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It’s time. You all know what this is. Do a big post. I dare you. Funny pictures are not mandatory but are definitely recommended. If your team is Back, let us know. Include fun facts, real or pretend. Do NOT post meaningless workout videos of Ben Simmons. The word Asset is banned in this thread. This thread is about people. Hoopers, ballers, chuckers, and otherwise. I’ll start for everyone, but if reading this makes you get a Hankerin for some ball, consider joining the Preseason GDT thread linked here as well. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=4043563 ——————————— THE PHOENIX SUNS…BABY  Last season the suns started off hot, had some injury issues, fell apart for a bit, and started to recover before the all star break as Mikal Bridges started to break out as a scorer in addition to his consistently elite defensive performance. Then kyrie Irving demanded a trade to a city with less Jewish people and everything changed. Kevin Durant was traded for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and a zillion picks. Oh, and the BOSSMANN too. KD was out with a nagging injury until a few games after the allstar break, but when he came back the suns won every game he played. He twisted his ankle in warmups and ended up only playing like eight games in the regular season, which came back to bite them later. After waxing the heavily injured Clippers behind a “spiritual” performance from booker in round one, the suns ran into the nuggets buzzsaw and lost in six games despite another incredible series from booker; their relatively unsettled roster, inflexible coaching, a diminished or unavailable Chris Paul, and a borderline unplayable deandre ayton were too much to overcome. They got cooked on their home court in an elimination game for the second straight season, but nobody was really too upset about it this time. It helped that the nuggets ended up going the distance, and it didn’t go unnoticed that the suns played Denver a lot closer than either the Lakers in the conference finals or the heats in the finals. As a thank you for getting them to the playoffs three years in a row, the team fired Monty Williams and then overhauled the roster entirely, with six total players returning from last year’s squad. Lol.   Monty Williams, you were a good coach and would probably still be here if the team did not have a new owner. It was time. you brought the team back not only to relevancy, but had them excelling within two years of your arrival.  Chris Paul, thank you for your service. You had two incredible seasons and one that was a bit of a letdown. Wish we had won that finals for you.  Cam Payne, I’ll miss you dearly, you were fun to watch and would have fit in well with what this year’s team will be doing. I’m glad you were able to get your career back on track here.  Torrey Craig, you busted your rear end here last season and were a great piece on the finals team. Get that money.   Jock landale and Bismack Biyombo, thank you for being professionals and giving a ton of effort.  Other bench guys who I’m forgetting because it was so long ago, good luck with what you’re doing.  Landry shamet, you had approximately one good game as a Sun and were a total waste of a roster spot otherwise. Good riddance.  Alejandro Ayton, enjoy Portland. Try hard there and you might get to be the first option on another bad team when you get moved alongside anfernee simons or something. Idk  Josh Ayton, enjoy Portland. Try hard there and you might get to be the first option on another bad team when you get moved alongside anfernee simons or something. Idk  Deandre Ayton, I’m glad I don’t have to talk about or think about you in the context of playing for the suns any more. The valley oop was awesome and so was the rest of the finals run but it was all downhill from there. MEET THE 2023-24 SUNS  Frank Vogel is the new coach of the Suns. After firing Monty Williams a number of names, ranging from nightmarish (doc rivers, mark Jackson) to young up and comers (Kevin young, jordi Fernandez) were bandied about; they settled on a guy with a resume for good defense and the ability to manage high level players. I think most suns fans are basically fine with this hire, especially since they were able to retain Kevin young, presumably to run the offensive side of things. The Big 3  Devin Booker leveled up yet again in the playoffs last year, and before a lackluster games five and six against the nuggets he had an insane bball fugue that was rivaled only by jokic. Pretty good! He has a very good signature shoe coming out soon. Favorite food: chicken Bradley Beal is new to the suns after spending his whole career in DC before forcing a trade here. He has had some injury issues as of late but is still an excellent scorer who can play well on or off ball. Favorite food: chicken Kevin Durant had one of the best midrange shooting seasons of all time last year. He is still very excellent at basketball when he is on the court. Favorite food: chicken Everybody Else  Jusif Nurkic has been hurt a lot over the last few seasons. The suns acquired him in the Deandre ayton trade and are hoping that just having somebody who actually wants to be here will be a positive at the position since there won’t be a ton of shots to go around for him. Favorite food: chicken  Josh Okogie is one of the remaining guys from last season. An undersized but tenacious defender, looked good in the regular season but fell apart offensively in the playoffs. His shot is super streaky at best and he got run off the floor. Started the first preseason game with the previously listed four dudes, is probably gonna start unless the next guy shows him up. Favorite food: chicken  Keita Bates-Diop is on a minimum having come over from the Spurs. A long athletic guy with a crazy wingspan. He seems like exactly the kind of player frank Vogel would want to fill that last spot but we’ll see. Favorite food: chicken  Eric Gordon finally is a sun. He’ll get to just come off the bench and shoot like crazy. Perfect role player for this team as constructed. Favorite food: chicken  Grey/Gray Son Allen also came over in the ayton trade. Could start if booker or Beal misses time but will probably be coming off the bench. Another 3&D fit for what you want around the stars. Favorite food: chicken  Drew eubanks was in line to back up Ayton, now he’s backing up nurkic again. Will probably play a lot given nurk’s injury history. Favorite food: chicken  Yuta watanabe is here because KD wanted him here. His corner 3 is good and he’s another guy with a huge wingspan. Has not been good defensively BUT if vogel can get any improvement out of him on that side of the ball then he will be extremely valuable. Favorite food: chicken At this point we get into the guys who probably won’t play much. Bol Bol, chimezie metu, nassir little, Keon Johnson, Saben lee, ish wainright, and Jordan Goodwin. I think at least two of these guys will get cut. Jordan Goodwin will probably see the most time out of the bunch if I had to guess, but if nurkic misses extended time I bet metu will play over Bol. Damion lee was here last season and was a high percentage 3 point shooter, apparently he hurt his knee and probably will not be playing. These guys all like chicken too Qs And As Can this team play defense? They should be ok, best case scenario they are top 10 but I think 12-15 is more realistic. Beal is the worst defender of the starters but booker and Durant are both good defenders. Nurkic might have some issues. Either okogie or KBD will probably be the fifth starter and they’re both good. They could be better than I’m thinking off the strength of the coach but I’m gonna wait and see on that. I think the construction before moving ayton definitely seemed intended to collect big guys with big wingspans who have the potential to be plus defenders with a coach who knows what he’s doing. We’ll see. I’m not overly concerned because… There’s only one ball. Why team construct this way? Each one of the big three are excellent both as ball dominant scorers or off ball shooters, Beal and booker will likely both be primary ball handlers. It looks like the coaching staff is wanting to push the tempo and attack which makes sense when you have three elite shooters who can create their own shot, create for others, and catch and shoot all at allstar levels. This team is going to score a shitload of points, and has the potential and star power to score so much and so efficiently that it doesn’t matter if the defense is just ok. Can these guys stay healthy? I mean…probably not? Beal has been shut down for tanking reasons a few times and has had some injury history. Durant has well documented injury history and booker has occasional hamstring issues. That being said, there’s enough scoring firepower that I don’t think the team suffers much with one of them out. From the look of things the rotation will have enough capable bodies that they don’t need to overload any of the big three. Should be fine unless they all get hurt. Booker is the youngest and healthiest, as long as he’s out there it should be fine. Prognosis The suns are going to loving shred, hard. If not the favorite to win the finals they should at least be a favorite to make it there. This team is stacked and has solid guys around the big three. They are gonna be so fun to watch. Ok bye.
