Murph, head over to the chat
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Some insights from stats:
We were outscored 32-11 in the first quarter, then played them even the last 3 quarters.
Kai Jones - 2 points, ZERO rebounds, five fouls in 21 minutes. Good grief
They ended up with more turnovers than us somehow, 19-17.
Miller ended up with a good offensive game with 18 points and 3-7 from 3, but SEVEN fouls on defense, but had some great effort and plays on that side of the ball.
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6 fouls first half, he definitely had some nerves to start. Also had a couple of 3s go in and out in the first half.
I thought he shows some very positive signs and also plenty of room to grow
I wasnât expecting much 1st game and yet⌠somehow I was easily disappointed.
Actually not so much but I thought there was a lot of selfish low IQ play in the 1st quarter that doomed us out the gate. I guess it stands to reason we have A LOT of guys in summer league who are actually vying for regular season minutes with the big boy team and theyâre all trying to shine for self rather than play for each other. Thatâs what it felt like early. Unorganized. Hopefully that improves.
But I take away that scoring comes easy for Brandon. After a slow start it was pretty effortless for him to put up 18 before you knew it. He can get to his spots with the dribble and heâll get better with that. I liked his aggressiveness on defense but of course heâs got to cut down the fouls. Gotta cut the turnovers. But he looks fluid and I really think he could give you minutes at the 2 if needed.
Bouk seemed to be pressing. Forcing things a bit.
Nick did some good things. Bailey as well.
Bryce felt like the grown up of the bunch.
Kai, bless his heart I love the kid but he still looks raw as ever.
Spot on.
My highlight driven, after the fact takeaways:
Kai ⌠I have as many encouraging words as he had rebounds. Utterly inept.
Miller ⌠Effortless shooter who puts points on the board. Sees it, shoots it. Has the burst and suddenness of a 10 year vet. That was my big negative with him as a prospect. Confirmation bias? Weâll see. But, he also has the craft and IQ of a vet too. He sees the game very well for a rookie.
Bryce looked good and accomplished.
Flashes from Smith & Bailey, which was good to see. Bouknight did ok, but none of them hit from three. We missed having a lead guard in the starting group.
My main takeaway, our D. We allowed two players to destroy us. We got our distancing all wrong. We sagged off, gave them too much time and space to move the ball without fear of turning it over and find open shooters. Weâd then sprint to close out hard, from too far away. Theyâd step to the side, weâd fly past, and theyâd drill an open 3. That seemed the early pattern of things. Contrast that with the Spurs D. They made it tough for us to move the ball, tough to find open looks, and tough to drive to the rim. They looked coached, connected and cohesive, we looked like we were playing pick up. We gave individual effort.
Again, to qualify, these are takes from the highlights. Need to see much more cohesion and connection next time out. The reactionary fan in me is done with Kai, but I sincerely hope some part of the game clicks for him. He looked completely lost out there, which is unforgivable from both his personal perspective, but also the Hornetâs coaching in general. He provided nothing. Poor screens, no rebounding, no idea when to contest at the rim, no idea about anything really.
Hoping to see Bailey, Smith, Bryce, Miller & Nnaji as the starting group next time out. Ball movement and coherent team D please.
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I like Bailey after half time. Heâs hungry. Tried to look him up twice last week but got distracted both times by pictures of his mom!
I am not sure why Bryce was even out there. He is clearly well ahead of everyone else so whatâs the point?
Not quite sure I see where all the Bryce love is coming from right now. He shot 3-10. Does this need more context? Sure. But he was nowhere close to âtoo good to be out thereâ for me. Miller was pretty easily our best player imo
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This is something this team has needed for 15 years.
That first LaMelo led fast break where Miller is following and just sets up from range is going to hit
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That sums up my thoughts perfectly as I watched the game.
Spurs had better experienced âvetsâ at the end of the day. Our vets played like trash.
Our vets are trash.
Fixed it
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I can get with that
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Bryce was about a 1000% smoother and competent than anyone on our team. I donât see him learning anything from summer league play. Maybe heâs there for leadership. If that is the case then okay but anything other than that is unnecessary.
Maybe its time to trade Bouk AND Kai. D@mn.
Yeah personally I think they need some vet types out there with them. I donât know what kind of âcoachingâ gets done but the first game out and all of last summer looked like they should be on a playground somewhere. I think it would really help the offense if at least Maledon was out with the squad. Is he too experienced for that or what?
I guess they feel like weâre easy enough pickins that it would be a good time to throw him in.
For what?
Cash considerations wouldnât be enough to gas up bubba for one lap
If we havenât already committed to stashing Nnaji, I think Kaiâs performance has likely sped up the timeline for having Nnaji on the roster. If Kai doesnât take significant strides forwards, then we need a third Centre on the roster this season.
Makes you wonder at the teams preparation. In the first half they played like they were surprised that the other team was trying.
Also, you can kind of tell a guy either isnât a PG or never has been a PG when his nature is to continuously drive into the defense instead of manipulate it and activate teammates.
The game improved in the second after the players had time to adapt and the coaches used a balanced lineup more often.
Having Robinson/Bailey and Black/Mensah in the game mattered, even if only to make it competitive.