(01-24-2021, 07:36 PM)omahen Wrote: Of course it is, no agument there. They are way better than Iwundu, Green or Johnson. But the discussion we had was about THJ and Kleber shooting.
No, they are way better than THJ/Green. THJ/Green replaced JRich/DFS in the starting lineup, and the result was not great I guess we can conclude. To start the game, we did not see Iwundu... Our team and especially that starting lineup played the worst defense of the season, reminiscent of last seasons defense, the starting lineup was destroyed by a tanking Rockets team depleted of its best players. This is no coincidence. In the games we played JRich and DFS, we on other hand had an amazing defense, that we just havent seen before. Again, it is no coincidence we dont see this with THJ on the floor.
Maxi is not left open by the defenses very much, he draws the defender most of the plays and leaves Luka room to operate. This you dont see in the shooting stats, the plays where he is covered. The shooting stat simply tells how many shots he makes per game. If he is covered in the rest of the plays, and draws a defender, this is still great for the team and this doesnt show up in the stats. When Maxi draws a defender most of the game, which he indeed does, this leaves Luka open to attack the paint not being doubled. Or, if doubled, and Maxi is left open, Luka finds him for a 45% shot. Luka attacking single coverage defense or Maxi open shot, are both higher percentage plays than THJ shotting with defender on him. This is smarter basketball offensively.
THJ is a way below average defender. Not sure if you can call him horrible defender, probably not, he is trying and can often stay in front of the opponent, but he gets beat quiet a lot one on one. Its extremely rare that he makes any positive plays on defense. It is no coincidence that our defense is improved by him getting benched and arrival of JRich and JJ. He doesnt show that tanacity, and defensive mentality that is needed not only to control his own defensive game, but be a leader and impact others in defense. On defense, you need all 5 to contribute to this. It is no wonder that when he was out and we had Luka-JRich-DFS-Maxi-WCS that we really started to play really well on defense.
I think his offensive game is wastly overrated here as well. Again it was his moment to shine against a very poor Rockets team and he was inconsistent offensively and ineffective as the teams 2nd option, and we have all seen how weak the defense is. He is a widely inconsistent player in general on offense. He regularly has games where he is inefficient.
I do agree he is better shooter than Maxi/JRich etc. But its not like he is Peja or something. And because of that reason, he makes a bit more space than Maxi. But the space Maxi etc make is well enough to keep Luka in single coverage. Thats all that is needed.
THJ is an offensive one way player. He is the 6th man coming in to score points, and to build on leads. This is actually the role from the bench he could be really great at.