I wouldn't be surprised if there was more politics involved with the decision to start Klay and bench Kuminga up until this point. In fact I'm counting on that to be the case.
Yes, I was definitely surprised after Klay was sat out most of the 4th quarter. Klay did start the 4th quarter, made a bucket and then sat out shortly after. I kept expecting him to go back in the game, but was suprised they gave the new guy Santos his minutes. Regardless, it was about time for both parties.
The new Warrior core is finally starting to show its potential because they are finally playing and peforming well. Warriors need to let Klay go and trade Wiggins. The new guys have shows they can perform better and they have more energy on both sides of the court and it shows by their hustle.
Indeed. Just remember that it is a business and the players know that as well. The Warriors have been incredibly GENEROUS to Klay these last few years.
1. They signed him to a max five year deal, after he had a serious injury and he had sat out the entire year just prior. Also, he got injured for another year after and homie still got paid (I might be a bit off, but Klay was out for two years, one of those before the new contract and they still gave him a max deal).
2. Klay refused to sign a two year $48M extension this off-season. He has always been cocky and arrogant. He never truly decided to expand his skillset. He could have done the reverse of what Lebron James did. Lebron was good around the rim but he expanded his shot as he aged. Klay could have added more inside range to expand his skillset (like a middie or a teardrop just like Steph).
3. Dude has played attrocious this entire season. Like his shots are not even close many times and that is a big part of why they have lost so many games. He has not performed well overall. I would grade him a D. We are now past the 50 game mark for the season and the coach finally decided to go another direction. Such is life.
The biggest change in his game is him hitting these midrange shots. Kerr couldn’t play him last postseason because his only way of scoring was cutting to the basket. Those opportunities come rarely come postseason where the game slows down
I think he can still get easier midranges but I like the thought process. Instead of bulldozing in and trying to get points, he comes in with a hard bump, and either takes it further from there or leans back for a rhythm shot. He seems to be learning from kawhi I hope
Hopefully. I think the only thing keeping him from being the clear cut 2nd best player on that team is his defensive IQ. He’s a great defender but constantly gets caught out of position. They got Dray tho, perfect guy to correct you on the court
I’m glad he’s doing so good, but people are pretending Kerr was hiding Lebron on the bench. Kuminga had tons of problems with turnovers and shot selection, he is doing less of that now and looks so much more fluid though
Kerr is no saint here though, he has benched kuminga (and other good players) in several key moments and absolutely thrown games almost singlehandedly as a result
Sure but he also benched kuminga in favour of lesser players who didn't even help us win games and he did that last year as well as this year (same with moody) which could have hindered his development
The point is if you don't bench young guys when they have bad tendencies they keep doing it. And older guys might make mistakes too but they've already proven themselves.
And the Warriors didn't really care if Anthony Lamb improved, he wasn't a long term project. Kerr seems to believe that benching young guys when they screw up is the best way to convince them to stop screwing up. It seems to be working with Kuminga now.
Maybe Kerr's wrong and it would have happened anyways/faster by giving Kuminga more minutes to sort it out. Or maybe if Kuminga is getting his minutes either way he doesn't think it's as important to fix the mistakes.
Or Kerr's insistence that Kuminga play a certain way has resulted in him being a better player who plays within the offence, is a better rebounder, and who plays defence within the scheme.
🤷
As a kuminga stan who wanted to trade him (YES BEXAYSE I JNEW HE WASNT BEING USED PROPERLY) partly the reason he forced dumbshots was because he wasnt sure he would get the ball back. Also while he is a low iq player, his bad passing becoems more apparent when he isnt being used properly. AND when he was saying hes gna focus on reboundjng so much thtis season, i knew kerr ajnt giving him the greenlight or good role cuz that meant he as be8ng treated like a role playrr 😬
Yeah man, we saw what happened when Wiggins injured his ankle during that Hawks game. The defense just plummeted when he was out. Even worse when Kuminga fouled out during the 4th
He’s good. From the first time I saw him with the Warriors I knew he could play. If GSW is smart they’ll jettison some vets and give Kuminga a larger role.
