What are your biggest concerns/questions so far?

[fatlever]

Here are a few things that I am concerned about based on preseason, summer league, training camp reports and overall offseason changes

In no particular order
- Defense looks very pedestrian. Both Bonnell and Clifford have made many comments about how bad the defense looks. We got by last year on scheme, effort and chemistry and it appears the scheme is not masking the other area this preseason.

- Marvin is not McRoberts, that much is very clear. McBob gave effort on every single play of every game. He had an edge to his game, as we saw in the playoffs. He never backs down, never gives up and even though he was physically limited on defense, he busted his ass on that end. Offensively, its not even close. Marvin may be a super guy in the locker room, might be a smart player and might be a good shooter from his preferred spots, but he is never going to be a difference maker.

- Chemistry was arguably our biggest strength last season. Many people mentioned that it was one of the best locker rooms they had ever been around. It will be hard to duplicate that same chemistry again this season. People change, expectations change, new faces, new dynamics.

- Roberts/Neal backcourt is just too small and not good enough defensively to play together for stretches. We saw this same thing last year with Ridnour/Neal and those two were usually a disaster together. Clifford seems to have a love for playing the entire 2nd unit together or at least 4 of them, for long stretches. Last year we used McRoberts a lot with the 2nd unit. It makes sense to leave Lance in with Roberts or Neal so that we can have some size and have another player who can initiate the offense. One of Kemba and Lance should be on the floor at all times and so far we havent seen that - same way that Miami always had one of Lebron or Wade on the floor. Hopefully that changes in regular season.

- What is Biyombo's role and does he even have a role?

- What is Henderson's role?

- Can MKG maintain the level of play he has shown in the preseason? Will his new jumper hold up during games? Will a few bad shooting games tank his confidence and send him back to his shame corner?

[Liver_Pooty]

My main thing is chemistry right now. We might would have been ok if not for injuries. Our guys have rarely played together.

[mrknowitall215]

All viable concerns that I got called out for when speaking on them a few games ago

It's all going to come down to 'rotations' --- that's the keyword for addressing these concerns. Clifford is going to have to find the right 'rotations' that keep the best conglomerate of players on the floor for the team to succeed throughout a 48-minute game

[HornetJail]

Would've preferred less suckitude in the preseason. MKG, of course, gave it all out there like he always does and it yielded good results.

I definitely do not want to see Neal as a go-to guy at any point in any game ever.

I know it's preseason, but my fears about Marvin and Roberts are both looking pretty fair right now. Neither looks good enough for the role they've been signed for.

Like fats said, one of Kemba or Lance really should be in at all times. They can both start the game and play significant minutes together, but Lance can play a role similar to the one James Harden played with OKC, except with more defense and less shooting- anchoring the second unit while being a valuable third scorer with the starting unit as well.

Biz not playing is downright baffling. If we force Zeller, Maxiell, or Vonleh to play backup center (an unnatural position for all three) and Biz racks up DNPs, our bench play is going to be miserable defensively.

The way PJ played in the preseason makes me 100% indifferent to whether Jeff Taylor ever plays in a Hornet jersey, and I think I'd rather see him gain experience rather than suffer through watching Neal chuck.

[LamarMatic7]

Do the roster changes we made push the needle enough to overcome the chemistry we had found and groove with had hit with last year's team?

Will our deep (not necessarily deep for Spurs standards but filled with players who expect minutes) roster create tension and who will suffer because of a crowd at his position?

With Al and Lance just as likely to be out of here by 2016, is our Kemba, MKG, Biz, Cody, Vonleh core of guys (over which we have restriction advantages) good enough to ever become a team we'd like to build around and will we see the proper improvement from them this season to think so? A related question is the Kemba extension and down the line the way we handle the extensions of the other guys.

Are we good enough with this year's starting 5 to either replicate another great defensive year or improve offensively enough to win a playoff series?

[LofJ]

My main concern is Clifford's rotations. If Henderson had been healthy and playing I would hope Clifford would not have used the Roberts/Neal/Hairston lineup so much. It doesn't work at all. I also don't understand why we played Biyombo so sparingly. When he and Zeller were both in and we got hot from 3 against the Wizards our bench looked downright nasty. I want to see more of that.

Overall, I think our shooting has significantly improved across the board. It's still a work in progress integrating Lance and Marvin into the starting lineup, but the Chicago game gave me confidence that once they start clicking with one another we are going to be a damn good team. We still lack interior toughness, which is why I am such a big proponent of Biyombo getting playing time. So if I had to say where my main concerns lie I'd say this issue as well as Clifford's rotations are the big ones.

