Austin Reaves Discussion: Foundation Piece Or Trade Piece?

NO!

you know the rules here and discussions about shootings do not belong. Take it somewhere else. Not LB

-Barnstable

 

Yeah, many here labeled Conley as “washed” earlier this year when we were discussing him possibly coming back in a trade for Brick.

 

Nope. No shooting discussions here

-Barnstable

had we traded for conley before the season, we'd have had a great year and been in the 3-5 spot, imo. i was begging for it. the deal we got is better, but yeah, people shouldn't have scoffed so hard at that idea. in fairness, iirc, ainge was still trying to bend us over at that time, so maybe it wasn't really plausible.

and not to beat a dead horse, but i don't like reaves guarding pgs.

 

Edit!

We aren’t supposed to be discussing these things here, so that’s all I’m going to say about this.

Exactly and there won’t be any of these discussions here

-Barnstable

 

But you got your shots in when all that was said is that it’s not a great nickname for Reaves because of all that’s happening.

 

Nah man. It’s not “shots.” This latest massacre runs deep with me for several reasons and I only said something because it was brought up by another poster first. Edit!

And that’s the problem with these topics. One person says something, someone else decides to reply, and then we have pages or arguments for the LB staff to sort through…. No thanks.

Feel free to express like or dislike for the AR 15 nickname, but there will be no discussions about non Lakers related topics in here.

- Barnstable

 

Edit: Nope.


In any case: I would prefer going away from the AR-15 nickname. HBK works, is funny, and as with any good nickname has a lot of truth in it

And that’s a perfectly reasonable and on topic response to the nickname. Let’s have more of that.

-Barnstable

 

The way Austin rounds out the starting five it is beyond obvious he needs to stay in the starting line up. Ham did a great job of getting points out of Malik and then getting the defenders in. This unit is only going to get better the more time they have on the court. It has only been a few games. We keep bouncing the starters we will never have consistency. Even on a so so day Austin is still the better option. People forget how good Conley was and can still be for stretches. When he is cooking nobody is shut him down.

 

Schroeder put him on ice in the 3rd so that was nice.

When Conley has looked cook is when teams start hunting him in the PnR. This is what consistently has happened in the playoffs and because he's small and old it's effective.

 

I think the key is staggering his minutes so the bench have a facilitator. Pull him at the 8 minute mark put in Beas if he can hit a few or not then reinsert Reaves depending on Beas shooting that game

 

Reaves was off a bit this game but has done really well in most of the others. We can't change the line up every time someone has a bit of an off game. We would never build consistency. For the most part Austin has been killing it. He even carried us a couple of games. Malik is perfect for that quick scorer off the bench. He can catch fire fast but pretty limited in other areas. He is the definition of a game changer off the bench. He also seems more comfortable off the bench. He felt the pressure of starting and it showed in his shooting. When playoffs start defense becomes much more important and Malik just isn't very good on that end. During the regular season we could probably get by either way but I like building chemistry and continuity with the guys that will be playing in the playoffs together. 95% of the time (I'm estimating) Austin is our 3-4 best player. Plus Austin and Dlo love playing together and their skill sets balance each other out. I'm not even sure that Malik is shooting the ball better than Austin and that is all he does. In the end we all see the games differently but for me this is one of the easiest calls to make.

 

The Shrod is a good man to have around. It is nice to see the player I thought we were getting the first time.

 

I like that Reaves being off now is him missing shots that I think he can make. He had a few possessions where his lack of vertical hurts him like when Slo Mo forced him to pick up his dribble. Otherwise his ball handling skills are getting to the point where he seems to have adjusted to the more athletically gifted defenders he can still get his shot.

This is a big leap

 

But... I don't think whether Malik starts or finishes is the problem.

If last game is any indicator, he shoots just fine with the 2nd unit as well.

The real problem is -- our dimwitted coach doesn't understand what that means to get a shooter open looks (which is amazing, since he played with Rip Hamilton) and I don't see him learning in the next 3 - 4 weeks. And in the playoffs, when defenses get tighter, the chance to get those look accidentally (which is what has happened so far), will diminish.

The notion of "Bron and DLO gonna get Malik open looks" has no evidence to it.

So... if we move Austin to the bench we still won't resolve the Malik issue and, in essence, reduce Austin's chances to contribute.

 

Yes, and all the line up changes along with injuries are why we are were we are. The line up change we made was done after Malik struggled terribly. Ham gave him every opportunity. If Malik had been making shots he wouldn't have changed the line up. I completely understand your logic and absolutely nothing wrong with it. I wanted to see that deadly shooter in the starting line up as well. I was excited to see Beasley opening up the floor but it just didn't happen.

You also right in the Austin can get his whether he starts or not. I believe he should be in the 34-35 minutes range and he stays in the mid to high twenties when he comes off the bench. Everything works better when he is out there. To me when you have a guy so instrumental in how the teams he should be maximized. Also again, playoff basketball gets more about defense the deeper you go. Unfortunately, Malik just isn't a defensive player. If Malik starts blazing off the bench and Ham wants to make the switch back we will see what happens. I wouldn't agree with it because it might mess everything up but it would be hard to argue against it.

There are no nervous shot charts but I do believe Malik gets over anxious, feels he can't afford to miss so he does when in the starting line up. The fringe starters feel much more pressure to perform. Lebron or AD aren't going any where but a coach can't stay with a shooter than goes into an extended shooting slump that doesn't offer anything else. I'm not even trying to diss Malik. I like him and hope we keep him. I hope he starts shooting so well Coach Ham has to put him back in the starting line up. If that happens we likely win the championship. I'm all for that.

One other reason I like Austin in the starting line up is so we do not lose him. His talent and work ethic is such that in my mind he is clearly a starter. Austin knows that too. He changed schools because of playing time and usage. He says and does the right things but he is a fiery competitor that knows his worth.

I completely respect your well thought out posts I just lean toward the defensive end. We are so much better than everyone else we likely win it all either way...lol.

 

Just for curiosity I had to check. Unless I'm looking at the wrong stats which could be...lol. Austin's percentages are better than Malik's. If I'm wrong let me know. I don't rely on stats much and rarely look them up.