PG: Blowout at Home

[ATLTimekeeper]

For sure, but the hope was that he can develop that part of his game after showing signs in the first year. I remember both Russillo and KOC - who really brought the Barnes for ROY train to the mainstream - were really indexing to that part of his game on why he could become a really special player.

I've given up on Barnes ever having a good handle and we know he's not going to become explosive off the dribble. All you have left really is the mid-range, and he has the strength and length that should theoretically allow him to get to his spots and pull up over defenders. Otherwise, I don't know how he becomes a franchise guy to be completely honest.

If it was those two it's more than likely they watched him play against the Celtics, saw his numbers were surprisingly good from what he accomplished in college and skimmed through raw stats and made a false projection.

Scottie's handle looks better to me in the few games I've seen him this year. I think what Vince Carter said was on the money, he likes to stop short and avoid contact, and I think that seems rare because we see him enjoy being the hammer when he's bullying a guy down in the paint, but it makes sense when you think about how he's training to be a scorer at the NBA level, and so I think he pulls up when he knows he has space to get his shot off while being on balance.

[deck]

There is a massive difference between the game Scottie had last night and being able to tank. We don't need 9 point games to tank, the roster is thin and injuries are already showing their impact, that's enough as is. Scottie still needs to be better. The whole point of tanking or developmental seasons is to see improvements in the young guys.

Granted, if you think these are one in the same, I can understand why you would be anti tank. What you're describing is what the Wiz are doing, what we should be seeing is talented youth growing, not a dog water roster playing like crap. Shead and Gradey were the only positive takeaways from the game last night, Scottie needs to be playing better than that, Jak needs to be better than that. They are both better players than what we saw last night, Jak showed too much carelessness, and Scottie was undisciplined. Neither of those outcomes are required to tank, cause if so, just trade Jak now and get some assets before he becomes worthless.

Ya maybe that's why I'm not really a fan of tanking. We could go through all this development and tanking and at the end of it still come out of it not anywhere close to competing. I'm just shocked to see complaining game 1 of 82 when we know its going to be a rebuilding season, which will have both ups and downs. There will be games where Scottie is our best player and then we will have games like this, that's par for the course when rebuilding.

Also just for the record I'm not sure Scottie is the savior of this franchise, I haven't been a fan of his attitude and maturity since his rookie season and have not really seen much of an improvement so far tbh. If at the end of the day we realize Scottie isn't the franchise player we tried to groom him to be, where would that leave us as a team? Probably close to where the wizards are currently.

And we could go through all this development and not tanking, and end up as a play in team at best, so there are risks either way.

And if Scottie isn't the franchise player we need him to be, where does it leave us? Well that depends, if you don't tank and you stick with the current core, you are left with mediocre players and no real ceiling. If you tank then you are left with mediocre players, and maybe a high draft pick that is a franchise player.....kinda like exactly what we did now.

Siakam/FVV were the mediocre ones that had a low ceiling, and Scottie was the high draft pick that has a chance at being a franchise player. What would have happened if we didnt get the 4th pick? We'd be stuck with a maxed out Siakam, an OG asking for 200mil, and FVV at 40mil/y all to get bounced in the play in.

We don't need to hypothesize how it would have ended up, because we literally saw it happen. At least when you end up with a high draft pick there is always that chance, but when you build from the middle with B and C tier players, you never get anywhere.

Whether or not this rebuild is a success from the perspective of a long term winning team with Scottie as a cornerstone, or he flames out, we still likely have another young blue chip prospect, something you can use as the building block for the next attempt. Otherwise, you end up with an expiring mid secondary option that returns a bunch of players that arent even in the league anymore, with picks in the 20's.

I know which one I'd rather try my hand at.

Except for that time when we, you know, won a championship.

[bape_lovers]

well tankers would be ecstatic

By the 4th quarter it looked like it cleared out quite a bit. I imagine as the losing mounts with the tank strategy, the attendance will plummet, and the life will be sucked out of the crowd. Hard to get excited and cheer for such a crap product.

Now if you are going to an away game, the US team will probably be more competitive, meaning the crowd will be more engaged, and even the Raptors might play better as a team in that type environment. So probably a more enjoyable game, and worth the money.

People started leaving midway through the 3rd. By the 4th the place was half empty. But we were having fun cheering on the youngsters regardless. Overall it was a fun experience once we had all resigned ourselves to the blowout.

Something that will probably be common place this season for home games.

