Notice Preseason Positives and Negatives

[THE HCP]

Depending on your situation, preseason means many different things to many different people. For young crappy teams, like the Magic or Wolves, winning and looking good is very important. They hope the vibe of winning and seeing some success from all their hard work in camp can carry over. For contending teams like the Bucks and Lakers, it just doesn’t mean as much. They realize they can just turn it on whenever. Sometimes they can and sometimes they can’t.
I watched a couple of those contending team’s preseason games, and they could have won, but pulled their starters. But what does it mean for middle of the pack teams like the Mavs, Pacers or us?
What does it mean if you have a tenured coach like Spo or Pop, compared to a rookie like Coach Billups?

That said, what does it mean to fans. I’m quite sure Nets fans look at it differently than Wiz fans.

I, in all my honesty while watching the 4th quarter tonight, was thinking to myself, trying to figure out a SINGLE POSITIVE from this preseason. And I just couldn’t see a single thing that has got me going into the season excited or pumped. Like what is our new staff sitting on the plane tonight saying to each other that they hope “BLANK” continues and carries over to the regular season?
If you guys have anything you feel looked great out there, please share.
I’m sure some will say, “Don’t overreact, it’s just preseason” Or, “Give it some time” Then that answers my question on what you think or expect from preseason.
I can understand the wait and see thing and thats what I’m doing.
I will give them 30 games before I really start to judge, but there is usually a few things I saw that give me some hope……just didn’t see it this year. #RipCity

 

[SlyPokerDog]

A championship caliber team can lose its star player and still make the playoffs.

A playoff caliber team can lose its star player and won't make the playoffs.

Without Lillard we are a lottery team.

 

[THE HCP]

A championship caliber team can lose its star player and still make the playoffs.

A playoff caliber team can lose its star player and won't make the playoffs.

Without Lillard we are a lottery team.

I think you sir are correct unfortunately.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Depending on your situation, preseason means many different things to many different people. For young crappy teams, like the Magic or Wolves, winning and looking good is very important. They hope the vibe of winning and seeing some success from all their hard work in camp can carry over. For contending teams like the Bucks and Lakers, it just doesn’t mean as much. They realize they can just turn it on whenever. Sometimes they can and sometimes they can’t.
I watched a couple of those contending team’s preseason games, and they could have won, but pulled their starters. But what does it mean for middle of the pack teams like the Mavs, Pacers or us?
What does it mean if you have a tenured coach like Spo or Pop, compared to a rookie like Coach Billups?

That said, what does it mean to fans. I’m quite sure Nets fans look at it differently than Wiz fans.

I, in all my honesty while watching the 4th quarter tonight, was thinking to myself, trying to figure out a SINGLE POSITIVE from this preseason. And I just couldn’t see a single thing that has got me going into the season excited or pumped. Like what is our new staff sitting on the plane tonight saying to each other that they hope “BLANK” continues and carries over to the regular season?
If you guys have anything you feel looked great out there, please share.
I’m sure some will say, “Don’t overreact, it’s just preseason” Or, “Give it some time” Then that answers my question on what you think or expect from preseason.
I can understand the wait and see thing and thats what I’m doing.
I will give them 30 games before I really start to judge, but there is usually a few things I saw that give me some hope……just didn’t see it this year. #RipCity

Unfortunately this isn't much of a surprise... Hopefully changes are made before Dame asks out.

 

[perkinsfor3]

If the thing you can be most excited about is cutting Ben and CJ after a preseason, you know the offseason sucked ass

 

[tlongII]

They look like a lottery team.

 

[Eli Vance]

44 wins, 7 or 8th seed, 1st round exit. That's the takeaway I got.

Oh and Lillard gone after next season. Full rebuild.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Depending on your situation, preseason means many different things to many different people. For young crappy teams, like the Magic or Wolves, winning and looking good is very important. They hope the vibe of winning and seeing some success from all their hard work in camp can carry over. For contending teams like the Bucks and Lakers, it just doesn’t mean as much. They realize they can just turn it on whenever. Sometimes they can and sometimes they can’t.
I watched a couple of those contending team’s preseason games, and they could have won, but pulled their starters. But what does it mean for middle of the pack teams like the Mavs, Pacers or us?
What does it mean if you have a tenured coach like Spo or Pop, compared to a rookie like Coach Billups?