[yosemiteben]

I'm not concerned about looking bad in preseason with significant new pieces and rotations and key players out with injuries. Call me sugarcoater, call me Mr. Homer Sunshine, it's fine. For me, just getting some familiarity with the system and getting out with no one seriously hurt is enough to satisfy me.

Top three concerns:

(1) Al's health - even with our talent upgrades, this team only goes as far as Al goes. I am very concerned that he has already missed time for soreness in area that he injured last season. Just have to cross the fingers on that one.

(2) Kemba's shooting - not really based on preseason but more just based on his career. THIS IS THE YEAR THAT KEMBA FINDS HIS STROKE. It has to be. Show me it can be done Kemba. You can't be our PG and shoot under 40% from the field, that's just not going to work.

(3) Biz - I agree that Biz's lack of PT doesn't make sense in games where you frankly don't care as much about winning as seeing guys execute. Not getting PT in preseason either means Clifford knows what he is getting and is more interested in seeing how his other pieces fit together or he has abandoned Biz altogether. I think it'll be pretty obvious which is correct once we see the regular season rotation.

With Clifford at the helm I'm not worried about our defense or chemistry. As far as intensity, with Kemba, MKG and Lance all starting I'm not real worried about that either.

Not worried about Roberts and Neal because frankly they aren't going to be playing that significant of a role. Roberts is a HUGE upgrade over Ridnour and I think will be an asset off the bench in a limited role. Neal had a rough preseason, but he is pretty much 100% expendable once Hendo gets back with PJ playing pretty well. I think he will perform well, but his doing so isn't that important to the success of this team.

[mrknowitall215]

Do the roster changes we made push the needle enough to overcome the chemistry we had found and groove with had hit with last year's team?

I think the answer to this question will hinge on how much Lance Stephenson brings to the starting lineup and if he can live up to the expectations that preceded him when he signed the contract. Stephenson theoretically has to fulfill two shoes from last year's starting lineup by replacing and adding a element from Henderson's scoring and McRoberts' passing

Will our deep (not necessarily deep for Spurs standards but filled with players who expect minutes) roster create tension and who will suffer because of a crowd at his position?

I think the only tension that'll be created because of depth will mostly be among us fans. The reason why I think that is because I think MKG will get slighted by Clifford's fixation on Neal & Henderson being 'considered' more veteran savvy. Only Neal or Henderson could become disgruntled as I view MKG as more docile to Clifford's commands with his withering confidence. Not just MKG, but I think a lot of us fans will be vouching to see more Zeller and/or Vonleh as I believe Marvin Williams will be very lackluster within this group of starters as a spot shooter

With Al and Lance just as likely to be out of here by 2016, is our Kemba, MKG, Biz, Cody, Vonleh core of guys (over which we have restriction advantages) good enough to ever become a team we'd like to build around and will we see the proper improvement from them this season to think so? A related question is the Kemba extension and down the line the way we handle the extensions of the other guys.

Personally, I don't think that core of guys is enough to build a championship contender without adding a high-level free agent or acquisition via trade unless Vonleh has a breakthrough within 2-3 years that morphs him into his Chris Bosh comp (which is very possible with the right development)

Are we good enough with this year's starting 5 to either replicate another great defensive year or improve offensively enough to win a playoff series?

I think we improved slightly in both areas, offensively & defensively, mostly because of Stephenson being that much better than Henderson, but McRoberts' presence will be missed and can't be duplicated by Marvin Williams. However, the improvements aren't enough to assume that we'll improve without the same motivated & determined focus that we had last season. This year's roster isn't that much more talented than last year's roster to be successful within complacency

[mrknowitall215]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/coachthorpe/status/525708921714262016[/tweet]

[yosemiteben]

Only Neal or Henderson could become disgruntled as I view MKG as more docile to Clifford's commands with his withering confidence.

So, just to be clear, are you predicting that withering confidence or are you saying it has withered since Clifford came on board? Because if his preseason play is any indication it seems like MKG's confidence is at an all time high.

[mrknowitall215]

Only Neal or Henderson could become disgruntled as I view MKG as more docile to Clifford's commands with his withering confidence.

So, just to be clear, are you predicting that withering confidence or are you saying it has withered since Clifford came on board? Because if his preseason play is any indication it seems like MKG's confidence is at an all time high.

