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There are some things im willing to give him a pass on, specifically from last season. Other things are beyond frustrating. Is he caplable of getting the most out of this roster or will he be our downfall? Somewhere inbetween ? I think he’s going to need his own thread this season.

They need to maintain or improve upon their defense. I think the offense will be fine

I didn't see most of the game but you all pretty much know where I stand.

I expect Billy to be competent almost as soon as semaj makes an all-star game.

Defense looked good in stretches, rotations were quick. A bit of miscommunication with Adams and George/Felton on a few PnR lead to open 3's but that will sort itself out with time.

Houston's defense looked locked in, you could tell they were taking it serious due to the rivalry between the two teams and I think George and Anthony weren't expecting that. We really missed Westbrook's ability to break down the defense and generate looks at the rim and around the perimeter, CP3 ate Felton up anytime he tried to dribble the ball.

I never hear anyone in the media call out some of his questionable decisions. Take for example his usage of Taj last year in the playoffs. If Dantoni can get Harden to buy in to a system then I’m not buying it’s Russ’ fault. This guy needs to have the heat turned up on his seat.

russell westbrook is the coach of the thunder.

slick_watts wrote:russell westbrook is the coach of the thunder.

Is that a good thing?

Knrstz wrote:I never hear anyone in the media call out some of his questionable decisions. Take for example his usage of Taj last year in the playoffs.

Yeah that was just inexcuseable. We could have taken that series to 6 or even win it if Gibson plays more minutes.

He is the reason I am still not convinced OKC makes it out of the first round, although I do expect them to. OKC has a roster capable of making the WCF, but I also only expect them to be the 4 seed, in large part due to coaching, but also because most big 3 teams struggle early. The Heat were not a 1 seed their first year with LeBron. If OKC is playing a much better coached Minny team I'm not calling it impossible for Minny to pull the upset due to their massive coaching advantage.

I see no way OKC gets past Houston or GS. OKC and Houston are about equal in terms of projected playoff rotation talent, but Houston will have a significant coaching advantage. GS is just better all around, talent and coaching. The players almost carried Donovan in '15-'16, but I don't think this group can carry him like that group did. PG is not kd and Melo, while offensively better, won't have the same impact as Ibaka did.

I think he has been a great coach. He out coached the hell out of the 2016 playoffs. We weren't going anywhere last year. Yes we could have played Taj more in the playoffs. But, is that really moving the needle. I think it was important to ensure Grant and Abrines got a taste of the postseason.

The entire 9-man roster has now played in a playoff series. That will be very important moving towards the playoffs this year.

I’m not sure why Billy is getting a lot of heat. In his first year, he helped put us in a position to knock off the 73-win Warriors. What more can you ask for?

And he didn’t pick any of the guys on the team. He’s working with what Presti has already built. A coach can’t make Jerami Grant start shooting better. That’s why you have shooting coaches.

A lot of the time, it’s up to the player on Well he plays.

Donovan has done a great job of preaching ball movement and getting guys open looks. I really think you will see what he is capable of this year now that he has some real firepower to work with.

I do hope to see some more consistency with his rotations and lineups this year and I think that happens with us having a pretty solid core.

Presti needs to get Donovan a small ball 5 if Grant or Patterson isn’t cutting it.

But I think it’d be pretty hard to play with the lineups too much this year. I think everyone on this board knows what rotations to expect.

Keep in mind the bench that Donovan had to work with last year. Did you expect him to get 50 wins? If not, what is his expectation?


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He played Norris Cole and semaj together in the fourth quarter of a playoff game last year.

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Kizz Fastfists wrote:The players almost carried Donovan in '15-'16

That's taking it a little far, isn't it? I'm not a Donovan stan, but without his coaching, that doesn't happen.

Knrstz wrote:He played Norris Cole and semaj together in the fourth quarter of a playoff game last year.

Yeah things like that....I'm looking forward to Felton being in there in crunchtime for 'defensive reasons'. It's like he has these ideas and he just won't quit pursuing them.

Willing to give him the year to figure it out. It's been one preseason game. This is the most talent he's had to work with.

Knrstz wrote:He played Norris Cole and semaj together in the fourth quarter of a playoff game last year.

Did he? I mean its better than Singler.

Balkman32 wrote:

Knrstz wrote:He played Norris Cole and semaj together in the fourth quarter of a playoff game last year.

Did he? I mean its better than Singler.

Singler played in the series too. Is it really better? Two guys who suck are maybe worse than one guy who really sucks.

I'd rather Singler

Thundershock88 wrote:Willing to give him the year to figure it out. It's been one preseason game. This is the most talent he's had to work with.

2015-16 team had more talent by far.