Around The League: 2021-2022 Season 2.0

[Kobblehead]

I would not. Irving and Harden have irreconcilable differences.

[mjkvol]

If the Lakers are able to pull of a westbrick kyrie swap the league should just fold. Kyrie is a depressed asset but that trade does nothing for the Nets

And don't think for a minute that the league isn't actively trying to make this happen behind the scenes. It's the only remotely reasonable explanation for a deal so utterly senseless.

[Monix]

Read on Twitter

what the hell are the Thunder doing?

[Iverson Armband]

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what the hell are the Thunder doing?

I’d be all over this

[ProcessDoctor]

Very weird. I wonder if something happened with him that just hasn't been reported yet.

[Monix]

he's not a star, but he's gotta have some value as a bench big

he's better than Bazley

[spikeslovechild]

Someone needs to create a Ben Simmons gif where his head is transfixed over Will Smith when he enters that empty house lol.

[mithrandir17]

Read on Twitter

[76ciology]

Let’s say KD ends up with the Warriors..

I like a Sixers-Warriors finals match-up

Harden vs Steph
Embiid vs Durant
Maxey vs Klay
Tobias vs Wiggins
Tucker vs Draymond

Then we have Melton, Thybulle, Tucker, Reed and House as role players over their likely lack of depth.

[phiphan]

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Yeah let’s crap on the guy for being a good dad having fun with his kids.

[76ciology]

Watch on YouTube

After watching this, i wouldnt mind him coaching for us. I like his energy haha

Its kind of what I find us to be going to do next season. We’re gonna switch everything and force them to compete 1v1 against us.

[HardenGoat]

Watch on YouTube

After watching this, i wouldnt mind him coaching for us. I like his energy haha

Its kind of what I find us to be going to do next season. We’re gonna switch everything and force them to compete 1v1 against us.

Yeah a finals with GSW would be awesome. There’s a good chance we will have the defensive chops when that comes. The beauty of getting these Rocket players is they will have chemistry right out of the gate as they played together for years already. That’s so important

[76ciology]

Watch on YouTube

After watching this, i wouldnt mind him coaching for us. I like his energy haha

Its kind of what I find us to be going to do next season. We’re gonna switch everything and force them to compete 1v1 against us.

Yeah a finals with GSW would be awesome. There’s a good chance we will have the defensive chops when that comes. The beauty of getting these Rocket players is they will have chemistry right out of the gate as they played together for years already. That’s so important

Yes, ive actually been watching a lot of clips on rockets defense to get me hyped for the season

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

I can see Melton or Embiid playing that Roco role. I’d love to see how we play defense next season. Would be interesting if we run a heavy switch scheme like the Rox, and how will Embiid look on defense in that scheme.

On a related note. I see teams like Clips possibly running the same scheme Rox had for Westbrook with Wall.

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

[76ciology]

I wont be so mad if Durant ends up with the Raptors, if they have to give up Barnes.

Barnes is a very effective against the two man game of Harden-Embiid.

Yes, Raps got a lot better but I think we’re equipped. With Tobias defending Siakam and PJ defending Tucker. If that is not enough then Embiid defend Siakam then Reed defend Durant.

[HardenGoat]

Watch on YouTube

After watching this, i wouldnt mind him coaching for us. I like his energy haha

Its kind of what I find us to be going to do next season. We’re gonna switch everything and force them to compete 1v1 against us.

Yeah a finals with GSW would be awesome. There’s a good chance we will have the defensive chops when that comes. The beauty of getting these Rocket players is they will have chemistry right out of the gate as they played together for years already. That’s so important

Yes, ive actually been watching a lot of clips on rockets defense to get me hyped for the season

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

I can see Melton or Embiid playing that Roco role. I’d love to see how we play defense next season. Would be interesting if we run a heavy switch scheme like the Rox, and how will Embiid look on defense in that scheme.

On a related note. I see teams like Clips possibly running the same scheme Rox had for Westbrook with Wall.

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

They will certainly be able to go small ball using Tucker at center. Embiid would be resting though on bench. Gordon would be a big asset in that lineup. His defense is underated as he doesn’t get bodied by bigger players. He can also run the plays. Harden, Gordon, House, (SF) Tucker. If we can get Bullock then he slots into the SF spot nicely. The key is Tucker and having great shooters that are plus defenders. Tucker can guard 1-5 which is quite rare.

[76ciology]

If you’re the Pels, what would be your plan for Zion? Do you think he’ll have a long career?

