I agree with @therealdeal that Luke isn't using him correctly. I just want more out of our Center, especially when the opposing center is having a record night (46, 15, 7, 7) and he's either getting abused, joking with opponent, or on the bench because he did nothing. Just frustrated. He'll bounce back the next game and shut me up.
I didn’t quote you because I thought there was more than one guy saying that and didn’t want to single anyone out. But to the point, I think Randle was getting too much blame after that game. He did what he could against a bigger guy. I actually think we’ve been pretty light on Brook overall but he really could have made a difference in that game even if it was just hitting a couple of those threes.
One thing that bugs me is we run the offense through Brook, and reel off a couple of nice wins. Lately, it’s been a return to running the offense from outside-in, and we’re back to losing. At this point I dont know what the heck Luke is doing. To be sure, Brook stunk vs Philly, but maybe Embiid’s outcome is different if we set the tone going inside at him from the start.
agreed mostly until the end. i don't see a witch hunt (that's been happening to the other end of that trade since it was made, btw). i see people calling it like it is. lopez isn't an allstar. we've known that. he might be our best player, and that's a bad thing. i'd also add that some have touted his consistency (maybe you? can't remember), but one of lopez's issues, imo, is inconsistency, both this year and in the past. oh, and i didn't see the philly game, but i'm pretty sure we only stop embiid by sending doubles on the catch, and i don't think luke likes to do that. as it stands, the lakers were in the game, and philly's shooters obviously weren't getting consistently great looks. given all the media trash talk, embiid really needed to show out in this game. he was going to get huge numbers.
I agree with all this. I just thought taking that one awful game and crushing Lopez for it didn't make much sense. There were plenty of awful people in that game, but it wasn't just Lopez. I also agreed that he was awful in that game and if he'd hit a couple threes, that whole game changes. We don't start out so poorly, Lopez gets more minutes, maybe he plays down the stretch when he should have been and does a better job of challenging Embiid around the rim than Julius is capable of.
I have said he is consistent, but the most inconsistent part of him is his shooting and his minutes. Like I've said, he needs to be put inside. Having him start games as a spacer just isn't his strength and he's struggling with that. I don't need Lopez to be an All-Star, but if we made more of an effort to get him going early in games, I think he could sneak in as an alternate. There's not a lot of really great Centers. (then again they changed the rules to avoid big men so maybe not). I already posted the stats, but when leaned on, he does fine. We just aren't doing it. The starting lineup is really disjointed right now and having Pope/Lopez trying to find their place in the pecking order has been a challenge. I agree that Embiid needs to be doubled. Luke (and a lot of the players frankly) admitted that they weren't doubling enough or effectively even when they did double. But they would still have benefited from a bigger player in there with Embiid late. He could challenge Embiid more at the basket and of course it wasn't like Randle was crushing it offensively. We needed a change late.
Got Zo's back by throwing his twin brother under the bus during "no tech"gate...quietly exploited a matchup where the opposing team lost their best big...In the top 3 on our team (along with JC and Nance) in PER...Then of course theres the DLo out indefinitely thing along with this: Yeah, I think presently, we won that trade. Nah, actually I know we won that trade. Why? Kuz I said so!
lol, lopez wanted out of there. i actually do think the last question is good, even if there aren't great answers. essentially: how is that you played great, unselfish basketball with high energy for 48 minutes when most nights you can't manage this for 24?
my question was directed at the whole team (as was the reporter's, i think). but yes, he, as an individual, seemed a little more dialed in to this one.
Is..is he sick? Like seriously ill? If not, wtf man? Horrible. He made one nice bucket in the 4th and had a good block and a deflection that led to a steal, otherwise he was garbage.
Very disappointing showing against his brother tonight. I don't know, I'm feeling more and more like we should let Brook go unless he takes a massive pay cut.
Had a terribull shooting game. But had 2 blocks, 9 boards and was an overall net positive. I even noticed after the missed 3 point KCP put back, him and Luke were barking at each other. Luke must have tore him a new one for taking that 3 with the game in balance like that. I understand that he's giving Randle room to operate in the paint and guys that attack the rim (like BI) space to hit those lanes, but he needs to come back in from the land of 3...the paint misses you BLo.
His numbers look pretty awful. Against your brother too! Yikes. I thought he was alright in the few minutes he got in the 4th.
I kind of like Brook. He always appeared awkward when he was on Brooklyn. But, his best games this year shows that he has talent. I do wonder how Nance's absence has effected his game. My hunch is that he would be doing better on offense and defense, enough to avoid the complaints.
Brook is a true low post center playing a stretch 5. He's not going to be effective standing out around the three point line, but he guy brings something no one else can bring, length in the paint.
