GT #15: Bullets @ Bucks 8 PM (MSN/980 AM) [In-Season Tournament Game #4]

[penbeast0]

DIdn't see the game this time but looking at the highlight reels, noticed two things. (a)Neither team was closing on guys who beat their man with an open path to the rim; we were worse than Milwaukee at this. (b) Some guys getting seriously hung up on picks to get those open paths. Are our defenders calling out the picks?

[nate33]

Kuz is great and I hope we keep him for a while. He's been our most reliable guy and he seems to have a good attitude.

Yup. Kuzma is an ideal leader for the rebuilding phase. He's a respectable volume scorer who is not quite efficient enough to carry a good team, but oddly, his efficiency doesn't really rise much when his usage declines, so he's not that useful as a low usage guy on a good team either. But he is useful as a high usage guy on a bad team who can soak up usage so that other guys can be efficient in their natural, lower usage roles. It's the perfect role for Kuzma. I like him and hope that we keep him for a while.

Obviously, at his age, he'll be too old to participate in our competitive window 4 or 5 years down the road after the rebuild is complete. So, at some point, it will make sense to trade him for future assets; but I'm in no hurry to make that trade. I'm totally fine if he is here to lead the team for the next 2-3 years.

[nate33]

DIdn't see the game this time but looking at the highlight reels, noticed two things. (a)Neither team was closing on guys who beat their man with an open path to the rim; we were worse than Milwaukee at this. (b) Some guys getting seriously hung up on picks to get those open paths. Are our defenders calling out the picks?

We also never go under picks. Going under picks means giving up the open jumper and that doesn't make sense on a high screen (behind the arc) for a guy like Lillard, but perhaps it makes more sense for those low screens that are happening around the foul line. A pull-up long 2 - even an open one - is only going to go in 50-60% of the time, and that's better defensive efficiency that what we are doing now. (We currently yield a TS% of .600.)

[DCZards]

Kuz is great and I hope we keep him for a while. He's been our most reliable guy and he seems to have a good attitude.

Kuz’s on court demeanor has been one of his most important assets this season. I’m sure losing like this has been extremely frustrating but he’s remained composed…something I assume the youngins have noted. I know I have.

Kuz reportedly spent time talking with Derek Jeter about leadership this offseason. I wonder how much of what we’re seeing from him now is a result of those discussions.

[NatP4]

I’m not even sure what Johnny is supposed to do at this point. He’s played 89 total minutes.

Per 36: 15 points 5.7 rebounds 1.2 assists 2.0 steals on 57.5% TS.

What exactly is he supposed to be doing?

[remi_222]

Is Bilal playing tonight ???

Edit : just checked, it says GTD, lets pray !!!

[willbcocks]

Poole actually played alright--maybe he decided to show an interest when playing in his hometown.

Shamet had a poster dunk on Giannis and another buck. That one was nasty.

[nate33]

I’m not even sure what Johnny is supposed to do at this point. He’s played 89 total minutes.

Per 36: 15 points 5.7 rebounds 1.2 assists 2.0 steals on 57.5% TS.

What exactly is he supposed to be doing?

To be fair, almost all of that production came in a game against Miami featuring a lot of garbage time.

In the 7 games since then, Davis has played a total of 35 minutes and has totaled 10 points, 7 boards and 2 assists on 40% shooting with 0 3PA's. I'm not hating. 35 minutes isn't enough sample size to conclude anything. But it does belie the notion that Davis has been awesome in all of his minutes on the floor. I think it's more accurate to just say that he has neither proven he deserves to be out there nor proven that he doesn't deserve to be out there.

[payitforward]

I’m not even sure what Johnny is supposed to do at this point. He’s played 89 total minutes.

Per 36: 15 points 5.7 rebounds 1.2 assists 2.0 steals on 57.5% TS.

What exactly is he supposed to be doing?

I agree entirely.

All a player can do is produce in the minutes he gets, & Johnny is doing that. There's no comparison between his productivity this year & last.

For starters, he's scoring at almost exactly an average productivity for an NBA shooting guard. He's posting a slightly above average TS% on slightly below average usage. Meanwhile, his other per-40-minute numbers are comfortably above average overall.

Do numbers tell you everything? No, of course not. But they tell you a lot, & they usually don't lie.

Essentially, Johnny Davis is playing like an average NBA shooting guard. For a guy who's 21 & in his second year, that's quite good -- especially given the mammoth improvement from his rookie year.

Now... that's in 90 minutes. So let's see him keep it up.

Johnny will never have been a good pick at 10 in the '22 draft (e.g. just look at what Tari Eason is doing this year!).
But, good news is good news all the same, & there's good news about Johnny Davis.

[NatP4]

I’m not even sure what Johnny is supposed to do at this point. He’s played 89 total minutes.

Per 36: 15 points 5.7 rebounds 1.2 assists 2.0 steals on 57.5% TS.

What exactly is he supposed to be doing?

To be fair, almost all of that production came in a 7-minute garbage time stint against Miami when our garbage time unit outscored their garbage time unit by 18 points.

In the 7 games since then, Davis has played a total of 35 minutes and has totaled 10 points, 7 boards and 2 assists on 40% shooting with 0 3PA's. I'm not hating. 35 minutes isn't enough sample size to include anything. But it does belie the notion that Davis has been awesome in all of his minutes on the floor. I think it's more accurate to just say that he has neither proven he deserves to be out there nor proven that he doesn't deserve to be out there.

Such a ridiculous take. Disregard the good 60 minutes and focus on the 35 not so great minutes. Brilliant.

This is incredibly simple. It’s a rebuilding team with 2 wins. Play your young players. Poole, Jones, Gallinari, Shamet, Muscala have absolutely nothing to do with the future of this team beyond *possibly* returning a couple of future 2nd round picks.

