(12-04-2021, 07:26 AM)Dahlsim Wrote:I thought this was far and away the most interesting thing he said. I'm not sure "doesn't like" is exactly it, but I think it was 100% intended as a statement about what he sees as the roster's most thoroughgoing deficiency.Quote:He said it's very simple -- the roster is built to shoot, not to play defense. And when the shots aren’t falling,Does that imply that Kidd doesn't really like the roster he inherited?
-- It's really simple. This team isn't built to play defense. It's built for shooting. But when the shots aren't falling, and they aren't defending, they have nothing left to fall back on except hoping for some Luka Magic.
He put a lot of the issue down to effort, since that's within their control. I'm sure that's part of the problem, but I think he is also calling attention to the fact that sophisticated NBA defense is just not something this particular set of players is very good at. You can pick out some individual guys who are capable of playing pretty good one-on-one defense, but in today's NBA, all five players on the floor need to be capable of expertly executing a defensive system from night to night, and these guys aren't.
As an alternative way to skin the cat, Kidd has tried to vary the offense, so as to become less dependent on threes, but so far, it has only worked to render them just as reliant on long shots, but less good at shooting them.
I totally think this was a shout out at the front office via the media.
-- Donnie assembled a bunch of guys who don't do anything well except shoot threes, and when that inevitably fails on any given night, what do you expect me to do?