VDesai wrote:Bridges definitely seems to like playing with Kolek. He seems confident shooting when Kolek sets him up.

Bridges kinda disappeared in the 2nd half again though

For me, Brunson is not yet a good enough setup guy. He has made strides on assists but not nearly leading or guiding players to buckets enough. Not sure how to phrase that correctly.

Some PG's lead scorers to buckets and make them easier, some just happen to get the pass before the shot goes up.

ramtour420 wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:We should all give Kudo's to Shamet who put up a slick -29 in 19 minutes. Not easy to put that type line up.

Context. He is a bench player defending the guy who made the second most 3 pointers in the history of NBA. A future Hall of Famer. All while sharing the backcourt with a D League player. Context

Shamet does a credible job of competing, but guys score on him when he's in their face consistently. That's because he's a combo guard body playing NBA wings. I don't fault his effort one bit, but he's not suited to play the role we have for him -

1) he's not big enough to defend wings
2) he doesn't shoot well enough to be our sniper

If he did one of the 2 things above it wouldn't be such an issue, but not doing either and having him occupy a big spot in the rotation is why the starters are overplayed.

martin wrote:

VDesai wrote:

martin wrote:

VDesai wrote:Bridges definitely seems to like playing with Kolek. He seems confident shooting when Kolek sets him up.

Bridges kinda disappeared in the 2nd half again though

For me, Brunson is not yet a good enough setup guy. He has made strides on assists but not nearly leading or guiding players to buckets enough. Not sure how to phrase that correctly.

Some PG's lead scorers to buckets and make them easier, some just happen to get the pass before the shot goes up.

I think he has done a much better job this year and he continues to improve. But he's a floor general who's best skill is scoring. Kolek can't score for **** but is hunting shooters. I think Brunson is "good enough," and has proven that time and again, but is maximized with a secondary playmaker. Having Hartenstein as a pick and roll partner was as close to ideal as possible since Hartenstein was so good at finding the open man quickly.

100%

Miss that dude so much

We're not getting him back, but I think it brings up a fair point - who can we bring in that plays a role for a few mins with Brunson that can replicate some of that. He's probably a vet min guy and is past prime, but how would Kelly Olynyk look playing with Brunson, great passer and can hit 15 footers. When considering fit and how he could perform here, that's an opportunity to take a player we may get at Vet min and maximize them. That's just an example of a guy, but as we think about roster construction and what we miss, its what we should target.