NYRaider Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 5 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said: They won't be able to come consistently. Steph will get them a lot of open looks but this team desperately lacks shooting. Oubre with his cutting ability and being active will get his points and Wiggins will get enough shots to get his, but overall this team is going to have to win with its defense. I'm a little more optimistic about Wiggins than most. He quietly had the best year of his career last year from an overall production/efficiency standpoint and he's only 25. He himself said it has been night and day being able to work with the Warriors organization in comparison to being in Minnesota. Dude is one of the most talented players in the league it's just a matter of putting it all together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealMcCoy Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 So, what are you guys looking at with the teams playing tonight? Warriors - How does Wiseman look in his debut. Didn't get to see him in the preseason like other rookies. Obviously he probably won't play a lot, but there isn't much else to be interested in tonight with the Golden State. Draymond isn't playing and its gonna take them time to hit their stride I would think, but I guess the same could be said for the Nets. Nets - Wanna see how their defense looks against an elite scorer like Curry who can make them pay from deep and also penetrate their defense. I don't think the Nets defense will be bottom 5 like someone mentioned on the other page, but I don't think they'll be much more than league average. Obviously Durant looked pretty good in limited preseason action. Excited to see him playing basketball again. It's been like a year and a half or something since we've seen him and also obviously wanna see the chemistry and how he and Kyrie work off each other. Nets have a pretty good offensive assistant, so I'm pretty confident it won't be a problem long term. Clippers - They didn't look that sharp or like they were putting much effort into their preseason play like not just one game, but all of them. I don't wanna look too much into preseason, but I think the Clippers need to come out firing game 1. They should be mad about blowing the Denver series and the Lakers getting their rings tonight should only add fuel to their fire. I'm expecting to see a different Clippers team tonight than the preseason, but if we don't see it I think it raises a red flag. Lakers - 1 word..... rotations. Lakers have a rotation that is 11 deep and while that depth is a good thing it will take a while to figure out what the right starting and bench line-ups will be. What guys work best with each other. I don't think any Lakers fan can be too sure what the starting line-up will be game 1 besides LeBron at SF and Anthony Davis at PF. I'm pretty sure to start the season for the first few months there will be a good amount of experimentation. Also, the Lakers will need to match the Clippers energy tonight. I'm sure that won't be a problem for Montrezl though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agarcia34 Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 33 minutes ago, TheRealMcCoy said: Yeah...... that ain't happening lol. Eh After the Lakers and Clippers and I guess Nuggets it’s all open. Can’t say other wise. Anything can happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealMcCoy Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 3 minutes ago, agarcia34 said: Eh After the Lakers and Clippers and I guess Nuggets it’s all open. Can’t say other wise. Anything can happen. I mean sure, but the Warriors would have to make a trade somewhere. I just can't see this current team how its constructed doing that well unless Curry is the best player in the league, Wiggins takes a bit of a jump, Wiseman is pretty amazing as a rookie and Oubre shoots for a career high again from 3. Honestly its more likely the Warriors miss the playoffs completely than they get the 4 seed, but I'm a homer too, so I get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 14 minutes ago, TheRealMcCoy said: So, what are you guys looking at with the teams playing tonight? Warriors - How does Wiseman look in his debut. Didn't get to see him in the preseason like other rookies. Obviously he probably won't play a lot, but there isn't much else to be interested in tonight with the Golden State. Draymond isn't playing and its gonna take them time to hit their stride I would think, but I guess the same could be said for the Nets. Nets - Wanna see how their defense looks against an elite scorer like Curry who can make them pay from deep and also penetrate their defense. I don't think the Nets defense will be bottom 5 like someone mentioned on the other page, but I don't think they'll be much more than league average. Obviously Durant looked pretty good in limited preseason action. Excited to see him playing basketball again. It's been like a year and a half or something since we've seen him and also obviously wanna see the chemistry and how he and Kyrie work off each other. Nets have a pretty good offensive assistant, so I'm pretty confident it won't be a problem long term. Clippers - They didn't look that sharp or like they were putting much effort into