Timberwolves (13-39) at Celtics (26-26) Game #53 4/9/21

[Celtics Mike]

I do hope Tatum is finally over his long Covid and can carry this form into the playoffs. The more wins Celtics can get then the higher the chance of Evan Fournier re-signing with Celtics in the off season

By the numbers, Tatum's getting better.

Jay King@ByJayKing
Jayson Tatum came back from COVID-19 shortly before February and was open about how much it impacted him. His shooting splits in every other month are so much better.

Interesting statistics. The noticeable improvement month on month  is encouraging as we move towards the business end of the season.

[Celtics2021]

Missed game.  Why did Romeo play so little?  Is he okay?

It wasn’t working while he was out there.  Celtics went bigger with their reserves, giving Grant a bunch of minutes at the 4, which squeezed minutes for the wings.  Grant made a ton of huge plays.

[RPGenerate]

Just finished watching the game. The Wolves remind me of the C’s actually
1) Talented on paper
2) Scoring for days from all over the floor
3) Crumbles mentally - a strong run by the opposing team can have them abandon what got them the lead in the first place
4) Low IQ/communication on defense. They let the other team get comfortable on offense
5) Terrible role players

Fortunately, we have more experience and we have more overall talent. Plus, our best player isn’t a rookie.

KAT is a rookie?

Anthony Edwards

Than you're 100% wrong. KAT is their best player, and it isn't particularly close.

[tstorey_97]

Just a word on Grant, he's been aok for the last couple of weeks. He's playing the opposing bigs is ringing up some fouls in the process, but is keeping in the game. Stevens put him on Embiid and he survived sort of. He is 5 for 18 from three and has one foul sot in the last ten games. My point is that his defense has been so good, he's averaging 19 minutes per game, Stevens doesn't care that he has no offense.

To the current thread...
(I know he won't start Pritchard, but, this is a thought)

Pritchard
Smart
Brown
Tatum
Robert

Walker
Fournier
Thompson

Pritchard:
And Smart play well together, both very good passers.
And Robert play very well together.
Is a 40% 3 point shooter and is 87% from the line...lowest of the starters  at .9 turnovers pg.

Walker/Fournier/Thompson off the bench would be the best bench the team has had for quite awhile and this team needs a really good bench because the starters have been iffy all season.

[footey]

Just finished watching the game. The Wolves remind me of the C’s actually
1) Talented on paper
2) Scoring for days from all over the floor
3) Crumbles mentally - a strong run by the opposing team can have them abandon what got them the lead in the first place
4) Low IQ/communication on defense. They let the other team get comfortable on offense
5) Terrible role players

Fortunately, we have more experience and we have more overall talent. Plus, our best player isn’t a rookie.

KAT is a rookie?

Anthony Edwards

Than you're 100% wrong. KAT is their best player, and it isn't particularly close.

KAT is best for now; it is debatable who will be the best in 2-3 years. 

Edwards really impresses me.  He reminds me of Michael Jordan in terms of his raw physical attributes.  He is no Michael Jordan, but I could see this kid (only 19) developing into a future multi all star, all NBA talent.  He already shows leadership on the floor, something Scal alluded to during the game last night.

Now watch my words get twisted by my reference to Michael Jordan.  3, 2, 1....

[LilRip]

Just finished watching the game. The Wolves remind me of the C’s actually
1) Talented on paper
2) Scoring for days from all over the floor
3) Crumbles mentally - a strong run by the opposing team can have them abandon what got them the lead in the first place
4) Low IQ/communication on defense. They let the other team get comfortable on offense
5) Terrible role players

Fortunately, we have more experience and we have more overall talent. Plus, our best player isn’t a rookie.

KAT is a rookie?

Anthony Edwards

Than you're 100% wrong. KAT is their best player, and it isn't particularly close.

Not close? Anthony Edwards is turning heads and becoming (if he isn’t already) the face of that franchise.

[Silas]

Payton should be playing 20+ minutes every game.

Yup!

No, he really shouldn't unless Kemba is sitting.

Kemba, Smart, Brown and Fournier are much better guards. A 5th guard getting 15-17 minutes a game is his role and he plays it well. He is a rook. He'll get his minutes in future years.

Right now there are 4 guys that are much better than him and ahead of him in the rotation. He needs to continue to play well, learn, improve and be ready in case someone goes down long term.

