[SkalAndJamalParticipant]

1. Rest In Peace, Flip. You are one of the most outstanding coaches this league will ever have. A big part of coaching is the ability to develop players and a team, and I will most certainly not forget that 2004 team that if Sam Cassell was healthy, were the best team in the NBA. And I will not forget how well this current T-Wolves team is constructed with the young talent and mentorship all around it. That being said, Minnesota get Sam Mitchell out of there, you got young guys and how they develop these next two years are vital. Mitchell is a joke, that COY he got was fools gold. Call Thibs or Larry Krystkowiak and your next 10 years will be a lot more promising.

2. Pelicans – They need to make a move. The supporting cast around Davis has way too many holes, specifically 3-point shooting, perimeter defense, and big men depth. They need to call up the Magic, Denver, Rockets, Wolves, and the Celtics and see what’s up with how much they are investing in each player. Jrue Holiday and Eric Gordon have got to go, Tyreke should run the point when he gets back.

3. Andre Drummond – We all knew it was coming, but eventually, with the help of SVG, this guy was going to be a beast.

4. Hopefully these playoffs we can see Kevin Durant vs Kawhi, Steph vs CP3, Kawhi vs Harden and Steph vs Westbrook.

5. Hoiberg’s sets, even in the NBA, are a beauty to watch.

6. If I’m Cleveland… I’m being careful of how they take care of LeBron’s back problems. If dropping a couple games means making sure the rest of his career is strong they should probably do it.

7. This 76ers team might be the worst they ever have. 

8. I personally don’t think this Carter-Williams and Giannis thing can co-exist. It’s hard to win NBA games in 2015 when your PG and SF can’t shoot. 

 

[SkalAndJamalParticipant]

 Oh and Harrison Barnes wanting 5 years/120 mil has made him the most overrated player in the league IMO. 

[SkalAndJamalParticipant]

 Oh and Harrison Barnes wanting 5 years/120 mil has made him the most overrated player in the league IMO. 

[phila9012Participant]

 I still think he has the potential to be a 20ppg scorer which would make that somewhat reasonable. There aren’t that many shots to go around in golden state and they have a bunch of players who can score. If you throw him on a team like the blazers he would get 20ppg and play good defense and be a versitile SF/PF. That would be worth it especially with the cap rising. It wouldn’t be worth it for the warriors to pay him that to get 12ppg.

[phila9012Participant]

 I still think he has the potential to be a 20ppg scorer which would make that somewhat reasonable. There aren’t that many shots to go around in golden state and they have a bunch of players who can score. If you throw him on a team like the blazers he would get 20ppg and play good defense and be a versitile SF/PF. That would be worth it especially with the cap rising. It wouldn’t be worth it for the warriors to pay him that to get 12ppg.

[SkalAndJamalParticipant]

 20 ppg? no just stop he’s just a role player. i can confidently say he will never be a top 3 player on a title contending team… so paying him max money is crazy. 

[phila9012Participant]

 he could be the third best player getting 18ppg and 7rpg. Which with the cap going up 20 to 22 million a year will be the going rate for that type of player.

[phila9012Participant]

 he could be the third best player getting 18ppg and 7rpg. Which with the cap going up 20 to 22 million a year will be the going rate for that type of player.

[SkalAndJamalParticipant]

 20 ppg? no just stop he’s just a role player. i can confidently say he will never be a top 3 player on a title contending team… so paying him max money is crazy. 

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

3) Drummond is a beast on the boards, but still needs a ton of work in the post. Too many times he settles for fading hook shots when he clearly could’ve just drop stepped and dunked the ball. Very robotic. But yea, if SVG could develop Dwight’s game, he sure could and would develop Drummond’s too.

7) The 76ers still suck, but how on earth could this team be any worse than last year’s? Last year’s 6ers team was horrendous. At least now, Noel is in his second year and they have a go-to guy in the post. Covington will be back soon, as well as Stauskas. They’ll still be bad, but no way worse than last year’s.

Other than those, I agree. Especially with the Pelicans situation. No way can they win more games with Dante Cunningham starting at the 3.

 

 

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

3) Drummond is a beast on the boards, but still needs a ton of work in the post. Too many times he settles for fading hook shots when he clearly could’ve just drop stepped and dunked the ball. Very robotic. But yea, if SVG could develop Dwight’s game, he sure could and would develop Drummond’s too.

