Andrew wrote:In his defense, he doesn't have a lot to work with. The young players aren't where they need to be yet, the established players in their prime are mostly average at best (and/or new acquisitions), and the most accomplished players on the team are at the tail end of their careers. They're trying to transition into a new era, while at the same time hosting a farewell tour for Kobe. That's not to say he couldn't do better, but I think he's in a tough spot.
I don't think you've been watching the games. He's been substituting using minute allocation with no regard to game flow. Some games as soon as D. Russell and Randle get going he benches them and inserts the bench guys. And by bench I mean he plays Bass at the 5, Kelly, Swaggy, Lou & Huertas. Imagine that unit against Cauley-Stein and Cousins. They stink defensively and launch ill advised three's and/or long two's while letting the opposing team skate to the basket or in Kelly's case just foul them.
I think Hibbert (who seems to be the only capable player to play defense so far, even if he does fall over too often) played around 15-20 minutes in one of the games. I don't get the logic. He says Russell needs to learn the game and play the right way so doesn't play him much but lets Kobe hoist ill advised shot after shot hoping he'll start hitting something without any consequence. At least be consistent in your random ways.
The team sucks. Guys like Clarkson, Randle & Russell should be averaging 28-30 minutes a game so they can learn. What's the point of playing Bass and Kelly at the 5&4 when you've got a true athletic 5 in Black?
I don't know if he's tanking deliberately or he's just that bad. They do know it's top 3 protected this year, right?
Randle & Russell have been the only things seemingly good so far in this young season.
And playing Kobe 37 minutes? Why?