Jazzfan1971's Preseason Commentary

[Eduardo]

lol, come on. nets are just too old to win that many. i predict a sharp decline in joe johnson's game.

[Trader_Joe]

lol, come on. nets are just too old to win that many. i predict a sharp decline in joe johnson's game.

That happened already, JJ's decline.
Meanwhile the Heat and Knicks were the two oldest teams in the league last year and the did alright in the RS.
Plus, the Nets best players are Deron (in his prime) and Lopez (25)

[Eduardo]

lol, come on. nets are just too old to win that many. i predict a sharp decline in joe johnson's game.

That happened already, JJ's decline.
Meanwhile the Heat and Knicks were the two oldest teams in the league last year and the did alright in the RS.
Plus, the Nets best players are Deron (in his prime) and Lopez (25)

thats because the heat carry a bunch of past prime scrubs like juwan howard who just want rings. lebron, wade, and bosh arent that old. i dont find it accurate to compare the heat to the nets when using the age argument.

[StojkoVrankovic]

On what planet are the Kings going to win more games than the Celtics?

[Trader_Joe]

lol, come on. nets are just too old to win that many. i predict a sharp decline in joe johnson's game.

That happened already, JJ's decline.
Meanwhile the Heat and Knicks were the two oldest teams in the league last year and the did alright in the RS.
Plus, the Nets best players are Deron (in his prime) and Lopez (25)

thats because the heat carry a bunch of past prime scrubs like juwan howard who just want rings. lebron, wade, and bosh arent that old. i dont find it accurate to compare the heat to the nets when using the age argument.

Wade is definitely showing his age.
Bosh and LBJ are in their primes.. like Deron the Nets best player and their most talented Lopez is only 25.
Meanwhile only 3 players put up 18/6/4 last year.. LBJ, Durant and PP.

Or if you don't like last year's numbers, here are this year's oldest teams in order:

Miami Heat
Los Angeles Lakers
Brooklyn Nets
New York Knicks
San Antonio Spurs
Dallas Mavericks
Los Angeles Clippers
Chicago Bulls
Indiana Pacers
Atlanta Hawks
Memphis Grizzlies

[Paradise]

lol, come on. nets are just too old to win that many. i predict a sharp decline in joe johnson's game.

That happened already, JJ's decline.
Meanwhile the Heat and Knicks were the two oldest teams in the league last year and the did alright in the RS.
Plus, the Nets best players are Deron (in his prime) and Lopez (25)

thats because the heat carry a bunch of past prime scrubs like juwan howard who just want rings. lebron, wade, and bosh arent that old. i dont find it accurate to compare the heat to the nets when using the age argument.

LeBron: 28 - Lopez: 25
D-Will: 29 - Bosh: 29
J-Johnson: 32 - D-Wade: 31

Cole: 24 - Blatche: 26
Chalmers: 27 - Livingston: 27
Haslem: 33 - Evans: 33
Birdman: 35 - Pierce: 35
Battier: 34 - Kirilenko: 33
Allen: 38 - Garnett: 37

So, I'm not sure how it's not accurate to compare both team's best rotation of players in the age argument. Now, I'm not saying the Nets aren't going to face injuries but the Heat are equally as old which means the age argument should apply to them as well.

[Moose]

Have the Nets fans replaced the Knicks fans when it comes to GB flame wars about their own team? Must be a NY thing.

[Donald Kaufman]

Someone should make a sig bet with Trader_Joe about the number of games BKN will win next year.

[Paradise]

Have the Nets fans replaced the Knicks fans when it comes to GB flame wars about their own team? Must be a NY thing.

There is no flame wars here. We're a classy fanbase that actually puts factual substance and intelligence into what we say.

[Prospect Dong]

I second this. I'd also love if you could include some commentary on what you think would happen if the Lakers got the 4 seed.

Well, it would be a cold day in hell for one thing...

Trader Joe, I'm not sure it's fair to call Deron "in his prime". 29 is old for a guard (current best estimates for peak performing age range from 26 to 28 and those are skewed by big men who tend to peak a little later), and, more importantly, he appears to have declined relative to his best seasons. Maybe that was a result of injuries/random factors, and I'm sure you could point to a stretch of great play, but I think the smart money says he's now left his prime and can be expected to decline from here.

[TDevilsG]

I second this. I'd also love if you could include some commentary on what you think would happen if the Lakers got the 4 seed.

Well, it would be a cold day in hell for one thing...

Trader Joe, I'm not sure it's fair to call Deron "in his prime". 29 is old for a guard (current best estimates for peak performing age range from 26 to 28 and those are skewed by big men who tend to peak a little later), and, more importantly, he appears to have declined relative to his best seasons. Maybe that was a result of injuries/random factors, and I'm sure you could point to a stretch of great play, but I think the smart money says he's now left his prime and can be expected to decline from here.

I think it will be more fair to assess him this season as the others were played with some of the worst teammates he has ever had. Last season he had a great run after the all star break as well.

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[dice]

calculated the average "functional age" of each team based on today's roster and weighted to minutes played last season:

nets 31.7
heat 31.2

this was averaged TO THE DAY fractionally rather than using whole numbers for age, so it's very accurate. did not include greg oden for obvious reasons (plus how old is he really?). and neither team looks to have significant incoming rookie contributions

[Trader_Joe]

Someone should make a sig bet with Trader_Joe about the number of games BKN will win next year.

Why don't you?
Or do you not want to lose again?

