First Quarter: is it OK to start getting excited?

Post #1 » by **Mr. E** » Thu Dec 8, 2016 5:10 am

15-7 after 22 games. The vast majority were on the road.

Huge wins over teams like San Antonio & Golden State. One of their best games was actually a loss against the Cavs.

Harden has been incredible. Probably #2 on the MVP list after Godbrook. The offense is a thing of beauty, but they are still prone to those familiar, frustrating cold spells.

Gordon has been a great addition and has kept the offense going when Harden is out. Anderson has had great nights, and not-so-great nights. He needs more consistency.

Sam Dekker & Clint Capela are making incredible strides.

Bev, Brewer & Ariza have played their roles solidly.

How is everyone feeling now that we are 21 games into this season?

texasholdem · Post #2 » by **texasholdem** » Thu Dec 8, 2016 7:01 am

They have played well but waiting for the eventual slide. I think if they had lost that 2ot game after losing badly to Utah it would really have hurt the team's confidence. Hope this dmo situation doesn't affect the team like asik did. So not getting my hopes up just yet.

Post #3 » by **TMU** » Thu Dec 8, 2016 1:24 pm

*Insert MaxRider's negative haiku here*

In all seriousness, I'm very excited. The offense and ball movement have been great for the most part and Gordon has been a pleasant surprise.

MaxRider · Post #4 » by **MaxRider** » Thu Dec 8, 2016 2:09 pm

TMU wrote:
MaxRider wrote:It's only regular season. Offense looks good, but defense still suck.

In all seriousness, I'm very excited. The offense and ball movement have been great for the most part and Gordon has been a pleasant surprise.

Post #5 » by **TMU** » Thu Dec 8, 2016 5:10 pm

MaxRider wrote:
TMU wrote:
MaxRider wrote:It's only regular season. Offense looks good, but defense still suck.

In all seriousness, I'm very excited. The offense and ball movement have been great for the most part and Gordon has been a pleasant surprise.

I said 'negative' only.

Post #6 » by **jwise44** » Thu Dec 8, 2016 5:12 pm

Wait am I crazy or are we 15-7 not 13-8?

E stop taking the crazy pills

I am super high on us, but that same pessimism comes back...have to stay healthy, harden needs to cut down on tos, dekker and Harrell need to keep this up...need to cut ennis and pick up gp2

Also having d-mo back would be amazing! But also could be a problem...Anderson Harrell nene capela and dekker at 4 all deserve minutes...d-mo back cuts into some of their minutes and all (even nene) have earned their minutes

zapatasblood · Post #7 » by **zapatasblood** » Thu Dec 8, 2016 5:16 pm

I'm vey excited about this team. They've got some big wins under their belt and can't think of another bad loss outside the season opener. HARDEN need to get control of these turnovers but outside that the man has played at MVP level behind Westbrook.

I don't think they are a championship caliber team but now believe they will make some serious noise in the playoffs.

Also I would have have thought Bev would make the impact that he has. He's damn near to important to trade.

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Post #8 » by **Mr. E** » Thu Dec 8, 2016 8:12 pm

jwise44 wrote:Wait am I crazy or are we 15-7 not 13-8?

E stop taking the crazy pills

I am super high on us, but that same pessimism comes back...have to stay healthy, harden needs to cut down on tos, dekker and Harrell need to keep this up...need to cut ennis and pick up gp2

Also having d-mo back would be amazing! But also could be a problem...Anderson Harrell nene capela and dekker at 4 all deserve minutes...d-mo back cuts into some of their minutes and all (even nene) have earned their minutes

Thanks for the head's up on that!

It will be interesting to see how Motiejunas fits back in the rotation. D'Antoni sounds very positive on the guy, and when he is healthy he is very good. It will be nice to have some consistent depth. I'd imagine that he'll eat the most minutes from Nene (who will be valuable around the playoffs), and unfortunately Harrell. I don't think that Dekker's minutes are getting reduced unless his high level of play starts to drop off.

Teckon · Post #9 » by **Teckon** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 6:03 pm

I see the playing time of nene, DMo, Harrell, decker will depend on match up.

Nene for experience/poise, scoring.
DMo provide similar values as Nene with better 3pt shot and less experience/poise.I also see DMo being a better team defender and maybe passing too.
Harrell for energy, rebounds
Decker for scoring, best 3pt shooting among the 4. Good against small ball PF while DMo better against traditional PF. Can also play SF.

DMo seem too have best opportunities for playing time though since:
DMo (PF) can play with Capela (c), Nene (c), Harrell (c)
DMo (c) can play with Ryan (PF), Dekker (PF)

Harrell needs to expand his game more to play PF to fight for more playing time.