Official Speculation Thread (Pt. XLVII "Training Camp" Ed.)

[BadMofoPimp]

Afflalo isn't as athletic or as quick as people make him out to be without even seeing him yet. He is better than JRich and nice solid player, but he is being severely overrated here. He isn't all-star caliber but will be fundamentally sound with good chemistry.

[RYgoBOOM]

Afflalo isn't as athletic or as quick as people make him out to be without even seeing him yet. He is better than JRich and nice solid player, but he is being severely overrated here. He isn't all-star caliber but will be fundamentally sound with good chemistry.

this!!!!!!

[JarethCutestory]

Also to whoever said we have a better starting lineup than the bobcats

Kemba Walker or Ramon Sessions>Jameer Nelson or Ish/Moore
Gerald Henderson or Ben Gordon>Afflalo or JJ
MKG>Hedo
Mullens=BBD
Biyombo>Vucci

Raptors as well

Lowry+Calderon>Nelson
Derozan>Afflalo
Ross or Fields>Hedo
Bargnani>BBD
Valaciunas>Vucci/Ayon


Granted it was just a preseason game that I went to last thursday, our defense is going to be absolutely horrible this year.

Every PG in the league can score on Jameer almost at will.
We are better at SG on D but Afflalo won't hold the likes of Kobe or even Beal.
Hedo gets scored on like it's his job
BBD is naturally slow and won't match up great against the faster forwards in the game
At center we are just soft.

I bet we allow over 105 a game this year and avg somewhere in the neighborhood of 88-92 PPG

Good gravy step away from the keyboard.

[RYgoBOOM]

Also to whoever said we have a better starting lineup than the bobcats

Kemba Walker or Ramon Sessions>Jameer Nelson or Ish/Moore
Gerald Henderson or Ben Gordon>Afflalo or JJ
MKG>Hedo
Mullens=BBD
Biyombo>Vucci

Raptors as well

Lowry+Calderon>Nelson
Derozan>Afflalo
Ross or Fields>Hedo
Bargnani>BBD
Valaciunas>Vucci/Ayon


Granted it was just a preseason game that I went to last thursday, our defense is going to be absolutely horrible this year.

Every PG in the league can score on Jameer almost at will.
We are better at SG on D but Afflalo won't hold the likes of Kobe or even Beal.
Hedo gets scored on like it's his job
BBD is naturally slow and won't match up great against the faster forwards in the game
At center we are just soft.

I bet we allow over 105 a game this year and avg somewhere in the neighborhood of 88-92 PPG

Good gravy step away from the keyboard.

Are you one of those guys who thinks all the players on our team are better than they actually are just because you are a fan?

The raptors will spank us this year. We might split the season with the bobcats but I bet they still place better

[JarethCutestory]

Also to whoever said we have a better starting lineup than the bobcats

Kemba Walker or Ramon Sessions>Jameer Nelson or Ish/Moore
Gerald Henderson or Ben Gordon>Afflalo or JJ
MKG>Hedo
Mullens=BBD
Biyombo>Vucci

Raptors as well

Lowry+Calderon>Nelson
Derozan>Afflalo
Ross or Fields>Hedo
Bargnani>BBD
Valaciunas>Vucci/Ayon


Granted it was just a preseason game that I went to last thursday, our defense is going to be absolutely horrible this year.

Every PG in the league can score on Jameer almost at will.
We are better at SG on D but Afflalo won't hold the likes of Kobe or even Beal.
Hedo gets scored on like it's his job
BBD is naturally slow and won't match up great against the faster forwards in the game
At center we are just soft.

I bet we allow over 105 a game this year and avg somewhere in the neighborhood of 88-92 PPG

Good gravy step away from the keyboard.

Are you one of those guys who thinks all the players on our team are better than they actually are just because you are a fan?

The raptors will spank us this year. We might split the season with the bobcats but I bet they still place better

No I'm one of the guys that thinks it's insane to put any stock into a thing you say after typing "Mullens=BBD".

It's also cute how you made a super PG out of Lowry & Calderon instead of just putting one or the other.

But by all means, continue.

[thelead]

Also to whoever said we have a better starting lineup than the bobcats

Kemba Walker or Ramon Sessions>Jameer Nelson or Ish/Moore
Gerald Henderson or Ben Gordon>Afflalo or JJ
MKG>Hedo
Mullens=BBD
Biyombo>Vucci

Raptors as well

Lowry+Calderon>Nelson
Derozan>Afflalo
Ross or Fields>Hedo
Bargnani>BBD
Valaciunas>Vucci/Ayon


Granted it was just a preseason game that I went to last thursday, our defense is going to be absolutely horrible this year.

Every PG in the league can score on Jameer almost at will.
We are better at SG on D but Afflalo won't hold the likes of Kobe or even Beal.
Hedo gets scored on like it's his job
BBD is naturally slow and won't match up great against the faster forwards in the game
At center we are just soft.

