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Post by Celtic17 on Dec 25, 2020 19:06:48 GMT -5
Pritchard is like a young vet. He's not like a rookie. He seems ahead of Grant Williams, and possibly Time Lord Got that right E. Now we need D from this squad
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Dec 25, 2020 19:11:53 GMT -5
C’mon guys, don’t let Kyrie smile like a chump with another win in BOS!!
Defend like your life depends on it.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Dec 25, 2020 19:15:05 GMT -5
Only 3 players have shot free throws for us tonight.
Something is not right.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Dec 25, 2020 19:23:25 GMT -5
Embarrassing
We are much better than this.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Dec 25, 2020 19:31:15 GMT -5
Essentially, we saw what two veteran superstars are capable of doing, and reminded once again that stars are the most important factors for championships.
Maybe we have a future superstar, or two — but they were outshined tonight by current superstars Durant and Kyrie.
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Post by jmost on Dec 25, 2020 20:03:10 GMT -5
My main concerns with this team are the same as they've been for several years - that our offense just grinds to a halt at times. We need better ball movement.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Dec 25, 2020 21:26:49 GMT -5
My main concerns with this team are the same as they've been for several years - that our offense just grinds to a halt at times. We need better ball movement. Agreed. What do you suppose we do / need?
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Post by jmost on Dec 25, 2020 22:10:14 GMT -5
Frankly I don't know enough X's and O's to give a good answer. Has the modern NBA outgrown running plays? It seems other teams have organized movements that lead to good shots, whereas too often we seem to live or die on whether JT can take his man one on one. I'm not convinced Brad's "read and react" offense works unless you have experienced, elite players. I just know we need to do a better job of creating good shots.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Dec 25, 2020 23:25:37 GMT -5
Frankly I don't know enough X's and O's to give a good answer. Has the modern NBA outgrown running plays? It seems other teams have organized movements that lead to good shots, whereas too often we seem to live or die on whether JT can take his man one on one. I'm not convinced Brad's "read and react" offense works unless you have experienced, elite players. I just know we need to do a better job of creating good shots. Prior to the season starting, Brad emphasized he constitutes good plays as taking the ball inside, getting fouled,or kicking it outside for open looks. But primarily be aggressive and look for the ball to go inside first, and not just settle for outside shots. But I agree, ball movement is what I want to see. The offense that GSW was a beaut.
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Post by afceltic on Dec 26, 2020 0:53:41 GMT -5
Embarrassing We are much better than this. I don't know if we are. Kemba is damaged goods (I am so tired of paying guys max money who are good until they get here and become injury prone), Tatum has been terribly inefficient shooting the ball in all four games that have been played. Hopefully it is the lack of preseason games and he will get better but he is shooting like Carmelo and that is not winning basketball. My one positive that I have seen is that although Brown didn't shoot great in this game either, but he has been our best player through two games and that isn't a bad thing. Our bench is full of rookies, second year players and guys who are barely NBA players other than Teague. Who I would rather start than Smart because as I have said before Smart can't be in your top seven of your rotation on a championship caliber team. He needs to be in the Tony Allen role from 2008 and nothing more because he is a net negative overall. Unless the rookies and second year players really start lighting it up, then we are a ECF's team if we get all of the breaks. We don't have any superstars, nor the depth to win a title at this point in time. We have two guys still trying to reach their potential in Brown and Tatum, a guy who looks to be at the end of his career and may be staling money from us like Gordon ended up doing in Kemba, and a bunch of guys who all have major flaws in their games. It has a lot of potential, but potential doesn't win you games, I can see it reaching the ECF's or losing in the first two rounds depending on who they play and who is healthy. What I don't see is a scenario where they win # 18 as currently built and that is on Danny to fix. I hope I am wrong, but that is how I see it.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Dec 26, 2020 1:18:44 GMT -5
