Game Day: Grizzlies (14-22) @ Suns (14-21), Sun 1/5/20

[SDC]

it's time for oubre as 6th man.

[Indy]

Did anyone else read that as blaming the new starting lineup James suggested to him?

I didn't. I get the impression that Baynes missed a lot of assignments.

Felt like throughout the 1st quarter there were a lot of guys looking at each other with their hands up like "Where were you/What are doing?" because of a blown assignment. Baynes was definitely a culprit early, think Ayton too and Monty even called a TO 3 plays in to try and straighten things out. But it was pretty consistent throughout the first half from what I saw.

Yeah, I saw Bayton missing tons of assignments most of the game. I am not sure it was clear who was the C and who was the PF for most of the game, and I think that screwed up their primary assignments and their rotations.

[AmareIsGod]

Did anyone else read that as blaming the new starting lineup James suggested to him?

I didn't. I get the impression that Baynes missed a lot of assignments.

Felt like throughout the 1st quarter there were a lot of guys looking at each other with their hands up like "Where were you/What are doing?" because of a blown assignment. Baynes was definitely a culprit early, think Ayton too and Monty even called a TO 3 plays in to try and straighten things out. But it was pretty consistent throughout the first half from what I saw.

Yeah, I saw Bayton missing tons of assignments most of the game. I am not sure it was clear who was the C and who was the PF for most of the game, and I think that screwed up their primary assignments and their rotations.

That's actually a very good point I've been overlooking.

[AmareIsGod]

it's time for oubre as 6th man.

Why? Who starts in his place?

[Mori Chu]

I think we should put Saric back in the starting lineup. Baynes is playing better overall, but I don't like how bulky and slow our Ayton/Baynes lineup is, and Baynes isn't a versatile outside shooter. Baynes is amazing at straight-on 3s, but he can't reliably hit the corner one, so you can't really use him as a space-the-floor center with Ayton. Saric is much better in the different angles at hitting 3s. Plus I see no benefit to taking away Saric's confidence. Saric's stats show that he is quite effective early in games as a starter, scoring a bunch of points in first quarters. Start him and get those early points, but then alter things in the second half if he's not shooting well. Bring Baynes off the bench to spell Ayton, so we always have a talented center on the floor (but not two at once).

[In2ition]

I think we should put Saric back in the starting lineup. Baynes is playing better overall, but I don't like how bulky and slow our Ayton/Baynes lineup is, and Baynes isn't a versatile outside shooter. Baynes is amazing at straight-on 3s, but he can't reliably hit the corner one, so you can't really use him as a space-the-floor center with Ayton. Saric is much better in the different angles at hitting 3s. Plus I see no benefit to taking away Saric's confidence. Saric's stats show that he is quite effective early in games as a starter, scoring a bunch of points in first quarters. Start him and get those early points, but then alter things in the second half if he's not shooting well. Bring Baynes off the bench to spell Ayton, so we always have a talented center on the floor (but not two at once).

Agreed

[Indy]

I think we should put Saric back in the starting lineup. Baynes is playing better overall, but I don't like how bulky and slow our Ayton/Baynes lineup is, and Baynes isn't a versatile outside shooter. Baynes is amazing at straight-on 3s, but he can't reliably hit the corner one, so you can't really use him as a space-the-floor center with Ayton. Saric is much better in the different angles at hitting 3s. Plus I see no benefit to taking away Saric's confidence. Saric's stats show that he is quite effective early in games as a starter, scoring a bunch of points in first quarters. Start him and get those early points, but then alter things in the second half if he's not shooting well. Bring Baynes off the bench to spell Ayton, so we always have a talented center on the floor (but not two at once).

Surprisingly, he is not.

@ Corners Saric is 15.6% and Baynes is 21.4%
Above the break, Saric is 37.5%, Baynes is 37.1%

http://nbashotcharts.com/zoned?id=238276337

http://nbashotcharts.com/zoned?id=-1909530148

[Nodack]

Our defense was the best I have seen in quite awhile at the start of the season. Now?...not so much. Back to being the Suns.

[Mori Chu]

Our defense was the best I have seen in quite awhile at the start of the season. Now?...not so much. Back to being the Suns.

And our 3-point shooting. We were quite hot from 3 to start the season, and now it's barely a part of our offense. What happened? Regression to the mean, or a poorly chosen change in strategy? How much of it has to do with Booker's hand injury? I wish we could restructure our offense around Rubio finding open 3-point shooters like Booker, Cam, Oubre, Bridges, Baynes, etc. mixed with some Ayton P&R / handoff stuff.