That said, what does it mean to fans. I’m quite sure Nets fans look at it differently than Wiz fans.

I, in all my honesty while watching the 4th quarter tonight, was thinking to myself, trying to figure out a SINGLE POSITIVE from this preseason. And I just couldn’t see a single thing that has got me going into the season excited or pumped. Like what is our new staff sitting on the plane tonight saying to each other that they hope “BLANK” continues and carries over to the regular season?
If you guys have anything you feel looked great out there, please share.
I’m sure some will say, “Don’t overreact, it’s just preseason” Or, “Give it some time” Then that answers my question on what you think or expect from preseason.
I can understand the wait and see thing and thats what I’m doing.
I will give them 30 games before I really start to judge, but there is usually a few things I saw that give me some hope……just didn’t see it this year. #RipCity

When you were sitting watching the 4th quarter, none of our rotation guys were playing. Also, the Lakers aren’t a contender. In 2014, they would’ve been the best team ever, though.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

A championship caliber team can lose its star player and still make the playoffs.

A playoff caliber team can lose its star player and won't make the playoffs.

Without Lillard we are a lottery team.

But if we were to trade Lillard for another impact player, we would make playoffs.

 

[THE HCP]

When you were sitting watching the 4th quarter, none of our rotation guys were playing. Also, the Lakers aren’t a contender. In 2014, they would’ve been the best team ever, though.

*edited* Answer my question. What did you see in the preseason from this team that you hope carries over to the regular season.

 

[riverman]

What I took from preseason was that Dennis Smith Jr earned the 14th spot on the roster and that the coaching change isn't going to be seamless.

 

[THE HCP]

What I took from preseason was that Dennis Smith Jr earned the 14th spot on the roster and that the coaching change isn't going to be seamless.

I like what I saw from him for sure.

 

[THE HCP]

 

[illmatic99]

our defense in the first quarter was a sign of what we can do. trapping steph, then rotating out was a sight for sore eyes.

but kerr adjusted... and we didn't counter. it looked like our guys had no idea where to be.

it's gonna take some time. i just hope chauncey sticks to it instead of reverting back to terry's old strategies to salvage regular season wins.

 

[calvin natt]

My takeaway is they look bored. Also it reaffirmed my concern about Nurkic. He just doesn’t have it. Dennis Smith needs to make the team. Preseason doesn’t mean much but it can show some red flags and that’s what happened the last two weeks.

 

[illmatic99]

My takeaway is they look bored. Also it reaffirmed my concern about Nurkic. He just doesn’t have it. Dennis Smith needs to make the team. Preseason doesn’t mean much but it can show some red flags and that’s what happened the last two weeks.

nurk's finishing ability just hasn't improved. really disappointing.

 

[THE HCP]

nurk's finishing ability just hasn't improved. really disappointing.

Not sure I like that he seems to have fallen inn love with the 3 as well. I’m cool with him NOT shooting anymore.

 

[wizenheimer]

But if we were to trade Lillard for another impact player, we would make playoffs.

the chances Portland trades Dame for an impact player are really small. Caris Lavert, or DeMar Derozan or Danilo Gallinari are not impact players. And that's the caliber of players that seem to get traded when a star demands to leave

not only that, if Portland trades Dame they would have a tough time re-signing RoCo and Nurkic

if Portland trades Dame they'd be stupid to waste an opportunity for a full rebuild, and they'd be compounding stupid to build around CJ & Powell. That's just about the worst kind of purgatory

 

[illmatic99]

Not sure I like that he seems to have fallen inn love with the 3 as well. I’m cool with him NOT shooting anymore.

if he can make em at a 35% clip, i want him shooting at least 2 a game. i don't have a problem with this.

more of my annoyance with him is the soft, no touch flip shots that have no chance of going in. dude needs to improve... wheres the practice?

 

[MickZagger]

We played only 3 teams. Luckily we won’t have our superstar out of the lineup more than he’s in the lineup. But we’re short, unimaginative on offense and still give up open 3’s.

