Around the NBA - New Season, New Thread

[Reign23]

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The Ringer showing RJ some love.

[Reign23]

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Bill SImmons' current top 25.

[Klomp]

Question.... As someone that seems to care about KAT's defense judging by your posts on this board showing his struggles why are you not a little concerned that the Wolves are giving up 121.8 points per 100 possessions with Randle on the court and 98.4 per 100 possessions with him off the court despite him playing 2/3 of his possessions with DPOY Gobert on the court also?

I had huge concerns with Thibs ability to adjust and find a way to build a quality defense with KAT at the 5 and maximize the offensive potential of this group. I knew losing iHart and Mitch being injured would have a huge impact on the defense but could you explain how going from KAT to Randle has impacted the Wolve's defense so much?

It's still early and I don't believe we have seen the full potential of either roster but at the moment the Knicks' roster is not at 100% and they still have the ability to push KAT down to the 4 and play Mitch at the 5 when he returns. It lowers the ceiling on the team imo especially offensively but the team may look better and more consistent with players in different roles. The organization may also tinker around the edges in the trade market and could possibly use Mitch and/or Precious' contract for a bigger change but what do you expect Minny to do if things don't improve defensively?

Because at the end of the day, there is a long history of Rudy Gobert anchoring very good to elite defensive units despite the inclusion of a poor individual defender. There is also a long history of Towns being the anchor of very poor defensive units, especially when the prominent defensive scheme is drop coverage.

If the Knicks play Towns and Robinson together, I think it could work. If the Knicks change their defensive scheme, I think it could work. Is Tom Thibodeau historically a coach who changes things up on the fly?

[spree2kawhi]

Question.... As someone that seems to care about KAT's defense judging by your posts on this board showing his struggles why are you not a little concerned that the Wolves are giving up 121.8 points per 100 possessions with Randle on the court and 98.4 per 100 possessions with him off the court despite him playing 2/3 of his possessions with DPOY Gobert on the court also?

I had huge concerns with Thibs ability to adjust and find a way to build a quality defense with KAT at the 5 and maximize the offensive potential of this group. I knew losing iHart and Mitch being injured would have a huge impact on the defense but could you explain how going from KAT to Randle has impacted the Wolve's defense so much?

It's still early and I don't believe we have seen the full potential of either roster but at the moment the Knicks' roster is not at 100% and they still have the ability to push KAT down to the 4 and play Mitch at the 5 when he returns. It lowers the ceiling on the team imo especially offensively but the team may look better and more consistent with players in different roles. The organization may also tinker around the edges in the trade market and could possibly use Mitch and/or Precious' contract for a bigger change but what do you expect Minny to do if things don't improve defensively?

Because at the end of the day, there is a long history of Rudy Gobert anchoring very good to elite defensive units despite the inclusion of a poor individual defender. There is also a long history of Towns being the anchor of very poor defensive units, especially when the prominent defensive scheme is drop coverage.

If the Knicks play Towns and Robinson together, I think it could work. If the Knicks change their defensive scheme, I think it could work. Is Tom Thibodeau historically a coach who changes things up on the fly?

I think we’ll just give it some time and embrace our two main defensive bigs once they’re back from injuries.

[JayTWill]

Question.... As someone that seems to care about KAT's defense judging by your posts on this board showing his struggles why are you not a little concerned that the Wolves are giving up 121.8 points per 100 possessions with Randle on the court and 98.4 per 100 possessions with him off the court despite him playing 2/3 of his possessions with DPOY Gobert on the court also?

I had huge concerns with Thibs ability to adjust and find a way to build a quality defense with KAT at the 5 and maximize the offensive potential of this group. I knew losing iHart and Mitch being injured would have a huge impact on the defense but could you explain how going from KAT to Randle has impacted the Wolve's defense so much?

It's still early and I don't believe we have seen the full potential of either roster but at the moment the Knicks' roster is not at 100% and they still have the ability to push KAT down to the 4 and play Mitch at the 5 when he returns. It lowers the ceiling on the team imo especially offensively but the team may look better and more consistent with players in different roles. The organization may also tinker around the edges in the trade market and could possibly use Mitch and/or Precious' contract for a bigger change but what do you expect Minny to do if things don't improve defensively?

Because at the end of the day, there is a long history of Rudy Gobert anchoring very good to elite defensive units despite the inclusion of a poor individual defender. There is also a long history of Towns being the anchor of very poor defensive units, especially when the prominent defensive scheme is drop coverage.

If the Knicks play Towns and Robinson together, I think it could work. If the Knicks change their defensive scheme, I think it could work. Is Tom Thibodeau historically a coach who changes things up on the fly?

I can clearly see the difference between having guys like Robinson and iHart at the 5 and KAT at the 5 defensively. I'm not sure it can work with Thibs and his scheme. I have also seen Thibs play Robinson at the 5 for the last 5-6 years so the idea of him trying Robinson at the 5 again when healthy doesn't seem like it would be way out of the possibilities to me.

