2013-2014 NBA Season Thread

[Rios15]

Raptors management is crazy confident going forward. I like it...
 

 

• Raptors president Tim Leiweke is confident that the club is headed towards becoming a serious and relevant franchise, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.  “We’ve made it clear to all of our players, we’re going to win championships here,” Leiweke told season ticket holders. “I believe in Masai [Ujiri]. My trust, my faith is in this man. He’s going to lead us to the next level, and he will lead us to a championship here in Toronto.”
• Meanwhile, Ujiri says that the club will make more of an effort to scout Canadian basketball because it has improved so much.  Of course, the top prospect in the 2014 draft, Andrew Wiggins, comes from north of the border.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

You have quite a bit of time on your hands lol. You also remind me a of little pestering 5 year old.

Patiently wait until we get into the season and you can critique the Pistons all you'd like.

It's been raining all day so I have the day off, I have nothing but time. And I remind you of a 5 year old because I don't like what your team did in the offseason? That's cute.

If a topic is being discussed, I will give my opinion on it.

-If we talk about the Clippers, I will give my opinion on how I love that they hired Doc Rivers, or how they resigned Chris Paul, or how they brought in JJ Redick and Jared Dudley.
-If we talk about how the Wolves paid attention to two of their biggest needs, perimeter scoring with Kevin Martin and perimeter defense in Corey Brewer, I'll tell you how much I like it.
-If we talk about how the Warriors addressed their need for better perimeter defense with bringing in Iggy, possibly the best wing defender in the NBA, I'll tell you how much I like it.
-If anyone brings up the Bucks, I'll give my opinion on how idiotic it was to sign Zaza for three years when they already have young talent in Sanders, Ilyasova, Henson, and Udoh. Or the signing of OJ Mayo.
-I'll give my opinion on how I don't think the Mavericks had a good offseason by bringing in average to below average players.
-And if anyone brings up the Pistons, I'll give my opinion on how signing Jennings was a bad move, and how signing Josh Smith doesn't make much sense if you have Monroe and Drummond on board.

If that is a problem, add me to your block list. Personally, I'd add a 5 year old pest to my block list.


As for being patient, I'm just asking for your opinion on how the Pistons fit together. For whatever reason, you are very reluctant to give it. Waiting for the season to get here isn't the least bit necessary to form your own opinion on something, you can do that anytime you want.

 

[RipCity32]

I enjoy deflecting the question because you are clearly getting worked up. And it's giving me a nice chuckle honestly lol.

Thanks for sharing your opinions though.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

I'm sitting here watching Season 7 of 24, eating Famous Amos cookies, and drinking a Mikes. I'm so worked up lol

 

[RipCity32]

Oh I have my own opinion lol. Can ask any of my coworkers and friends.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Why aren't you willing to share it here then?

That's really all I'm asking, just to hear what you think of this team. I'm interested.

 

[RipCity32]

What specifically would you like to know.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

I just want to know how you Jennings and Smith will merge with Monroe, Drummond, and whoever starts at SG (Billups, KCP, Stuckey?).

Hell, who do you think Cheeks starts at SG? Do you agree that he should start this guy at SG?

What potential five man lineup excites you the most? Scares you the most?

I can even give my opinion on the Pels and we can get some real good discussion going that doesn't involve calling each other idiots.

 

[Pugz]

I'm sitting here watching Season 7 of 24, eating Famous Amos cookies, and drinking a Mikes. I'm so worked up lol

mind sharing a few cookies?

 

[jonathanlambert33]

I ate them all lol, Famous Amos is some of my favorite.

 

[RipCity32]

I just want to know how you Jennings and Smith will merge with Monroe, Drummond, and whoever starts at SG (Billups, KCP, Stuckey?).Hell, who do you think Cheeks starts at SG? Do you agree that he should start this guy at SG?What potential five man lineup excites you the most? Scares you the most?I can even give my opinion on the Pels and we can get some real good discussion going that doesn't involve calling each other idiots.

I think they will mesh fine if Jennings does what he says and passes more and Smith can show he can hit the open shot. While I think our offense could run into issues with floor spacing, we have the most physically imposing front court in the league and one of the more athletic. I believe we can struggle in the half court, but will be a difficult team to stop if we run, which I think we will. Also there isn't going to be A LOT of time in which Smith, Monroe, and Drummond will be on the floor together. Smith is essentially our backup PF, and Monroe our backup C. We are going to have to rely on our athleticism and size a lot if we have droughts on offense. As for Jennings, he is an upgrade over Knight, simple as that. He has much better court vision than Knight does. Critique the Smith signing if you want, I can see that. But Knight for Jennings is a deal I think most would make, no brainer to me. And like I said I'm sure he will still show signs of boneheaded shots, just like Smith will, but I hope they both decrease them greatly. Bottom line, our athleticism and size will take us as far as we will go.

Billups will probably start at SG when Jennings comes back. Which is who I would like there until KCP shows he can play. Or Stuckey, who I would not agree with. We need to worry about floor spacing, and Stuckey is a terrible shooter. Rather have him off the bench when the "big 3" is not on the floor together.

Jennings-KCP-Smith-Monroe-Drummond excites and scares me the most. Easily our most talented 5. But the floor spacing scares me.

