Michael Carter Williams/James Ennis

Actually, the reason why MCW completely fell off the map the last few years, when his shooting and finishing completely cratered, was also due to injuries - shoulder and hip, iirc. Before that he wasn't a great, or even good, offensive player either, but not bottom of the league bad. So I guess they do have that similarity going.

 

Great point

 

and I like it....

 

Not everyone.

 

Coach better give him a red light the entire season on jumpshots. If he holds back on them, he could be very effective in spurts

 

So far in 2 Pre-Season games I’ve made a few predictions as to who may start and crack the rotation.
•CP
•Harden
•Tucker
•Melo
•Capela

Bench
•EG
•MCW
•Green
•Ennis
•Nene/Hartestein

Rides The Bench
•Marquese Chriss

Cut
•Rob Gray
•Bruno

Final Roster Spot
•Gary Clark

G-League
•Zho Qi
•Vincent Edwards

 

Your roster looks good. Only thing is I would try to find a spot for Bruno and his length. Can we send him to gleague? If so, Edwards is out for me.

 

I am growing to love MCW.

i didn't understand the signing initially. But he absolutely fits.

He brings youth and athleticism. He looks good in transition, makes good passes, and plays with pace.

he gets to the free throw line more often than i would have thought. Very aggressive attacking the rim, either to score or set up a teammate for a open look. He is unique. As a wing who can create, provide solid defense, get out in tranisition, Slash effectively and get to the line Morey may have hit a home run with this one. His 3 point shooting should be a non factor.

Ennis is a hustle and glue guy. I believe I heard that he is near the top of the NBA when it comes to finishing in transition, which gives us an added dimension. He will win 50/50 balls. Plays extremely physical defense. i hope his hustle and heart can make up for what he lacks in defensive discipline. He is gritty and plays with an edge. I expect him to improve his 3 point shooting percentage just due to the Rockets system and our elite guard play. He will get much better looks than he has ever had over his career.

I know it's early, but this is just my early observation. Factoring in their cheap contracts, and the fact that they address specific roles that can help boost the team, I give both signings an early A.

Great job DM

 

Probably someone already said this but he also played in bad/horrible teams in the past years, Sixers, Bucks, Bulls, Hornets...i mean, not to justify him but, those enviroments for one reason or another were bad if not terrible.

 

We really need Ennis to nail his corner threes. He needs to focus on getting more for the rest of the preseason. I love his slashing but with Capela in the paint he needs to make the defense respect his shot.

I told everyone who would listen that MCW would be a wing here. His playmaking ability at the 3 is what can make our offense explode like it does in Golden State. we can now have two great passers on the court at all times and that takes the pressure of Chris and Harden to attack.

 

Quality players. When Tuck and Knight are back we are going to be stackkked.

 

Sounds about right to me so far.

Melo may come off the bench for strategy purposes but I think he'll be finishing the games so it won't really matter.

 

We still haven't had a game with a full compliment of players and a set rotation.

BUT, going into the season MCW was probably looked at by most of us as the 3rd PG, Bobby Brown type role that would get minutes as the PG in the 4th quarter during blowouts.

Now?

He looks like he might move himself from "non-rotation or limited-rotation" to a full blown "rotation" player. I wouldn't even be surprised to see him get minutes ahead of Gerald Green on the basis of MCW's defense.

Just in short, his versatility to play the 1-2-3 spots allows him some great opportunities to contribute to the team. And MDA is putting him in positions to highlight his strengths and hide his weaknesses. And to MCW's credit, he is following through on those things and thus flourishing as a role player.

NG Vet Min contract.
#NewMath

 

You forgot Brandon Knight who if healthy (big if) would be a really strong backup point guard. Damn we are pretty stacked this year. Just praying we can stay healthy!!

 

I once again think the following link highlights MCW's value quite reasonably

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/carmelo/michael-carter-williams/

Looks like he's on the right track to accentuate his proven skills (defensive capabilities, ball control skills, and high FT rates). If he manages to further reduces Turnover tendencies and consistently making lay-ups that he's supposed to make (promising from the two preseason games so far), he'd be a valuable (semi) rotation player.

Probably far beyond anyone's expectation. And definitely will outplay his meager Min contract.

This is again a testament to

1. how useless player's ex-post track record in predicting his success with a new team, particularly a team with drastically different system and culture
2. Morey and mgmt's unreal skill to find gems and value replacements for expensive vets

 

We're going to give defenses fit. I love Ariza and LMAM but their offense left a lot to be desired. Now with MCW & Melo we can roll out a lineup where you have to cover everyone and can't double team Harden or CP3

 

I would keep Bruno and you are missing Knight.

 

I'm dealing with a personal conflict. These couple of games showing MCW in the right situation is effective is making me think that maybe...perhaps...Daryl Morey knows more about basketball than the posters on CF. Send help.

 

If Morey can turn MCW career around there is nothing he can’t do.

MCW could be our Shaun Livingston this year.

 

The only who should be cut, imo, is Zhou and maybe Edwards. Though I would look to try and keep Edwards in the G-league. Rob Gray should also spend time in the G-league. Give Chriss minutes so that he can get his bearings. He is in the perfect situation to get his game going. He just needs to play.