We definitely need better caoching! As soon as I figure out what that is, I'll send it over to the Rockets.
So what you're actually saying is - we need an option to have a player like Cousins (who even returning from injury is probably still ahead of the performance Capela displayed), and not only have Cousins on the team, but have the ability to get him off the bench?? I'll let MDA know that he needs to make changes, for starters I'll let him know he needs the luxury of 4-6 all star type players on the team.
Sure everyone knows adjustments need to be made, but c'mon what coach has a player who should be making $40M per year available off their bench for $5M?
I'd say it's the improvements before the adjustments. Then the adjustments. You have a center that's just killing you out there with his presence, but the only option MDA sees is to go even smaller with Tucker at the 5. Yes, I know that worked in some cases, but ultimately it's not gonna get you a series against the Warriors. "Oh, but Faried's defense is awful, can't use him...at all...in the entire series." That's on coaching right there. You've had Faried for half a season. You've had Gerald Green much longer. You know both their defenses can massively improve. Hey, defensive coaches...how about working on that, so they're ready for the playoffs? For all the love Bzdelik gets, I kind of get this impression he was just phoning it in this year. Or has no interest in getting his hands dirty by actually working with players. If you don't attempt any improvement on your players' games and just treat them as static, stagnant assets, well, then you really don't have the capability to flexibly adjust even if you want to. And that's the fault of coaching. Don't anyone tell me you can't improve a professional athlete's game, because you're wrong. Over on the winning side of downtown, the Astros acquired Robinson Chirinos during the offseason to be our main catcher. Chirinos, for his entire career, had been setting up for pitches turned partially sideways. That's not good technique, but no prior team ever did anything about it. It wasn't going to work with our powerful pitching staff. A.J. Hinch, manager and former catcher, and the rest of the Astros coaches straightened Chirinos out in two months before the start of the season, unraveling a habit years upon years in the making. Chirinos now squares up straight to our pitchers and is turning out to be one of the best catchers in the league. We were kind of apprehensive about the signing, but for a fraction of the price of J.T. Realmuto, a heavily-discussed catching option, we're getting better production from Chirinos than Realmuto. The Astros took a guy and made him better. Quickly. They do it with the pitchers. They do it with the batters...usually. They're absurdly overloaded with talent over there, and it's not even just from acquiring good players in the offseason like Micheal Brantley. Players that have struggled in the past on one side of the ball (e.g. Jake Marisnick at the plate) have gotten it together, and the team just keeps winning no matter who's out there for us or how many of our stars are injured.
Dantoni has been using high pick and roll and PJ tucker to roam all year. Why did Kerr need to lose game 1 to figure that out?
how nice of Steve Kerr to move their all-nba center off the bench to the starting lineup. Truly genius!
Game 1 Golden States Ball goes from outside to inside (Rockets only method) Game 2 Golden States Ball goes from outside to inside, then inside to outside. MDA just need to train Tucker and Capela on low post with great court vision.
You are right, Suns don't do low post. Both Marion and Amare don't do low post. If they did low post, they may win Championships. Joe Johnson and Nash are as good as Klay and Curry.
Player development =! Coaching, and improving in baseball is a lot easier than improving in basketball (you lose lateral movement before anything else, as you age) but I totally agree with the sentiment. Chauncey Billups and Jason Kidd are prime examples of players adding to their games later in their careers.