Kemba 3 for 10 for 3s with 4 turnovers.  Payton 1 for 2 for 3s with 0 turnovers.  He needs more minutes to help this team.

Lol. That's hilarious. Let's just discount Kemba's 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 4-4 from the line and 17 points.

Nick, I'm surprised you found my post hilarious.  Obviously you have an excellent sense of humor.  Look, I didn't discount Kemba's game.   What I said was that Payton needs more minutes to help the team.

While Smart is a good to great defender he sucks as a shooter and has lots of turnovers.   Kemba is no longer the player he was in Charlotte and before he injured his knee with the Cs and he has lots of turnovers.  He is close to Smart when it comes to shooting and not very good on defense.  There are times during a game when Smart and Kemba should not be on the court.  Those times could add to Payton's minutes.  BTW, I suggested that he play 20+ minutes, he currently is playing 19 minutes and during those minutes he averages less than 1 turnover a game.

Currently, Payton is the best 3pt shooter on the team (not counting Fournier) at 40.8% and as a comparison Smart is at 34.9% and Kemba is at 34.8%.  Regarding shooting efficiency, after Rob, Payton has the best efficiency on the team at .57.  For comparison, Smart is at .50 and Kemba is at .49.  Again, I'm not saying Payton is better than either Smart of Kemba, all I'm saying is he should be playing more minutes wherever they come from. 

[nickagneta]

Payton should be playing 20+ minutes every game.

Yup!

No, he really shouldn't unless Kemba is sitting.

Kemba, Smart, Brown and Fournier are much better guards. A 5th guard getting 15-17 minutes a game is his role and he plays it well. He is a rook. He'll get his minutes in future years.

Right now there are 4 guys that are much better than him and ahead of him in the rotation. He needs to continue to play well, learn, improve and be ready in case someone goes down long term.

Kemba 3 for 10 for 3s with 4 turnovers.  Payton 1 for 2 for 3s with 0 turnovers.  He needs more minutes to help this team.

Lol. That's hilarious. Let's just discount Kemba's 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 4-4 from the line and 17 points.

Nick, I'm surprised you found my post hilarious.  Obviously you have an excellent sense of humor.  Look, I didn't discount Kemba's game.   What I said was that Payton needs more minutes to help the team.

While Smart is a good to great defender he sucks as a shooter and has lots of turnovers.   Kemba is no longer the player he was in Charlotte and before he injured his knee with the Cs and he has lots of turnovers.  He is close to Smart when it comes to shooting and not very good on defense.  There are times during a game when Smart and Kemba should not be on the court.  Those times could add to Payton's minutes.  BTW, I suggested that he play 20+ minutes, he currently is playing 19 minutes and during those minutes he averages less than 1 turnover a game.

Currently, Payton is the best 3pt shooter on the team (not counting Fournier) at 40.8% and as a comparison Smart is at 34.9% and Kemba is at 34.8%.  Regarding shooting efficiency, after Rob, Payton has the best efficiency on the team at .57.  For comparison, Smart is at .50 and Kemba is at .49.  Again, I'm not saying Payton is better than either Smart of Kemba, all I'm saying is he should be playing more minutes wherever they come from.

I think it's funny because you are basing this on one or two stats, three point shooting and efficiency Let's just ignore everything else Kemba does. Let's ignore the stuff Pritchard isn't very good at or doesn't provide.

By this logic we need to get Semi more minutes and have him start over Tatum because Semi has a much better three point shooting percentage and a slightly better TS%.

Semi, Grant and Pritchard have great long distance numbers because they are basically ignored by defenses that focus on the stars on the floor with those three players. If you have them playing more meaningful minutes with more touches and usage, teams will key on them and those percentages most likely go down.

There is a role for Payton and that is as a 5th guard. He will continue to be overlooked by defenses and he can hopefully continue his great shooting. But he doesn't bring a whole game that is better than the players ahead of him and so should stay in that role.

[Silas]

Payton should be playing 20+ minutes every game.

Yup!

No, he really shouldn't unless Kemba is sitting.

Kemba, Smart, Brown and Fournier are much better guards. A 5th guard getting 15-17 minutes a game is his role and he plays it well. He is a rook. He'll get his minutes in future years.

Right now there are 4 guys that are much better than him and ahead of him in the rotation. He needs to continue to play well, learn, improve and be ready in case someone goes down long term.

