My optimism right now is that we can drop any facade about trying to win games at this juncture. There is a reassurance in resigning oneself to just doing everything to keep that pick. That's the main goal now, lose games, keep the top 5 pick, and play the youngsters to help them develop. Lose, lose, lose, please.
Haha...things could always get worse. A recording could surface of mitch on a racist rant with someone.
Awesome to see a game won against a contender. A collapse in the 4th but dare I say we gritted out the win. Clarkson, Ellington and our eminently tradeable Hill with a buzzer beater to level the score. Let's all smell the holdats and enjoy the win. It is never bad to see our team hustle on defense and look good for most of the game. Next match though let's continue the stank to maintain the tank and get a 2 for 1 against the Knicks (our loss, their win)
There are currently 70 players are in their rookie season. Among them: Tarik Black - undrafted - 19th most minutes, 20th in pts, 33rd in ast, 7th in reb Jordan Clarkson - drafted 46th - 22nd most minutes, 16th in pts, 15th in ast, 28th in reb If we use those four stats as a rough indication of contributions made, Black is ~20th and Clarkson is ~20th, too. Randle, unfortunately, is 70th, but we know that's not an indication of what he is. So, supposing that Randle is roughly a 5th best talent, we had an expected value of 5th, 46th, and, let's say, 60th for Black. That's one starter, one middle second rounder, and one not quite fit for the league. We've produced 5th, 20th, and 20th; that's the equivalent of having three first rounders. All three look like rotation players. Better news: this won't make us a better team THIS YEAR, so we can keep tanking.
Now, hopefully Kelly starts picking it up after his last game; we'll have some decent to good pieces moving forward as I've said before...add in a healthy Julius and a top 5 pick to the rotation, and we're working with something...
Awesome take on the team t. If/when we get that Top 5 pick and if/when Randle comes back healthy and ready to go, I think we're talking about one of the better young teams around. Kelly is playing completely out of position, but maybe if we get him back at PF he'll be a little more effective. I've been really disappointed with him. Either way, another top draft pick and a strong FA addition this summer and things will look different next season. I think we'll be one of those teams fighting for 8th or 9th spot which is a huge jump.
Here's a quick look at Kelly in five-game snapshots. 1-5: 9.2 MPG, 2.6 PPG, 0.2 APG, 1.8 RPG, 36% FGs, 33% 3PT 6-10: 24.8 MPG, 6.0 PPG, 1.4 APG, 4.8 RPG, 41% FGs, 50% 3PT 11-15: 19.2 MPG, 3.4 PPG, 0.6 APG, 2.6 RPG, 22% FGs, 20% 3PT 16-20: 22.6 MPG, 5.8 PPG, 1.4 APG, 3.8 RPG, 37% FGs, 55% 3PT Remembering that Kelly missed out on a lot of preseason with a hammy injury and then reinjured it, it seems like he's just starting to get going again. He was surprisingly good last year, and from December to January his DRtg decreased (that's good) and his ORtg climbed big time from January to the three games in February. In these three games he's actually at 112/109 O/D, which is impressive on a garbage team. The second half of this season is a crucial time for Kelly. He'll keep seeing minutes if he keeps knocking down threes, and he can prove that he deserves to stick it out with this team. BTW, he's 27th in the league among ALL PLAYERS in three-point percentage. If you bump the guys who have taken fewer than 20, he moves up to 8th. It's very limited time for him, but even his career mark would put him in the top 50.
Really, Sacre is the only big disappointment among returning players. I thought things were clicking for him; apparently not.
Sacre literally can't disappoint me because my expectations for him are exactly zero. He's an end of the bench body and that's all he can really do. I guess the numbers look better than Kelly's eye test do. He just hasn't looked confident at all out there. I've seen him passive with the ball, making bad passes, and he's certainly not been aggressive defensively. I'd like for him to stay and develop into a stretch four we can use, but he's not quite living up to the expectations of last season.
He bodies up true centers pretty well (?) on defense and takes up space, is tough and always gives us effort. He's definitely not a slug out there but not quick either. Sometimes he even strokes his J for a couple or looks decent with his jump hook. More times not unfortunately he can't hit much. 6 fouls to give.
Sacre is great for the tank. Keep starting him, Byron. Best coaching move that Byron has made this year. It's a stroke of tanking genius.
He's great for the tank, and I should say this: I was high on Sacre, and I'll probably count him as an overall success. The fact is, however, that he is a seven footer (roughly) who can't shoot 40%, apparently. He can't dribble or pass either. He has got to get this turned around (not this year, mind you; tank on).
Maybe. That wouldn't really change his aggression though. He's still shockingly weak. I think he'd benefit from a move there, but would the tank?
I didn't want to suggest Kelly is doing well; his FG% is low, and I'd like to see him getting in on assists and rebounding a bit more, but I did want to suggest that he's turned the first corner. He still has a ways to go to meet last year, and I want even more out of him.
This disappoints me. When you are out that long resting and rehabbing your hamstrings, why not high reps weight training to not build much bulk but increase strength somewhat upper body. Think Pau at his best strength peak. Never a stud but he had enough muscle and definition to hold off and outplay Dwight Howard for his first championship. Since Ryan was going to have to get acquainted with his stroke again anyway once he could again run and jump and bump, why not take the time to get stronger? Passing too. How about adding to his game there additionally as well with better NBA big man passing skills? Then again they don't feed him anywhere near the key to maybe allow him to do that. Always only camped out past 3 point line at the mercy of others throwing him the ball. Anything other than catch and shoot he has to try and create himself. Also agree he hasn't caught back up enough yet this year to look as good as he did after the All Star Break last year.
Yeah, I'm optimistic tonight. Jordan Clarkson has me optimistic. Wow. Great game. 2 wins in a row; screw it. It feels good to win. I can't wait until I watch Julius and JC tear it up next year...
Yeah I can't bring myself to be upset at a Laker win. I get it that we need to lose, but man I just can't be upset if we actually win a game.
Those two have the attitude to succeed which is important to complement their skills. It's good to see that there are positives going into next season. Players and defenses will adjust to their games so I look for both to work on how to counter and improve further. For us fans and the organization, nowhere to go but up. Then we'll see those that had their jollies at our expense for now as we pass them or knock them off where they are.
3 in a row; Clarkson with another good game. I think of last years draft this way; with both Randle and Clarkson we got 2 first round picks. Clarkson should have been one, IMO. Not a bad haul of a draft last summer when you think about it...
