Initial impressions of KAT, Bridges, offense and defense

[Capn'O]

The most immediately noticeable thing about the offense is how much quicker everything happens. There's no point where the ball stagnates so we're going to get better first opportunities. KAT missed some shots but they were quick and in rhythm. Shots he should take and shots he'll eventually make. When he didn't have a quick opportunity the ball moved immediately. With that, KAT actually got 4 OREBs last night and his career best in that cat was under Thibs so we may not be going away from that strategy completely. Very optimistic look at him.

Our wing defense is incredible. That will allow KAT to stick to on-ball situations, which is his strength. It's a different look from last year but one that shows promising initial fruit.

I continue to believe they built this team to dethrone the Celtics. KAT can defend KP. Our wings take on Brown and Tatum. Matches made in heaven.

This is straight up a great perspective and post Capn'O

Thanks! And though the context is obvious, I don't want to disparage Julius because I did like him and I think he brought a lot of value. KAT just fits where we want to go with the offense much better. As others have said, it's a much more modern offense thus far.

[2010]

Rod had no range and was lousy outside the arc, but was good enough inside the perimeter. His value to offense was often his speed either as a penetrator or orchestrator. He got down the floor in a flash so if you had anyone on the team breaking he'd find them. The man was both quick and had serious acceleration.

I think Strickland had better pure talent than Mark Jackson.

That was the debate back the Strickland versus Jackson, and who was better. Individually perhaps it was Strickland but from a team perspective maybe it was Jackson...

Strickland was a beast and one of the best scoring PG’s of his era. Typical NYC point god. Got to the rack and finished like no other (of his era). Kyrie Irving was greatly influenced by him. And Hot Rod was a physical specimen for a PG. Cut the fk up and did y’all see his shoulders? This is why he was able to go in the paint amongst the trees in a physical era and still finish through contact.

But at the end of the day I always preferred Action Jackson. Why? Cuz I think he made his teammates better. And did it with less physical tools.

[Wildcat]

I said this a few times and I'll probably say it again. I don't like Hart starting and that's primarily because the bench is weaker and it forces OG/Hart to guard a strong forward. Hart will get those 50/50 balls more often than not, but at the cost of him and OG getting banged up night in and night out. I get the benefits of Josh starting, but I want to make it to the playoffs healthy for once, and I think that physicality is going to take it's troll.

[KnixinSix]

I continue to believe they built this team to dethrone the Celtics. KAT can defend KP. Our wings take on Brown and Tatum. Matches made in heaven.

This is straight up a great perspective and post Capn'O

Thanks! And though the context is obvious, I don't want to disparage Julius because I did like him and I think he brought a lot of value. KAT just fits where we want to go with the offense much better. As others have said, it's a much more modern offense thus far.

I think we 100% have the same take on BOTH Julius and Towns. And have said as much previously. Both are stars but with different strengths and flaws . In theory at least, I like KATs strengths as meshing with our personell more than Randles to run a modern day offense.

[KnixinSix]

I said this a few times and I'll probably say it again. I don't like Hart starting and that's primarily because the bench is weaker and it forces OG/Hart to guard a strong forward. Hart will get those 50/50 balls more often than not, but at the cost of him and OG getting banged up night in and night out. I get the benefits of Josh starting, but I want to make it to the playoffs healthy for once, and I think that physicality is going to take it's troll.

OG can guard most forwards. In the case of a very big or strong power forward, you can mix in Precious and sometimes Towns too.

[Capn'O]

I think Strickland had better pure talent than Mark Jackson.

That was the debate back the Strickland versus Jackson, and who was better. Individually perhaps it was Strickland but from a team perspective maybe it was Jackson...

Strickland was a beast and one of the best scoring PG’s of his era. Typical NYC point god. Got to the rack and finished like no other (of his era). Kyrie Irving was greatly influenced by him. And Hot Rod was a physical specimen for a PG. Cut the fk up and did y’all see his shoulders? This is why he was able to go in the paint amongst the trees in a physical era and still finish through contact.