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Oct 10, 2023 23:39
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If their favorite food is chicken why’d they get devoured by nuggets
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Oct 11, 2023 00:47
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You’d have to ask them. I do not have the answers you seek. Good night
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Oct 11, 2023 00:49
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kingcobweb posted:If their favorite food is chicken why’d they get devoured by nuggets they got lost in the sauce
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Oct 11, 2023 00:55
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The Chicago Bulls are Running it BACK Last Season The Bulls pretty much brought back their 2021-22 team except without Lonzo Ball. They finished 40-42 and got the ninth seed. In the first play-in game, they felled the Toronto Raptors because DeMar DeRozan's daughter screamed at them and made them miss a bunch of free throws, then they nearly defeated the Heat before Jimmy Butler went Jimmy Buckets Mode on them and knocked them out of the playoffs. The season was by all accounts extremely disappointing and it would seem like the current iteration of the Bulls has hit its ceiling with two of its top players entering their mid 30s and Lonzo Ball out for another year with another knee surgery. Instead, Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley decided to give it another shot and bring back basically the same roster for the third year in a row hoping to magically just be much better. If and when the Bulls crash out of the playoffs (they should at least make the play-in again), it will be time for some big decisions with DeRozan's contract up. If the team completely sucks, they could have a fire sale at the deadline and try to recoup the picks they lost going all in on this extremely mediocre team that I love with all of my heart and will get mad about if other people say they stink. KEY LOSSES  Derrick Jones Jr.  Javonte Green  Javonte Green  Javonte Green  Javonte Green  Javonte Green MEET THE TEAM  Zach LaVine, SG LaVine is what he is at this point: one of the most efficient scoring guards in the NBA and that's about it. Despite handing him a max contract, if you believe online rumor mongers, the Bulls have been unsuccessfully attempting to trade him all summer except he doesn't seem to have a lot of trade value around the league. That's insane. In my opinion, national NBA writers, who do not watch the Bulls, focus exclusively on what Zach cannot do (make plays, play effective team defense, not do a really boneheaded thing every game) instead of the fact that he is an elite scorer who would be unstoppable in a smaller role on a contender. LaVine is also either very good a managing his public persona or is the most boring person who has ever lived and has never said or done anything interesting, except kind of get mad at Jim Boylen a few times. I WILL NOT tolerate Zach LaVine slander unless he is traded to a team I dislike in which case he is an empty boxscore chump.  DeMar DeRozan, F DeMar is one of the greatest midrange scorers in the game today, he is clutch, he is an underrated passer, and a cool dude. It drives me nuts that modern basketball has made his talents less obvious: DeMar would be a far more valuable player if, instead of completely mastering a set of scoring skills that almost no one else has, he was 50% worse at basketball but just shot more threes. That's bullshit, to me. Everyone knows DeMar is going to the free throw line and taking 75 pump fakes and then shooting that midrange or spinning around and putting up a layup and no one can stop it. DeRozan is a free agent next season, and it would probably be dumb to give him a huge contract, but I wouldn't mind continuing to watch him cook.  Nikola Vučević, C Vooch is not a Modern Center. He is not a rim protector, he is slow, his post-up moves are archaic, and his outside shooting is overrated because his name ends in "-ic." The Bulls brought him back on a large contract because, due to the vagaries of the salary cap, they essentially had no choice. A lot of Bulls fans are down on the big man because he will invariably get destroyed by one of the superstar centers every time they come to town. But when Vooch is aggressive and able to get to his spots inside, he can dominate a game and is pretty much an automatic double-double. Apparently he met with Donovan and they agreed to run some more offense through him as part of his decision to return (also it is likely no other team would offer him nearly as much money and years on his contract lol), so we'll see how his role might change this year. Probably impossible to get off his contract for at least two years.  Patrick Williams, F The Bulls could get much better if Williams makes The Leap this season, and gets more aggressive on defense. This is the third year in a row hearing this. Williams has evolved into a decent defensive player and a high percentage (though low attempts) three-point shooter, but at some point he's going to have to show that he can actually do something on the court other than just be a cromulent rotation player. There's an argument that Williams has no chance to flourish here with DeMar, Zach, and Vooch all needing the ball, but I hope they can find something for him to do other than stand in the corner and gradually shoot three pointers. Williams is still very young but the Bulls will have to move him or pay him next year and it's starting to look like he might be another player that flourishes after leaving the Bulls no matter how many training sessions he has with DeMar.  Coby White, G It looked like Coby would be yet another underwhelming Bulls pick sent out to flourish elsewhere like fellow #7 picks Lori Markkanen and Wendell Carter, but Coby came on late last year and turned into an important weapon. White is still very fast and is also the second-best shooter on the team and he seemed great in his role of sixth man instant offense. But the Bulls are the Bulls and did not sign a starting point guard despite knowing that Lonzo is out, and there's a decent shot he'll be the starting PG this season after miserably failing in that role a few years ago. Coby is a much better player now and gives the Big Three some desperately-needed spacing with his shooting, but he is still not the passer they need in that role. At worst, though, he can head back to the bench.  Potential Hair Theory Experiment BENCH  Alex Caruso, G Caruso finally got a that First Team All Defense nod last season. This aerodynamic, penis-shaped man is one of the best defensive players in the NBA and will fling himself around the court with relentless abandon. He got stuck guarding much bigger players last season often, but shines locking down guards and wings and hurtling himself through screens. Unfortunately, his shooting never really developed and he's not much of a point guard, but that's not what he's here for. Expect to see his name in trade rumors all season.  Jevon Carter, PG Another relentless dog at PG who also shoots threes, Carter is also From Chicago, which is incredibly important for the current Bulls FO. Carter's offensive specialty is launching fastbreak threes, which will help the team's goal of playing faster and shooting more from distance. Carter's biggest weakness is that he's only 6'1." He could start, or he could play a lot with Caruso forming one of the most annoying guard tandems in the NBA for opponents.  