Jackson 0 for 7. Thomas 0 for 2
Jackson having 7 shots is just such a waste.
We should have gone with Pritchard, Davison, Hauser, Vonleh & Kabengele. These two are doodoo
Jackson looks to be trying too hard to make the team, pushing shots rather than letting the game come to him. Probably he thinks he should be the go to guy in the absence of the regular rotation.
We probably could have won the game if Joe Mazz decided to put a better lineup out there...but I'm ok with the lineup he used to end the game. They probably want to know if those guys have what it takes to pull it out of the fire against a similar level of competition. Jackson's probably someone he wanted to have a look at. Unfortunately for him he laid an egg, but fortunately for us it was the preseason
I'm not really okay with it. We were up by 19 when Nurse waved the white flag and put in his bench. Then, miraculously, their bench blows ours out, and we are in OT (and then losing). Wins are good for morale and losing a game like this - although meaningless - doesn't help with that. I am definitely not saying to pound the starters into the ground, but making sure you pull out the the W at the end of regulation should have been easy enough.
Totally understandable...losing sucks no matter what context. Losing a winnable game even more so. But I feel there's value in knowing who is going to be up to it in a tight game vs who isn't. I'm less worried in the actual results of these games than in finding out who can be relied on and who can't. Especially in a game where they have to feel actual pressure, which a tight game that leads to overtime does - you can't replicate that level of pressure in a practice scrimmage. Players who can't be relied on to take care of business with a 20 point lead shouldn't be entrusted with team contracts, and I think this gave us some insights on who those players are. E.g. Jackson was 0-5 in the 4th quarter and 0-3 in the OT period, when they needed to make shots to save and win the game.
We already know that our starters are very solid. We know Malcolm and GWill could easily start too. We don't need to bring them back to save a game because we know that if we did we would probably win. We know Pritchard can deliver, and we're pleasantly surprised with Kabe and Hauser, at least when they are playing supporting roles. With Timelord that's 11 players. Now we want to know who can work around Kabe, Pritchard and Hauser if they have to be the main options. Griffin we've signed, he has a long body of work in the league. So that's 12. Davidson is a 2 way, so that's 13 (11 if you want to keep roster spots separate from 2 ways). The question marks on the tail end of the roster are really centered around Vonleh, Jackson, Thomas, Layman, Kornet and Samanic. Assuming Brad wants to keep a roster spot open (unless he wants to sign someone to a non guaranteed and cut them later) they would be looking to fit 3-4 players into those remaining spots. Who's up to it? If we keep playing the people we already know are good, we won't find out too much about the ones that may need to be the fillers.
Now in reality most of these filler roles will not be playing at all come season start - they're there to have a positive attitude on the bench and to work hard in practice on 5v5 drills. But I don't really see the results of these games as important in the context of our season. I do see the individual performance of players as important, and I think Joe Mazz gained some insights as to who to include in his circle of trust for season start.
Nice response. C2021 and gouki, not so much.
Guys, I realize it was a preseason game and I even used the word 'meaningless' in my response. If you don't like what I have to say, just move on - no reason to post a snarky post in response to mine.
All I said was that winning these games provides a morale boost. Justin Jackson and Brodric Thomas aren't even going to make the roster never mind sniff the court in the clutch. Yes, I realize it was meaningless, but we were horrific last season in close games. A little extra practice with at least a couple of our rotation players couldn't have hurt. Also, no need to cause a potential injury with an OT.
I'm expecting for Layman and Simanic to have more time in the last 2 games, to see what they can produce. Though I really think that the inside running for at least 2 of those last 4 spots belong to Vonleh and Kornet. Both fill a need for this team for bigs, especially with Timelord injured, and both offer a different look (interior rebounding vs stretch big). I think Kabe stays as a 2 way, because he needs play time to get better. I'm looking at it like this (in terms of roster, not necessarily PT)
Rotation
Timelord
Al
Jayson
Jaylen
Smartacus
Malcolm
Derrick
GWill
----------
Mid Bench
Hauser
Payton
Griffin (won't play much but he was signed for a specific reason)
----------
2 Ways
Kabe
Davison
---------
Need to pick 3-4 out of these
Vonleh
Kornet
Simanic
Thomas
Jackson
Layman
Gallo - injured for season
Kornet is staying. There are two pots open but we may only fill one at this point. So one or two spots for:
Vonleh
Simanic
Thomas
Jackson
Layman
And I'm guessing Vonleh has the inside running on one of those spots, because of the role he plays and because of the need we have. I don't think he's harmed his chances in his minutes thus far, other than being foul prone.