Just an observation. I'm well aware that Lauri had a career best hot streak before this (and a legit slump before that, to start the season). But now the pendulum has swung again.
It always does, and usually everything evens out. (And his 2pt shooting has nothing to do with this, obviously. That remains solid.)
Shooting slumps interest me because they're like slight mental malfunctions. Bugs in the code. IMO, they're a mild form of the yips. And some players are definitely more susceptible to them than others.
Most guys who've always relied on their long balls tend to want to "shoot their way out" of these slumps. It's almost superstition. We've already seen that this season with Beasley, who just keeps desperately launching bombs, no matter how badly they keep clanking. Lauri's pretty much doing the same now, and I always wonder about this approach. There are other options: when Olynyk stopped hitting from the perimeter a while ago, he turned timid and started passing off open shots. He was scared. Obviously, that's not good either. But then again, KO is not really a shooter anyway. He doesn't have that irrational confidence. He reacts differently.
I know veteran players don't like their routines disturbed too much or their touches/shots ****ed around with, but wouldn't it make sense for coaches to recognize when a player is slumping from the perimeter and to temporarily adjust their role (if possible)? Do we need a volume guy to be missing 80% of his 3pt shots game after game? I get the "it's still spacing the floor" argument, but the long rebound off a missed 3pt shot often jump starts a fast break by the other team, and you can't just stop fast breaks by fouling anymore. Bricks shouldn't be taken lightly.
I guess what l'm saying is, I'd like to see Lauri play a lot of center for a while on offense. Use him as the screener in high pick and rolls, let him dive to the hoop or do a short roll to the FT line. You could even mix it up by putting him at the dunker's spot when KO is playing the screener role.
Just don't park him on the weak side perimeter or in the corner, staring down those spot up 3's that are not dropping.
(Disclaimer: if you're a tanker, just ignore everything I just said and be happy Lauri is missing)