Torrey Craig, F Another 3 and D guy, but Craig is 6'7." Was a rotational player for actual good teams and gives the Bulls an actual power forward after the Bulls have been relying on 6'3" guys to play the four for the past couple of years.  Andre Drummond, C There's a clip of Andre Drummond in summer league telling rookies about how he went from a max salary guy to a minimum salary guy and how quickly things can turn for you in the NBA. His lesson was professionalism, but perhaps he should warn them about how through no fault of your own the entire way that NBA basketball can change and leave you in the cold. Drummond is a relic, one of the last of the Big Centers who rebound and do post moves and no longer get paid or drafted high or at all, but Drummond still offers something an NBA team needs: he is loving huge. Big Andre is an absolute load and still dominates on the glass, and the Bulls absolutely need some competent size off the bench. The tradeoff is that Drummond is a bit of a goofball and it is in his contract that he gets to do one profoundly stupid backwards pass or crossover move per game, but I really liked having this dude on the bench last year to shove guys around when Vooch is out and absorb some fouls against Embiid or Jokic and the other star big men. Ayo Dosunmu Ayo had a bit of a sophomore slump and, with the Carter signing, seems in danger of falling out of the rotation. The Bulls still signed him to an extension and it's never bad to have young guards who can play defense and move the ball under contract-- in my opinion, Ayo was the best Bulls guard at getting Vooch the ball on the roll-- but if he can substantially increase his three point shooting, he will carve out a role for himself. I'm rooting for him! Dalen Terry The Bulls' last first-round pick in 2022, Terry was barely able to get on the court. He was drafted as a raw, toolsy defender with playmaking upside, but was a turnover machine in the G-League and right now looks like a complete bust. Short of a disastrous wave of injuries, it is hard to see how he gets on the court this year. Elite bench celebrator. Julian Phillips, F The Bulls didn't have a first-rounder this year, but picked Phillips in the second. Like Terry, a long defensive stopper with a questionable shot and a long road to playing in the NBA. Will mostly be a G League guy this year. My friend saw him in the elevator when accidentally staying in the hotel that all of the draft prospects were in on an unrelated trip to Chicago and I have inside intel that he is very polite to random dudes in elevators. Onuralp Bitim Turkish dunk champion and shooter who was signed to a 2-way, probably won't play for the Bulls this year but they really need a guy like this. SEASON OUTLOOK I genuinely think the Bulls will be better this year. They have better role players, two young guys who could improve, and had really bad luck in close games last year. Will all of that add up to actually winning a playoff series this year? Probably not. If you're a person who can't stand to watch basketball teams unless they will win championships, then you will not like the Bulls. If you like decently competent ball with some fun dudes, you could do worse. My prediction is 7th seed and first-round exit. R.D. Mangles fucked around with this message at 05:26 on Oct 11, 2023 |
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Oct 11, 2023 05:11
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I hope someone does Orlando. They are a strange mixture of very good young talent and veteran question marks, and not a ton of minutes for their million wings. Plus they have badass Trevelin Queen and anti-badass Jett Howard. Vegas has them winning 36 games.
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Oct 11, 2023 15:19
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man
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Generally, I root for the bulls to either be miserable dog poo poo bad or just good enough to get out the hopes of the bulls posters before eating poo poo in the playoffs. Bonus points awarded when a mediocre roleplayer like Derrick rose gets hyped up because they are from chicago
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Oct 11, 2023 18:34
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bumping this thread 
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Oct 20, 2023 03:16
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Entering year 16 or so of sadness and year four of a full-scale rebuild, it's your Detroit Pistons! Detroit had the second worst record in franchise history and the worst record in the NBA last season. Their reward? The number 5 pick in what was widely considered a two-prospect draft (with a wide gulf between 1 and 2 at that). The lottery gods did not smile upon them twice in three years. The vibes are still better than the end of the Van Gundy/8 seed or bust era, but how much more patience will fans have without significant improvement? This season will tell us a lot about that. HEAD COACH Monty Williams: The biggest move of the offseason did not involve players. After putting in the work to develop a rotating group of youngsters for several years, Dwane Casey got kicked upstairs to the front office and Tom Gores threw a shitload of money at Monty after his departure from Phoenix. He did a pretty incredible job turning the Sun around and getting them two games away from their first championship. This roster is far from that, but both his cultural and on-court changes should hopefully kick it up a notch. GUARDS PG Cade Cunningham: I'll repeat myself from last year--the hopes of this franchise rest on the shoulders of 2021's first overall pick. Cade got off to a great start last season, putting up basically a 20-6-6 line in 12 games. Unfortunately, chronic shin troubles nagged him and both he and the team decided it was in the best interests of all parties that he get surgery and miss the rest of the season. That's a pretty critical year of development for the franchise player to miss, but the restored Cade impressed with the Team USA select squad and pundits are expecting a leap from the giant point guard. If all goes right, he could be practically Doncician. SG/PG Jaden Ivey: Last year's exciting high lottery pick. Detroit brass hopes that the Purdue product can form the franchise's next star backcourt tandem with Cunningham. As a rookie, Jaden was almost too explosive for his own good. He could get to the rack in a flash but would often end up under the rim. His jumper also needs work and his defense was bad of course. But Ivey has all-star talent and got 3/4 of a season running the show, to the tune of 16 points, five assists and four boards a game. He is almost as tantalizing in his potential as Cade. PG Killian Hayes: For the fourth year in a row, we will try to determine if the Kevin O'Connor's favorite Frenchman belongs in the NBA. Most of the time, he's the epitome of "Get ready to learn Chinese, buddy." But he showed flashes of competence last season, particularly when he outdueled Luka Doncic in an overtime thriller. At best though he's just escargot Elfrid Payton. I am ready to move on from the Killian experiment. PG Monte Morris: A native son comes home. Flint's own Monte Morris has been one of the best backup PGs in the league for some time. His veteran presence is very welcome while also being an upgrade over the likes of Cory Joseph. SG Alec Burks: A calming veteran presence and bucket getter off the bench. Basically kept the second unit afloat last year. PG Marcus Sasser: The second first