Thibs has made some less than ideal defensive units look good plenty of times before if we are just going off of history and not early season results. He isn't quick to make adjustments but I think a defensive minded coach would have no issue moving KAT to the 4 after years of having a "below average defender" at the 4 in New York and Mitch at the 5 if KAT at the 5 was not working for him.

You don't see any difference between having Randle at the 4 and KAT at the 4? You have no concerns about his effort and focus on that end? You don't wonder at all why the defense has been 23.4 per 100 possession better with him off the floor? No concerns about why you have maybe the best defense in the league with Gobert on the floor without Randle and one of the worst defenses in the league with Randle on the floor without Gobert and a defense that is still struggling when they are paired together?

At the moment I see 2 guys that are doing well offensively and terribly defensively on their new teams. They both have their positives and negatives and there is still time for both of those to change for better or worse.

[spree2kawhi]

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Bill SImmons' current top 25.

I’d prefer towns over nine of those players.

[Klomp]

I can clearly see the difference between having guys like Robinson and iHart at the 5 and KAT at the 5 defensively. I'm not sure it can work with Thibs and his scheme. I have also seen Thibs play Robinson at the 5 for the last 5-6 years so the idea of him trying Robinson at the 5 again when healthy doesn't seem like it would be way out of the possibilities to me.

Thibs has made some less than ideal defensive units look good plenty of times before if we are just going off of history and not early season results. He isn't quick to make adjustments but I think a defensive minded coach would have no issue moving KAT to the 4 after years of having a "below average defender" at the 4 in New York and Mitch at the 5 if KAT at the 5 was not working for him.

You don't see any difference between having Randle at the 4 and KAT at the 4? You have no concerns about his effort and focus on that end? You don't wonder at all why the defense has been 23.4 per 100 possession better with him off the floor? No concerns about why you have maybe the best defense in the league with Gobert on the floor without Randle and one of the worst defenses in the league with Randle on the floor without Gobert and a defense that is still struggling when they are paired together?

At the moment I see 2 guys that are doing well offensively and terribly defensively on their new teams. They both have their positives and negatives and there is still time for both of those to change for better or worse.

Oh, I know Robinson will play the 5....but will Towns be on the court with him is the question I personally have. Maybe he will. But until Robinson is healthy, this is what you have.

In regards to the Minnesota situation, to me this is a counter to last year. Elite offense defeats elite defense. Just like adding Gobert was a direct response to the defense and rebounding issues against Memphis in 2022-23, I view the Town for Gobert swap as a direct response to the lack of offensive creation against Dallas down the stretch. Really, you look at all of the offseason moves for Minnesota and tie them directly to the need for offensive improvement. Towns and Edwards just never meshed together offensively, as talented as they both are. Heck, this year I'd say Edwards is meshing better with Gobert better than he ever meshed with Towns. And we are on track for the same thing with Randle. Then you add in the highly coveted DiVincenzo on top of that, and it had to be done to move the offense forward.

[Knicks Byke]

we need a rebounding and shot blocker at the 4 and we can keep towns at the 5.

[3toheadmelo]

Honestly, I'm loving Julius so far. Sure, we'd all like him to be like Draymond Green playing defense at PF, but I know it's not his game. He has been exactly what Minnesota needed to unlock more out of Anthony Edwards and the rest of this offense.

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Nice to see Randle continuing to make his team mates better. Brunson has been struggling heavily without Randle over here.

Totally agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Towns or Og have been outlet best players this far this season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can’t have that if we want to truly win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Randle made the game easier for all of his team mates including Brunson. Brunson now has to take most of the playmaking load that Randle did and it's a struggle. It's going to be tough replacing Randle greenie!!! Not sure if we're capable of it!!!

[knicks94]

Are the Cavs this good?

[Guano]

Yo greenie. We need to have a sit down with NoDope and Chanel about this scrub

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[Fat]

we need a rebounding and shot blocker at the 4 and we can keep towns at the 5.

Easier said than done

[robillionaire]

Yo greenie. We need to have a sit down with NoDope and Chanel about this scrub

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Absolute trash. I like PGs who score 31 pts in a win

[Fat]

Are the Cavs this good?

Darius garland is a different man this season

[Capn'O]

Cavs are absolutely rolling right now. As are the Suns.

I guess coaching does matter.

[B8RcDeMktfxC]

Cavs are absolutely rolling right now. As are the Suns.

I guess coaching does matter.

And the Nuggets. I guess having the MVP does matter.

[Capn'O]

Magic decided it was Goga Time!

Donte finally heating up for the Wolves.

Cavs are absolutely rolling right now. As are the Suns.

I guess coaching does matter.

And the Nuggets. I guess having the MVP does matter.

Who knew?

[KnicksGadfly]

Paul George with 7 points. No offense to Jared McCain but no way the rookie coming off the bench should have the most shots right on Philadelphia right now.

[The KnicksFix]

Drummon would have been a good pickup in the offseason for the backup roll. Dang

[The KnicksFix]

Paul George with 7 points. No offense to Jared McCain but no way the rookie coming off the bench should have the most shots right on Philadelphia right now.

Philly is gonna bury themself too far before they can crawl out of it. They’re going to play themselves into the 8th or 7th seed again with no rhythm.