Are we improved from last year

[David Stern]

Definately. Our young players have gotten a year better, and we added a top-10 pick, dominant low-post scorer, and a great shooter/defender.

 

[D Will> CP3]

So it comes down to this.

Can Hayward replace Korver?
Can Bell/CJ replace Matthews
Can Al replace Booz's production

But who can replace Boom Bitches?

 

[Twin Towers]

Bell>>Matthews
Hayward=Korver (Korver is the better shooter but Hayward is more versatile)
Miles: He will be improved
AK: Hopefully he is healthy
Jefferson>>Boozer: Defensively and offensively(Yes I said it)
Millsap>>Boozer(Defense only)
Jefferson>>Okur(Defense: Jefferson is starting now)
Fesenko will be improved

D-Will
Bell
AK
Millsap
Jefferson
We went from being a bunch of soft p ussies to actually being a tough team. We have attitude now. We are longer. Okur is coming off the bench which I really like now. Fesenko will probably get more playing time. I love this team now.

 

[Sean]

Pass Denver,Dallas,Suns. Possibility of getting passed by Blazers and Thunder.

Which is an interesting point. Why so many people high on Denver? It seems most have them penciled in for that second spot. But are they really that much better than last year?

 

[D Will> CP3]

I agree with why are people so high on Denver. Nene,Martin and Anderson I think had off season surgery's. Billups is older. Harrington will help but their Defense will not be better.
Suns- Lose their go to guy and lost a great bench player in Barbosa but did gain Turkoglu,Warrick and Childress. I think they are worse.

Dallas- lose Haywood and Damp but gain Chandler. They are probably the same but Kidd,marion and Dirk are getting older and older.

Blazers- What have they done thats so special? They add Matthews but will be a guy that won't see the floor that much with B Roy starting. They drafted Babbbit but IMO Hayward will be better than him. Oden is nothing special and probably will get hurt.

Thunder- They will have more experience but adding Aldrich does not solve their big man problem.

I think the team to worry about is Houston. Yao,Brooks,Scola,Battier,Kevin Martin,Ariza along with Patterson,Buddinger and Lowry will be a tough team.

 

[Stifle Tower]

Shannon Brown is never the missing piece of anything. Right now are missing piece is Tomic, if he can come here next year and actually amount to a poor man's Gasol, we will be in very very good shape.

But yeah, I think we have improved. I think Sap and Jefferson compliment each other better than Boozer and Sap. Plus I think Hayward is going to be an improvement over Korver.

Agree. I think we've improved.
AL-Millsap-AK is at least as good as Boozer-Okur-CJ. Better defensively. And I agree with your assessment that Jefferson/Millsap are better complementary players. Boozer was not a true low-post threat. Shut him off and he'd take the fade-away J (or try to dribble and get a turnover). Try to shut off Al and he's going to outmuscle you. Or the ball can go out to Millsap for a 12-15 jumper.

Deron-CJ vs. Deron-Matthews. Matthews provided better defense. CJ provides more offense. And having Okur, Raja and Hayward off the bench is pretty damn good. I wish we had a better backup PG than Price or Gaines. Maybe that will have to wait until next season.

At worst, we're equal to last season. At best, we've improved 4-5 wins, especially if we can get off to a better start and not fade late.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I agree with why are people so high on Denver. Nene,Martin and Anderson I think had off season surgery's. Billups is older. Harrington will help but their Defense will not be better.
Suns- Lose their go to guy and lost a great bench player in Barbosa but did gain Turkoglu,Warrick and Childress. I think they are worse.

Dallas- lose Haywood and Damp but gain Chandler. They are probably the same but Kidd,marion and Dirk are getting older and older.

Blazers- What have they done thats so special? They add Matthews but will be a guy that won't see the floor that much with B Roy starting. They drafted Babbbit but IMO Hayward will be better than him. Oden is nothing special and probably will get hurt.

Thunder- They will have more experience but adding Aldrich does not solve their big man problem.

I think the team to worry about is Houston. Yao,Brooks,Scola,Battier,Kevin Martin,Ariza along with Patterson,Buddinger and Lowry will be a tough team.

It might not solve their big man problem on OFFENSE, but it helps out DEFENSIVELY.

 

[Stifle Tower]

I mean, who is our 2 guard to start this year? All you guys think CJ can't start at 2 and Bell is a bench player, not a starter. I think CJ starts at 2 and AK at 3. Gives the team length and shooting with CJ. This is where it gets interesting.