Kemba 3 for 10 for 3s with 4 turnovers.  Payton 1 for 2 for 3s with 0 turnovers.  He needs more minutes to help this team.

Lol. That's hilarious. Let's just discount Kemba's 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 4-4 from the line and 17 points.

Nick, I'm surprised you found my post hilarious.  Obviously you have an excellent sense of humor.  Look, I didn't discount Kemba's game.   What I said was that Payton needs more minutes to help the team.

While Smart is a good to great defender he sucks as a shooter and has lots of turnovers.   Kemba is no longer the player he was in Charlotte and before he injured his knee with the Cs and he has lots of turnovers.  He is close to Smart when it comes to shooting and not very good on defense.  There are times during a game when Smart and Kemba should not be on the court.  Those times could add to Payton's minutes.  BTW, I suggested that he play 20+ minutes, he currently is playing 19 minutes and during those minutes he averages less than 1 turnover a game.

Currently, Payton is the best 3pt shooter on the team (not counting Fournier) at 40.8% and as a comparison Smart is at 34.9% and Kemba is at 34.8%.  Regarding shooting efficiency, after Rob, Payton has the best efficiency on the team at .57.  For comparison, Smart is at .50 and Kemba is at .49.  Again, I'm not saying Payton is better than either Smart of Kemba, all I'm saying is he should be playing more minutes wherever they come from.

I think it's funny because you are basing this on one or two stats, three point shooting and efficiency Let's just ignore everything else Kemba does. Let's ignore the stuff Pritchard isn't very good at or doesn't provide.

By this logic we need to get Semi more minutes and have him start over Tatum because Semi has a much better three point shooting percentage and a slightly better TS%.

Semi, Grant and Pritchard have great long distance numbers because they are basically ignored by defenses that focus on the stars on the floor with those three players. If you have them playing more meaningful minutes with more touches and usage, teams will key on them and those percentages most likely go down.

There is a role for Payton and that is as a 5th guard. He will continue to be overlooked by defenses and he can hopefully continue his great shooting. But he doesn't bring a whole game that is better than the players ahead of him and so should stay in that role.

I agree with you that Semi and Grant are ignored and I have never suggested that either of them should have more meaningful minutes.  I'm only talking about Pritchard.  I've watched every game the Cs have played this year and I disagree with you that Payton has been ignored.  As I have mentioned a few times, Payton should have more minutes.  I'm not going to argue with you if he is the 5th or whatever guard on the team.  It's not relevant to my suggestion of more minutes. 

[liam]

Payton should be playing 20+ minutes every game.

Yup!

No, he really shouldn't unless Kemba is sitting.

Kemba, Smart, Brown and Fournier are much better guards. A 5th guard getting 15-17 minutes a game is his role and he plays it well. He is a rook. He'll get his minutes in future years.

Right now there are 4 guys that are much better than him and ahead of him in the rotation. He needs to continue to play well, learn, improve and be ready in case someone goes down long term.

Kemba 3 for 10 for 3s with 4 turnovers.  Payton 1 for 2 for 3s with 0 turnovers.  He needs more minutes to help this team.

Lol. That's hilarious. Let's just discount Kemba's 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 4-4 from the line and 17 points.

Nick, I'm surprised you found my post hilarious.  Obviously you have an excellent sense of humor.  Look, I didn't discount Kemba's game.   What I said was that Payton needs more minutes to help the team.

While Smart is a good to great defender he sucks as a shooter and has lots of turnovers.   Kemba is no longer the player he was in Charlotte and before he injured his knee with the Cs and he has lots of turnovers.  He is close to Smart when it comes to shooting and not very good on defense.  There are times during a game when Smart and Kemba should not be on the court.  Those times could add to Payton's minutes.  BTW, I suggested that he play 20+ minutes, he currently is playing 19 minutes and during those minutes he averages less than 1 turnover a game.

Currently, Payton is the best 3pt shooter on the team (not counting Fournier) at 40.8% and as a comparison Smart is at 34.9% and Kemba is at 34.8%.  Regarding shooting efficiency, after Rob, Payton has the best efficiency on the team at .57.  For comparison, Smart is at .50 and Kemba is at .49.  Again, I'm not saying Payton is better than either Smart of Kemba, all I'm saying is he should be playing more minutes wherever they come from.