Embarrassing We are much better than this. I don't know if we are. Kemba is damaged goods (I am so tired of paying guys max money who are good until they get here and become injury prone), Tatum has been terribly inefficient shooting the ball in all four games that have been played. Hopefully it is the lack of preseason games and he will get better but he is shooting like Carmelo and that is not winning basketball. My one positive that I have seen is that although Brown didn't shoot great in this game either, but he has been our best player through two games and that isn't a bad thing. Our bench is full of rookies, second year players and guys who are barely NBA players other than Teague. Who I would rather start than Smart because as I have said before Smart can't be in your top seven of your rotation on a championship caliber team. He needs to be in the Tony Allen role from 2008 and nothing more because he is a net negative overall. Unless the rookies and second year players really start lighting it up, then we are a ECF's team if we get all of the breaks. We don't have any superstars, nor the depth to win a title at this point in time. We have two guys still trying to reach their potential in Brown and Tatum, a guy who looks to be at the end of his career and may be staling money from us like Gordon ended up doing in Kemba, and a bunch of guys who all have major flaws in their games. It has a lot of potential, but potential doesn't win you games, I can see it reaching the ECF's or losing in the first two rounds depending on who they play and who is healthy. What I don't see is a scenario where they win # 18 as currently built and that is on Danny to fix. I hope I am wrong, but that is how I see it. Agree with all that. And I had to remind myself that our best players are only 22 and 24 years old. Jaylen is maybe 2-3 years away from entering his prime, and Tatum around 3-4 years.
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Post by eja117 on Dec 26, 2020 9:17:19 GMT -5
My main concerns with this team are the same as they've been for several years - that our offense just grinds to a halt at times. We need better ball movement. Agreed. What do you suppose we do / need? I think we need better players and more of them, or for the players we have to get better. Our bench is just not good. Certainly not good enough to last a full 4 quarters against great teams, especially not when playing great teams back to back. Teague and Pritchard are really the only bench players giving us a lot of what we need and our backup bigs, in particular leave a lot to be desired. Semi is making a career for himself. This is unfair to Nesmith, but if he were 85% the defender Smart is and 85% as good a shooter as they say he is he'd be playing, and helping a lot. A third excellent wing would really help. I really like Brad's new pivot to playing big, but we don't really have the depth for it. Time Lord is just not giving us enough. He would need to improve his perimeter defense and shooting. Neither he nor Grant W can really give us enough of that right now. It's hard to find players that are good both inside and out.
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Post by eja117 on Dec 26, 2020 9:17:45 GMT -5
Only 3 players have shot free throws for us tonight. Something is not right. When you don't go to the hoop or lack the ability.....
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Post by jmost on Dec 26, 2020 9:21:51 GMT -5
I also agree that as constituted we are not a serious contender. But, we do have a very big chip to play in that $28 million trade exception, which could and should bring a very good player. If Danny can use that wisely, and Kemba is healthy, we have a shot.
One giant BUT, however. Tatum seems to have more trouble creating good shots for himself than anyone I would consider a superstar. Fancy dribbling leading to stepbacks or sidesteps resulting in a 3 attempt is impressive when they go in, but I don't know I want to rely on that. IMO Brown consistently takes better shots than Tatum.
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Post by eja117 on Dec 26, 2020 9:25:40 GMT -5
I also agree that as constituted we are not a serious contender. But, we do have a very big chip to play in that $28 million trade exception, which could and should bring a very good player. If Danny can use that wisely, and Kemba is healthy, we have a shot. One giant BUT, however. Tatum seems to have more trouble creating good shots for himself than anyone I would consider a superstar. Fancy dribbling leading to stepbacks or sidesteps resulting in a 3 attempt is impressive when they go in, but I don't know I want to rely on that. IMO Brown consistently takes better shots than Tatum. I agree that so far Jaylen has basically been better. He's been more strategic and more dynamic. Tatum has been a tad more athletic, but Jayen is working a little harder
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