round pick from this past draft. The rookie was the lead guard for a rugged Houston team and a dangerous three-point shooter. Not sure how much playing time he'll get. He had a 40-point game in Summer League. WINGS SF/PF Bojan Bogdanovic: By far the best player on the team last year. The Serbian sharpshooter was one of the only veterans and only players who could create their own shot. Many expected him to be traded to a contender, but he was actually signed to an extension and the FO seems to view him as a bridge to future success. I've really enjoyed having him around. SF Ausar Thompson: Our top pick this year. The consensus second best twin from the weird basketball influencer academy Overtime Elite. Had a really nice Summer League and draws a lot of comparisons to Andre Iguodala. Looking forward to seeing how he looks. SG/SF Joe Harris: The oft-injured Nets sharpshooter was I guess the highest profile acquisition of the offseason. For a team that desperately needs shooting he could be quite helpful. Or he might just be busted. PF/SF Isaiah Livers: An inconsistent but sometime useful presence. The team has always seemed to like him but I don't think he has a place here for much longer if the team is taking the next step. Shoots 37% from three. BIGS Jalen Duren: The steal of the 2022 draft. Duren was the youngest player in the league last year but quickly established himself as a ferocious rim-runner and rebounder. Hard-nosed, high-energy and good for a couple of throwdowns a game. He was my favorite Piston last year and also got to play on USA Select with Cade Cunningham. Their two-man game could be something special. Isaiah Stewart: Beef Stew is a classic type of Detroit fan favorite. An undersized center who plays like a junkyard dog and once tried to kill LeBron James. Opened last season with a game-sealing three against Orlando, but he has still yet to shoot better than 33% from outside. As beloved as he is, he's also extremely limited. Marvin Bagley III: Failed #2 pick from a Northern California team that we're trying to reclaim. Played well enough at the end of 2022 to get a nice contract, but was hurt for much of last season and underwhelming when he did play. Contract is expiring I believe. James Wiseman: Failed #2 pick from a Northern California team that we're trying to reclaim. Basically doubled his Golden State production with double the minutes--in other words, not particularly improved in the new location at first. Shot less than one three a game at a hideous 16.7%. Still unclear why we grabbed him. TWO-WAYS AND FRINGE GUYS ON THE PRESEASON ROSTER PG Zavier Simpson, SG Malcolm Cazalon, SG Jared Rhoden, SG Stanley Umude, SF Buddy Boeheim, PF Tosan Evbuomwan, PF Jontay Porter (Michael's brother). Rhoden and Cazalon are on two-ways. The former played 14 games last year; the latter is a French rookie from Serbian power Mega Basket. OUTLOOK: Still bad, but better Henchman of Santa fucked around with this message at 05:42 on Oct 20, 2023 |
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Oct 20, 2023 04:02
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Your defending champion DENVER NUGGETS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK4T2KqROPM All it takes to go from underdogs to favorites (at least to come out of the West) is actually winning the championship, it seems. So do they have what it takes to repeat? Notable losses from 2022-23 Bruce Brown (PG/SG/SF/PF): 6th man swiss army knife, he wasn't just a bench player. Rather, he was the 6th starter, the guy who plugged in to the starting lineup whenever someone had to rest, and he played a lot of minutes next to Jokic. Neither his basic stats (11.5/4.1/3.4) nor his advanced (below-average PER, win shares/48, decent efficiency but below-average usage rate) speak to how he could do basically anything the Nuggets needed him to do. The question, then: how can the Nuggets replace what Bruce brought, both as a guy who could fill holes in the starting lineup and be the most useful player off the bench? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlxVS8pac2g Jeff Green (PF/C): while the questions about how losing Bruce will affect the team are valid, the same isn't true for Jeff. Despite some age-defying dunks, Jeff was simply past his time as an NBA player, and should never have won his rotation spot last year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be-mh7V3qIA Vlatko Čančar (SF/PF): still on the team, but out for the season with an ACL tear. Get will soon, Vlatko. Even though he (unjustly) lost his rotation spot last year, he's one of the best halfcourt shot guys in the league. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi7UBf9c96Q The starters! The starting five returns in its entirety from last year, when it was the most dominant in the sport. Nikola Jokić (Nikola Jokić): after winning two MVPs, it wasn't until after he lost what would have been his third MVP that people will off-handedly refer to him as the best player in basketball. All those obnoxious betting sites have him as the favorite to win MVP this year, as well. The biggest question for him this season is: will he continue to prioritize scoring, or play facilitator to a fault, as he did at the beginning of last year? He seems to have accepted that no one can stop his scoring 1-on-1, which fits with... Jamal Murray (PG/SG): we've known since the bubble that Jamal can put up 50-point games when he needs to, but his passing and court vision took huge strides this last year. No longer just a Kobe-style scorer who wants to pull up into contested jumpers all the time (though he still will do that), he got his first ever triple-double this past regular season, with his second coming in the finals, where he averaged ten assists a game. He had an understandably slow start in the 2022-23 season as he recovered from his injury, but he truly is better than ever now. It would be surprising if Jamal doesn't make his first ever all-star team this year. Aaron Gordon (PF/C (playoffs only)): 181 dunks in the regular season, or 2.66 per game. It's safe to say that AG fits into Denver's system perfectly: he's a great defender on big, strong guys, and KCP on the roster means he doesn't have to chase Trae Young around any more. On offense, instead of Jamal Murray's return meaning an even more reduced role for AG, his usage went up, and he scored more per game than all but one of his years in Orlando. Plays like this, designed to get passes from Jokic to AG, are a big reason why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVGI1X6tBfQ That said, he has his weaknesses. His shooting is still below-average, so opponents can leave him open at the three-point line, and his foul shooting is bad enough that hack-a-Gordon would yield fewer points per possession than letting the Nuggets starting unit play normally. Michael Porter Jr. (SF): despite the GM publicly calling him a "me guy," he fits in well with Denver's system as well. Shooting 41.4% from three overall and an absurd 51.8% from the corners, his existence on the court means there's a guy you cannot leave even to stop a layup. He's battled injuries his whole career, but played more games (by one) in the 2023 season than he ever has before. That Monstars stole his talent in the playoffs and the team still won it all shows the depth of their offense. