pg, can't dribble rush, specialty player in Bazz, Belly who has been a bad nba player and no offense cole
Fair point, kek...but the counter to that is that winning is about scoring more points than you opponent, and through five games, the 2nd unit is performing better than the starters (with the exception of Gorgui). Here are the +/- totals through 5 games for the 11 players with significant minutes...best to worst:
Gorgui 25
Rush 14
Jones 9
Bazz 5
Wig 1
Dunn 1
KAT -1
Zach -5
Aldrich -7
Rubio -11
Belly -15
I'm suggesting that Thibs shake up the starting lineup as a wake up call to a few players who may have fallen a little too much in love with their press clippings. But based on the five games to date, it doesn't look like it would hurt too much on the scoreboard either.
Cool, I agree with your sentiment in all your posts. There is absolutely no cohesion with this team right now. I think KAT is the biggest culprit. His insistence on going 1:1 is annoying the shit out of me right now. His summer celebrity tour and all the press has gotten to his head.
Losing becuz no one looks better from last year and 3pt shooting and interior D wasn't addressed in the off season. Which is crazy because Aldrich and Rush should've fixed all that.
- Our bigs were absolutely abused on the interior by Adams and Kanter, Dieng and Aldrich especially. We were just housed by these guys. We just don't provide enough resistance in the paint.
- Our point guards didn't help matters either. Both Dunn and Tyus had a hard time containing their man. Dunn had a pretty good excuse considering who he was going up against. But Tyus got straight up beat off the bounce a couple times by their backup PG I never heard of before. He just doesn't have the lateral foot speed to stay in front of guys.
- Wiggins had his chances, with 13 shots in less than 30 minutes. I am OK with the occasional off shooting night, but what I'm not OK with is the fact he otherwise completely disappeared. Both he and LaVine have got to learn how to impact games when their shots aren't falling. That's what great players do. Unfortunately, this is an all-too-familiar trend with Wiggins. If he's not scoring points, he's not really impacting the game in other ways.
- I agree that KAT gets tunnel vision at times and trigger happy at others. I think his passing and trust in team mates will come, but I am far more concerned with his contribution to the weak interior paint presence defensively. He's got to become a two-way player. On the other hand, the variety of ways he can score the basketball is breathtaking. He was doing cross-overs, step backs, hitting 3's. The dude has a full arsenal at his disposal. Unreal for a guy his size.
- Gee, what a shock. Minnesota signs a veteran free agent shooter in the offseason. Shooter proceeds to not be able to shoot. Then eventually moves onto another team where he will re-find his stroke. God damn it Rush, we signed you for one reason - to make 3's! And of course he bricked all of his shots tonight.......Of course.
OKC was supposedly one of the teams we'd fight for a late playoff seed. That seems like a joke after watching this game. They are clearly the better team.
Q- I think his passing and trust in team mates will come, but I am far more concerned with his contribution to the weak interior paint presence defensively. He's got to become a two-way player.
Has he ever been one? At Kentucky, he platooned with a defensive stud. May be we need to trade with SAC and get his old team mate.
