They've been competing hard since the 3rd quarter of the Bulls game tbh. Admirable effort but agree on DWhite needing to get better ASAP.
Reminds me of Dejounte after his ACL injury. Derrick still looks like he doesn't trust his body and looks slower/out of shape out there IMO.
Don't worry about these overeacting morons.. Spurstalk will dumb 'em down to dip levels.
Don’t think we need to look too deep into this: he needs time and a proper, consistent role to show what he has and why we paid him. It would be nice to get DJ, Keldon, Walker IV and White all playing well at the SAME DAMN TIME though.
Walker has everything to be a top player if he plays with fire and aggression like this every night. Its all on him if he makes it or breaks it in this league and he will have nothing to blame but himself if he doesn't find that other level.
As for the team, man I'm so thrilled with the way this core fights and even the games they are losing its not because lack of effort to compete. Add at least 1 "true" NBA star player with a winning at ude to this team core and this team will have no limits.
I guess what I'm saying is although I still don't see them as a top tier team yet , they have me excited as a fan of this team.
Last edited by Chomag; 03-21-2021 at 10:58 AM.
Great write up
I thought this game was a lost cause and wanted Pop to rest the entire starting 5. My mistake, the guys played great with the exception of Derrick White. I believe the injuries, Covid, and the pressure to live up to his contract might be too much of a toll on him. This season, anyway. He might need to swap spots with Lonnie. Lonnie is a better scorer,...especially 3pt shooter, and with two playmakers in Derozan and Dejounte, a 3rd might not be necessary in the starting lineup. Lonnie defers too much, he has the potential to be the best multi faceted scorer on the team. Lonnie provided outside shooting (3pt shot) that is lacking in the starting unit.
Sure, he has his fair share of blame and games where he's absolutely useless, but Pop simply has to give him the ball.
You think it's a coincidence he had a career game when Patty sat? Of course not. When he gets it going, he's the second best offensive weapon on the team after Demar and it's not even close.
But what are we witnessing every game when Patty plays? Lonnie wasting away his career in the corner while Patty keeps trying to hide behind screens and chuck every ball he gets.
Instead of giving the ball to Lonnie and having Patty do what he does best, being a off-ball spacing threat that causes chaos by constantly moving around. Patty as the primary ballhandler is almost always a win for the other team.
I agree that this it's great to see what Lonnie can do when he's more of the focus of the offense and we're not subject to the Patty Mills chuck-fest.
I'm really bummed that White looked so horrible. The team played well enough to win. We had a nice game plan around slowing down Giannis. Everyone stepped up except for Derrick. Rare to see Timvp hand out an F, but this one was totally deserved. The Bucks should give Derrick White the game ball tonight. Hopefully he doesn't have a case of Danny Green-itus...get paid and relax.
White is starting to concern me too. His 4th quarter performance against the Cavs was abysmal and he was horrible again last night. There was a moment last night where he turned it over and then missed his rotation which led to a Bucks three pointer. White literally dropped his head; it was terrible body language. His confidence is waning quickly.
It was going to require a minor miracle to win this no matter what obviously, but Walker IV only playing 33 minutes was/is inexplicable.
He's not the caliber of prospect and doesn't possess the trade value many seem to think, but when he ends up on a more modern team, I could easily see him being cajoled into a volume/streak 3-point shooter, who comes off the bench and has explosive performances like this semi regularly.
It was also great to see Lonnie getting those 4th quarter minutes that Mills has been unfortunately getting instead.
White has been at worst awful and at best inconsistent, but he started the season recovering from surgery, then got hurt again and missed extended time, and then got covid, so this season is probably going to be a wash for him...
He will get back on track eventually, he is to good not to, but it might be next season before it happens...
Thanks Timvp. Every game a new Spur is leading. Last night it was Lonnie, and it seems that lately he’s been playing great, making great decisions, being aggressive, not committing silly fouls. This team is playing really well, and starting to peak at the right time. They’re just going to get better. My only hope was Luka got yo play even though especially in an important game. Good stuff.
The Lonnie over White argument would not age well.
Guys, Derrick deserves his share of the blame last night without question, but it is important to keep things in perspective:
- He’s still on his rookie scale contract atm (3.5 m), extension and raise kick in next season (15 +).
- He’s taking shots the coaching staff want him to. They’re fully aware of his abilities in this area.
- He has not been 100% healthy at any point during the season and when he was getting close to it, was playing some solid ball - pairing
with DJ to form a devastating 2 way attack in the b/c.
- COVID is a mofo. 5 games in 7 nights. B2B. Huge amount of travel in short period of time etc.
Keep the faith (or replenish your supply); 9 home games in a row coming up - great chance we see a return to form shortly.
GSG!
White will be 27 this offseason and folks are still waiting for him to take the next step. Lonnie turned 22 three months ago and has already shown flashes that, with confidence, he can be the best scorer on the team. It's the first year he's a part of the main rotation and he's played well... despite being Patty Mills' robin.
I like White but have come to realize that he is just a stop gap
Thats the rub. Patty shouldnt be ahead of him. That 4th quarter is part of his development curve. Most of this season pop s closed out with Patty even when Lonnies having a good outing.
Also when Lonnies coming off the bench . He needs to be the the focal point. POP needs to tighten the leach on Patty and Rudy when they in chucking mode. Its on coach since he sets that pecking order.
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills reading some of the takes on Lonniesomeone gonna get ing whiplash over this
Non-related note, but shoutout to that re
I forgot to post about that. I don't think it's a coincidence that Lonnie played better with Patty out. I believe Patty takes a lot of his shots when they're both coming off the bench. That is another reason I don't like Mills being around. He just chucks like crazy.
I also like that Lonnie went inside more and was able to finish. If he can keep doing that, and taking outside shots, he's going to be a much better player overall. He also needs to work on his consistency defensively.
Nah White is the guy who is the team's multi-tool. Need a steady point guard to distribute..... D. White need a scorer...... D. White. Need a guy stopped on D at 1-3 D. White. Need Shooting..... D. White! He over the last two years has been asked to take over and fill every guard role and wing role on the team at one point or another, this tends to make him not actually get into a rythm and play his own game which is a slasher with a pull up that has to be respected. The slashing and passing gets him the shooting space and confidence. Now all year long he has had foot issues, add in covid making him lose his wind and conditioning and he has a bad game on the second night of a back to back.
He's this teams trenches guy, but hasn't fully hsd an off-season or been 100% healthy for two years save maybe the bubble.
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