Mine:
Gradey needs to be part of the rotation, we’re just way too thirsty for shooting.
Malachi is not an NBA player. He has been with us 4 years, had plenty of opportunities to prove himself. Absolute cone on defense and doesn’t do much on offense…
Scottie is him.
The coaching staff needs to find a way to get Siakam more involved, but Siakam also needs to wake up! 30% from 2s just ain’t cutting it.
Someone needs to tell Boucher and GTJ to stop taking dumb shots with 10+ seconds left on the shot clock. Fine them if that’s what it takes.
We overpaid for Jak (we had to, who would be our center otherwise?), and that should be a warning sign to the FO for our next off-season…
As a general rule, I try not to evaluate anything for at least 10 games. That’s even more so the case with a new coach.
However…
Based on the initial results, I am leaning a bit more towards trying to move Siakam, as long as we can retain OG. I’m not concerned about Siakam’s early struggles. It’s more that I feel like the sooner we can make Scottie the primary option, the better. Moving GTJ to the starting lineup will help with spacing. Try to get depth and draft picks for Siakam.
My other observation is something I was curious about, which is how Darko talks to the media after a loss. And unsurprisingly, I’m incredibly impressed. He has a way of defusing negativity and reinforcing positives that is extremely difficult for a lot of people. A key point is that when he talks about someone struggling, he reframes it to be about “we”. For example, he was asked about Siakam only getting 8 shots and his response was “we need to do a better job of creating better opportunities for him.” On the flip side, when offered a chance to give praise, he is effusive with it. He is also always thoughtful in his responses and seems to appreciate the opportunity to speak to the media.
Other things: