Ingram does get criticism. From all of us. You on the other hand seemed lasered in on him. And I'm not the only one on this board that notices.
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*thumbs up*
I'm focused on him because he's the ''virtually untouchable'' max contract player who it would be ''ridiculous'' to ''even entertain the idea'' of trading. Sorry but when you're supposed to be the number 1 option and the leader of the team and one of the best wings in the league, as I've been told a thousand times he is, I expect better.
Ingram isn't an issue. He is what he is. Very solid. A B to B+ player in most facets.
I will add to this..
Regardless what coaching we have... It's all talent and execution league. Vogel is an NBA championship coach. The misconception that most NBA coaches aren't here to teach and develop players. They run a scheme and players have to execute. Players aren't excuting.
He's not the biggest issue, that's for sure. Here's a B tier player, which is good. Stuff he needs to improve, unquestionably, but he's not flat dreadful.
If I was asked to pick ''the'' problem (which is obviously difficult because we have many) I would say point-of-attack defense.
Yea, like we know Ingram has warts. He's 23 and still developing. When he does something stupid 99% of us on this board comment on it.
His offenses are easily correctable with a competent coach. Some of those offenses wouldn't even occur with a coach that had an offensive system installed. Players are out there freelancing in the 4th. That's okay if you're Lebron, CP3, or some other elite facilitator. Doesn't work with young developing teams. Which is why 75% of the blame is on coaching.
The one common problem for all the coaches that Shamit is mentioning is they were terrible and are terrible at rotations. They let players sit too long and let ppl play that don’t belong on the court. Rotations are part of coaching. Don’t put players on the court that’s not getting the job done.
You do realise, analytics guy, that when Ingram fills out a little more he's going to be amazing. I genuinely see his only problem being bumped off his drives. Once that's solved with weight added he's amazing.
Ingram is untouchable, Zion/BI locked up for a few years is too good to mess with, gotta fix the problems around it.
For all the nit picking and soap boxing you do you can't tell me you don't feel comfortable with 95% if the ********s Brandon takes. He's money from almost anywhere, that's not easy to find in this league.
The issue is the team is top heavy talent-wise and our bench has massive deficiencies. I'm sure defensive philosophy on guarding pick and roll could be better or better personnel bought in to fix that, but BI isn't the problem and is still going to get better by virtue of age and weight.
Nope.. it's not. Which is why I'm not saying it's entirely the coaches fault for how this team is performing. Not sure how I communicated that it was, or why what I'm saying is so difficult to understand.
Does this squad look well prepared to you? Do the defensive schemes look good to you? Would everything be perfect if this was the case? No, but we'd see a better product on the floor.
Absolutely agree, and just to be clear (again), I'm not saying the coaches don't deserve at least some of the blame.
Everyone knows Walton isn't a good coach: he was bad in LA and in Sacramento.
Gentry, for all of his offensive strengths, couldn't string together a consistent NBA defense despite starting Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis, and ran some of the most absurd lineups of all time.
Stan Van runs weird rotations where Zion's on the bench at precisely the moments he shouldn't be and seems allergic to playing Kira alongside Lonzo (until tonight).
The coaches definitely have issues.
It's just the people love the use the coach as a dumping ground for even more than their fair share of the blame. Not going to speculate as to why, but it happens.
Take our guard defense for example. It's not like we haven't made adjustments this year. We've tried trapping, we've tried drop coverage, we've tried hard hedging, it doesn't seem to matter what we do, guards just murder us. What's the common denominator? It's whoever our guards are on that tends to kill us most often. The coaching has changed, the scheme has been different at different times in different games. The common aspect is the players. And they've stunk.
Perhaps I was too hard on this board. Fan reactionary stupidity seems to be universal.
Same Celtics fan board.
Quote:
I love Tatum I think he has the ability to become an MVP candidate, but his playing style seems like he keeps reverting to an iso style that’s not conducive to ball movement, player touches and winning.
I’m just curious how many players would you be willing to move Tatum for? For me there is only two guys; Luka and Giannis. Others may be more talented at the moment but are either too old, comes with baggage or have major injury issues.