I think it's funny because you are basing this on one or two stats, three point shooting and efficiency Let's just ignore everything else Kemba does. Let's ignore the stuff Pritchard isn't very good at or doesn't provide.

By this logic we need to get Semi more minutes and have him start over Tatum because Semi has a much better three point shooting percentage and a slightly better TS%.

Semi, Grant and Pritchard have great long distance numbers because they are basically ignored by defenses that focus on the stars on the floor with those three players. If you have them playing more meaningful minutes with more touches and usage, teams will key on them and those percentages most likely go down.

There is a role for Payton and that is as a 5th guard. He will continue to be overlooked by defenses and he can hopefully continue his great shooting. But he doesn't bring a whole game that is better than the players ahead of him and so should stay in that role.

I agree with you that Semi and Grant are ignored and I have never suggested that either of them should have more meaningful minutes.  I'm only talking about Pritchard.  I've watched every game the Cs have played this year and I disagree with you that Payton has been ignored.  As I have mentioned a few times, Payton should have more minutes.  I'm not going to argue with you if he is the 5th or whatever guard on the team.  It's not relevant to my suggestion of more minutes.

Pritchard stretches the floor when he's on the floor. It's not a matter of Kemba over Pritchard as they can share the floor. I think that Pritchard should get more than 2 minutes in a half. That first half was craptastic to say the least. Correct me if I'm wrong but that second three by Kemba in the over time was completely unguarded.

[gouki88]

Payton should be playing 20+ minutes every game.

Yup!

No, he really shouldn't unless Kemba is sitting.

Kemba, Smart, Brown and Fournier are much better guards. A 5th guard getting 15-17 minutes a game is his role and he plays it well. He is a rook. He'll get his minutes in future years.

Right now there are 4 guys that are much better than him and ahead of him in the rotation. He needs to continue to play well, learn, improve and be ready in case someone goes down long term.

Disagree.  Payton is shooting 41% from 3s while Kemba is at 35%.  The teams needs Payton's shooting and better ball handling than Kemba.

I agree too, I'd like to see more of PP. Fournier and Brown will split minutes at the forward spots, given we traded away big man depth, and I think having a 41% three point shooter out there will be hugely valuable. Our 9 man playoff rotation should, hopefully, be:
Kemba - Pritchard
Fournier - Smart
Brown - Langford
Tatum
Williams - Thompson

With GWill or Semi to play spot minutes as necessary due to match-ups. Given Kemba's efficiency from 3 falls off a cliff when he plays 30MPG and above, I would be perfectly happy giving him less minutes.

[gouki88]

Payton should be playing 20+ minutes every game.

Yup!

No, he really shouldn't unless Kemba is sitting.

Kemba, Smart, Brown and Fournier are much better guards. A 5th guard getting 15-17 minutes a game is his role and he plays it well. He is a rook. He'll get his minutes in future years.

Right now there are 4 guys that are much better than him and ahead of him in the rotation. He needs to continue to play well, learn, improve and be ready in case someone goes down long term.

Kemba 3 for 10 for 3s with 4 turnovers.  Payton 1 for 2 for 3s with 0 turnovers.  He needs more minutes to help this team.

Lol. That's hilarious. Let's just discount Kemba's 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 4-4 from the line and 17 points.

Nick, I'm surprised you found my post hilarious.  Obviously you have an excellent sense of humor.  Look, I didn't discount Kemba's game.   What I said was that Payton needs more minutes to help the team.

While Smart is a good to great defender he sucks as a shooter and has lots of turnovers.   Kemba is no longer the player he was in Charlotte and before he injured his knee with the Cs and he has lots of turnovers.  He is close to Smart when it comes to shooting and not very good on defense.  There are times during a game when Smart and Kemba should not be on the court.  Those times could add to Payton's minutes.  BTW, I suggested that he play 20+ minutes, he currently is playing 19 minutes and during those minutes he averages less than 1 turnover a game.

Currently, Payton is the best 3pt shooter on the team (not counting Fournier) at 40.8% and as a comparison Smart is at 34.9% and Kemba is at 34.8%.  Regarding shooting efficiency, after Rob, Payton has the best efficiency on the team at .57.  For comparison, Smart is at .50 and Kemba is at .49.  Again, I'm not saying Payton is better than either Smart of Kemba, all I'm saying is he should be playing more minutes wherever they come from.

