Biggest Surprises

Agree on Brooks, I wasn't expecting such a positive impact. Like him paired with Tate .... they give opponents the business.

Amen was also playing well before the injury, didn't really expect that so early.


Negative? Missing Tari.

 

Tari & Amen are hurt while Lawndale &Tate looked solid. When the four are healthy - they will provide a solid unit.

 

Having PG play that doesn't make my eyes bleed has been even more surprising than I thought.

 

Shocking that Tate is still surprising people...

He has been doing the junkyard dawg thing for years. He just has a defensive system to work in now, and an elite defender to play next to in Brooks.

 

Basically the disappointment is that Green and Smith Junior are not your star player options.
This is why you drafted in the Top 4 consecutively in 3 years.

Sengün did what he had to do, was not a big surprise but surprised he is borderline great now.

Slight surprise that the 2 veterans are carrying the team so much now.

 

I am not surprised by Brooks, but guys, expect his numbers to fall. Hes been on a roll and its just not sustainable for him to be this efficient.

I am also not surprised this team is this good. We just needed a real coach. We didnt just get a real coach, we got an amazing coach and staff. I truly hope he stays with the team like Pop. Thats the kinda feeling I have...

 

[QU
OTE="jim1961, post: 14904859, member: 44950"]Positive:
Dillon Brooks. After the Orlando game, I was really wondering if the naysayers were right.
Since then, he has been our best player.

Negative:
The Bench. I thought our depth was such that our 2nd unit would better than most other teams.
I couldnt have been more wrong up to this point.[/QUOTE]


Exactly. But I think the bench is a direct result of KPJ. I think the bench misses a true scorer.

 

Yeah, it is about darn time those Bears were hibernating.

 

Yeah, right up until training camp we thought we would have KPJ, Tari and Thompson on this bench. Right now, we are missing all three of them. So it's unsurprising the bench is disappointing. Landale is doing fine, but I still don't think he's looked as good as he did for the Suns last year, so I hope there is room for him to return to form. Tate has been fantastic at times and I'm happy to have him on the bench. He was great last night. I also have been pleased with Holiday's contributions thus far. I'm not sure that we can rely on him for huge minutes at his size and age, but it's great knowing that he's good for 10-15 minutes a game.

To me, the great news is that if bench depth is a much easier fix than a lackluster starter. Quality bench players are both more abundant and more available than quality starters.

 

Obviously Dillon Brooks having the sixth-best true shooting percentage in the league is not something I had on my bingo card coming into the season, and it won't continue, but it's been a nice surprise.

Tate is also shooting it surprisingly well but it's obviously a tiny (9 three point attempts) sample size so I don't know if I'd really count that as of yet.

As for unwelcome surprises, I thought the bench would be better, but I also thought we'd have a healthy Tari and Amen and I thought Reggie Bullock had more in the tank than he apparently does. I also didn't think Jalen would shoot it quite this badly to start the season.

On the "about what I expected" front, Alpi taking a step forward, Jabari being inconsistent but showing some overall improvement, FVV continuing to be a solid veteran like he was with Toronto, Amen being defensively impactful right away but needing time to develop on offense, Ime Udoka really turning the intensity around right away... yup. All good and fine.

 

- Dillon Brooks in several ways.
- Sengun's defensive improvement
- Ime's use of Sengun in offense as a hub right from the start
- FVV, brooks completely changing the team atmosphere, and Sengun, Green, Bari immediately buying into that. So glad KPJ is out.

 

It’s really early so I try not to be too high or low.

Brooks has played well, but he is going to come back down to earth as a shooter - but I still like the professionalism and honesty he brings.

I am disappointed in Green, but it has been 5 games so not reading too much into it.

I guess the last thing would be Thompson being hurt again after being hurt in SL. He really needs to be on the court.

 

No, having unrealistic expectations are some of the dumbest things anyone can do.