02-04-2024, 11:07 AM
(02-04-2024, 09:35 AM)HoosierDaddyKidd Wrote: Yikes! Thing is, I don't think they get this corrected this season. Getting more defensive minded players instead of offensive should be the focus. Dallas can out score teams when the shots are falling, but what happens when they stop? You have to have a semblance of a defense.
I think our biggest issue as a team is that several of the 3 and D role players we have in our rotation are actually below-average to poor defensive players. Grant Williams was supposed to be a plus defender but has been a liability on defense. Signing a 6'5" guy with limited lateral agility to be our starting PF was not a winning move.
I was a huge Josh Green proponent this offseason and expected he would become our 3rd-best player this season. His offense is improving but he still doesn't know what the hell to do on defense most of the time. Lots of wasted energy and poor decisions. I'm not clear if it's just poor coaching or if Josh is just a low-IQ player. I hope he improves with a new coach next season.
I think Kleber is done. It's great that he hit some shots last night but he's been bad since his return. His EPM is -6.6 in his minutes this season. That's one of the worst in the NBA especially for a non-rookie. I understand EPM has limitations in low minutes but it's a good demonstration of what's happened when he's on the court. Not much good has happened for us since he returned.
I think our core 3 of Luka, Kyrie and Lively is really good if all 3 are available. Unfortunately, when we're missing two of those guys, we're not gonna win many games. Our best opportunity to improve is to upgrade our role players. I would be frustrated if I were Luka as well because he carried the team last night.