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Collier Starting Over Keyonte: Are We Happy?

I’ll just point out -

3 (2?) games in, this looks more like a statement on wanting to reward / see what we have in Collier vs. bench/punish Keyonte. He’s still playing 30+ minutes in each game coming off the bench. It’s not like he’s in the doghouse.
 
bigmike said:
I’ll just point out -

3 (2?) games in, this looks more like a statement on wanting to reward / see what we have in Collier vs. bench/punish Keyonte. He’s still playing 30+ minutes in each game coming off the bench. It’s not like he’s in the doghouse.
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If we were trying to win, he might be in the doghouse but I generally agree with your points in this context.
 
KqWIN said:
Collier’s attitude and motor has been A+++ all year. I think that’s definitely something Key can improve on, so I hope he takes the hint.
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Consistent effort and motor tend to be things you either have or you don't. Most of it depends on a player's personality.

Guys coming into the league as high motor players tend to stay that way all through their careers, while lazy defenders just learn to fake effort more convincingly as the years go by.

The fact that Keyonte is still at this point as a defender is very disappointing but not surprising. He's all surface. Unlike Collier, Key doesn't seem to have that inner fire forcing him to fight through screens, take hard bumps at the point of attack and keep competing no matter what. His personality makes it too easy for him to give up on plays and act like he got shot when hitting a pick.

Both of these guys play roles where they're frequently defending point of attack actions. That's not an easy spot to guard in the NBA, and you're constantly under the microscope. Nowhere to hide. Still, it's not rocket science either and you can do a good job just playing hard. Collier does that, Keyonte doesn't.
 
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SoberasHotRod said:
I'm looking at this more from a player development standpoint, since that's the most important thing to focus on for the rest of the year, in my opinion. I think that having Keyonte start and play the majority of his minutes with Lauri is best for his development, and I would prioritize developing Keyonte over Collier, for now.

I'm fine with this being a coaching tool to hold Keyonte accountable though, and hopefully Keyonte embraces the challenge and works his way back in to the starting lineup.

Secondarily it might give us a better look at Keyonte as a bench scorer, which could provide insight in to his potential future role.
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This is pretty much exactly my thoughts. I believe in Keyonte long term more than I believe in Collier, but culture benefits more if coach favors those who work/play hard and Collier beats Key there hands down.

For player development I generally dislike early entitlement but I also dislike lack of opportunity. I think Hardy has managed Key pretty well, giving him a clear chance to prove himself playing him plenty of minutes with the best we got against the best of our opponents. Now Key's NBA honeymoon is over and its time to become accountable.
 
HermanG said:
This is pretty much exactly my thoughts. I believe in Keyonte long term more than I believe in Collier, but culture benefits more if coach favors those who work/play hard and Collier beats Key there hands down.

For player development I generally dislike early entitlement but I also dislike lack of opportunity. I think Hardy has managed Key pretty well, giving him a clear chance to prove himself playing him plenty of minutes with the best we got against the best of our opponents. Now Key's NBA honeymoon is over and its time to become accountable.
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You can't give an already entitled 1st round pick a looooong period where there's no accountability. That's just crazy.

Youngins are going to make basketball mistakes when getting used to the speed of the NBA and that's perfectly ok. What's not ok is teaching them to think that they don't have to play hard. It's super difficult to change course on that later.
 
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@1:32: This might not be the most eye-catching play, but it's the kind of thing that gets me pumped about the skills Collier already has, and what we might be able to project for his development. Screen Shot 2025-01-29 at 5.25.57 AM.png

He turns the corner on the pick, and encounters Looney in drop coverage. Collier is a rim-hunter and has some room to operate against a big that he can cook. But he quickly recognizes that the Warriors have packed the paint. He takes ONE DRIBBLE around the pick before firing a skip pass to Sexton. And it's important to note that Sexton has a bigger advantage than Brice, so this was the correct option.
 
I have to say that so far the Keyonte to the bench strategy has worked. He seems to be giving better effort on defense and has shown some maturity in the way he has handled it. Collier also continues his growth trajectory.
 
I'm a big fan of assist-first PGs so I'm happy with it. I'm still keen for Keyonte to get lots of minutes as a 6th man or SG, whatever works, and they seem to have good chemistry.
 
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