I'm a bradley fan: but having a rotation of Reaves/Monk/THT was a significant upgrade at the 2 guard spots. The difference that size and athleticism gives you on defense/rebounding/offense really stuck out. It also seemed to force the lakers into more of a switch heavy defense which the young guys are far more suited for
imagine having one more mobile big on defense, too. and i like bradley. i just think he's best suited as a 10th-12th man as opposed to a starter. and truthfully, i think everyone in the league including us agreed on that before we had those early season injuries and he stepped in to help shore some things up.
I don't see how we can start him when you see what you're getting from Monk (while trying to convince him to stay) and AR. While AD is out, minutes get shelled out to Bron, Russ, Monk, Stan, AR, Melo, THT in that order. If it's a bigger team, you've overheated Melo, or if Stan is in foul trouble then Ariza gets minutes. If they're smaller, give Bradley minutes. Need another big and they get into my minute distribution before AB, too.
Basically this team is missing Kuzma. A switchable forward who can board, hit the 3, and can occasionally get hot would get this team what 5-10 more wins? Margin is so small but you see the difference Johnson and the corpse of Ariza have made.
Kuz was only other guy besides AD or LeBron that could explode for 30 in any given night plus KCP’s hustle and timely shooting is what’s missing now and we added a negative player in their stead
Furthermore, I wished AD and the coaching staff would’ve had their epiphany that small ball and AD at the 5 was the way to go a year ago. I always wanted to see a full time AD/Bron/Kuz frontcourt but we never got there.
His play swung to opposite directions in this one. During one 4-5 minute stretch in the second half he was the worst player on the court. Miss. TO. Blown D. Rinse and repeat. But he self corrected. Ended up with a few big shots and a couple stops in the 4th and OT to help secure this one.
You should appreciate him. Without him, you wouldn't be in the league. Retire early. You're supposed to retire early.
Can we please not bring him back again? I was against it the first time and I am against it once again. He's a huge negative on the offensive end, and while he does try on D, he always ends up on someone who is too big for him to guard. Enough is enough.