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Warriors

1 (33.3%)

Celtics

2 (66.7%)

Total Members Voted: 3

Voting closed: June 13, 2022, 11:38:11 PM

[kidcarter8]

As small as Quentin Grimes not blocking out on a key late possession.

[elephant]

I suppose Thibs' comments just rubbed me the wrong way.

Of course, the difference in winning and losing in the NBA can be small.

But that's not an excuse or an explanation

oh fuck, that was cut off because of an em-dash.

think the idea was that that's not an excuse or an explanation....that's the distance that strong tactics and good coaching is supposed to bridge.

(or some such shit)

anyhow, a weak thing for a coach to say when his team had recently bombed out a couple of games

[Jack Straw]

Almost every single coach, in most any sport,  is not anything special let alone a genius, I think Lester might have made this point a  while ago.  The word genius and hardworking get thrown around too frequently so as to mean nothing...

There are, of course,  outliers - certainly coaches like  Riley, Phool Jackson, and Pops (though Pops is not quite the same genius without real stars, Auerbach as well - but he too had so much more talent that the rest of the league on a pretty regular basis.

But Thibs - good, solid coach, but this stubbornness thing is too glaring to overlook.  As coaching is about teaching and learning and figuring how to motivate - to not change, to not try new things - is downright reactionary, esp. when your methods are so clearly not working. 

And listening to coaches, GMs and team presidents talk - post games, in-games, pre-games, and interviews - there is nothing more superfluous and meaningless....

All that said - the disconnect between the FO Rose and Thibs is on Rose, and the roster construction for the coach you hand-picked is all wrong...so I put much of this on FO Rose...

And lastly, to reiterate a point Elephant has made many times - we need a fucking NBA quality starting point guard... I mean Rose's inability to get this taken care of, is up there with Gettleman's inability to build an O-line and Cash's inability to get a real shortstop...

The lack of a real NBA quality starting PG has had a domino effect on the whole team, and not in a good way... 

[kidcarter8]

We kind of hand-picked Quickley and McBride after whiffing on Frank.

So if we need a PG, let McBride or Quickley run the team.  (Quickley may not be the QB oint we want - more of a coring point but lets see it  for 35 a night.)

Problem is you can only do that if the team is developmental - and Leon wasnt brought on for that nor is his taste one for losing in the short term - Thibs being of same cloth.


Let's formulate a team for November. I will start -

Barrett
Randle
Robinson

All starters.

Quentin Grimes
Obi Topppin
Miles McBride

Rotation
Rotation
Bench



That's it.  6 guys.  Everyone else is in play for trade, including the '22 draft picks.

[bodiddley]

As small as Quentin Grimes not blocking out on a key late possession.

On the LMA putback at the 2 min mark, QG thought CamTom was going to pull up before he reached Mitch, as he'd been doing, and left his feet to try to block the expected shot.  So he was out of position to box out.  Mitch came out further than previously, so CamTom smartly drove.  Meanwhile 4Eva dances his way into no man's land under the rim, not helping Mitch and not staying in place to box out.  4Ev was in favorable position to box out, and should have noticed San Quentin trailing over the screen and out of the play.  That is, at least Grimey had a sin of commission, 4Ev a sin of omission, winding up doing zilch on the possession.

Worse was the play before, where Burks is too far off Scurry2.0, and then decides to guard LMA instead of a great shooter.  Mitch did run into Grimes trying to recover to LMA.  But slow-footed LMA at the 3-point line or Scurry?  Easy to know who you should guard.  Burks blew it.  And that gave an open 3 and the momentum to BKY.

You want an key rebound failure?  Try 30 seconds left, BKY up 3, LMA misses a midranger and Bruce Brown grabs the rebound with Randle standing right next to him.  Maybe fatigue, but Randle doesn't box out or make much play for the board.  Gets caught flatfooted.  A fresher smaller player swoops in.  But Brown subbed in when Johnson fouled out a bit earlier, was guarding Randle, and Julius should know that Brown likes to cut along the baseline and crash the boards.  That was a huge play, much more significant than the BKY off-rebound at the 2 min mark.

[kidcarter8]

Randle was exhausted - and Knicks did not get the luck of the bounce.

Does not excuse Grimes.  I think the last time I didnt attempt to block out was pre-middle school ball.  No excuse foe a pro to be watching (Randle did plenty of this as well - granted) with the game on the line.

[kidcarter8]

Free agents - who we want?


https://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/

[bodiddley]

Cam Thomas was brilliant 4Q.  Guy we could have had.  I'd take him over Fournier (and McBride).  I like Grimes' 2-way game.  Would have been nice to draft Jalen Johnson and Grimes in a rebuild. Though we did pick up Reddish for a future 1st, and he's along the lines of Jalen. 

Looking at the 2nd round of that ultra-deep draft, Dosunmu (#38, two picks after McB) has looked terrific.  Shooting 41% on 3's.  Averaging 7.4 assists in Feb.  20 starts for a contender.  While Herb Jones (one pick prior to Bake McBride) has balled out too.   Jared Butler did it too, but has seen limited time in for deep contending Utah.

[kidcarter8]

Look ahead once in a while.

2022 mock

https://www.nbadraft.net/nba-mock-drafts/

[kidcarter8]

Gotta check out Notre Dame

Might be available

https://www.nbadraft.net/players/blake-wesley/

Numbers not great but NBA comps are Tyler Herro/Byron Scott

[lesterluv]

Randle was exhausted - and Knicks did not get the luck of the bounce.

If you are blocking out, bounces don't matter. I coached 5th graders to block out better. That was the key play. He failed. If he gets too tired to do the basketball basics with the game on the line, he should stay home.

[kidcarter8]

I put forth that the 2 key plays were when Grimes did not block out and when Mitch and Julius knocked heads and neither got the board.

Agree to disagree - and of course you are right that B Brown getting a board 1 on 4 was ridiculous.

Enjoy the day - and the break.

[chipstern]

A Whole Lot Of Nothing. 

Who is available?  Who is tenable?  Who would be crazy enough to come here. 

We had our shot in 2021. 

I'm not as down on Fournier as some.

Still, having said that?

The BULLS have all of our 20/20 hindsight FA/Signings.

DeRozan
Ball
Caruso

Look, not only at the level of his play, but the level of DeRozan's LEADERSHIP. 

Off the charts. 

Which is why the Bulls, despite a host of injuries and COVID protocols, are still among the top tier of playoff contenders.   

[Kam]

Thibs supposedly wanted Derozan.

[kidcarter8]

I dont recall anyone saying to sign Caruso

And DeRozen had quite luke warm backing, given his particulars.

Ball didnt seem to embrace NY.  May have made the right call, we'll see.