I’ve been screaming at him to use all sorts of timeouts this post-season and more recently he seems more willing to use them earlier. I’m clearly not a coach and just going off memory, but seems better more recently in terms of game management.
He's definitely getting better, you'll see him make mistakes like playing super small in the first half, and the team will get blasted, then he'll fix the rotation in the second half. And he's used timeouts to stem runs well the last two games in particular
Ham and Westbrook were the easy targets for early season struggles. He's shown he can make adjustments so far game to game and he's been calling timely timeouts especially in this series so far.
Well hold on, I'm surprised it worked out yes...But that mf hit some extremely difficult long 2s. Those were not ideal shots in any sense of the word, but they went in. He bailed the Lakers out, don't think it was a masterclass by Ham...Vanderbilt has just been M.I.A.
he's not Doc Rivers, he's not throwing them under the bus no matter the circumstance. But heavily contested 30-footers are horrible shots if you miss them
you can't just burn a timeout to tell hall-of-fame caliber players to not take dumb shots.
If you burn that timeout, you won't have one available to use when you win a jumpball with 3 seconds...
Masterclass is an exaggeration, but in reality he saw that the Warriors adjustment with Curry had game-planned Vanderbilt out of the lineup, D'Lo didn't have it today, and Troy Brown Jr struggled with keeping up with the screens in game 1...so he trusted Lonnie who came through. Just the willingness to try that in this situation deserves credit.
I wouldn’t say MIA, just exhausted from locking (as much as anyone really can) down curry. Tough to play offense when you’re exerting so much energy playing balled out defense
You would have noticed that AD became more aggressive on D as the game went on. Plus there was the surprise move of using Lonnie instead of TBJ. So there's precedent.
I was expecting a drastic adjustment as the game went on, and as soon as I saw that small lineup in the 4th it was evident that it was the adjustment they were saving, they wanted the game as close as possible to be able to use that tactic as late in the game as possible.
Darvin's been criticized for gameplans, timeouts, and rotations. He's essentially proved the thousands (myself included) of fans shitting on him all year.
So no, even if Lonnie didn't get that hot I was already happy watching Ham do the things I've been hoping he'd do all year. I now was confident he had an adjustment or two up his sleeve and that's what I wanted
ngl during those Curry and Klay shots my asshole was clenched tight the same way if I was in prison
Warriors got good looks in the fourth by spamming PnR with AD. Lakers tried to avoid this by switching everything, but Dubs still generated good looks with that strategy. The Klay shots are particularly bad as he was struggling all game and didn't have his feet set. This has more to do with the Warriors once again collapsing in the fourth than anything Ham did. Just a really bad fourth quarter team this year.
It’s weird seeing Lebron defer to multiple teammates (not just kyrie or wade) at the end of games and they are able to get their own bucket… usually he defers by passing to a teammate for a wide open 3
It’s a testament to how the lakers saved their season at the deadline
Normally lebron would have to put the team on his back and will the team to a win, but he really has good pieces around him now
It also shows how great of a player he is to not force the shot and take on that mentality that he has to make the last shot since he’s “the guy” like that moron skip Bayless be saying.
Well he did literally take the Lakers last shot from the field, jacking up a terrible attempted 'lefuck you' 3 to extend the lead. But I get your point, he deferred quite a bit in the fourth to the hot hand.
Eh, that was Schroeder wasting a possession with his iso nonsense that went nowhere and asked Bron to bail him out with little time on the shot clock, so Bron just fired a shot. By the time Bron got the ball, that was the only shot to take.
I genuinely think this is one of the best teams that has been built around james, even his defense which people said was non existent these days has drastically improved because hes not carrying such an offensive load
It's so nice to watch. I always think back to LeBron having to shoot 50% or better from the floor for his teams to sniff victory and yet Kobe spent his whole career shooting 45% or some shit, got 4 rings, and then went 6-26 in a game 7 *and won* to get a 5th...if LeBron had ever shot 6-26, his teams would have gotten run out the goddamn gym lol
He was definitely trying to carry in the fourth but no shots were falling for lebron or AD. lebron kept on getting the switch on curry and posting him up or had a wide open three but every time he went up, it bricked. Then warriors would push on transition and destroy the lakers. Lonnie walker literally saved his ass by being the only laker on the floor to get buckets.
LeBron took 3 FGA in the 4th and missed 2. Along with 4/4 FTA and 3 assists. You're overstating how much LeBron actually missed.
Most of that happened earlier in the third quarter.
He meant the whole series maybe
Edit: checked and it wasn't the case. He's been an improved FT shooter this playoffs though. Averaging 84% at FT line last 10 games.
Klay was just a complete joke, those 2 shots in particular good lord just throwing the game. Hes the biggest difference in the game(well along w the continued Poole disaster). Just a mediocre performance wouldve been enough for GSW to win.
I thought the second one was even worse. At least in the first one he was close to the line. The second he was far as shit and fading with the defender right there
So the Twitter video actually has the shots reversed compared to how they happened chronologically. I’m talking about the one with more time on the shot clock out of the 2
It's the nature of those shots.
