4/9 Game79 Warriors (43-35) @ Lakers (46-34) 7pm on TNT

[Crazy-Canuck]

Jk about to get benched in the playoffs again

He has no answer for shotblockers without a foul call. He needs that 3 pt jumper in the off season. The defense is what it is.

As a Wiggins fan you can’t honestly believe your own line there about defence. Wiggins used to get roasted and had an abysmal reputation. Young players need reps. As did Wiggins.

People expecting every 21 year old to be on the same career trajectory as LeBron, Luka et al need to calm down. It’s the very reason players like TJD slip into the 2nd round when he should’ve been a 1st round selection. TJD still has room for development.

In Kuminga case, he’s shown the league what he can do and what his strengths are. The league has adjusted to that. Now he has the playoffs and Summer to come up with some counters.

Jk has had 3 years in a system and under the best defensive quarterback of our generation. Wiggins never had that opportunity after his first year with kg and taysaun. After that, no guidance and basically force fed him offense . He always shown abilities on defense.and imo, he likely would still be poor had he stayed in minny. System and dray deserve alot of the credit here. Not reps and experience

It's jks footwork that concerns me on defense and his awareness second. We just saw oubre never get it defensively, sometimes all the reps in the world can't help some players. However, I think he'll be a decent defender with enough reps, but I dont think he'll reach the 2 way tier of kawahi or even wiggins that some people claim he will.

[vvoland]

Jk about to get benched in the playoffs again

Yes, the fouls were atrocious, especially the one on Russell to end the 1st. Wasn't great defensively but he did a bunch of stuff Kerr loves. 6 boards in 21 minutes. 3 asts vs 0 TOs. Went to the line 4 times (tied with curry for most). And Steve's favorite, +10. Don't get me wrong, he plays like this the next 3 games and he won't see the floor in the play but I think it's more likely he'll play like he did last night than tonight.

[vvoland]

He has no answer for shotblockers without a foul call. He needs that 3 pt jumper in the off season. The defense is what it is.

As a Wiggins fan you can’t honestly believe your own line there about defence. Wiggins used to get roasted and had an abysmal reputation. Young players need reps. As did Wiggins.

People expecting every 21 year old to be on the same career trajectory as LeBron, Luka et al need to calm down. It’s the very reason players like TJD slip into the 2nd round when he should’ve been a 1st round selection. TJD still has room for development.

In Kuminga case, he’s shown the league what he can do and what his strengths are. The league has adjusted to that. Now he has the playoffs and Summer to come up with some counters.

Jk has had 3 years in a system and under the best defensive quarterback of our generation. Wiggins never had that opportunity after his first year with kg and taysaun. After that, no guidance and basically force fed him offense . He always shown abilities on defense.and imo, he likely would still be poor had he stayed in minny. System and dray deserve alot of the credit here. Not reps and experience

It's jks footwork that concerns me on defense and his awareness second. We just saw oubre never get it defensively, sometimes all the reps in the world can't help some players. However, I think he'll be a decent defender with enough reps, but I dont think he'll reach the 2 way tier of kawahi or even wiggins that some people claim he will.

I'd agree with you after a night like tonight but then I remember how well he guarded Tatum (this season) and lamelo (last year) and I don't think it's the feet. He can turn his hips defensively better than he can offensively. He just doesn't slide well enough yet, he doesn't anticipate well and both of those things should improve with time, especially since they're related (sliding the feet and anticipation, I mean).

We'll see if he'll ever have the bball iq to excel as an off ball defender. That is a very hard job and it'll probably be the last thing he understands, if he ever does. Kawhi is a hell of a ceiling, though and to me, two way wigs isn't exactly JK's floor but, at this point, probably the base case.

[RUN-TJM]

As a Wiggins fan you can’t honestly believe your own line there about defence. Wiggins used to get roasted and had an abysmal reputation. Young players need reps. As did Wiggins.

People expecting every 21 year old to be on the same career trajectory as LeBron, Luka et al need to calm down. It’s the very reason players like TJD slip into the 2nd round when he should’ve been a 1st round selection. TJD still has room for development.

In Kuminga case, he’s shown the league what he can do and what his strengths are. The league has adjusted to that. Now he has the playoffs and Summer to come up with some counters.

