02-09-2021, 07:48 AM
I like that we've had two players besides Luka be the late-game hero at the end of the last two games. We can't have nice ball movement for 46 minutes (30 assists last night) and go to Luka hero-ball where all we get is a bad step-back three in the final two minutes. Luka giving up the ball to Maxi immediately as the double team approached on Saturday was the right play. The pass to JRich late in the clock with 30 seconds left was less obvious in terms of being the right play. These two plus KP, THJ and DFS need to develop some late game muscle memory as successful options. Luka has to trust them (and they have to prove trustworthy). For two nights in a row he did trust them and they did prove trustworthy.
Don't take Richardson's 8 assists as a sign that more offense was run through him. He benefited greatly by throwing passes out to KP at the logo (practically) and KP hitting loooong 3's. The final two assists came on Luka drives where Luka literally dribbled four times after receiving the pass (strains the definition of immediate).
Carlisle seems to be settling in more and more on a rotation. Luka has been going out first (with Maxi last night) ever since KP complained about short segments. Powell gets all of the non-KP minutes at center. Maxi plays some with KP and some with Powell. Those 2-big minutes tend to go well. The two questions are typically what happens in the non-Luka minutes and what happens in the 5-Out minutes (KP without another big). Both of those things went well in the first half (there is some overlap). And, both were disasters in the second half. DFS taking some PF minutes is the thing that allows enough wing/ball handler minutes to keep THJ, JRich and Brunson happy. But if that lineup is going to consistently hurt us, we need to find a real backup PF (a better version of Johnson) to add to the rotation.
If we don't have the firepower to get another star or even high-quality starter in here, then we have to at least be willing to make improvements around the edges. Adding a guy that makes 5-out work better seems to be the biggest need right now that can reasonably be filled with the assets we have...mostly financial.
Don't take Richardson's 8 assists as a sign that more offense was run through him. He benefited greatly by throwing passes out to KP at the logo (practically) and KP hitting loooong 3's. The final two assists came on Luka drives where Luka literally dribbled four times after receiving the pass (strains the definition of immediate).
Carlisle seems to be settling in more and more on a rotation. Luka has been going out first (with Maxi last night) ever since KP complained about short segments. Powell gets all of the non-KP minutes at center. Maxi plays some with KP and some with Powell. Those 2-big minutes tend to go well. The two questions are typically what happens in the non-Luka minutes and what happens in the 5-Out minutes (KP without another big). Both of those things went well in the first half (there is some overlap). And, both were disasters in the second half. DFS taking some PF minutes is the thing that allows enough wing/ball handler minutes to keep THJ, JRich and Brunson happy. But if that lineup is going to consistently hurt us, we need to find a real backup PF (a better version of Johnson) to add to the rotation.
If we don't have the firepower to get another star or even high-quality starter in here, then we have to at least be willing to make improvements around the edges. Adding a guy that makes 5-out work better seems to be the biggest need right now that can reasonably be filled with the assets we have...mostly financial.