Predict Top 5 Offenses and Defenses

drat456 · Post #21 » by **drat456** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 1:42 pm

Offense

1 Cavs
2 SAS
3 Dallas
4 LAC
5 golden State

Just outside Suns

Defense

1 Chicago
2 Memphis
3 Indiana
4 Golden State
5 Spurs

Just outside bobcats

C-Melo Man · Post #22 » by **C-Melo Man** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 1:43 pm

Top 5 Offense (No Order)

Cleveland Cavaliers
Los Angeles Clippers
Portland Trailblazers
Oklahoma City Thunder
Denver Nuggets

Top 5 Defense (No Order)

San Antonio Spurs
Chicago Bulls
Memphis Grizzlies
Golden State Warriors
Indiana Pacers

EnigmaticProblem · Post #23 » by **EnigmaticProblem** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 1:58 pm

I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere that the Pelicans were ranked number one in offensive efficiency when they had a healthy starting lineup, plus Anderson. Something like Holiday, Gordon, Evans, Anderson, Davis. . .

Post #24 » by **Duffman100** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:19 pm

I wouldn't put the Raps in top 5 defense after watching this preseason, they've looked like swiss cheese. (yeah, I know it's just preseason).

But if Amir goes down for any length of time, which he will, the team will tumble in defensive ability.

EuroPacer · Post #25 » by **EuroPacer** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:28 pm

When I think about this my first thoughts go to the defensive status of the Pacers and I have to admit that I don't think we will be a top 5 defense this year. Inside we will be solid, but the loss of PG is going to be covered by Miles/Copeland/Rudez, although Miles can play defense he is no PG and Copeland and Rudez are pretty much non-entities defensively. Than we have Stuckey to replace Stephenson, which I really can't judge well, but I don't think it will be a massive plus or minus.

Having decided that I then have to admit I haven't got a clue who will complement the top 5 beyond Chicago and Memphis and it will be interesting to see. I think GSW are in there somewhere, I think the Clippers might well be there and perhaps a team like Charlotte, perhaps a Miami?

Offensively it will be the Cavs, Miami. Spurs, Clippers (yes, I think they could be top 5 in both this year) and for the curve ball entry I am actually considering the Knicks.

majortom71 · Post #26 » by **majortom71** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:37 pm

I would think Miami would compete for top 5 defense given that it's the foundation they build on?

Post #27 » by **QRich3** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:44 pm

EnigmaticProblem wrote:I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere that the Pelicans were ranked number one in offensive efficiency when they had a healthy starting lineup, plus Anderson. Something like Holiday, Gordon, Evans, Anderson, Davis. . .

I think what that meant is that 5 man line-up had a better efficiency than the team with the best offense at the end of the regular season, but that's pretty common since final efficiency takes into account whole games, including the time where the bench comes in, which usually drags overall efficiency down. It didn't mean that when they were all healthy the Pelicans efficiency was the best in the league. It's pretty common that teams' starting five has an awesome efficiency when they play together, but then the team's overall efficiency drops considerably.

Most efficient Pelicans line up last year was indeed Holiday-Gordon-Evans-Anderson-Davis, who scored 123.5 points per 100 possessions, a lot more than Clippers league-leading offense who scored 109.4 points per 100 possessions. But that's because two things, what I said before about not accounting for when the bench comes in, and a small sample size (that Pelicans line-up only logged 91 minutes together all season). For instance, Cleveland had a bottom 10 offense last year, they were pretty bad most of the year. But the Dellavedova-Jack-Waiters-Varejao-Zeller line-up scored 127 points per 100 poss. (on a similar volume of minutes played as the Pelicans one you mentioned). Does that mean they'd score that amount if they kept playing together? I think with a bigger sample size those numbers would fall, like the Pelicans numbers will. They'll also play Asik a lot, which will contribute to drop even more.

What I think the Pelicans should be is a great defense, all 5 of their starters are good to great defenders and they still were one of the worst offenses last year. Monty used to be a good defensive coach too, when Paul was there too, I don't understand what happened there.

Scalabrine · Post #28 » by **Scalabrine** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 3:30 pm

THE GOAT ROSE wrote:LOL people are sleeping on the Pacers. Elite defense.

Offense

1 Dallas
2 SA
3 CLE
4 LAC
5 HOU

Defense

1 Chicago
2 Indiana
3 Memphis
4 Golden State
5 Charlotte

They were number 1 last year but they were fading in the second half and they are replacing lance Stephenson and Paul George with Rodney stuckey and CJ miles.

Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums mobile app

kodo · Post #29 » by **kodo** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 3:56 pm

majortom71 wrote:I would think Miami would compete for top 5 defense given that it's the foundation they build on?

Miami hasn't had a top 5 defense for years and they got significantly worse replacing Lebron w Deng.
There isn't much reason to believe they will go up 6 ranks in defense with a worse roster.

They were #11 last year.

They were #5 in opponent ppg but that's because they play a slow pace. When the pace picks up a bit as we saw vs SAS their defense per possession was not elite.

majortom71 · Post #30 » by **majortom71** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 4:30 pm

kodo wrote:
majortom71 wrote:I would think Miami would compete for top 5 defense given that it's the foundation they build on?

Miami hasn't had a top 5 defense for years and they got significantly worse replacing Lebron w Deng.
There isn't much reason to believe they will go up 6 ranks in defense with a worse roster.

They were #11 last year.

They were #5 in opponent ppg but that's because they play a slow pace. When the pace picks up a bit as we saw vs SAS their defense per possession was not elite.

Damn I did not realize they slipped that bad last year. :lol:

I brought them up due to their track record of being a defense oriented team, based on Riley's system. I am not saying that they WILL be a top 5 but I would assume they can compete even with Lebron gone. Of course there are other factors such as athleticism/health, but if players can keep up I would not be surprised.
They did bring in some additions that are younger and Deng although not like his old self is coming from a system that practiced very good defense.

JVL · Post #31 » by **JVL** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:03 pm

EnigmaticProblem wrote:I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere that the Pelicans were ranked number one in offensive efficiency when they had a healthy starting lineup, plus Anderson. Something like Holiday, Gordon, Evans, Anderson, Davis. . .

There's one issue with that though.

Healthy.

EnigmaticProblem · Post #32 » by **EnigmaticProblem** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 1:44 am

QRich3 wrote:
EnigmaticProblem wrote:I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere that the Pelicans were ranked number one in offensive efficiency when they had a healthy starting lineup, plus Anderson. Something like Holiday, Gordon, Evans, Anderson, Davis. . .

I think what that meant is that 5 man line-up had a better efficiency than the team with the best offense at the end of the regular season, but that's pretty common since final efficiency takes into account whole games, including the time where the bench comes in, which usually drags overall efficiency down. It didn't mean that when they were all healthy the Pelicans efficiency was the best in the league. It's pretty common that teams' starting five has an awesome efficiency when they play together, but then the team's overall efficiency drops considerably.

Most efficient Pelicans line up last year was indeed Holiday-Gordon-Evans-Anderson-Davis, who scored 123.5 points per 100 possessions, a lot more than Clippers league-leading offense who scored 109.4 points per 100 possessions. But that's because two things, what I said before about not accounting for when the bench comes in, and a small sample size (that Pelicans line-up only logged 91 minutes together all season). For instance, Cleveland had a bottom 10 offense last year, they were pretty bad most of the year. But the Dellavedova-Jack-Waiters-Varejao-Zeller line-up scored 127 points per 100 poss. (on a similar volume of minutes played as the Pelicans one you mentioned). Does that mean they'd score that amount if they kept playing together? I think with a bigger sample size those numbers would fall, like the Pelicans numbers will. They'll also play Asik a lot, which will contribute to drop even more.

What I think the Pelicans should be is a great defense, all 5 of their starters are good to great defenders and they still were one of the worst offenses last year. Monty used to be a good defensive coach too, when Paul was there too, I don't understand what happened there.

I know how efficiency ratings works-- I was simply throwing an "interesting fact" out there. The Pelicans, in my opinion, are a very intriguing team. They have the tools to be, at the very least, pretty good on both ends of the floor. If they remain healthy and are able to put it together-- Maybe adding a key bench piece at the trade deadline-- I see them potentially causing some serious problems for some teams in the playoffs.

