Are we better than last season

[princeofpalace]

We are better at PG if Jennings comes back healthy
No change at SG- still have KCP and Meeks- neither of whom are reliable.
Same at SF- Butler/Prince and Morris/Johnson are a wash. We have younger guys but not starting caliber guys at SF- no reliability here either and traded in leadership for a bad attitude in the locker room.
Worse at PF- Ilyasova/Tolliver means no starting caliber guys at PF and no reliability.
Worse at C- Baynes is a downgrade from Monroe

We have more shooters which we needed but we still don't have any good defensive players save for KCP. We don't have any post scorers. We are loaded with bench caliber players and end of bench guys. We no longer have any veteran leadership. We probably only have 2 starters who would start for most other teams in the league. We got better fits, since its clear that RJ can only be effective playing with atleast 3 shooters on the floor but we didn't get better as a team.

Prediction- 25-35 wins and a lottery pick for the 6th consecutive year

[tmorgan]

Now THAT is a downer post! Good job, PoP.

Actually, though, I'm closer to her opinion than most of the optimism in this thread. I've made my prediction elsewhere -- 41-41, 7th or 8th seed. This team still has a lot of learning to do. Losing Monroe hurts more than most people think. Our PF rotation is definitely one of the weakest in the league.

This season depends entirely on Jackson and Drummond. If they can consistently cause havoc (Reggie with penetration and passing; Andre with dominating the paint on both ends), we can be very good. Everyone else on this team has a few simple roles -- make open shots, don't get beat, and run. KCP can do most of that, Stanley will eventually, and others can do parts of it. We're definitely below league average at the 2, 3, and 4, and there's nothing to be done about that right now except develop the youngsters and be smart with our money.

[kellmellus50]

We are better at PG if Jennings comes back healthy
No change at SG- still have KCP and Meeks- neither of whom are reliable.
Same at SF- Butler/Prince and Morris/Johnson are a wash. We have younger guys but not starting caliber guys at SF- no reliability here either and traded in leadership for a bad attitude in the locker room.
Worse at PF- Ilyasova/Tolliver means no starting caliber guys at PF and no reliability.
Worse at C- Baynes is a downgrade from Monroe

We have more shooters which we needed but we still don't have any good defensive players save for KCP. We don't have any post scorers. We are loaded with bench caliber players and end of bench guys. We no longer have any veteran leadership. We probably only have 2 starters who would start for most other teams in the league. We got better fits, since its clear that RJ can only be effective playing with atleast 3 shooters on the floor but we didn't get better as a team.

Prediction- 25-35 wins and a lottery pick for the 6th consecutive year

You have this all wrong at end of last season .drummond and joel center, monroe and tolliver PF also morris/johnson are better and younger to grow.we are better in all positions.

[Pharaoh]

Being smart and developing youngsters has been the plan from Day 1 for SVG.

He still expects to make the playoffs while doing it though.

Long term:

We've got our Franchise player in Drummond. He is the Sun in our galaxy.

Baynes is a brute with some finesse, capable of logging minutes at C & PF.

Morris & Johnson come cheap, have a lot to prove and (I hope) will put the work in. If they do that then they fill roles on what SVG envisions for his team.

KCP has all the potential in the world but that doesn't mean much if you don't turn it into consistent production. He needs to do that in the next 12-18 months. Meeks brings shooting and not much else but in our system shooting is gold!

RJ, the alpha to Dre's omega - be careful what you wish for young man. This is his team too and he needs to run it! Dinwiddie may be the perfect 3rd guard off the pine eventually. He's got 12-18 months to get there.

Looking at all that we're obviously missing a PF (or 2). One that can stretch the D with shooting and 1 that can defend the multi-talented bigs around the league.

Considering the fustercluck SVG inherited I'm pretty impressed given the fact he had virtually no assets to work with as far as trades go.

I believe the plan now is to improve next season and the season after that AND then grab that free agent that would make a major impact.

By then we'll know exactly what we have with Dre, Baynes, Morris, Johnson, KCP, RJ & Dinwiddie. Adding a Lottery pick between now and then wouldn't hurt though

[vic]

One difference.

Last year: Josh Smith

This year: No Josh Smith

We're better. Close thread.

In terms of record, this is absolutely true

[Billl]

Our starting lineup is better. The pieces fit together and they should be able to compete with anyone.

Our bench is a mess unless Jennings comes back healthy and totally buys into a 6th man-of-the-year type roll. The whole offense seems to be built around pick and roll with RJ and Dre. When they go to the bench??? Last year we could run the same stuff with DJ. We could also toss it to Monroe in the post. This year? We're kinda hoping someone hits a jumpshot until Jennings comes back.

[El Chivo]

So much better, but whiner gonna whine and delusionals gonna be delusionals

[bstein14]

Feels like we're going to finish just below .500, winning about 38-40 games or so. Might be enough to sneak into the playoffs in the east. Only way we can top that is if Dre, Reggie, or both take a big step forward and becomes an all-star caliber player.

If we stay mostly healthy but don't see much improvement from Dre/Reggie, our floor, 34-36 wins

What I'm expecting, with slight growth from some of our young guys 38-40 wins

If we have some good internal growth and a few players take big steps forward, our ceiling it 42-44 wins

[vic]

Minus Josh Smith we were 50 wins LAST year.

Defense is going to be better this year with the wings. Rebounding will stay the same because the SFs we picked up are good rebounders.

Offense could get better or could stay the same. Monroe was #1 option and guaranteed creation. The coaching could take the offense to the next level, or KCP/ SJ could step their Game up and be that secondary option behind the RJ/Dre pick & roll.