Doncic and Brown would be my dream duo, Brown would cover Luka’s defensive weakness. Brown has the rare level humility for his talent and would happily allow Doncic to run the show if that lead to wins.
Who would you be willing to make a Tatum trade for?
Quote:
I would Tatum for Zion or Jokic
Sorry yall. Seems it's par for the course. Perhaps MM's "elite" board is a good place after all. I give up.
Pull your expectations down a few notches and relax for a bit. We have a window of time to get things right before we start actually feeling any urgency. Of course, that's me saying that. I'm chillin' at home. I'm not Gayle Benson or Griffin or whomever trying to have this franchise eat it's cake and still still have it.
Pick a direction and commit. Because we are out there like we want to make the playoffs...but we're executing and got players fit to finish in the upper half of the lottery. And I think that's where the disconnect and despair is setting in for people.
My one concern is we start selling assets early to try and force a playoff run and fall short and not even be able to reap the benefits of having lots of draft assets anymore. And then we max contract Lonzo Ball and I walk up a clocktower with a conspicuous briefcase...
Okay.
I just genuinely wonder cause I feel like I've been hearing ''just you wait, he's going to put that weight on'' for about 6 years now and it just hasn't happened. Some guys just don't put weight on, really. Lifelong twigmen exist, and so far to me it seems like that's Ingram. Not his fault or anything like that, just seems to be the way he's built from what I can tell.
The issue with this team is all between the head.
For me, the reason I get annoyed is that personally, what I think we should be doing is playing the young guys together as much as possible and trading certain players (Lonzo, Bledsoe, Redick) for either young guys who project as fits alongside Zion going forward, or more assets if we can get them. Then we just play the young guys and have fun with it and if we lose we lose but at least there's a clear direction from the team: lottery bound, sure, but getting lots of run to Kira and Jax and Zion and so on, building chemistry and experience.
The issue is that we're getting smoked regularly while still playing ''the vets'' like Redick and Hernangomez and such.
Meanwhile, if our actual plan is for the playoffs, then Stan needs to sort these rotations out and the team needs to get their act together drastically quick.
Right now we just don't have a clear direction as a team and that's what's frustrating.
Yeah he's put on some weight, but are you really going to tell me that he's ''filled out''?
Like, I understand that you think I'm biased when it comes to Ingram, you've said it about 40 times now, but am I really going to have to debate the fact that he's thin now? Jesus effin Christ
I thought, if you could look past Kira's 0 / 8 from the floor and JAXSON's 5 personal fouls and 3 turnovers, you'd have to admit they showed a lot of promise tonight, no?
I honestly can understand the offense slowing down in the 4th. Being able to execute in that quarter is a learned skill. We've got babies still stepping out of bounds and staring at each other for 15 seconds.
But on defense, that was about as much a PnR clinic as I've ever seen. And this team was not prepared for that basic play over and over and over. Bigs staying to help too long. Rotations getting lost.
Then when they do it all correctly, CP3 pops a 3 in Lonzo's face.
This is a demoralized team and it's going to be ugly for a while.
You're also clever at reframing an argument when you're on the losing end. Here's what you did.. You said something that clearly wasn't true. I called you out on it. Now you're trying to say that all you're saying is that he's thin. Well duh. We all know he's thin. But that wasn't what you stated. Nor would anyone rebut you on that. You said.. "for about 6 years now and it just hasn't happened." Which is a lie.. I respect you but I'm going to keep correcting you when your commentary warrants it on Ingram. It's pretty bad at times.
Ingram came in to the league desperately needing to put weight on, and he's now in his 5th season and he desperately needs to put weight on. I don't really care if he's actually 10lbs heavier than he was when he was drafted because the actual effect of it has been minimal.
I'll rephrase, if it makes you happy: I've been being told that he's going to put on enough weight for it to actually matter in any significant manner for years now, and it hasn't happened.
There, better?
I honestly feel like BI is the type of guy who will hit a point and just work on it harder than anyone else. He'll figure out whatever protein issues his body has, he'll dedicate the time in the off season to work on gains and if he gets the right people around him he'll be fine.