[ill-Will03]

Ya maybe that's why I'm not really a fan of tanking. We could go through all this development and tanking and at the end of it still come out of it not anywhere close to competing. I'm just shocked to see complaining game 1 of 82 when we know its going to be a rebuilding season, which will have both ups and downs. There will be games where Scottie is our best player and then we will have games like this, that's par for the course when rebuilding.

Also just for the record I'm not sure Scottie is the savior of this franchise, I haven't been a fan of his attitude and maturity since his rookie season and have not really seen much of an improvement so far tbh. If at the end of the day we realize Scottie isn't the franchise player we tried to groom him to be, where would that leave us as a team? Probably close to where the wizards are currently.

And we could go through all this development and not tanking, and end up as a play in team at best, so there are risks either way.

And if Scottie isn't the franchise player we need him to be, where does it leave us? Well that depends, if you don't tank and you stick with the current core, you are left with mediocre players and no real ceiling. If you tank then you are left with mediocre players, and maybe a high draft pick that is a franchise player.....kinda like exactly what we did now.

Siakam/FVV were the mediocre ones that had a low ceiling, and Scottie was the high draft pick that has a chance at being a franchise player. What would have happened if we didnt get the 4th pick? We'd be stuck with a maxed out Siakam, an OG asking for 200mil, and FVV at 40mil/y all to get bounced in the play in.

We don't need to hypothesize how it would have ended up, because we literally saw it happen. At least when you end up with a high draft pick there is always that chance, but when you build from the middle with B and C tier players, you never get anywhere.

Whether or not this rebuild is a success from the perspective of a long term winning team with Scottie as a cornerstone, or he flames out, we still likely have another young blue chip prospect, something you can use as the building block for the next attempt. Otherwise, you end up with an expiring mid secondary option that returns a bunch of players that arent even in the league anymore, with picks in the 20's.

I know which one I'd rather try my hand at.

Except for that time when we, you know, won a championship.

Haha that’s what I’m saying! We actually have proven it’s better for us to build from the middle.

[JB7]

Are you new to the NBA? Do you not know how blowouts work? It’s absolutely ridiculous to think that the Raptors should have kept their starters in. No coach is going to risk injury to key players in a complete blowout even if it costs them 6 freaking more minutes of “working through things”. Also, if we aren’t going to play our young guys in a blowout when do you suggest we get them in-game reps?

So they throw in the towel after the 1st half? The game is about runs. If they kept their starters in, they may have closed the gap a bit to make it look more respectable. What are Mogbo & Chomche gaining from that playing time in the first game? The moment they go in, the Cavs shut down all effort. Give those guys a quarter of the season in the g-league to develop before giving them real playing time.

The game is about a serious line-up. Agbaji is McCaw 2.0. Has no business starting (in the NBA) and left them 4 on 5 against Cleveland. I would of Dwayne Casey'd twin point guards with Quickley/Mitchell and had Mogbo start. The Bench, led by Boucher, was almost as "productive" as the starters in game 1. Gradey could be first off the bench. Mitchell and Shead were/are solid. Fernando ok. We do not have the size to compete with Denvers, Cavs, 76ers or Milwaukee. Major hole at power forward and yes is ok for Barnes to play the 3. But with Poetl, Scottie, Barrett, Quckley as projected starters I mean who is bruising at the 4? Precious, if not for absence of game iq, slotted nicely there in development. Mogbo is a work in progress project and, so far, is Agbaji with size. So the hole at power forward is massive until Mogbo is prime time ready. Do not understand the decision to start 3 point and 3 pointerless Agbaji. C'mon Darko!

Who is bruising at the 4? You mean Scottie couldn't handle that Hulk like figure in Mobley?

Length was more an issue than bruising ability. Scottie should easily be able to handle the 4 in today's NBA. Most teams don't have a lot of size at that position, and he should be stronger than most. The reason they drafted Mogbo, other than him being close to Scottie, was for a backup to Scottie at the 4.

They need Agbaji for the point of attack D.

[Indeed]

For sure, but the hope was that he can develop that part of his game after showing signs in the first year. I remember both Russillo and KOC - who really brought the Barnes for ROY train to the mainstream - were really indexing to that part of his game on why he could become a really special player.

I've given up on Barnes ever having a good handle and we know he's not going to become explosive off the dribble. All you have left really is the mid-range, and he has the strength and length that should theoretically allow him to get to his spots and pull up over defenders. Otherwise, I don't know how he becomes a franchise guy to be completely honest.

If it was those two it's more than likely they watched him play against the Celtics, saw his numbers were surprisingly good from what he accomplished in college and skimmed through raw stats and made a false projection.