I bet we allow over 105 a game this year and avg somewhere in the neighborhood of 88-92 PPG

I was the one that said it and I'm one of the more "negative" people on the board. You're crazy if you think Toronto will "spank" us.

Bargs plays no D. Neither does Calderon. Who knows if Ross is any good (hasn't played well yet) and Valaciunas is also a question mark. Their defense as a whole is worse than ours and thats saying something.

As far as the bobcats go, Jameer (as much as I don't want him on the team) is better than Kemba. I'll take JJ and Afflalo over Gerald Henderson every day of the week. MKG will be special, so no argument there but he needs to develop. Mullens=BBD is laughable. I'll give you Biyombo over Vuc. The bobcats offense will be atrocious.

And if I'm saying we have the third worst starting lineup in the NBA, I don't know how you can say that I'm overrating our players.

[ChosenSavior]

Gotta love when people use '>', '<', or '=' when describing a comparison between players and yet never provide any type of specific data or logic as to why they used that comparison in the first place.

[JarethCutestory]

Gotta love when people use '>', '<', or '=' when describing a comparison between players and yet never provide any type of specific data or logic as to why they used that comparison in the first place.

I bet you're just one of those "fans" of the team. That automatically makes you an idiot with no right to question anything.

[ChosenSavior]

Gotta love when people use '>', '<', or '=' when describing a comparison between players and yet never provide any type of specific data or logic as to why they used that comparison in the first place.

I bet you're just one of those "fans" of the team. That automatically makes you an idiot with no right to question anything.

That I am. Guess I'm a dumbass for thinking the opposite and that the Magic will not get "spanked" by the Raptors and also have a far better roster than the team that finished with the worst record in NBA history last season.

[Bensational]

Players might be better individually, but it all comes down to how the pieces fit as a team.

Wait until we play a serious game with our legit starting rotation and we'll see an entirely different beast. And if we don't, who cares - the goal is to lose anyway, right?

[ChosenSavior]

Players might be better individually, but it all comes down to how the pieces fit as a team.

Wait until we play a serious game with our legit starting rotation and we'll see an entirely different beast. And if we don't, who cares - the goal is to lose anyway, right?

Spoken like a guy who understands the team aspect of basketball.

[thelead]

Players might be better individually, but it all comes down to how the pieces fit as a team.

Wait until we play a serious game with our legit starting rotation and we'll see an entirely different beast. And if we don't, who cares - the goal is to lose anyway, right?

Spoken like a guy who understands the team aspect of basketball.

I agree as well. I do believe , however, that our pieces do not fit defensively. We are going to go through huge defensive lapses (I'm talking about giving up 40 + points in a quarter on occasion).

[Bensational]

Players might be better individually, but it all comes down to how the pieces fit as a team.

Wait until we play a serious game with our legit starting rotation and we'll see an entirely different beast. And if we don't, who cares - the goal is to lose anyway, right?

Spoken like a guy who understands the team aspect of basketball.

I agree as well. I do believe , however, that our pieces do not fit defensively. We are going to go through huge defensive lapses (I'm talking about giving up 40 + points in a quarter on occasion).

We haven't seen our best lineup given a proper chance yet. I'd save judgement til then. We won't be great defensively, but we'll be much better than what we've seen.

We've got enough size and length in our bigs that we should have a solid foundation for a decent defense. Jameer and Hedo are our biggest liabilities on the wings. Hopefully Hedo sits a lot more often. From the sounds of it, Harkless has the length and hustle to disrupt on that end, which would be nice to see.

[thelead]

^ I'm not going off the preseason. You're right though, we haven't seen the best lineup yet, but we haven't played against the best lineups either. I just don't see how this team is going to defend when most of the starting lineup lacks lateral quickness.

[Bensational]

that's where i think the analytics will really come into play. i think we'll see some very smart basketball from the team this year, where players aren't necessarily aiming to get a complete stop, but are aiming to direct players to the most inefficient scoring positions. it might look lazy at times, and might look like we're giving them open looks, but i think it will all be by design. You don't need as much lateral quickness if you're just shepherding players, as opposed to trying to stop them individually.

[thelead]

that's where i think the analytics will really come into play. i think we'll see some very smart basketball from the team this year, where players aren't necessarily aiming to get a complete stop, but are aiming to direct players to the most inefficient scoring positions. it might look lazy at times, and might look like we're giving them open looks, but i think it will all be by design. You don't need as much lateral quickness if you're just shepherding players, as opposed to trying to stop them individually.

