Biggest surprise so far?

[tooler]

What's surprising is how many surprise teams there are so far this season. Last season it was Utah, this season there are at least 4.

Why? The common element is defense. My theory is defense has become a market inefficiency in the scrimmage era and some teams are taking advantage of it. It'll be interesting to see if the better teams realize this later in the season.

[zimpy27]

I'm surpirsed that the Pistons are this terrible. I thought they'd maybe improve a little this season.

[msmoore66]

Who expected to be bottom feeders? We were 29-28 after a 5-20 start last season because we had no healthy guards the first 20-25 games. Even that 29-28 is an aberration because the last 4 games we sat everyone because we had been eliminated, so really when we were healthy last year, we were 29-24, which is a 45 win pace. What Orlando is doing isn’t a surprise if you paid any attention at all to the number one pick last season.

If you take out the times when we got losses because of our excuses, look how we were over .500!

I blame you for not paying any attention!

While your zing isn't off base and kind of spot on and funny. I think the point is, if you watched the Magic last year in the context of what happened during the season, you probably wouldn't be expecting them to be bottom feeders this season.

That said, I never would have expected them to be 12-5 at this point with some impressive victories in there to boot.

For me it is either the Magic or Houston (I honestly thought they would be dysfunctional- maybe the key is getting rid of Porter Jr?)

T-Wolves for honorable mention, I expected them to have a few more holes, but pleasantly surprised with how comparatively well rounded they have looked. Fun team to watch too with Edwards in there.

[SOUL]

While your zing isn't off base and kind of spot on and funny. I think the point is, if you watched the Magic last year in the context of what happened during the season, you probably wouldn't be expecting them to be bottom feeders this season.

That said, I never would have expected them to be 12-5 at this point with some impressive victories in there to boot.

For me it is either the Magic or Houston (I honestly thought they would be dysfunctional- maybe the key is getting rid of Porter Jr?)

T-Wolves for honorable mention, I expected them to have a few more holes, but pleasantly surprised with how comparatively well rounded they have looked. Fun team to watch too with Edwards in there.

To be fair, reading the GB and seeing Magic fans be snarky and clamoring for acceptance has already gotten old. It's also posters who never post in our forum or gave up on the team or were negative for a long time suddenly acting like they knew this team would start out this good lol. There were VERY few posters who weren't losing their **** over the offseason over "making no moves". Not everybody follows this team closely to know they played well after having 7-8 injuries early on.

[JT3000]

Minnesota was in the playoffs last year and has a good roster.
OKC just needed Chet to progress and stay healthy.

I don't think either of those teams are considered surprises. Orlando definitely is. Most people had Paolo as a bust and Miami was not supposed to even sniff the playoffs.

Y'all will really just say anything, huh?

[basketballRob]

Orlando is 28th in salaries, and 1/3 of their salaries are out injured.



https://hoopshype.com/salaries/

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[zero rings]

Definitely Orlando. I figured they’d be a frisky .500 team at best. They are 14-5 with a +6 net rating. Really impressive start by them.

[FarBeyondDriven]

Rockets and Magic both have way too much talent to be bad so it's not surprising they're doing better than most expected. It's just the natural organic progression young talented teams make when they develop together and that's what we're seeing in both places. The only really surprising thing about this season so far is that the Spurs are seemingly tanking. They, like the Rockets and Magic have way too much talent to be losing games. They aren't being coached to win and it's a bad look for the league. If they're successful with their tank and land either Sarr to be their center or a young point guard like Castle or Collier, it might end up being the best strategy in the long-run though. Because if either happens they'll start making playoff runs as soon as next season.

[Amare_1_Knicks]

3 way tie for surprising are the magic, wolves and thunder. Still early yet, but none of their play feels fluke-ish or unsustainable.

[Magic_Johnny12]

Minnesota was in the playoffs last year and has a good roster.
OKC just needed Chet to progress and stay healthy.

I don't think either of those teams are considered surprises. Orlando definitely is. Most people had Paolo as a bust and Miami was not supposed to even sniff the playoffs.

Literally no one said this.

[Magic_Johnny12]

3 way tie for surprising are the magic, wolves and thunder. Still early yet, but none of their play feels fluke-ish or unsustainable.

Serious question, how many games is considered not early?

We’re almost 25% into the season.

