01-16-2021, 09:39 AM
I hate that we wasted a good shooting night from THJ.
Best game of the season from Johnson. There was a point in the second half where he played 17 straight minutes.
It was pretty shocking to see two rookies out there together for five minutes in the second quarter. We'll do that against Milwaukee, but not against Charlotte?. Then, we saw rookie Green with almost rookie Iwundu for 4 1/2 minutes in the fourth. I'd call that surprising more than shocking.
The shocking part is we ran two plays in a row in the fourth trying to get Green a basket. In fact, on one of those Green brought the ball up. KP ruined the shot by drawing a basket interference call and Green missed a lefty layup on the other. But, both were plays being run for the rookie. Wow.
I watched the FSSW version of the game and missed most of what happened between Luka and Carlisle after Willie's O-rebound with about :15 left. That isn't what I want to comment on here. Go back and watch what happens with 10.9 seconds left when Milwaukee secures the board on the KP miss. Willie, the closest Mav to the rebounder who should have fouled him immediately, turns and starts running back. Are you kidding me. Burke takes the foul, but even he hesitates and 3 seconds run off the clock. Could Luka have used 3 extra seconds at the end.
The question with Willie is going to be whether the good outweighs the bad. The good is he is springy and fast and super athletic. When he's dialed in, he can really defend both the rim and the perimeter (see Jokic game). But, the motor is inconsistent, he fumbles away a pass every game. His screens are sloppy and he goes absolutely brain dead at times. His box score looked great, but if you watched the game, you saw him get torched a lot. Denver...great Willie. Orlando...no answer for Vuc. Charlotte...great Willie. Milwaukee...reefer Willie.
I am not convinced that we won't see KP/Powell starting together at some point. Carlisle is saying lots of nice things to build Willie's confidence and try to get him bought in (to keep the light switch ON more consistently). But, at some point if he doesn't get what he wants, Carlisle is going to yank the chain on Willie (this is where about 10 people typically say Maxi will start, but that won't be the answer as you have to stagger the shooters and it is more important for KP/Maxi to be together at the end than at the beginning of games).
Best game of the season from Johnson. There was a point in the second half where he played 17 straight minutes.
It was pretty shocking to see two rookies out there together for five minutes in the second quarter. We'll do that against Milwaukee, but not against Charlotte?. Then, we saw rookie Green with almost rookie Iwundu for 4 1/2 minutes in the fourth. I'd call that surprising more than shocking.
The shocking part is we ran two plays in a row in the fourth trying to get Green a basket. In fact, on one of those Green brought the ball up. KP ruined the shot by drawing a basket interference call and Green missed a lefty layup on the other. But, both were plays being run for the rookie. Wow.
I watched the FSSW version of the game and missed most of what happened between Luka and Carlisle after Willie's O-rebound with about :15 left. That isn't what I want to comment on here. Go back and watch what happens with 10.9 seconds left when Milwaukee secures the board on the KP miss. Willie, the closest Mav to the rebounder who should have fouled him immediately, turns and starts running back. Are you kidding me. Burke takes the foul, but even he hesitates and 3 seconds run off the clock. Could Luka have used 3 extra seconds at the end.
The question with Willie is going to be whether the good outweighs the bad. The good is he is springy and fast and super athletic. When he's dialed in, he can really defend both the rim and the perimeter (see Jokic game). But, the motor is inconsistent, he fumbles away a pass every game. His screens are sloppy and he goes absolutely brain dead at times. His box score looked great, but if you watched the game, you saw him get torched a lot. Denver...great Willie. Orlando...no answer for Vuc. Charlotte...great Willie. Milwaukee...reefer Willie.
I am not convinced that we won't see KP/Powell starting together at some point. Carlisle is saying lots of nice things to build Willie's confidence and try to get him bought in (to keep the light switch ON more consistently). But, at some point if he doesn't get what he wants, Carlisle is going to yank the chain on Willie (this is where about 10 people typically say Maxi will start, but that won't be the answer as you have to stagger the shooters and it is more important for KP/Maxi to be together at the end than at the beginning of games).