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (SG): if you could create a 2-guard role player in a lab, you'd end up with KCP. Aside from being a phenomenal shooter (with some mostly-vestigial creation abilities), his defense is fantastic, specifically his screen navigation. I've never seen anyone draw as many illegal screen offensive fouls as him (but I haven't watched much Caruso, I admit). The bench! If the Nuggets underachieve this year, it'll have something to do with the bench. The front office seems to have intentionally gotten rid of reliable veteran guys that Malone can play instead of the youngsters the front office wants to see, and bench lineups are going to be heavily dependent on rookie and sophomore players. Christian Braun (SG/SF/it's pronounced "brown"): as a rookie, he outperformed what was expected, serving as a useful role player even in the finals. That was playing 15.5 MPG in the regular season, and 13 in the playoffs, though, but without Bruce ahead of him, it's going to mean a huge increase in role for Christian. He came into the league an athletic terror on defense: big, strong, fast enough to stay with guards and long enough to swallow their shots. Can he improve above 35% from three? Were his on-ball skills real, or just one-off plays? Expect him to play about 25mpg, because the Nuggets have essentially no other options. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcZ1B4QjhE0 Justin Holiday (SG/SF): okay, maybe the one other option, the "we have J Holiday at home" option. I haven't watched him much, but he should be a Reliable Vet for Malone to play at the wing off the bench. Reggie Jackson (PG): hoo boy. Gotta be honest, in his minutes last year, he looked bad. But, there's no one else who can play backup point, soooooo let's hope he takes advantage of the offseason and training camp and bounces back. Zeke Nnaji (PF/C): a stretch 4 the Nuggets just extended, with the idea of making him a long-term backup for Jokic. He's looked good when the coaching staff gives him the opportunity, but it's been in very limited bursts outside of garbage time. Can switch on defense, but still seemed to be learning how to switch. Good outside shot, but his bad FT% might mean that's fake. Has a good nose for the ball on the offensive glass, but doesn't use his size well enough on the defensive glass to keep people from sneaking by him to steal those rebounds. I'm nervously optimistic in what he'll show in a solid 10-18 MPG. Chances are, his on/off numbers will be among the worst in the league because of who he's replacing. Julian Strawther (SG/SF): rookie out of Gonzaga who was absolutely scorching the nets in preseason. Moved and cut like he'd been playing with the team for years. Others! DeAndre Jordan (C): by all accounts one of the nicest guys in the NBA. Locker room presence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXK0xYZ7KOo Peyton Watson (SF/PF): he looked good last season, but early signs are that he'll get buried. It's a shame, he has a ton of defensive potential and improved rapidly. Colin Gillespie (PG): undrafted guy who missed the last season with injury, so this is his redshirt rookie year. Jalen Pickett (PG): rookie, plays an Andre Miller style back-to-the-basket playmaking style they call "booty ball." Hunter Tyson (PF): rookie, stretch 4 that can defend, supposedly. Coaching! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GIr8Dzq2To Michael Malone got the faith of the ownership over the past several years, or at least, they're so cheap they didn't want to pay extra to fire him and replace him with someone else. And, obviously, it paid off. Old school sort of coach, he's the son of Brendan Malone (RIP) and paid his dues for many years, including as the architect of a great Pacers defense as an assistant. Annoying fans constantly call for his firing over ROTATIONS just like every other team's annoying fans do, but only the critique of not playing young guys enough really lands, to me.Stats and predictions! Last year's ORTG: 117.6 (5th of 30) Up or down in 2024? Up: Jamal will play even better. Last year's DRTG: 114.2 (15th of 30) Up or down in 2024? Up: this was mostly a product of playing down to what was needed to win the West; I expect a little more competitiveness in the division this year. Last year's record: 53-29 Up or down in 2024? Up, as above. Last year's result: championship! The same or down in 2024? RUNNING IT BACK kingcobweb fucked around with this message at 23:23 on Oct 23, 2023 |
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Oct 23, 2023 22:49
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Henchman of Santa posted:Entering year 16 or so of sadness and year four of a full-scale rebuild, it's your Detroit Pistons! Nice writeup. Appeciate it. I'll add my sarcastic/sad/flickering ember of insights where I can Cade: cade is a "jumbo creator" but his career is threatening to tumble down to "just a starter" from "serial all star" potential. Vegan diet leaves his bones brittle. Big hair has destroyed his once promising jumper. Ivey: Ivey took all his unsupervised time as lead guard to heart and added things to his game at a crazy rate last year, really making the WNBA coaching experience look wise after he was able to add change of speed and a few other bits during active games. He's really important as a turbo counterweight to cade's super slow game Killian Hayes: again has partially seduced a coach with his bigness, defense, and passing. Hit shots in preseason but continuing to do so would be a shock to the world Monte Morris: Flint town's own. the most median nba pg. But monty might be smart to play him as the nominal 1 with cade at three to add some spacing Alec Burks: was at times the team's second best player last year. crafty foul drawer and good shooter. He may replace jaden ivey with the starters to help spacing at himes, if monty knows what's good for him Marcus Sasser: fireplug pg who can shoot. only question is his size. Bogdanovic: actually the balding croat one, the better one. The best player on the team for a lot of last year. super crafty and good shooter. no defense or rebounding to be found. A key cog for any cade lineup that wants to play nba basketball. Ausar Thompson: has been all over the court, just doing good things everywhere with a crazy bball iq. will gamble with his hands at times. Needs the jumper. definitely most potential of all chaos ball wings detroits rotated in during t weaver era. Joe Harris: has been washed for 2 years. If he. can give 10 minutes of spacing and passing a night everyone in the org will be thrilled Beef Stew: undersized 5 pushed down to 4 due to lack of options. can make 2 corner threes a game. tough and rugged on defense although limited by height and total lack of pf footwork Duren: Promising young muscle man center with athleticism to spare. At this point is an o rebounder and short roll passer. Needs to become a rim protector or everything else doesn't matter. We already had the andre d rummond experience, aren't looking to repeat it Marvin Bagley: midrange gunner who's been pushed to 5 due to his poo poo defense and lack of 3p shooting. will pop off and have good box score games every once in a while James Wiseman: just talented enough to trick the FO into playing him. draft bust trying to prove he isn't Isaiah Livers: a jack of all trades 3/4 whose jumper left him with the growth of his hair: probably just a guy, but will get minutes due to lack of alternatives. jared rhoden and stanley umude are the fringe guys who'll get the most playing time due to scarcity of 3's and 4's on the team
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Oct 24, 2023 01:27
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Can't believe I flipped my Bogdanovic nationalities again. I'd had it right for years!
