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[JonFromVA]

Stevens working out in Boston: https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2023/08/celtics-to-work-out-t-j-warren-lamar-stevens.html

Good luck to him. Its hard for a player with his skillset to stay in the league for long, but he brings energy and teams like that at the 12-15 spot off the bench.

I'm pretty sure we'd sign him to spot 14 if it weren't against league rules.

Well, maybe Altman wouldn't if he's trying to make sure Bickerstaff uses his new toys.

[ijspeelman]

There goes Christian Wood. I wasn't sold on him, but he was always interesting.

We will see how he fares on the Lakers with LeBron and AD.

[mcfly1204]

There goes Christian Wood. I wasn't sold on him, but he was always interesting.

We will see how he fares on the Lakers with LeBron and AD.

When you stop and realize that Dean Wade is more valuable than Christian Wood...

[ijspeelman]

There goes Christian Wood. I wasn't sold on him, but he was always interesting.

We will see how he fares on the Lakers with LeBron and AD.

When you stop and realize that Dean Wade is more valuable than Christian Wood...

He probably is in his role, but this second half of last season version him definitely wasn't. We need him to reset that shoulder and start being able to shoot again.

[JonFromVA]

There goes Christian Wood. I wasn't sold on him, but he was always interesting.

We will see how he fares on the Lakers with LeBron and AD.

When you stop and realize that Dean Wade is more valuable than Christian Wood...

Dallas did let him walk, albeit sometimes ego plays a role. Maybe Wood wanted what he wanted from Dallas and refused to budge on that just because he wasn't getting a better offer from another team and then played his hand too long while all the MLE money evaporated.

Either way it's now 7 teams that have let him walk and that says something too.

[ijspeelman]

Would love to see Garland, Mitchell, Allen, or Mobley in the Olympics.

I remember the year before Garland's breakout season, he got in the training, but didn't make the final cut.

Allen would be a great fit with the lack of big men.

[JonFromVA]

Would love to see Garland, Mitchell, Allen, or Mobley in the Olympics.

I remember the year before Garland's breakout season, he got in the training, but didn't make the final cut.

Allen would be a great fit with the lack of big men.

The experience can be helpful for some players, but the seeds that cost us LeBron (and possibly Kyrie) were planted while playing for Team USA too. It is about the only way I'd bother to watch the tourney.

There will likely be room on the Olympic roster for some young players, but I imagine after the flop in the FIBA tourney they will be looking for vets with playoff success and as much FIBA experience as possible.

[toooskies]

Read on Twitter

[ijspeelman]

Read on Twitter

Don't love that its with the Celtics, but I like he still has a spot in the NBA

[ijspeelman]

Am I wrong to not be too worried about how the Bucks acquiring Dame affects our standings in the playoff hunt this year?

They've punted defense (and their future) for offense. However, they be relying to heavily on an aging Brook Lopez to anchor their defense. If he falls off, I could see their defense really dipping due to their lack of quality defenders across the roster (outside of Giannis and possibly Portis).

[JonFromVA]

Am I wrong to not be too worried about how the Bucks acquiring Dame affects our standings in the playoff hunt this year?

They've punted defense (and their future) for offense. However, they be relying to heavily on an aging Brook Lopez to anchor their defense. If he falls off, I could see their defense really dipping due to their lack of quality defenders across the roster (outside of Giannis and possibly Portis).

Well, they've lost two very strong perimeter defenders who have given us problems in the past as well as Budenholzer.

It's conceivable we match up better with them.

[toooskies]

Am I wrong to not be too worried about how the Bucks acquiring Dame affects our standings in the playoff hunt this year?

They've punted defense (and their future) for offense. However, they be relying to heavily on an aging Brook Lopez to anchor their defense. If he falls off, I could see their defense really dipping due to their lack of quality defenders across the roster (outside of Giannis and possibly Portis).

Well, they've lost two very strong perimeter defenders who have given us problems in the past as well as Budenholzer.

It's conceivable we match up better with them.

Yep. Part of the reason Lopez looked great in drop coverage is that Jrue was a high level screen navigator. Dame is... not.

[Tatum43]

Am I wrong to not be too worried about how the Bucks acquiring Dame affects our standings in the playoff hunt this year?

They've punted defense (and their future) for offense. However, they be relying to heavily on an aging Brook Lopez to anchor their defense. If he falls off, I could see their defense really dipping due to their lack of quality defenders across the roster (outside of Giannis and possibly Portis).

Well, they've lost two very strong perimeter defenders who have given us problems in the past as well as Budenholzer.

It's conceivable we match up better with them.

Yep. Part of the reason Lopez looked great in drop coverage is that Jrue was a high level screen navigator. Dame is... not.

I don’t see much of a difference between the Cavs defense and the Bucks tbh. Both heavily rely on drop defense and rim protecting bigs. Both have mediocre backcourt defense. Jrue should not be getting any credit for Lopez’s rim protection lol that’s makes zero sense.

[JonFromVA]

Well, they've lost two very strong perimeter defenders who have given us problems in the past as well as Budenholzer.

It's conceivable we match up better with them.

Yep. Part of the reason Lopez looked great in drop coverage is that Jrue was a high level screen navigator. Dame is... not.

I don’t see much of a difference between the Cavs defense and the Bucks tbh. Both heavily rely on drop defense and rim protecting bigs. Both have mediocre backcourt defense. Jrue should not be getting any credit for Lopez’s rim protection lol that’s makes zero sense.

