Assuming the Melo trade goes down

I think defense at the 4 is going to be the tough part.

 

I know I'm beating a dead horse, but this roster with Melo would be favored in any ordinary year. Unfortunately, the Warriors are [imho] the greatest team ever assembled, especially when you account for modern NBA rules. I believe that in order to beat them, a team would have to be comprised of something along the lines of Lebron, Harden, CP, Paul George, & Leaonard. That's an absurdly talented lineup, but the crazy part is, I still think the Warriors would have a good chance of winning even then. They have the best possible players to run what is essentially the perfect offense and defense for today's NBA.

 

It's clearly interior defense and rebounding, but I'm not so sure those areas are critical to success in today's NBA. The Warriors don't have any elite defensive/rebounding centers on their roster either, but that didn't stop them from crushing every team they faced in the playoffs last season. If the Rockets get beat by the Warriors in the postseason next year, it won't be because their interior defense and rebounding were sub-par. It will be because the Warriors are a more talented basketball team.

 

Completely agree offensively. I think without melo we are probably good enough offensively but he is just extra icing.

I think, if I'm projecting, Capela Nene and an underrated black is pretty good interior defense. We have a bunch of above average perimeter rebounders.

I think a tad more shooting would help. A tad more interior defense. And a tad more rebounding.

But as is, we are capable of upsetting gsw

 

I don't know what the Rocket's biggest deficiencies will be, but the biggest deficiency at clutchfans is Melo threads. Like I'm ready for the Melo forum. All Melo all the time.

 

I like that optimism. But I have to think that swapping from the 3 to the 4 and playing D'Antoni pace & system instead of a mutated Phil Jackson system will take some learning to really maximize everything.

 

I kinda feel the same. Its almost to the point of "Why bother?".
But in any case its going to be a fun year, with Melo or without (And NY is not taking just Anderson, forget about it).
A good fight in the western finals would be a success to me. We can do it without Melo.

 

Weakness???
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If Onuaku goes out in the Melo trade (or even if he doesn't), interior defense / shot blocking would be our biggest weakness (as many have attested to above).
I could see us acquiring one of the following during the course of the year:
Via trade
C / F Edy Tavares (Cavs) doubt Cavs make him available; pros = blocks & rebounds; cons = fouls & bad FT shooter
F / C Rachaun Holmes (Sixers) could be a monster if given minutes; can also hit the 3; Philly's front court is loaded, but I actually see them trading away Okafor to get Holmes into rotation more
F / C Joel Bolomboy (Jazz) looks like Capela-lite; not really enough data to analyze; physical abilities = not as long as Capela, but has springs

Via free agency
C Roy Hibbert (Nuggets) probably too slow for our attack, but if he can just patrol interior and throw perfect outlet passes = asset
C Andrew Bogut (Cavs) cannot stay healthy, but could be signed into season just for the playoffs (and GS series)

 

Eh, how about let's not assume anything?

 

I'm confused. The new ignore feature blocks quotes in replies, as well. @BigShasta quoting Penis would still be hidden to you. We call it the Ghost effect.

So, either BigShasta removed the Member-ID number embedded in the quote of Penis, or you actually don't have him on ignore.

 

I dunno but I just wanna see Curry be forced to play Defense as well as be defended for 48 minutes and/or Thompson in a 7 game series for once...what does that look like when they actually gotta pay attention lol

 

A rebounding big who can knock down his free throws and the occasional corner 3. Is this too much to ask for ?

 

we also gotta keep in mind that I wouldn't be surprised to see Melo/CP3/Harden attract another well rounded player at the trade deadline/all star break before the playoffs

 

Shooting. GSW's main better skill is Shooting over us.
Second is a tie between Team Defense and System Chemistry.
Third, until we prove otherwise, their depth is still much better.

So, does that help answer your question wrt to what we need.

Do we add more shooting to try to match the best shooting team ever put together? Are we supposed to add more perimeter defense to try to stop it, while no other team really can. Is Interior D really going to help against the best shooting team ever put together? What does adding Rebounding mean, when a rebounding specialist is not really a thing....ie, our starters/finishers would just have to be better rebounders. Is trading Capela for an identical player but better rebounder really going to help much when Capela and Capela look-a-likes like Noel only play half the game?

To me, we are what we are after the trade. We could see a lot of improvement if Capela could play 34 mpg with no drop in production/100.

Since we are already behind GSW on Chemistry, I think we stand pat after the trade and trust that we need to fockass on chemistry, and improvement via trades is not as likely as sticking with chemistry building....which includes the depth aspect as well.

 

Fix interior defense by fixing perimeter defense. We trade Gordon and Ariza to the thunder for Paul George at the deadline. Imagine that lol

 

Has the gnosta-holic yet posted his own answer or is he still teasing the ultra super secret knowledge that only he possesses?

 

GOT 'EM

@Pen15clubber is too lefit to kwit

 

No, he's still playing us, kinda like professors and motivational speakers like Tony Robbins do, to get the crowd engaged and invested in the secret knowledge to come.