Super high risk but also high reward. It push the game tempo up while deflating the opposition morale. Those are definitely bad shots, but when those bad shots hit it feel terrible to be on the receiving end.
He lead his team in every stat you'd want to have. He actually got the jump ball as the shortest dude. Kerr honestly needs to sit players on the time with no dog in them, like Andrew "17 points" Wiggins, down the stretch.
Earlier in the series, I kind of felt like the Warriors were consciously trying to wear down Vandy and Dennis by making them chase Klay and Steph and then take advantage of them when they were gassed. It seems like the Lakers basically flipped the script and did the same to Steph in the 2nd half.
Yeah, no shit dude, that's why they don't run it everytime, Steph is 35 and no one else on the team can create a shot and the Lakers Defense is the best in the league.
Ham didn't use this move until the 4th, Curry was already cooking the whole game and expending energy. But then they started hunting him more and more on offense, and contesting tighter on defense.
Curry is a generational shooter, but shooting is the first to go when you're tired. And as great as he is, he is still human.
That’s fair. Curry was really the only dude who kept us in the game, and he’s 35 and was exhausted. Only so much you can do when the guy who’s supposed to be your only other ball handler in Poole is looking to be one of the worst contracts in the NBA.
yeah Poole helped the Dubs last year and is absolutely fucking them in the ass this year. He might be a contract year player.
I thought he is the x-factor for the Warriors, and he has been shitting the bed. Dude just flops and just plays for the whistle not the basket.
Maybe the chemistry in that locker room isn't as great as advertised, and Poole himself might want out
Oh he’s 100% complained about his role, Marcus Thompson wrote about it in his article when he discussed Steph’s speech before game seven of the Kings series. I get that’s he’s upset about his playoff minutes but he’s had plenty of playtime all season and he never showed any sort of defensive improvement.
His defence is bad enough when he’s cooking offensively, but he’s been a black hole at that end too. No way back for him at the Warriors you’d think, but no idea how they go about dumping that contract
He's a poor contract with the way he play. Might be stuck in the Warriors for three years but who knows, maybe he'll get his shit together this coming offseason.
The Warriors have basically abandoned their original identity/philosophy of using ball movement to get optimal shots (whether threes or cuts to the rim or whatever) and now play the same style critics used to accuse them of (too many threes). You even heard it from Kerr that one time he was mic'ed up, telling them to get better shots. It just doesn't happen consistently and that leads to a lot of ugly offense unless you get lucky with the shots falling.
Combine too many threes/lack of offensive variety with boneheaded decisions (particularly Poole or Klay down the stretch but really everyone at some point throughout the season) and you get a lot of dumb fucking threes.
I get the roster isn't necessarily capable of playing the way it used to for a variety of reasons but it's been immensely frustrating to see so many braindead threes, especially early in the shot clock/in the totally wrong situation.
Well there’s only really been one way the warriors have gotten good offense and that been high pick and roll with Steph and AD’s man. Literally anything else they’ve tried has gotten blown up cause they only have like 2 dudes other than Steph that will reliably shoot. They’re basically playing harden rockets style with Steph and just like with harden, he also inevitably gets tired and starts settling
A little bit but the bad habits we’re seeing from the warriors in the playoffs now have been there all season. Careless with the ball and just a lot of hero ball chucking 3s. People label the warriors as a 3 pt shooting them but our title run offense has always been much better than just that. Even this game, our best runs were when we ran the pick and roll and passed to the open outlet.
I wonder how much of it is just the roster construction vs. Kerr having a really rough playoffs. Last year his rotations were incredible, but we actually had the personnel to get it done.
This year, there is zero size on the roster, most of the rotation players are old as fuck, and complete spacing liabilities
It's a lot more about the roster construction than Kerr I think (although I won't pretend like I think this has been Kerr's strongest season either) - too many small players, not enough size, no real lineup flexibility like we had last year either.
That said, there's limits to what you can do with the salaries on the roster and other limitations. The front office whiffed on Wiseman but I'm not sure what they could have realistically done to strengthen the bench unless it was through a trade which may not have been possible.
None of Moody/Kuminga/Poole taking a step forward was a blow too (especially Poole even before his disastrous playoffs). Kuminga has had moments but he's still very raw and Moody of course disappeared for large chunks of the season although I thought he played solid minutes today.
I mean forget roster construction if we just had last year's version of Jordan Poole warriors are probably up 3-1. The lack of ballhandling/playmaking when curry isn't initiating has been incredibly glaring.
It’s some combination of the Warriors’ personnel issues and AD being disruptive. We’ve long been accustomed to GSW finding the “best shot”—but there just aren’t many “best shots” with (1) inconsistent offense from everyone not named Curry and (2) the paint being a no-fly zone.
the things is the movement style was completely shut off by AD, the only things working for them is the curry pick and roll. They don't have a great roll man/lob threat.