Mobley and Allen are far more mobile and will gladly defend out to the perimeter and switch if needed.

As for the Bucks, here's a jump in to a video that captures exactly what I'm seeing when the Cavs wings who just need gain a little space when running a P&R to fire up a jumper see when facing the Bucks:

https://youtu.be/O7DpjLFTGO0?si=wzdSmvOdIYQQV4Ff&t=232

[ijspeelman]

Well, they've lost two very strong perimeter defenders who have given us problems in the past as well as Budenholzer.

It's conceivable we match up better with them.

Yep. Part of the reason Lopez looked great in drop coverage is that Jrue was a high level screen navigator. Dame is... not.

I don’t see much of a difference between the Cavs defense and the Bucks tbh. Both heavily rely on drop defense and rim protecting bigs. Both have mediocre backcourt defense. Jrue should not be getting any credit for Lopez’s rim protection lol that’s makes zero sense.

I like Garland and Mitchell's defense over Dame's (idk who the SG will be). I also think we've brought out really good wing defense to back them up in LeVert and Okoro. Time will tell if Strus will have similar impact on that end.

[toooskies]

Well, they've lost two very strong perimeter defenders who have given us problems in the past as well as Budenholzer.

It's conceivable we match up better with them.

Yep. Part of the reason Lopez looked great in drop coverage is that Jrue was a high level screen navigator. Dame is... not.

I don’t see much of a difference between the Cavs defense and the Bucks tbh. Both heavily rely on drop defense and rim protecting bigs. Both have mediocre backcourt defense. Jrue should not be getting any credit for Lopez’s rim protection lol that’s makes zero sense.

It's not about how well Lopez can protect the rim, it's about the whole defensive scheme that allows him to. It's about guards with good pull-up jumpers getting open shots against Dame that would be contested by Jrue. If those open shots become a problem, then you either have to go away from playing drop against a pick and roll, or just suffer with a worse defense.

Whereas either Mobley or Allen can switch onto guards when needed rather than play drop.

[ijspeelman]

Yep. Part of the reason Lopez looked great in drop coverage is that Jrue was a high level screen navigator. Dame is... not.

I don’t see much of a difference between the Cavs defense and the Bucks tbh. Both heavily rely on drop defense and rim protecting bigs. Both have mediocre backcourt defense. Jrue should not be getting any credit for Lopez’s rim protection lol that’s makes zero sense.

It's not about how well Lopez can protect the rim, it's about the whole defensive scheme that allows him to. It's about guards with good pull-up jumpers getting open shots against Dame that would be contested by Jrue. If those open shots become a problem, then you either have to go away from playing drop against a pick and roll, or just suffer with a worse defense.

Whereas either Mobley or Allen can switch onto guards when needed rather than play drop.

Its also worth noting that we were the number one defense in the league without a point of attack defender like Jrue in the starting line-up. One could to point to Okoro, but he started half of the Cavs games and I personally find Jrue to be much better.

[JonFromVA]

I don’t see much of a difference between the Cavs defense and the Bucks tbh. Both heavily rely on drop defense and rim protecting bigs. Both have mediocre backcourt defense. Jrue should not be getting any credit for Lopez’s rim protection lol that’s makes zero sense.

It's not about how well Lopez can protect the rim, it's about the whole defensive scheme that allows him to. It's about guards with good pull-up jumpers getting open shots against Dame that would be contested by Jrue. If those open shots become a problem, then you either have to go away from playing drop against a pick and roll, or just suffer with a worse defense.

Whereas either Mobley or Allen can switch onto guards when needed rather than play drop.

Its also worth noting that we were the number one defense in the league without a point of attack defender like Jrue in the starting line-up. One could to point to Okoro, but he started half of the Cavs games and I personally find Jrue to be much better.

The on/off data also prefer Jrue by quite a bit, but to be fair Isaac tends to get more minutes when his defense is needed.

[ijspeelman]

It's not about how well Lopez can protect the rim, it's about the whole defensive scheme that allows him to. It's about guards with good pull-up jumpers getting open shots against Dame that would be contested by Jrue. If those open shots become a problem, then you either have to go away from playing drop against a pick and roll, or just suffer with a worse defense.

Whereas either Mobley or Allen can switch onto guards when needed rather than play drop.

Its also worth noting that we were the number one defense in the league without a point of attack defender like Jrue in the starting line-up. One could to point to Okoro, but he started half of the Cavs games and I personally find Jrue to be much better.

The on/off data also prefer Jrue by quite a bit, but to be fair Isaac tends to get more minutes when his defense is needed.

Not really trying to knock Okoro, but instead celebrate Jrue who may legitimately be the best point of attack defending guard in the NBA (Caruso also has a knock).

[jbk1234]

Well, they've lost two very strong perimeter defenders who have given us problems in the past as well as Budenholzer.

It's conceivable we match up better with them.

Yep. Part of the reason Lopez looked great in drop coverage is that Jrue was a high level screen navigator. Dame is... not.

I don’t see much of a difference between the Cavs defense and the Bucks tbh. Both heavily rely on drop defense and rim protecting bigs. Both have mediocre backcourt defense. Jrue should not be getting any credit for Lopez’s rim protection lol that’s makes zero sense.

The Cavs really don't play drop coverage. Both Lopez and Jrue looked great in Milwaukee because they were playing next to Giannis and Middleton. A healthy Giannis is just an insane asset defensively.