Coaching decisions: the good, bad and unusual

[Roy H.]

We're replacing the "critique Joe" thread.

What do people think of the decision to bench Horford and Jrue in overtime?

[mobilija]

We're replacing the "critique Joe" thread.

What do people think of the decision to bench Horford and Jrue in overtime?

He rolled with the players that got them there, can?t fault him too much for that.

I missed the first half of the game and some other parts. What I saw of Jrue was not good. Didn?t notice Horford at all.

5th game of the year. Can?t fault him for giving guys playing well a chance to shine and letting those not playing well sit on the bench. Those are also two guys that need more rest.

Since I?m mentioning players that played poorly and sitting them?.Brown was dreadful. Bonehead Brown was back, missing shots, turnovers, getting beat to rebounds. I don?t think you can bench him tho, he?s a star, he?s gotta play through it

[jpotter33]

I?m fine with benching Horford. He was clearly struggling to defend the quick Indy players all game, and his replacement was a huge positive for us. In fact, the biggest issue for Joe was probably not trying that sooner.

As for Jrue, he probably should?ve been in there over JB, who had one of the worst games of his career. In particular, there?s no way that JB should?ve been the option for the last shot last night, which he verified was an end-game play they?ve been working on (https://x.com/noadalzell/status/1851833713547518046?s=46&t=lGU0TGXtwjkuVuoin6WTNw).

[celticinorlando]

I understand Al. Think you roll with PP, Jrue, White. JB and Tatum in OT.

Sure they would be a little smaller but Indiana wasn't big. Need scoring in OT.

Jrue to me just seems like a guy that just does his part until the playoffs where he then really takes a bigger role.

Last night showed some flaws they were getting away with vs the Pistons, Bucks. Hopefully this recenters them for these next 3 road games. 

[BitterJim]

I understand Al. Think you roll with PP, Jrue, White. JB and Tatum in OT.

Sure they would be a little smaller but Indiana wasn't big. Need scoring in OT.

Jrue to me just seems like a guy that just does his part until the playoffs where he then really takes a bigger role.

Last night showed some flaws they were getting away with vs the Pistons, Bucks. Hopefully this recenters them for these next 3 road games.

We didn't need size for defense but Queta's rebounding was huge for us against the smaller lineup. Maybe just more of a focus on gang rebounding would have eliminated the need for Queta, but he was providing exactly what we needed so I think sticking with him was the right idea.

I think where I land on this is that I can understand why he made the decisions he did, so I can't be too upset. If it turns into a trend, then I'll question the decisions, but I still expect us to run away with the #1 seed.

[Indocelts]

To win the game I think we needed to have Q and PP in the OT and regular crunch time, so I agree with benching Al. However, we needed Jrue instead of Brown as Jrue rarely made mistakes in crunch time.

However, I somewhat understand what Joe did. It's  early in the season, he might want to know how Brown would respond to that type of game he was having.And I actually like that Tatum won't be the only option to take the last shot (and he didn't make the 2in1 either).

Having said that, I do hope that PP/White/Jrue will take a last shot to win the game in the future. They are capable of taking crunch time shots.

[Big333223]

I'm just loving seeing Queta take steps forward. Given his size and athleticism, his potential is really high. He earned those minutes.

[Kernewek]

We're replacing the "critique Joe" thread.

What do people think of the decision to bench Horford and Jrue in overtime?

I think it's suboptimal for winning every single game, but it's good to have an eye on the future (both in the season and in seasons to come).

Given the hot start (small sample size but an 85% win rate is pretty strong), we've clearly got a runway to experiment & try things early in the season.

[bdm860]

The last few games I've liked the use of the bench.

Last game (ATL), we saw 10 guys get minutes in the 1Q, when the lead was only 5 points.

Game before (CHO), we saw 10 guys get minutes too in the 1Q, (though lead was already 10 when most of the subs went in).

And both were without Brown.

I feel like last year, even when the team was healthy, the rotation was often a lot tighter, only 7-8 guys max, even with a double digit lead, until half way through the 4Q. I like seeing bench guys get meaningful minutes.

[Silas]

The last few games I've liked the use of the bench.

Last game (ATL), we saw 10 guys get minutes in the 1Q, when the lead was only 5 points.

Game before (CHO), we saw 10 guys get minutes too in the 1Q, (though lead was already 10 when most of the subs went in).

And both were without Brown.

I feel like last year, even when the team was healthy, the rotation was often a lot tighter, only 7-8 guys max, even with a double digit lead, until half way through the 4Q. I like seeing bench guys get meaningful minutes.

[liam]

The last few games I've liked the use of the bench.

Last game (ATL), we saw 10 guys get minutes in the 1Q, when the lead was only 5 points.

Game before (CHO), we saw 10 guys get minutes too in the 1Q, (though lead was already 10 when most of the subs went in).

And both were without Brown.

I feel like last year, even when the team was healthy, the rotation was often a lot tighter, only 7-8 guys max, even with a double digit lead, until half way through the 4Q. I like seeing bench guys get meaningful minutes.

Me too. The more guys you use the more energy you save during the season and you also have guys that have played ready to go if needed. 

[jpotter33]

It was always going to be hard to win tonight without JB or KP, but Joe continuing to go to the double big lineup late was a big part of tonight?s loss. This just gifted them mismatches and caused us to overhelp and put us in rotations too early leading to open shooters. Frustrating, especially against a perimeter-oriented team like GS.

[SparzWizard]

Joe didn't do his job tonight in terms of strategy and executions. Those overhelping and baiting for Draymond hurt us. That challenge completely shifted momentum. But that 2nd quarter was abysmal too.

I almost wanna bring back that other good 'ol thread again...these last two nights have been putrid

[Yuckabuck33]

Wait...are saying the challenge was a coaching mistake by Joe? It was definitely a moving screen and not a foul on Derick White giving Steph three free throws. Joe absolutely did the right thing there.

[mobilija]

Hmmmm?..Quiet thread?.must be doing something right!

I?m liking Joe?s use of the bench so far. Core players are getting days off to rest bumps and bruises, allowing the deep bench to get some run. Finding a guy or two on the deep bench that can have a step up moment in the playoffs will be huge. So far, only Queta has shown significant progress. Development, in general, for this team?s young players will be crucial to extending our champion window. We will need cheap talent moving forward.

However, I would like to see Joe find a few more spot minutes on a daily basis to keep the minutes of our stars down a bit. He can ramp it up again come playoff time. Hauser and Pritchard have shown capable of handling a few more minutes but I would love to see Walsh/Peterson/Baylor continue to get game comfortable. We need one of them to start showing something.

Quarterly grade in roster management for Joe, A minus

Anyone else have a quarterly grade for Joe? Other subjects: Motivation, Defensive strategy and implementation, Offensive strategy and implementation, ATO plays and Time out usage (ha) or whatever else you think is important.