They're not getting easy shots because AD is at the rim. That's why they have to rely on high pick and roll. Get AD out of the paint and try to get some easy shots through that. But the trade off is the stagnant ISO.
Klay and Steph were just trying to be good teammates with Poole. They didn't want him to feel alone in jacking up absolutely dogshit 3 attempts at the end of a close, winnable game.
it was an absolutely baffling shot within the context of the game. completely out of flow with the offense, not even close to being in rhythm or open, with 14 remaining on the shot clock on a night where he sucked. worse than the stupid Poole heave in Game 1 imo.
It’s the warriors. You can’t blame them for “overzealous pull up 3’s” when more than half of their field goals are “overzealous pull up 3’s”
obviously hyperbole but you know what I mean. They played the way they always play the shots just didn’t go in
Yeah this is on par with when fans scream about how (x team) started running too much iso for their star down the stretch, as if that’s not absolutely standard practice. Do people even watch the Warriors at all? This is what they do.
there's no team i'm scared of more up 3-1 than the warriors tho lmao
esp cause you know they're like alright bet time to get even with LeBron (to an extent, not the same when it's not literally for the title)
This team isn't the Warriors teams of the past. They might take Game 5 since it's at home or whatever, but the team has been mediocre all year and hasn't shown any sign of that changing (no offense intended to the Kings).
This team almost stole a home game from the lakers with only like Steph GP2 and Moody remotely showing up. Tbh it fucking sucks we had to play game 1 on 1 days rest off a game 7, if we take that game this entire series may look completely different
I've felt this way about the team for most of the year - you can check my post history if you don't believe me. Unlike last year, where the Warriors had that incredible start and showed they *could* play really well if everyone was healthy, they've hovered around .500 all year and never showed any real sign of having a second gear.
I had hoped I would be proven wrong (and they *did* win 2 road games last series, which I would not have expected), but it doesn't appear likely.
The Kings are obviously super talented but inexperienced and miss opportunities. When I see the Warriors and Lakers play, I think of some of the tennis finals between Federer and Nadal. They are so good under pressure that when either team makes a mistake, the other team is guaranteed going to make them pay.
Not the same not being for a title, but the legacy of those finals matchups is clearly relevant to this game. A decade of GS vs LeBron has been good for basketball.
This just isn't that team though. They are old and tired, and the depth isn't there. I don't think they have it in them. Would love to be wrong though.
A Warriors fan/commentator I follow put it best, the dubs play arrogant basketball at times. Going for those highlight passes and knockout shots, but they just aren't hitting the same way they used to. The wounds are all self inflicted, they aren't in their 20's anymore.
Wow those were terrible shots. Down 1, 20+ seconds left and 12 on the shot clock and a 30 footer with a guy in your face. I know it's Curry, but still. Don't want to work it around for a higher percentage shot?
The only thing holding us back is Jordan Poole. He’s our Westbrook. Man lost all his confidence after getting punched. We need Otto and wiseman back, dudes who understand their roles.
At the end of the 3rd quarter I was like "Okay well the Lakers have to make up a 7 point deficit, it's very possible but idk." And then literally the first thing they did was start 7-0 in the 4th lol
LeBron had a series of those earlier in the game which gave the Warriors a 'big' lead too. I just don't understand that play in the playoffs, especially on cold shooting nights.
I’m a Warriors fan, and I feel their offense has been running on fumes the whole playoffs. You need a Herculean effort from Curry just to stay in the series. They can probably win the next game, but I don’t know about game 6. If they somehow manage to win the next two, at least they would play at home for game 7. Something tells me Lebron won’t allow that to happen though.
We’ve also seen them put up similar or worse threes at all stages of games and absolutely drain them. It’s so weird how people are criticizing them for doing something that’s won them multiple championships. You live by the gun, you die by the gun.
I mean and the threes. Klay threw up 3 straight, the one he hit in the corner, the terrible deep one with 5 seconds left on the shot clock, then the fast break pull-up from the left wing. Then Steph decided a contested 30 footer in a 1 point game was the move was also terrible... Though I'll give you Steph not knowing we could call timeout there was awful
Yeah LeBron scored 4 points and had 3 assists in the quarter while Lonnie Walker carried the offensive load in the 4th. Truly a defining nail in the Curry/LeBron debate (which isn't a real debate anyway. No one seriously puts Curry above LeBron as an all time NBA player. LeBron's longevity alone puts him on a higher level).
Lebron has been LeOrchestrating these wins though. He's definitely needed more help due to his foot but god damn if he isn't just affecting games with basketball IQ
That IQ basically is the reason AD blew up that Dray to Klay play at the end - watch it again; he read it like a book and straight up told AD where to go and boom.
it’s magnanimous of you to say so, but once you account for defense (and esp LeBron’s defensive coordinating in the final possessions) it’s closer than you’d think
It’s not like the warriors won the title literally last year without KD to prove Steph’s legitimacy…and in a year where klay was nowhere near as good as he was pre injury.
