Well, that was some bull***t.
- Worst game I've ever seen from Kelly Olynyk. Complete non-factor on offense, didn't even pretend to move his feet on defense. 5 points and 3 rebounds in 29 minutes. The dude played like a bitch in a game where we really needed him. In the decisive rebounding battle that led to Huerter's go-ahead three pointer, Olynyk was spinning in place like a ****ing top in the middle of the paint while Sacramento's guards were flying all around him. I get that he's ground bound and generally unathletic, but the man is still 6'11'' for ****s sake. Put your body on someone! As for those phantom fouls he keeps getting whistled for - Olynyk has a rep and he only has himself to blame. He's had a long career full of nasty tricks, flopping and semi dirty play. Of course the refs are watching him extra carefully. This **** has been hurting the team all season and I'm getting pretty fed up with it. I would be fine with trading KO tomorrow if this is how he's playing the rest of the season.
- The sight of Vando getting the ball literally 10 feet from the basket and refusing to take a shot, instead hot potato'ing it to a teammate standing next to him, was really something. And it happened more than once. I have no ****ing idea how people still see this guy as an asset with "sky high potential" or something. He straight up sucks on both sides of the ball. Vando is becoming one of Hardy's stealth tanking weapons, the same as Rudy "I'm just gonna shoot this here 3 pointer" Gay (who, by the way, was an incredible +5 again).
- Speaking of Hardy... what is he doing?? If you can tell, you're a better man than me. He doesn't make adjustments, doesn't challenge calls, plays guys that keep hurting us and benches guys who have been on the upswing. I think the Hardy honeymoon is just about over. He has to be careful not to lose some of the guys on this team who are playing well and trying to win.
- I can't blame Beasley for his horrid shooting slump. It happens to the best of 'em. At least he tried to go inside when the long ball wasn't falling again. The problem is that he doesn't have the tools to play like that. He runs out of ideas and doesn't have the hops or strength to go at a big's chest like Sexton. Beasley is not that different from someone like Duncan Robinson - when the shot isn't falling, these guys are useless because they're absolutely terrible defenders and lack creativity as well as ballhandling.
- I keep harping on about our point of attack defense. I've never seen a worse group effort to guard ballhandlers. Doesn't matter if it's Conley, Clarkson, Sexton or Beasley - they all keep dying on screens, going under on lethal shooters like Huerter, jogging lazily behind the play when the center has to deal with a 2-on-1 in drop coverage and generally defending like they're all 45 years old. They're making poor Kessler look bad for no reason by not even trying at the PoA. As Thurl said, it's too much to ask from a rookie center to help on the ballhandler who has all the space and time in the world and then recover to the big man.
- Lauri was on fire inside the arc, and sometimes you just miss those 3's, but let's be honest... none of the long balls he launched were good shots. They were rushed, flat, well contested, and he'd obviously made up his mind to shoot before he even got the ball. That doesn't make sense as he's one of the most efficient players in the league when he gets to the interior. Just do a shot fake and blow past the guy closing you out. That's a minor nitpick though, especially in this game.
Lauri rightfully gets props for scoring in the flow of the game and not forcing stupid stuff, but sometimes the contested 3pt shot is his Achilles' heel. If he applied the same rules to that as he does to the rest of his offense, he'd drive to the basket or midrange when teams run him off the perimeter. Instead he forces a shot up and in this game it was pretty much a bad decision every time.
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