Ivica "The Croatato" Zubac started this game, played the first four minutes (picking up a point, a foul, and a rebound), and then got subbed out for JaMychal Green. He didn't come back into the game until there was one minute left in the third quarter. That seemed weird to me so I rewatched the part of the game where he got taken out of the game for the first time (and only time, as it turned out). I thought for sure he had suffered some kind of minor injury that would require him to sit out for a quarter or two, and that's why he was being yanked so quickly. Nope! He just left the game because Doc Rivers wanted him to, and then he didn't come back in until the game was way out of hand, even though he was the starter and everybody in Croatia was pining for him to get back on the court (they didn't wake up at an ungodly hour to watch the game only to watch JaMychal Green, after all).
I checked the box-scores for the first two games; Zubac only played ten and nine minutes respectively in those games. This is after receiving around 20 MPG in the regular season after the inter-LA trade sent him to the Clippers. There's something about this Warriors matchup that Doc has decided is extremely unfavorable for Zubac. Either that, or he's decided that Montrezl Harrell (the speedy high-flyer) is much more favorable against the Warriors than Zubac (the lumbering old-school guy) is.
It's probably not wise to argue against such a well-respected coach, so I won't try too hard here. But I think Zubac could be playing a little more. As evidenced here, he can score inside with relative ease. Players like Kevon Looney aren't really able to hold him. Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut, yeah, they'll do a better job and preventing Zubac from getting what he wants, but there's gotta be some way for Zubac to see the floor more. And this is coming from a certified Harrell booster who wishes that Harrell got forty minutes per game.
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