06-12-2021, 08:04 AM
(06-10-2021, 07:55 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: You can view this 1 of two ways, the optimist or the pessimist.
The optimist will say: Hey, this season was a weird season. Essentially it was a lockout shortened year with the added twist of no fans and an ongoing global pandemic to be worried about. So many games in a short amount of time. For KP, he never actually had an offseason. This undoubedtly affected his conditioning and his skills. I mean have you ever played basketball and just stopped for 3 weeks and picked back up? You're of course rusty. Now make the 3 weeks 4 months and instead of the YMCA it's the NBA. Shit is hard. Further KP didn't even have a training camp to get used to the new system/teammates, and was thrown into the fire. KP finally will have a healthy offseason, and the season will return to normal next year.
Looking at it like that it's almost likely we get the old KP back. Lots of positives things.
The pessimist will say: KP is an injury prone stick that has obviously lost a step. He's had 2 knee surgeries in 3 years, and whenever he is healthy he always has nagging injuries. This year it looks like he moves in quicksand and has the balance of a drunk giraffe. There hasn't been any proof that KP can come back to where he was after this latest knee surgery as well. Also, there's a good argument that KP at his best isn't really that good anyways, with mediocre efficiency and a playstyle that is slowly going extinct. Mavs should cut their losses before anything else happens to him.
Both have valid points. I guess you can choose what side you want to be on.
I think this a good take. The bubble performance could have been fools gold and just a small hot streak, but there was stuff to build on. And it looks like none of that was built on.
IMO, my plan for KP if he is back, would be the following:
Get him back to an average to above average defender----better than average would be ideal.
He may not be your second go to scorer, but if he could average 20 and 9 after we add another creater/scorer, that would be ideal. For instance, lets say it is Derozan who will penetrate all game long. HIm and Luka will just put pressure on defense all game long getting into the lane. Can KP be a guy who gets 3-4 dunks a game, gets to the FT line 6 times a game and takes 4-5 threes?
I think that is the ideal role for him. Due to his questions of availability and trouble creating his own shot, I don't think he can be your second option all the time. Having another guy who can create, could put KP in a better spot on offense. Can he make the improvements on defense?