7) The 76ers still suck, but how on earth could this team be any worse than last year’s? Last year’s 6ers team was horrendous. At least now, Noel is in his second year and they have a go-to guy in the post. Covington will be back soon, as well as Stauskas. They’ll still be bad, but no way worse than last year’s.

Other than those, I agree. Especially with the Pelicans situation. No way can they win more games with Dante Cunningham starting at the 3.

 

 

[SkalAndJamalParticipant]

 dont think Drummond needs to be a good post player to be a beast, if 20 and 20 and win is what he gets, then it doesnt matter if it was off a jump hook or an alley-opp. 

Stauskas hasnt proven he belongs in the league. And until he proves it, they have no spacing this year. At least last year Wroten and MCW were pretty decent and KJ McDaniels while they had him was doing well. Last year they won 18 games… I think this team wins 10-16.

 

[SkalAndJamalParticipant]

 dont think Drummond needs to be a good post player to be a beast, if 20 and 20 and win is what he gets, then it doesnt matter if it was off a jump hook or an alley-opp. 

Stauskas hasnt proven he belongs in the league. And until he proves it, they have no spacing this year. At least last year Wroten and MCW were pretty decent and KJ McDaniels while they had him was doing well. Last year they won 18 games… I think this team wins 10-16.

 

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

Like the 76ers had spacing last year… This year Wroten will be back on Dec, and they’ll have Marshall back soon. They may win less games, because the east is stronger now, but they’re definitely better this year.

The only big loss was MCW, who as you said can’ shoot, and was a disaster when paired with rookie Noel. They have Covington, who they didn’t have until halfway last season. Stauskas is an upgrade over Thompson, who they can now bring of the bench. Of course, Okafor is way better than Henry Sims. 

And ok, the term beast is too broad. If that’s your definition of beast, then he was a already a beast 2 years ago, and he also is now. I’m just saying he still needs a lot of work in the post to be an elite player. I don’t know, but if you’re 6’11, 280 pounds and you go 11-27 from the field on you’re first 2 games, you know you still need lots of improvement. He went like 0-7 from the post vs Atlanta.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

Like the 76ers had spacing last year… This year Wroten will be back on Dec, and they’ll have Marshall back soon. They may win less games, because the east is stronger now, but they’re definitely better this year.

The only big loss was MCW, who as you said can’ shoot, and was a disaster when paired with rookie Noel. They have Covington, who they didn’t have until halfway last season. Stauskas is an upgrade over Thompson, who they can now bring of the bench. Of course, Okafor is way better than Henry Sims. 

And ok, the term beast is too broad. If that’s your definition of beast, then he was a already a beast 2 years ago, and he also is now. I’m just saying he still needs a lot of work in the post to be an elite player. I don’t know, but if you’re 6’11, 280 pounds and you go 11-27 from the field on you’re first 2 games, you know you still need lots of improvement. He went like 0-7 from the post vs Atlanta.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SkalAndJamalParticipant]

 Hold up at least they had a 4 in Luc Mbah a Moute who can consistently hit 3s. When Wroten comes back, that’s 3 guys in the lineup (Wroten, Okafor, Noel) who get a lot of the minutes but will be having their man always sitting near the paint. If a bad team cant ever get hot from 3, that really takes a hit on their possibility of winning many games. Then when a team has a small ball lineup out there (Indiana for example) Philly doesnt have a chance in guarding a guy like Paul George. And dont give me the east is stronger and therefore if they lose more this year it still justifies that they are somehow still "better". The east is still the freakin east, and in fact Chicago aint the same powerhouse defense they were before and Atlanta lost their fire. Plus that’s like saying the Dwight Howard Lakers are better than the 2010-11 Lakers just because the west was stronger in 2013 and the Lakers had more "talent" -.- 

Well the point of the game is to win. If you can’t keep him off the offensive boards and he goes 1-3 on some possessions cause he just keeps tipping it to himself, penalizing him for his FG% is a bit ridiculous especially when it’s still getting the job done to help his team. Plus you arent taking an account what he does for them defensively. 3-0, 19-16-3 doesnt just grow on trees, and Im pretty sure no one else in the league is even close to that. Is he a perfect big men? no. Is he still a lot to handle for an opposing team?  Yup.

 

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

Lost you at Mbah a Moute can consistently hit threes. Seriously?? Lmaooo. The paint was still way packed when Mbah Moute was there are you serious. Players sagged of him like crazy. At least Jahlil attracts double teams man.