It's on record that MKG has battled self-confidence issues ever since Dunlap was on board as evidenced by his phone call to Calipari in his rookie year before his first game confessing that he's not sure if he's ready for the pro game yet. It's up to a coach to motivate & put him in a position to succeed and hopefully with his newfound jump shot Clifford will entrust more out of MKG, but if not then his confidence will wither again. I'm not blaming Clifford, nor am I giving MKG sympathy for this issue

[Liver_Pooty]

MKG is actually the least of my worries on this team.. Im more worried about Walkers shooting than I am MKGs to be honest.

[mrknowitall215]

MKG is actually the least of my worries on this team.. Im more worried about Walkers shooting than I am MKGs to be honest.

Walker's shooting isn't near the top of my concerns as it's been proven that we could win in spite of it because he's intangible enough to be productive in other areas besides scoring while being a catalyst for this team. Sure, Kemba improving his efficiency could take the team over 50 wins and would be the icing on the cake that took this team to the playoffs last year, but there's much more dramatic concerns for this team, and one of them include MKG's jump shot being worthy enough for Clifford to keep him & his defensive intensity on the floor

Bigger concerns than MKG's jump shot are if Lance Stephenson can improve his scoring output & keep his efficiency with a higher usage, and whether McRoberts' give & take finesse mixed with toughness was more fulfilling than Marvin Williams' ability to shoot from range in hindsight

[MasterIchiro]

#1 Can everyone stay healthy. Talent wins in the NBA but means nothing on the bench. We could take out the Cavs if say Kyrie Irving gets injured yet Al Jefferson remains healthy. It could swing either way and change a whole season. I can't say one player is more likely to suffer injury than another so I won't worry about a specific player here. I will just say we need our key players to stay on the court. We have a bunch of inexperienced guys on reserve who will be making mistakes.

#2 Ball movement. Lance, Kemba and Al Jefferson like the ball in their hands. Kemba likes to drive and dribble. Lance loves to dribble. Al needs an interview with Stephanie Ready and a Sprite. Can this (corny overused phrase alert) "Big 3" not only coexist, can they thrive and find a flow?

#3 Shooting. Hairston and a full season of Neal should help. I consider McRoberts - M. Williams a wash. Will Cho be able to pry away a sniper at the deadline? Without one, we will be depending on a rookie or Gary Neal. Both options seem worse than someone like Afflalo.

#4 Interior defense. Teams can exploit a bigger flaw than a Neal/Roberts pairing and that's a Jefferson/M. Williams back line. I'm confident in perimeter defense and feel Clifford can balance the 2nd unit with Henderson or by keeping Lance on the court at times with them. I'd like to see Zeller over M. Williams at PF and minutes for Vonleh. I think Biz is so atrocious on offense, I'm fine with his unskilled ass riding pine.

[Liver_Pooty]

MKG is actually the least of my worries on this team.. Im more worried about Walkers shooting than I am MKGs to be honest.

Walker's shooting isn't near the top of my concerns as it's been proven that we could win in spite of it because he's intangible enough to be productive in other areas besides scoring while being a catalyst for this team. Sure, Kemba improving his efficiency could take the team over 50 wins and would be the icing on the cake that took this team to the playoffs last year, but there's much more dramatic concerns for this team, and one of them include MKG's jump shot being worthy enough for Clifford to keep him & his defensive intensity on the floor

Bigger concerns than MKG's jump shot are if Lance Stephenson can improve his scoring output & keep his efficiency with a higher usage, and whether McRoberts' give & take finesse mixed with toughness was more fulfilling than Marvin Williams' ability to shoot from range in hindsight

No team is going to do anything with a PG shooting 36-38% off of a lot of shots. I want him to shoot better, and expect him to do so. He doesn't do other things well enough to make up for that kind of shooting. There isn't a PG in the league that does.

I expect him to shoot a lot better this season though. I hope so anyway.

[amcoolio]

Williams provides nothing except hitting the occasional 3. I'd rather play Charlotte Bobcat Boris Diaw.

My biggest concern is that we are forced to start Marvin Williams at PF. I'd rather just bite the spacing bullet and start Zeller until Vonleh is ready. Maybe Marvin is a good backup PF going against 2nd stringers.

[mrknowitall215]

MKG is actually the least of my worries on this team.. Im more worried about Walkers shooting than I am MKGs to be honest.