I think it's funny because you are basing this on one or two stats, three point shooting and efficiency Let's just ignore everything else Kemba does. Let's ignore the stuff Pritchard isn't very good at or doesn't provide.

By this logic we need to get Semi more minutes and have him start over Tatum because Semi has a much better three point shooting percentage and a slightly better TS%.

Semi, Grant and Pritchard have great long distance numbers because they are basically ignored by defenses that focus on the stars on the floor with those three players. If you have them playing more meaningful minutes with more touches and usage, teams will key on them and those percentages most likely go down.

There is a role for Payton and that is as a 5th guard. He will continue to be overlooked by defenses and he can hopefully continue his great shooting. But he doesn't bring a whole game that is better than the players ahead of him and so should stay in that role.

This is a total strawman, and pretty farcical

[nickagneta]

Payton should be playing 20+ minutes every game.

Yup!

No, he really shouldn't unless Kemba is sitting.

Kemba, Smart, Brown and Fournier are much better guards. A 5th guard getting 15-17 minutes a game is his role and he plays it well. He is a rook. He'll get his minutes in future years.

Right now there are 4 guys that are much better than him and ahead of him in the rotation. He needs to continue to play well, learn, improve and be ready in case someone goes down long term.

Kemba 3 for 10 for 3s with 4 turnovers.  Payton 1 for 2 for 3s with 0 turnovers.  He needs more minutes to help this team.

Lol. That's hilarious. Let's just discount Kemba's 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 4-4 from the line and 17 points.

Nick, I'm surprised you found my post hilarious.  Obviously you have an excellent sense of humor.  Look, I didn't discount Kemba's game.   What I said was that Payton needs more minutes to help the team.

While Smart is a good to great defender he sucks as a shooter and has lots of turnovers.   Kemba is no longer the player he was in Charlotte and before he injured his knee with the Cs and he has lots of turnovers.  He is close to Smart when it comes to shooting and not very good on defense.  There are times during a game when Smart and Kemba should not be on the court.  Those times could add to Payton's minutes.  BTW, I suggested that he play 20+ minutes, he currently is playing 19 minutes and during those minutes he averages less than 1 turnover a game.

Currently, Payton is the best 3pt shooter on the team (not counting Fournier) at 40.8% and as a comparison Smart is at 34.9% and Kemba is at 34.8%.  Regarding shooting efficiency, after Rob, Payton has the best efficiency on the team at .57.  For comparison, Smart is at .50 and Kemba is at .49.  Again, I'm not saying Payton is better than either Smart of Kemba, all I'm saying is he should be playing more minutes wherever they come from.

I think it's funny because you are basing this on one or two stats, three point shooting and efficiency Let's just ignore everything else Kemba does. Let's ignore the stuff Pritchard isn't very good at or doesn't provide.

By this logic we need to get Semi more minutes and have him start over Tatum because Semi has a much better three point shooting percentage and a slightly better TS%.

Semi, Grant and Pritchard have great long distance numbers because they are basically ignored by defenses that focus on the stars on the floor with those three players. If you have them playing more meaningful minutes with more touches and usage, teams will key on them and those percentages most likely go down.

There is a role for Payton and that is as a 5th guard. He will continue to be overlooked by defenses and he can hopefully continue his great shooting. But he doesn't bring a whole game that is better than the players ahead of him and so should stay in that role.

This is a total strawman, and pretty farcical

Actually it's neither.

As I pointed out, Payton just isn't good enough to warrant a larger role. He shouldn't be taking minutes from Kemba, Smart, Brown or Fournier, all much better, more experienced players. There is no straw man there nor is there anything funny about that.

As for my example with Semi and Grant that illustrates the flaws in the theory of, "hey he has a higher 3pt% and TS% so should play more", you can take that any way you want but it's exactly what Silas is doing with Pritchard. You see him hit a few shots as a 4th or 5th offensive option and suddenly we have to play him in a larger role where he would garner more attention and you think his shooting and efficiency will stay the same. He doesn't deserve more time than guys that play higher offensive option positions, are better defenders and who bring more to the table.

To me, that's no different than thinking Semi needs more minutes over Tatum, Brown or Fournier because of his shooting, disregarding everything else that the much better players contribute.

What's strange is that Pritchard's game has taken a noticeable nose dive over the last two weeks and yet, people still insist he should be getting more minutes over players playing much better all around basketball.