Scottie's handle looks better to me in the few games I've seen him this year. I think what Vince Carter said was on the money, he likes to stop short and avoid contact, and I think that seems rare because we see him enjoy being the hammer when he's bullying a guy down in the paint, but it makes sense when you think about how he's training to be a scorer at the NBA level, and so I think he pulls up when he knows he has space to get his shot off while being on balance.

His mid range pull up is unlikely to be enough, and the ball handling improvement may not transfer to quickness with the ball. Meaning, he will not have a mis-match against bigger / longer defender.

He will rely on going against smaller players, but unsure he will be guarding smaller players, and unsure opposing teams will have allow that.

Another way is to have an elite guard do a switch with PnR, then might as well build around the elite guard.

[Indeed]

So they throw in the towel after the 1st half? The game is about runs. If they kept their starters in, they may have closed the gap a bit to make it look more respectable. What are Mogbo & Chomche gaining from that playing time in the first game? The moment they go in, the Cavs shut down all effort. Give those guys a quarter of the season in the g-league to develop before giving them real playing time.

The game is about a serious line-up. Agbaji is McCaw 2.0. Has no business starting (in the NBA) and left them 4 on 5 against Cleveland. I would of Dwayne Casey'd twin point guards with Quickley/Mitchell and had Mogbo start. The Bench, led by Boucher, was almost as "productive" as the starters in game 1. Gradey could be first off the bench. Mitchell and Shead were/are solid. Fernando ok. We do not have the size to compete with Denvers, Cavs, 76ers or Milwaukee. Major hole at power forward and yes is ok for Barnes to play the 3. But with Poetl, Scottie, Barrett, Quckley as projected starters I mean who is bruising at the 4? Precious, if not for absence of game iq, slotted nicely there in development. Mogbo is a work in progress project and, so far, is Agbaji with size. So the hole at power forward is massive until Mogbo is prime time ready. Do not understand the decision to start 3 point and 3 pointerless Agbaji. C'mon Darko!

Who is bruising at the 4? You mean Scottie couldn't handle that Hulk like figure in Mobley?

Length was more an issue than bruising ability. Scottie should easily be able to handle the 4 in today's NBA. Most teams don't have a lot of size at that position, and he should be stronger than most. The reason they drafted Mogbo, other than him being close to Scottie, was for a backup to Scottie at the 4.

They need Agbaji for the point of attack D.

Those are probably experience lineups.
I think we tested with shooters lineup, defensive lineup, etc.

I have not looked at the data, but I feel the C spot is too weak to have a defensive lineup. If we are to have an offensive lineup, I would like to see a stretch 5 for conclusion.

And I don't think Barnes can play SF. Against Dean Wade, sure.

[Scase]

And we could go through all this development and not tanking, and end up as a play in team at best, so there are risks either way.

And if Scottie isn't the franchise player we need him to be, where does it leave us? Well that depends, if you don't tank and you stick with the current core, you are left with mediocre players and no real ceiling. If you tank then you are left with mediocre players, and maybe a high draft pick that is a franchise player.....kinda like exactly what we did now.

Siakam/FVV were the mediocre ones that had a low ceiling, and Scottie was the high draft pick that has a chance at being a franchise player. What would have happened if we didnt get the 4th pick? We'd be stuck with a maxed out Siakam, an OG asking for 200mil, and FVV at 40mil/y all to get bounced in the play in.

We don't need to hypothesize how it would have ended up, because we literally saw it happen. At least when you end up with a high draft pick there is always that chance, but when you build from the middle with B and C tier players, you never get anywhere.

Whether or not this rebuild is a success from the perspective of a long term winning team with Scottie as a cornerstone, or he flames out, we still likely have another young blue chip prospect, something you can use as the building block for the next attempt. Otherwise, you end up with an expiring mid secondary option that returns a bunch of players that arent even in the league anymore, with picks in the 20's.

I know which one I'd rather try my hand at.

Except for that time when we, you know, won a championship.

Haha that’s what I’m saying! We actually have proven it’s better for us to build from the middle.

Haha yeah guys, we totally proved it is better that one time it has ever happened in NBA history hahaha lets try it again!!!!

Lets also ignore that it required multiple players picked in the lotto to make any of the trades work hahah!!!! Lets go talk with the clippers and see if they'll take Scottie and some picks for Kawhi, I mean, it worked last time right??!!!?!!

Utterly clueless.

