Coach Smart
His number one priority is to win and be competitive or he will be gone after this season. He realizes that Jeremy Lin was Joe Lacob's (majority owner) personal choice. It's for Smart's benefit that Jeremy develops. However, Smart is not going to risk losing to develop Lin. That doesn't make any sense for Smart or for the team. The main reason that Lin has gotten playing time early on is that they started the season without a legit backup point guard. It looks like the Warriors believed that Charlie Bell would be a possible back up guard. Remember, Bell started 64 games for Milwaukee in 2006-2007, averaging 13.5 points a game. Even last year, he started 39 games for a playoff team. For his career, he averages 25mpg. That's the reason they didn't resign CJ Watson.
It's a little to early to say that Smart won't succeed. First of all, he hasn't had his full team yet. Secondly, he has only coached 23 games. Also, even with the full roster, there are lots of holes in it. The biggest being at center. Biedrins is a good rebounder, has decent hands, and is mobile. However, he needs to play tougher, he needs to finish around the basket if guarded, and he needs to protect the paint a lot better (JLin has more blocks per 48 minutes than Biedrins, 2.15 to 1.28). So, it's very difficult when you have Lee, also an average to below average defender paired with Biedrins defensively down low. Udoh and Amundson will help but Amundson is a 20mpg energy player and Udoh is just a rookie, who looks like he'll really help down the road. Obviously, Steph and Monta are very gifted offensively. However, defensively they are almost always at a disadvantage. I believe that Monta is actually a pretty good defender for his size, but at 6'3" 180lbs, he is just physically overmatched at the 2 guard. You cannot give up 2-4 inches and 20-40lbs every night and expect him to be very effective defensively night in and night out. Also, with all of the minutes he plays and having to carry the load offensively, he understandably rests on defense at times. Steph is also not a good defender. He is usually physically overmatched as well but makes up for it on the offensive end. He is very quick but not a strong or great athlete. Both guards have quick hands but gamble too much for steals.
My biggest complaint with Smart would be that he has struggled with his rotations and with playing the starters, especially Monta too many minutes. Even during preseason, he had Monta (35mpg) and Curry (29mpg) playing lots of minutes. When the Warriors are down by 20+ with 8 minutes to go, the bench should be in. He is just overworking the starters and not giving the bench enough time to get into the flow.
I do think that Smart has been pretty fair with JLin in that he has played him more minutes than Bell. He has given Jeremy opportunities to play in the rotation albeit shorter stints than I would have liked to see. His 9 mpg is 26th out of all rookies.
JLin
Trying to be as objective as possible, you can see glimpses of his potential (steals per 48 minutes, blocks per 48 minutes, able to get by his defender). However, he has struggled to even just get the ball to set up the offense at times. He hasn't been able to finish over the help defenders and he hasn't been confident with his outside shot. Obviously, his teammates don't have confidence in him as well. They don't give him the outlet pass and hardly ever look to pass to him unless forced to. This is something that happens if you are unproven and cannot come in and instantly make plays. He has to prove and earn minutes and respect from his teammates at practice and by producing whenever he gets a chance in the games.
I think the pick up of Acie Law is actually a good thing for Jeremy. This helps take the pressure off of being considered an inadequate backup pg. I think he will come in and play more relaxed, he showed it bit against Miami. He also has to adjust to the help coming over when he gets to the hoop and look for an open man near the basket or kick outs at the 3 pt line.
I still believe that Jeremy can be more than a bench or marginal NBA player. However, it is going to take some time. More than I originally thought. We all would have liked him to come in and play like he did against John Wall every night. However, that hasn't happened. His development and game will take lots of work as well as time. I would love to see him get a personal trainer and shooting coach to work with him next off season. Especially since it could be a long one with the lockout looming. Still, I'm sure there will be some nights where he gets the opportunity and really plays well and look like a legit NBA pg. There will be other nights where he will really struggle and hear talk of him not being an NBA caliber player. That's life for many NBA rookies. Has anyone watched Evan Turner? He was the 2nd pick in the draft and look at his past 3 games:
6 min. 0 pts
15 min. 2 pts
11 min. 0pts
As I've stated before, we are on a journey that I'm sure will be filled with many bumps on the road. However, for those of us who believe in Jeremy, lets stay positive and lets keep looking at the bright side of things.
Stay positive.
ReplyDeleteJeremy Lin fanboys are impatient and do not want to see Lin rot on the bench. That's why there are constant complaints and accusations that Keith Smart hates Jeremy Lin or that he is a racist or all that other non sense.
