Rank Our Positional Improvement
Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2017 11:10 am
From 1 to 10, try to rank our improvement (or diminishment) by position (starting pg, sg, sf, pf, c, backup pg, sg, sf, pf, c).
Starting PG: Ish/Reggie → Reggie
Starting SG: KCP → Avery
Starting SF: MarMor → SJ
Starting PF: Leuer → Tobias
Starting C: Andre → Andre
Backup PG: Beno/Ish → Ish
Backup SG: Bullock/Hilliard → Galloway
Backup SF: SJ → Bullock
Backup PF: Tobias → Tolliver/Leuer
Backup C: Baynes → Moreland/Leuer
This is much harder than I expected it to be. Lots of improvement down the line...
1. Starting PG: Shoehorning a still-injured and not confident Reggie into the starting lineup destroyed our season last year. Now Reggie is playing within himself and making the right plays most of the time. Makes all the difference.
2. Starting PF: Last year, Leuer was pretty good in the first half of the season before losing his wind. Still, he was never anything more than a placekeeper. He was just the guy in there while the other guys tried to do stuff on offense. This year, Harris is our main offensive threat. He may not be too pretty on defense, but he makes his presence known. A far cry from the starting PF last year.
3. Starting C: 2017 Andre is miles better than 2016 Andre. 2016 Andre wasn't breathing right, clanked all his free throws, and was in an eternal shoulder-slump. 2017 Drummond is one of a handful of top centers in the league. He is engaged most of the time now.
4. Starting SG: KCP was a strong defender. He was great at making sure his guy didn't go off. Avery, makes stuff happen. He creates turnovers. He CONSISTENTLY scores. I can't believe such a big improvement is only 4th on my list.
5. Backup SG: Bullock and Hilliard? Those are end of the bench type of players who ended up getting rotational minutes for us. Now we have Galloway who has provided strong defense, spacing, and a scoring punch. Huge impact at the SG position.
6. Backup PG: Ish is Ish, and he hasn't really changed much this year. He was a hero for us last year when helping teams get back into the games that we were out of when Reggie was starting. On the other hand, Ish is a big improvement over the period of time when Beno was our backup PG.
7. Starting SF: Marcus Morris was a solid starter for us. He could either shoot us into or shoot us out of games. He also had some ball stopper tendencies. Stanley is definitely nowhere near Morris' level on offense. Then again, he doesn't try to be and that helps our offense get the ball to the guys who should have the ball. Also, while Morris is solid on D, 2017 Stanley is even stronger on that side of the ball and brings more energy. I'd call this a slight improvement (although there is definitely an argument to be made that it is a downgrade).
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8. Backup SF: Bullock should not be getting so many minutes this year. Is Kennard ready for big minutes? Probably not, but I'd like to put him out there and let him learn from his mistakes. On the other hand, 2016 SJ wasn't much better. Not that it was his fault. SVG was in his head with the short leash, backhanded compliments, and fronthanded insults. Still, I'd give even 2016 SJ the benefit over Bullock.
9. Backup PF: Tobias Harris brought the offense off the bench last year and he was good at it. When Leuer is in the game in 2017, there is no comparison. On the other hand, when it is Tolliver, he has changed the complexion of multiple games. If Tolliver continues to get playing time over Leuer, this is a downgrade, but not overwhelmingly so.
10. Backup C: Moreland has been a surprise this year. He hasn't been awful. Still, he doesn't bring as much to the table as Baynes did. Baynes was actually an advanced stats dynamo for us last year. He was shown to be one of the most effective screeners in the league. I sure do wish our money could've somehow been spent retaining him rather than paying for a Boban we never use and Jon Leuer.
Starting PG: Ish/Reggie → Reggie
Starting SG: KCP → Avery
Starting SF: MarMor → SJ
Starting PF: Leuer → Tobias
Starting C: Andre → Andre
Backup PG: Beno/Ish → Ish
Backup SG: Bullock/Hilliard → Galloway
Backup SF: SJ → Bullock
Backup PF: Tobias → Tolliver/Leuer
Backup C: Baynes → Moreland/Leuer
This is much harder than I expected it to be. Lots of improvement down the line...
1. Starting PG: Shoehorning a still-injured and not confident Reggie into the starting lineup destroyed our season last year. Now Reggie is playing within himself and making the right plays most of the time. Makes all the difference.
2. Starting PF: Last year, Leuer was pretty good in the first half of the season before losing his wind. Still, he was never anything more than a placekeeper. He was just the guy in there while the other guys tried to do stuff on offense. This year, Harris is our main offensive threat. He may not be too pretty on defense, but he makes his presence known. A far cry from the starting PF last year.
3. Starting C: 2017 Andre is miles better than 2016 Andre. 2016 Andre wasn't breathing right, clanked all his free throws, and was in an eternal shoulder-slump. 2017 Drummond is one of a handful of top centers in the league. He is engaged most of the time now.
4. Starting SG: KCP was a strong defender. He was great at making sure his guy didn't go off. Avery, makes stuff happen. He creates turnovers. He CONSISTENTLY scores. I can't believe such a big improvement is only 4th on my list.
5. Backup SG: Bullock and Hilliard? Those are end of the bench type of players who ended up getting rotational minutes for us. Now we have Galloway who has provided strong defense, spacing, and a scoring punch. Huge impact at the SG position.
6. Backup PG: Ish is Ish, and he hasn't really changed much this year. He was a hero for us last year when helping teams get back into the games that we were out of when Reggie was starting. On the other hand, Ish is a big improvement over the period of time when Beno was our backup PG.
7. Starting SF: Marcus Morris was a solid starter for us. He could either shoot us into or shoot us out of games. He also had some ball stopper tendencies. Stanley is definitely nowhere near Morris' level on offense. Then again, he doesn't try to be and that helps our offense get the ball to the guys who should have the ball. Also, while Morris is solid on D, 2017 Stanley is even stronger on that side of the ball and brings more energy. I'd call this a slight improvement (although there is definitely an argument to be made that it is a downgrade).
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8. Backup SF: Bullock should not be getting so many minutes this year. Is Kennard ready for big minutes? Probably not, but I'd like to put him out there and let him learn from his mistakes. On the other hand, 2016 SJ wasn't much better. Not that it was his fault. SVG was in his head with the short leash, backhanded compliments, and fronthanded insults. Still, I'd give even 2016 SJ the benefit over Bullock.
9. Backup PF: Tobias Harris brought the offense off the bench last year and he was good at it. When Leuer is in the game in 2017, there is no comparison. On the other hand, when it is Tolliver, he has changed the complexion of multiple games. If Tolliver continues to get playing time over Leuer, this is a downgrade, but not overwhelmingly so.
10. Backup C: Moreland has been a surprise this year. He hasn't been awful. Still, he doesn't bring as much to the table as Baynes did. Baynes was actually an advanced stats dynamo for us last year. He was shown to be one of the most effective screeners in the league. I sure do wish our money could've somehow been spent retaining him rather than paying for a Boban we never use and Jon Leuer.