This is lineup data from Cleaning the Glass. The first two images are Steph curry lineup impact when wiggins is on or off the floor.
The following two after this are Klay with the same Wiggins criteria
Lastly , Wiggins on his own.
I think the data shows that despite our issues with klay’s current shooting, Kuminga’s total play, Chris Paul’s shooting and the state of the roster at large that this team is actually pretty clearly in the green. Except when Wiggins is in.
I single him out because this reminds me of last season to a degree. Last year, James Wiseman had similar impact on lineups in the first ten games. There was a lot of debate if we should just blame him or include other names in the blame with him. We sent wiseman to Santa Cruz and immediately saw the team turn it around.
Wiggins isn’t wiseman. He has a track record that dictates some level of faith. But when we talk about what the issues are, what should be fixed and who to look at everything else is nitpicking and noise until this gets solved. Yes, guys can shoot better. Yes , Kerr can change some lineups. But it truly won’t matter if your starting wing is last in the NBA in Wins over replacement and has a -30 on/off swing.
Until Wiggins is ready, I think it’s malpractice to continue to start him and run him 20+ minutes a game. This isn’t a survivable slump this is tanking as it stands today.
by nateoak10
10 Comments
He might bounce back later on but if we’re just talking about these first 11 games, Wiggins has been by far the worst player on the entire team.
I don’t think anyone can argue that Wiggins is by far a bigger problem than Klay this season. The reason Klay is catching heat is because of his salary and the expectation to be more productive, I agree with this criticism to some extent but not to the extent of him presented as the main reason for our losses because it’s simply not true. Also Klay will bounce back, he always starts slow. The timing of him and Wiggins being in a shooting slump at the same time is unfortunate.
Not really sure why you specify “Klay’s shooting,” “Chris Paul’s shooting,” and Kuminga’s “total play” when Kuminga’s only real issue to start the season is his shooting.
he has been godawful – stats, eye test, effort, everything
i dont think running him at like 20 mins is going to solve much. at the end of rhe day, our priority should be the playoffs. and in-game reps are the best solution.
that being said, the fact that klay and wiggins are closing out games while in this slump or whatever is atrocious. moody and even kuminga should defs get the nod. helps them get more experience in high pressure situations in preparation for the playoffs as well.
I’d like to point out to the people that always say we need to play bigger, the 2 lineups on here I see where we played Looney and Dario together have some of the worst +/- I see on here. Just food for thought
Call me old school, but I’m not in favour of benching one of my most important players so early in the season. I say play him through the slump, like what Kerr is doing right now. Sure it’ll be ugly for another dozen games, but it will pay off. He won’t magically get better with time on the bench.
I mean Klay’s main issue isn’t shooting though, he’s defence is where I am concerned the most, especially when Kerr trusted him on all closing line ups, Wiggns got benched on half of closing game if I am not mistaken, the energy on D is just not there, no hustle,lazy on switches and cuts. It gave me a lebron impression where he’s saving energy for offense. And I doubt Klay can ever recover from it.
A lineup that I saw in pre-season that hard dominated and hasn’t been done since was Team Run the Floor, e.g. CP3, TJD, Podz, JK, and Moody. That lineup really has everything you need to score from all angles (inside, outside, fast break), defend, and bring the energy from the bench in a serious way.
Every lineup with Steph and GP2 in them were positive 👀 thought that was cool. Also Kuminga seems to make a more positive impact with Steph than I would have ever imagined. Nice 👍🏿