I didn’t say that. Having veterans is important. But having those veterans freeze out your star shooting guard in the 4th quarter is not beneficial either. The vets are there to aid in the development of our young stars, not pad their own stats.
We don’t know exactly what the dynamics were on the court; Shae might have been gassed after playing so much three days ago and all game last night, both games with a sprained thumb. Yeah, Brogdon probably felt like he was the best option, maybe he was told to be the first option. We absolutely fell over, no excuses there. But we are a bad team, and this sort of shit happens when you don’t have all your systems in place and a couple of big pieces out injured.
I guess it’s a matter of perception. Where you saw two guys padding their stats, I saw two vets trying to respond to a horrible scoring drought, probably by doing too much one on one, in order to save the game. It wasn’t good. Part of the blame goes on the vets and part on the coaching staff, but it was one blown game. I think both Brogdon and Grant have been mostly solid in their roles previously.
I know that, regardless of the situation, I don't want somebody out there Westbrooking when Sharpe is on the court. We gain far more with tired Sharpe missing those shots than Malcom Westbrook, IMO. If Brogdon wants to be a complimentary part of this team he's more than welcome. Otherwise I'm perfectly happy to move him for a pick.
We need scoring and when Shae is reluctant to be aggressive like spots last night someone/Brog else will be aggressive and should. When Simons is back it will be the same thing. Shae is still developing confidence in his dribble drives but it's coming he just needs to be a bit selfish and not afraid to make a mistake. I think Brog has been terrific as a veteran and remember he was 6th man of the year last year, he'd come in and be aggressive. He'll be doing the same once Simons is back.
Every player on the team is there for the same reason. Try their best to win the game and get better. Shae had more opportunities to score than just the shots he took. But Memphis did a good job of shutting down his drive. How many times did we see him try to drive the baseline only to pass it out because he did not want to force it? (Which I was impressed with ) Give Memphis some credit for their D. But seriously do you really think Brogdon and Grant were trying to "pad their stats" last night? They were working their asses off trying to win that game. When was the last time we had players working both ends of the court all night long? I absolutely hate it when we all go to the "selfish" card because someone takes a lot of shots. What I saw was two guys who ran out of gas. Too bad Williams got hurt because he could have helped on Jackson Jr at the end. You guys seem to have lots of patience for a rebuild (years) and zero patience for a team that has played less than 10 games together.
We're better off with Shae learning how to rise in that situation than allowing somebody else to take the heat. At least, IMO. Brogdon wasted a golden opportunity for a Sharpe to learn an incredible lesson yesterday. I wouldn't allow that to be a habit.
I don't trust Brogdon or Grant to make those decisions. I want Sharpe, Scoot, Ayton, and Simons making those decisions. Probably about in that order. Grant and Brogdon only hold yhe team back when they do it, except that they aren't good at it, so we'll get a better lotto pick. Best case scenario right now is for Sharpe and Ayton to learn the lessons in a loss. But having Sharpe and Ayton learning them in a win is arguably as good. Having Grant and Brogdon Westbrooking us to wins is the worst case scenario.
Simons has not been playing behind somebody for most of the last 2 seasons. He's been a starter since CJ was traded
I wasn’t referring to position or starting. He’s now the number one scoring option; something that’s always been Dame’s clear bailiwick.
except he's not at this point and it may not be the case he's a clear #1 by the time he gets healthy. Sharpe is making a case for that and he's a better defender than Ant. I also get the impression that Brogdon and Grant would not be as willing to defer to Ant as they might have been to Dame or Jayson Tatum. Ant averaged 17 shots last season. if that's his average this season those 17 shots will have to come from other players....like Shape and Ayton
find out what exactly that we don't already know? That Ant will shoot a lot score a lot of points? I think we all know Ant will likely lead the team in shots, and probably in scoring. But his impact numbers may fall well short of his shots and scoring.
