madmaxmedia wrote:It is a shame we went into this recent swoon at the end of the season, after having a really great stretch right after ASB. But after seeing Murray, Mitchell, Lebron, AD all go down with significant injuries, I am pretty happy that we are pretty healthy going into the playoffs.
I think ultimately we really sat guys to rest and not to tank, because there just wasn't much to play for with regards to seeding. Now whether we should have rested guys as much as we did, I can see the counterargument to try to go into the playoffs with better continuity and already in 2nd/3rd gear (and perhaps to get Portland in the 1st round.)
I think most of us are optimistic if not actually really confident going into the playoffs. We have a really good team, but there are a lot of really good teams. By the time 1 through 8 seedings shake out, I'm not sure any upset would completely shock me. At this point it wouldn't shock me if we lost in the first round, or made it to the Finals. I am expecting the staff to get us into better shape heading in to the first series and lead us to a 1st round win, but it's more like 65/35 than 90/10.
Agree with this pretty much 100%. I'll say it again--we weren't ready physically last year for the playoffs. We weren't ready mentally. If resting top guys an extra game or two helps us to get into that better space, I think that's a pretty sound decision. We were 4-4 in games starting between 10:00 and 1:00 this year. Small sample size. Not worrying too much about that.
I do think we’ll miss Lou’s “instant” offense. But I think we’re trading offense for defense is a big way compared to last year—not just with Lou vs. Rondo, but with Serge vs. Trezz and Batum vs. JaMychal. I think our other offensive upgrades are kind of sneaky—instead of having two primary players and two bench players that were almost singularly focused on offense, we’ve got two primary players, a 20-25 mpg (hopefully) outstanding playmaker, and 4-6 guys that can give you 10-15 pts a game on a given night. Last year, we wanted 45-50 a game out of Kawhi and PG, and then needed 35 more out of Trezz and Lou. This year, I think we’ve got the same expectations—we hope to get 45-50 out of our A and B stars, and 35 more out of
three of Morris, Ibaka, Reggie, Zu, or Batum. Having a couple of more weapons to get those points is nice; the improvement on the defensive end is a help too.
Tbh, I see a lot more pessimism (“Welp, we’re already down 0-1”) on this thread than arrogance. Don’t really understand or agree with either, but that’s my take.