[gouki88]

Payton should be playing 20+ minutes every game.

Yup!

No, he really shouldn't unless Kemba is sitting.

Kemba, Smart, Brown and Fournier are much better guards. A 5th guard getting 15-17 minutes a game is his role and he plays it well. He is a rook. He'll get his minutes in future years.

Right now there are 4 guys that are much better than him and ahead of him in the rotation. He needs to continue to play well, learn, improve and be ready in case someone goes down long term.

Kemba 3 for 10 for 3s with 4 turnovers.  Payton 1 for 2 for 3s with 0 turnovers.  He needs more minutes to help this team.

Lol. That's hilarious. Let's just discount Kemba's 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 4-4 from the line and 17 points.

Nick, I'm surprised you found my post hilarious.  Obviously you have an excellent sense of humor.  Look, I didn't discount Kemba's game.   What I said was that Payton needs more minutes to help the team.

While Smart is a good to great defender he sucks as a shooter and has lots of turnovers.   Kemba is no longer the player he was in Charlotte and before he injured his knee with the Cs and he has lots of turnovers.  He is close to Smart when it comes to shooting and not very good on defense.  There are times during a game when Smart and Kemba should not be on the court.  Those times could add to Payton's minutes.  BTW, I suggested that he play 20+ minutes, he currently is playing 19 minutes and during those minutes he averages less than 1 turnover a game.

Currently, Payton is the best 3pt shooter on the team (not counting Fournier) at 40.8% and as a comparison Smart is at 34.9% and Kemba is at 34.8%.  Regarding shooting efficiency, after Rob, Payton has the best efficiency on the team at .57.  For comparison, Smart is at .50 and Kemba is at .49.  Again, I'm not saying Payton is better than either Smart of Kemba, all I'm saying is he should be playing more minutes wherever they come from.

I think it's funny because you are basing this on one or two stats, three point shooting and efficiency Let's just ignore everything else Kemba does. Let's ignore the stuff Pritchard isn't very good at or doesn't provide.

By this logic we need to get Semi more minutes and have him start over Tatum because Semi has a much better three point shooting percentage and a slightly better TS%.

Semi, Grant and Pritchard have great long distance numbers because they are basically ignored by defenses that focus on the stars on the floor with those three players. If you have them playing more meaningful minutes with more touches and usage, teams will key on them and those percentages most likely go down.

There is a role for Payton and that is as a 5th guard. He will continue to be overlooked by defenses and he can hopefully continue his great shooting. But he doesn't bring a whole game that is better than the players ahead of him and so should stay in that role.

This is a total strawman, and pretty farcical

Actually it's neither.

As I pointed out, Payton just isn't good enough to warrant a larger role. He shouldn't be taking minutes from Kemba, Smart, Brown or Fournier, all much better, more experienced players. There is no straw man there nor is there anything funny about that.

As for my example with Semi and Grant that illustrates the flaws in the theory of, "hey he has a higher 3pt% and TS% so should play more", you can take that any way you want but it's exactly what Silas is doing with Pritchard. You see him hit a few shots as a 4th or 5th offensive option and suddenly we have to play him in a larger role where he would garner more attention and you think his shooting and efficiency will stay the same. He doesn't deserve more time than guys that play higher offensive option positions, are better defenders and who bring more to the table.

To me, that's no different than thinking Semi needs more minutes over Tatum, Brown or Fournier because of his shooting, disregarding everything else that the much better players contribute.

What's strange is that Pritchard's game has taken a noticeable nose dive over the last two weeks and yet, people still insist he should be getting more minutes over players playing much better all around basketball.

You are quite literally taking someone's point, bringing up a proposition that they did not make (starting Semi over Tatum), and then refuting that proposition or painting it out as something ludicrous, when it was never brought up.

Saying Pritchard deserves more minutes is not ridiculous at all. Nobody is asking for Pritchard to supplant anyone, just for him to get more minutes. I don't understand why you think he'll get more defensive attention - he would be spending more time out there with Tatum, Brown and Fournier. He would still be the 3rd option at most.


Your main argument, that he will get less efficient if he gets more playing time, is also provably wrong. Pritchard is most efficient in games where he plays 30-39 minutes (2 games played), followed by 20-29 minutes (17 games played), followed by 0-9 minutes (2 games played) and then finally 10-19 minutes played.
His true shooting % in games where he plays over 20 minutes is a staggering 66.4%

[jambr380]

Payton should be playing 20+ minutes every game.