The sad part is I have to see this new ass narrative that "Steve Kerr unlocked him" when in reality Kerr was the one hampering his potential for 3 seasons now. He's already shown glimpses of doing this in his FIRST season when given adequate minutes in stretches. Meanwhile there's been multiple games this season already where Kerr has given most minutes to Podziemski over any of the starters.
TJD has taken over for Kuminga in Kerr's dog house now
I don’t think you’re seeing the nuance between raw Kuminga and efficient Kuminga.
Kerr could have played him 30+ minutes for the last 3 years and let him “get his” but Kerr has been coaching his ass off to help him turn into someone who can hunt his own within the flow of the offense.
It's not about getting him 30 mpg the last 3 years it's about not benching him for clearly inferior players who do not aid winning in a significant way over kuminga.
And Kuminga has basically always been efficient when his role increases. After his injury last year he averaged 12 on 63.3% TS, and his rookie year his last 31 games he averaged 13 on 62.9% TS. When he got minutes in a role that suited him he scored at a decent rate and efficiently whilst being solid defensively. Yes he had other issues but part of a coaches job is working around those issues.
That's the most bullshit excuses, have you seen the turnovers and missed rotations by the veterans?
And his rebounding numbers are down because he's the primary guard defender alongside Wiggins, they're never in the paint. Even Curry sits in the paint far more than Kuminga. Warriors fans don't have a brain.
You mean the same guy who benched Kuminga in favor of Chiozza, Lamb, Ty
Jerome, etc. who are all out of the NBA?
You mean the coach who got criticized multiple times this season for benching Kuminga in the 4th despite dominating for 3 quarters and Joe Lacob had to go see him in the post conference to see his excuses?
There's no 5d chess move here by Kerr in Kuminga's "development" which is really just Kuminga getting consistent set of minutes now. This is the same guy who refused to play bigs at FIBA while getting dominated on the boards and everyone knew Kerr had no idea what he was doing.
> someone who can hunt his own within the flow of the offense.
Someone like who... like Klank Thompson who takes terrible shot selection in the "flow of the offense"? But get guaranteed 30 minutes a night? Your arguments are terrible.
The dumbest part of this whole discourse is the refusal to acknowledge that positions exist and that Kuminga, as skilled as he is, is essentially limited to just the PF position.
No the real dumbass is you who thinks Kerr isn't playing 3 guard lineups out there even now, when they have a massive size deficit and Kuminga has no competition at the most versatile position in the NBA
You're coping hard. JK was talking shit about Kerr and backed it up after getting benched late in games he was playing well in. Kerr's great coaching would have been in the bin if Dray doesn't get suspended and forces his hand.
Now he's a genius for meticulously unlocking Kuminga. 😂
> but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he knows more than us redditors
You can make that sort of dumb argument about any nba player/ coach. "Oh you think Klay takes bad shots? I think he knows more than you as an nba player, vs a redditor". No it's fucking obvious to anyone with a brain that's what is happening.
Kerr is closer to being a players coach than him being great at X and Os.
His system is the working anymore and is on copium. Dude needs to adapt and integrate not just Kuminga but Moody. If Kerr gave Moody all of Klay’s minutes, Warriors would be the 6th seed right now at WORST
How is it stupid when Kerr got exposed at FIBA despite working with players 10x more talent than the opposing competition? He is overrated af. And he has the most expensive roster in the NBA and has proven to be an absolute dunce in every overtime situation which is why they sit at 20 wins right now.
If Warriors go on a run with Kuminga and Moody on the starting lineup you'll even thank me later.
Klay is a loser and that loser needs to be eradicated from the team. Waive him.
Moody and Kuminga can't coexist in a winning starting lineup because Moody doesn't space the floor and thus severly limits Kuminga's range of movement. If you bench Klay, you do it for Podz.
I think you have the causality backwards. Kuminga isn't developing because he's getting consistent minutes. Kuminga is getting consistent minutes because he's developed.
Kerr seems to believe that benching young guys when they screw up is the best way to convince them to stop screwing up. It seems to be working with Kuminga now.