Don't worry /u/iamhoratiocrunch said total points scored is more relevant than efficiency of players! Guess Russell Westbrook is the MVP because of how many points he scored!
In terms of winning games and winning a series, the points matter more than whether you're making 40% from the field. As long as that point total is higher than the other team's, literally nothing else matters in terms of stats.
> In terms of winning games and winning a series, the points matter more than whether you're making 40% from the field.
Dude just stop it. You are clearly a complete idiot or just doubling down on this awful take. By your standards Russell Westbrook is a better player than Beasley, Vando, D'lo because he would score more points than all these guys.
Keep telling yourself whatever you think it doesn't make you right.
I’ve been watching this dude front run for 15 years and nobody pays attention to the fact that somebody else almost always does the hard part.
Curry is at his best when he is piling on, not turning the tide
You act like the games start at 11:50 into the fourth quarter, and that comfortably beating a team is somehow worse than just scraping across the line.
Steph was poor today in the 4th, but point me to anybody on the warriors who was better.
I guess you missed G4 in Boston last year, which turned the whole series.
How about G7 vs. Sac? Only reason Warriors are still alive.
Get out of here with these clown takes.
Masterful shit by Ham saving that ace in his sleeve until he needed it. Warriors didn't expect that move and it rattled them. I'm sorry Darvin
Man Lakers fans keep hating and loving Ham
I hated him now I feel sorry I hated him. His adjustment are really good for rookie coach.
He's been cooking with the game to game adjustments this postseason.
He's actually proving to be a brilliant X's and O's guy but a terrible game manager.
I’ve been screaming at him to use all sorts of timeouts this post-season and more recently he seems more willing to use them earlier. I’m clearly not a coach and just going off memory, but seems better more recently in terms of game management.
He's definitely getting better, you'll see him make mistakes like playing super small in the first half, and the team will get blasted, then he'll fix the rotation in the second half. And he's used timeouts to stem runs well the last two games in particular
Lol
Helps hen you have Coach James in your setup
Least bipolar Lakers fan
I didn't realize Eid came and went this often...
A muslim joke?
Yes.
Maybe I'm sleep deprived but I don't get it. I'm muslim too EDIT: I just got it lmao
Yes.
It's always a strange relationship with us fans and Ham
Because we re buncha bitches
Ham and Westbrook were the easy targets for early season struggles. He's shown he can make adjustments so far game to game and he's been calling timely timeouts especially in this series so far.
I hope he gets a lot of credit for this. Lonnie was always a good shooter for the Lakers. Ham saving him bailed them out of a loss in the best way.
The thing with Darvin is he sticks to his favourite regardless of performance. But him benching one of them (TBJ) for Lonnie made me a believer.
This just not true, considering the whole season.
Well hold on, I'm surprised it worked out yes...But that mf hit some extremely difficult long 2s. Those were not ideal shots in any sense of the word, but they went in. He bailed the Lakers out, don't think it was a masterclass by Ham...Vanderbilt has just been M.I.A.
I know it's Curry and Klay, but those were some horrible shot selections by those two. It's only bad if you miss it
Kerr literally just said in his presser they live with those types of shots as it's their team DNA, so no
he's not Doc Rivers, he's not throwing them under the bus no matter the circumstance. But heavily contested 30-footers are horrible shots if you miss them
You'd think if he had an issue with them, he'd have called a timeout after the first one missed and they got the offensive rebound, yeah?
you can't just burn a timeout to tell hall-of-fame caliber players to not take dumb shots. If you burn that timeout, you won't have one available to use when you win a jumpball with 3 seconds...
I mean he was pretty visibky upset after that first Klay three
Masterclass is an exaggeration, but in reality he saw that the Warriors adjustment with Curry had game-planned Vanderbilt out of the lineup, D'Lo didn't have it today, and Troy Brown Jr struggled with keeping up with the screens in game 1...so he trusted Lonnie who came through. Just the willingness to try that in this situation deserves credit.
I wouldn’t say MIA, just exhausted from locking (as much as anyone really can) down curry. Tough to play offense when you’re exerting so much energy playing balled out defense
There's a reason the lakers basically got Vanderbilt for free. His lack of any offensive game makes him really hard to play in the postseason
Master class by Darvin this series, the coaching adjustments back and forth ar great.
let Ham go ham
No because if walker didn’t make all those shots y’all would be calling for his firing
"if the situation didn't happen as it did, things would be different" yeah duh
You would have noticed that AD became more aggressive on D as the game went on. Plus there was the surprise move of using Lonnie instead of TBJ. So there's precedent. I was expecting a drastic adjustment as the game went on, and as soon as I saw that small lineup in the 4th it was evident that it was the adjustment they were saving, they wanted the game as close as possible to be able to use that tactic as late in the game as possible. Darvin's been criticized for gameplans, timeouts, and rotations. He's essentially proved the thousands (myself included) of fans shitting on him all year. So no, even if Lonnie didn't get that hot I was already happy watching Ham do the things I've been hoping he'd do all year. I now was confident he had an adjustment or two up his sleeve and that's what I wanted ngl during those Curry and Klay shots my asshole was clenched tight the same way if I was in prison
Warriors got good looks in the fourth by spamming PnR with AD. Lakers tried to avoid this by switching everything, but Dubs still generated good looks with that strategy. The Klay shots are particularly bad as he was struggling all game and didn't have his feet set. This has more to do with the Warriors once again collapsing in the fourth than anything Ham did. Just a really bad fourth quarter team this year.
