NBA Preseason Game Thread 2021

[DaGawd]

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Randle got in the lab and worked on going right after experiencing the hawks taking away his left in the playoffs

I think he's always had that, and it's not really going right, in the sense of being able to go either way equally. There are lots of guys who are strong drivers to their dominant side and good pullup shooters to their non-dominant side, since it's very natural to gather the ball with your off hand into your shooting motion. But it's still predictable and you can anticipate what they're going to do -- which doesn't mean it's easy to stop, but it makes it easier to make a good contest.

Notice it was against a inexperienced (albeit talented) defender in Gafford, who took a step back to cut off the right hand drive and dropped his hands, instead of staying up expecting the pullup. That's a situation where when you see him going right you just stay up and overplay the pullup, knowing that he doesn't really want to drive past you in that direction. And if he tries it, you've forced him away from a strength, and you hopefully have help behind you.

Ehh idk. He went left most of the time last season when he created off the dribble. Very rarely did I see him make foward progress on a move going right.

[3toheadmelo]

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Randle got in the lab and worked on going right after experiencing the hawks taking away his left in the playoffs

I think he's always had that, and it's not really going right, in the sense of being able to go either way equally. There are lots of guys who are strong drivers to their dominant side and good pullup shooters to their non-dominant side, since it's very natural to gather the ball with your off hand into your shooting motion. But it's still predictable and you can anticipate what they're going to do -- which doesn't mean it's easy to stop, but it makes it easier to make a good contest.

Notice it was against a inexperienced (albeit talented) defender in Gafford, who took a step back to cut off the right hand drive and dropped his hands, instead of staying up expecting the pullup. That's a situation where when you see him going right you just stay up and overplay the pullup, knowing that he doesn't really want to drive past you in that direction. And if he tries it, you've forced him away from a strength, and you hopefully have help behind you.

Ehh idk. He went left most of the time last season when he created off the dribble. Very rarely did I see him make foward progress on a move going right.

in the playoffs he was forced to go right and the results weren’t pretty

[ellobo]

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Randle got in the lab and worked on going right after experiencing the hawks taking away his left in the playoffs

I think he's always had that, and it's not really going right, in the sense of being able to go either way equally. There are lots of guys who are strong drivers to their dominant side and good pullup shooters to their non-dominant side, since it's very natural to gather the ball with your off hand into your shooting motion. But it's still predictable and you can anticipate what they're going to do -- which doesn't mean it's easy to stop, but it makes it easier to make a good contest.

Notice it was against a inexperienced (albeit talented) defender in Gafford, who took a step back to cut off the right hand drive and dropped his hands, instead of staying up expecting the pullup. That's a situation where when you see him going right you just stay up and overplay the pullup, knowing that he doesn't really want to drive past you in that direction. And if he tries it, you've forced him away from a strength, and you hopefully have help behind you.

Ehh idk. He went left most of the time last season when he created off the dribble. Very rarely did I see him make foward progress on a move going right.

But he didn't really make any forward progress going right on that play. He threatened it to get the defender to react and get space to pull up, but he didn't even try to drive past him.

He did the same thing plenty last year. Here's the first result when I Googled "Julius Randle pull up jumper." It's from last year:

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[ellobo]

I think he's always had that, and it's not really going right, in the sense of being able to go either way equally. There are lots of guys who are strong drivers to their dominant side and good pullup shooters to their non-dominant side, since it's very natural to gather the ball with your off hand into your shooting motion. But it's still predictable and you can anticipate what they're going to do -- which doesn't mean it's easy to stop, but it makes it easier to make a good contest.

Notice it was against a inexperienced (albeit talented) defender in Gafford, who took a step back to cut off the right hand drive and dropped his hands, instead of staying up expecting the pullup. That's a situation where when you see him going right you just stay up and overplay the pullup, knowing that he doesn't really want to drive past you in that direction. And if he tries it, you've forced him away from a strength, and you hopefully have help behind you.

Ehh idk. He went left most of the time last season when he created off the dribble. Very rarely did I see him make foward progress on a move going right.

in the playoffs he was forced to go right and the results weren’t pretty

Those shot charts illustrate what I mean. He wants to go left. When that's taken away, he takes pullups going right. He can make that shot, but it's predictable and often well-contested.