But at the end of the day I always preferred Action Jackson. Why? Cuz I think he made his teammates better. And did it with less physical tools.

I still can't believe we kept neither. I wonder what Riley would have done if they had Strickland. Would he have still gone full grind?

On a related note - I recently watched some Charles Smith highlights with the Clippers and something that was readily apparent was that even in those days Smith was very clearly a PF and playing him at SF was wild. Maybe more of a modern 4 for the era but definitely not a 3. He needed to be parked down low or be on the move toward the interior. So, as much as we loved Oak, I really wonder if we had chosen a different vision for the team and gone:

Strickland
Starks
X
Smith
Pat

Then whoever we could have gotten for Oak what could have been. That team could have been a lot faster and allowed Pat to focus on being an absolute beast on defense.

[sol537]

I said this a few times and I'll probably say it again. I don't like Hart starting and that's primarily because the bench is weaker and it forces OG/Hart to guard a strong forward. Hart will get those 50/50 balls more often than not, but at the cost of him and OG getting banged up night in and night out. I get the benefits of Josh starting, but I want to make it to the playoffs healthy for once, and I think that physicality is going to take it's troll.

Yup... Precious should start with Hart sill getting his same minutes off the bench. Maybe we'll switch to that at some point but even if Hart starts, it's not the end of the world. We're that talented.

[HarthorneWingo]

Shved had the best pure PG skills

SHVED!

[RHODEY]

That was the debate back the Strickland versus Jackson, and who was better. Individually perhaps it was Strickland but from a team perspective maybe it was Jackson...

Strickland was a beast and one of the best scoring PG’s of his era. Typical NYC point god. Got to the rack and finished like no other (of his era). Kyrie Irving was greatly influenced by him. And Hot Rod was a physical specimen for a PG. Cut the fk up and did y’all see his shoulders? This is why he was able to go in the paint amongst the trees in a physical era and still finish through contact.

But at the end of the day I always preferred Action Jackson. Why? Cuz I think he made his teammates better. And did it with less physical tools.

I still can't believe we kept neither. I wonder what Riley would have done if they had Strickland. Would he have still gone full grind?

On a related note - I recently watched some Charles Smith highlights with the Clippers and something that was readily apparent was that even in those days Smith was very clearly a PF and playing him at SF was wild. Maybe more of a modern 4 for the era but definitely not a 3. He needed to be parked down low or be on the move toward the interior. So, as much as we loved Oak, I really wonder if we had chosen a different vision for the team and gone:

Strickland
Starks
X
Smith
Pat

Then whoever we could have gotten for Oak what could have been. That team could have been a lot faster and allowed Pat to focus on being an absolute beast on defense.

I think that Charles Smith team won 60 games...it might have been kinda tough to improve on that.

[KnixinSix]

I said this a few times and I'll probably say it again. I don't like Hart starting and that's primarily because the bench is weaker and it forces OG/Hart to guard a strong forward. Hart will get those 50/50 balls more often than not, but at the cost of him and OG getting banged up night in and night out. I get the benefits of Josh starting, but I want to make it to the playoffs healthy for once, and I think that physicality is going to take it's troll.

Yup... Precious should start with Hart sill getting his same minutes off the bench. Maybe we'll switch to that at some point but even if Hart starts, it's not the end of the world. We're that talented.

They want Hart starting he rebounds, defends, passes and is tremendous driving and on the fast break. Lets give it a chance before we think it will fail

[kNicksGmen]

I said this a few times and I'll probably say it again. I don't like Hart starting and that's primarily because the bench is weaker and it forces OG/Hart to guard a strong forward. Hart will get those 50/50 balls more often than not, but at the cost of him and OG getting banged up night in and night out. I get the benefits of Josh starting, but I want to make it to the playoffs healthy for once, and I think that physicality is going to take it's troll.