Bell backs up the 2, Hayward backs up the 3, but who are the back ups to 4 and 5?


Before, Okur was thought to not be ready till January, but I thought some one said he will be ready for the start of the season? Is that true? If true, is Milsap the back up 4 and Fes the back up 5?

There's some flexibility there.
Ak can play the 3 and 4; CJ can play the 2 and 3. Here's how I see bith scenarios (Okur out, Okur back).

With Okur:
C - Jefferson (28), Okur (25), Fes (5)
PF - Millsap (33), Jefferson (15)
SF - AK (33), Hayward (15)
SG - CJ (30), Bell (18)
PG - Deron (38), Price/Gaines (10)

Without Okur:
C - Jefferson (35), Fesenko (13)
PF - Millsap (35), AK (13)
SF - AK (20), CJ (13), Hayward (15)
SG - CJ (20), Bell (28)
PG - Deron (38), Price/Gaines (10)

Without Okur, just bump the rest of the starters up a few minutes, and count on Fes and Raja to get more time. Having guys like Jefferson, AK and CJ who can play multiple positions really helps. All three have the size defensively to match up against their oppenents (especially since they would be playing opposing subs at their secondary positions). What I really hope is Honzward becomes an eventual starter, with CJ becoming the backup at the 2/3. I'm also hoping AK can be traded for a top-tier SG or SF at the deadline. Or who knows, maybe an emphasis on defense and "nastiness' brings back the competitve fire in AK. Could AK average, say 12/6/3/2/2? That's all we'd need from him.

 

[D Will> CP3]

Ok lets look at the match ups against OKC
Starters:
D Will>>>>>> Westbrook
Bell/CJ>>> Sefalosha/Mo Pete
Durant>>> AK
Millsap/Jefferson>>> Green
Jefferson/Okur>>> Kristic

Bench:
Maynor>>> Price
Bell/CJ>>>Harden/Mo Pete/Daquan Cook
Hayward/CJ>>> Kyle Weaver
Millsap/AK>>>Collison
Ibaka/Aldrich>Fes

They would win 3/10 match ups. But the game isn't all about match ups though. If AK/Bell can slow down Durant we should beat OKC

 

[Siro]

There's some flexibility there.
Ak can play the 3 and 4; CJ can play the 2 and 3. Here's how I see bith scenarios (Okur out, Okur back).

With Okur:
C - Jefferson (28), Okur (25), Fes (5)
PF - Millsap (33), Jefferson (15)
SF - AK (33), Hayward (15)
SG - CJ (30), Bell (18)
PG - Deron (38), Price/Gaines (10)

Without Okur:
C - Jefferson (35), Fesenko (13)
PF - Millsap (35), AK (13)
SF - AK (20), CJ (13), Hayward (15)
SG - CJ (20), Bell (28)
PG - Deron (38), Price/Gaines (10)

Without Okur, just bump the rest of the starters up a few minutes, and count on Fes and Raja to get more time. Having guys like Jefferson, AK and CJ who can play multiple positions really helps. All three have the size defensively to match up against their oppenents (especially since they would be playing opposing subs at their secondary positions). What I really hope is Honzward becomes an eventual starter, with CJ becoming the backup at the 2/3. I'm also hoping AK can be traded for a top-tier SG or SF at the deadline. Or who knows, maybe an emphasis on defense and "nastiness' brings back the competitve fire in AK. Could AK average, say 12/6/3/2/2? That's all we'd need from him.

So you figure Jefferson will average 43 minutes with Okur in the lineup?

 

[gomretat]

A little better - very little - on the interior and worse at the 2 spot. I say it is a wash. We are still a 4-5 seed in the West.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Ok lets look at the match ups against OKC
Starters:
D Will>>>>>> Westbrook
Bell/CJ>>> Sefalosha/Mo Pete
Durant>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> AK
Millsap/Jefferson>>> Green
Jefferson/Okur>>> Kristic

Bench:
Maynor>>> Price
Bell/CJ>>>Harden/Mo Pete/Daquan Cook
Hayward/CJ>>> Kyle Weaver
Millsap/AK>>>Collison
Ibaka/Aldrich>Fes

They would win 3/10 match ups. But the game isn't all about match ups though. If AK/Bell can slow down Durant we should beat OKC

I added some more,>, to the Durant/Ak matchup for you.