Austincys21 · Post #33 » by **Austincys21** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 1:50 am

Offense:
1. Rockets
2. Warriors
3. Spurs
4. Cavs
5. Clippers

Defense:
1. Spurs
2. Bulls
3. Warriors
4. Grizzles
5. Pacers

drat456 · Post #34 » by **drat456** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 2:22 am

Austincys21 wrote:Offense:
1. Rockets
2. Warriors
3. Spurs
4. Cavs
5. Clippers

Defense:
1. Spurs
2. Bulls
3. Warriors
4. Grizzles
5. Pacers

Warriors 2nd in offense and 3rd in defense? That means 60-64 wins lol

Austincys21 · Post #35 » by **Austincys21** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:18 pm

drat456 wrote:
Austincys21 wrote:Offense:
1. Rockets
2. Warriors
3. Spurs
4. Cavs
5. Clippers

Defense:
1. Spurs
2. Bulls
3. Warriors
4. Grizzles
5. Pacers

Warriors 2nd in offense and 3rd in defense? That means 60-64 wins lol

I see 55 maybe 60. I think Klay, Curry, Green, and Barnes are all improved and will be a top 1-3 seed. Livingston is a very nice addition as well.

they will surprise people

Imo

JasonStern · Post #36 » by **JasonStern** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 12:42 am

if healthy, Portland should easily have a top 5 offense. they were #4 last year when they had several good shooters. since then, they added a scoring big in Kaman to the bench, replaced Mo Williams with a better distributer and three point shooter in Blake, and have a healthy McCollum. plus there is a chance that Dorrell Wright might return to being a serviceable shooter.

their problem is that it's questionable if they'll have a top 20 defense. no team is going to win a championship by relying on trying to make more jump shots than the opposing team.

Post #37 » by **Slava** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 12:57 am

Offense:

1. Clippers
2. Spurs
3. Blazers
4. Suns
5. Thunder

Defense

1. Bulls
2. Grizzlies
3. Warriors
4. Thunder
5. Spurs

Dark horse on defense if healthy is Pelicans. Ant Davis and Asik is as good as it gets interior defense wise. Bobcats should also be in the top 7-10.

drat456 · Post #38 » by **drat456** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 1:23 am

Austincys21 wrote:
drat456 wrote:
Austincys21 wrote:Offense:
1. Rockets
2. Warriors
3. Spurs
4. Cavs
5. Clippers

Defense:
1. Spurs
2. Bulls
3. Warriors
4. Grizzles
5. Pacers

Warriors 2nd in offense and 3rd in defense? That means 60-64 wins lol

I see 55 maybe 60. I think Klay, Curry, Green, and Barnes are all improved and will be a top 1-3 seed. Livingston is a very nice addition as well.

they will surprise people

Imo

I certainly hope so. Lol you're pretty high on the warriors for a lakers fan

Austincys21 · Post #39 » by **Austincys21** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 1:46 am

drat456 wrote:
Austincys21 wrote:
drat456 wrote:

Warriors 2nd in offense and 3rd in defense? That means 60-64 wins lol

I see 55 maybe 60. I think Klay, Curry, Green, and Barnes are all improved and will be a top 1-3 seed. Livingston is a very nice addition as well.

they will surprise people

Imo

I certainly hope so. Lol you're pretty high on the warriors for a lakers fan

Tbh Warriors have never been a rival to the Lakers. Yes they play in the same conference but they've never been a threat therefor I can root for them lol. Only teams I truly hate are Clippers, Rockets, Suns, and Celtics. I hope the Warriors win it all this tbh (besides the Lakers but being realistic). I like Klay since he grew up around where I did and went to a high school in my same school district. Plus I've been a Steph fan since college. I find them pretty fun to watch. Just please beat the Clippers!! I can't stand them

drat456 · Post #40 » by **drat456** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 3:43 am

Austincys21 wrote:
drat456 wrote:
Austincys21 wrote:
I see 55 maybe 60. I think Klay, Curry, Green, and Barnes are all improved and will be a top 1-3 seed. Livingston is a very nice addition as well.

they will surprise people

Imo

I certainly hope so. Lol you're pretty high on the warriors for a lakers fan

Tbh Warriors have never been a rival to the Lakers. Yes they play in the same conference but they've never been a threat therefor I can root for them lol. Only teams I truly hate are Clippers, Rockets, Suns, and Celtics. I hope the Warriors win it all this tbh (besides the Lakers but being realistic). I like Klay since he grew up around where I did and went to a high school in my same school district. Plus I've been a Steph fan since college. I find them pretty fun to watch. Just please beat the Clippers!! I can't stand them

That's awesome man. I've been watching this preseason and Steve Kerr has done a very good with the offense so far. Actually implemented a system. I know it's only preseason but they're 2nd in offensive effciency so far and #1 in assists per game