Start precious.

[KnixinSix]

I said this a few times and I'll probably say it again. I don't like Hart starting and that's primarily because the bench is weaker and it forces OG/Hart to guard a strong forward. Hart will get those 50/50 balls more often than not, but at the cost of him and OG getting banged up night in and night out. I get the benefits of Josh starting, but I want to make it to the playoffs healthy for once, and I think that physicality is going to take it's troll.

Start precious.

Precious will get minutes, McBride will get minutes

[kNicksGmen]

I said this a few times and I'll probably say it again. I don't like Hart starting and that's primarily because the bench is weaker and it forces OG/Hart to guard a strong forward. Hart will get those 50/50 balls more often than not, but at the cost of him and OG getting banged up night in and night out. I get the benefits of Josh starting, but I want to make it to the playoffs healthy for once, and I think that physicality is going to take it's troll.

Start precious.

Precious will get minutes, McBride will get minutes

yea but i think Precious will mostly backup Kat. I kind of want to see them together - specifically this lineup:

Brunson - Bridges - OG - Precious - Towns

that lineup is HUGE. Length and defense of Bridges-OG-Precious would be amazing combined with better rim protection and rebounding/size. spacing is still very good as I don't see a huge difference between precious and hart shooting 3s. precious has some juice off the bounce and around the rim too. allows an additional screener on/off ball etc.

feels like a more balanced lineup. let hart come off the bench. negative is you don't really have a good big off the bench then.

[Jalen Bluntson]

Start precious.

Precious will get minutes, McBride will get minutes

yea but i think Precious will mostly backup Kat. I kind of want to see them together - specifically this lineup:

Brunson - Bridges - OG - Precious - Towns

that lineup is HUGE. Length and defense of Bridges-OG-Precious would be amazing combined with better rim protection and rebounding/size. spacing is still very good as I don't see a huge difference between precious and hart shooting 3s. precious has some juice off the bounce and around the rim too. allows an additional screener on/off ball etc.

feels like a more balanced lineup. let hart come off the bench. negative is you don't really have a good big off the bench then.

Hart is a rebounder and he really pushes the pace with outlet passes. He drives coast to coast as well. There's more to Hart starting that isn't hurt by his lack of shooting. I would be happy either way but, it isn't a bad situation to have. We are very flexible with our rotations now. More so than if we still had Randle IMO.

We can go big and play similar to last year if Mitch h ever gets back. We can also spread the floor whenever we want. We can put lock down defensive lineups out there when we need stops. We can put shooters out there when we need to score. It's really the best of both worlds IF we could have a healthy Mitch or a replacement player along those lines.

We are gonna be a problem for the league this year. Just stay healthy!

[KnixinSix]

Start precious.

Precious will get minutes, McBride will get minutes

yea but i think Precious will mostly backup Kat. I kind of want to see them together - specifically this lineup:

Brunson - Bridges - OG - Precious - Towns

that lineup is HUGE. Length and defense of Bridges-OG-Precious would be amazing combined with better rim protection and rebounding/size. spacing is still very good as I don't see a huge difference between precious and hart shooting 3s. precious has some juice off the bounce and around the rim too. allows an additional screener on/off ball etc.

feels like a more balanced lineup. let hart come off the bench. negative is you don't really have a good big off the bench then.

Right or wrong Hart is Thibs guy. He will give every opportunity for that lthis lineup to succeed. Depending on its success will determine how many minutes they get together . If it bombs a lineup like you suggest might get more minutes.

