Post#97 » by Braggins » Mon Dec 21, 2020 11:00 pm
My preseason takes having watched all four games.
The team is at least fun to watch. They seem to actually be developing an identity now, which is something that has never happened since I started following.
I've made a point to not get too far ahead of myself about Borrego, but I actually have some confidence in him and he seems like he might be a legit coach. Him panning out and this franchise getting one of the better young coaches in the league would actually kind of be a game changer, so lets hope that turns out to be the case.
Ball definitely has lots of potential, but he still seems far from a sure thing to me. My biggest concern with him was actually that he wouldn't have the the natural feel and on-court intelligence to utilize his passing and dribbling skills as much more than fun gimmicks, but so far he seems to be pretty good for his age in terms of feel/iq and his vision/playmaking seems to be positive impact (if you isolate it from the rest of his game, which still has issues). I like that he does little/subtle things with his passing other than just the flashy stuff. He also seems to legit create opportunities that wouldn't have otherwise been there with his passing skill and vision and isn't just getting Rondo assists or making unnecessarily risky/flashy attempts in situations that just call for a simple play. His defense has been better than I expected and I could actually see him being at least an above average defender eventually. His rebounding is also nice. Hes got a bunch of flaws and has a ton of things he needs to work on, but I'm not going to rehash them all.
PJ needs to get his **** together. Pretty much all there is to say about that.
Miles has been nice. Hes still making his fair share of defensive mistakes and I feel people are overlooking that somewhat, but he definitely played well and looks like hes improved all around.
It sucks that Monk got covid. I'm really curious to see what happens with him. He still didn't really look physically ready in the last preseason game, but after a terrible first game I thought he did a good job of playing in the flow and not trying to force the issue. He was making quick and deliberate decisions in games 3 and 4 and was able to limit mistakes and make some nice plays without even trying to be aggressive. I hope once he gets his legs under him he can expand on that because the 2nd unit could desperately use a nice scoring punch and he has the ability to provide that. Its going to suck if we can't resign him because of Haywards absurd contract.
I think I finally figured out which Martin twin was which. They both seem like solid rotation guys. Not really a lot to say about them.
I like McDaniels as a developmental project. His physical attributes are very well suited for NBA defense and he shows flashes of some basic offensive competency. He reminds me physically of a less fluid version of pre-injury Jonathan Isaac. He could be a very nice 3&D guy with some more good development.
Devontae looked fine overall. Had a couple rough games, but bounce back. I'm not expecting another big leap from him, but I'm starting to feel more comfortable calling him a good starter.
Rozier is still lighting it up outside. Still not a huge fan of his overall game and I'd like to get his contract off the books, but if he continues shooting like this he'll be a nice weapon and ideally will get a good return in a trade (assuming they don't overachieve and look like a legit playoff team with him).
I don't really have anything to say about Hayward. His injury seems like a minor fluke thing and nothing to be concerned about. Good player with a winning playstyle getting way overpaid for his age/impact and was still a bad signing for a franchise in this position, but hes an enjoyable player to watch even if hes a bit underwhelming at times.
Biz looked solid for him and Zeller is always solid when healthy. If Zeller can actually finally hit a decent amount of 3s he could even make a bit of a mini-leap this year if he stays healthy, but i'm not really expecting that (or him staying healthy tbh).
Nick Richards looks like a complete dud and wasted pick. I don't see him staying in the league more than a couple years.
Carey was really bad in his limited minutes, but he looks like he does have some NBA talent and is super young. I'm not writing him off and think he could be another nice developmental project, but I still think we probably had better options with that pick.
Riller also barely saw the floor, but he showed some nice flashes. Hopefully he lights up the g-league this year if they end up having a season.
