Analysts have previously concluded that you can't win a championship with Domas as your center because of his defensive issues, therefore, he will apparently be overrated until the moment he wins a championship. It's a pretty high bar to pass. I'd wager at least 75% of players that get a max contract will never win a championship, but apparently because they fit into some preconceived box of an archetype they get a pass there.
DOMAS BACK!!!
- Thread starter The_Jamal
- Start date
1 out of 30 teams win a ring every year. Odds wise yep, those are pretty low percentages anyway. haha. I think Jokic winning a ring definitely gives reason to think Domas could do just the same if defense is the concern. Domas is more capable than Jokic on that end for sure. Jokic is a verified top 5 player and former MVP though so that's where things are quite different. The next bit of interest is going to be what the Nuggets do next year. Was it another Dirk, where you can wrangle out 1 ring with someone like that, or is it something you can build a dynasty on? The reality is that while your defense can't be what the Kings was last year for sure, it also isn't madatory to be the best in the league either. In the last decade there are now 3 teams to win a ring that weren't even in the top 10 of defense that year. The Warriors, the Cavs, and now the lowest rated defensive team to win a ring in the last 40+ years in the Nuggets who were 15th.
Net +/- is probably quite a bit more important than raw defensive numbers. The Nuggets were sixth in the league last year at +3.4, we slotted in at eighth with +2.6. Obviously this had little to do with our defense, and everything to do with our offense, which was best in the league and 1.4 points better than the next best. This year, with the addition of Vezenkov to even further open up the floor and a year worth of familiarity between the core players and the coach, we can even hope to improve on our offensive numbers.
Going heavy with offense may not be the traditionally accepted way to do it ("defense wins championships") but the winner of the game is the one that scores the most points. Whether that's accomplished by increasing your own scoring or by decreasing your opponent's scoring (or some of both) doesn't really matter. Sure, you want a lot of both if you can get it. But if we can increase our scoring by 2 points this year and stay dead even on defense, we'd be at +4.6, good for third in the league this past year, despite our defense being ranked 25th. I'd far rather that than improve our defense by 2 points a game at the expense of losing 3 points of offense.
Going heavy with offense may not be the traditionally accepted way to do it ("defense wins championships") but the winner of the game is the one that scores the most points. Whether that's accomplished by increasing your own scoring or by decreasing your opponent's scoring (or some of both) doesn't really matter. Sure, you want a lot of both if you can get it. But if we can increase our scoring by 2 points this year and stay dead even on defense, we'd be at +4.6, good for third in the league this past year, despite our defense being ranked 25th. I'd far rather that than improve our defense by 2 points a game at the expense of losing 3 points of offense.
Yeah, and in reality almost every team that's meant anything was a top offensive team first and foremost. However, the stats don't lie, if you're bottom 5-10 in defense like the Kings last season then good luck. In the last 40 years+ it's never happened. The Kings getting up to that top 15 for a stretch looked good last year, like almost contender level, but it was a quick blip. Also, these numbers change a little depending on whether there are like legit super teams around once that became a thing. Then the numbers appear to have to look a little more balanced and defense jumps in super team eras. If these new "super teams" do damage that might depend again on where the bar on defense is. Top 15 being OK might turn into top 5-7 being a necessity.
I believe it's been proven that a team that shoots it as well as the KINGS can win a title. And they likely have improved their team shooting with the additions of Sasha and Duarte. If they can improve their defense to a consistently adequate level, they should have a very good shot to make some real noise.
Honestly, this probably is what hurt him a bit in the playoffs. Just so many minutes for a big guy, never got to rehab his broken finger. Sad, but the stars that take rest or are hurt all the time actually get an advantage heading into the playoffs if they're healthy.
I mean he did this to them in November early in the year. So not like the Warriors had his number or something. I think just a combination of an excellent game plan on him and him being worn down from a huge minutes workload season. Not to mention getting stepped on and a black eye during the series. Domas played 832 more minutes than AD did last season. Or the equivalent of 17.5 full games. Can't tell me that doesn't have an impact come playoff time.
I'm hoping we're able to drop his minutes workload by 300-400 this year (assuming no injury) with the new additions. We just can't have another stretch like last year in the middle of the season where he just had to play 38+ or we were going to lose the game and fall apart. Hell, even give him rest days during the year if things look really good with Lyles/Noel/Len grouping. Every other team with stars does it and gets the advantage come playoff time. Why should we have to play "above" that?
I mean he did this to them in November early in the year. So not like the Warriors had his number or something. I think just a combination of an excellent game plan on him and him being worn down from a huge minutes workload season. Not to mention getting stepped on and a black eye during the series. Domas played 832 more minutes than AD did last season. Or the equivalent of 17.5 full games. Can't tell me that doesn't have an impact come playoff time.
I'm hoping we're able to drop his minutes workload by 300-400 this year (assuming no injury) with the new additions. We just can't have another stretch like last year in the middle of the season where he just had to play 38+ or we were going to lose the game and fall apart. Hell, even give him rest days during the year if things look really good with Lyles/Noel/Len grouping. Every other team with stars does it and gets the advantage come playoff time. Why should we have to play "above" that?
Kings’ Domantas Sabonis on NBA In-Season Tournament: ‘It’s another chance to win something’
https://www.basketballinsiders.com/...urnament-its-another-chance-to-win-something/
https://www.basketballinsiders.com/...urnament-its-another-chance-to-win-something/