The coach decides to do something crazy like take a guy only in for garbage minutes that is worse than the guy ahead of him ine very metric...not only start him but cut the guy ahead of him's minutes like crazy and then when it obviously fails people pretend Udoka isn't at fault.
Report from the Kings game: One of the mysteries in this game is why Ime played Holiday 28 minutes, Sheppard only 14, and Okogie just 9. It can't be the shooting: Aaron hit only 1 of 7. Was it for defense? Nope, can't be that: Aaron's defense was no better than Reed's, and Josh is way better than either of them. Reed didn't have the same juice as in the Portland games. His reaction time was a fraction of a second slower, and that was enough to put him off. Instead of closing the gap on his man right away, he was a little late moving towards him, which allowed a few drives and blow-bys. Not as bad as the Dallas game, but not at the level Reed needs to maintain. And again, at times he was walking, which is often a sign that he doesn't have it. Still, Aaron's defense was just as meh, including some of the same catch-up swipes and fouls. If I had to name one thing Aaron did that Reed didn't do, it was that he shot the ball when he received it. He took 7 threes to Reed's 2, which even us non-math majors know is out of proportion to twice the minutes. Could it be that simple? Is Ime telling Reed to shoot the damn ball? I'm skeptical that's the reason. But something weird was going on, and I'm at a loss to explain it.
when I saw that Holiday was starting I told my dad ime has Reed in the doghouse. Then he was delayed coming in during the first quarter because of Amen getting to the foul line twice… so barely played in the first quarter and then was subbed out at his normal time in the second… so less burn there. Then it took until a little over 2:30 left in the third before a stoppage after the 4:30 mark… and soon as he had that second “and one” foul in the 4th I told him … whelp, back to the doghouse he goes. my dad says, “surely not with as bad as holiday is shooting” and of course I was right. Reed played like four minutes in the second half. I’ve been upset about the on court error double standard for at least the last two weeks… it’s frustrating for me so I’m sure it’s even more infuriating for this kid.
Anytime I hear Ime talk about Reed's confidence it reminds of how they say killers often return to the scene of the crime. It's like abducting someone and filing a missing persons report.
Maybe we're showcasing Holiday to trade him and open up playing time for Reed (and Okogie)? I think Aaron generally does a good job shooting the ball well but I don't want him taking playing time away from Reed. Reed has fallen off and I blame the 3 point shooting. Ime isn't helping, but Reed has to be able to hit his 3's to be as valuable as he was earlier in the season. He needs to not pass when he has an open or semi open 3, let that fly. I'm not sure he's ready to start at PG but I think he's worth a look, esp with Tari injured (opens up a spot). Reed, Amen, Bari, KD, Sengun should run for at least a few games to see how they fare. They are +7.9 so far.
It was weird. Looking at all of the reasons folks are coming up with, I think it boils down to Ime sending Reed a message "Play the way I want or suffer the consequences." I said it in another thread, but the best coaches I have had or seen enable their player's strengths and find ways to minimize their weaknesses. Reed is a dynamic scorer that has basically had to find his own shots, because we do little to free him up. Of course that can be said about all of our players. We don't have a real structured offense. If he continues to punish Reed it's to the team's detriment. He should be our starting PG.
Something I'm noticing, that I've heard either Alpi or KD complain about in game, is that Reed doesn't give enough space off his defender to become an easy target for a pass when they (Alpi or KD) are doubled. Maybe Holiday does and this was the reason. Otherwise I don't get it Holidays minutes being so much more. For the read and react style we play I imagine spacing becomes even more critical. So maybe it's this. But I would think Ime could say, "hey Reed, put another foot away from your defender and shift towards the point man." Or whatever.
I don't think this explains Holiday's minutes, since he also parked in the corner and didn't move quickly when he rotated around the arc. But I also think you're right that Reed doesn't move enough. Very often he's not giving his interior teammate (usually Alpi) a good enough angle to get him the ball around the defender. The opposite would be Curry, who's constantly relocating. Maybe Reed has trouble hitting shots on the move like that? Those of you who watched him at Kentucky, did he do that? We've all seen him hit shots this season as he's flying to the corner. But he's also bricked a few.
Holiday starting over Reed has to be one of the weirdest decisions I've seen in a long time. Also Reed keeps playing with Sengun AND Adams on the floor. Of course he's going to have trouble to find his shot. How is he supposed to get any separation on the perimeter playing with 3 non-shooters? 3 because Amen is usually in the same lineup as well. Is our offensive system really just chuck long 3's and hope we get the rebound? That's honestly horrific.
If we arent trying to develop our #3 pick while trying to win, then what are we doing? You can’t develop if you aren’t playing consistent minutes. I really do not like the approach Ime has taken with Reed. If you can’t tolerate mistakes than why coach a team with a core of young players?
He almost exclusively had outside shots like that or following the fast break and it being kicked back to him at Kentucky. Though further into the season he initiated offense a bit more, but there was lots of defensive gravity trying to decide who was the bigger outside threat between he and Rob Dillingham because they were on the court a lot of the time together. But the speed of the game is so much faster in the NBA I think he is still adjusting to timing of defenders flying at him at this level. we should all know he was going have a rollercoaster of a season because he’s essentially just getting the pt this year to actually get in game reps to adjust to that speed. hopefully it’s time for an upswing this week cause unless he’s shooting lights out 50% or better Ime is likely going to keep him in the doghouse
Curry didn't play like he does now under Kerr when he first came in the league. If you look at some of Curry's highlights from his younger years it doesn't look anything like how he looked with the prime Warriors. Kerr came in and put in the motion offense...ball and body movement... Rockets don't run that type of offense. Pretty much everybody on the team stands around except for the occasional cuts by Amen.... so he'd be running into people and creating bad spacing if he was constantly relocating. The Rockets would need a coach to come in and implement that type of motion offense with off ball screens. We run way too much iso...And honestly, I've seen tons of times this season and even last season where Reed is wide open on the perimeter and instead of kicking it out guys would rather go up in traffic in the paint.... Also, this team doesn't have many good or willing passers. Seems everyone likes to get the ball and hold it and try to beat their man instead of move the ball to get higher quality shots. Look at some of these highlights from the 16-17 Warriors when they had KD...They don't play like how we play at all....It's not just Curry moving...It's everyone...He gets noticed a lot because he's the star and getting a ton of those shots, but pay attention to the entire team... This also is why I do not believe the issue is Kevin. He can play in an offense like what the Warriors run. But Ime just likes basic Brute force, hard baskets for some reason.
I think this is why I root so hard for Reed. It's not the shooting, though that's great when he's hitting them. It's that he's the only one who's always looking to set up his teammates. Even Alpi, who has a gift for passing, would rather take on a double or triple team himself. And then of course I b**** half the time when Reed passes the ball instead of shooting it.
Yeah, that resonates with what we're seeing in some of these games. Reed is erring on the side of not even taking the shot when he's not sure he can get it off before the defender closes on him. Or he's shooting it too fast or too high. All of this is consistent with a kid who's feeling skittish about shooting in the speed of the NBA.