Jk has had 3 years in a system and under the best defensive quarterback of our generation. Wiggins never had that opportunity after his first year with kg and taysaun. After that, no guidance and basically force fed him offense . He always shown abilities on defense.and imo, he likely would still be poor had he stayed in minny. System and dray deserve alot of the credit here. Not reps and experience

It's jks footwork that concerns me on defense and his awareness second. We just saw oubre never get it defensively, sometimes all the reps in the world can't help some players. However, I think he'll be a decent defender with enough reps, but I dont think he'll reach the 2 way tier of kawahi or even wiggins that some people claim he will.

I'd agree with you after a night like tonight but then I remember how well he guarded Tatum (this season) and lamelo (last year) and I don't think it's the feet. He can turn his hips defensively better than he can offensively. He just doesn't slide well enough yet, he doesn't anticipate well and both of those things should improve with time, especially since they're related (sliding the feet and anticipation, I mean).

We'll see if he'll ever have the bball iq to excel as an off ball defender. That is a very hard job and it'll probably be the last thing he understands, if he ever does. Kawhi is a hell of a ceiling, though and to me, two way wigs isn't exactly JK's floor but, at this point, probably the base case.

Kuminga over commits. He could back off half a step and back his closing speed to contest shots. Not all
Players can defend close on the perimeter. We only have GP2 who can.

[vvoland]

Jk about to get benched in the playoffs again

He has no answer for shotblockers without a foul call. He needs that 3 pt jumper in the off season. The defense is what it is.

Lakers never get fouls called against them and i thought jk took plenty of contact early in the game without any reward. He's been terrific as a play finisher, off the weak side or attacking with the dribble. Within 5ft of the basket, he's shooting 70.6%. Among players who shot at least 400 shots from that range this season, he's 6th with only gafford, giannis, a.d., claxton and rudy above him. LeBron is 69.3 and Zion is 64.6, just for comparison. Durant and Luka shoot a higher % on a lower number of attempts but they're also guarded very differently.

[vvoland]

Jk has had 3 years in a system and under the best defensive quarterback of our generation. Wiggins never had that opportunity after his first year with kg and taysaun. After that, no guidance and basically force fed him offense . He always shown abilities on defense.and imo, he likely would still be poor had he stayed in minny. System and dray deserve alot of the credit here. Not reps and experience

It's jks footwork that concerns me on defense and his awareness second. We just saw oubre never get it defensively, sometimes all the reps in the world can't help some players. However, I think he'll be a decent defender with enough reps, but I dont think he'll reach the 2 way tier of kawahi or even wiggins that some people claim he will.

I'd agree with you after a night like tonight but then I remember how well he guarded Tatum (this season) and lamelo (last year) and I don't think it's the feet. He can turn his hips defensively better than he can offensively. He just doesn't slide well enough yet, he doesn't anticipate well and both of those things should improve with time, especially since they're related (sliding the feet and anticipation, I mean).

We'll see if he'll ever have the bball iq to excel as an off ball defender. That is a very hard job and it'll probably be the last thing he understands, if he ever does. Kawhi is a hell of a ceiling, though and to me, two way wigs isn't exactly JK's floor but, at this point, probably the base case.

Kuminga over commits. He could back off half a step and back his closing speed to contest shots. Not all
Players can defend close on the perimeter. We only have GP2 who can.

That was definitely the case tonight and not just the fouls. He seemed away too amped up and we didn't do him any favors in terms of letting him ease into the game instead of forcing shots and drives that weren't there

[CDM_Stats]

Kuminga over commits. He could back off half a step and back his closing speed to contest shots. Not all
Players can defend close on the perimeter. We only have GP2 who can.

