04-14-2021, 05:17 AM
Also, sorry for my absence for the last couple of games in this thread (I just act as if anybody noticed or cared haha).
I just rewatched all the games since the Jazz-win and man, am I disappointed. The Houston-game was a disaster, the Spurs game to some extend also and the Sixers just flat out beat our asses.
I can live with losing to the Sixers, since we will not face them in the playoffs (hehe) but I think we need to avoid the play-in-tournament and we could be 6th right now, if we took care of business. Very disappointing indeed. I think we have the tools to upset the Clippers (which should finish third, I hope it's not going to be the Nuggets if we finish 6th). I think this is the only realistic goal going forward: Finishing 6th and have a realistic chance against the Clippers, since we improved from last year and I don't think they did.
Regarding the Sixers game:
Embiid is just too much. KP would have helped but only a little. Boban should have the size and strength to compete but as soon as he subbed in, the Sixers changed their plan and attacked him with smaller guys. Embiid chose to drive and pop, which were easy shots for him - he just missed more often than not). I think it was a great example of why Boban can't be utilized more often. If the opponent's coach is smart enough, he will attack Boban's immobility right away. When we turned back to Powell or Maxi as Center, we lacked all rim-protection and they torched us with drives and layups.
The Sixers are just a very well and logically designed team. If Embiid can stay healthy during the playoffs, they will be dangerous for anybody.
A couple of thoughts about all the other games:
Luka: It was nice seeing him get out of his FT-shooting-slump. Obviously, most of what he does on the court is great so take all my criticism with this caveat in mind. He's greatness, but I have a few problems.
Firstly, KP played his best basketball of the season in the last 3 games (that he played). After the failure to include him against Houston, I thought the KP-Luka-experiment was done. I was glad to see, they got him more involved in the 4th in the next games. I was also of the impression, that Luka showed more emotion and appreciation towards KP and him making shots (bumping his fist etc.).
What troubles me, is that KP seems pissed. And I totally get it, tbh. Luka can find ANYONE ANYTIME on the court, if he CHOSES to. Best example is Melli, whom he seems to really like. He was celebrating all his baskets and is visibly trying to involve him as much as he can. I think we saw something similar with Redick. We know Luka can dish out any pass. He sees everything. But somehow, he can't "find" KP on a consistent basis, even when he's hot. I just don't buy that.
I have seen KP make all the right plays in the last week or so. He was making all the right plays, not forcing it, not hunting shots. He's on fire numbers-wise. He's moving really well, hustling, blocking shots and rebounding like crazy. I think he's close to being 100% and we can see why he's dubbed the unicorn. I really enjoyed the way he played.
But still, Luka can't involve him on a consistent basis somehow. I mean KP's on fire every first quarter and then can't touch the ball for 12 minutes? I don't buy that at all. It seems to me, as if Luka is "rewarding" players he likes, like Powell (the alley-oop action), Melli (celebrating every play he makes because he knows and likes him from Europe), Redick (because he seems like a great teammate with the right attitude) and finds them with the craziest passes. And he "punished" KP by only finding him when he really can't ignore him (and sometimes even that, 4-5 games back, KP was standing wide open, literally a couple of feet away from Luka with his hands ready to receive the pass and Luka instead went dribble-dribble-stepback-3).
I don't know what the reason is. We speculated if it's Luka not thinking KP deserves special recognition. Which I don't get, especially the way KP plays right now. It got better, I know, but only to some extent. Also - does he think Melli deserves special attention because he's so good? I don't think so. So it has to be something personal.
Don't get me wrong, maybe Luka's right. Maybe KP is a little bitch and a team cancer, I could totally imagine this. I mean he seems disconnected, KP is the elast involved in the huddles, high-fiving and stuff. Maybe it's his nature, Idk.
But something is SO OFF between those two and it will be our downfall at some point.
I just rewatched all the games since the Jazz-win and man, am I disappointed. The Houston-game was a disaster, the Spurs game to some extend also and the Sixers just flat out beat our asses.
I can live with losing to the Sixers, since we will not face them in the playoffs (hehe) but I think we need to avoid the play-in-tournament and we could be 6th right now, if we took care of business. Very disappointing indeed. I think we have the tools to upset the Clippers (which should finish third, I hope it's not going to be the Nuggets if we finish 6th). I think this is the only realistic goal going forward: Finishing 6th and have a realistic chance against the Clippers, since we improved from last year and I don't think they did.
Regarding the Sixers game:
Embiid is just too much. KP would have helped but only a little. Boban should have the size and strength to compete but as soon as he subbed in, the Sixers changed their plan and attacked him with smaller guys. Embiid chose to drive and pop, which were easy shots for him - he just missed more often than not). I think it was a great example of why Boban can't be utilized more often. If the opponent's coach is smart enough, he will attack Boban's immobility right away. When we turned back to Powell or Maxi as Center, we lacked all rim-protection and they torched us with drives and layups.
The Sixers are just a very well and logically designed team. If Embiid can stay healthy during the playoffs, they will be dangerous for anybody.
A couple of thoughts about all the other games:
Luka: It was nice seeing him get out of his FT-shooting-slump. Obviously, most of what he does on the court is great so take all my criticism with this caveat in mind. He's greatness, but I have a few problems.
Firstly, KP played his best basketball of the season in the last 3 games (that he played). After the failure to include him against Houston, I thought the KP-Luka-experiment was done. I was glad to see, they got him more involved in the 4th in the next games. I was also of the impression, that Luka showed more emotion and appreciation towards KP and him making shots (bumping his fist etc.).
What troubles me, is that KP seems pissed. And I totally get it, tbh. Luka can find ANYONE ANYTIME on the court, if he CHOSES to. Best example is Melli, whom he seems to really like. He was celebrating all his baskets and is visibly trying to involve him as much as he can. I think we saw something similar with Redick. We know Luka can dish out any pass. He sees everything. But somehow, he can't "find" KP on a consistent basis, even when he's hot. I just don't buy that.
I have seen KP make all the right plays in the last week or so. He was making all the right plays, not forcing it, not hunting shots. He's on fire numbers-wise. He's moving really well, hustling, blocking shots and rebounding like crazy. I think he's close to being 100% and we can see why he's dubbed the unicorn. I really enjoyed the way he played.
But still, Luka can't involve him on a consistent basis somehow. I mean KP's on fire every first quarter and then can't touch the ball for 12 minutes? I don't buy that at all. It seems to me, as if Luka is "rewarding" players he likes, like Powell (the alley-oop action), Melli (celebrating every play he makes because he knows and likes him from Europe), Redick (because he seems like a great teammate with the right attitude) and finds them with the craziest passes. And he "punished" KP by only finding him when he really can't ignore him (and sometimes even that, 4-5 games back, KP was standing wide open, literally a couple of feet away from Luka with his hands ready to receive the pass and Luka instead went dribble-dribble-stepback-3).
I don't know what the reason is. We speculated if it's Luka not thinking KP deserves special recognition. Which I don't get, especially the way KP plays right now. It got better, I know, but only to some extent. Also - does he think Melli deserves special attention because he's so good? I don't think so. So it has to be something personal.
Don't get me wrong, maybe Luka's right. Maybe KP is a little bitch and a team cancer, I could totally imagine this. I mean he seems disconnected, KP is the elast involved in the huddles, high-fiving and stuff. Maybe it's his nature, Idk.
But something is SO OFF between those two and it will be our downfall at some point.