I personally think his career’s trajectory will be similar to Blake Griffin. A lot of hype early on, losing athleticism and injury leading him to be a more below the ground skilled player

[Eyeamok]

The Nets seem to be signing a new player every day. How many roster spots do they have?

[Eyeamok]

If you’re the Pels, what would be your plan for Zion? Do you think he’ll have a long career?

I personally think his career’s trajectory will be similar to Blake Griffin. A lot of hype early on, losing athleticism and injury leading him to be a more below the ground skilled player

As the Pels front office I say in press conferences and to any media outlet we are planning for Zion to be available and ready for all 82 games hes gonna have a great season. This way I can justify giving him the extension and not trading him. But behind closed doors I tell coach Green, CJ, BI and the crew you now have playoff experience. I expect you to build on this come playoff time.

I think your analysis of him is spot on.

[HardenGoat]

Watch on YouTube

This is an excellent breakdown of the Rockets defensive and offensive small ball system. You can see it works with 3 guard lineups so you can slot a guard in the SF spot who spaces the floor and also serves as a cutter. You could easily use Maxey in this system as a scorer just like Westbrook. I think Maxey will be even better as he spreads the floor which was always the issue with WB. Teams would just try to plug the cuts and force the ball to him hoping he shoots. He was still deadly though due to his speed. There would never be the option of letting a Maxey/Gordon/Harden shoot. Maxey would have tons of space to burn to the basket. This could be a really dangerous team considering the pieces that just came in and the depth we might see if Tobias is traded. The problem with Tobias is he doesn’t really want to buy into a fast cutting system like this and you have to be a quick trigger. He wants to post up and that is not what this is about. But.. I only see this system being used when Embiid sits and the other teams backup bigs slot in. Imagine a backup like Drummond or McGee etc trying to defend against it. I think the best option against starting units will be Embiids paint protection but utilizing the floor spacing of cutters and shooters. This season will be FUN!!!

[76ciology]

Watch on YouTube

This is an excellent breakdown of the Rockets defensive and offensive small ball system. You can see it works with 3 guard lineups so you can slot a guard in the SF spot who spaces the floor and also serves as a cutter. You could easily use Maxey in this system as a scorer just like Westbrook. I think Maxey will be even better as he spreads the floor which was always the issue with WB. Teams would just try to plug the cuts and force the ball to him hoping he shoots. He was still deadly though due to his speed. There would never be the option of letting a Maxey/Gordon/Harden shoot. Maxey would have tons of space to burn to the basket. This could be a really dangerous team considering the pieces that just came in and the depth we might see if Tobias is traded. The problem with Tobias is he doesn’t really want to buy into a fast cutting system like this and you have to be a quick trigger. He wants to post up and that is not what this is about. But.. I only see this system being used when Embiid sits and the other teams backup bigs slot in. Imagine a backup like Drummond or McGee etc trying to defend against it. I think the best option against starting units will be Embiids paint protection but utilizing the floor spacing of cutters and shooters. This season will be FUN!!!

He did play this “quick trigger” “fast cutting system” during the playoffs. He did less PnR and Post and, like Maxey, benefitted a lot from Harden and Embiid’s gravity. Most of Tobi’s offense are from attacking close outs, spot ups and transition. If he has to create, its mostly off necessity like mismatch or shotclock running out.

Personally the problem I have with Tobias is his defense at PF. He has to be the guy who has to rotate to the paint and protect the rim whenever Embiid steps outside the paint. I saw Tucker doing that by drawing charges. Tobias is poor at drawing charges or be a rim protector.

Last season when we had the tiniest 3&4 duo in the league, this leave him exposed. Think of having Mikal Bridges at the 4 then have someone like Landry Shamet at the 3 for the Suns. Thats how bad it is IMO.

There’s two ways to deal with this. One is to play with a rim protector PF like what most teams are starting to do now where they’re playing double big. Im hoping Reed can play with Embiid eventually. The other is to load up with tweeners at SF/PF, and we’re doing that one.

Defensively, I find a lot of similarity with our team and the warriors. Warriors plays with two PF sized forwards at their starting unit with Wiggins&Draymond, so do we. Then they have a lot of these high deflection/multi position guys like Iggy or GP3 off the bench (we have Melton, Thybulle, House and Reed).

Currently, im quite hyped with our team now. And I think our identity with our defense will be the biggest change.

Just think about how good our team will be if we can be an elite defensive team in rebounding, switching and deflections. Then consider how good our offense with Embiid&Harden generating gravity, while Maxey and Tobias getting easy buckets out of it and our shooters knocking down 3s!

P.S. Tobias is our leader in deflections per game in the playoffs at 2.5