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

Lost you at Mbah a Moute can consistently hit threes. Seriously?? Lmaooo. The paint was still way packed when Mbah Moute was there are you serious. Players sagged of him like crazy. At least Jahlil attracts double teams man.

[SkalAndJamalParticipant]

 Hold up at least they had a 4 in Luc Mbah a Moute who can consistently hit 3s. When Wroten comes back, that’s 3 guys in the lineup (Wroten, Okafor, Noel) who get a lot of the minutes but will be having their man always sitting near the paint. If a bad team cant ever get hot from 3, that really takes a hit on their possibility of winning many games. Then when a team has a small ball lineup out there (Indiana for example) Philly doesnt have a chance in guarding a guy like Paul George. And dont give me the east is stronger and therefore if they lose more this year it still justifies that they are somehow still "better". The east is still the freakin east, and in fact Chicago aint the same powerhouse defense they were before and Atlanta lost their fire. Plus that’s like saying the Dwight Howard Lakers are better than the 2010-11 Lakers just because the west was stronger in 2013 and the Lakers had more "talent" -.- 

Well the point of the game is to win. If you can’t keep him off the offensive boards and he goes 1-3 on some possessions cause he just keeps tipping it to himself, penalizing him for his FG% is a bit ridiculous especially when it’s still getting the job done to help his team. Plus you arent taking an account what he does for them defensively. 3-0, 19-16-3 doesnt just grow on trees, and Im pretty sure no one else in the league is even close to that. Is he a perfect big men? no. Is he still a lot to handle for an opposing team?  Yup.

 

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Eric Gordon shot 45% from three-point last season. Why would they get rid of him? He’ll play a huge role in Alvin Gentry’s offense this season. 

The Pelicans just need to get healthy. Omer Asik, Tyreke Evans, Norris Cole, Quincy Pondexter and Luke Babbit are all out. Jrue Holiday missed the first game and is still on a minutes restriction. They’ve been forced to play Ish Smith big minutes. Forced to play Kendrick Perkins. 

Once the team gets healthy, I think they’ll be fine. I also think a lot falls on Anthony Davis. So many people are ready to crown him, but he hasn’t shown you can run an offense through him and get his teammates easy baskets. 

 

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Eric Gordon shot 45% from three-point last season. Why would they get rid of him? He’ll play a huge role in Alvin Gentry’s offense this season. 

The Pelicans just need to get healthy. Omer Asik, Tyreke Evans, Norris Cole, Quincy Pondexter and Luke Babbit are all out. Jrue Holiday missed the first game and is still on a minutes restriction. They’ve been forced to play Ish Smith big minutes. Forced to play Kendrick Perkins. 

Once the team gets healthy, I think they’ll be fine. I also think a lot falls on Anthony Davis. So many people are ready to crown him, but he hasn’t shown you can run an offense through him and get his teammates easy baskets. 

 

[EspressoParticipant]

 What up Indiana. I agree alot with your last paragraph, and I include myself in that "crowining crowd", I honestly feel like next year will be the year he will be legit top 5 helping as far as helping his team win goes. Right now its hard to argue he’ll win you more games than vets like Lebron, Durant, Curry, Harden, Westbrook.

[EspressoParticipant]

 What up Indiana. I agree alot with your last paragraph, and I include myself in that "crowining crowd", I honestly feel like next year will be the year he will be legit top 5 helping as far as helping his team win goes. Right now its hard to argue he’ll win you more games than vets like Lebron, Durant, Curry, Harden, Westbrook.

[SkalAndJamalParticipant]

 He doesnt play DE-FENSE. Tyreke is already is suspect on the defensive end, having Gordon is just another freakin hole in the perimeter defense. No team will ever win a NBA championship having two weak perimeter defenders in the starting lineup. It won’t happen. Plus he can be wildly inefficient, and what this team needs is to limit the amount of guys who can get authority to just jack up jumpers. And those guys should be Davis and Tyreke. What this team needs is just a whole bunch of Trevor Arizas and Danny Greens. If they could have a human copy machine that would be ideal lol. Overall the problem is AD is not getting enough help defensively. 

Davis averaged 24 PPG last season. Teams are big help off his teammates and not letting him drive. Is he Kobe Bryant? No. but can he fill in the role that Garnett did for Minny when back in the early 2000s. Yes. Last year AD’s PPG was higher than anything Garnett has ever gotten. and AD is still only like what 22? He will do fine, but like I said his job would be a lot easier if his teammates were decent.