Directing them where though? This is how its going to go down: opposing pg blows by jameer, bbd leaves his man to stop the ball, opposing player passes to bbd's man for an open jumpshot. If afflalo rotates, he gives up an open three. If Vuc rotates, we give up an open dunk. Jameer is not quick, afflalo isn't quick, hedo is the antithesis of quick, bbd is only quick to run to a mcdonalds, and vuc isn't the quickest either. I don't see rotations working very well.

This could all very well change is we see more of Harkless/Moore, but the very fact that we have to hope that unproven players play is very inditing to our situation.

[SEBAS-07]

that's where i think the analytics will really come into play. i think we'll see some very smart basketball from the team this year, where players aren't necessarily aiming to get a complete stop, but are aiming to direct players to the most inefficient scoring positions. it might look lazy at times, and might look like we're giving them open looks, but i think it will all be by design. You don't need as much lateral quickness if you're just shepherding players, as opposed to trying to stop them individually.

Directing them where though? This is how its going to go down: opposing pg blows by jameer, bbd leaves his man to stop the ball, opposing player passes to bbd's man for an open jumpshot. If afflalo rotates, he gives up an open three. If Vuc rotates, we give up an open dunk. Jameer is not quick, afflalo isn't quick, hedo is the antithesis of quick, bbd is only quick to run to a mcdonalds, and vuc isn't the quickest either. I don't see rotations working very well.

This could all very well change is we see more of Harkless/Moore, but the very fact that we have to hope that unproven players play is very inditing to our situation.

Opposing teams will simply attack the basket, I don`t think the current team has shot-blocking at all.

[thelead]

that's where i think the analytics will really come into play. i think we'll see some very smart basketball from the team this year, where players aren't necessarily aiming to get a complete stop, but are aiming to direct players to the most inefficient scoring positions. it might look lazy at times, and might look like we're giving them open looks, but i think it will all be by design. You don't need as much lateral quickness if you're just shepherding players, as opposed to trying to stop them individually.

Directing them where though? This is how its going to go down: opposing pg blows by jameer, bbd leaves his man to stop the ball, opposing player passes to bbd's man for an open jumpshot. If afflalo rotates, he gives up an open three. If Vuc rotates, we give up an open dunk. Jameer is not quick, afflalo isn't quick, hedo is the antithesis of quick, bbd is only quick to run to a mcdonalds, and vuc isn't the quickest either. I don't see rotations working very well.

This could all very well change is we see more of Harkless/Moore, but the very fact that we have to hope that unproven players play is very inditing to our situation.

Opposing teams will simply attack the basket, I don`t think the current team has shot-blocking at all.

Yup. Dunks, layups, and foul shots.

[J the Drafter]

that's where i think the analytics will really come into play. i think we'll see some very smart basketball from the team this year, where players aren't necessarily aiming to get a complete stop, but are aiming to direct players to the most inefficient scoring positions. it might look lazy at times, and might look like we're giving them open looks, but i think it will all be by design. You don't need as much lateral quickness if you're just shepherding players, as opposed to trying to stop them individually.

Directing them where though? This is how its going to go down: opposing pg blows by jameer, bbd leaves his man to stop the ball, opposing player passes to bbd's man for an open jumpshot. If afflalo rotates, he gives up an open three. If Vuc rotates, we give up an open dunk. Jameer is not quick, afflalo isn't quick, hedo is the antithesis of quick, bbd is only quick to run to a mcdonalds, and vuc isn't the quickest either. I don't see rotations working very well.

This could all very well change is we see more of Harkless/Moore, but the very fact that we have to hope that unproven players play is very inditing to our situation.

You're underrating Glen's quickness, Ish is quick, and O'Quinn is an excellent individual defender.

[thelead]

that's where i think the analytics will really come into play. i think we'll see some very smart basketball from the team this year, where players aren't necessarily aiming to get a complete stop, but are aiming to direct players to the most inefficient scoring positions. it might look lazy at times, and might look like we're giving them open looks, but i think it will all be by design. You don't need as much lateral quickness if you're just shepherding players, as opposed to trying to stop them individually.

Directing them where though? This is how its going to go down: opposing pg blows by jameer, bbd leaves his man to stop the ball, opposing player passes to bbd's man for an open jumpshot. If afflalo rotates, he gives up an open three. If Vuc rotates, we give up an open dunk. Jameer is not quick, afflalo isn't quick, hedo is the antithesis of quick, bbd is only quick to run to a mcdonalds, and vuc isn't the quickest either. I don't see rotations working very well.

This could all very well change is we see more of Harkless/Moore, but the very fact that we have to hope that unproven players play is very inditing to our situation.

You're underrating Glen's quickness, Ish is quick, and O'Quinn is an excellent individual defender.

Jameer plays better defense than Ish... Glen is a good defender but he's not great and has always played with a defensive stopper (KG & Dwight) so we'll see what he can do now that he's "the" big man defender. And O'Quinn probably won't even play unless Ayon get injured or traded.