Lamb Is Making A Leap...

[Gurleyman]

Looked good the other day - today he looks even better. After 3Q, he is 5-6 from the floor for 12 points. Looks smooth, under control and he's playing hard the whole time he's out there. He is very close to being in OKC's closing unit (Ibaka-Durant-Lamb-Westbrook-Jackson). They still trust Sefolosha's defense, which could make them hesitant to keep a rookie (basically) out there in crunch time. He just came out with 4 minutes to go.

Been a rough night for our NBA guys, but Lamb is really emerging as a very important piece to their puzzle.

 

[aceboon]

I really thought Brooks was gonna stick with him to close it out once it reached the 5 minute mark with him on the floor, knowing Brooks's patterns I was surprised he left him in when Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka returned once the Spurs tightened things up. I just posted something similar in the stickied thread, once that closing lineup comes to fruition they're gonna be even more lethal than they already are.

 

[Gurleyman]

I really thought Brooks was gonna stick with him to close it out once it reached the 5 minute mark with him on the floor, knowing Brooks's patterns I was surprised he left him in when Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka returned once the Spurs tightened things up. I just posted something similar in the stickied thread, once that closing lineup comes to fruition they're gonna be even more lethal than they already are.

Great minds! I went to that thread first - probably while you were posting - and changed my mind and decided to give it its own thread.

Very intense game, so they might have worried about Lamb's fatigue coming down the stretch, or just trusted Sefolosha not to lose San Antonio's three-point shooters. Of course, right before he came out, he nailed a 3 after the whistle so he still had something left in the tank. I think the key with him is just how he's playing - he won't always shoot this well, but he's active, working hard on D, getting his long arms in there for loose balls and rebounds. They aren't sacrificing much by having him out there. There will be the occasional match up - Harden, Kobe when he's back, etc. - where he might get a quicker hook so they can have Sefolosha take the defensive assignment.

 

[aceboon]

to continue on with the discussion we had about Lamb playing PG against the Jazz, I just saw this article with Brooks saying he liked what he saw. Lamb also had a pretty nice feed to Ibaka on the baseline for a dunk attempt that he got fouled on, I like when they let him handle the ball more instead of parking him on the perimeter, he usually makes smart decisions with the ball.

“I think going forward, I don’t know if he will play the point,” Brooks said. “But I can see him, and he has been the last few games, showing a higher comfort level handling the ball and making decisions for us in the halfcourt. But I can see him going forward getting more opportunities there.”

http://m.newsok.com/now-playing-point-guard-jeremy-lamb/article/3908451

 

[Gurleyman]

It is interesting watching him play now, because he seems to have tightened up his handle and developed a quicker first step. He always had some creative ways to free himself with changes of direction, but he wasn't explosive off the dribble. I wouldn't call him explosive now, but he's a notch or two quicker with his first step and he is muchb harder to guard. Last game he was living with the floater, today he spotted up from three twice and pulled up from 15-17 feet 3 times. He's a really tough guy to guard now. When he played point, he was picking out shooters all over the place after beating his man - they just usually missed (or didn't shoot).

 

[Edge2017]

It is interesting watching him play now, because he seems to have tightened up his handle and developed a quicker first step. He always had some creative ways to free himself with changes of direction, but he wasn't explosive off the dribble. I wouldn't call him explosive now, but he's a notch or two quicker with his first step and he is muchb harder to guard. Last game he was living with the floater, today he spotted up from three twice and pulled up from 15-17 feet 3 times. He's a really tough guy to guard now. When he played point, he was picking out shooters all over the place after beating his man - they just usually missed (or didn't shoot).

I definitely see the improvement as well, he also looks much stronger than when he was in Storrs, which is what he needed.

 

[willie99]

happy to see he's "winning" time