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Stars Off the Schneid

Larsen with a positive yet honest assessment of Brantley.


Once he's perfect he can take Niang's minutes... because Niang is perfect... oh wait

Just play the kid a little for hell's sake... some of the weird choices could be because his usage is way higher than it will be in the league.
 
I thought the impressive thing about Brantley and JWF is that they got things done last night that aren't normally in their wheel house like assists for Brantley and rebounds for JWF.
 
Larsen with a positive yet honest assessment of Brantley.



Not sure why this quote bothers me a little, but its not like Niang always follows the plan either... there are times he just decides he's going to the basket and forces some **** up... its not a lot. Its not like he's setting amazing screens that free dudes up...

Brantley needs some run... live with his screw ups. He will make up for it in other ways. The second unit needs defense and energy... its not like Brantley is a MKG type shooter... he can make them enough if the defense ignores him. JC gonna get all the buckets on the second unit anyway... he don't need help on that end... as a matter of fact he prefers to work alone.

Like if they reversed roles and Niang was in the G League the quote could read "Niang has okay talent. Great shooter, but I can see why he doesn't get NBA minutes because of defense and rebounding issues"
 
Not sure why this quote bothers me a little, but its not like Niang always follows the plan either... there are times he just decides he's going to the basket and forces some **** up... its not a lot. Its not like he's setting amazing screens that free dudes up...

Brantley needs some run... live with his screw ups. He will make up for it in other ways. The second unit needs defense and energy... its not like Brantley is a MKG type shooter... he can make them enough if the defense ignores him. JC gonna get all the buckets on the second unit anyway... he don't need help on that end... as a matter of fact he prefers to work alone.

Like if they reversed roles and Niang was in the G League the quote could read "Niang has okay talent. Great shooter, but I can see why he doesn't get NBA minutes because of defense and rebounding issues"

I read this as more of a trust issue. Sure Niang makes mistakes, but I'd bet that Quin has a lot more trust in him than he does in Brantley to do the "right thing" most of the time. And maybe Quin trusts his system more with a "great 3-pt shooter" at the 4 more than with one who's likely to be around 30% in the step up to the NBA.

When the talent difference is marginal, I think most NBA coaches go with who they trust more. (And it may be that Quin views the difference in talent between Niang and Brantley as more marginal than many of us do.)

But I would indeed like to see Brantley get some run, as he brings a very different skill set than Niang, one that could prove useful in certain playoff matchups.
 
By the way, does anybody know what the situation for D-League contracts and playoffs is? Is the only way to make Brantley eligible for the playoffs to cut someone and give him a full-NBA contract?

What happens at the end of the G-League season in the 2 1/2 weeks before the NBA schedule ends? Are 2-way players still confined by their certain number of days they can spend with the NBA team at that point?
 
I read this as more of a trust issue. Sure Niang makes mistakes, but I'd bet that Quin has a lot more trust in him than he does in Brantley to do the "right thing" most of the time. And maybe Quin trusts his system more with a "great 3-pt shooter" at the 4 more than with one who's likely to be around 30% in the step up to the NBA.

When the talent difference is marginal, I think most NBA coaches go with who they trust more. (And it may be that Quin views the difference in talent between Niang and Brantley as more marginal than many of us do.)

But I would indeed like to see Brantley get some run, as he brings a very different skill set than Niang, one that could prove useful in certain playoff matchups.
I think that the trust thing is for sure true. I think coaches need to get over it though. I love Niang… but even when he's in the right place on defense it doesn't matter... guys go up and over or around him like he's not there. TB is similarly transparent on defense, but at least is a good rebounder on that end.

I think Niang's shooting is good, but I'm not sure how much a 10% difference matters. There isn't a lot of evidence suggesting that we are better offensively because teams are so worried about him. His on/off numbers are really bad... I get that he plays mostly in bench alignments. The shooting is an added benefit for sure... just not sure how big. I think the defensive upgrade could be enormous and the big picture issue is I don't know that Georges is useable in the playoffs.

I guess my issue is just in not trying it. You don't really know until you try, but most coaches won't try unless forced to by injury or if the player plays so bad they have no choice. Necessity becomes the mother of invention.
 
By the way, does anybody know what the situation for D-League contracts and playoffs is? Is the only way to make Brantley eligible for the playoffs to cut someone and give him a full-NBA contract?