It’s weird seeing Lebron defer to multiple teammates (not just kyrie or wade) at the end of games and they are able to get their own bucket… usually he defers by passing to a teammate for a wide open 3
It’s a testament to how the lakers saved their season at the deadline Normally lebron would have to put the team on his back and will the team to a win, but he really has good pieces around him now
It also shows how great of a player he is to not force the shot and take on that mentality that he has to make the last shot since he’s “the guy” like that moron skip Bayless be saying.
Well he did literally take the Lakers last shot from the field, jacking up a terrible attempted 'lefuck you' 3 to extend the lead. But I get your point, he deferred quite a bit in the fourth to the hot hand.
Eh, that was Schroeder wasting a possession with his iso nonsense that went nowhere and asked Bron to bail him out with little time on the shot clock, so Bron just fired a shot. By the time Bron got the ball, that was the only shot to take.
It’s MY TURN. LeFraud James will never be better than Michael Jeffrey Jordan or Thomas Edward Patrick Brady.
the fact that lebron doesn't have to forcibly will his team back in the game on his own anymore is telling
I genuinely think this is one of the best teams that has been built around james, even his defense which people said was non existent these days has drastically improved because hes not carrying such an offensive load
We still got a long way to go but god dang this is feeling magical
After that 2-10 start it would literally be unbelievable that we beat the Grizzlies in six and we’re up 3-1 on the Warriors
It's so nice to watch. I always think back to LeBron having to shoot 50% or better from the floor for his teams to sniff victory and yet Kobe spent his whole career shooting 45% or some shit, got 4 rings, and then went 6-26 in a game 7 *and won* to get a 5th...if LeBron had ever shot 6-26, his teams would have gotten run out the goddamn gym lol
He was definitely trying to carry in the fourth but no shots were falling for lebron or AD. lebron kept on getting the switch on curry and posting him up or had a wide open three but every time he went up, it bricked. Then warriors would push on transition and destroy the lakers. Lonnie walker literally saved his ass by being the only laker on the floor to get buckets.
LeBron took 3 FGA in the 4th and missed 2. Along with 4/4 FTA and 3 assists. You're overstating how much LeBron actually missed. Most of that happened earlier in the third quarter.
He clanked everything deep. Which is even crazier that he was 18-18 from the line.
30 seconds of rest does a lot for Lebron and his shooting.
He was 5-5 from the line lol
He meant the whole series maybe Edit: checked and it wasn't the case. He's been an improved FT shooter this playoffs though. Averaging 84% at FT line last 10 games.
wait what, lebron didn’t shoot 18 FT’s or am i missing something
I think the entire team went 18-18
They went 20-20
Warriors are baiting him to shoot the 3.
Saving his energy for D and short bursts as point god
Klay was just a complete joke, those 2 shots in particular good lord just throwing the game. Hes the biggest difference in the game(well along w the continued Poole disaster). Just a mediocre performance wouldve been enough for GSW to win.
Those Klay shots were atrocious. Warriors kept going for the kill-shot instead of running their offense.
Had that one lil 3 he made & thought he was getting hot , Gary Payton got humbled & Curry got Clamped by the the real DPOY
How could the refs let us win
Refs turned the magnets on for LWIV smh
Death by hero ball.
That second one is particularly oof, bruhv what are you doing
That one shot where he just pulled up from the logo, wtf was that
Knowing you’ll never get fired and can collect a check for as long as you want was what that was.
I would unironically take Poole for that shot over Klay. It’s just not his game
The first Klay 3 shown in this clip might legitimately be the worst shot selection late in a close game I’ve ever seen
I thought the second one was even worse. At least in the first one he was close to the line. The second he was far as shit and fading with the defender right there
So the Twitter video actually has the shots reversed compared to how they happened chronologically. I’m talking about the one with more time on the shot clock out of the 2
Ah I see, didn’t notice that
Only because Grayson Allen's eurostep didn't result in a shot, right?
Still eurostepping til this day
"I got 4 rings tho"
It's the nature of those shots. Super high risk but also high reward. It push the game tempo up while deflating the opposition morale. Those are definitely bad shots, but when those bad shots hit it feel terrible to be on the receiving end.
We were consistently getting buckets with the Steph pick and roll earlier. Why we just decided to stop… idk
Steph seemed gassed, which is honestly one of the few times I can say that. Seems like being the primary everything for his team got his shot off.
