The Athletic: Bruno Fernando Will Start Over Sengun When He Returns

Ahem...
:cough: momma :cough:

 

For the general good, we the SOFs do NOT allow opinions to litter this board.

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Bruno was great last night, maybe this is just a matchup situation where the guy with the best matchup gets the most time.

DD

 

Yeah he played great last night and Daishen Nix played great against the Clippers but i don't recall anyone debating on Nix should start over KPJ.

 

Bruno was great last night, credit is what credit is due. That being said, the defense strategy they ran when Bruno on the floor was why Rockets was successfully made a run. Booker was torching us almost all night long, and both Green and KPJ were always out of the defense position which ended up Booker's baskets or the corner 3. They made an adjustment when Bruno came in, they switched Eason or Smith with the guards to harass Booker and another player doubled team him to force him giving up the ball. Also, they grabbed and scratched like the Memphis and forced a few turnovers. The strategy was quite successful. Then Sengun and EG checked back in as EG didn't have the footspeed to match Booker and the whole lineup reverted back to the original defensive scheme. EG was disinterested in playing yesterday was the key the first unit got destroyed, plus Green started heating up with the 2nd unit. We were lucky yesterday because there were a couple uncommon things happened. First, the refs actually blow in our favor, which was almost never happened. Second, the Suns made some turnovers they normally wouldn't make and resulted in more turnovers than us. I still don't like Silas's rotations. Anyway, a win is a win. It was fun to watch the trash talking Suns team to lose.

 

ANALYTICS-DUMBALYTICS

 

he knows his real opponent is sengun not the players from opposing teams...this is human psychology 101...

 

Worked pretty well for Stockton and Malone. Still works pretty well and looked good when Murray and Jokic were killing us with it. Works out pretty well when Steph and (insert whomever) runs it.

You're right, it's easy and effective which is why most teams incorporate some variation of it in their offensive game plan. The Rockets just need to be more creative with how they run it and our guards need to make quicker decisions when utilizing the pick. So I agree with @Plowman, let them perfect the PNR and it wouldn't hurt for one or all of our bigs to develop a nice little 10-15 ft jumper to make themselves more of a threat running the PNR.

 

You're a idiot sir. By that logic, why weren't we the best offense under the McHale/Harden era? We had Harden then

 

Because people (as well as KPJ) seem to think a lob pass must end in a dunk.

The lob pass is not rocket science. If you're a mediocre PG who can't pass through defenders, you toss it up and pray your man's ready. If you're not especially good at it, the lob pass is basically a jump ball with the ref on your side.

The alley oop is similar, but much more precise in timing and targeting.



This is an example of a very bad pass turning out very good by the receiver's superhuman athleticism. KPJ's timing is off and he does not make a precision pass; he just throws the ball in the general vicinity of where JG might jump. But it comes out as the top play of the week, because... JG.

Alperen can catch the lobs because he has this great habit of reclining on his defenders, preventing them from jumping and reaching over him. The result will most probably be an and-1, but nowhere near the spectacular finish a higher jumper can produce. Still, 2 points and less turnovers. What's not to like?

The alley oop pass is usually aimed at or around the lower corner of the backboard.



This is actually a good pass; an easy to catch pass that's aimed at the backboard's corner and ends up in Tari's hands. You should see that it's not especially high. Alperen the sneaky-athletic contortionist would easily convert these passes too.

See? No dunk. 2 easy points. Even though... this.

Check out where he catches the ball.



Anyway, if KPJ is still not convinced, Alp, can always lob to himself.

 

It's a coach that is unwilling or unable to make adjustments to personnel. Bruno/KPJ PnR is great because the way it's run is geared towards the strength of both players. Sengun can run PnR but not the same way. Different spacing, different end results. Jokic Murray is actually a great example. Not one of their PnR looks the same as a PnR run by even their own backup, Deandre. But none of this will matter while Silas is still the coach.

 

Yes, thank you!
For the KPJ&Alpi P&R to work, KPJ has to leave the middle lane to Alpi and attack from the elbow.
Instead, he chooses to dribble to the free throw spot. That way, he sees Alpi's ass, not his hands, and the lane is clogged.
The few times they ran this play side by side with each other, without KPJ dribbling to the middle, they converted each try.
JG's wisened up to this positional problem and now he can run the P&R better with Alpi than KPJ does.
Everybody check for this in tonight's game.

 

I know Sengun haters love denying every metric possible but here we go lol

 

I noticed the same thing and I mentioned it in one of the previous game threads. I would add that it's important to leave the middle because Alpi can be a trusted secondary playmaker from that spot, to jump start MUCH NEEDED ball movement. KPJ, like many scoring-minded guards, tends to pass when there's the obvious assist. He needs to learn (or be coached?) to make the pass that increases the stress for the defense, and trust that the best play will unfold from that. Alpi is a great short roller, he can finish inside if he has a one-on-one opportunity or he can make the next pass if the defense over helps. KPJ and everyone else can get a ton of open looks if he would make the quick decisive pass to Alpi in the middle and relocate.

Another thing I notice from KPJ is that he's often trying to get back to right even though he's a left handed player. I think this combined with his below average foot speed (for a guard) prevents him from getting deep penetration and forces him to pick up his dribble in no-mans land. He should penetrate HARD with his left and leave the middle for the big. Going right is a great counter when the defense overplays your strong side but to me it seems like he bails the defense out by running to countering unnecessarily.

Bruno is a solid player, he's a good backup for most teams and could be an effective starter if the other 4 players are above average. I like him and am happy that he's on the team but I think forcing him to be a starter as a crutch for KPJ and not what's best for the team.

Alpi is good enough - and young enough - for the team to figure out how to make it work. This is where the coaching staff is supposed to earn their money. Hopefully we'll see some improvements in the coming weeks.

 

Exactly. If Silas prefers Bruno because he fits the offense he wants to run, it shows how badly we need a new coach. Bruno is not a starter for a high caliber playoff team. If KPJ must have a Bruno type of player to succeed, he isn't the starter on a playoff team. But I don't think KPJ needs Bruno to succeed. I think Silas is just horrendous at adjusting to her personnel.

 

Very good observation! Come to think of it, his P&R's have always been more successful when he's on the left side.

That moment when Alpi hugged him as he was going back to the bench was sweet. These youngsters have a lot of fire in them. I loved the jawing they occasionally give to each other too.

 

Harden wasn't the PG under McHale like he was with D'Antoni.

And D'Antoni system was very different from McHales as well.

Just like Silas runs a 5 out but his 5 out is very different from D'Antoni's.

 

Is there a way too see 5 man line up stats for a particular game?

 

Got to secure the rebound.

 

Not necessarily a lob threat per se, but Sengun as a roller is elite.

He is money around the basket because of his insane footwork.