FloridaMan78 wrote:whitehops wrote:it's fun to see the guys out there but i don't think there's much to take away from these kinds of runs. there's little structure, guys aren't going 100% (with some trying harder than others), etc.
that said two things stood out to me:
- cade's defense. we know he's a good defender and while he didn't shut curry down he showed that he can stay in front of him even when curry is trying to put moves on him. curry is arguably the best ball handler in the league but cade managed to not get blown by or give much separation. with the lack of structure it didn't look like there was many off-ball screens being set so that's a whole other animal in defending curry we didn't get to see.
- stewart's shooting. we only saw like 5-6 3s and it's a highlight video so we don't know what % he shot but it was more the "eye test". the big thing to me is that he was shooting with no hesitation, which is a good sign both confidence-wise and to get shots off in games. it means he is more comfortable with his footwork/mechanics to speed up the shot process, which will let him get off more shots in c&s situations. it leaves me more optimistic that he can be a viable spacing threat this upcoming season.
Rico runs are a little different. We had nearly our entire team there and so was the Raptors. A little more competitive and organized rather than straight pick up games.
Cades team lost every game 0-4. Ivey's team was 2-2. Raptors A squad won 4-0. Curry and Trae were 2-2. It was pretty much pre-season Raptors vs Pistons. If Casey was there we would have bounced the Raptors lol.
The Rico runs lasted 3 weeks but just ended. It's been an annual thing for a decade+ but this is the first time in 3 years (suspended due to COVID). It's not just the runs alone -- players will work on individual skills with coaches (Hines/Watson/others) before and after the runs, and then try to apply those skills in the runs. Over the years, a number of players have sworn by them as critical to their growth, including Paul George and Pascal Siakam. There are dozens of videos on Youtube if you search for "Rico Hines basketball" showing clips from the last 3 weeks.
The Raptors were heavily represented. Hines and Earl Watson have been organizing this for decades and are both Raptor assistants this year. 18 of 20 guys that will be in the Raptors training camp attended, and the other 2 are recovering from injury. About 10-12 of them were there for all 3 weeks, with the others in-and-out. They look really good, particularly Pascal and Scottie.
Second most represented team was probably the Clippers, especially the younger bench guys. PG13 came in the 2nd week and stayed for the 3rd; John Wall came in the 3rd week. Wall looks great, and at times was the best player on the court.
Pistons came in a group of about a dozen in the second week, and most stayed for the third week. Cade and Ivey played together some, and apart some. I like the fit of them playing together. Bagley looked like Bagley, and I don't think he'll ever live up to his contract. Best news from a Pistons perspective is the Beef Stew's shooting looked very smooth and he was swishing a bunch of 3s.
Other pros who showed for some of it include Steph, Trae, MPJ, Draymond. Even though it's pickup, they do get competitive, especially when it's next basket wins.
Strangest sight was seeing Nick Nurse and Casey standing side-by-side watching their squads play each other when both head coaches dropped by during the 2nd week.
. . . and I can't wait for the season to start
, but in all seriousness, with the Nuggets being my 2nd favorite team (where I live and attrnd games), it is good to see MPJ raining 3's. Ball Arena is rocking when they make that MP3!!!!! call, and that was missed a lot last year.