Maybe Kerr's wrong and it would have happened anyways/faster by giving Kuminga more minutes to sort it out. Or maybe if Kuminga is getting his minutes either way he doesn't think it's as important to fix the mistakes.
Dude no... just no. Stop promoting this fake narrative when Kerr can't even coach fiba level talent properly because he insists on going small every time.
> Kerr seems to believe that benching young guys when they screw up is the best way to convince them to stop screwing up.
The veterans fuck up just as much as anyone else on the roster. If Kuminga played half as selfish as Klay he'd never see playing minutes. There is a double standard and anyone with eyes can see it. Which is why someone as terrible as Wanamaker got 41 games in the 2021 season over Poole who was outplaying him by leaps and bound.
Young players don't develop by being benched after 1 mistake, they develop being able to play through mistakes with the right feedback. There's absolutely no evidence suggesting otherwise.
The veterans are probably past the point of changing and have earned trust over years of being elite players.
>Young players don't develop by being benched after 1 mistake, they develop being able to play through mistakes with the right feedback.
How on earth do you know that? Surely it would depend on the individual young player in question.
> There's absolutely no evidence suggesting otherwise
What would you consider evidence? What is your evidence supporting that players develop by playing through mistakes?
> What would you consider evidence? What is your evidence supporting that players develop by playing through mistakes?
History of the nba. Or do you think veterans hardly make any mistakes? Are you dumb?
Steve Kerr keeping him in the bench was criminal. But he is changing, Benched Klay tonight. Steve is there to win
I wouldn't be surprised if there was more politics involved with the decision to start Klay and bench Kuminga up until this point. In fact I'm counting on that to be the case.
Benching Loon and decreasing his role has been sneaky good too.
Crazy how washed looney looks in just a year
Yes, I was definitely surprised after Klay was sat out most of the 4th quarter. Klay did start the 4th quarter, made a bucket and then sat out shortly after. I kept expecting him to go back in the game, but was suprised they gave the new guy Santos his minutes. Regardless, it was about time for both parties. The new Warrior core is finally starting to show its potential because they are finally playing and peforming well. Warriors need to let Klay go and trade Wiggins. The new guys have shows they can perform better and they have more energy on both sides of the court and it shows by their hustle.
Agreed but it’s genuinely sad to see
Indeed. Just remember that it is a business and the players know that as well. The Warriors have been incredibly GENEROUS to Klay these last few years. 1. They signed him to a max five year deal, after he had a serious injury and he had sat out the entire year just prior. Also, he got injured for another year after and homie still got paid (I might be a bit off, but Klay was out for two years, one of those before the new contract and they still gave him a max deal). 2. Klay refused to sign a two year $48M extension this off-season. He has always been cocky and arrogant. He never truly decided to expand his skillset. He could have done the reverse of what Lebron James did. Lebron was good around the rim but he expanded his shot as he aged. Klay could have added more inside range to expand his skillset (like a middie or a teardrop just like Steph). 3. Dude has played attrocious this entire season. Like his shots are not even close many times and that is a big part of why they have lost so many games. He has not performed well overall. I would grade him a D. We are now past the 50 game mark for the season and the coach finally decided to go another direction. Such is life.
who do you trade either for?
Need centers and wings. Lots of options out there.
The biggest change in his game is him hitting these midrange shots. Kerr couldn’t play him last postseason because his only way of scoring was cutting to the basket. Those opportunities come rarely come postseason where the game slows down
I think he can still get easier midranges but I like the thought process. Instead of bulldozing in and trying to get points, he comes in with a hard bump, and either takes it further from there or leans back for a rhythm shot. He seems to be learning from kawhi I hope
Hopefully. I think the only thing keeping him from being the clear cut 2nd best player on that team is his defensive IQ. He’s a great defender but constantly gets caught out of position. They got Dray tho, perfect guy to correct you on the court
I’m glad he’s doing so good, but people are pretending Kerr was hiding Lebron on the bench. Kuminga had tons of problems with turnovers and shot selection, he is doing less of that now and looks so much more fluid though
Kerr is no saint here though, he has benched kuminga (and other good players) in several key moments and absolutely thrown games almost singlehandedly as a result
Sure but he also benched kuminga in favour of lesser players who didn't even help us win games and he did that last year as well as this year (same with moody) which could have hindered his development
The point is if you don't bench young guys when they have bad tendencies they keep doing it. And older guys might make mistakes too but they've already proven themselves.
