2025-26 Off-Season

[JujitsuFlip]

Starters looked good. The bench group we played does not have enough shot-making. Mobley had some that-dude isos that looked good. Lonzo and Nance looked a little slow. Proctor came out on fire. CPJ has had good passes and good off-the-dribble shooting.

I wonder why Kenny went with Tomlin over Bryant. Or was it Nance over Bryant and Tomlin would've been out there either way?

Well I did say we shouldn't get our hopes too high on Bryant until we actually get to see him, although it could be as simple as Tomlin just has more experience with these guys and/or is trying harder in practice.

Bryant had two chances to win the game for us ... botched them both getting stuffed on both attempts.

Looked like he had two 3 pointers though hahahah.

[jbk1234]

I wonder why Kenny went with Tomlin over Bryant. Or was it Nance over Bryant and Tomlin would've been out there either way?

Well I did say we shouldn't get our hopes too high on Bryant until we actually get to see him, although it could be as simple as Tomlin just has more experience with these guys and/or is trying harder in practice.

Bryant had two chances to win the game for us ... botched them both getting stuffed on both attempts.

Looked like he had two 3 pointers though hahahah.

It's a single preseason game, but none of the backup bigs impressed. I think Nance might be cooked. Tomlin wasn't a capable defender. Bryant was borderline unplayable. Wade was Wade and the best of the bunch. I really hope the Pacers cut Bradley loose.

Tyson looked better than last year especially on the defensive end. Proctor's a rookie, but he may not be an NBA player. Travers (who still struggles to get his shot up around the rim) and CPJ played with type of energy they're going to need to stay in the NBA.

Hunter did not look all that impressive as a starter and I thought Ball was underwhelming. I suspect Tyson may end up as the starting 3 by the end of the season.

[JonFromVA]

Well I did say we shouldn't get our hopes too high on Bryant until we actually get to see him, although it could be as simple as Tomlin just has more experience with these guys and/or is trying harder in practice.

Bryant had two chances to win the game for us ... botched them both getting stuffed on both attempts.

Looked like he had two 3 pointers though hahahah.

It's a single preseason game, but none of the backup bigs impressed. I think Nance might be cooked. Tomlin wasn't a capable defender. Bryant was borderline unplayable. Wade was Wade and the best of the bunch. I really hope the Pacers cut Bradley loose.

Tyson looked better than last year especially on the defensive end. Proctor's a rookie, but he may not be an NBA player. Travers (who still struggles to get his shot up around the rim) and CPJ played with type of energy they're going to need to stay in the NBA.

Hunter did not look all that impressive as a starter and I thought Ball was underwhelming. I suspect Tyson may end up as the starting 3 by the end of the season.

I thought Hunter looked great. His handles looked good, shot good, played under control, made shots, etc. Did you mix him up with someone else or were you hoping for more than 1 assist from him? *shrugs*

And Proctor looked fantastic, not just his shooting, but his ball handling and finishing. CPJ is making his claim for minutes with Garland out. I think Tomlin still looks very intriguing but needs to play every day and continue to develop.

I thought Nance looked fine, but Lonzo definitely accepted a back seat and let CPJ run things and didn't do much other than keeping the ball moving. Tyson is going to have to do something productive on offense. The idea of him fitting in with the starters is that he needs to do more than just hustle and defense, he needs to knock down shots and figure out how to contribute without being the primary ball handler.

And sure would be nice if Wade could take a step and become a more consistent knock down shooter, but still no signs of that.

I happen to have Peacock on a free trial this week, but the NBA having games on paid steaming services and not on LP is going to be problematic. Amazon Prime is one thing, me and half the country have that, but Peacock? Really?

[jbk1234]

Looked like he had two 3 pointers though hahahah.

It's a single preseason game, but none of the backup bigs impressed. I think Nance might be cooked. Tomlin wasn't a capable defender. Bryant was borderline unplayable. Wade was Wade and the best of the bunch. I really hope the Pacers cut Bradley loose.

Tyson looked better than last year especially on the defensive end. Proctor's a rookie, but he may not be an NBA player. Travers (who still struggles to get his shot up around the rim) and CPJ played with type of energy they're going to need to stay in the NBA.

Hunter did not look all that impressive as a starter and I thought Ball was underwhelming. I suspect Tyson may end up as the starting 3 by the end of the season.

I thought Hunter looked great. His handles looked good, shot good, played under control, made shots, etc. Did you mix him up with someone else or were you hoping for more than 1 assist from him? *shrugs*

And Proctor looked fantastic, not just his shooting, but his ball handling and finishing. CPJ is making his claim for minutes with Garland out. I think Tomlin still looks very intriguing but needs to play every day and continue to develop.

I thought Nance looked fine, but Lonzo definitely accepted a back seat and let CPJ run things and didn't do much other than keeping the ball moving. Tyson is going to have to do something productive on offense. The idea of him fitting in with the starters is that he needs to do more than just hustle and defense, he needs to knock down shots and figure out how to contribute without being the primary ball handler.

And sure would be nice if Wade could take a step and become a more consistent knock down shooter, but still no signs of that.

I happen to have Peacock on a free trial this week, but the NBA having games on paid steaming services and not on LP is going to be problematic. Amazon Prime is one thing, me and half the country have that, but Peacock? Really?

I thought Hunter's defense underwhelmed inasmuch as whoever plays the 3 for us is going to have to be the POA defender for the team (in specific matchups, you can get creative and switch Mobley out while playing Hunter at the 4). It's why I think Tyson could be the eventual starter. It's preseason, and Balll has an injury history so maybe he wasn't playing in top gear, but I thought his defense was awfully uninspired.

Basically, I felt like we struggled to keep the Bulls out of the paint and it was really pronounced when both Allen and Mobley were off the floor as only Wade provided any type of rim protection.

I'm not drawing any hard conclusions after a single preseason game, but Strus is the only plus defender who's missing. Garland and Merrill aren't fixing what I saw yesterday, and they're more likely to have a positive net impact based on their offensive ability.