Recent content by Peter_Mentor

It's hard to even describe how awful Paolo was in the last 15 minutes, but on the other hand, Ace completely shut him down. Great game and perfect loss!

I definitely agree. I wasn’t trying to imply that Draymond needs non-disruptive players around him. My point was more that when the Warriors were a top-three defense year after year, Draymond was surrounded by high-IQ defenders who could adjust on the fly, make the correct rotations, and...

I’m not sure either, but I don’t think everyone has to be a defensive playmaker. Elite defenders like Draymond dictate offenses and create chaos, but they need teammates who can adjust and keep the defense intact. For example, prime Klay Thompson wasn’t a disruptive player, but he was still a...

I don’t completely agree with your first point. On a bad defensive team, his overall impact is very limited because he isn’t a defensive playmaker. That said, he does have good defensive instincts (at least relative to the rest of the team), he doesn’t overhelp, has quick feet, and doesn’t die...

Well said. The premise is totally absurd. No shooter should be "rewarded" or "punished" based on how he happened to shoot on five attempts in one game.

I disagree about Ace. I actually think the system fits him really well, even if he’s just the third or fourth option in the starting five. It highlights his strengths, quick decision-making and decisiveness off the catch, while also helping to mask his biggest weakness, which is his ball...

29 teams would be happy to accept the arrangement right away.

Exactly. On top of that, Lauri is more of a straight-line, full-speed-only type of athlete, so it was crucial for him to adapt to that bruiser playstyle. Ace is a much more fluid athlete, so I don’t expect him to develop in a way that mirrors Lauri. He will find his ways.

Maybe I'm overreacting, especially with Sabonis out, but I've officially getting desperate with the tanking. If Brice and Isaiah can give us quality minutes, we’ve got a solid eight-man rotation, and we should be able to handle the lower-tier teams pretty comfortably. Even today, I don’t think...

IMO, Nurk is the perfect tank commander for us. He is atrocious on defense, but he helps us maintain the same offensive structure we had with Kessler. Especially now, with a shortage of on-ball creators, it’s crucial at times to have a center who can act as an offensive hub.

Maybe my expectations for a 5th pick are low, but I’ve seen a ton of things from Ace that I love to see in a rookie. First of all, he’s really making an effort to blend into Hardy’s system. Quick decisions, lots of off-ball movement, setting screens, cutting during broken plays. The ball...

Exactly. Makes absolutely zero sense to use Ace as an example. Hardy hasn't even shown him the doghouse yet. He makes rookie mistakes, but as long as the effort’s there, he’ll keep getting reps.

What a fun game! And absolutely non-existent defense for the first three quarters.. Really promising game from Ace although those quick transition jumpers were somewhat questionable choices. Otherwise solid decision-making and he seemed to be unfazed with the ball in his hands. I trust he will...

I keep coming back to this, but besides Steph, who’s actually better off the ball or draws more off-ball attention than Lauri? There were times when three Suns players committed to take away his back door cuts. I'm sure that as the season progresses, the rest of the team will learn to better...

Definitely this. This was almost a Steph-like off-ball game from Lauri. He was constantly running in transition, curling or flaring off screens, and cutting backdoor. With better conditioning or pacing, games like these could easily turn into 40- or 50-point performances.