What happens at the end of the G-League season in the 2 1/2 weeks before the NBA schedule ends? Are 2-way players still confined by their certain number of days they can spend with the NBA team at that point?
Two way players can't play during the playoffs... they can be with the team and practice though.
 
Another reason to waive NWG and sign Brantley... he is the exact type of body we may need in the playoffs in a pinch.
 
Not sure why this quote bothers me a little, but its not like Niang always follows the plan either... there are times he just decides he's going to the basket and forces some **** up... its not a lot. Its not like he's setting amazing screens that free dudes up...

Brantley needs some run... live with his screw ups. He will make up for it in other ways. The second unit needs defense and energy... its not like Brantley is a MKG type shooter... he can make them enough if the defense ignores him. JC gonna get all the buckets on the second unit anyway... he don't need help on that end... as a matter of fact he prefers to work alone.

Like if they reversed roles and Niang was in the G League the quote could read "Niang has okay talent. Great shooter, but I can see why he doesn't get NBA minutes because of defense and rebounding issues"

The issue here is that the G-league games are practically meaningless. They're basically scrimmages. The teams' personnel are a revolving door, guys are motivated to develop their games without getting hurt, and the games don't matter. If you want to see what Brantley looks like in an NBA situation, you eventually have to put him in an NBA situation. Give him 8 minutes to see if he can defend, rebound, set screens and knock down his shots in a real game.

Of course he's going to cruise if he's playing 30 minutes per night in a glorified summer league. He's putting up 20/7.5/4 and isn't going to prove much more in that setting.

He has the talent to be the next Paul Millsap. Yes, he needs to play harder, but I don't see why he's going to go full throttle in the G-league.
 
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The issue here is that the G-league games are practically meaningless. They're basically scrimmages. The teams' personnel are a revolving door, guys are motivated to develop their games without getting hurt, and the games don't matter. If you want to see what Brantley looks like in an NBA situation, you eventually have to put him in an NBA situation. Give him 8 minutes to see if he can defend, rebound, set screens and knock down his shots in a real game.

Of course he's going to cruise if he's playing 30 minutes per night in a glorified summer league. He's putting up 20/7.5/4 and isn't going to prove much more in that setting.

He has the talent to be the next Paul Millsap. Yes, he needs to play harder, but I don't see why he's going to go full throttle in the G-league.

I think they play hard, but some of your other points are valid. I think they aren't used down there how they will be in nba games. I think it helps them learn the sets and develop parts of their game, but stay down there too long and you may develop some bad habits. Not like we want him handling on the break and posting up a bunch and stuff. We want him to get better and constrict his game imo… don't want him to expand... at least not yet. That environment provides almost too much opportunity to "explore the space".
 
Another reason to waive NWG and sign Brantley... he is the exact type of body we may need in the playoffs in a pinch.
Bro, if Conley, Donovan, Clarkson and Mudiay are injured in the playoffs, we’re going to need NWG to go up against the Lakers. You get all those guys struggling with health issues (they’ve each missed games this year) and you’re going to casually waive our only option so you could bring up a G Leaguer who hasn’t played any meaningful minutes this year? Yeah, I’m glad guys like you aren’t the GM. Lol.
 
The "trust" thing is the same reasoning that leads coaches to play Raja Bell, Richard Jefferson, Milt Palacio, Josh Howard, etc. over developing guys with more upside.
 
Bro, if Conley, Donovan, Clarkson and Mudiay are injured in the playoffs, we’re going to need NWG to go up against the Lakers. You get all those guys struggling with health issues (they’ve each missed games this year) and you’re going to casually waive our only option so you could bring up a G Leaguer who hasn’t played any meaningful minutes this year? Yeah, I’m glad guys like you aren’t the GM. Lol.

you forgot Joe.. I've always said the 6th string point guard is the roster need that gets overlooked the most.
 
Stars won fairly handily vs Iowa. In a strange game stats wise JWF was the Stars leading rebounder with 9, Brantley their leading assist guy with 5 and Bluiett their leading scorer with 21 and 5-9 from 3. Oni looked good. Haas, JWF, Brantley, Oni and Collinsworth also in double figures. No NWG or Willie Reed as both are still injured.
How do watch these games anyhow?
Larsen with a positive yet honest assessment of Brantley.



Once he's perfect he can take Niang's minutes... because Niang is perfect... oh wait

Just play the kid a little for hell's sake... some of the weird choices could be because his usage is way higher than it will be in the league.

sounds like the sign of a rookie, young player plus he ain’t going to have even close to the same usage rate as in the GLeague
 
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