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Oct 24, 2023 01:52
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Hornets Michael Jordan, Owner: Not even technically gone, he's still around as "alternate governor" and all his cronies (Assistant GM / former roommate Buzz Peterson, President / former agent Fred Whitfield, various family members on the business side) still clog up the front office. Jordan needed to sell the team to someone who was going to massively revamp things, but instead he just passed the baton to two guys who have been part of the recent Hawks ownership clusterfuck (one of whom managed to lose billions of dollars on Gamestop stock). Feels like MJ just shaved off a few percentage points of his ownership share so people would give him less poo poo about being one of the worst owners in sports Steve Clifford, Coach: Honestly one of the better outcomes after the Kenny Atkinson fiasco while still being both funny and depressing. Clifford will wring the juice out of a team that's gunning for the play-in, and he and Mark Williams seem like a match made in heaven. LaMelo Ball (PG), Star: Last year was such a lost season for the team that it was hard to see growth from Melo, even though some of his per game stats ticked up a bit. Didn't help that he was in and out of the lineup and only made it to 36 mostly futile games. Have a nagging worry that he's already near his peak due to his just ok athleticism (he really struggles to finish at the rim) and non-traditional path to the league, and slowing his game down a bit would probably help. Looking forward to seeing a little development on his pick-and-roll set play now that he has a giant lob threat in Mark Williams. Still a great player and obviously a positive on the floor despite some limitations. Miles Bridges (SF/PF), Pariah: Even though they haven't cut him I don't think he'll play this season. Once he has his court date over the new allegations in Nov., the league will likely throw down a new, longer suspension. They should still cut him though Brandon Miller(SG/SF), Rookie: Spent the entire pre-season talking about how he wanted to fit in, and his game reflected that. Took open shots but mostly deferred and moved the ball, played hard but just ok on defense. Really struggled from three-point range in the exhibition games but I'm not worried about that at all. Not great one-on-one due to his shaky handle and mediocre first step, which leads to a lot of ugly turnovers. The team would probably be best served starting him and letting Gordan Hayward run the bench unit but I'm not sure if GH would go for that. I like Miller's long-term potential but think he'll probably need a few seasons to cook. I hope the non-stop comparisons to Scoot don't get him down too bad. Mark Williams (C), Sophomore: Just irrationally excited about this guy, since the Hornets have rotated through centers year after year for literal decades now. (Cody Zeller is the best center in franchise history by win shares.) Big body, lob threat, shotblocker, vacuums rebounds, covers ground well for his size, scores at a good enough clip. Steadily improved throughout the season and finished really strong, looked extremely comfortable next to the starters. The defense actually looked coherent in their preseason games (Celtics game aside) and that's mostly due to him. Can't wait to see what a full season with him looks like. PJ Washington (PF), Variable: PJ gives you consistent flexibility on defense and a total crapshoot on offense. That's mostly due to matchups, since he's a 6'7" (generous) PF, but he can also just take over or disappear on the court seemingly depending on his mood. His efficiency took a nosedive last year as he was asked to fill in for Miles Bridges (and produce with half the roster out). Has added a teardrop and refined his funky post game over the years. They'll probably regret only locking him down for three years this summer, but I think that has more to do with how hard it is to attract talent to Charlotte and less with PJ quietly being a hidden star. Happy to be proven wrong, and there's definitely the potential there if he can reach a higher level with his three-point shot. Terry Rozier (PG/SG), A Mixed Bag: Another player who suffered from having to do way too much last year. Seemed particularly motivated this offseason. Probably a little underrated by Hornets fans since they despise him for what he isn't. His kind of shotmaking ability is rare even at the NBA level, and that's useful on a team that can struggle to get anything going in half-court sets. His size will always be a limitation even playing next to a big point in LaMelo. He's constantly being forced into running the second unit due to poor roster construction and injuries, which is frustrating for everybody. If the season goes south, I could see him being traded to a contender and the team moving forward with a LaMelo / Miller / Washington / Williams core. Probably for the best but they'd miss his spark. Gordon Hayward (SF), Playing Out The String: Another trade candidate, though a buyout is maybe more likely since his contract is so big. Still effective when he plays, able to grind out some offense with crusty old-guy fadeaways, but there's a hard 50-game cap on what he can give you. His signing was ultimately a failed experiment since A) I don't think he was the best vet to bring Melo along, B) he couldn't get them to the playoffs, C) it doesn't look like he'll actually get them anything in a trade, but in the end it's hard to complain too much about Melo's development curve and it's not like he actually stopped them from bottoming out. Cody Martin (SG/SF), Question Mark: Nobody knows what's going on with him right now. Missed the first half of last season with a knee injury, then played six games in January before reaggravating it. He's still working his way beck more than 10 months later and the team is being very vague about his timetable. Underrated three-and-d guy when he's healthy, and especially crucial on a team that's very thin after its top six. Nick Richards (C), NBA Player: Very happy Richards got a second contract. Just beats people up inside, grabs rebounds, finishes plays, surprisingly good shotblocker. It'd probably be better if the team had a backup center with a different look from Williams but just committing to somewhat interchangeable bruisers probably isn't the worst strategy either. Frank Ntilikina (PG/SG), Patient: Broke his leg in the fourth quarter of the team's final preseason game, which is great. Was in line to play way way too much as he's the exact type of player that Clifford gloms onto and usually gets the most out of. His injury leaves the team without a pro-level backup point guard right now, which is also great. Hopefully he can still make it back for ~50 or so games and get that next contract. JT Thor (SF/PF), NBA Player?: The team has done a decent job of coaching up their second-round picks over the last few years, mostly out of necessity, and Thor is going to be pushed into the Jalen McDaniels role this season. His three-point shot looked significantly improved in pre-season, and it's been getting praise out of camp, which would help his prospects a lot. Will be getting too much time with Miles Bridges likely out for the season, but he's the kind of weird gangly freak that you don't mind seeing on the court even if they're playing over their head. Bryce McGowens (SG/SF), Minutes Sponge: Played nearly 800 minutes last year despite not being close to replacement level, and might play more this year. Not hard to see why the team likes him, though. Makes quick and usually smart decisions with the ball, which is something the team desperately needs. Attacks the rim. Good positional size. Young. A good fit for the roster if he pans out. Nick Smith Jr. (PG/SG), Machine Gun: Hornets fans are excited about Nick but I don't see it. Wants to do way too much on offense and I can't see it working at the NBA level. Even if he claws his way out of the G League this season he's the complete opposite of a guy Clifford will want to play. James Bouknight (SG), Future PBA All-Star: Honestly never seen a lotto pick do less with their opportunity than Bouknight. Doesn't do anything particularly well on the court, visible lack of effort, off-court stuff is a bummer. Hurt to start the season. In a year when the team could desperately use a pop from one of their young guys I haven't seen anyone anywhere talk about Bouknight as a potential boost to this team. Feels like he and the team are just playing out the string until they can decline his option. Edmond Sumner (PG/SG), Dunno: Late camp signing so I don't know a ton about him. Apparently looked solid for the Nets last year as a big defensive combo guard, which means he'll probably get like 20 minutes a game for the first few months of the season given all the injuries. Theo Maledon (PG), Amari Bailey (PG), Leaky Black (SF), Two-Way Guys: Maledon is the only one of note and he might actually play a fair bit. Clifford seemed to trust him last year and I thought he played pretty well in spot minutes. Needs to develop a three-point shot if he's going to stick in the league. morestuff fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Oct 24, 2023 |
