GT #21: Bullets @ Nets 7:30 PM (MSN/1500 AM)

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Poole went back to basketballing while drunk last night

[WallToWall]

Didn't watch the game but Deni's +- is very odd..
Can't find correlation with any other player (with significat play time)..

His rotation is different than any other player now. I think they are trying to not play Poole and Avdija together.

[WallToWall]

Whenever certain players come into the game, the defense just goes to ****. I'm looking at you Poole, Gallo, and Kuzma. Those three don't even try.

Kuzma is a net-zero on D. He can be a plus D player, but right now he is expending too much energy everywhere else in the game. Gallo is too slow, so they just blow by him. He does provide some rebounding. His defensive stats are acceptable, but the eye test says something else. Poole has been a net-negative on D, but the trend is slightly inching upward.

On defense, Poole and Jones can't co-exist…its matador D.

[nate33]

Didn't watch the game but Deni's +- is very odd..
Can't find correlation with any other player (with significat play time)..

His rotation is different than any other player now. I think they are trying to not play Poole and Avdija together.

The main feature of Deni's rotation is that Wes is making sure Deni is on whenever Kuzma is off the court. This is because Deni is the only other guy in the rotation who can guard PF's, and also because the offense needs strong ball handling from the 4 since our 3's (Bilal and Kispert) don't really dribble much.

For one of Deni or Kuzma to always be on the court, Deni has to come out of the starting lineup early and go back in when Kuzma sits. Basically, they share the court for the first 5 minutes, and then alternate at PF for the rest of the half, with Deni sometimes rejoining the starters late in each half.

I think Poole's rotation is essentially independent of Deni. Wes isn't trying to play Poole with Deni, nor is he trying to avoid it. The end result is that he plays about half of his minutes away from Poole, so his on/off differential doesn't get dragged down as much as Tyus' and Kuzma's does.

[TGW]

The team would be a lot funner to watch if Poole, Gallinari, and Kuzma were off the team.

[penbeast0]

I'm not a Kuzma fan, but he at least looks like he wants to be here and gives good interviews. As for Gallinari, you want to see Moose, Gill, PBJ, or maybe 6'6 Eugene Omoruyi get his minutes because those are the only other players resembling bigs we have behind Gafford.

[nate33]

The team would be a lot funner to watch if Poole, Gallinari, and Kuzma were off the team.

Still not getting the Kuzma hate.

Kuzma is a #3 option being thrust into a #1 option role. He is doing the best he can and has far exceeded my expectations. It would definitely look worse if he wasn't out there carrying such a heavy usage. I do not want to see Deni Avdija or Tyus Jones carrying the load as the #1 option against a defense focused on stopping them.

[tontoz]

I would think Gallo will be traded or bought out soon.

[penbeast0]

You are seeing his improvement and so far this year, it's been real. He is at career high for efficiency while increasing his usage significantly and lowering his turnover percentage. I'd like to see more effort on the defensive and an occasional attempt to block out his man from the offensive boards but I agree that he's been good this year. However, he's also the face of the franchise and he and Poole were expected to be the franchise leaders. Since the team sucks, particularly defensively, it's understandable that those who don't buy into the idea of the tank blame the most visible players.

I would say he, Deni, Shamet, and (surprising to me since watching him he hasn't looked good) Kispert have been better than I expected, Gafford, Poole, and Johnny Davis have been disappointments, and Bilal looks like the real thing. Except for Poole, who has been a one man disaster, I'd say the team is actually doing better than I thought it would be at developing its players (which is sad when you are 3-18).

[DCZards]

The team would be a lot funner to watch if Poole, Gallinari, and Kuzma were off the team.

Still not getting the Kuzma hate.

Kuzma is a #3 option being thrust into a #1 option role. He is doing the best he can and has far exceeded my expectations. It would definitely look worse if he wasn't out there carrying such a heavy usage. I do not want to see Deni Avdija or Tyus Jones carrying the load as the #1 option against a defense focused on stopping them.

Kuz is a good NBA player who uses his size, speed and smarts to score in a variety of ways. Kuz gets in trouble when he tries to be a great NBA player, which leads to him dominating the ball and taking ill-advised shots.

We’ve seen mostly the good Kuz this season. Let’s hope he keeps it up.

[TGW]

I didn’t say Kuzma was a bad player…he’s not. He’s just not enjoyable to watch, which is why I used the term “funner.” Let’s be honest…he has tunnel vision at times and he takes ill-advised shots. It’s not the best brand of basketball.

[nate33]

I didn’t say Kuzma was a bad player…he’s not. He’s just not enjoyable to watch, which is why I used the term “funner.” Let’s be honest…he has tunnel vision at times and he takes ill-advised shots. It’s not the best brand of basketball.

This is fair.

I think Kuzma is a fun player to watch when he is at his best - going downhill at guys and getting off that crafty floater. But yeah, when he starts trying to do too much iso, it's not pretty.

But I still think people don't properly acknowledge the difficulty of scoring in the NBA without a capable first option to bend a defense. If you took Kuzma out and gave his usage to Deni, Kispert and Tyus, that wouldn't look much fun either.

[penbeast0]

...But I still think people don't properly acknowledge the difficulty of scoring in the NBA without a capable first option to bend a defense. If you took Kuzma out and gave his usage to Deni, Kispert and Tyus, that wouldn't look much fun either.

You can always give it to Poole (ducks and hides).

[queridiculo]

The team would be a lot funner to watch if Poole, Gallinari, and Kuzma were off the team.

Still not getting the Kuzma hate.

Kuzma is a #3 option being thrust into a #1 option role. He is doing the best he can and has far exceeded my expectations. It would definitely look worse if he wasn't out there carrying such a heavy usage. I do not want to see Deni Avdija or Tyus Jones carrying the load as the #1 option against a defense focused on stopping them.

I guess people hate Kuzma for his hair or clothes?

He's not particularly efficient, and he shouldn't be a teams leading man, but he's taking on that pressure regardless and he's probably the only guy on our team that would be a starter on almost any other roster in the league.

I like Kuzma, a lot.

He's a pro, he plays with effort, and he's getting everything out of his ability.

For all the off-court stuff that seems to be what people particularly dislike about him, he puts in the work.

I have no beef with Kuzma and he's on a bargain of a deal for a quality starter.

[DCZards]

I don’t even know why people have a problem with Kuz’s off court stuff. It’s an harmless expression of his individuality.

If people paid less attention to Kuz’s frivolous stuff and more to the many—and generous—ways he gives back to his Flint, MI community they’d love him.