[payitforward]

I’m not even sure what Johnny is supposed to do at this point. He’s played 89 total minutes.

Per 36: 15 points 5.7 rebounds 1.2 assists 2.0 steals on 57.5% TS.

What exactly is he supposed to be doing?

To be fair, almost all of that production came in a 7-minute garbage time stint against Miami when our garbage time unit outscored their garbage time unit by 18 points.

In the 7 games since then, Davis has played a total of 35 minutes and has totaled 10 points, 7 boards and 2 assists on 40% shooting with 0 3PA's. I'm not hating. 35 minutes isn't enough sample size to include anything. But it does belie the notion that Davis has been awesome in all of his minutes on the floor. I think it's more accurate to just say that he has neither proven he deserves to be out there nor proven that he doesn't deserve to be out there.

The "garbage time" point is a solid one, nate.

That said, you can no more isolate a stretch of bad play than you can isolate the occasional stretch of good play (as a few used to do in the case of Rui).

Johnny doesn't control when he's on the floor. All he can do is play well overall in the minutes he is given. So far, he has improved a huge bunch from last year! Nothing more you can ask....

[payitforward]

I’m not even sure what Johnny is supposed to do at this point. He’s played 89 total minutes.

Per 36: 15 points 5.7 rebounds 1.2 assists 2.0 steals on 57.5% TS.

What exactly is he supposed to be doing?

To be fair, almost all of that production came in a 7-minute garbage time stint against Miami when our garbage time unit outscored their garbage time unit by 18 points.

In the 7 games since then, Davis has played a total of 35 minutes and has totaled 10 points, 7 boards and 2 assists on 40% shooting with 0 3PA's. I'm not hating. 35 minutes isn't enough sample size to include anything. But it does belie the notion that Davis has been awesome in all of his minutes on the floor. I think it's more accurate to just say that he has neither proven he deserves to be out there nor proven that he doesn't deserve to be out there.

Such a ridiculous take. Disregard the good 60 minutes and focus on the 35 not so great minutes. Brilliant....

I wish you would moderate your rhetoric, nat....

This is incredibly simple. It’s a rebuilding team with 2 wins. Play your young players. Poole, Jones, Gallinari, Shamet, Muscala have absolutely nothing to do with the future of this team beyond *possibly* returning a couple of future 2nd round picks.

Overall, with the exception of Poole who's only 24, I certainly agree with this!

[nate33]

I’m not even sure what Johnny is supposed to do at this point. He’s played 89 total minutes.

Per 36: 15 points 5.7 rebounds 1.2 assists 2.0 steals on 57.5% TS.

What exactly is he supposed to be doing?

To be fair, almost all of that production came in a 7-minute garbage time stint against Miami when our garbage time unit outscored their garbage time unit by 18 points.

In the 7 games since then, Davis has played a total of 35 minutes and has totaled 10 points, 7 boards and 2 assists on 40% shooting with 0 3PA's. I'm not hating. 35 minutes isn't enough sample size to include anything. But it does belie the notion that Davis has been awesome in all of his minutes on the floor. I think it's more accurate to just say that he has neither proven he deserves to be out there nor proven that he doesn't deserve to be out there.

Such a ridiculous take. Disregard the good 60 minutes and focus on the 35 not so great minutes. Brilliant.

This is incredibly simple. It’s a rebuilding team with 2 wins. Play your young players. Poole, Jones, Gallinari, Shamet, Muscala have absolutely nothing to do with the future of this team beyond *possibly* returning a couple of future 2nd round picks.

There's no need for nastiness. I think it's a perfectly reasonable take to discount garbage time against a team playing 3rd stringers who are mostly just trying to milk the clock and end the game.

I agree with your second paragraph that Davis should play simply because he is young and is conceivably part of our future. I'm just saying that in the minutes that have actually mattered, it's misleading to suggest that Davis has been really good. He hasn't. He has been rather mediocre. But mostly, it's pointless to conclude much of anything out of such a limited sample size.

[payitforward]

Well... just to extend this beyond any conceivable utility... the one thing I think we *can* say about Johnny Davis is that he's a lot better than he was last year.

&, since improvement makes one think about the possibility of more improvement, it's a good thing...!

[dckingsfan]

Well... just to extend this beyond any conceivable utility... the one thing I think we *can* say about Johnny Davis is that he's a lot better than he was last year.

&, since improvement makes one think about the possibility of more improvement, it's a good thing...!

Yep. And a question.

Don't you think part of Davis' improvement in the future will be based upon "reliable" minutes now? I bring this up because you said that the FO is responsible for the rebuild. Or did you mean largely responsible?

[payitforward]

Seems to me a young person's development -- in no matter what profession -- must be seen in his or her being given more responsibility. But that doesn't mean that Johnny will be made better by being given more responsibility (i.e. minutes). It's not a cause & effect relationship. Not in basketball, not in any professional activity.

It's a complex relationship -- you can't show you can handle it unless you get to try. OTOH, you also have to earn it. So, I guess, you try to keep a young person challenged, & you monitor carefully for what he or she succeeds at, what he or she finds challenging but shows he/she is capable of working on, & what is too much responsibility to throw at him for the moment.

There is no abstract answer -- which means that there is no reliable answer for your question either.

Is he getting enough minutes? I don't know.

I will say this: Wes has a long history -- & a very good rep -- developing players. I can't know for sure, obviously, but I feel a fair amount of confidence that Johnny Davis is getting good coaching, that he is being handled well.

That said, I'm a fan, so of course I have an opinion! I'd like to see Johnny Davis get something like 1200-1300 minutes this season. He's not on track for that right now, but it's certainly not out of the question.