Walker's shooting isn't near the top of my concerns as it's been proven that we could win in spite of it because he's intangible enough to be productive in other areas besides scoring while being a catalyst for this team. Sure, Kemba improving his efficiency could take the team over 50 wins and would be the icing on the cake that took this team to the playoffs last year, but there's much more dramatic concerns for this team, and one of them include MKG's jump shot being worthy enough for Clifford to keep him & his defensive intensity on the floor

Bigger concerns than MKG's jump shot are if Lance Stephenson can improve his scoring output & keep his efficiency with a higher usage, and whether McRoberts' give & take finesse mixed with toughness was more fulfilling than Marvin Williams' ability to shoot from range in hindsight

No team is going to do anything with a PG shooting 36-38% off of a lot of shots. I want him to shoot better, and expect him to do so. He doesn't do other things well enough to make up for that kind of shooting. There isn't a PG in the league that does.

I expect him to shoot a lot better this season though. I hope so anyway.

First off, he shot 39%, not 36-38%, and second of all we did do something, we made the playoffs. If the other talent around him outside of Jefferson would've done a lot more then they probably would've went further than the 1st round because they wouldn't have drawn the Heat in the 1st round. I'm not concerned about Kemba as much as I am about the players around him (outside of Jefferson) living up to their end of the bargain

[amcoolio]

Is Marvin Williams better than any other team's starting PF? I mean does it come down to Nerlens Noel vs. Williams for the dead last spot?

Thats my concern. Marvin will be outplayed every single night he starts.

I don't mean to rag on the guy, but there has to be better options than this.

[Liver_Pooty]

Walker's shooting isn't near the top of my concerns as it's been proven that we could win in spite of it because he's intangible enough to be productive in other areas besides scoring while being a catalyst for this team. Sure, Kemba improving his efficiency could take the team over 50 wins and would be the icing on the cake that took this team to the playoffs last year, but there's much more dramatic concerns for this team, and one of them include MKG's jump shot being worthy enough for Clifford to keep him & his defensive intensity on the floor

Bigger concerns than MKG's jump shot are if Lance Stephenson can improve his scoring output & keep his efficiency with a higher usage, and whether McRoberts' give & take finesse mixed with toughness was more fulfilling than Marvin Williams' ability to shoot from range in hindsight

No team is going to do anything with a PG shooting 36-38% off of a lot of shots. I want him to shoot better, and expect him to do so. He doesn't do other things well enough to make up for that kind of shooting. There isn't a PG in the league that does.

I expect him to shoot a lot better this season though. I hope so anyway.

First off, he shot 39%, not 36-38%, and second of all we did do something, we made the playoffs. If the other talent around him outside of Jefferson would've done a lot more than they probably would've went further than the 1st round because they wouldn't have drawn the Heat in the 1st round. I'm not concerned about Kemba as much as I am about the players around him (outside of Jefferson) living up to their end of the bargain

I was referring to the second half when he actually shot around 35-36%, so yeah I was wrong. No need in getting all upset when someone has constructive criticism for your guy. Like you said in your initial post, we did what we did in spite of his shooting. If he picks it up we can be a very good team. If he doesn't than I don't know what we will be. Hell we may end up looking for a replacement after next season for all I know.

Edit: That last season is way, way, way far fetched. But just putting it out there. His shooting is definitely an issue.

[mrknowitall215]

No team is going to do anything with a PG shooting 36-38% off of a lot of shots. I want him to shoot better, and expect him to do so. He doesn't do other things well enough to make up for that kind of shooting. There isn't a PG in the league that does.

I expect him to shoot a lot better this season though. I hope so anyway.

First off, he shot 39%, not 36-38%, and second of all we did do something, we made the playoffs. If the other talent around him outside of Jefferson would've done a lot more than they probably would've went further than the 1st round because they wouldn't have drawn the Heat in the 1st round. I'm not concerned about Kemba as much as I am about the players around him (outside of Jefferson) living up to their end of the bargain

I was referring to the second half when he actually shot around 35-36%, so yeah I was wrong. No need in getting all upset when someone has constructive criticism for your guy. Like you said in your initial post, we did what we did in spite of his shooting. If he picks it up we can be a very good team. If he doesn't than I don't know what we will be. Hell we may end up looking for a replacement after next season for all I know.

I'm not upset, but that's a fair post. I agree that his efficiency has to improve. It's the most glaring thing holding him back as a individual player right now. If Kemba shoot at least 43-45% this season, I think he's a bonafide All-Star caliber point guard. All I was saying is that whether Kemba shoot 39% or not, it doesn't spell doom for our team like other concerns can & would