2023-24 Season | Game #44 | Clippers @ Cavs | Jan. 29, 2024 | 7:00 p.m.

[The Oi]

Well you only have 4 games in the playoff before its too late, so yes you should try things quickly in the regular season. JBB made zero adjustment to get SM open and just benched him while the whole team struggled with shooting the 3 all game and we took a ton of them

Bad move and short sided. One that gives no confidence he will be able to make the moves quickly in playoff time

Did it work?

What did he do with SM against the Pistons tomorrow and the Grizz this upcoming Thurs?

Did they win either of those two upcoming games?

 

[boostorbust1]

Did it work?

What did he do with SM against the Pistons tomorrow and the Grizz this upcoming Thurs?

Did they win either of those two upcoming games?

Bottom line is this, SM struggled getting open with the clippers. Instead of making adjustments to get your best 3 point shooter open you benched him. You might have the luxury today and win but in a playoff series you will need your best 3 pont shooter getting open, so why not try some things in the regular season to test the sucess of certain plays. Benchinig SM the whole second half is not the playoff answer.

Sam will get you 10-20 points a game shooting 3's. All the coach needs to do is try to draw up plays to get him open, do that and you will get the points.

JBB and ATO's have been a weakness of his coaching, we can all agree with that. Is getting your sniper open by running plays for him another weakness that is closely related to your ATO weakness?

 

[David.]

I'm a little worried that the NBA has caught into Merrill and that we will have a hard time getting him shots now

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

If Merrill falls out of the rotation then I’m falling of a building. Don’t tell me you haven’t been warned.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

I'm a little worried that the NBA has caught into Merrill and that we will have a hard time getting him shots now

Then every shooter should be non factor in the NBA if that’s the case. Not to mention he is a shooter who constantly moves and is a savant at shooting any shot type you can imagine from 3. It’s the coaches and his teammates job to find him looks.

 

[The Oi]

Bottom line is this,

The bottom line is this:

SM struggled getting open with the clippers. Instead of making adjustments to get your best 3 point shooter open you benched him. You might have the luxury today and win but in a playoff series you will need your best 3 pont shooter getting open, so why not try some things in the regular season to test the sucess of certain plays. Benchinig SM the whole second half is not the playoff answer.

And the fact that there is a half a season left to play to try what you’re asking with him. While finding Sam Merrill an opportunity to hit shots might be a solution in a playoff game or two, it wasn’t last night.

All due respect to the super soaker, his sample size is small. I understand if a coach wants to seek solutions outside of him when an opponent takes him away.

Sam will get you 10-20 points a game shooting 3's.

That’s what he’s done for about 10 games. Andray Blatche has done that too.

All the coach needs to do is try to draw up plays to get him open, do that and you will get the points.

Nah. He’s not a proven entity yet.

JBB and ATO's have been a weakness of his coaching, we can all agree with that. Is getting your sniper open by running plays for him another weakness that is closely related to your ATO weakness?

One game.

 

[boostorbust1]

Watch the 2015-2016 Warriors play, the whole team focused on getting Curry open looks, why?? Because Curry was a walking bucket and the whole team knew it.

We have that kind of shooter with SM, now can the coach get the team to get him open looks because the buckets are there to be had. Or is there too much ego on the team to run plays for SM or is the coaching too stubborn?

 

[boostorbust1]

One game.

JBB and ATO's issues have been his whole career, he sucks at them

 

[Lee]

How d you embed tweets on here?

Not sure, but if you want to Embiid a tweet, just dont play in Denver.

 

[The Oi]

JBB and ATO's issues have been his whole career, he sucks at them

See ya

 

[foucault87]

We should use Sam as a decoy more. I also want us to steal the play where steph sets a pick on the big that opens up an open lob as he pops out

 

[bob2the2nd]

Did jbb have an epiphany or something? There’s even a thread on RealGM saying jbb is not as bad as we think in the general board, we all know I’m not the biggest jb supporter but man the offense has improved dramatically with ball movement while the defense is still the main focus and his rotations have been also been improved. Am I in a dream wtf is going on and I dig it!!!!

If I recall correctly realGM were supportive of him almost all year last year. I'm actually impressed they ever argued he should be let go

 

[2 For The Brew]

Watch the 2015-2016 Warriors play, the whole team focused on getting Curry open looks, why?? Because Curry was a walking bucket and the whole team knew it.

We have that kind of shooter with SM, now can the coach get the team to get him open looks because the buckets are there to be had. Or is there too much ego on the team to run plays for SM or is the coaching too stubborn?

Sam Merrill is nowhere near Steph as a shooter.

 

[Lee]

JBB himself said he was "old school" and reluctant to adjust to the new NBA. Everybody thought he sucked as a coach but in fact he was just stubborn, until injuries forced him to give in to the analytics, spread the floor with 3-point shooters, and give them the green light to fire often and early.

With Garland out he's using Mitchell and LeVert as point guards, which IMO is their best positions. Before the injury Mitchell was a shooting guard and LeVert a small forward or shooting guard. What I'm concerned about is that once Garland returns the effectiveness of both Mitchell and LeVert will diminish a bit and it will be a wash.

I am not worried about LeVert, his minutes will go down some, and he is used to being off ball. I am a bit worried about Garland over dribbling and not shooting and passing enough. As for Mitchell, the biggest adjustment was DM buying into the new style of offense, but he has done that beautifully. But yeah, with Garland back, I could see an adjustment on new roles for DM and new style for Garland.

 

[boostorbust1]

Sam Merrill is nowhere near Steph as a shooter.

In our short example window we have I would disagree, his release is just as fast maybe faster and his % is on par.

SM 3pt% this season is 42.8%
Curry 3pt% this season is 40.8%

Yes I know the attempts are way different, but my statement is SO FAR what we have seen this year

Curry was/is a master at getting open, SM nowhere near that talent level

Curry is a incredible ball handler, SM struggles with ball handling

But in shooting only and what we see so far SM is like Curry