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Oct 24, 2023 19:58
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The Pups? The Pups. The Pups! Images tk, they're on my home computer. Maybe bench capsules too) Come and meet your Minnesota Timberwolves. After a decade of horrible play (and one shining moment courtesy of Jimmy Butler... at the crippling cost of Zach Lavine and, with him, the first positive vibes the org'd had since Ricky's knee exploded against the Lakers), the Timberwolves made the playoffs! Many considered them one of the most exciting young teams in basketball, largely based on Ant -- along with a nulook KAT who appeared on the fringe of becoming the Point 5 he's apparently always aspired to. The following year, last year, they did something miraculous. Something I'm told has happened before but I only have the vaguest memories of: Made the playoffs in consecutive seasons. For a franchise cursed by Sam Cassell's hips not being able to support the heft of his gigantic testicles, you would think that this would be the happiest fanbase in the league, a feel good story, the league pass darlings. Instead, we start our introduction the same way all conversations about the Wolves must begin: The Trade The Wolves dealt a metric fuckton of picks and swaps to the Utah Jazz, along with a grab bag of players that would generously be described as fringe rotation guys (miss you Vando  ). They got back Rudy Gobert. The deafening roar you hear is the laughter of the NBA commentariat, and the howls ( ) of bitterness from a fanbase that was just finally feeling like something other than a punchline. Gone was the fun energy, the "nobody believes in us but us" attitude brought by Pat Bev, the chaotic offense and defense that guaranteed watchable games. The two big fit was clunky, then KAT went down for 50+ games and things started to implode despite a passableish record from a team expected to make some noise. Turns out DLo really didn't like Gobert. He didn't like playing with him. He didn't like passing to him. He did enjoy putting Rudy in spots to look foolish, and calling out the resulting failures on the court. So come the trade deadline, the freshly hired Tim Connelly pulled off a move that may prove more impactful in time. Out went DLo, the drama*, and the Bird trap of his expiring contract. In came the grizzled Mike Conley, recent wing bust Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and a trio of second round picks (genuinely inexplicable to me how the Wolves ended up with picks from this trade). Riding a resurgent Mike Conley, a returning KAT, and an Ant who was starting to really put the pieces together, the Wolves barely scraped in to the playoffs (featuring a win-or-go-home playin victory largely determined by a suddenly not bustish NAW playing elite defense against his cousin SGA)... and got Ant his second playoff series before the age of 22. It went poorly, though that may have something to do with a pair of crucial injuries and the * from above: Rudy punching Kyle Anderson during a game just before the playoffs started.Our recent history walked through, it's time to Meet the Team StartersMike Conley Should play: 25 minutes per game for 60-70 games in the regular season Will play: Somewhat more than that as he splits time with the Wolves backup point guard   it's direHe played as a freshman at Ohio State with Greg Oden. My brain consistently rejects this fact, which means I get to be astounded again every time I see it. The last one out in Utah, Conley came over in the aforementioned DLo/Westbrook trade. After arriving at the Wolves, he knocked down 42% of his threes and started shooting more and facilitating less - with nearly 3 fewer assists per game. His familiarity with Rudy on both ends of the floor played a crucial role in driving the team forward, and the plethora of wing defenders meant that Mike was rarely stretched defensively. He can actually rebound the ball, which must have confused his teammates. By all accounts, Ant loves him. Mood: Wracked Nerves. He needs to stay healthy, he needs to stay productive, and the portrait of Greg Oden in his attic needs to keep aging in his stead. Anthony Edwards Should play: For an NBA championship before long Will play: With aspirations of a Top 6 finish in the west Ant is the most fun player in the NBA and while many things are subjective, this is not. He embodies fun. He radiates fun. He, as a rookie, all but asked Jimmy Butler if he was going to bark all day or if he was going to bite. He is a chaos golem constructed of pure joy and when that is ruined by the Timberwolves, I will be shattered. In the interim, Ant is a terribly exciting young player who seeks out firm coaching and has an astronomical ceiling. Kerr's effusive praise coming out of FIBA has set up the first season of Ant's career where he needs substantial growth to meet expectations. He could do it, but that's a big shift for the young star-in-the-making. On the plus side of his ledger, Ant can get to his spot and can drain shots, regardless of the defense, from just about anywhere. From the moment he was drafted, he was one of the most thrilling in-game dunkers in the league. He can be an elite on-ball defender (when he puts his mind to it, more below) and showed 2 seasons ago that he can really work well lurking and offball too. He can distribute well when he makes it a priority (also more below). More intangibly, he's loved and respected by his teammates regardless of age or statute and seems to see holding the team together as his responsibility. He also (at times to a fault) is going to play if he is physically able. Ant's weaknesses, especially given his age, tend more towards needing adaptation than repair. For his height and weight and athleticism, he's an incredibly mediocre finisher at the rim - Finch pegs this as his style (euros + strength) making it hard for refs to identify fouls. The directive has been to simply his game in traffic around the paint to make it more obvious (a la Jimmy). He, and we saw this in FIBA until he was spoken to by basically the whole team, knows he's often the best option on any given possession. From past interviews (pre Gobert!), he's also aware of how much better the offense is when people other than he or KAT (or at the time DLo) are going, and that means all of them need to sacrifice some usage... he just often struggles to reconcile the thoughts unless he's focused and intentional about it. His defense is markedly better late in quarters and against stars than it is during the middle of the game against 3rd options. He's not a particularly efficient scorer, in part because he's a streaky shooter, even accounting for his high usage. More specific to the Wolves in 2023, he struggles to play in structure, he has never faced drop coverage in the P&R prior to last year, he's never had to utilize a lob threat, he dribbles the air out of the ball too frequently, and he's not much of an asset offball on offense. There are two schools of thought about all of this, with the obvious caveat that the Wolves are lucky these are the biggest oncourt challenges with their 22 year old franchise foundation. One school of thought is the popular and entertaining "let Ant cook". Trying to shoehorn him in to a structured, P&R-centric offense with Rudy is going to stunt his development and not even lead to more wins in the near term. The other is what Connelly's espoused since the Rudy trade just after he came on board: What can be done now to make Ant better later? The front office is huge on playoff experience early in his career, possibly looking at the trifecta of KAT, Wig, and Zach as cautionary tales. Similarly, they seem