their preseason play like not just one game, but all of them. I don't wanna look too much into preseason, but I think the Clippers need to come out firing game 1. They should be mad about blowing the Denver series and the Lakers getting their rings tonight should only add fuel to their fire. I'm expecting to see a different Clippers team tonight than the preseason, but if we don't see it I think it raises a red flag. Lakers - 1 word..... rotations. Lakers have a rotation that is 11 deep and while that depth is a good thing it will take a while to figure out what the right starting and bench line-ups will be. What guys work best with each other. I don't think any Lakers fan can be too sure what the starting line-up will be game 1 besides LeBron at SF and Anthony Davis at PF. I'm pretty sure to start the season for the first few months there will be a good amount of experimentation. Also, the Lakers will need to match the Clippers energy tonight. I'm sure that won't be a problem for Montrezl though. You summed it up for me. For Brooklyn I want to see if KD is what he was pre-injury, how he plays off of Kyrie, how Nash is as a rookie head coach, and how all of their role players play off of their two stars. That's something Vogel didn't get enough credit for last year, getting everyone else to buy into their roles on offense around AD/Bron and lock in defensively. With the Warriors I'm excited to see Curry and I'm also really intrigued to see Wiseman play as reports during the pre-draft process were that he improved a lot during his time training all of last year. I'm also interested to see how Wiggins and Oubre look playing with Steph. From the Clippers I want to see if there's any noticeable difference in how they play with Lue in comparison to Doc. I'm also interested to see how Ibaka's rim protection and floor spacing changes their team as well as if Kennard looks like a guy that's going to be able to live up to that contract. For the Lakers I'm intrigued to see their rotation, specifically who starts. How Gasol's passing/shooting changes their offense and how their added bench firepower impacts the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 18 minutes ago, agarcia34 said: Anything can happen. Especially with COVID and games being played outside of the bubble. We've already seen how it has impacted the NFL and the NBA plays 5x more games with 10x as much travel. Any team at any point can lose their best players for an extended period of time due to the virus. And as you said there's a lot of teams in the West that are all in a similar tier so losing guys for extended time could have a huge impact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 Nash confirmed that the Nets starting 5 will be: Irving - Dinwiddie - Harris - Durant - Jordan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWood21 Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 43 minutes ago, NYRaider said: For the Lakers I'm intrigued to see their rotation, specifically who starts. How Gasol's passing/shooting changes their offense and how their added bench firepower impacts the team. I think we're going to see KCP/Matthews/LeBron/AD/Gasol as the starting lineup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealMcCoy Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 24 minutes ago, NYRaider said: You summed it up for me. For Brooklyn I want to see if KD is what he was pre-injury, how he plays off of Kyrie, how Nash is as a rookie head coach, and how all of their role players play off of their twio stars. That's something Vogel didn't get enough credit for last year, getting everyone else to buy into their roles on offense around AD/Bron and lock in defensively. Yeah, but it took Vogel some time to get the rotations right last year and even at times during the playoffs I was calling for him to bench guys and play guys sooner. At least he made the adjustments eventually if not right away. That's a hell of a lot more than I can say for Luke Walton smh. As far as Nash I think he'll be fine. Having MDA as his offensive assistant coach is a pretty big help. Durant said in an interview this preseason that he isn't where he wants to be yet and that its gonna take a while to get back to where he was which is understandable. I'm taking his play with a grain of salt before the all star break. I think defensively is where he'll need more time post injury to get back to full strength with all the lateral movement. 29 minutes ago, NYRaider said: With the Warriors I'm excited to see Curry and I'm also really intrigued to see Wiseman play as reports during the pre-draft process were that he improved a lot during his time training all of last year. I'm also interested to see how Wiggins and Oubre look playing with Steph. That's good to hear. I know some of draft twitter wasn't nearly as high on him as the consensus. Then again draft twitter is wrong a lot too. 35 minutes ago, NYRaider said: From the Clippers I want to see if there's any noticeable difference in how they play with Lue in comparison to Doc. I'm also interested to see how Ibaka's rim protection and floor spacing changes their team as well as if Kennard looks like a guy that's going to be able to live up to that contract. If Kennard stays healthy at most it will be an overpay, but not as big of one as the