Speaking of regression, Richards and McDaniels, jeez guys where did you go? Could have sworn we saw you breaking out a while back. You gonna be okay?
At least DSJ and Oubre are hanging in there if not showing out.
When not being a bonehead, Bouknight has a graceful athleticism that’s beautiful to watch.
I wouldn’t really say either has regressed. McDaniels couldn’t get anything to fall last night and I’ll admit he seemed a bit lethargic given the energy he usually plays with, but last night was really the only game he’s given us nothing. He’s been pretty consistently solid all season so at this point I’m willing to chalk it up as just an off night.
I thought Richards was ok. He seemed to struggle with Aldama’s length. He got stripped and blocked several times which had him frustrated, but he was still active and had a near double double. 9 and 9 is still pretty good production in just 19 minutes. We obviously weren’t going to see 20/10 from him every night but he’s settled into his role as a productive back up C. I’d still like to see him play more.
I think recurrent 30 point losses in the old days, that definitely would seem to be a giving up/tuneout/loss of locker room lack of effort. But in this 3 point era, a team can jump out big in a matter of minutes, and the Grizzlies are known for putting on a relentless beat down, regardless of how much they’re up. To me, it looked like our guys were giving effort, we just didn’t have the dogs in this one to keep pace.
Cliff said at the beginning of the year that when you’re short handed, the other guys can give a good burst, but its unsustainable, and it seems its finally catching up.
Of course, as we all already know, losing your top 4 scorers from last year will completely decimate a team. Melo/Terry/Gordon/MB can get you 20 regularly in a game to game basis. Oubre is the only one who can get there with ease when he’s on, but we know how quick that switch can turn off.
PJ is not that guy, never has been, and I don’t expect him to become that guy. He can’t create offense like the missing guys. He’s important to the roster, but maybe if we finally see him for what he truly is, someone more like a PJ Tucker or Bobby Portis, or Jae Crowder type player. Toughness, good D, can hit open 3’s, awesome in a support role to finish when other playmakers are on the floor, but never someone you can give the ball to to create a bucket.
Bouknight is the only other guy with a history of being a scorer at another level. You can see Thor and Jalen, despite their physical gifts, don’t have that feel or understanding of how to naturally score. We don’t have anymore of those guys on the roster until the starting scorers get back, so I expect a lot more coming up short kind of losses.
I was ok with our shots not falling, and accepted pretty much everything offensively. But that MEM got every single 50/50 ball, that we constantly got hung up under screens out to the the corners giving up wide open shots, that we never blocked out or even had a rebounder give effort when MEM had 3 guys in the lane, that gave me much pause.
I hear ya. To me, I guess it just seemed more like they got popped in the mouth and were stunned, and didn’t know what to do. Which, not that its acceptable, but more understandable from a young roster not used to even being in that situation. But they were able to cut the lead down to like 11 or 12 a couple times, so I liked that.
But also, once PJ and Jalen started with a big 0-fer, there was more slumping and frustration on their part. I assume this will be on film study for sure, and we’ll see more effort for tonight’s game.
These two paragraphs are absolutely spot on. We’ve fallen apart because we’re forced into playing too many players who can not create their own offence. I like PJ, McDaniels and Thor, but they’re having to do things outside their skillset at the moment.