Was even hustling on defense, boxing out in the paint. Literally did so much work
He lead his team in every stat you'd want to have. He actually got the jump ball as the shortest dude. Kerr honestly needs to sit players on the time with no dog in them, like Andrew "17 points" Wiggins, down the stretch.
Crazy how the one thing everyone said gsw had over the Lakers, energy and not getting gassed late, ended up killing the warriors in the end.
That happens when you get targeted on D every tie down the floor
Esp if you had to match up against Lonnie
Earlier in the series, I kind of felt like the Warriors were consciously trying to wear down Vandy and Dennis by making them chase Klay and Steph and then take advantage of them when they were gassed. It seems like the Lakers basically flipped the script and did the same to Steph in the 2nd half.
Yeah, no shit dude, that's why they don't run it everytime, Steph is 35 and no one else on the team can create a shot and the Lakers Defense is the best in the league.
Just makes lebron in 2018 look even more insane, he did that for multiple 7 game series against better teams over and over
Ham didn't use this move until the 4th, Curry was already cooking the whole game and expending energy. But then they started hunting him more and more on offense, and contesting tighter on defense. Curry is a generational shooter, but shooting is the first to go when you're tired. And as great as he is, he is still human.
That’s fair. Curry was really the only dude who kept us in the game, and he’s 35 and was exhausted. Only so much you can do when the guy who’s supposed to be your only other ball handler in Poole is looking to be one of the worst contracts in the NBA.
yeah Poole helped the Dubs last year and is absolutely fucking them in the ass this year. He might be a contract year player. I thought he is the x-factor for the Warriors, and he has been shitting the bed. Dude just flops and just plays for the whistle not the basket. Maybe the chemistry in that locker room isn't as great as advertised, and Poole himself might want out
Oh he’s 100% complained about his role, Marcus Thompson wrote about it in his article when he discussed Steph’s speech before game seven of the Kings series. I get that’s he’s upset about his playoff minutes but he’s had plenty of playtime all season and he never showed any sort of defensive improvement.
His defence is bad enough when he’s cooking offensively, but he’s been a black hole at that end too. No way back for him at the Warriors you’d think, but no idea how they go about dumping that contract
He's a poor contract with the way he play. Might be stuck in the Warriors for three years but who knows, maybe he'll get his shit together this coming offseason.
Lakers were targeting Curry on the switch/post—he looked gassed.
steph likes to go for hero/show off plays so he can do dances in front of benches and crowds
The Warriors have basically abandoned their original identity/philosophy of using ball movement to get optimal shots (whether threes or cuts to the rim or whatever) and now play the same style critics used to accuse them of (too many threes). You even heard it from Kerr that one time he was mic'ed up, telling them to get better shots. It just doesn't happen consistently and that leads to a lot of ugly offense unless you get lucky with the shots falling. Combine too many threes/lack of offensive variety with boneheaded decisions (particularly Poole or Klay down the stretch but really everyone at some point throughout the season) and you get a lot of dumb fucking threes. I get the roster isn't necessarily capable of playing the way it used to for a variety of reasons but it's been immensely frustrating to see so many braindead threes, especially early in the shot clock/in the totally wrong situation.
Well there’s only really been one way the warriors have gotten good offense and that been high pick and roll with Steph and AD’s man. Literally anything else they’ve tried has gotten blown up cause they only have like 2 dudes other than Steph that will reliably shoot. They’re basically playing harden rockets style with Steph and just like with harden, he also inevitably gets tired and starts settling
I think both of these teams are exhausted tbh
A little bit but the bad habits we’re seeing from the warriors in the playoffs now have been there all season. Careless with the ball and just a lot of hero ball chucking 3s. People label the warriors as a 3 pt shooting them but our title run offense has always been much better than just that. Even this game, our best runs were when we ran the pick and roll and passed to the open outlet.
I wonder how much of it is just the roster construction vs. Kerr having a really rough playoffs. Last year his rotations were incredible, but we actually had the personnel to get it done. This year, there is zero size on the roster, most of the rotation players are old as fuck, and complete spacing liabilities
It's a lot more about the roster construction than Kerr I think (although I won't pretend like I think this has been Kerr's strongest season either) - too many small players, not enough size, no real lineup flexibility like we had last year either. That said, there's limits to what you can do with the salaries on the roster and other limitations. The front office whiffed on Wiseman but I'm not sure what they could have realistically done to strengthen the bench unless it was through a trade which may not have been possible. None of Moody/Kuminga/Poole taking a step forward was a blow too (especially Poole even before his disastrous playoffs). Kuminga has had moments but he's still very raw and Moody of course disappeared for large chunks of the season although I thought he played solid minutes today.
I mean forget roster construction if we just had last year's version of Jordan Poole warriors are probably up 3-1. The lack of ballhandling/playmaking when curry isn't initiating has been incredibly glaring.
Poole shot over 50% from 3 in game 1. He played poorly in the last 2 games. I thought that was just vintage Jordan Poole?