Cavs are good
Bulls are good
Bucks aRe good
Wiz are good
Atl took a slight step back losing Carrol but they are still good.
Detroit is right in there at 3-6 in the east.

[mercury]

I believe the post scoring will be improved without Monroe... the lanes will open up for our wings... the conversion rate should go up as well as FT attempts.... Dre will get even more uncontested dunks when the opposing Center has to slide over to help.
Where we might get hurt is post defense at the 4 (compensated by better perimeter defense).

[Navas]

We're better due to the fact that we have a season without Josh Smith, some coaching continuity, and a general idea of what to do.

[dVs33]

I believe the post scoring will be improved without Monroe... the lanes will open up for our wings... the conversion rate should go up as well as FT attempts.... Dre will get even more uncontested dunks when the opposing Center has to slide over to help.
Where we might get hurt is post defense at the 4 (compensated by better perimeter defense).

We don't really have any reliable post scorers though.The lanes will be open for the perimeter guys, but our bigs aren't post scorers/playmakers. Drummond is developing a game, but i'd hardly call it reliable, especially against better opposing C with size.
Ilyasova, Tolliver and Baynes seem to be jumpshooters with not much of a post game to speak of.

[vic]

One of the best things about our roster is that one person going down won't send it into a tailspin anymore. Last year we were so dependent on Brandon Jennings spacing the floor and Greg Monroe in the post that when either of them went down it was bad.

Switching to the 1&5 pick and roll based offense, it's a lot more replaceable. It's like plug-and-play, next man up. You may lose a few percentage points of efficiency but it's going to work the same way even if A starter goes down. I'm really warming up to the new roster I think that SVG is a genius or at worst an extremely gifted manager/strategic planner.

[tmorgan]

One of the best things about our roster is that one person going down won't send it into a tailspin anymore. Last year we were so dependent on Brandon Jennings spacing the floor and Greg Monroe in the post that when either of them went down it was bad.

Switching to the 1&5 pick and roll based offense, it's a lot more replaceable. It's like plug-and-play, next man up. You may lose a few percentage points of efficiency but it's going to work the same way even if A starter goes down. I'm really warming up to the new roster I think that SVG is a genius or at worst an extremely gifted manager/strategic planner.

Except Drummond. Drummmond goes down and we're completely screwed. 4 out/1 in needs a guy to dominate the boards and defend the paint. Dre does the first and is working on the second. Baynes is a perfectly serviceable backup C, but he can't do that stuff. Anthony, if he comes back, is about Baynes' level for less minutes, with better paint protection and no offense.

If Jennings is healthy, we can certainly handle Reggie missing some games. We have two players without a clear "better" one at the 2, 3, and 4. Drummond, tho... he's the lynch pin.

[vic]

I believe the post scoring will be improved without Monroe... the lanes will open up for our wings... the conversion rate should go up as well as FT attempts.... Dre will get even more uncontested dunks when the opposing Center has to slide over to help.
Where we might get hurt is post defense at the 4 (compensated by better perimeter defense).

That all sounds good for the regular season, but I'm primarily talking about playoff type games where it slows down and is very competitive.

In those situations you need someone that can create action on their own from the post. Hopefully by the end of the season that will be Andre Drummond or Reggie Jackson. Dark horses for a creative post role would also be Quincy Miller and Stanley Johnson, but the coaches would have to have the foresight and confidence to develop that.

[vic]

One of the best things about our roster is that one person going down won't send it into a tailspin anymore. Last year we were so dependent on Brandon Jennings spacing the floor and Greg Monroe in the post that when either of them went down it was bad.

Switching to the 1&5 pick and roll based offense, it's a lot more replaceable. It's like plug-and-play, next man up. You may lose a few percentage points of efficiency but it's going to work the same way even if A starter goes down. I'm really warming up to the new roster I think that SVG is a genius or at worst an extremely gifted manager/strategic planner.

Except Drummond. Drummmond goes down and we're completely screwed. 4 out/1 in needs a guy to dominate the boards and defend the paint. Dre does the first and is working on the second. Baynes is a perfectly serviceable backup C, but he can't do that stuff. Anthony, if he comes back, is about Baynes' level for less minutes, with better paint protection and no offense.

If Jennings is healthy, we can certainly handle Reggie missing some games. We have two players without a clear "better" one at the 2, 3, and 4. Drummond, tho... he's the lynch pin.

I think Baynes has a little more than that. He's not on the same level as Drummond but I think he's a plug and play fit, just based on what he produced with the Spurs in that limited role. The fact that he even got on the floor with them says something In My Opinion. I think that's why SVg payed him , but we'll see...

[tmorgan]

Hey, I was Baynes' champion on here when the signing was announced. I like him.

He can't dominate the boards and anchor the defense, though.

[Defor]

It'll come down to three words defense, defense, defense ,oh and Smith being gone . We'll be better, 40 to 42 wins.

[ImHeisenberg]

Actually to be honest the biggest addition of all might be a full season without Josh Smith.

This.

I don't know if we're going to be a lot better defensively, but offensively we've made some big strides.

[Neptune]

I don't know how anyone could say we're better than last season. Monroe's better than injury prone Illyasova. Butler/Prince is better than Morris/unproven Stanley Johnson. Hopefully my young guy Jennings comes back healthy and leads this team. I got Jackson starting as our 2 with KCP playing Ben Gordon.

Man, honestly I got us going to the lottery again next summer.