BigWaxer said:
I still don't understand after a few pages how last years team is better then what we have... CONSIDERING we haven't seen this team play together! How can someone make a judgement based on not seeing the current team play? Sure at the end of the season this is an arguement to entertain but right now makes no sense to me.
It should be obvious, we are discussing what we think, not what is fact. We are using facts and history to back up our opinions, but they are only opinions. Of course we can have an opinion as to whether this year's team will be better than last year's. It's just an educated guess based on a bunch of factors. Isn't that a huge part of what these message boards are, especially in the off season. It is not a question of whether the team is better than last year, it is a question of whether we think it will be.
ONEZERO said:
theres no way(right it down, copy and paste it, do whatever u want with it) that we are NOT better than the team that started last year. plain and simple.
So you weigh factors like offensive and defensive ability, balance, experience, etc. You look at the current roster and see that the team as constructed has never played together, and you factor that into the part of the equation that considers a team's experience and chemistry into how well they'll do. You also look at last year's roster and see that not only had the core of that team played together, but other than Miller they had been inches away from the NBA finals together, and been through years of playoff battles together. I think many are too quick to discount that factor. You look at defense and rebounding and see that they haven't improved (and might have gotten worse). You see that the number of scoring options has increased, and the likelihood of injury is probably lower. You add all these things together to come up with your guess.
It is not as simple at looking at talent and saying this team is better than that one. (And even if it was based on talent, I still think that last year's opening day squad rivaled the current roster in sheer talent).
It is not this simple, but as a starting point, let's look at the basic teams. The following takes into account things like leadership and experience and is a little generous against my personal viewpoint:
Miller == Miller
Webber >> Abdur-Rahim
Stojakovic == Stojakovic
Christie < Wells
Bibby == Bibby
Songaila/Jackson/Bench < Thomas/Hart/Bench
What makes this year's roster better than last year's? Where does your opinion differ? What is so obvious, plain or simple?
P.S. This thread is about how good a job Petrie has done. I wanted to point out that somebody can think that last year's opening day roster is better than the current roster and still think that Petrie is making the right moves for the team. These ideas are not mutually exclusive.