Game Debrief: What Went Right And What Went Wrong?

Box score suggests you can chalk the loss up to turnovers, missed free throws and missed threes, but I don’t how anyone could watch that game and think they’re aren’t larger issues.

We were at a pretty clear athleticism disadvantage against a team I don’t even consider particularly athletic. Ayton and Rui are our best athletes out there and you don’t feel them the way you feel someone like Kuminga. They don’t play with much force. Austin is a very good player, but he’s fighting an uphill battle against better athletes just about every night. And Vando just isn’t very good. He had a wide 8 foot-ish flip shot but passed it up to take an extra dribble, because he’s not confident in his ability to make that shot, and got the ball stuffed right back in his face. He’s a 10th man on a good team.

 

There are several larger issues it's a matter of what can they shake off after night 1 (sloppy play, improved shooting), what can they improve on in the short term (chemistry and effort), and what's a case of they are who they are.

A lot of nights we have the more skilled top end talent, skill can trump athleticism but you have to be on your s***. Peak Spurs level. If you're not up to that, yeah it's not going to to well against any playoff caliber team.

That said, Wiggins helps...a lot. Shame Riley has gotten so senile with his asking prices and expects every great player to go there when giving up 4th string players in a trade.

 

EVERYTHING

 

Found us a new shooting coach. He's coming to the games anyway to see Luka, might as well give him a paycheck.

 

The Lakers need younger more athleticism.

RJ Barrett

Jerami Grant.

do the Brooklyn nets have any kids????? Just young wings.

sometimes this s*** isn’t hard. Like you can go pull a Trevor Ariza.

they gotta go at those teams. s*** what’s Patrick Williams doing?

Senseball on Utah.

 

Also I know Reddick doesn’t like him but you gotta play Kinect it was clear we needed some floor spacing. Hes not a defender but we could’ve used that shooting. It was clear we needed some 3 point shooting. I would’ve liked to see him have a shot.

gotta get this guy on the court with Luka and Reaves. I know that’s no defense but we need the shooter next to them.

 

I could see last night our defense was bad. After looking it over again it is another level bad. Obviously we don't have great one on one defenders but the effort was poor and there was no coaching evident. The defense was scrambling like a city league team coming together for the first time. Even good defenders like Smart were playing less than smart.

 

I gotta say the NBC coverage was awesome. Just the way they shoot. The broadcast. The play by play. Looked like we were watching a movie. Like Sunday night Football.

NBC just knows production. ABC trash.

they were treating these games like it was the NBA finals. NBC makes NBA an event.

ABC makes it an after thought.

the production the storylines you could see it all there. Especially in the first game.

 

I was edge of my seat and it was game 1. NBC makes basketball like it’s Monday Night Football. The huddle all of it.

 

If I were Luka I’d try to incorporate Ayton early. Luka’s offense is always going to be there. It’s important for him to get his teammates like Ayton going early so they get into a groove.

 

Maybe too good for this one. It was uuugglllyy...lol

 

Gotta say: if you watched the preseason you wouldn't have been surprised by Game 1. I was surprised we only lost by 10.

It's weird to think you suck because your 40 year old is out with injuries.

Am I the only one who thinks Ayton's hoops IQ is imbecile level? Esp. on D.

 

yeah, i was fully prepared to get demolished, but we do have luka.

this is why we didn't offer the PO.

it's not fantastic. he's a great athlete; he's not a natural basketball player. we need to develop schemes that don't require him to think quickly.

 

No defense= no chance against good teams

 

If Durant thinks you're trash, you're probably trash.

-- Westbrook (Probably)

 

They were simply better.
I wasn't aware they were this good with Jimmy. They went from 25-26 to 23-8 with him. Were ahead of Minny in the playoffs until Curry got hurt. If they're healthy in the right time, they'll be a tough team to beat

Positives:
- competitiveness. They fought until the end
- Luka is gonna be awesome to watch. MVP kind of year
- Smart is the type of player I want in this team. He brings a dog in him and that helps a lot
- we can trust AR. He's gonna step it up

Negatives:
- bad offense. Rui was MIA, Ayton had 7 shots. Can't happen without Bron
- Rui and Ayton must do more too. If you're not getting shots, go after them, grab a rebound
- can someone explain the usual Q3 meltdown?
- we seem a bit lost. In preseason mode. Paying the price for not having a decent one. They were playing connected. Missing Bron also messes up everyone, he's such a difference maker

 

Marcus Smart was a positive, Luka did his thang but overall the game was tragic. Sadly the OKC Houston game was more entertaining.

 

I did not endorse the JJ hiring I was just happy Ham was fired but I think Reddick is teetering on Ham TP territory with his Gabe love

 

I expect to go 0-2 tonight. It's still a bad matchup, too physical to us. I was expecting with Bron we could play some revenge game, but without him I don't think we have the tools

Hope they give it a hard fight and we continue to grow as a team

Oh and Vando or Smart better start for Gabe. Makes 0 sense for Gabe to start this one

 

When you watch some of these teams come out of the gate looking like they are ready to play and others, like the Lakers, not so much, it is almost as if some coaches placed a higher level of importance on the pre-season. Could just be coincidence.