12-23-2025, 07:22 PM
(12-23-2025, 06:42 PM)Chicagojk Wrote: I really like Nembhard...Despite his size, I think he does a lot of things on defense to make him playable. I like how he doesn’t go for pump fakes and how he isn’t afraid to put his body on bigger players.
I agree, he plays hard on the defensive end. Still, at his size, it's not all up to him, sadly. The entire team has to be able to compensate, and this starts at the strategy level. I can't remember which game it was where this was happening (one of the last few) but the other night, every time one of the forwards or Davis would brick one of those patented, pointless Mavericks midrange jump shots, Nembhard kept being the only one back and ended up being forced into the low man spot in defensive transition. I don't think it ended well even one time. Imo, this has contributed greatly to the current status quo of Williams closing games, despite Nembhard being the better half-court facilitator. In turn, that has led to more "point Flagg" down the stretch (though that might be a bug, not a feature, from Kidd's POV, not sure).
I really like Nembhard, too. Not enough (yet) to pencil him in as even the 2nd PG on a good team, though I think it's a good goal for him.