CoolBreeze's 2 Things I didn't Like Last Week + 1
Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2021 11:45 am
With the season going off the rails as bad as it has, the 2 + 1 seemed like a redundant exercise in futility. But as we start to see a sliver of light emerging on the horizon, I thought it would be appropriate to offer this post trade deadline edition. Without further adieu, let's see if this can generate some good discussion:
1) It's more likely than not we won't have our first round pick this year. That's too bad because we may be missing out on getting another relatively low cost pillar for the franchise. If we don't get lucky in the lottery, chances are this team is going to be much improved next year and could find ourselves drafting out of the top 10 in 2022. On the bright side, I don't believe the '21 draft is going to be as good as first thought. Cunningham, Suggs, and Mobley are nice prospects but I don't see anything transcendent in that group. In fact the much maligned '20 draft is proving to be much better than originally forecasted. There are a lot of good rookies this year. You just never know when players are drafted this young. Nonetheless, this year's lottery could be a seminal moment in the history of the franchise.
2) Yes we can score, but where is the improvement on defense? It's commonly stated that KAT has upped his defensive intensity this year. Jaden McDaniels has remarkable defensive chops for a player his age, and will make an all defensive team sooner rather than later. Rubio brings experience and leadership which should help our team defense. So why can't we get stops? There are a few reasons for it. One would be not everybody is pulling on the rope at the same time. Defense must be played collectively for it to work. Too often we have 2 or 3 guys doing the work of 5. Second, we are still extremely lazy in transition. The opponent gets gifted a number of points each game simply because we don't expend the effort to play 96 feet. Three, accountability may be improved with Finch, but it still can be a lot better. The only way to get through to today's NBA player is by taking PT away. Hopefully Chris starts making this a higher priority. There are other reasons, and I look forward to hearing some from the rest of you.
Plus 1 - I've been pretty pessimistic for most of the last two years, and for good reason. But something strange is happening. Every week it seems like there is another reason to believe this team could have a future. It's not because of Towns. We all know he is an all star level player and that hasn't changed. It's not because of DLO. He's had a nice stretch offensively since coming back, but we also know what kind of player he is and that eventually he will find his level. No, the reason for optimism is coming from unexpected places. It's Edwards showing flashes of being a dominant offensive player. And I have no doubt he is going to be a very good player going forward. It's McDaniels surprising everybody with his mature game. See Robson's article this week if you want to gain some excitement. It's Naz Reid improving at an exponential clip to the point where he should almost be considered untouchable. It's Eyechart becoming a scoring weapon off the bench. And it's a head coach who seems to have the right demeanor for the group. Bottom line is you should be excited about this team for next year. It looks like we have new ownership coming in, and hopefully that will have positive influence also. I'm looking forward to watching the games again. By next fall I could be really excited for the start of the season.
And that's CoolBreeze's 2 + 1
1) It's more likely than not we won't have our first round pick this year. That's too bad because we may be missing out on getting another relatively low cost pillar for the franchise. If we don't get lucky in the lottery, chances are this team is going to be much improved next year and could find ourselves drafting out of the top 10 in 2022. On the bright side, I don't believe the '21 draft is going to be as good as first thought. Cunningham, Suggs, and Mobley are nice prospects but I don't see anything transcendent in that group. In fact the much maligned '20 draft is proving to be much better than originally forecasted. There are a lot of good rookies this year. You just never know when players are drafted this young. Nonetheless, this year's lottery could be a seminal moment in the history of the franchise.
2) Yes we can score, but where is the improvement on defense? It's commonly stated that KAT has upped his defensive intensity this year. Jaden McDaniels has remarkable defensive chops for a player his age, and will make an all defensive team sooner rather than later. Rubio brings experience and leadership which should help our team defense. So why can't we get stops? There are a few reasons for it. One would be not everybody is pulling on the rope at the same time. Defense must be played collectively for it to work. Too often we have 2 or 3 guys doing the work of 5. Second, we are still extremely lazy in transition. The opponent gets gifted a number of points each game simply because we don't expend the effort to play 96 feet. Three, accountability may be improved with Finch, but it still can be a lot better. The only way to get through to today's NBA player is by taking PT away. Hopefully Chris starts making this a higher priority. There are other reasons, and I look forward to hearing some from the rest of you.
Plus 1 - I've been pretty pessimistic for most of the last two years, and for good reason. But something strange is happening. Every week it seems like there is another reason to believe this team could have a future. It's not because of Towns. We all know he is an all star level player and that hasn't changed. It's not because of DLO. He's had a nice stretch offensively since coming back, but we also know what kind of player he is and that eventually he will find his level. No, the reason for optimism is coming from unexpected places. It's Edwards showing flashes of being a dominant offensive player. And I have no doubt he is going to be a very good player going forward. It's McDaniels surprising everybody with his mature game. See Robson's article this week if you want to gain some excitement. It's Naz Reid improving at an exponential clip to the point where he should almost be considered untouchable. It's Eyechart becoming a scoring weapon off the bench. And it's a head coach who seems to have the right demeanor for the group. Bottom line is you should be excited about this team for next year. It looks like we have new ownership coming in, and hopefully that will have positive influence also. I'm looking forward to watching the games again. By next fall I could be really excited for the start of the season.
And that's CoolBreeze's 2 + 1