Where do you think the defense will be?

[cutewizard]

Pop will keep the team with a focus on defense, that's who Pop is. The second unit has liked to push the tempo though and has been a notorious paper tiger. Contrary to others I think our second unit will be better than last season. Dedmon is a legit C not a pretend one like D west, he's very athletic and will roll hard to the paint and defensively has vertically and quickness, both things D west lacks. Kyle will open up things more than Boris who was refusing to shoot the 3 and part of his training in SL was quarterbacking and leading. Becky said as a leader his communication on the floor was excellent. He will be challenged by bigger and stronger guys and will have a tough battle some nights, but that's part of growing up and all young players go through that. Bertans is an elite 3 pts shooter and Simmons can finish in the paint with the best of them. They are a versatile, much younger unit, better suited to pushing the tempo. I have no doubt they can score as a unit. Defensively they have work to do.

The starting unit will likely see a decline defensively but I think eventually they will figure things out. The team has potential to be better/more versatile than last season's, but there are obvious question marks. One of Pau or LMA needs to be actively communicating on defense. I am not sure of the two who will be up to it maybe Pau.

I don't think Dejounte is ready to contribute yet, but he might. He could improve his shooting enough with Chip to be playable some minutes (or need more time, unknown). He has athleticism and length to defend ok for a few minutes after getting training camp experience (being so skinny hurts him, but he can force TO and get guys out of their rhythm).

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Another optimistic post, and suddenly my sadness with the Duncan departure is gone....

thanks! so, the second unit shall be a refreshing change, hope they gel and harmonize around the all star break

DEDMON AT CENTER, KYLE AS POINT FORWARD, BERTANS AS SHOOTING FORWARD, MANU AND SIMMONS AT THE BACKCOURT!

not bad hey........

[cutewizard]

i forgot Mills, hehehehehe

where is Mills in all these?

[Uriel]

OP has a really interesting username and display pic, tbh.

[cutewizard]

If we are in the top five defensively and then will jump to being a top five offensively, im happy

If Pau and Lamarcus develop some chemistry, watch out NBA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[All Mighty Janitor]

Can't see Murray playing many minutes with Patty/Manu healthy. About relying on Dedmon? We have to, there is no other option.

I didn't want to believe that. I guess I'm just used to having options.

[All Mighty Janitor]

OP has a really interesting username and display pic, tbh.

[YGWHI]

I didn't want to believe that. I guess I'm just used to having options.

Because you're an optimistic man.

[ElNono]

I wanna see what the league looks like this season, tbh. If it's anything like last season, despite that losing TD is probably a downgrade, we should still be up there.

[baseline bum]

I wanna see what the league looks like this season, tbh. If it's anything like last season, despite that losing TD is probably a downgrade, we should still be up there.

Tomorrow's NBA

[ElNono]

Tomorrow's NBA

I actually have to give props to my boy Hoops Czar, who was right about det historical defense being just inflated numbers against fodder, which is what 90% of the league was last season...

While you definitely want to be in the top 5, you also gotta look at the compe ion.

[SAGirl]

i forgot Mills, hehehehehe

where is Mills in all these?

I think Manu and Simmons split minutes and then possibly Bertans/Simmons also split minutes.

[John Petrucci]

Edit: Wrong thread.

[alpha_HaZE]

with some luck; Kyle would be an upgrade over Diaw on D, Dedmon over West, and Simmons over Manu **if Pop plays him, of course. And if Pau, dedicates himself on D, now that he only needs to carry the O for short stretches, we could end up top5 on D, but I would not be surprised if we are barely top 10.

[SAGirl]

with some luck; Kyle would be an upgrade over Diaw on D, Dedmon over West, and Simmons over Manu **if Pop plays him, of course. And if Pau, dedicates himself on D, now that he only needs to carry the O for short stretches, we could end up top5 on D, but I would not be surprised if we are barely top 10.

Aww it's really up to LMA and Pau.

The entire Pop system is based on sending guys to help so I guess we are only as good on that end as our big men.

But against the perimeter teams Pop was already sitting TD. We never got to see if Pop stayed big against the perimeter teams bc Tim got so injured he couldn't play against them and this wasn't just GSW either, chaotic fast and bad teams like the Suns Timmy couldn't play against and had to be benched. In the playoffs, one Grizzly game TD didn't play much bc they went perimeter and this was a bad Grizzly team. I think TD in his later state couldn't punish those perimeter teams, but with Pau it's different. We will have to see.