Watched the game back last night only focusing on the defense and even putting all the "it's only one game" and "it's just preseason" qualifiers aside, I was even less encouraged than after the first watch through.
I understand the defense hasn't been good the last couple years, but if our base ball screen defense is at the level hedging and recovering with a reluctance to switch really anywhere on the floor, I have a hard time seeing how this is all going to work, especially with the starting lineup.
Just puts a lot of pressure on your help positioning and rotations. And unless we're going to play Nance and Roco together at points, I just don't see us being able to put out a unit where there's enough size and off ball feel/instincts for to be effective other than against teams that don't pass it well or spread the floor.
(Norm and Nas are solid enough on the ball, but both are poor off ball defenders imo)
You also saw some of the trickle-down effects of the scheme, particularly in transition. Rotations are going to lead to switches on the weakside so communication getting back on defense is going to be huge. Too often guys were trying to match back up with their original assignment when in those situations you've just got to take the nearest guy especially against a team that plays with the pace of Golden State does.
I also worry about the defensive rebounding against big teams. When you're rotating so much every possession, it puts more pressure on your guards ability to rebound. Only gave up 10 offensive rebounds against Golden State, but they're one of the worst rebounding teams in the league.