End of the day we are anywhere from a 6-8 seed. Ceiling is 5, floor is 10. Going to be an exciting team, a solid defensive squad. Going to be one of the best rebounding teams (which should help offensively too). Certainly not a title contender, nor have I been touting them to be. I'm just excited for the new talent we have and hopefully for some meaningful basketball in the playoffs. Where we go from here, who knows. But this should be something to build on.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

I think they will mesh fine if Jennings does what he says and passes more and Smith can show he can hit the open shot. While I think our offense could run into issues with floor spacing, we have the most physically imposing front court in the league and one of the more athletic. I believe we can struggle in the half court, but will be a difficult team to stop if we run, which I think we will. Also there isn't going to be A LOT of time in which Smith, Monroe, and Drummond will be on the floor together. Smith is essentially our backup PF, and Monroe our backup C. We are going to have to rely on our athleticism and size a lot if we have droughts on offense. As for Jennings, he is an upgrade over Knight, simple as that. He has much better court vision than Knight does. Critique the Smith signing if you want, I can see that. But Knight for Jennings is a deal I think most would make, no brainer to me. And like I said I'm sure he will still show signs of boneheaded shots, just like Smith will, but I hope they both decrease them greatly. Bottom line, our athleticism and size will take us as far as we will go.

Billups will probably start at SG when Jennings comes back. Which is who I would like there until KCP shows he can play. Or Stuckey, who I would not agree with. We need to worry about floor spacing, and Stuckey is a terrible shooter. Rather have him off the bench when the "big 3" is not on the floor together.

Jennings-KCP-Smith-Monroe-Drummond excites and scares me the most. Easily our most talented 5. But the floor spacing scares me.

End of the day we are anywhere from a 6-8 seed. Ceiling is 5, floor is 10. Going to be an exciting team, a solid defensive squad. Going to be one of the best rebounding teams (which should help offensively too). Certainly not a title contender, nor have I been touting them to be. I'm just excited for the new talent we have and hopefully for some meaningful basketball in the playoffs. Where we go from here, who knows. But this should be something to build on.

If Smith, Monroe, and Drummond won't see a lot of floor time together, how do you see that playing out? There are only so many minutes to go around, and all three of those guys seem to be 32+ minute a night kind of guys. I could even see Smith and Monroe logging around 34-35 a night realistically. Include Jerebko and Villanueva who will get some minutes (hopefully Jerebko more than Villanueva), I can't really see a scenario where those guys don't play a lot together, if you want them to all get their deserved minutes.

I agree about struggling in the half court thing, but it will be interesting to see if they run or not. With the exception of the 05-06 6ers, Mo Cheeks teams have always been in the bottom half of the league as far as pace is concerned. The Bucks under Brandon Jennings were also always a bottom ten team in terms of pace with the exception of the 10-11 season where they were 15th. Jennings was also one of the worst transition players in the NBA, to put it in perspective Jennings only shot 50% in transition and 14% of his possessions ended in a turnover, which is really high. It's unbelievable, but Brandon Knight was actually worse too.

As for the Jennings for Knight trade, agreed, it's a no brainer. But while I LOVED Knight coming out of Kentucky, he never developed into a good player. On the topic of passing though, I do find it interesting that 38% of Jennings assists led to a dunk or layup, while 49% of Knights assists led to dunks or layups. That's a pretty big difference. But let it be known, and Rob can back me up on this, I used to LOVE Jennings, wanted him on my team. And while the last year or so have really turned me off on him, he does still do some things well.

I think Jennings will put some stretches together where his shot attempts dip down, but he's a chucker through and through. He'll always revert to that. Like I've said in the past, some nights that will pay off and some it won't. You have to take the good with the bad, kind of like JR Smith. I read an article on a Pistons site that basically showed it doesn't matter who Jennings is on the floor with, the ball is going up.

In terms of Josh Smith, defensively the Pistons should be a good group because Josh is a fantastic defender. Monroe is a solid yet unspectacular defender, and Drummond is obviously already very good on the defensive end. Infact, if I had to make some sort of sense of the Josh Smith signing with the intention to keep Monroe around past this year, I would say it's because of the defensive potential those three have together. This could also limit Jennings shortcomings defensively. Though it would have to make for a slower pace offensively.

Which is where this roster makeup gets me. There will be some nights where Jennings can't miss, Smith has his midrange shot falling, and everything is perfect. Then there will be other nights where you'd think you were watching a JV basketball game. It's going to be a mess more times than not. Take the pick and roll for example, I was watching Jennings in the pick and roll and teams just don't play him that tough on it. They sag their bigs and their guards go under screens. Why they do that doesn't really matter, but guys like Monroe and Drummond who were good last season aren't going to have things come as easy because you'll have extra bodies in the paint because of the way they play Jennings, plus teams will sag off and leave Josh Smith because he isn't a threat from the 3pt line or mid range. Teams are just going to pack the paint, make Monroe and Drummond really work for their points, and force Jennings and Smith to make their shots.

 

[youngguru]

the fuck is the point of drinking a mikes? can't get a buzz and tastes worse than lemonade 

 

[Mexi]

clippers finally did something right

covered the laker banners. should've done this a long time ago

 

[jonathanlambert33]

I like lemonade but it gives me horrible ulcers lol

 

[Pugz]

clippers finally did something right

covered the laker banners. should've done this a long time ago

the comments from lakers fans are hilariously sad.

i like what they did.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

That looks pretty cool, I'm surprised CP isn't in the middle.

 

[Hurricane Season]

Rose has a 40.2 PER and a 129.6 ORTG in the preseason, lol.

 

[buzzy]

but his knee hurts

 

[Hurricane Season]

He'll never be the same again.