[Moose]

Have the Nets fans replaced the Knicks fans when it comes to GB flame wars about their own team? Must be a NY thing.

There is no flame wars here. We're a classy fanbase that actually puts factual substance and intelligence into what we say.

Hahaha.

I was kidding. It seems like it usually is only a handful of the same fans on each team (and probably every team) that stomp their feet. Like TraderJoe here, and some of the Knick fans elsewhere I'm sure. Your post amused me though.

[Paradise]

Have the Nets fans replaced the Knicks fans when it comes to GB flame wars about their own team? Must be a NY thing.

There is no flame wars here. We're a classy fanbase that actually puts factual substance and intelligence into what we say.

Hahaha.

I was kidding. It seems like it usually is only a handful of the same fans on each team (and probably every team) that stomp their feet. Like TraderJoe here, and some of the Knick fans elsewhere I'm sure. Your post amused me though.

Because usually, everyone makes statements or claims that are contradictory like the old age argument ignoring the fact the South Beachers are the oldest in the league with a near declining Wade, slightly inconsistent Bosh and is projected to win 60+ games here while the Nets are too low to win 60 plus due to age and their the 3rd oldest with more durable talent.

[Devilzsidewalk]

--------------------------------------------------------

#27 - Utah Jazz

PG - Trey Burke, John Lucas III
SG - Alec Burks, Brandon Rush
SF - Gordon Hayward, Richard Jefferson
PF - Enes Kanter, Jeremy Evans
C - Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert
D - Marvin Williams (injured I'm guessing back in January), Andris Biedrins, Ian Clark

Tough call for #27. I had Jazz, Celtics, Bobcats, and Sacramento all vying for the spot. I went with the Jazz for a couple reasons. #1 - They play in the West. As such they'll face a tougher schedule than Orlando, Celtics, or the Bobcats. And #2 - They just have some of the worst depth of the 4 teams in question, being most vulnerable to injury of any of the 3.

I believe the Jazz starters will actually be pretty good. I expect good things out of Kanter, Favors, Hayward and even Burke and Burks. But, when that 2nd unit comes in I expect pretty bad things. Couple that with being one of the youngest teams in the league and running with a rookie PG who frankly struggled in summer league and I think it's going to be a long, long year for Jazz fans. Kanter, Hayward, Favors, and Burke will likely all put up surprisingly good fantasy numbers, it's going to be a good year to be drafting Jazz players. I might avoid Burks and Rush as I just don't know how that battle is going to be decided.

Projected record: 25-57

---------------------------------------------------------

I think your Jazz are getting overlooked because they're unproven, but they have a high ceiling if a few things go right: Rush returning to health, Burke growing up quickly, and Kanter/Favors doing what they did as a backup in starter's minutes. If those 3 things happen, this team might very well be better than last season's team. Wouldn't be surprised if Richard Jefferson has a small resurgence too.

[Donald Kaufman]

Someone should make a sig bet with Trader_Joe about the number of games BKN will win next year.

Why don't you?
Or do you not want to lose again?

Let's do it.

How about an over/under sig bet?

[Trader_Joe]

Someone should make a sig bet with Trader_Joe about the number of games BKN will win next year.

Why don't you?
Or do you not want to lose again?

Let's do it.

How about an over/under sig bet?

You tell me. I really don't have huge regular season expectations if you read through the thread.

[ChrisTheFuturePaul]

Pelican's are too low bro. Time will prove me right, too.

They have too many weapons on offense now and can run most teams out of the gym. Holiday, Gordon, Evans are all capable of quick transition finishing and Unibrow was the #2 fast break finisher in the NBA last year, hes quicker than any other bigman in the league. Then you got Ryno trailing for wide open 3's all day (watched him do this a lot last year.)

Defensively they're going to be solid. Davis and Aminu are excellent rebounders. Holiday, Gordon and Aminu are not known for being apathetic on D either, they're all quite reasonable wing defenders. Rivers is actually a very good man defender if you watch him (anyone watch him guard Kobe down the stretch in a game last year?)

Depth-wise they are solid, a second unit highlighted by Evans and Ryno along with J Smith (18+PER) and an improving Austin Rivers should be able to maintain leads if not outscore most benches in the league.

Of course I'm a fan so my opinion may be a little biased, but you can't peg this team as some "bunch of losers." Tyreke and Holiday were simply in bad situations last year IMO, Holiday's efficiency will improve since the team is very balanced for scoring options, Tyreke's jumper has been improving and that was the major flaw to his game. Davis' improvement will show up big time on offense, his midrange game was apparent but not polished last year, but watching the USA mini camp you can see the form on his jumper is perfect and he has the touch to stick it. Combine that with his elite ability to finish around the rim and hustle for offensive boards and he's gonna get 18ppg (seemingly) effortlessly.

If Gordon goes down we don't really miss him as much as last year. Morrow comes in as the spot up shooter and Tyreke and Holiday dribble drive makes the D collapse. Gordon is really a luxury this year.

Feel free to tear my post apart, but the Pelicans are no joke and I think winning some games will get everyone on side with Monty's style and tough love, this is the same team that got a real reputation for making much better teams work hard for W's, remember? Not a bunch of losers.

[jazzfan1971]

I quite like the Pelicans. I'll be rooting for you guys. But, with the West so deep this year it's hard to hand out wins.

Perhaps it would be more helpful if you would say smoething like

Pelicans +3 wins
Team X -3 wins

And give a rationale for both sides.