[ConSarnit]

Are you new to the NBA? Do you not know how blowouts work? It’s absolutely ridiculous to think that the Raptors should have kept their starters in. No coach is going to risk injury to key players in a complete blowout even if it costs them 6 freaking more minutes of “working through things”. Also, if we aren’t going to play our young guys in a blowout when do you suggest we get them in-game reps?

So they throw in the towel after the 1st half? The game is about runs. If they kept their starters in, they may have closed the gap a bit to make it look more respectable. What are Mogbo & Chomche gaining from that playing time in the first game? The moment they go in, the Cavs shut down all effort. Give those guys a quarter of the season in the g-league to develop before giving them real playing time.

The game is about a serious line-up. Agbaji is McCaw 2.0. Has no business starting (in the NBA) and left them 4 on 5 against Cleveland. I would of Dwayne Casey'd twin point guards with Quickley/Mitchell and had Mogbo start. The Bench, led by Boucher, was almost as "productive" as the starters in game 1. Gradey could be first off the bench. Mitchell and Shead were/are solid. Fernando ok. We do not have the size to compete with Denvers, Cavs, 76ers or Milwaukee. Major hole at power forward and yes is ok for Barnes to play the 3. But with Poetl, Scottie, Barrett, Quckley as projected starters I mean who is bruising at the 4? Precious, if not for absence of game iq, slotted nicely there in development. Mogbo is a work in progress project and, so far, is Agbaji with size. So the hole at power forward is massive until Mogbo is prime time ready. Do not understand the decision to start 3 point and 3 pointerless Agbaji. C'mon Darko!

If Agbaji isn’t a starter (he isn’t) there is zero chance Mitchell is a starter.

Career 3pt shooting:

Agbaji: 3.2 3pa at 32.6%

Mitchell: 3.0 3pa at 32.6%

And Mitchell is supposed to help our shooting? How horrible would our offense be starting Mitchell/Mogbo/Poeltl? Why don’t we just kick the ball into the stands?

[ConSarnit]

It's the first game of the season on their home court. It's embarrassing to turn the game over to their 11th through 15th players for significant minutes, even with the injuries.

3 starters (Barnes, Yak & Ochai) only played 25mins. At least let the starters work through issues to correct for the next game. Giving significant playing time to players who will either not be on this team next season (Boucher, Fernando & Battle) or who probably need more 905 time than Raps playing time (Mogbo & Chomche) or the player/coach (Temple) just sends a clear message to fans that this is an all out tank season.

Are you new to the NBA? Do you not know how blowouts work? It’s absolutely ridiculous to think that the Raptors should have kept their starters in. No coach is going to risk injury to key players in a complete blowout even if it costs them 6 freaking more minutes of “working through things”. Also, if we aren’t going to play our young guys in a blowout when do you suggest we get them in-game reps?

So they throw in the towel after the 1st half? The game is about runs. If they kept their starters in, they may have closed the gap a bit to make it look more respectable. What are Mogbo & Chomche gaining from that playing time in the first game? The moment they go in, the Cavs shut down all effort. Give those guys a quarter of the season in the g-league to develop before giving them real playing time.

How did they throw in the after the half? Barnes, Poeltl and Dick all played their regular minutes in the 3rd.

We were down 26 heading into the 4th and IQ was already out of the game. What value does “closing” the gap serve? So the fans could have seen a 17 point loss instead? What about this game makes you think we could have possibly closed the gap?

How is playing Chomche 4 minutes in a 30 point blowout “real playing time”? Who would you have given those minutes to? Do you realize that Raptors 905 don’t play their first game until Nov 9th?

[JB7]

Are you new to the NBA? Do you not know how blowouts work? It’s absolutely ridiculous to think that the Raptors should have kept their starters in. No coach is going to risk injury to key players in a complete blowout even if it costs them 6 freaking more minutes of “working through things”. Also, if we aren’t going to play our young guys in a blowout when do you suggest we get them in-game reps?

So they throw in the towel after the 1st half? The game is about runs. If they kept their starters in, they may have closed the gap a bit to make it look more respectable. What are Mogbo & Chomche gaining from that playing time in the first game? The moment they go in, the Cavs shut down all effort. Give those guys a quarter of the season in the g-league to develop before giving them real playing time.

How did they throw in the after the half? Barnes, Poeltl and Dick all played their regular minutes in the 3rd.

We were down 26 heading into the 4th and IQ was already out of the game. What value does “closing” the gap serve? So the fans could have seen a 17 point loss instead? What about this game makes you think we could have possibly closed the gap?

