Yup he’s putting him in. What’s the point? Sat him for the ENTIRE stretch run in the 4th.
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More great defense on Lebron by PJ
He might as well have not been guarding him at all tonight haha. Open door defense
I just want to say Dell and Eric calling this were way up Lebron’s ass
I don’t know if he still has any after affects from Covid, but I wish PJ would realize he could do this every night. He’s a really skilled player, but I want him to take a step up in aggressiveness.
I’m with everyone not understanding the long stretch without Melo. If you really want Devonte in there, just go with the 3 guard lineup. Not like we were stopping them anyway. But at least we could generate more offense, get better looks.
Looks like Cody didn’t even play second half? Was he injured again, or just us acknowledging we don’t need centers the rest of the year.
Gordon has been looking rough a lot lately. Are we sure he’s not hurt/sick? He’s shot less than 10 times and scored single figures like 3 times the past week, which he hadn’t done all year long.
What’s weird is Cody and Biz have basically played the same amount of minutes since the all star break
Well atleast we can take solace in the LaMelo highlight video from this game having twice as many views as the Lebron one
I see JB is back to his mysterious rotations from early in the season.
He’s out smarting himself.
He’s looked off more than on since the Spurs (?) game. Prior to that, his middy was so automatic. Since, nothing has been. Maybe the hand issue??
I thought not playing Cody was the right call. He wasn’t affecting much and LA was trying to get him on an island defensively every play. PJ was pretty badass in Cody’s absence.
Pulling LaMelo was curious. I thought it was for foul trouble but I’m not so sure that was the case. Is JB getting frustrated with the careless TOs and stuff like the clear path foul? I think it’s OK if he pulls him a minute to have a coaching moment but 5 mins when he tends (edit: typo) to be sparking a lot when he’s on the court seems odd.
To be completely honest here. I don’t really think it matters a whole lot what JB does, because until we have a real center this team is a pretty hand tied. We see what happened in Denver against a skilled big. I think a lot of things get solved when we add a real center to the fold.
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I’m not worried about last night in the big picture of things. Melo had 5 fouls and maybe Coach Borrego left him sitting too long but he’s earned the right to mix things up based on his feel from game to game.
More telling is Cody not playing the whole 2nd half, and that may speak more to getting PJ more minutes at the 5 and putting your five best players on the floor no matter what because PJ had it going last night.
Let’s just get past this horrendous western trip injury free and ready to compete at our level in the East. Enjoy the ride guys it’s just starting!
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Agree coach. I thought it was telling that JB seemed to make no bones about benching Cody due to his lack of bringing it.
I’m paywall blocked but the headline is interesting
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I’m probably in the minority here, but I really like this team better without Graham. I feel like all our guards step up and play better when he’s not around. I’m sad that it feels like Monk will go back to the bench soon too… minutes have been dropping every game it seems like. I don’t hate Graham but I feel like JBs love for him kind of hurts the team overall.
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After 1rst game back 26-13 split…last 4 Cody-17.7, Bis-17.6
Cody gonna lose minutes to PJ, no argue there. But Is Cody injured or just in JB outhouse with Monk? Even not strongest stretch, not seem Cody should be losing any minutes to Bis.
Possible for these rotations. Long road trip, already individuals slumping, JB doing a type of load managing rotations before final push. What we see next 11 isn’t what we see final 21. Betting players being to switch things on again.
Easy blame is DG, but Monk just latest with biggest drop off from that team wide hot streak. Last Monk 5 games, 16 MP…38/25/9Pts 8 ass/8 to…pissing off JB and getting benched…seems always on coach shortest leash either JB or Cliff…look to much like old Monk.
Not a starter, will see minutes flux, and had begun to handle and produce highly no matter what. Get thru slump, gets back to JB goodness and so can get his superior talent back to a 2+ to 1 in bench minutes over DG.
And rough timing with this bad streak…DG is playing at his best in reduced role…19MP…43/45/11 15/6.
Well then I’m in the minority with you on Graham. I like Graham in a reduced role. And if we can sign him to a 8-12million per season to come in and play 20-28 minutes a night, then great. I think he’d be a good piece to have in order to have piece of mind as a reliable back up in case of injury. Having a backup combo guard is so important to the modern game, with a lot of small ball being played.
Many were clamoring about Graham because of a couple good months, and it got a little overboard. This feels like the accurate trajectory for DG’s career. Not a starting PG.
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I give him more credit, but ultimately see him in the same role you described: backup combo guard capable of scoring in bunches and stretching the floor. I think he has the tools to be a starting guard. However, with Melo’s style of play, it’s clear that DG’s general style is more of that classic pick and roll style that slows down the game comparatively, which makes it feels like the game is more sluggish when Melo is out and Graham is in.
I still like the guy a lot, but I agree it’s as a strong bench player. Would love to keep him.