initial reaction was. My only thing is I don't understand why they couldn't wait till after a season seeing him play and how his knees are to get a deal hammered out? Was he really gonna elevate his value above 16 million per year? Clippers bench really gonna have a bunch of bad defenders like Lou Will, Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, etc off the bench. I guess Batum can be solid. Feel bad for Zubac having to play perimeter defense with those guys out there. Feel like they may be better with Ibaka coming off the bench and Zubac starting, since he can switch better and cover for some of those bad defensive players. Zubac would be helped having better perimeter defenders in the starting line-up with him. Obviously Ibaka is gonna be starting at C in the closing line-up. 49 minutes ago, NYRaider said: For the Lakers I'm intrigued to see their rotation, specifically who starts. How Gasol's passing/shooting changes their offense and how their added bench firepower impacts the team. Interested in the lack of verticality without Howard/McGee too. Gasol is better at anticipating when to switch and cutting off drives before we need to actually protect the rim, but obviously he's gonna need AD to help more at the rim with shot blocking. I think good chance AD wins DPOY cause he's gonna have to do even more on defense now. He had an argument for the award last year. Would like him to take it this year. Not sure if he can take MVP from Giannis though. Think he should be the favorite again lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealMcCoy Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 8 minutes ago, CWood21 said: I think we're going to see KCP/Matthews/LeBron/AD/Gasol as the starting lineup. I'd prefer that, cause I'm not too sure about Dennis' fit in the starting line-up and think he helps Harrell more in PnR than he does the starting line-up, but he has voiced not wanting to be the 6th man and feeling like he can be a starter. Also, LeBron wanted Schroder and probably wants him to relief some of the play making duties. But, against a team like the Clippers with two wings like PG and Kawhi I would want Matthews out there to take Kawhi and let Bron guard PG. Either of them being guarded by KCP is a big advantage for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealMcCoy Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 (edited) Honestly I'd prefer Caruso in the starting line-up though. Bron/Caruso line-ups are great. It probably won't happen right now, but I would love this.... Starters: Caruso-KCP or Matthews-Bron-AD-Gasol Bench: Schroder-KCP or Matthews-Kuzma-Morris-Harrell Then, THT wherever they can find him minutes, but they need to find him some. I think he'll play a decent amount those games Bron sits. Without Bron.... Starters: Schroder-KCP/Matthews-Kuzma-AD-Gasol Bench: THT-Caruso-Matthews/KCP-Morris-Harrell Edited December 22, 2020 by TheRealMcCoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 29 minutes ago, CWood21 said: I think we're going to see KCP/Matthews/LeBron/AD/Gasol as the starting lineup. I read that Schroder wants to start, not sure how true that is though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 21 minutes ago, TheRealMcCoy said: Interested in the lack of verticality without Howard/McGee too. Gasol is better at anticipating when to switch and cutting off drives before we need to actually protect the rim, but obviously he's gonna need AD to help more at the rim with shot blocking. I think good chance AD wins DPOY cause he's gonna have to do even more on defense now. He had an argument for the award last year. Would like him to take it this year. Not sure if he can take MVP from Giannis though. Think he should be the favorite again lol. https://ca.nba.com/news/marc-gasol-is-a-key-to-the-toronto-raptors-building-a-strong-defence-without-kawhi-leonard/lsuywnhhhtab113xlhk7unrqk Gasol isn't as athletic as Howard/McGee but he was a much better defender than either of those guys last year. Quote Whenever Gasol is on the floor, the Raptors only allow 41.8 points in the paint per 48 minutes, a figure that would rank second in the NBA behind only the Milwaukee Bucks. Gasol wreaks havoc on the interior attack of every opponent which in turn springs Toronto's deadly transition game in which Pascal Siakam, Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet rank among the league's very best. Quote That Toronto's stout D is at it's best when Gasol is on the floor isn't strictly due to on/off noise either. Toronto's best defensive lineups - regardless of who else is on the floor - have one thing in common: Marc Gasol. While defensive rating is not perfect science that always leads to the conclusion that defence is good or bad, it indicates trends, and what data like this reveals is that Toronto is simply a better team with the Catalan on the court. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agarcia34 Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Get Chris Webber in the first game. As if 2020 hasn't punished us enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11sanchez11 Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 Warriors have a lame starting lineup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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