Benching him is nasty when the rotation players are not showing up. Nico, EG cannot understandably be as reliable as Kawhi game in and game out and this should not be forced upon them.
Ty’s world needs to be pro active to adjust quick and tinker with a player in Roco’s defensive DNA.

Defense: we won’t stand a chance if we don’t have two to three very good defenders (outside of Zu) on the court at all times. Whether that’s RoCo playing, Gordon stepping it up, Mann playing more or a combination of it, I don’t care how. But it’s a must vs the level of talent we’re facing. It won’t be PG so we gotta find it elsewhere.

Offense: need better depth and balance there. We’re relying on 40 minutes of Kawhi playing through contact and Russ playing like a two-way star. Best highlighted by this stat: they had 12 of our meager 17 assists. 5 assists total out of 7 guys, a 1.1 assist-to-turnover ratio with the lack of assists being the much bigger problem, yuck! Offensive schemes, role-players and shooters gotta be better.

Here’s a wrinkle I’d consider IF Gordon can’t find another gear on either end: play Norm more and try to get them into some kind of foul trouble. KL, Russ and Zu drew 5 fouls each. Norm is also on that pace. Gordon simply shoots most of the time. Playing Norm more or playing both some if Nico can’t hit anything might be worth trying. Foul trouble for the Suns is an absolute key factor but spacing is important to get there. I also gotta adjust my take on our squad in that regard: Russ is the third guy who can’t afford foul trouble. I’m a bit incredulous writing this but he’s too important vs KD, Booker and with his close-outs and hustle. As a playmaker as well, there’s NOTHING there outside of Kawhi, Norm’s isos and Russ.

Also agreed on Mann, small ball, drop coverage. Adding to it: Russ wasn’t as good on defense as in game 1 or the first quarter of game 2, he gotta stay aggressive, physical and a nuisance. Also: there were some possessions where Russ was on CP3 off-ball. That’s a complete waste when a) Booker and KD are cooking b) you lack impact defenders who can match the offensive talent c) Russ runs people off the 3-point line but CP3 wasn’t the biggest threat from there. We’re already an impact defender short, Gordon is out of his depth vs elite talent, RoCo doesn’t play, Mann plays too little and Russ is wasted on lesser threats while we’re getting obliterated.

Whyyyyyyyy?!

Coach, we are nowhere close to being able to afford this in this matchup.

• Going away from Batum b/c he wasn’t shooting but not putting in anyone else to supply offense. Batum was very active on KD in the first half defensively. Yes, he missed some wide open looks that we need for him to make. Not going to Roco to supplement is an error. If experimenting with a super duper small lineup against 2 7 footers is ok, it’s not a stretch for any fan to ask why Roco didn’t get some run. I would still keep Batum on the court b/c he has proven to be a good defensive presence. Defense matters. We can find the scoring elsewhere and I do think he’s due to provide us a couple of double digit scoring games in LA.

• Not enough T-Mann in some key stretches. When Mann sat in Q2 from 4:30 to 1:18, the lead went from +10 to +4. There really wasn’t any reason to substitute for Mann at that point. He made his shots, was running the point well and was playing good D. Sometimes it’s not how many minute but the situation. After all this time, one would expect Ty Lue to understand the impact that his players are having on the game and to have a feel or 6th sense for when you need certain guys on the floor. I feel like throughout his tenure, Lue often loses sight of Mann’s true value. I also think Mann should’ve been inserted earlier in Q3 before we got down by around -10. With us struggling to get scoring out of the #4, having Mann, who can play the #3 to provide that impetus along with physical play is a net plus.

• Small ball was a mess. To think we were in a 3 possession game with about 4 min to go after that debacle is probably what gives me the most confidence that we can win the series. The Suns aren’t that good.

• Gotta straighten out the drop coverage. Zu is one of the best at deterring driving guards and forwards, but he was sort of stuck in between a lot of the time and I think the players were a bit confused with what Lue wanted. Clearly. you can’t give Booker shooting target practice. That’s something that can get fixed in film sessions, but we could’ve lived with Ayton’s and Craig’s offense if we had a better handle on Booker. We made it way too easy for him.

The biggest challenge for Ty Lue is to get productivity out of the #4 spot. The next biggest challenge is really on adjusting to the Suns willingness to take the mid range shot and make them. I think the goal should be to deny open shot attempts from both KD/Booker and contest the mid range. I do think they’ll figure that part of it out. With Kawhi playing this well, we need to establish additional scorers to win this series and we need to get up to 15 3pt makes at least. That we’re 1-1 despite making 10/11 makes in the.2 games is somewhat fortunate.