Really not that bad of a game. The effort was there. We played well enough to win, but missed countless open shots.
JT was solid tonight. He played pf, go figure. Landry played better, but is still allergic to passing. Dally really played well, and was all over the offensive glass and was able to convert inside. Tyreke isn't playing the the Tyreke was were used to seeing last year. Maybe it's the ankles, maybe it's the confidence in the jumper, maybe it's him trying to create for teammates more often, but he's not attacking the paint and finishing like he used to. Still early though, not worried.
Head actually seemed to settle in after forcing some poor shots in the early going, and I thought helped keep the game close. Beno's defense, or lack of, really stuck out tonight. The whole team needs to improve defensively, but it will be hard to correct a lot of mistakes when our pg is getting broken down every other trip down the court. Guys are constantly having to help on Beno's man, and that just sets a chain of events that usually ends with a basket or us committing a foul. That is a glaring area of concern for me going forward, and one of the first problems I would try to fix if we move someone at the trade deadline.
I do NOT like seeing Anthony freaking Wright in the game instead of Donte. This guys hasn't contributed anything, bricked wide open 3's we needed, and taking away the little available playing time for Donte. This needs to change. Donte might not be impressing in practice, and might not be deserving of major minutes, but on this team, with our wings, there is no excuse for not giving him at least 5-10 minutes a game. We're a struggling, rebuilding team, who has no wings that can defend worth a damn, and is exactly the situation for a guy like Donte to get a few minutes, if not more.
One other thing that bothers me, and is bothering me more and more, is Omri's shot selection and apparent need to get shots up. He got in a little spat with Beno for not moving the ball, after Beno took and made an open ft line jumper. Good shot, he hit it. Next possession he's open on the wing, and Beno looks him off. I would to, because Omri likes to jack up 3's in that situation(early in the shot clock), and was clearly wanting a shot. Omri's response? Backcourt foul, then says something to Beno while going back on defense. Next trip down, early in the shot clock, jacks up a 25 ft airball as soon as he touched it. I went back and watched this sequence twice.
That's only a 2 min stretch in a 48 min game. Not a big deal. But there's a pattern here. Omri is not only setting for a lot of 3's, but he's taking them too early in the shot clock as well. Sometimes, he clearly has his mind made up that this ball is going up before he even catches it, and a lot of the time it's not the right play. But seriously, it seems that 80% of the time all Omri is looking to do is jack up a 3. I don't know what exactly Westphal said his role is, or how Omri has interpreted it, but he's basically playing a Steve Kerr role, but with a quicker trigger. Omri is a very aggressive player,which I love, but he's got to learn how to use tht aggression to draw fouls and attack the basket more. He's becoming way too much of a one dimensional player.