ReplyDeleteJeremy Lin had a decent showing at the summer league, , but summer league isn't exactly the NBA and we have now seen his limitations at the NBA level, especially with the way the Warriors play. Not having a consistent jumper really hurts what he can do offensively and makes his offensive moves more predictable.
Ultimately it will come down to playing time and if the D-League is where JLin needs to go, so be it. At least he'll get major minutes to show what he can do and then get recalled by the Warriors later in the season. Not only that, other NBA team scouts will be watching him.
but like i said, JLIN Fanboys have no room for patience and will continue to blame Keith Smart because Lin is who they want to watch.
im not blaming the lack of success of just jeremy on keith smart but honestly hes not the best coach and it would be beneficial for the whole golden state team if they got him out of there and got a new coach as i am a huge golden state fan and not just a jeremy fan. i dont think keith smart is racist but a black coach is definitely gonna favor his black players like an acie law (sigh) as any other race would probably be in favor of their own race( idk if they would actually be considered racism but most races are going to stand up for one another and give them support) and thats how the world has always been and will continue to be for as long as there is a fight for power in the world bc historically speaking all the violence and hate in the world have either come from trying to gain power or gain money
ReplyDeleteMan! Coach Phil Jackson is a dumbasss!!! Why doesn't he give Derrick Caracter more minutes??!!!
ReplyDeleteDoesn't he know ANYthing about developing players? He lost 4 straight games in a row anyways, might as well develop your players!!
Why does he constantly go to Theo Ratliff??!!!!
Play Derrick Caracter for crying out loud!!!!
Completely agree with this post. There are still many holes in the starters, David Lee doesn't have his usual offensive rhythm, which is a HUGE factor, and lack of bench.
ReplyDeleteI don't completely blame him for overplaying starters though; honestly, from what I've seen, Warriors are able to keep up on the scoreboard until the bench comes in. I'd have to take a look at the numbers and I'm probably wrong though.
Anyways, lack of a bench as well as low post presence has been huge though, so overplaying Monta and Steph would be understandable in my personal opinion. Monta used to play even more minutes last season, it's nothing new to him; can't really say that about Steph Curry though.. .obviously. I'm sure Coach Smart knew that about Monta which is why he would rather rely on him with the extra minutes. No legit backup pg is understandable to give Steph Curry more minutes IMO. Not saying it's the best route to go, but understandable.
all this talk about the necessity for a back up pg. and then they pick up acie law (we really want him shooting a lot or doing anything a lot? ). what a joke! they warriors suck just fine with reggie monta and curry. fact is, those three guys should play the predominance of minutes even if acie law is around. jlin was fine running a defensive minded second team for limited minutes. fact is, smart never recognized this. he tried to mash jlin with curry and monta. and that group has too many liabilities including jlin's.
ReplyDeletewarriors problems are in the front court. they should peddle monta and lee as fast as they can and see if they can get something big while these guys still have value.
this team is awful. biedrins and lee are backups backups. monta and curry no D. curry ridiculous turnovers. dwright hasn't a clue of his limitations. and, an offense designed to maximize monta and curry -- that -- even when those are on all cylinders -- can't produce wins.
let's stop talking about the ineffectiveness of jlin and talk about the ineffectiveness of the starters. jlin has never started a game. why, please tell me, do the warriors find themselves down 18-2 in the first quarter versus OKC. this has nothing to do with jlin. it, and other similar first quarters, expose the monta curry dwright lee biedrins quintet for what it is... absolutely mediocre.
to talk about the necessity for a back up point guard or a better bench is to mock our intelligence... the warriors aren't losing leads when there starters go to the bench. they are losing from the tip... with the starters.
See the commentary on the Coach and the Warriors, very interesting, wish you guys may comment too!
ReplyDelete" Happy Losers:xxx":
See the link:
http://bleacherreport.com/tb/b7zt4
I think the problem is that JL just isn't a bench guy. He needs big minutes to get a feel for the game and establish a rhythm. Why? Because he's not a freak athlete and a PG -- the hardest position to learn. He almost always does fine whenever given 10+ minutes. It's when he plays for a short spell that he sucks and panics running the offense (having selfish/clueless teammates hurts too).
ReplyDeleteThe rest of Smart's bench has gone on record saying Smart doesn't know how to manage a bench...and I agree. Lin should only play when they need 10+ minutes. If not, then bring in Acie Law.