2020-21 NBA Season Discussion

[MyUniBroDavis]

So since the official nickname is Sexland, and Garland was out, was it just Sex and no Land tonight?

It was all the sex

[Peregrine01]

Maybe I'm setting myself up to get totally owned when this post is bumped in a few months but I really don't think this Nets team is that scary. Their defense utterly pathetic and is going to get carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey by contending teams, they have an amazing combination of having awful point of attack defense on top of having almost no interior presence - DJ at this point of his career is not going to be able to plug the holes, if he ever was that level of defender to begin with.

I'll reserve judgment on their offense, that's clearly going to take some time to gel.

DJ is still quite useful against a guy like Giannis when he can just play drop coverage and camp inside the lane. Against great pick and roll teams this defense will struggle, like what we saw tonight.

[MyUniBroDavis]

Maybe I'm setting myself up to get totally owned when this post is bumped in a few months but I really don't think this Nets team is that scary. Their defense utterly pathetic and is going to get carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey by contending teams, they have an amazing combination of having awful point of attack defense on top of having almost no interior presence - DJ at this point of his career is not going to be able to plug the holes, if he ever was that level of defender to begin with.

I'll reserve judgment on their offense, that's clearly going to take some time to gel.

DJ is still quite useful against a guy like Giannis when he can just play drop coverage and camp inside the lane. Against great pick and roll teams this defense will struggle, like what we saw tonight.

I mean playable aint useful lol

I agree that everyones bagging on DJ a bit much, he's not an all star or anything but he's not like the worst starting center in the NBA lmao

[eminence]

Maybe I'm setting myself up to get totally owned when this post is bumped in a few months but I really don't think this Nets team is that scary. Their defense utterly pathetic and is going to get carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey by contending teams, they have an amazing combination of having awful point of attack defense on top of having almost no interior presence - DJ at this point of his career is not going to be able to plug the holes, if he ever was that level of defender to begin with.

I'll reserve judgment on their offense, that's clearly going to take some time to gel.

DJ is still quite useful against a guy like Giannis when he can just play drop coverage and camp inside the lane. Against great pick and roll teams this defense will struggle, like what we saw tonight.

I mean playable aint useful lol

I agree that everyones bagging on DJ a bit much, he's not an all star or anything but he's not like the worst starting center in the NBA lmao

I mean, he's not so far off, he's certainly bottom 10, and possibly bottom 5 starting center.

[Peregrine01]

Wow. The Warriors got guys like Oubre, Wiggins, Paschall moving the ball and moving everywhere off ball. If Kerr can get these guys playing like the Warriors we know, he deserves coach of the year.

[yoyoboy]

I actually like the group of guys we have right now.

Sexton is better than I ever expected him to be and it continues to amaze me how hard this kid works. He's a legitimately fantastic scorer, he's decent on defense, and his playmaking has gotten better (but still needs to improve). Needs to pick up the rebounding too. Garland has been out but he's looked good when he's played this year. I love the fact we got Jarrett Allen. Okoro has looked rough to say the least but I still have some hope for him to turn into a solid role player. Cedi has started to play better and he's the type of guy who looks better when he has less offensive responsibility. And Nance imo is one of the most underrated role players in the league. He's added a reliable three, he's been one of the best defenders in the league, and he's an awesome passer.

I'd love to see us try to trade Love and Drummond to try to get anything of value but I don't see it happening.

[Statlanta]

The Nets feel like a team that needs their own 2011, not to humiliate the big 3 but to orient the team to one goal(and get the Chris Andersens/Ray Allens/Shane Battiers the team needs)

Too many moving parts for this season between coming together in the middle of the season, a good amount of the big 3 coming back from injury, dealing with a rookie coach, etc.

[eminence]

I love love love Cleveland picking up Allen. I'm still not 100% sold on the Sexland backcourt, but they're giving them every chance to grow with the Allen/Nance/Osman/Okoro frontcourt group. Probably nothing of value coming back in a Love/Drummond trade anytime soon, but they've got a nice young core.

[MyUniBroDavis]

DJ is still quite useful against a guy like Giannis when he can just play drop coverage and camp inside the lane. Against great pick and roll teams this defense will struggle, like what we saw tonight.

I mean playable aint useful lol

I agree that everyones bagging on DJ a bit much, he's not an all star or anything but he's not like the worst starting center in the NBA lmao

I mean, he's not so far off, he's certainly bottom 10, and possibly bottom 5 starting center.

So granted i havent watched him jn a minute, but i feel offensively hes ok in that he does one thing and does it well, not an offensive force or anything but hes fine as a screensetter and a finisher

Defensively definately not a monster and unplayable vs some matchups, not exactly a gobert of rim protection and not exactly switchable. Honestly i dont know how he is on D cuz i dont waych him im just assuming hes moderately bad tbf

They def should get more rim protection, but moderately bad on defense and unplayable vs slme matchups, servicable and legitamately a decent finisher seems ok, although i agree hes def more bottom ten than league average

[therealbig3]

Well they experimented with a Kyrie-Harden-Harris-Durant-Green lineup, which actually worked and got them back in the game. But yes, that lineup obviously lacks rim protection and size, although everyone can switch. They got gassed in the OTs while Sexton went off, it was a great performance by him, can't take anything away from that.

Still think the Nets are basically unstoppable offensively, especially once they gel. And I don't think the defense is as bad as people think, despite the awful showing tonight. I expect them to be an elite offense with an average defense. How good that offense is, in terms of how "slow down-able" it is, is going to determine how far they go.