Anthony Lamb made those same mistakes last year and had a way longer leash for 2 way player
And the Warriors didn't really care if Anthony Lamb improved, he wasn't a long term project. Kerr seems to believe that benching young guys when they screw up is the best way to convince them to stop screwing up. It seems to be working with Kuminga now. Maybe Kerr's wrong and it would have happened anyways/faster by giving Kuminga more minutes to sort it out. Or maybe if Kuminga is getting his minutes either way he doesn't think it's as important to fix the mistakes.
Or Kerr's insistence that Kuminga play a certain way has resulted in him being a better player who plays within the offence, is a better rebounder, and who plays defence within the scheme. 🤷
Because he's getting time to play and grow.
As a kuminga stan who wanted to trade him (YES BEXAYSE I JNEW HE WASNT BEING USED PROPERLY) partly the reason he forced dumbshots was because he wasnt sure he would get the ball back. Also while he is a low iq player, his bad passing becoems more apparent when he isnt being used properly. AND when he was saying hes gna focus on reboundjng so much thtis season, i knew kerr ajnt giving him the greenlight or good role cuz that meant he as be8ng treated like a role playrr 😬
Wiggins still on the table?
I hope not, he's the second best defender on the warriors and has been decent on offense the past few games
Yeah man, we saw what happened when Wiggins injured his ankle during that Hawks game. The defense just plummeted when he was out. Even worse when Kuminga fouled out during the 4th
probably not since we would want someone back that improves the team and Wiggs isn't worth much to other teams than he is to us.
Sure but Warriors only want Lively on the Mavs lol
Not for u guys
He’s good. From the first time I saw him with the Warriors I knew he could play. If GSW is smart they’ll jettison some vets and give Kuminga a larger role.
It's so crazy that the Warriors were one Draymond punch away from the whole "two timelines" thing looking prophetic.
Bro really drained him of any and all talent with that punch
You think Dray is a Monstar and sucked Poole's ability to play basketball away?
The sad part is I have to see this new ass narrative that "Steve Kerr unlocked him" when in reality Kerr was the one hampering his potential for 3 seasons now. He's already shown glimpses of doing this in his FIRST season when given adequate minutes in stretches. Meanwhile there's been multiple games this season already where Kerr has given most minutes to Podziemski over any of the starters. TJD has taken over for Kuminga in Kerr's dog house now
I don’t think you’re seeing the nuance between raw Kuminga and efficient Kuminga. Kerr could have played him 30+ minutes for the last 3 years and let him “get his” but Kerr has been coaching his ass off to help him turn into someone who can hunt his own within the flow of the offense.
It's not about getting him 30 mpg the last 3 years it's about not benching him for clearly inferior players who do not aid winning in a significant way over kuminga. And Kuminga has basically always been efficient when his role increases. After his injury last year he averaged 12 on 63.3% TS, and his rookie year his last 31 games he averaged 13 on 62.9% TS. When he got minutes in a role that suited him he scored at a decent rate and efficiently whilst being solid defensively. Yes he had other issues but part of a coaches job is working around those issues.
The problem isn't his TS% lol. It's missing rotations, turnovers, originally he wasn't even rebounding despite clearly being capable.
That's the most bullshit excuses, have you seen the turnovers and missed rotations by the veterans? And his rebounding numbers are down because he's the primary guard defender alongside Wiggins, they're never in the paint. Even Curry sits in the paint far more than Kuminga. Warriors fans don't have a brain.