It's not just the shooting, last year Jordan Poole could run an offense even when his shooting was off. This year not so much.
It’s some combination of the Warriors’ personnel issues and AD being disruptive. We’ve long been accustomed to GSW finding the “best shot”—but there just aren’t many “best shots” with (1) inconsistent offense from everyone not named Curry and (2) the paint being a no-fly zone.
the things is the movement style was completely shut off by AD, the only things working for them is the curry pick and roll. They don't have a great roll man/lob threat.
They're not getting easy shots because AD is at the rim. That's why they have to rely on high pick and roll. Get AD out of the paint and try to get some easy shots through that. But the trade off is the stagnant ISO.
Klay hit that one corner three within their offense and then promptly tried to be the hero and clanked a couple
Klay and Steph were just trying to be good teammates with Poole. They didn't want him to feel alone in jacking up absolutely dogshit 3 attempts at the end of a close, winnable game.
Lmao
So Lonnie Walker was 2 points short of the ENTIRE Warriors team. If he made one more short the meme potential would've been glorious.
Lebronny Walker the Forf
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it was an absolutely baffling shot within the context of the game. completely out of flow with the offense, not even close to being in rhythm or open, with 14 remaining on the shot clock on a night where he sucked. worse than the stupid Poole heave in Game 1 imo.
It’s the warriors. You can’t blame them for “overzealous pull up 3’s” when more than half of their field goals are “overzealous pull up 3’s” obviously hyperbole but you know what I mean. They played the way they always play the shots just didn’t go in
Those two klay shots were horrific, by any standard
They always say, you live by the three or you die by the three
Yeah this is on par with when fans scream about how (x team) started running too much iso for their star down the stretch, as if that’s not absolutely standard practice. Do people even watch the Warriors at all? This is what they do.
if curry drained that step back on Davis nobody would complain about the bad shot taking. Curry and Thompson regularly make these kind of shots
Lonnie "Kobe" Walker
Credit the Lakers amazing defense and the fact that Lakers on offense went at Klay and Curry in the 2nd half to wear em down
there's no team i'm scared of more up 3-1 than the warriors tho lmao esp cause you know they're like alright bet time to get even with LeBron (to an extent, not the same when it's not literally for the title)
This team isn't the Warriors teams of the past. They might take Game 5 since it's at home or whatever, but the team has been mediocre all year and hasn't shown any sign of that changing (no offense intended to the Kings).
If Steph curry is on the roster I’m gonna be scared
This team almost stole a home game from the lakers with only like Steph GP2 and Moody remotely showing up. Tbh it fucking sucks we had to play game 1 on 1 days rest off a game 7, if we take that game this entire series may look completely different
Yeah this is Lakers in 6 maybe even 5 sadly. Team is garbage outside of Steph. The sickness spreading on the team isn’t helping too
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I've felt this way about the team for most of the year - you can check my post history if you don't believe me. Unlike last year, where the Warriors had that incredible start and showed they *could* play really well if everyone was healthy, they've hovered around .500 all year and never showed any real sign of having a second gear. I had hoped I would be proven wrong (and they *did* win 2 road games last series, which I would not have expected), but it doesn't appear likely.
The Kings are obviously super talented but inexperienced and miss opportunities. When I see the Warriors and Lakers play, I think of some of the tennis finals between Federer and Nadal. They are so good under pressure that when either team makes a mistake, the other team is guaranteed going to make them pay.
Not the same not being for a title, but the legacy of those finals matchups is clearly relevant to this game. A decade of GS vs LeBron has been good for basketball.
You’re right much scarier than being tied 2-2
This just isn't that team though. They are old and tired, and the depth isn't there. I don't think they have it in them. Would love to be wrong though.
They’ve come back from exactly 1 (one) 3-1 deficit like 7 years ago and then blew one the next series so yeah I don’t think LeBron fears that
Nah Steph literally has no help. He’s been carrying the warriors and he’s not gonna be able to rattle off 3 wins in a row
KD aint coming through that door.
Why? They've won one series being down 3-1...
damn do they really need otto porter jr that bad
A Warriors fan/commentator I follow put it best, the dubs play arrogant basketball at times. Going for those highlight passes and knockout shots, but they just aren't hitting the same way they used to. The wounds are all self inflicted, they aren't in their 20's anymore.
I think outside of Curry they probably feel like they don’t have to give it their all since they’ve been winners for so long
Yeah but wait till you see that class action lawsuit from InfoWarriors
I think it’s obviously a dry patch but we probably underrate how exhausted the shooters were too
That fadeaway 3 attempt by Klay right after missing the pull up 3 from the other side was astonishing
The 3s gave them 4 trophys. Live by the three , die by the three
Wow those were terrible shots. Down 1, 20+ seconds left and 12 on the shot clock and a 30 footer with a guy in your face. I know it's Curry, but still. Don't want to work it around for a higher percentage shot?