to believe Ant will be a more complete and dangerous 27 year old if he learns some of the structure and stylistic lessons through experience in his early 20s... even if it comes with growing pains. I see both ends. If Ant can become a consistent MVP contender, he's best served being allowed to cook. If he's more like the 3rd-4th best guard/top 10 player, playoff success will require him to show flexibility and diversity. Mood: Can we have nice things? Minnesota sports fans are a wounded people. Ant won't fall to the bust outcome some warned about in the draft and early in his career, but will he reach the ceiling Kerr painted this summer? If he does, will it be in Minnesota? (  Pat).Jaden McDaniels Should play: Like the aspiring Miles Bridges many believe him to be. Also a poo poo ton of minutes at the three. Will play: As the Swiss Army knife providing both offensive and defensive versatility to a roster that will either die hammering 2 bigs for 48 minutes or thrive by pairing the versatility of its role players with the two extremely different styles of its bigs. Jaden is, depending on who you listen to: the league's best young 3&D wing, a rangy player too slight to man up on any of the league's top players without fouling, the second coming of Scottie Pippen, or the second coming of Tony Allen. He was a consensus 5* recruit who slipped in the draft due to a bunch of technicals and the resulting narratives during his year at Washington - since then, he's been the most targeted Wolves player in trade talks and 2 of the Rudy picks were reportedly due to the Wolves insisting on holding on to him (sidebar: Imagine him on the Jazz right now. That'd have been an instarebuild). He can guard 1 through (most?) 4s, and the biggest what if for Wolves fans for the next few years may be "what if the curtain he punched in last year's finale wasn't in front of a wall and he was available for the play in and first round series against the Nuggets?". Finch loves the kid (the Scottie comp was his), and it's easy to see why. As Ant develops and with NAW seemingly rising, Finch is seeking to use Jaden more offball as well, believing he's one of the better rotational rim protectors in the league but that it's not been seen since he covers everyone from Jamal to Zion. Mood: He got paid, Wolvesland is thrilled. Ant and Jaden is one hell of a foundation. Many outlets have him as a top 70 guy, longterm the biggest question (probably bigger than the specifics of Ant's ceiling) for the Wolves is if he tops out at Top 20, Top 40, or if he plateaus. Karl Anthony Towns The self-proclaimed greatest big man shooter of all time... isn't totally offbase? He's an extremely efficient and effective post player. He's an upper echelon shooter To his credit - making the Gobert trade required him to leave his comfort zone and spend more time in situations that highlight his shortcomings. He responded by doing the most (and too often, too much) to get Rudy integrated on the offensive end before he went down for the bulk of the season with a severe calf strain. Since being drafted in 2015, he's on his 4th head coach and 8th general manager/POBO, never demanding a trade or a coaching change. He is a multitalented player and one of the real joys of watching the 21-22 Wolves was seeing him struggle with new defensive strategies against him before rapidly learning the new skills or mentalities he needed to punish the defense. Mood: Cautious optimism. Based on his play with the DR, he's back from his calf issue and he seems to be having fun with basketball again. Rudy Gobert Should play: Low. Stay low Rudy. I swear to God if I see you setting a pick for anyone other than Kyle or Mike with fewer than 18 seconds on the shot clock I'm going to scream, Rudy. Will play: chasing after the ball on the second action like a goddamn grade schooler playing soccer. Rudy joined a team that played an energetic and entertaining scramble defense and chaotic offense and promptly dragged it in to the muck (and a top 10 defensive rating....). The two questions in 2024 are how flexible is he willing to be and how much was last year's ugliness and step back acclimation as opposed to being broken as poo poo. Rudy has markedly more defensive and offensive talent surrounding him than he ever did in Utah. He also has a pair of players in Conley and Anderson who excel at finding him in predictable moments late in the shot clock, where he is at his best. Finch has been clear that the defensive strategy will not be "funnel your man to Rudy" and Rudy has been clear he thinks funneling is best. Mood: Tenuous Trust. I think if there's immediate success (in the 20-15 record vein, not even 25-10), there's enough connective tissue between the vets and Ant's gravity that the foundation'll get built. If it's rockier, like early last season, Rudy's only going to tolerate so many offensive fouls from KAT drives and Ant ISOs into a contested midranger before he starts being visibly and publicly lovely. I think Rudy senses, with what he's being asked (defend more in space, sit visibly out of the play on offense) that he's going to end the season as either a peerless big or a pariah. For a guy who baselines as mercurial, that's a powder keg. Rotation "Naz Reid" Naz Reid "Slo Mo" Kyle Anderson "Oh hell" NAW Shake Milton Depth Troy Brown Luka Garza Leonard Miller Jared McLaughlin Josh Minott Wendell Moore Overall outlook: The Wolves are a trendy pundit pick for home court in the West, and I think it's because Ant-Jaden-Rudy-KAT worked defensively according to the metrics and people assume the offense can't possibly be bad with all that talent. My stance is a little different. Few teams are really built to directly handle two bigs - the league has trended towards playing even lone traditional bigs off the floor, as seen throughout Rudy's Jazz tenure. What Connelly's done to remarkable effect in his year here has been to build a roster that has the pieces to counter counters. If KAT and Rudy can work well enough to force opponents out of their preferred lineups, Connelly's bet is that Finch can mix and match to beat anybody's alternative. If the egos can allow it, there are few teams with a roster that can effectively counter all of KAT or Rudy or Naz. This roster works best when they can play together effectively (OKC play in), but Ant and the focus on versatility 7-10 in the rotation gives a LOT of defensive flex while retaining scoring punch. "If the egos can allow it" is the big piece... Finch has noted that not everyone can close every game, and there will be games that make sense for Rudy as a lone big, or for Karl in the 5, or for Naz (or even smaller with Kyle) as the small ball center. Will Rudy be content with 20 minutes if he spends all 20 spoonfed by Kyle and Mike? Will KAT accept that the same lumbering center he'd destroy on offense lets Rudy dominate defensively and Mike-Ant-Jaden-Kyle provide more than enough scoring punch and perimeter defense to finish them off while he chills courtside? Will Kyle (far better as a 4) be okay getting exposed by small forwards in a contract year if the team more than makes it back thanks to his hockey assists on the other end? And does it matter? Connelly's huge bet, more than that two bigs will work, is that 3-4 years of real playoff contention for Ant (and changing the league's perception of the Wolves) is more important to the franchise's future than 4 after-lottery picks (or what else he could have gotten for them) would be. That's a wild, counterintuitive wager... but it means success is best measured in rounds rather than rings until Rudy expires. Paracaidas fucked around with this message at 20:28 on Oct 24, 2023 |
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Oct 24, 2023 20:10
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Kat sucks Good writeups by all parties tho
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Oct 24, 2023 20:25
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I can’t believe I forgot about the punch God what an amazing night but also I hope it doesn’t happen again
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Oct 24, 2023 22:28
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My hot take is that if everyone on the Wolves was healthy/not had weird vibes that involved wall punching the series with the Nuggets would have gone 7.
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Oct 24, 2023 23:20
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