They consider us behind Denver? Do their fans even know what's been going on in Denver? They've lost the core of their team and even their head coach. I'm caught whether Denver will still make the playoffs this coming season!
You're joking me right? A "bit" better? We've gotten exponentially better and that isn't even debatable. The fun part is seeing what other moves we make before the regular season starts.
OKC is still better - Durant is a freak and clearly the second best player of the league. Westbrook may be too selfish and make some questionable decisions, but he is a very special player - and Ibaka is a great complimentary player for them. Plus they have played together in this combination for a couple of years. Houston has a couple of question marks. When you get a player like Dwight, you need to change your system somewhat - how will that work for him and the other players. Our PF spot is a big question mark. And we lack a real scorer off the bench. OKC is still better, but it got a lot closer now. I see us above every other team in the WCF. San Antonio is getting older (I know, people have been saying that for years...) - I like our big 2 better than the Clippers big two - and I like our 3d, 4th and 5th guy better than theirs. They beat us with their bench though. Memphis desperately lacks a go to guy. Denver took a big step back. GSW is kind of a wild card. So right now I see us as second in the WCF and 3d best overall - but I guess I'm a bit of an homer here...
they have no post-up game in the paint whatsoever. as hakeem always said, "you must respect the post." okc is beneath us. on to the heat..
I think the Thunder are better than us because they have been playing together and we know what they can do, I know we got DH but we haven't played together and we don't know how we are going to mesh. Personally I think not this season but the following season we'll be really good and can go toe to toe with any team in the league.
Depends on what they get with their MLE. Martin wasn't that good anyway, all he did was spot up and shoot threes and play poor defense. I am pretty sure they can get someone with their MLE who may not be as good a shooter but play better defense than Martin which makes their contributions equal to each other. They do have the 2nd best player in the NBA, and he, more so than even LeBron, can't be stopped on offense. While I have seen Harden/LeBron get stopped in the past, I've never seen someone stop Durant from scoring. He has no weaknesses on that end. In a series, I think Durant is the difference between them winning and us losing.
how is asik beast off the bench? does he have elite skill sets that can destroy the other bench players around the league?
His elite skill is being bigger than everyone else and ripping rebounds away from them. So yes, he does.
yeah but wouldnt that be better for starting lineup? you want players on the bench to score because most bench players are bench players because they dont play defense!
TOO early to call it...I think we'll be good, but this time last year my Laker friends were already buying the champagne...let's just see what happens over the course of the summer leagues, training camp and season
I don't see Westbrook being back to 100% until sometime after the All-Star break. So I'm thinking they are going to struggle in the beginning of the season.
Defense is exactly the reason Asik and Howard won't be playing at the same time. We will have 48 minutes of defense anchored by a nasty rim protector with those 2. Around the all star break every talking head will be saying "Yes, their offense is spectacular, but its their defense that makes the difference" as we sit atop the standings. Now, with that said, I think Lin has to be coming off the bench to provide scoring. Having him, harden, parsons, AND Howard on the court for most of the game is a waste. Be efficient with his playing time and put him in at crunch time.