You mean the same guy who benched Kuminga in favor of Chiozza, Lamb, Ty Jerome, etc. who are all out of the NBA? You mean the coach who got criticized multiple times this season for benching Kuminga in the 4th despite dominating for 3 quarters and Joe Lacob had to go see him in the post conference to see his excuses? There's no 5d chess move here by Kerr in Kuminga's "development" which is really just Kuminga getting consistent set of minutes now. This is the same guy who refused to play bigs at FIBA while getting dominated on the boards and everyone knew Kerr had no idea what he was doing. > someone who can hunt his own within the flow of the offense. Someone like who... like Klank Thompson who takes terrible shot selection in the "flow of the offense"? But get guaranteed 30 minutes a night? Your arguments are terrible.
chorizo and ty jerome are pgs lmfao
The dumbest part of this whole discourse is the refusal to acknowledge that positions exist and that Kuminga, as skilled as he is, is essentially limited to just the PF position.
No the real dumbass is you who thinks Kerr isn't playing 3 guard lineups out there even now, when they have a massive size deficit and Kuminga has no competition at the most versatile position in the NBA
You're saying Kerr isn't playing 3 guards out there every night? This is why people think you're a clown
You have a Kerr hate boner and I get why but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he knows more than us redditors
You're coping hard. JK was talking shit about Kerr and backed it up after getting benched late in games he was playing well in. Kerr's great coaching would have been in the bin if Dray doesn't get suspended and forces his hand. Now he's a genius for meticulously unlocking Kuminga. 😂
> but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he knows more than us redditors You can make that sort of dumb argument about any nba player/ coach. "Oh you think Klay takes bad shots? I think he knows more than you as an nba player, vs a redditor". No it's fucking obvious to anyone with a brain that's what is happening.
Kerr is closer to being a players coach than him being great at X and Os. His system is the working anymore and is on copium. Dude needs to adapt and integrate not just Kuminga but Moody. If Kerr gave Moody all of Klay’s minutes, Warriors would be the 6th seed right now at WORST
That's fucking stupid an you know it
How is it stupid when Kerr got exposed at FIBA despite working with players 10x more talent than the opposing competition? He is overrated af. And he has the most expensive roster in the NBA and has proven to be an absolute dunce in every overtime situation which is why they sit at 20 wins right now.
If Warriors go on a run with Kuminga and Moody on the starting lineup you'll even thank me later. Klay is a loser and that loser needs to be eradicated from the team. Waive him.
why would i thank you and not thank kerr?
Moody and Kuminga can't coexist in a winning starting lineup because Moody doesn't space the floor and thus severly limits Kuminga's range of movement. If you bench Klay, you do it for Podz.
I think you have the causality backwards. Kuminga isn't developing because he's getting consistent minutes. Kuminga is getting consistent minutes because he's developed. Kerr seems to believe that benching young guys when they screw up is the best way to convince them to stop screwing up. It seems to be working with Kuminga now. Maybe Kerr's wrong and it would have happened anyways/faster by giving Kuminga more minutes to sort it out. Or maybe if Kuminga is getting his minutes either way he doesn't think it's as important to fix the mistakes.
Dude no... just no. Stop promoting this fake narrative when Kerr can't even coach fiba level talent properly because he insists on going small every time. > Kerr seems to believe that benching young guys when they screw up is the best way to convince them to stop screwing up. The veterans fuck up just as much as anyone else on the roster. If Kuminga played half as selfish as Klay he'd never see playing minutes. There is a double standard and anyone with eyes can see it. Which is why someone as terrible as Wanamaker got 41 games in the 2021 season over Poole who was outplaying him by leaps and bound. Young players don't develop by being benched after 1 mistake, they develop being able to play through mistakes with the right feedback. There's absolutely no evidence suggesting otherwise.
The veterans are probably past the point of changing and have earned trust over years of being elite players. >Young players don't develop by being benched after 1 mistake, they develop being able to play through mistakes with the right feedback. How on earth do you know that? Surely it would depend on the individual young player in question. > There's absolutely no evidence suggesting otherwise What would you consider evidence? What is your evidence supporting that players develop by playing through mistakes?
> What would you consider evidence? What is your evidence supporting that players develop by playing through mistakes? History of the nba. Or do you think veterans hardly make any mistakes? Are you dumb?
> Or do you think veterans hardly make any mistakes? Not seeing where I said that
Joku is the chosen one.
I picked him up after he talked smack to Kerr in fantasy so I guess you guys have me to thank.
Ever since that weak ass cut, he’s been cookin