[3toheadmelo]

Ehh idk. He went left most of the time last season when he created off the dribble. Very rarely did I see him make foward progress on a move going right.

in the playoffs he was forced to go right and the results weren’t pretty

Those shot charts illustrate what I mean. He wants to go left. When that's taken away, he takes pullups going right. He can make that shot, but it's predictable and often well-contested.

he has to go right if they take away his left. the difference now is that he’s making the shots where as in the playoffs he missed the majority of it. seems like he worked a lot on it during the off season. he’s even driving to the rim going right and finishing with the right hand

[jehosafats]

Tacko 2.0 looks much improved

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[ellobo]

in the playoffs he was forced to go right and the results weren’t pretty

Those shot charts illustrate what I mean. He wants to go left. When that's taken away, he takes pullups going right. He can make that shot, but it's predictable and often well-contested.

he has to go right if they take away his left. the difference now is that he’s making the shots where as in the playoffs he missed the majority of it. seems like he worked a lot on it during the off season. he’s even driving to the rim going right and finishing with the right hand

We'll see. I'm a Knicks fan so I'd love to see Julius continue to improve and have a great season. He seems like a good dude and a hard-working player. I find him easy to root for, especially seeing him evolve from his first year in NY to last year.

But that game-winner didn't strike me as a particularly new element of his game, even if he has worked on getting better at it over the summer.

[Heat_team02]

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[Clocian]

Insert the preseason disclaimer. I was told the bulls defense would be abysmal though, despite clear indications they wouldnt...

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[JujitsuFlip]

Insert the preseason disclaimer. I was told the bulls defense would be abysmal though, despite clear indications they wouldnt...

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If that team can stay healthy, I personally believe they will have a good year.

[chilluminati]

Insert the preseason disclaimer. I was told the bulls defense would be abysmal though, despite clear indications they wouldnt...

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No you're right, they will be better defensively than everyone anticipates. Maybe not first in the league, but they'll probably be a top 15 defense.

[Clocian]

Insert the preseason disclaimer. I was told the bulls defense would be abysmal though, despite clear indications they wouldnt...

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No you're right, they will be better defensively than everyone anticipates. Maybe not first in the league, but they'll probably be a top 15 defense.

Considering we were 12th last year with that team we had, and based on the upgrade in players on this year roster + their play up to now, top 10 should be the minimum.

[bisme37]

Wow, Heat running their regular starting 5.

Yeah Miami has everyone available aside from Dipo. C's are without Brown, Horford, Smart, Pritchard and Rob Williams tonight.

It was a dress rehearsal game for us. Still have to incorporate Lowry and our offense went through a lot of changes. Glad to see the animosity is still there even though some of your core didn't play. Would have been an even greater battle tonight. I gotta see when we play against each other and go to that game.

Yeah the chippiness last night was great. Your team looks great and Herro is playing awesome for you guys, congrats. As a C's fan I was stoked about Langford last night. RS matchups should be fun.

[Muggamills]

Insert the preseason disclaimer. I was told the bulls defense would be abysmal though, despite clear indications they wouldnt...

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No you're right, they will be better defensively than everyone anticipates. Maybe not first in the league, but they'll probably be a top 15 defense.

Considering we were 12th last year with that team we had, and based on the upgrade in players on this year roster + their play up to now, top 10 should be the minimum.

But you added Derozan who is an awful defender

[JujitsuFlip]

I didn't know where to put it but after seeing some of the cuts today, the Grizzlies had a really odd string of transactions this off season.

Traded Valanciunas for Bledsoe and Adams.

Traded Bledsoe for Rondo, Beverly, and Oturu. Waived Rondo and Oturu.

Traded Beverly for Culver and Juancho.

Traded Juancho for Edwards and Dunn. Waived Edwards and Dunn.

On top of trading for Gasol and waiving him.

All in all, the Grizzlies ended up waiving 5 guys with guaranteed contracts that they acquired via trade this summer. I understand they obtained picks and draft rights in some cases but seems kind of counterproductive to take on that many guaranteed guys, if there was no intention to keep them.

[OrlMagic05]

Fine vs. the lower 20 of the league, not someone you want vs the top 10 of the league. Full on, BS, snap judgement, General Board style.

OK... I was just asking on thoughts. Wasnt claiming anything or being a homer, was a simple question

I think you read that wrong. I was saying my response was full on BS snap judgement. Was just giving you my thoughts, as top of the head reply!

my bad..