How is playing Chomche 4 minutes in a 30 point blowout “real playing time”? Who would you have given those minutes to? Do you realize that Raptors 905 don’t play their first game until Nov 9th?

I would have just rather seen Scottie, Yak & even Ochai get to 30-32mins, and even Dick for 32mins, then Battle, Mogbo and Fernando get all of those minutes. Especially if you were a paying customer there, because the moment the Raps pulled their starters, the Cavs did the same, and the fans there were left watching the best summer league lineups in the first game of the regular season. That is a big part of the reason half the stands emptied in the 3rd quarter. They pay to watch the stars in this league.

[deck]

Except for that time when we, you know, won a championship.

Haha that’s what I’m saying! We actually have proven it’s better for us to build from the middle.

Haha yeah guys, we totally proved it is better that one time it has ever happened in NBA history hahaha lets try it again!!!!

Lets also ignore that it required multiple players picked in the lotto to make any of the trades work hahah!!!! Lets go talk with the clippers and see if they'll take Scottie and some picks for Kawhi, I mean, it worked last time right??!!!?!!

Utterly clueless.

I merely pointed out the factually incorrect statement that you made, that building from the middle with B and C tier players will never get you anywhere. We did build from the middle, and we did win a championship. You responding to this with incredulity seems a bit childish.

It is also disingenuous of you to suggest that the draft haul of Derozan, Ross, JV, and Poeltl constitutes the kind of core that you would be content going forward with. It's laughable that you always bring this up as some kind of 'got you' when it is obvious that none of those players meet the criteria for the kind of player you would advocate building around.

[Scase]

Haha that’s what I’m saying! We actually have proven it’s better for us to build from the middle.

Haha yeah guys, we totally proved it is better that one time it has ever happened in NBA history hahaha lets try it again!!!!

Lets also ignore that it required multiple players picked in the lotto to make any of the trades work hahah!!!! Lets go talk with the clippers and see if they'll take Scottie and some picks for Kawhi, I mean, it worked last time right??!!!?!!

Utterly clueless.

I merely pointed out the factually incorrect statement that you made, that building from the middle with B and C tier players will never get you anywhere. We did build from the middle, and we did win a championship. You responding to this with incredulity seems a bit childish.

It is also disingenuous of you to suggest that the draft haul of Derozan, Ross, JV, and Poeltl constitutes the kind of core that you would be content going forward with. It's laughable that you always bring this up as some kind of 'got you' when it is obvious that none of those players meet the criteria for the kind of player you would advocate building around.

Yeah, it also conveniently ignores massive things like Siakam/FVV/OG turning into players way better than ever anticipated or even statistically realistic.

So yes, in another world where we find a 27th pick that can make a couple all star games, an undrafted player that can be a legit starter in the NBA, and a 3+D player that fell from a top 10 lotto pick to the 23rd pick due to an injury, it would be a different story with the B and C players as the assets to move.

But your incredibly context lacking comments don't really take that into account do they? Nor does it take into account how incredibly rare most of the player finds and trades that were needed to be made, for that chip to even become a fever dream, let alone a reality.

I can also technically win the lottomax, but I'm not gonna be dropping a thousand dollars a week on chasing that dragon. But I'm sure that a 10 year build that required multiple top 10 picks and 3 incredibly unlikely players being found and blowing up, is a more realistic approach than aiming for a top 5 pick and finding a star/superstar when the team in question just won 25 games the year prior.

Now go back through NBA history, and feel free to count how many times the former happened vs the latter and get back to me.

[deck]

Haha yeah guys, we totally proved it is better that one time it has ever happened in NBA history hahaha lets try it again!!!!

Lets also ignore that it required multiple players picked in the lotto to make any of the trades work hahah!!!! Lets go talk with the clippers and see if they'll take Scottie and some picks for Kawhi, I mean, it worked last time right??!!!?!!

Utterly clueless.

I merely pointed out the factually incorrect statement that you made, that building from the middle with B and C tier players will never get you anywhere. We did build from the middle, and we did win a championship. You responding to this with incredulity seems a bit childish.

It is also disingenuous of you to suggest that the draft haul of Derozan, Ross, JV, and Poeltl constitutes the kind of core that you would be content going forward with. It's laughable that you always bring this up as some kind of 'got you' when it is obvious that none of those players meet the criteria for the kind of player you would advocate building around.

Yeah, it also conveniently ignores massive things like Siakam/FVV/OG turning into players way better than ever anticipated or even statistically realistic.