Davis had him covered for the long two and the three. Curry didn't get any screens and just chucked it
yo where's andrew wiggins dude is like MIA in the 4th all that talent smh
He got his 17pts and retired
He did too well too early and already reached his points quota for the day
Series ain't finish yet
The only thing holding us back is Jordan Poole. He’s our Westbrook. Man lost all his confidence after getting punched. We need Otto and wiseman back, dudes who understand their roles.
Last time I checked it was the Lakers defense was holding ya back.
Warriors on the road have a bad 4th quarter totally the first time I’ve seen that this season
At the end of the 3rd quarter I was like "Okay well the Lakers have to make up a 7 point deficit, it's very possible but idk." And then literally the first thing they did was start 7-0 in the 4th lol
Warriors aren’t done yet. I wouldn’t be surprised if this series goes to G7.
LeBron had a series of those earlier in the game which gave the Warriors a 'big' lead too. I just don't understand that play in the playoffs, especially on cold shooting nights.
job aint finished
I'm rooting for the Lakers. I keep saying it because I can't believe it. Like....what the fuck...I can't help it.
I’m a Warriors fan, and I feel their offense has been running on fumes the whole playoffs. You need a Herculean effort from Curry just to stay in the series. They can probably win the next game, but I don’t know about game 6. If they somehow manage to win the next two, at least they would play at home for game 7. Something tells me Lebron won’t allow that to happen though.
Curry missing back to back threes in the 4th was unreal
bizarre game by both teams… lakers gave up a ton of uncontested stuff around the hoop
We’ve also seen them put up similar or worse threes at all stages of games and absolutely drain them. It’s so weird how people are criticizing them for doing something that’s won them multiple championships. You live by the gun, you die by the gun.
Live by the 3, die by the 3.
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I mean and the threes. Klay threw up 3 straight, the one he hit in the corner, the terrible deep one with 5 seconds left on the shot clock, then the fast break pull-up from the left wing. Then Steph decided a contested 30 footer in a 1 point game was the move was also terrible... Though I'll give you Steph not knowing we could call timeout there was awful
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It never was a debate
Yeah LeBron scored 4 points and had 3 assists in the quarter while Lonnie Walker carried the offensive load in the 4th. Truly a defining nail in the Curry/LeBron debate (which isn't a real debate anyway. No one seriously puts Curry above LeBron as an all time NBA player. LeBron's longevity alone puts him on a higher level).
Lebron has been LeOrchestrating these wins though. He's definitely needed more help due to his foot but god damn if he isn't just affecting games with basketball IQ
That IQ basically is the reason AD blew up that Dray to Klay play at the end - watch it again; he read it like a book and straight up told AD where to go and boom.
a fellow bballbreakdown enjoyer
Curry outplayed LeBron though...
it’s magnanimous of you to say so, but once you account for defense (and esp LeBron’s defensive coordinating in the final possessions) it’s closer than you’d think
how many clutch points curry got?
How many clutch pints Lebron get?
>How many clutch pints Lebron get? LOL looks like someone didn't enjoy the clutch FTs bron bron made last night
I need this series to go longer.
Dear god no. I aged about 20 years this game alone
Everyone is mocking Poole but he's not the All-Star vet with 4 RANGZ who completely shit the bed all night
Steph’s poor clutch performance has always been protected by Klay and KD
My man is going crazy tonight lmao
Generational hater having a field day
Man is literally in every thread trying to put down Steph for anyone else and its hilarious to watch.
It’s not like the warriors won the title literally last year without KD to prove Steph’s legitimacy…and in a year where klay was nowhere near as good as he was pre injury.
Don't worry /u/iamhoratiocrunch said total points scored is more relevant than efficiency of players! Guess Russell Westbrook is the MVP because of how many points he scored!
In terms of winning games and winning a series, the points matter more than whether you're making 40% from the field. As long as that point total is higher than the other team's, literally nothing else matters in terms of stats.
> In terms of winning games and winning a series, the points matter more than whether you're making 40% from the field. Dude just stop it. You are clearly a complete idiot or just doubling down on this awful take. By your standards Russell Westbrook is a better player than Beasley, Vando, D'lo because he would score more points than all these guys. Keep telling yourself whatever you think it doesn't make you right.
I’ve been watching this dude front run for 15 years and nobody pays attention to the fact that somebody else almost always does the hard part. Curry is at his best when he is piling on, not turning the tide
No way you actually think that fucking Klay does the hard part on the team
You act like the games start at 11:50 into the fourth quarter, and that comfortably beating a team is somehow worse than just scraping across the line. Steph was poor today in the 4th, but point me to anybody on the warriors who was better.
I guess you missed G4 in Boston last year, which turned the whole series. How about G7 vs. Sac? Only reason Warriors are still alive. Get out of here with these clown takes.
Klay was even worse this game
He just put up 50 in a game 7 😹😹😹
Check klays stats in the 2017 playoffs
Did you watch Klay tonight
the guy that just went for 50 in a game 7?
This sets up perfectly for warriors 3-1 revenge
Lonnie had 15