Jazzfan1971's Preseason Commentary

[ChrisTheFuturePaul]

I quite like the Pelicans. I'll be rooting for you guys. But, with the West so deep this year it's hard to hand out wins.

Perhaps it would be more helpful if you would say smoething like

Pelicans +3 wins
Team X -3 wins

And give a rationale for both sides.

Pelicans +4 (42/40) for reasons stated above
Wizards +4 (42/40) I have these teams on even standing too, Wall was amazing down the stretch last year and Beal can ball, Nene is a very solid big too.
Blazers -3 (36/46) They haven't really improved from last season, it will hurt them, they still have a weak bench and I think teams around them (Pelicans included) have leapfrogged them.
Detroit - 5 (34/48) They have no spacing, Jennings is a mistake (coming from a guy who thought Knight was a scrub) and Smith is also a bad fit for that roster. Their offseason stunk of desperation for change, not carefully planned roster building.

[Donald Kaufman]

You tell me. I really don't have huge regular season expectations if you read through the thread.

Hmm. Okay. Well either an over/under bet, or your team vs mine (SAS) in terms of regular season wins.

If you go by ESPN's projected standings, the Spurs are expected to go 58-24 and the Nets are projected at 53-29. I personally feel that's a bit high for the Spurs and a bit low for your Nets.

So as I see it, we can go one of two ways:

1. Set the over/under win total for BKN (I propose 53 wins as the bar), or

2. BKN vs SAS for regular season win total

[Trader_Joe]

You tell me. I really don't have huge regular season expectations if you read through the thread.

Hmm. Okay. Well either an over/under bet, or your team vs mine (SAS) in terms of regular season wins.

If you go by ESPN's projected standings, the Spurs are expected to go 58-24 and the Nets are projected at 53-29. I personally feel that's a bit high for the Spurs and a bit low for your Nets.

So as I see it, we can go one of two ways:

1. Set the over/under win total for BKN (I propose 53 wins as the bar), or

2. BKN vs SAS for regular season win total

No way could I bet against the Spurs.
But, I also think I actually have 2 sig bets going right now so I'm not sure how we could do the first 1 which I would take. I don't want to change my beloved avy. Heck, I'd do cash tho.

[Trader_Joe]

I second this. I'd also love if you could include some commentary on what you think would happen if the Lakers got the 4 seed.

Well, it would be a cold day in hell for one thing...

Trader Joe, I'm not sure it's fair to call Deron "in his prime". 29 is old for a guard (current best estimates for peak performing age range from 26 to 28 and those are skewed by big men who tend to peak a little later), and, more importantly, he appears to have declined relative to his best seasons. Maybe that was a result of injuries/random factors, and I'm sure you could point to a stretch of great play, but I think the smart money says he's now left his prime and can be expected to decline from here.

Yeah, I know what you mean, but I don't think he's gone down a tier of level of play that will affect the team negatively or make him less efficient, but his numbers may not match previous years. On the bright side, he had arguably the best stats of any PG in the league the 2nd of half of last season (23/8 on 48/42/87), he looks to be in amazing shape at the moment, is hosting workouts in LA, finally seems to have the right attitude and is an intelligent PG who's about to learn even more under Kidd. I wouldn't be surprised if he has the best overall season of his career this year (not so much number wise, but combined play, team success and evolution in the mental side of the game). I don't think he's going to have the scoring numbers of his past and with the slow pace of the Nets his assists might not knock your socks off, but I expect a highly effective season from him and again, I think Kidd can teach him a lot and add more to his game.