So yes, in another world where we find a 27th pick that can make a couple all star games, an undrafted player that can be a legit starter in the NBA, and a 3+D player that fell from a top 10 lotto pick to the 23rd pick due to an injury, it would be a different story with the B and C players as the assets to move.

But your incredibly context lacking comments don't really take that into account do they? Nor does it take into account how incredibly rare most of the player finds and trades that were needed to be made, for that chip to even become a fever dream, let alone a reality.

I can also technically win the lottomax, but I'm not gonna be dropping a thousand dollars a week on chasing that dragon. But I'm sure that a 10 year build that required multiple top 10 picks and 3 incredibly unlikely players being found and blowing up, is a more realistic approach than aiming for a top 5 pick and finding a star/superstar when the team in question just won 25 games the year prior.

Now go back through NBA history, and feel free to count how many times the former happened vs the latter and get back to me.

I of course don't need to do any of that, because I am not the one making binary statements about how championships can be won. I made no comment on what is more likely. Again, all I did was point out your factually incorrect statement.

[Scase]

I merely pointed out the factually incorrect statement that you made, that building from the middle with B and C tier players will never get you anywhere. We did build from the middle, and we did win a championship. You responding to this with incredulity seems a bit childish.

It is also disingenuous of you to suggest that the draft haul of Derozan, Ross, JV, and Poeltl constitutes the kind of core that you would be content going forward with. It's laughable that you always bring this up as some kind of 'got you' when it is obvious that none of those players meet the criteria for the kind of player you would advocate building around.

Yeah, it also conveniently ignores massive things like Siakam/FVV/OG turning into players way better than ever anticipated or even statistically realistic.

So yes, in another world where we find a 27th pick that can make a couple all star games, an undrafted player that can be a legit starter in the NBA, and a 3+D player that fell from a top 10 lotto pick to the 23rd pick due to an injury, it would be a different story with the B and C players as the assets to move.

But your incredibly context lacking comments don't really take that into account do they? Nor does it take into account how incredibly rare most of the player finds and trades that were needed to be made, for that chip to even become a fever dream, let alone a reality.

I can also technically win the lottomax, but I'm not gonna be dropping a thousand dollars a week on chasing that dragon. But I'm sure that a 10 year build that required multiple top 10 picks and 3 incredibly unlikely players being found and blowing up, is a more realistic approach than aiming for a top 5 pick and finding a star/superstar when the team in question just won 25 games the year prior.

Now go back through NBA history, and feel free to count how many times the former happened vs the latter and get back to me.

I of course don't need to do any of that, because I am not the one making binary statements about how championships can be won. I made no comment on what is more likely. Again, all I did was point out your factually incorrect statement.

Whatever helps you sleep at night.

[OAKLEY_2]

So they throw in the towel after the 1st half? The game is about runs. If they kept their starters in, they may have closed the gap a bit to make it look more respectable. What are Mogbo & Chomche gaining from that playing time in the first game? The moment they go in, the Cavs shut down all effort. Give those guys a quarter of the season in the g-league to develop before giving them real playing time.

The game is about a serious line-up. Agbaji is McCaw 2.0. Has no business starting (in the NBA) and left them 4 on 5 against Cleveland. I would of Dwayne Casey'd twin point guards with Quickley/Mitchell and had Mogbo start. The Bench, led by Boucher, was almost as "productive" as the starters in game 1. Gradey could be first off the bench. Mitchell and Shead were/are solid. Fernando ok. We do not have the size to compete with Denvers, Cavs, 76ers or Milwaukee. Major hole at power forward and yes is ok for Barnes to play the 3. But with Poetl, Scottie, Barrett, Quckley as projected starters I mean who is bruising at the 4? Precious, if not for absence of game iq, slotted nicely there in development. Mogbo is a work in progress project and, so far, is Agbaji with size. So the hole at power forward is massive until Mogbo is prime time ready. Do not understand the decision to start 3 point and 3 pointerless Agbaji. C'mon Darko!

If Agbaji isn’t a starter (he isn’t) there is zero chance Mitchell is a starter.

Career 3pt shooting:

Agbaji: 3.2 3pa at 32.6%

Mitchell: 3.0 3pa at 32.6%

And Mitchell is supposed to help our shooting? How horrible would our offense be starting Mitchell/Mogbo/Poeltl? Why don’t we just kick the ball into the stands?

Oh my Chri... My bad Agbaji looks like an allstar after 3 games. His lay-ups at high speed nobody can stop.