When can these surprising teams feel like it’s a sustainable thing?

I’m not trying to sound facetious, genuinely curious.

[xinxin]

Magic for me.


Wolves and Thunder were dark horses in the west; their record isn’t surprising


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[golfreak]

Minnesota was in the playoffs last year and has a good roster.
OKC just needed Chet to progress and stay healthy.

I don't think either of those teams are considered surprises. Orlando definitely is. Most people had Paolo as a bust and Miami was not supposed to even sniff the playoffs.

LOL, you mean the unanimous rookie of the year(sorry but the 2 writers who voted for Kessler need to have their voting rights taken away) ? that most people thought as a bust ?

[Profound23]

Minnesota was in the playoffs last year and has a good roster.
OKC just needed Chet to progress and stay healthy.

I don't think either of those teams are considered surprises. Orlando definitely is. Most people had Paolo as a bust and Miami was not supposed to even sniff the playoffs.

LOL, you mean the unanimous rookie of the year(sorry but the 2 writers who voted for Kessler need to have their voting rights taken away) ? that most people thought as a bust ?

Yes, the common belief was it was a weak draft and Chet being injured made it even weaker. Either way, Paolo has been great and Orlando is the biggest surprise so far.

[jkvonny]

Rockets and Magic both have way too much talent to be bad so it's not surprising they're doing better than most expected. It's just the natural organic progression young talented teams make when they develop together and that's what we're seeing in both places. The only really surprising thing about this season so far is that the Spurs are seemingly tanking. They, like the Rockets and Magic have way too much talent to be losing games. They aren't being coached to win and it's a bad look for the league. If they're successful with their tank and land either Sarr to be their center or a young point guard like Castle or Collier, it might end up being the best strategy in the long-run though. Because if either happens they'll start making playoff runs as soon as next season.

Not this again....

[DCasey91]

Minnesota was in the playoffs last year and has a good roster.
OKC just needed Chet to progress and stay healthy.

I don't think either of those teams are considered surprises. Orlando definitely is. Most people had Paolo as a bust and Miami was not supposed to even sniff the playoffs.

Who had Paolo a bust? And you said most??

Anyway it’s the Rockets no way I would have considered them to be .500 right now

[Mephariel]

I understand that Orlando objectively is most surprising. Maybe Houston as well.

But to me personally, Minnesota and even Dallas are more surprising, I just thought those teams would be dysfunctional, I did have faith for those teams to have better record than maybe Houston or Orlando, but at the same time, I am very surprised that they are functional teams that overall, regarded with championship ceiling in a moment I write this comment. I thought they would be wreck, not bottomfeeders, but just no man land scrubs not fitting with each other.

I dont think OKC is surprising at all. We knew they were super talented, and it seems like its due.

Minnesota I agree is a bit surprising. But Dallas? They are 11-7 and are performing exactly how they should be performing with two superstars.

[UcanUwill]

I understand that Orlando objectively is most surprising. Maybe Houston as well.

But to me personally, Minnesota and even Dallas are more surprising, I just thought those teams would be dysfunctional, I did have faith for those teams to have better record than maybe Houston or Orlando, but at the same time, I am very surprised that they are functional teams that overall, regarded with championship ceiling in a moment I write this comment. I thought they would be wreck, not bottomfeeders, but just no man land scrubs not fitting with each other.

I dont think OKC is surprising at all. We knew they were super talented, and it seems like its due.

Minnesota I agree is a bit surprising. But Dallas? They are 11-7 and are performing exactly how they should be performing with two superstars.

I figured they would linger around .500. Kyries game hasnt translated to success for years, quite the opposite. Then the star duo fit was questionable even if Kyrie was good. And supporting cast seemed really bad, they are surprising to me, but it is just a begining, they are a team than can in my eyes complete fall of, but if they make the play offs, can at the same time make noise because they have top 4 player in the world.
Personally, I just wont trust any team with Kyrie on.

[BoogieTime]

Magic

Thunder just had an easy schedule

Wolves have some talent, were high in Vegas odds, and have had some schedule breaks

[ITYSL]

Not sure how anyone could say anything other than the Magic. Sure, very few expected the Twolves and Thunder to be as good as they are, but most thought they were playoff teams. Who thought the Magic would be a playoff team? No one. Mayyyybe a playin team, but even that seemed borderline