I've defended Luke throughout the year. I've been pissed at Randle and I've been, to my best efforts, rightfully critical of our players. But bashing the players at this stage is just unreasonable.
Take anyone on the court, and I dare you to tell me he is not playing hard. Ingram is improving and banging as hard as he could. Randle is more focused throughout the game with less lapses. Russell and JC are active on D and trying to listen to the coach. We got these players hustling - so what's wrong?
If you look at our recent line-ups, those are some shit bad terrible stuff. Tonight we ran Corey Brewer at 4 and Randle/Nance at 5. The fuck is that line-up? We've had consistent issues with boxing out and getting one-and-dones, yet with healthy Nance, Randle, Zu, we can't squeeze them in to fill the 4 and 5?
Throughout the year we know Dlo is an unselfish guard who has incredible high IQ and tries to make the pass whenever he could. We've seen how good he is with shooters like Nick on the court. Nick gets iced and he has to play with Nwaba - who for all his defensive prowess and energy, can't shoot for shit - and Tyler Ennis, who isn't a shooter either. Then we proceed to take the ball out of his hand by saying JC will be the primary handler. I was cringing all game on Monday; both Dlo and JC looked lost as hell as Dlo tries to resist the urge to initiate the offense while JC picks up the dribble and looks for someone to pass for five freaking seconds, ending with Dlo trying to defuse the bomb with a long 3. We are taking Dlo out of his comfort zone and no shit he's gonna play horrible.
Play JC and Dlo together but let Dlo do his stuff. Play Zu, Randle, and Nance, preferably with Ingram at 3 when Zu is off the court for more length. Run the sets we've practiced and used all season long. I don't really care if those yield great results, running random shit is gonna destroy the progress these players have made throughout the season. Build them up, not just hoping they won't get torn down. Yes I'm calling out Luke at last, don't fucking screw these players over. They were willing to jump off the cliff for you. Lose that and you are done.