2023-24 NBA Season Discussion

[OhayoKD]

Wemby is exceeding my already high expectations

The crazy thing is he is rapidly improving. He is doing so many things in this game he wasn't in the first game or two.

To me, the sign of a truly great player (and team) is that they learn from what they see and can react to it with success. And there's no better opportunity than to play the same team twice in a row to put this to the test. Well, let's just say that the last game bodes well for Victor. Of course we'll have to see more of the same before we can reach any conclusion but it's good to see that Victor had more success adjusting to the Suns than the Suns had adjusting to him.

I think he may already be better than Al Hoford personally

[Colbinii]

The crazy thing is he is rapidly improving. He is doing so many things in this game he wasn't in the first game or two.

To me, the sign of a truly great player (and team) is that they learn from what they see and can react to it with success. And there's no better opportunity than to play the same team twice in a row to put this to the test. Well, let's just say that the last game bodes well for Victor. Of course we'll have to see more of the same before we can reach any conclusion but it's good to see that Victor had more success adjusting to the Suns than the Suns had adjusting to him.

I think he may already be better than Al Hoford personally

[OhayoKD]

To me, the sign of a truly great player (and team) is that they learn from what they see and can react to it with success. And there's no better opportunity than to play the same team twice in a row to put this to the test. Well, let's just say that the last game bodes well for Victor. Of course we'll have to see more of the same before we can reach any conclusion but it's good to see that Victor had more success adjusting to the Suns than the Suns had adjusting to him.

I think he may already be better than Al Hoford personally

[parsnips33]

So what's the ceiling on the Spurs this year? Could Wemby get them in the playoffs right away?

[Doctor MJ]

So what's the ceiling on the Spurs this year? Could Wemby get them in the playoffs right away?

I don't see why not. I mean, it could easily not happen, but as much as everyone is talking about how loaded the West is this year, the Suns are part of that loadedness, and they really didn't seem to have an answer for Wemby.

[Doctor MJ]

I think he may already be better than Al Hoford personally

I'd say probably a better floor raiser, but less able to fit in with other talent. Depending on Horford's decay that second aspect might be moot, but it'll take some time before Wemby has the savvy of Horford.

[Special_Puppy]

Could Wemby be a top 15 player in the league year one?

[Colbinii]

I think he may already be better than Al Hoford personally

I'd say probably a better floor raiser, but less able to fit in with other talent. Depending on Horford's decay that second aspect might be moot, but it'll take some time before Wemby has the savvy of Horford.

Yeah, it may take him 10 games or even a full month

[Outside]

Everybody's learning. Wemby's learning how to play in the league. His teammates are learning how to play with him. Opponents are learning how to play against him. Things will look different by the end of the season.

But damn, Pop has got to be smiling.

[itsxtray]

Genuinely wonder where his rookie season will end up ranking historically. Among 19/20 year olds it'll probably be the best since he'll already be a solid positive on defense which a lot of young players can't say and the offense is steadily improving.

[clearlynotjesse]

Spurs over 30.5 looks real good

[Ambrose]

Obviously, this place is flooded since he is coming off a 38 point game, but the things he can do and the ways he does them have me in awe. He's much further along than I expected and seems to be growing by the day. Small sample size but his defensive impact is already bonkers. His body is still a little clumsy but the things he's capable of doing and the flashes he's showing are things I've never seen before. I figured he'd maybe be a top 50 guy at best, and top 25 next season. That was a major low ball and now nothing would surprise me.

[Special_Puppy]

Genuinely wonder where his rookie season will end up ranking historically. Among 19/20 year olds it'll probably be the best since he'll already be a solid positive on defense which a lot of young players can't say and the offense is steadily improving.

In his rookie season, Jokic was like the 14th best player in the league according to a composite of advanced stats. Don't have the numbers for other rookies like Curry or Harden who turned into megastars.

[Heej]

Bucks smokin that za still doing this 'Malik Beasley as primary guard defender' experiment

[Colbinii]

Bucks smokin that za still doing this 'Malik Beasley as primary guard defender's experiment

I'll never forget Malik Beasley saying his goal for the 2021 season was All-Defensive team with Minnesota.

He legitimately got up on the podium and said that.

[Colbinii]

For the first time, it's like San Antonio and Victor discovered that he's such a ridiculously tall target around the rim. Those are the easy buckets he should always get. I understand they want him to explore and that's fine. But yesterday I counted maybe 4 ill-advised shots – out of 26. That's way fewer than before and a number you can live with that combines chances of winning and Victor's personal growth by understand what he can and cannot (yet) do on the court. I also feel like he drew a couple more fouls that went uncalled.

But the most ridiculous thing is that teams are legitimately scared to penetrate the paint when he's lurking. And Victor isn't even great yet at quick decisions when it comes to help defense, so you can absolutely find cracks in the defense. But he's a deterrent like we've hardly ever seen before. In the end you'll see only two blocks and even the number of non-blocked but challenged shots wasn't all that crazy. But when you watch the game, you can just see how he's in players' heads and completely changes the geometry of the game by pushing everyone away from the rim when they dare take a step towards it like he's some kind of insect repellent.

I would safely say defensively he is like nothing we have ever seen before.

It's like making Andrei Kirilenko 6-7 inches taller and just as spry/quick.

Most of the ATG defensive anchors weren't nearly as spry/fluid, especially lateral movements and moving out onto the perimeter. Q

I expect some of that is an age thing. We don't think of Russell/Hakeem/KG at 20 when we think of them, but they were all moving very spryly, not so differently than Victor (somewhat estimated on Russell, but I expect). I expect Victor will lose spring as he ages like all the rest of us.

I went back and watch some random clips from rookie KG. A sight to see.

[Fadeaway_J]

Bucks smokin that za still doing this 'Malik Beasley as primary guard defender's experiment

I'll never forget Malik Beasley saying his goal for the 2021 season was All-Defensive team with Minnesota.

He legitimately got up on the podium and said that.

That's amazing.

[Heej]

Bucks smokin that za still doing this 'Malik Beasley as primary guard defender's experiment

I'll never forget Malik Beasley saying his goal for the 2021 season was All-Defensive team with Minnesota.

He legitimately got up on the podium and said that.

Gotta hand it to NBA players man. It's that delusion that gets em to the league in the first place

[itsxtray]

The Bucks (dead last in DRTG so far) are yet another example of how important point-of-attack defense and coaching is to a team's defense...two things that are highly overlooked on this forum, IMO.

That because they've played this weird super aggressive scheme that doesn't fit their personnel. They've gone back to Lopez in a drop because the players advocated for it, at least he listened. It'll still be a process but the Bucks are playing suboptimally offensively and defensively right now.

[Peregrine01]

The Bucks (dead last in DRTG so far) are yet another example of how important point-of-attack defense and coaching is to a team's defense...two things that are highly overlooked on this forum, IMO.

That because they've played this weird super aggressive scheme that doesn't fit their personnel. They've gone back to Lopez in a drop because the players advocated for it, at least he listened. It'll still be a process but the Bucks are playing suboptimally offensively and defensively right now.

Yeah let's see how things unfold. I was just making the point that we too often give way too much credit/discredit to big men for their impact on team defense and give way less credit/discredit to on-ball defense and coaching.