Yup!

No, he really shouldn't unless Kemba is sitting.

Kemba, Smart, Brown and Fournier are much better guards. A 5th guard getting 15-17 minutes a game is his role and he plays it well. He is a rook. He'll get his minutes in future years.

Right now there are 4 guys that are much better than him and ahead of him in the rotation. He needs to continue to play well, learn, improve and be ready in case someone goes down long term.

Kemba 3 for 10 for 3s with 4 turnovers.  Payton 1 for 2 for 3s with 0 turnovers.  He needs more minutes to help this team.

Lol. That's hilarious. Let's just discount Kemba's 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 4-4 from the line and 17 points.

Nick, I'm surprised you found my post hilarious.  Obviously you have an excellent sense of humor.  Look, I didn't discount Kemba's game.   What I said was that Payton needs more minutes to help the team.

While Smart is a good to great defender he sucks as a shooter and has lots of turnovers.   Kemba is no longer the player he was in Charlotte and before he injured his knee with the Cs and he has lots of turnovers.  He is close to Smart when it comes to shooting and not very good on defense.  There are times during a game when Smart and Kemba should not be on the court.  Those times could add to Payton's minutes.  BTW, I suggested that he play 20+ minutes, he currently is playing 19 minutes and during those minutes he averages less than 1 turnover a game.

Currently, Payton is the best 3pt shooter on the team (not counting Fournier) at 40.8% and as a comparison Smart is at 34.9% and Kemba is at 34.8%.  Regarding shooting efficiency, after Rob, Payton has the best efficiency on the team at .57.  For comparison, Smart is at .50 and Kemba is at .49.  Again, I'm not saying Payton is better than either Smart of Kemba, all I'm saying is he should be playing more minutes wherever they come from.

I think it's funny because you are basing this on one or two stats, three point shooting and efficiency Let's just ignore everything else Kemba does. Let's ignore the stuff Pritchard isn't very good at or doesn't provide.

By this logic we need to get Semi more minutes and have him start over Tatum because Semi has a much better three point shooting percentage and a slightly better TS%.

Semi, Grant and Pritchard have great long distance numbers because they are basically ignored by defenses that focus on the stars on the floor with those three players. If you have them playing more meaningful minutes with more touches and usage, teams will key on them and those percentages most likely go down.

There is a role for Payton and that is as a 5th guard. He will continue to be overlooked by defenses and he can hopefully continue his great shooting. But he doesn't bring a whole game that is better than the players ahead of him and so should stay in that role.

This is a total strawman, and pretty farcical

Actually it's neither.

As I pointed out, Payton just isn't good enough to warrant a larger role. He shouldn't be taking minutes from Kemba, Smart, Brown or Fournier, all much better, more experienced players. There is no straw man there nor is there anything funny about that.

As for my example with Semi and Grant that illustrates the flaws in the theory of, "hey he has a higher 3pt% and TS% so should play more", you can take that any way you want but it's exactly what Silas is doing with Pritchard. You see him hit a few shots as a 4th or 5th offensive option and suddenly we have to play him in a larger role where he would garner more attention and you think his shooting and efficiency will stay the same. He doesn't deserve more time than guys that play higher offensive option positions, are better defenders and who bring more to the table.

To me, that's no different than thinking Semi needs more minutes over Tatum, Brown or Fournier because of his shooting, disregarding everything else that the much better players contribute.

What's strange is that Pritchard's game has taken a noticeable nose dive over the last two weeks and yet, people still insist he should be getting more minutes over players playing much better all around basketball.

You are quite literally taking someone's point, bringing up a proposition that they did not make (starting Semi over Tatum), and then refuting that proposition or painting it out as something ludicrous, when it was never brought up.

Saying Pritchard deserves more minutes is not ridiculous at all. Nobody is asking for Pritchard to supplant anyone, just for him to get more minutes. I don't understand why you think he'll get more defensive attention - he would be spending more time out there with Tatum, Brown and Fournier. He would still be the 3rd option at most.

In nick's defense, I've seen a number of people suggest that Pritchard should start and Kemba should come off the bench as 6th man. That quite literally is Kemba being supplanted by Pritchard. Not sure if this is something Silas feels should happen, but I'm not going to pretend it isn't a rising desire among Cs fans.