Agreed on teams possible deciding to nose dive for this draft (very possible the Rockets end up being one of those teams though). Wembanyama is the player everyone will talk about (and he is an uber elite talent) but Scooter Henderson has the makings of a Hall of Fame point guard and there are at least 4-5 other prospects with all star type projections in this very strong draft.
I know you like the Arkansas team and maybe Nick Smith a bunch, but where are you at on Cam Whitmore?
I have to go to bat for DD on this one. When Magic was a rookie, Pat Riley was a first time assistant for the Lakers. The team only had two assistants and after Jack McKinney was fired for pissing off Kareem and Nixon, the Lakers only had two choices, and neither had even been an assistant coach before: Paul Westhead and Pat Riley. Pat Riley has done television for the Lakers and Westhead had at least coached at some level before so he was made HC and Riley was his only assistant (later Westhead would piss off Magic and get fired, and Riley would take over). Anyway, according to Pat Riley the leader of the Lakers from training camp on was not Kareem or Nixon or even Jamaal Wilkes - the leader was Magic Johnson. Riley also said that Kareem was less of a leader than Michael Cooper as well. So it is very very rare for a rookie to be a leader or the leader, but according to Pat Riley it was a rookie leading the team.
I need to see more of him, especially how he handles adversity. He has a lot of talent but I need to see that he can expand his game more.
I'm excited to watch this team and I think this year will be a significant improvement over last season. But there's a long way to go. I'm putting the over/under at 35 wins and I'd lean the under.
You can make up a lot through dedication, focus and determination. But experience takes experience. You maybe right about winning some games nobody thinks we should, but by the end of the year, I expect our win% to be <.400
As far as what is reasonable, I dont think that figures into it. What is reasonable depends on your reasoning. My reasoning is such that I am trying not to make expectations. I know they are not winning the division or going anywhere in the playoffs (should that slim chance materialize). Nope. Just going to try and kick back this year. That sounds reasonable, doesn't it?
our guys are not playing the Spurs every night. Just make it to the top 3 worst record. Fire Silas. Get Wemby.
The first 20-30 regular season games say a tremendous amount more about the situation than 5-6 preseason games.
I think we all agree its a playoff team, no room for more stars, we win now and we win fast #gorockets
Build Chemistry try to win. Over thinking about this year or next is stupid. There not expected to be a playoff team anyways. So why should there be any pressure?
unreasonable optimism? OP you need to amend the title of this thread and remove those words. You ain't @Cutty312
And the first 60 regular season games say more than the first 20-30 so on and so forth... But the OP is overly optimistic from 1 preseason game. I'm just saying I'd like to see how they show against teams not expected to be lottery favorites.
Here's what Zach Lowe thinks of Toronto in his ranking of all the teams. Says they belong from 3-6 in the East. "Toronto ... umm ... I'm kind of scared of Toronto? The Raptors retained everyone from a 48-win team, added Otto Porter Jr. -- a central-casting Raptor, only with more shooting -- and carry a year's worth of understanding of how Nick Nurse wants to leverage their collective length: switching, enveloping passing lanes, bombarding the offensive glass without getting roasted in transition." This will be interesting to watch. Should be a better measuring stick than SAS for the 2nd pre-season game.