[SkalAndJamalParticipant]

 He doesnt play DE-FENSE. Tyreke is already is suspect on the defensive end, having Gordon is just another freakin hole in the perimeter defense. No team will ever win a NBA championship having two weak perimeter defenders in the starting lineup. It won’t happen. Plus he can be wildly inefficient, and what this team needs is to limit the amount of guys who can get authority to just jack up jumpers. And those guys should be Davis and Tyreke. What this team needs is just a whole bunch of Trevor Arizas and Danny Greens. If they could have a human copy machine that would be ideal lol. Overall the problem is AD is not getting enough help defensively. 

Davis averaged 24 PPG last season. Teams are big help off his teammates and not letting him drive. Is he Kobe Bryant? No. but can he fill in the role that Garnett did for Minny when back in the early 2000s. Yes. Last year AD’s PPG was higher than anything Garnett has ever gotten. and AD is still only like what 22? He will do fine, but like I said his job would be a lot easier if his teammates were decent.

[TrillaParticipant]

 In all reality, they are missing Wroten, Stauskas, Marshall, and Convington right now, who are their only actual NBA swingmen on the roster. But yeah the McConnell/ Hollis Thompson backcourt is painful 

[TrillaParticipant]

 In all reality, they are missing Wroten, Stauskas, Marshall, and Convington right now, who are their only actual NBA swingmen on the roster. But yeah the McConnell/ Hollis Thompson backcourt is painful 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Here’s a few things I’ve noticed. The Raptors get underrated like crazy. In ESPN’s top 100 Lowry didn’t even finish top 30 and Derozan didn’t finish top 50. Most people expected the Celtics and Bucks to be better than the Raptors this year and they smoked both teams. They are off to a 3-0 start and the team looks like it has no holes with the improvements each player has made individually and additions of Carroll, Joseph, Scola and Biyambo.

[T Rex]

The Raptors announcers were saying something about the team realizing they had to be a lot tougher and more intense on defense to take the next step as a team. Their defense, especially in the passing lanes, was great against Boston.

But I’d wait until David Lee gets benched before gloating too much. Lee is still in that denial phase where he still thinks he’s an 18/10 guy, and Brad was/is probably worried about him becoming a discontent if he benches him like he should. 

Raptors are definitely looking better than I thought they’d be, and TRoss might have found his calling as a 6th man scorer.

But as far as DeRozen being underrated, his advanced stats were pretty mediocre last year. His Real Plus Minus was like 160th or something, barely making a positive overall impact. Now that he’s a year older and realizes how important lockdown defense is, he can make a big leap up to Marcus Smart level impact, at least Marcus Smart’s rookie year impact.

 

 

[T Rex]

The Raptors announcers were saying something about the team realizing they had to be a lot tougher and more intense on defense to take the next step as a team. Their defense, especially in the passing lanes, was great against Boston.

But I’d wait until David Lee gets benched before gloating too much. Lee is still in that denial phase where he still thinks he’s an 18/10 guy, and Brad was/is probably worried about him becoming a discontent if he benches him like he should. 

Raptors are definitely looking better than I thought they’d be, and TRoss might have found his calling as a 6th man scorer.

But as far as DeRozen being underrated, his advanced stats were pretty mediocre last year. His Real Plus Minus was like 160th or something, barely making a positive overall impact. Now that he’s a year older and realizes how important lockdown defense is, he can make a big leap up to Marcus Smart level impact, at least Marcus Smart’s rookie year impact.

 

 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Here’s a few things I’ve noticed. The Raptors get underrated like crazy. In ESPN’s top 100 Lowry didn’t even finish top 30 and Derozan didn’t finish top 50. Most people expected the Celtics and Bucks to be better than the Raptors this year and they smoked both teams. They are off to a 3-0 start and the team looks like it has no holes with the improvements each player has made individually and additions of Carroll, Joseph, Scola and Biyambo.

[r377Participant]

I really like the look of Rodney Hood – excellent fundamentals and IQ.

Ben McLemore is struggling.

SF Otto Porter and TJ Warren both look to improve this season….

[r377Participant]

I really like the look of Rodney Hood – excellent fundamentals and IQ.

Ben McLemore is struggling.

SF Otto Porter and TJ Warren both look to improve this season….

[Author]

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