Starting lineup
KAT
OG
Bridges
Hart
Brunson

Big man line up
KAT
Precious
OG
Bridges
Brunson/McBride

3 ball line up
KAT
OG
Bridges
McBride
Brunson

Lock down lineup
Mitchell
OG
Bridges
Hart
McBride

[Jalen Bluntson]

Precious will get minutes, McBride will get minutes

yea but i think Precious will mostly backup Kat. I kind of want to see them together - specifically this lineup:

Brunson - Bridges - OG - Precious - Towns

that lineup is HUGE. Length and defense of Bridges-OG-Precious would be amazing combined with better rim protection and rebounding/size. spacing is still very good as I don't see a huge difference between precious and hart shooting 3s. precious has some juice off the bounce and around the rim too. allows an additional screener on/off ball etc.

feels like a more balanced lineup. let hart come off the bench. negative is you don't really have a good big off the bench then.

Right or wrong Hart is Thibs guy. He will give every opportunity for that lthis lineup to succeed. Depending on its success will determine how many minutes they get together . If it bombs a lineup like you suggest might get more minutes.

Starting lineup
KAT
OG
Bridges
Hart
Brunson

Big man line up
KAT
Precious
OG
Bridges
Brunson/McBride

3 ball line up
KAT
OG
Bridges
McBride
Brunson

Lock down lineup
Mitchell
OG
Bridges
Hart
McBride

Even without Mitch we still have a lockdown lineup with Precious too. We are versatile and stacked. With everyone healthy it's even better.

[Context]

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[nykballa2k4]

I think the team is better with Hart off the bench. He doesn't seem aggressive enough right now with the starting unit.

I rather see him run with the second unit and close ouT games when necessary.

I think Precious next to KAT can work, especially if Precious can hit the corner three. But we would need a other useful big off the bench and Sims ain't it. Maybe Hukporti can give some minutes at center, but this is going to be a problem until Mitch comes back or we find a way to improve that part of the roster.

I think we should start Deuce instead of Hart, but it makes sense to let Hart sort of be the Draymond

[Davis18]

Strickland was a beast and one of the best scoring PG’s of his era. Typical NYC point god. Got to the rack and finished like no other (of his era). Kyrie Irving was greatly influenced by him. And Hot Rod was a physical specimen for a PG. Cut the fk up and did y’all see his shoulders? This is why he was able to go in the paint amongst the trees in a physical era and still finish through contact.

But at the end of the day I always preferred Action Jackson. Why? Cuz I think he made his teammates better. And did it with less physical tools.

I still can't believe we kept neither. I wonder what Riley would have done if they had Strickland. Would he have still gone full grind?

On a related note - I recently watched some Charles Smith highlights with the Clippers and something that was readily apparent was that even in those days Smith was very clearly a PF and playing him at SF was wild. Maybe more of a modern 4 for the era but definitely not a 3. He needed to be parked down low or be on the move toward the interior. So, as much as we loved Oak, I really wonder if we had chosen a different vision for the team and gone:

Strickland
Starks
X
Smith
Pat

Then whoever we could have gotten for Oak what could have been. That team could have been a lot faster and allowed Pat to focus on being an absolute beast on defense.

I think that Charles Smith team won 60 games...it might have been kinda tough to improve on that.

We had a best chance with Xavier McDaniel.
We could have beaten Bulls if we kept him.

[RHODEY]

I still can't believe we kept neither. I wonder what Riley would have done if they had Strickland. Would he have still gone full grind?

On a related note - I recently watched some Charles Smith highlights with the Clippers and something that was readily apparent was that even in those days Smith was very clearly a PF and playing him at SF was wild. Maybe more of a modern 4 for the era but definitely not a 3. He needed to be parked down low or be on the move toward the interior. So, as much as we loved Oak, I really wonder if we had chosen a different vision for the team and gone:

Strickland
Starks
X
Smith
Pat

Then whoever we could have gotten for Oak what could have been. That team could have been a lot faster and allowed Pat to focus on being an absolute beast on defense.

I think that Charles Smith team won 60 games...it might have been kinda tough to improve on that.

True. Was Smith traded for Xavier? I cant remember why we lost him.

We had a best chance with Xavier McDaniel.
We could have beaten Bulls if we kept him.