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Game Thread Dec 16, 2023 08:00PM MT: Jazz at Kings

Added to Calendar: 12-16-23

HermanG said:
Not the worst game of the season but not a good one either.
  • Kessler has consistency issues and they are not matchup based. Last season he had 2 great games against Sabonis and this season he has seen Sabonis take his revenge twice now. It could be that the game 1 injury caused by Sabonis was in his head, but if thats the case then its even worse. He should have been out for blood.
  • Dunn early TO's were tragic and he was also killing the clock. Tech and THT with their shot selection didnt really help either.
  • Keegan Murray was just steaming hot and Hardy has to take the fall of not putting a chaperone to prevent him from getting the ball. The players have to take part of that blame for giving him any room when it was obvious that even close contests didnt bother him. Especially for that 1 transition bucket where we had like 4 on 1 under the ball and the 1 was Murray who was left alone in the corner. Its a really bad look when that kind of a streak is actually stopped by the opposing coach substitution and not by our defense.
  • Man we got unlucky on the glass. The ball was bouncing far all day and its quite frustrating when Lauri, KO and Kessler combined for less boards (14) than Murray and Liles (16)
Even with those warts, this would have been a winnable game if Dunn didnt **** the bed at the start. Man we need better guards.
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How in the hell did Tech have bad shot selection?
 
str8line said:
Lauri needs to demand the ball more. Act like a superstar.
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Who are the stars that have to consistently demand to get the ball?

Even half-way smart teams know who their best player and they don't have to demand the ball.

THT definitely thinks he's the best player on the court. Sexton often does. Clarkson does as well.
 
That was a nice loss. I was a little worried that if we started to gain some momentum that our priorities would become all screwed up. We can never count on Hardy to do the right thing so it wasn't a surprise to see him bring Kessler off the bench as a reward for his great game against the blazers. It is pretty obvious that he works best as a starter right now and bringing him off the bench is stupid.
 
Tanktastic said:
Who are the stars that have to consistently demand to get the ball?

Even half-way smart teams know who their best player and they don't have to demand the ball.

THT definitely thinks he's the best player on the court. Sexton often does. Clarkson does as well.
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So true.
 
sip said:
That was a nice loss. I was a little worried that if we started to gain some momentum that our priorities would become all screwed up. We can never count on Hardy to do the right thing so it wasn't a surprise to see him bring Kessler off the bench as a reward for his great game against the blazers. It is pretty obvious that he works best as a starter right now and bringing him off the bench is stupid.
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With all of the phantom injuries and our forever changing lineups it seems pretty obvious to me that we’re creating self limiting road blocks for ourselves to ensure the tank holds without a diminution of effort. Kessler coming off the bench has to be viewed through that lens I think. No doubt in my mind that we’re committed to using our only first this season.
 
Tremendous Upside said:
How?

And don't tell me he should do stuff that amounts to stopping the ball, forcing up shots, overdribbling, screaming and banging his chest. We already have plenty of dudes doing those things.

He got 27 minutes and 13 shots. You don't "take over" anything with those kinds of numbers. I mean it's not exactly news that as a big, Lauri mostly depends on his guards (and by extension, his coach) to get him the ball in his spots. And when he does get it, good & efficient things happen.

Meanwhile, over at Twitter McCade Pearson is running a smear campaign with the premise that Lauri should be shooting less and passing more:


Go figure. That's just insanely stupid. Nothing wrong with facilitating if your teammates are better scoring options than you, but Lauri is basically never in that position on this team. And a high unassisted % isn't some holy grail in today's NBA. It may just as well speak of low efficiency scoring.

Anyway, IMO Markkanen is just a symptom here – people are frustrated about the season and don't know what Ainge is even trying to do, so the anger gets spread around.
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Agree, what a dumb take. Players can be great in different ways. Lauri’s game is all about efficiency. He is the top player in the NBA in points per touches. Obviously needs to get the ball in his hands more often, but it’s not happening with our guards on a consistent basis.
 
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