[therealbig3]

Maybe I'm setting myself up to get totally owned when this post is bumped in a few months but I really don't think this Nets team is that scary. Their defense utterly pathetic and is going to get carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey by contending teams, they have an amazing combination of having awful point of attack defense on top of having almost no interior presence - DJ at this point of his career is not going to be able to plug the holes, if he ever was that level of defender to begin with.

I'll reserve judgment on their offense, that's clearly going to take some time to gel.

Literally just played the Bucks 2 days ago, and held them to 44% shooting, including 30% from 3. The only reason the Bucks scored 123 was because of a huge TO differential, not because they carved up the Nets defense in the half court.

They literally just started playing together. Things take time.

[freethedevil]

Kept hearing "imagine what Giannis is gonna do to this Nets defense"...turns out he was held in check for the most part. Yeah, he put up numbers, but it was a struggle for most of the night, and he was hitting shots at an unusually high rate (33% from 3, 75% from the line, hitting a few midrange jumpers too). All in all, he didn't exactly dominate, and the Bucks defense couldn't stop the Nets at all.

Main issue for the Nets isn't even their defense imo. It's their TOs. They out rebounded them and outshot them from all areas of the court. Harden and Durant got whatever they wanted, despite pressuring defense from Holiday and Middleton. But they committed 17 TOs to the Bucks' 5. That's the main reason it was close. Harden had 6 TOs in the 1st half alone (none in the 2nd half though), while Deandre Jordan had 5 TOs (that's unusual). Clearly, they need to develop better chemistry as the season goes on, but it's scary to think they can be even more efficient offensively with some easy fixes, and it would certainly help the defense too.

He scored an effeicnet 34 points and had 7 assists on only 1 turnover. All while his team shot 29% from 3.


On what standard is that not dominant?

The bucks shot 29% from 3 and still scored 123 on the nets. All three of thei rgames post trade have had them leaking points. Th enets won becuase they shot near 50% from 3 while the bucks shot 30% from three and the game ended up coming down to a single possession.

Treating a game where they gave up a shitton of points to a team that was ice cold as proof that defense sin't a legitmate issue for them is dubious as hell.

[freethedevil]

Maybe I'm setting myself up to get totally owned when this post is bumped in a few months but I really don't think this Nets team is that scary. Their defense utterly pathetic and is going to get carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey by contending teams, they have an amazing combination of having awful point of attack defense on top of having almost no interior presence - DJ at this point of his career is not going to be able to plug the holes, if he ever was that level of defender to begin with.

I'll reserve judgment on their offense, that's clearly going to take some time to gel.

Literally just played the Bucks 2 days ago, and held them to 44% shooting, including 30% from 3. The only reason the Bucks scored 123 was because of a huge TO differential, not because they carved up the Nets defense in the half court.

They literally just started playing together. Things take time.

"they held them" What?

ADid you seriously watch the game and think the bucks were being "held" to 30% from three? Three teams have come in and dumped 120 on them. Where exactly are you expecting a defenisve improvement from? They dont' have rim protection, they don't have anyone for poa, they are completely lacking in defensive talent, how exactly do you figure this is going to get better?

[MyUniBroDavis]

Well they experimented with a Kyrie-Harden-Harris-Durant-Green lineup, which actually worked and got them back in the game. But yes, that lineup obviously lacks rim protection and size, although everyone can switch. They got gassed in the OTs while Sexton went off, it was a great performance by him, can't take anything away from that.

Still think the Nets are basically unstoppable offensively, especially once they gel. And I don't think the defense is as bad as people think, despite the awful showing tonight. I expect them to be an elite offense with an average defense. How good that offense is, in terms of how "slow down-able" it is, is going to determine how far they go.

From a tools perspective their offense should be pen of hardest to slow down ever, like warriors tier

Something interesting though, I’m curious if teams are gonna try to defend in a way so kyrie has to beat them. Juries incredibly talented but he’s not really the same level of threat even in iso as the other two (which is wild since he’s one of the best in the league in that regard)

That’s still gonna be insanely good offense for them though, although the lakers are a tough matchup for them, AD should feast and at the very least they have multiple guys that can “guard” 2 of them, and lebron can guard all three


Caruso/KCP/Matthews/Lebron/AD defending them would be really interesting, obv assuming KCP is on Harris or something. They’d still score a bunch obviously

[MartinToVaught]

The Nets gave up 147 points to a team that's second-to-last in the league in points per game. The Cavs had already surpassed their season average PPG early in the 4th. They did this without Kevin Love and Darius Garland.

It's wild that people are trying to pretend that defense isn't a massive problem for the Nets when it so obviously is. And I don't see any quick fixes for them. Players on the buyout market are generally bought out for a reason, Kyrie is as close to untradeable as it gets, and they have no other assets to trade.

[parsnips33]

Who's the frontrunner for DPOY at this point? Because Draymond has come out firing on all cylinders and the defense has looked really solid since he's been back

[bondom34]

Who's the frontrunner for DPOY at this point? Because Draymond has come out firing on all cylinders and the defense has looked really solid since he's been back

I'd guess Embiid and Gobert would be up there. Would add Myles Turner in as well to the group. The Lakers have the best defense and AD's reputation is best among them but honestly I feel like they're just kind of balanced on that end and its not a thing where one guy would disproportionately get the credit like some others.

[limbo]

Who's the frontrunner for DPOY at this point? Because Draymond has come out firing on all cylinders and the defense has looked really solid since he's been back

The same old tired answer... Rudy Gobert.

[eminence]

I'd have it as Gobert pretty easily to date.

[limbo]

I'd have it as Gobert pretty easily to date.

Isn't it funny how you were whining about the Jazz being garbage and basically jumped ship only for them to turn around and go on a 6-game winning streak and play some of the best basketball in the league?