I don't know that there's blame, really. I think we've figured out that:
We have a pretty good starting 5.
So far, they've shown that they can hold their own against a tough western slate. McLemore, for all his shortcomings, is at least making a difference on the defensive end. Collison really makes this unit hum.
Our roster still needs an upgrade.
JT should have probably spent the most time on the floor vs. the Pelicans, because he seems to be the only one who knows how to play Anthony Davis. That said, there are times when he's relatively ineffective. We need to bring in someone who moves JT to the bench and trust me, that person is not on our roster right now. I think we get stuck on thinking that we need to bring in a better bench, but bringing in a better starter would also strengthen our bench. I think Landry and Evans are fine against the general morass, but when you start to play against good opponents, they can't hack it when our starters need a blow.
Malone is still growing as a coach.
As much as he deserves all the credit in the world for getting this unit to gel, he also deserves to be questioned for his in-game subs from time to time. Kudos to him, first of all, for what seems to be regular rotations. Kudos also, for shaking things up when they didn't work. It didn't take him long to figure out that Williams needs to ride the pine and Casspi needs the bulk of the backup minutes. Also, I give him credit for trying out Ray Mc instead of Sessions. He hasn't really frozen anyone to Smartian levels, but he does need to tighten up his rotation a bit (and he may be heading that way). I think he needs to get a little more clever with how he works that second unit - I'd rather we never went 10 deep, but it is what it is until it isn't.
So blame? Nah. Players are playing up, coach is still learning. Add one or two more good pieces and let it percolate.
