I wonder if Ingram, Clarkson and Randle are jealous / threatened by this kid. Based on their lack of passing to him, I'd bet on it to a certain extent. Am I off on this?
Well, Ingram doesn't pass anymore. Clarkson never passes. Randle doesn't understand when to pass. Probably nothing.
I, personally haven’t noticed this. Could be, but Ingram and him almost never play together for one. Randle and him seemed to work ok, but he doesn’t see the game like Kuzma and make passes like him really. Clarkson, maybe, but I think he just doesn’t pass much to anyone/is a bad passer. Caruso was finding Kuzma the best probably. I don’t know if I see jealousy there, Kuzma didn’t take any of their spots or minutes.
You are assuming Ingram and Clarkson pass to begin with. Randle and Kuz seemed to have some good chemistry tonight from what I saw.
another really good game. got on the defensive boards, just decisive on offense. smart, quick plays. really pretty floater for a guy that size. at the end of the game, i caught myself saying "just get it to kuzma" instead of ingram.
Taking Hill on the baseline, a nice spin move and off the glass to seal the game. Had the cojones to take that shot with the clock running down up four. I was expecting it to go in too even if it was long.
Ingram is trying to hard, while kuzma let's the game come to him. Also kuzma makes great reads either passing or getting in position for open shots. Ingram would learn this
Jumper not falling? No problem. Recovery plan: 1. continue to take open shots 2. attack the rim 3. cut decisively 4. run out when appropriate 5. play defense 6. set up others Kyle Kuzma, ladies and gentlemen!
Hahah...Wow! I'm gonna leave it alone. Anyways, this kid has some FlintStones to seal the game for us tonight. #YabbaDabbaKuzzz
Randle had three beautiful assists tonight including a no look and a couple alley oop passes. Don't lump him in with Clarkson. He does understand when to pass. Sometimes he gets caught in the air on the break or gets a little out of control but he's still one of our better assist guys and he was last year as well. Ingram needs to pass again like he did last year.
I'm pretty comfortable saying Ball/Kuz/Randle/Lopez gives us the best chance to win every night. Unfortunately it will probably take Luke 70 games to realize that so I'm expecting a lot of frustrating games/rotations in between. Kuz like Ball has shown that he can play and work with anyone on the court with him. I'm not going to anoint him the next GOAT, but his play so far has been extremely encouraging with his skill set looking like a perfect match for Luke's system and the NBA game today.
This is incredibly important though. We've got our eyes on big prizes this summer and one of the keys to players we've had in recent years is "can they mesh with ____" and with Kuzma and Ball that's not a concern at all. Slide him wherever and let him go to work, good things are going to happen.
I agree. I've been thinking since the summer league that Kuzma is a classic Swiss Army knife type player. He reminds me a little of AK47 and Scottie Pippen that way. He does everything out there and does it well. He's one heck of a pick up at 27.