We will see. There is always the next game. But basketball is a game of change. So maybe we will see something new happening with Niang. Historically he has struggled, but there is always some sort of surprise in basketball.
Joe has looked rough thus far. Like extra slow. Thinking he needs to be the off the bench guy this year. I also think he's getting warmed up and may be suffering the dreaded Memo Baby Curse too. Going to three kids is the biggest adjustment... especially with Jacob's needs. Gonna give him a lot of slack early.
We also remember that he was paired with Bradley which is about as bad a pairing as you can have... JC also a defensive liability. He may be able to be good enough this year to justify keeping him on the floor.
The advanced stats say he has been pretty average on D.
I think it also looked worse because he was on the floor with TB as well. Niang knows where to be and tries... guys can still shoot over him but if he is exclusively a bench guy getting 12 minutes a night that isn't as big of an issue. It was in the playoffs running him 25 minutes a night where it becomes worse.
Most people agree that average D is totally adequate most nights.
If you can do other things you can make the D seem better.
Almost as bad as NWG hatred.
