Last night, the Warriors did not foul when down by four with 33 seconds to go. This move was no octopus, as in, it wasn’t a well-camouflaged part of the tank. I’m not accusing the Warriors of intentionally losing per say, just noting that the team folds up shop at a juncture when others would push forward. And why should the Warriors give extra effort, really? They only owe themselves the perfunctory try at a victory, there is nothing to gained from attempting to wrest victory from the jaws of defeat. GSW played tough on the road against a good Grizzlies team, and “tough against good” is good enough.
But this is a time for rookie development, and for the parsing of that development. I’ve become a bit interested in analyzing Charles Jenkins’ game in particular. He’s just always trundling around the floor, passing up threes when the ball swings his way. Last night he shot seven field goals, and in his customary fashion, most of those were long twos. A little over half of Jenkins’ tries this season have actually been from the very specific 16-23 foot-range, otherwise known as “the worst shot in basketball.” And while he’s been decent from this distance (to the tune of 48%), you have to wonder if he’s making it hard on himself.
It is also possible that this is a survival mechanism for Jenkins. He isn’t blessed with great quickness, or the ability to create his own shot otherwise. By becoming a “bad shot” specialist, the second rounder just might eek out a niche in this league. So many of these jumpers are wide-the-hell open, as most defenses would rather tend to other areas of the floor.
I’m not sure if this is a sustainable game for Jenkins, and it’s not exactly like he’s setting the rookie rankings on fire with a 13.02 PER. But his dedication to mastering this dying art bears some attention going forward. There could be opportunity in becoming excellent at the shot defenses beg you to take.