Yes because games get away from teams in the playoffs.. a blowout can happen on either end. it's the close competitive games where when you need a player to create they can do that on they own and that's Ja.. he put the Warriors in the dirt game 2. They needed him for 4 and 6.
Act as if you've never watched playoff bball before brehs... Lmao
Ja was what 39-10-9 for the three games he played and efficient? And they had nobody to guard him?
LMAO... no they sure couldn't use Ja when Dillon and Co. are putting up contested threes at the ends of these games..
No one has claimed that Ja isn't their best scorer in close games. Yes, he's great when the game gets close. But wouldn't you rather the game not be close?
* This season Memphis had 19 double-digit wins with Ja on the court....and 17 double-digit losses with Ja on the court.
* Meanwhile they had 16 double-digit wins without Ja.....and only THREE double-digit losses without Ja.
19-17 record in blowouts with Ja.....16-3 record in blowouts without Ja.
And it's not like they didn't lose close games with Ja on the court. They lost Game 1 against the Warriors by 1 point with Ja missing his final three layups and a free throw in the last 2 minutes. They lost Game 4 against Minny by 1 point with Ja going 1-3 on layups late and committing a critical turnover.
Being a 50-50 shot to win you a close game doesn't look as good when you're 5x more likely to get blown out. Ja is getting the full benefits of a superstar volume shooter with no defense - when he scores you give him all the credit, when he doesn't score you absolve him of all the blame, and whatever he doesn't do on defense gets ignored regardless.
I'm not saying that Ja's not a great player. I'm not saying that Memphis doesn't need a primary scorer if they want to be a title contender. But what I am saying this that this is a very-very good team even when Ja isn't on the court, and he needs to do a better job of fitting into what they're doing without him and having a positive impact across the board, not just being a one-dimensional offensive player who "might" go off for you when the game is late.