I’m hoping for us to turn a switch come regular season. But I was also hoping for us to try and shake up the roster the past 5 off seasons.

Should be an interesting year.

 

[tlongII]

Too many turnovers. You cannot win turning the ball over that many times.

 

[Tince]

Not sure I like that he seems to have fallen inn love with the 3 as well. I’m cool with him NOT shooting anymore.

It interesting because I thought Billups was saying he didn't want us to rely on the 3 as much as we have in the past, yet here we are.

 

[Tince]

Negatives: The preseason

Positives: The preseason is over.

 

[Driew]

I think it's very like Dame wins a ring this season....just not with us.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

So, the real title should be "Preseason Positives and Negatives".

So, let's see how we stack up against other teams.
Team scoring: 30th
Team scoring differential: 30th
Team assists: 30th (hard to get assists when you can't hit anything, but so much for ball movement)
Team assist differential: 30th (29th was -5.75, we were -12.33!!!)
Team turnovers: 30th
Team turnover differential: 30th
Team blocked shots: 30th
Team 3 point %: 29th
Team fg%: 28th
Team defense: 27th
Team fg% differential: 27th
Team steals: 19th
Team defensive fg%: 19th (yay!)
Team ft%: 13th (yay!)
Team rebounding difference: 9th (yay - I actually thought we sucked pretty bad at rebounding)

"Inauspicious" doesn't quite capture it, does it ?
If you want to view the full horror, go here.

Can you blame Morey for deciding to hold on to Ben Simmons for a while, "just in case"?

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I'm kind of hoping the team keeps this up and sets some kind of record. That'll teach us to whine about a consistent playoff team.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Premier League analogy: Watford were a below-average-but-safe-from-relegation team that decided the coach was the problem. They fired him and replaced him with a respected guy. They just lost 5-0 in their first game after the change.

 

[sheed30]

Haha this is preseason guys, not much to take from it. It’s a long 82 game season, with a new coach and new philosophy in place, it’s going to take time. Remember this is the first time Dame and CJ have had a different coach, they have been stuck in Stotts way for a while.

I took away a few things though. First , the first game vs GW we looked fine when the starters were playing. Defense and offense looked fine with the starters.

The last two games, yes our defense wasn’t the greatest but no one wants to talk about how poorly we shot in the last two preseason games? 29.8% Team FG’s and 15.4% on 3’s. and 40.2% and 25% the last game. I don’t care how good of D you play, you aren’t going to win if you shoot that bad.

another thing I noticed is the high turnovers, which I think is a product of guys thinking too much on the court. I saw times where guys were trying to make the extra pass a little too much, and that turned into turnovers.

this is going to be a work in progress guys, taking anything away from some preseason guys is silly man.

the Lakers went 0-6, I guess that means they aren’t making the playoffs right? Lol

 

[Orion Bailey]

if he can make em at a 35% clip, i want him shooting at least 2 a game. i don't have a problem with this.

more of my annoyance with him is the soft, no touch flip shots that have no chance of going in. dude needs to improve... wheres the practice?

where are those enes kanter put back drills? He should be doing “two a days”on those!

 

[TBpup]

A championship caliber team can lose its star player and still make the playoffs.

A playoff caliber team can lose its star player and won't make the playoffs.

Without Lillard we are a lottery team.

Barely a Playoff Team WITH Lillard. Last year, tied for the 5-7 spot just ahead of #8. The season before, a Play-in team.
This roster just is not very good. It starts with the two main players who are a negative on defense on a nightly basis. You are recovering from that every signle game. Many times their offense is good enough to overcome that deficit, but it is a hole to start with none the less.

I applaud trying something new, but that will take time, and it won't make Dame/CJ any better of a defensive combo at the point of attack. You are relying on a lot of help behind them from small SF Powell, small PF RoCo, and recently hackmaster Nurkic.

Their offense will still bail them out on many nights, but this team needs an upgrade in defense, length, and the ability to attack the basket and get to the foul line. It is a finesse, 3-pt shooting team and a change in philosphy with long time vets isn't likely to change that any time soon.