Wiggins can as well

I dont think its reps Kuminga needs.. reps is the answer when you have the fundamentals down and need to understand how to apply it. Reps are what he needed for his driving ability. Defense? Steady decline since year 1, at least on-ball. Off-ball has been a slow incline in year 3, but tons of work needed there

But man defense has definitely dropped off, and its for the same reason Wiggins' defense was pretty subpar in MIN - if all energy goes towards offense, not much left in the tank for defense. A guy like JK is explosive, but it comes at a stamina cost.. the more involved he is offensively, the less he'll have on defense. Luckily for him, the team is built on stamina - guys like Steph and Klay who would run non-stop without the ball, Dray is deceptively athletic, and Wiggins is one of those freaky lengthy athletes. So there's reason to believe he can consistently go both ways in time, but he needs to deal with the fundamentals better. Call it agility, COD, footwork, whatever - like tons of pure athletes before him, he needs to learn to anticipate and play defense with his head. It can take a while for some (Rudy Gay) or never come at all (Jordan Poole)

[CDM_Stats]

The only concern heading to the play in / playoffs is Kuminga. He had his moments during the regular season, but is he ready for the playoffs?

Steph's inconsistency
Klay is just now having his 1st legit streak of good games, in April
Wiggins shot below Pistons' fans average BAC for 2 months
Dray might punch someone
TJD's inconsistent
Podz might get punched by someone
GP2's somewhere between 10-100% physically
CP3 turns 39 in May and Kerr might celebrate by playing him 39mpg

I've got tons of concerns.. maybe they can put it all together for a month or so, but I think making the legit playoffs right now is a realistic expectation and little else

[Crazy-Canuck]

Read on Twitter

[floppymoose]

JK is the 4th or 5th option. He’ll be fine.

[superunknown]

great W against a freethrowtakers team missing their key player (street clothes AD is their most important player).
now must win the remaining 3 games and see what the other teams do to see the seeding.
that GPII's block wow.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Stupid Kerr, we would have won that game if Moody played instead of Klay. Oh wait, we did win that game.

[svart]

Stupid Kerr, we would have won that game if Moody played instead of Klay. Oh wait, we did win that game.

....and here you are, like a broken record.

[MintFresh]

So what happened with Wiggins? It seems like he's turning it on at the end of the season? Where was this Wiggins all season? So inconsistent. I think they should trade him at his highest value this offseason and just go with Kuminga. Those two overlap too much on talent.

[billinder33]

I've been vocal about Klay's performance (or lack thereof) most of the season, but this is exactly why you play strugging HOF vets over struggling youngsters in crunch times. There's a much higher chance a vet will revert to the mean vs a youngster suddenly developing into a something exceptional at the most difficult point of the season.

[Onus]

Jk about to get benched in the playoffs again

Yes, the fouls were atrocious, especially the one on Russell to end the 1st. Wasn't great defensively but he did a bunch of stuff Kerr loves. 6 boards in 21 minutes. 3 asts vs 0 TOs. Went to the line 4 times (tied with curry for most). And Steve's favorite, +10. Don't get me wrong, he plays like this the next 3 games and he won't see the floor in the play but I think it's more likely he'll play like he did last night than tonight.

Against Portland and against Utah yea I expect him to play the way he did against Utah without Kessler.

[watch1958]

So what happened with Wiggins? It seems like he's turning it on at the end of the season? Where was this Wiggins all season? So inconsistent. I think they should trade him at his highest value this offseason and just go with Kuminga. Those two overlap too much on talent.

Or maybe see how the postseason goes and who contributes to the wins and losses.

[RUN-TJM]

JK is the 4th or 5th option. He’ll be fine.

This ^^^
With a little bit of CDM thrown in. If we are really worried about JK’s playoff performance, we are in serious strife.

Curry needs to go into 2022 Finals MVP mode.
Green needs to play out of his mind.
Klay needs to play efficient offnse. Everybody here knows he’ll get the minutes to do it.
Wiggs needs to keep playing like March/April Wiggins and not Nov/Dec/Jan Wiggins.

Then TJD, GP2 and JK need to give 15-32 minutes of quality ball…. But they are not are main concerns.

[Dom801e]

Wouldn't mind getting GP2 and CP3 some rest. Also could give Moody some run.

[CDM_Stats]

I've been vocal about Klay's performance (or lack thereof) most of the season, but this is exactly why you play strugging HOF vets over struggling youngsters in crunch times. There's a much higher chance a vet will revert to the mean vs a youngster suddenly developing into a something exceptional at the most difficult point of the season.

you play struggling vets so that 70 games in they go on a likely unsustainable heater towards the end of their career instead of building up younger players who are (almost by default) likely to give more consistent performances in the present as well as help the team in the future?

No, there's no justification for how this situation played out