2016 NBA Off-Season Thread

[CitySushi]

The sick thing is when they go small with Green at the 5. All 5 can hit the 3 at a decent %. All 5 can drive to the basket. Again their weakness with that lineup will be getting rebounds and defending the other team Big but might force the other team not to play a Big.

Underrated factor of Durant: He averaged 8.2 rebounds a game last year from the SF position. That's going to help immensely.

 

[Hambombs]

I really think the Grizzlies are built well to contend with the Warriors.

Crank up the D... slog the pace... just keep feeding Marc and Zach on the block. Who on the Warriors is going to stop Marc and Zach?

The differnce is you cant leave barnes open anymore

 

[purguy12]

Underrated factor of Durant: He averaged 8.2 rebounds a game last year from the SF position. That's going to help immensely.

yeah but when they go small he will be at the PF position and mostly will be playing outside with this team. Plus KD D isnt great. Its good but nothing special. he is long so that helps.

 

[CitySushi]

yeah but when they go small he will be at the PF position and mostly will be playing outside with this team. Plus KD D isnt great. Its good but nothing special. he is long so that helps.

KD's defense isn't great, but it's definitely good enough to accomplish what the Warriors will want to do on defense. If teams want to just bang the ball into the post, Warriors will be ok with that. KD isn't going to be needed to be a post stopper at the 4. Barnes wasn't a post stopper, but when he was at his best, he was disruptive and rebounded. KD will have no problems rebounding and provides much better length at the 4.

 

[Hambombs]

Im not worried about memphis at all, just my opinion though

 

[Heatles84]

The sick thing is when they go small with Green at the 5. All 5 can hit the 3 at a decent %. All 5 can drive to the basket. Again their weakness with that lineup will be getting rebounds and defending the other team Big but might force the other team not to play a Big.

Yeah. Quite honestly, Durant to the Warriors is the most unique lineup the NBA will ever see. It will be the very definition of unfair.

 

[ChrisGar15]

Definitely. Warriors are obviously the heavy favorite in that matchup.

I just think the key to stopping the Warriors small-ball is making them pay on the defensive end. There are not many post scorers in the league today that can do that.

Grizzlies happen to start 2 accomplished post scorers and have one of the best all-around defenses in the league.

The differnce is you cant leave barnes open anymore

Spurs have it also with Pau & LA.

I like ZBo -- but he is starting to show his age. They moved him to come off the bench for a few games until Marc got hurt.

 

[purguy12]

The differnce is you cant leave barnes open anymore

Yes but Green has to play inside more now. there are pros and cons any way u look at it. On paper this is the best team in the NBA. Its going to be interesting to see what happens. 4 starting All stars on 1 team. nO more MVP talk for Curry and KD. Cant give an MVP with a player that plays with an All star team. Opens the door back up for LBJ to win one.

 

[gordontrue]

The differnce is you cant leave barnes open anymore

You never could. The dude is a career 39% shooter from 3.

He had a rough few games in the Finals... and Durant is obviously a better shooter than Barnes... but I think this line is being somewhat overstated.

IMO... the upgrade from Barnes to Durant is more about what he can do on the move and in iso... along with his defense and rebounding and general playmaking.

 

[gordontrue]

Spurs have it also with Pau & LA.

I like ZBo -- but he is starting to show his age. They moved him to come off the bench for a few games until Marc got hurt.

Good point. Its been so long since we've seen a fully healthy Grizzlies lineup... we won't really know what they might present until we see it.

Parsons is such an upgrade for them at the 3.

 

[CitySushi]

Yes but Green has to play inside more now. there are pros and cons any way u look at it. On paper this is the best team in the NBA. Its going to be interesting to see what happens. 4 starting All stars on 1 team. nO more MVP talk for Curry and KD. Cant give an MVP with a player that plays with an All star team. Opens the door back up for LBJ to win one.

Green will only have to play inside more when the Warriors go small. With the amount of fire power the Warriors have, I'd say they will likely resist going small for large stretches because it won't be needed as much. Additionally you don't want to put too much wear on KD letting him bang against bigger bodies.

 

[Hambombs]

You never could. The dude is a career 39% shooter from 3.

He had a rough few games in the Finals... and Durant is obviously a better shooter than Barnes... but I think this line is being somewhat overstated.

IMO... the upgrade from Barnes to Durant is more about what he can do on the move and in iso... along with his defense and rebounding and general playmaking.

Barnes just isnt that good of a shooter overall. You can say he shot 39% for his career but those are on wife open shots. How hard can that be? Durant takes and makes way tougher shots. If he gets open its over

 

[Hambombs]

Also durant is light years ahead rebounding, playmaking and defensively

 

[Heatles84]

Yes but Green has to play inside more now. there are pros and cons any way u look at it. On paper this is the best team in the NBA. Its going to be interesting to see what happens. 4 starting All stars on 1 team. nO more MVP talk for Curry and KD. Cant give an MVP with a player that plays with an All star team. Opens the door back up for LBJ to win one.

Green's going to be playing the same role that he always have on the defensive end. They have Zaza coming in who's game is similar to Bogut's. They need to find someone who will take the Ezeli role from off the bench.

 

[Hambombs]

I admit that parsons is a big get for the grizzlies but is injury prone

 

[purguy12]

All I know is GS is a scary team. We saw what pressure did to them this year, they choked. Will more added pressure continue to bring them down we will find out. I thought that Miami team was stacked well this team just topped that by a lot. If they dont at least win 3 in a row once its a failure. This team needs to be special for me to say good job.

 

[Heatles84]

You never could. The dude is a career 39% shooter from 3.

He had a rough few games in the Finals... and Durant is obviously a better shooter than Barnes... but I think this line is being somewhat overstated.

IMO... the upgrade from Barnes to Durant is more about what he can do on the move and in iso... along with his defense and rebounding and general playmaking.

The line isn't really being overstated as well. Durant's not missing those shots and will not be missing in 3 straight games in a Finals series. The attention will be on Durant a lot more than it was on Barnes. This also frees up Klay and Curry as you can't trap and/or double them on pick and rolls anymore given the Durant factor now.

 

[gordontrue]

Durant takes and makes way tougher shots.

Exactly my point. Barnes was a very effective spot up shooter throughout his 4 seasons in GS.

Is Durant a better spot up shooter? Sure. Probably... though we haven't see him spot-up shoot much so who knows.

But what really makes the addition of Durant huge is the other stuff he'll do that Barnes could never do.

 

[purguy12]

Bulls and Denver just reported in on Wade. As a Bulls fan i hate what we are dong. Getting wade for 2 years gives us a 2 year window to try and win. Rondo, Wade and Butler. bad news all 3 arent great at 3's. Not a fan of this if it did happen.

 

[Hambombs]

All I know is GS is a scary team. We saw what pressure did to them this year, they choked. Will more added pressure continue to bring them down we will find out. I thought that Miami team was stacked well this team just topped that by a lot. If they dont at least win 3 in a row once its a failure. This team needs to be special for me to say good job.

3 in a row? Thats pushing it