Ronald Threesley and the Beam Team
- Thread starter Tetsujin
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A 3-14 team in the NBA is going to have good games where thing "come together" and they should theoretically win.
To be the Kings tonight where things theoretically came together for the Pistons AND the refs were on their side yet the Kings STILL won says a lot about what is different around here.
This WAS the trap game. Everything pointed towards it as well as how it was officiated. Yet the Kings STILL won. What does that tell you?
To be the Kings tonight where things theoretically came together for the Pistons AND the refs were on their side yet the Kings STILL won says a lot about what is different around here.
This WAS the trap game. Everything pointed towards it as well as how it was officiated. Yet the Kings STILL won. What does that tell you?
This was pretty dang close to as good as that Pistons roster can play. Ivey had it going and they couldn't miss a shot. Even freaking CoJo had some insane creation moves. They're a bad team, but every team is going to have 15-20 games where they just play extremely well and can beat anybody.
To the Kings credit, they hung in, despite the atrocious defense/refs, and closed it out in crunch time. That's now 5-0 on the season vs teams "we should beat" on paper. Can't ask for a better start in that regard.
To the Kings credit, they hung in, despite the atrocious defense/refs, and closed it out in crunch time. That's now 5-0 on the season vs teams "we should beat" on paper. Can't ask for a better start in that regard.
The good news for the Hawks is that that first round pick is probably going to convey to them sooner rather than later. The bad news for them is that it's going to convey because the young wing-guard with elite shooting splits that they traded to us on the first year of an incredibly team friendly deal has blossomed into a potential third option player in an offensive system that isn't just passing the ball to Trae and waiting for him to do something for 20 seconds.
The way I see it, good teams have bad games. Bad teams have good games. It is what happens in the last 6 minutes of those games that matters. How many times in the last 10-15 years have we played the game the Pistons played today? A game where we were the bad team/underdog, but then thoroughly outplayed a much better team for 36 minutes, built a good lead, and seemed like we had a shot to win, only to watch the better team tighten the screws in the fourth and put us away? I can't count even count how many times we were the bad team that failed to close.
Good team might not always play well for 48 minutes. What makes them a good team is that they forget the bad 36-40 minutes and close out the game with a W. We've done that a few times this year (Pistons, Hornets, Lakers, Magic). And that is the difference between 9-6 (playoffs) and 5-10 (lottery).
Good team might not always play well for 48 minutes. What makes them a good team is that they forget the bad 36-40 minutes and close out the game with a W. We've done that a few times this year (Pistons, Hornets, Lakers, Magic). And that is the difference between 9-6 (playoffs) and 5-10 (lottery).
Not a KD fan at all but he's a smart guy. It might be easy to remember that Huerter is shooting 50% from deep, but to know his attempts as well? That's a guy that studies the scouting report. High praise from a great player.
His point about not being able to switch on Sabonis because he's too strong was really good as well.
His point about not being able to switch on Sabonis because he's too strong was really good as well.
Looking through the defensive numbers we are 27th in defensive rating but within a couple points of 19th. The biggest issue it seems is points in the paint (last) and blocks (second to last). We are 1st in defensive rebound rate and 4th in second chance points allowed. Sure seems like if you fix the rim protection we couple catapult to top 18 pretty easily. That could be just one piece. Who is that player? If we could find a shot blocking 4 we could bring Keegan off the bench this season and let him get more touches with the second unit. I like what I’ve seen from him defensively but you don’t get many lock down defenders in their rookie year.
^^^ with that said, it seems most of our defensive inefficiencies come from our 2nd unit. That might explain why we lock down so tight in the last few minutes of halves, if Brown is putting the best 5 out there for crunch time plus the game slowing down a touch in the final two.
We need either a KZ that can shoot, a rim defender, or both. Curious how Queta is doing since I don't really have great access to the development of G leaguers.
We need either a KZ that can shoot, a rim defender, or both. Curious how Queta is doing since I don't really have great access to the development of G leaguers.
I think instead of waiting for the unicorn JJJ archetype, you just go get the Zubac/Poeltl/Hartenstein archetype and find a way to make them work with Sabonis for 6-7 min a game. The starting unit has one of the best 5-man defensive ratings in basketball, so I do think the "Can't have a good defense with Sabonis" might be a tad overblown.
Fox || Mitchell
Huerter || Monk
Keegan || Crowder
Barnes || Crowder
Sabonis || Poeltl
This would be a budget way to fix our issues, but I think Crowder and Poeltl could probably get this defense around that 18-20 range replacing the TD/Lyles/Metu slot in the rotation. The bench has been awesome offensively, but I think the lack of size has been a big reason the defense has fallen off a cliff when they come into the game.
Grant Williams would be my top target though. Elite, switchable defender that's now added an elite 3pt shot on the offensive end.
Fox || Mitchell
Huerter || Monk
Keegan || Crowder
Barnes || Crowder
Sabonis || Poeltl
This would be a budget way to fix our issues, but I think Crowder and Poeltl could probably get this defense around that 18-20 range replacing the TD/Lyles/Metu slot in the rotation. The bench has been awesome offensively, but I think the lack of size has been a big reason the defense has fallen off a cliff when they come into the game.
Grant Williams would be my top target though. Elite, switchable defender that's now added an elite 3pt shot on the offensive end.