On an unrelated matter I actually think JJ should start over Bledsoe and you give Bledsoe the green light off the bench. I really like what I'm seeing with Zion/Redick figuring out a 2 man game and I feel like there is an evolution to that whereas JJ sets the pick for Zion inside the 3pt line and bails to the 3pt line, Zion gets a step and maybe a mismatch coz someone has to follow Redick, Zion collapses the D coz he only needs half a step on someone to explode, if he doesn't have a lane there's Lonzo on the wing and BI is ready in the post if Lonzo feels the close out.
I'm really seeing efficiency with Zion handling the ball and having shooters screen for him. What needs to happen is when that collapses the D we have JJ or Ball open for 3 or Ingram is in the post. Ann I'm fine with and Ingram turnaround mid range J.
Only issue is you'd want Zion to move to the dunkers spot if he passes up the drive so therefore you need a 5 who's can spot up in the corner and we don't have one.
Somewhat better lol.. Problem is you're wrong.. He's a lot better at absorbing contact now. First season or two he'd be all over the place with a slight bump. The added weight has helped him a lot actually. =)
On a more cheerful, less combative note - now that our respective positions are all clear on this - here's a question:
If you could trade for any player in the league*, who would it be?
*Here are the restrictions, to stop everyone just naming Steph Curry or whatever :hihi:
- Player can't be over the age of 30
- Player can't be on a max deal
- Player can't be a perennial all-NBA type talent
Basically you can probably tell but what I'm saying is don't just name top 15 players, make it at least semi-plausible.
For me, I think I still go either Duncan Robinson or Matisse Thybulle.
Edit: removed the post. I said I'm being less combative, no need for me to be snarky. Done arguing for now lmao
A move is coming. The best, non-ridiculous conversation to have right now is who will this team get for JJ Redick?
He's not walking off this team for nothing. Playoff teams will be clamoring for him.
Don't think they want or need anymore draft assets. It has to be a 6'7"+ 3&D type player out there.
As for Lonzo, I wouldn't be shocked if he stays or also gets traded. I honestly have no idea what they'll do with him. I want the trade.
Sorry man but I'm seeing and hearing all the right things about BI... I actually didn't like him as a Laker and saw some personality issues.. But I'm seeing genuine leadership from him on nuanced things that give me reason to believe he's a keeper. And I hear Joel and Ant Dan talk about his work ethic being right up there. I know what it's like being a skinny guy who couldn't put on muscle, and you can get tests done to figure out what the missing piece is. I'm not saying he's going to be buff, I'm saying for a skinny guy even 4kg of core muscle makes such a huge difference you feel like a new person and can do things you couldn't do before.
I really don't know if I'm just buying our own hype too much with our shooting development but I really feel like Thybulle could be so legit for us. If he could just be a decent shooter, like league average on 3 or 4 a game, that would be enough not to totally ruin the offense with him out there and hte D would be so valuable.
The defense would be a bit of a concern but frankly we're already damn near bottom of the league, it can't get much worse and at least he's the kind of piece that would still be valuable in a year or two once we've started addressing those defensive issues.
... I hope we address those issues :hihi:
Yea there are flashes of good NBA players there and I'm probably the biggest Kira fan on the board. There have been moments where I see how Kira/Lonzo would actually be fine as a starting NBA backcourt (in a year or two) but then I look at the issues we have closing games and I really wonder if a vet floor general is actually the best thing for the team. The team desperately needs a guard who can get to the rim and finish. Kira can get to the rim, so can Lonzo, but neither is showing they can finish there, yet.
I think the important thing for Kira is the decisions he's making, rather than the result, at least right now. Obviously eventually that needs to start materialising into results but I'd much much rather a guy of his age and experience be making the right plays at the right times and being inefficient than shooting the lights out stupidly.
Cause most of the time, making the right play is the right thing to do, and dumb-but-hot shooting is always a false friend in the long run.
He's an okay team defender, but he's certainly nothing particularly positive. He'll be in the right place at the right time more often than not, but he's not very physically strong or laterally quick so he's not really going to stop anyone, especially if you're trying to make him guard actual forwards (which he's the height for).