Oh my...the Kuz is juice...uh looze! Since the Miami juice stop, in the last 8 games check out who from the entire league makes up the top 5 in defensive rating (minimum 25 minutes per and 8 games played)! And that's even when the recent Nug route outlier. You figure those Drtg numbers would be more favorable without that game. Btw, lol at the top player being a Miami Heat.
He didn't show me a lot of defense in that first quarter when we were getting run out of the building by 17 to the worst team in the league.
He's been so much more well rounded these last few games. Between grabbing more boards, fighting around screens, moving the ball, and looking so under control when attacking. Very nice to see
LOL LTLakerFan. To be fair, I really like Kyle. He's a fun player to watch and so easy to root for with his work ethic, the adversity he's overcome in Flint, and just his overall demeanor out on the court. Not to mention the fact that he's such a brilliant natural scorer. I dig him. My only issue with Kuz is how he's being used or misused in my opinion by either Luke or the FO or both. I just don't think he should be in the starting lineup. Also to be fair, as the title of this thread notes, his rebounding has been greatly improved lately and that's impressive to see. His defense though . . . hmmm, still needs a LOT of work. Last year he was an awful defender and I'd say he's improved a little. Maybe he's a pretty bad defender for his position now. To me this is one of the biggest issues I have with him starting instead of playing with the bench. Hart is a beast on defense and Ingram is better on D against SF wings than smaller shooting guards. I'd rather see us going with our strengths more of the time. Also Kuz's three point shot has really fallen off this year while Hart has improved in that department.
Great article with some good numbers breakdown followed up by video clips of his defensive improvement on that side of the ball.
He's shaping up a little bit the past couple games, still I think he's best as our punch off the bench.
I’m still of the same opinion about Kuz.... I think he should start. He has a better offensive repor with both LeBron and Lonzo than Ingram does. Ingram is better defensively, true, but his offensive game just hasn’t meshed with the other starters much. IMO Ingram will have more offensive focus coming off the bench so I’d start Hart instead. Finishing the games May be a different matter. I realized the reason why his past (before the last 8 games) defensive numbers were worse than I expected was because Kuz has made some big effort and hustle defensive plays this season. He can have defensive impact in that way, and learning from Rondo to read specific plays a team is running so he can defend it better, since he doesn’t have a natural feel for defense like Lonzo has.
I tend to agree with benching BI instead of Kuz but I think Luke has instruction from the FO that he NEEDS to start BI.
Just to continue the theme and evidence of improvement, we're talking about Kuz is making on defense:
Kuz has been getting better on D, especially since he's defending the perimeter more now and not the paint like he had to do earlier in the season. He doesn't have the natural feel for defense that Zo and Hart do, but as long as he gives effort and is fundamentally sound, he shouldn't be a defensive liability on the court.
I think both him and BI should be starting to be honest. We are always wanting to tinker and think something could be better. But in the end, since BI came back and the Lakers began starting the two of them together, they are 12 and 5. They are getting better and learning how to play with one of the more difficult players in the league to play with. We also have to lock down our rotations. We can't keep moving people in and out of the starting lineup. I think part of our recent success has been the fact that our rotations are a little more consistent. People know who is going to be playing, and how many minutes. I'm even a little concerned about Rondo coming back disrupting our Lebron/Ball pg tandem.
Real question. Did anyone watch the first and third quarters of the last game? How can you tell me with a straight face that the starting lineup is looking good and doesn't need to change? For anyone who forgot, we were down 17 points in the first quarter to the worst team in the league with the starters in. We only began to turn it around and come back after Josh Hart was inserted into the lineup. After the first half we led by 15 points. The starting lineup farted around for 6 and half minutes of the third quarter and ended their time squandering some points off that lead as it dropped to 9 for a while and slowly came back to 12, still three points less of a lead than they had at the half. During that time the Suns were missing their BEST PLAYER in Booker. So they still came up a net negative. Hart and Chandler came in and within 2 minutes we were back up by 17 because Hart knocked down two open threes off feeds from Lebron. Is that coincidence? Friends, we are winning games in spite of that starting lineup, not because of it. Wow, we sure see the game differently.
How come nobody complained about the starters when we jumped out to a big lead against Indy? Or against the Magic a week ago? I’m just saying, we focus on the bad starts but ignore the games where they jump out to a lead and then the 2nd unit lets the opponent back in. One thing I’ve noticed with the poor starts is that Lebron will have 3-5 TOS and 2 points in those first quarters. To me it’s not a lineup problem, but an issue with focus. If he starts sluggish then the rest of the guys follow suit.
Real answer. Phoenix was the 3rd game in 4 days. It was also an early start at noon local. Is fatigue a possible culprit to the lazy starts? Didn't a time change and crazy travel schedule affect us in Orlando on their local time? 'Do's been out so Hart has more rapport with the 2nd unit and BI is the mainstay of the starting unit with Bron, Zo, Kuz getting rest on the bench...so with BI staggered with Hart on that 2nd unit they're a +13.8. Also Hart's recent ankle injury. Maybe we don't want to just throw him out there with heavy minutes. Isn't that something our med staff is akin to doing? (Btw, the questions I pose back are rhetorical...we all know the answers) When Kcp started, the answer by most of you was #StartHart... When we kept losing, the answer by most was fire Luke cause he kept f***ing around with the rotations. Now we're only a few games out of 1st with the early troubles of team chemistry through the suspensions and injuries. Maybe, the answer is to remain patient and have some continuity with these current rotations while 'Do gets back and Hart recover from his injury.
I agree and the net rating agrees with you too: I have not confirmed and checked this out myself but it does not surprise me. I trust Anthony too, so that's why I haven't looked this up. Yes, Hart maybe should start, but with a lineup of Zo, Brandon, Lebron, Kuz, and Javale they should be able to get it done and off to better starts.
Thank you Battle Tested20. I'm still 100% in favor of starting a real shooting guard in Hart and moving Kuz to the bench and I don't understand why he was put in there in the first place. He's not a better shooter than Hart and sure isn't a better defender. I want our best defensive lineup out there to begin the game so we don't get into a double digit deficit every single first quarter. I'm not saying play Hart more than Kuz. Why can't they split minutes? Really we should be splitting minutes between all of BI, Hart and Kuz. They all do different things and do them well. Maybe we are trying to hide Hart and showcase BI and Kuz for obvious reasons as Vash and others have intimated.
