Thought this could be an interesting series of threads for posterity sake. One each 20 games to get the overall pulse of where we're at. Grade for the first quarter? Thoughts on play thus far? Before the season where did you think we'd be right now? Biggest surprise? Biggest disappointment? Favorite game and/or moment? What concerns you the most moving forward? Prediction for the next 20?
I think I'd give them a B- thus far. The record is not what I thought it would be in terms of win percentage, but considering the injuries we've had to key players (Vando out all season, Vincent out almost all season, Rui in and out, Cam in and out), I give them a positive rating for hanging in there and staying above .500. The play itself is ok not great. Biggest pleasant surprise for me is that Lebron and AD have been reasonably healthy. Biggest disappointment: the three point shooting. We should be much better in that department. Guys just AREN'T hitting them and it's kind of shocking. Favorite game/moment: probably the Cavs game overall. I wasn't expecting a win there on the road and we really showed up against a good Eastern team. My biggest concern is the health of Bron and AD moving forward. Prediction for the next 20 - I'd like to see us improve with better health. Hoping for a significant jump like 14 and 6.
I do agree with lakerjones above. I am not disappointed with the win% at this point. It's not bad. It's been reasonably close to 60%, keeping in mind we effectively lost almost all our wing depth, as well as a backup point guard. The three-point shooting is absolutely atrocious: in terms of volume, and in terms of shooting percentage. If we continue doing that, we're not going to be able to truly compete. Only Bron and Dlo are doing some damage from outside, and this has to change... somehow. I'm not sure how at this point.
19-1 they going to lose one game after winning this Vegas tournament because of heavy drinking and hangover lol
Grade for the first quarter? C. injuries are a legit excuse for offense, but not for basically being a meh-to-bad defense. that's effort and scheme. and digging a 10 point hole in the first quarter of every game is just bad for business. Thoughts on play thus far? lots of low effort play from large chunks of the roster. i still don't like the 5-out offense. Before the season where did you think we'd be right now? maybe 2-3 games better than this, so we're not a total train wreck. Biggest surprise? reddish looking like a legit fifth starter type. i thought reaves would have locked up that starting sg spot, but we really need a defender next to dlo, and i've been quite surprised that reddish appears to be that guy. Biggest disappointment? the shooting. again. i'm flabbergasted. i guess the injuries, too. it's looking like gabe might not play a game all year, and vando has played 14 minutes all year. Favorite game and/or moment? probably the clippers win just because we never, ever beat them ever for any reason. What concerns you the most moving forward? that with lebron and AD being largely healthy, we're barely over .500. one or both is going to miss significant time at some point, and it could go really poorly. Prediction for the next 20? 11-9 or 10-10. we've got several road games against teams playing better than we are. the upcoming stretch is deceptively rough. i don't like playing teams twice in a row at their place, especially bad ones like SA. we're dropping one of those games that under normal circumstances is a W. then heading into christmas it's at chicago (eagle trap game), at minny (they're in 1st place), at okc (death for our lazy a****), then home against boston (who appears to be the best team in the league). yikes. after that i think we can pick up some wins to dig out of the hole, assuming we finally have some injury luck.
Evaluation in a vacuum = B Evaluation compared to the first quarter season last year = A+++++ Prediction: This is more hopeful anticipation based on team health. Keep LeBron and AD healthy, get the injured guys back on court and up to game speed. If the team is whole there is no reason we can't be top 4 in the West and positioned for a playoff run. Concerns going forward: three point shooting / playmaking / interior D when AD sits
Grade for the first quarter? C- Thoughts on play thus far? Ham needs to realize now that the five out isn’t working, at all. We are a terrible offensive team and with the talent we have, we should be in the top 10. I felt that our depth would have helped us win more games(yes, injuries have played a part, but both Wood and Hayes have given us very little when in). Both Rui and Austin had sub par starts. Our FO completely undervalued having a quick, defensive minded guard to help with the point of attack. I never thought that O would miss Dennis so much. Before the season where did you think we'd be right now? 16-4 Biggest surprise? Cam’s ball hawking defense. Biggest disappointment? Our giving up so many offensive rebounds and second chance points. Favorite game and/or moment? Beating the Flippers What concerns you the most moving forward? Inability for guys to start hitting their threes Prediction for the next 20? 13-7
that was optimistic, even assuming perfect health, imo. yeah, i hate losing the effort categories. it's ok to not win it every time, but losing it every time is a bummer for a fan. lol, your optimism is somehow undampened.
With the return of Cam, Vando, and Rui, I do believe this team can be the one we envisioned this summer. I still like to be optimistic, especially when I know we can be much better defensively AND both AD and LeBron have shown that they can still play at a very high level. Will I be surprised if they don’t win that many during this next stretch of 20? Nope, but there’s still plenty of reasons to be optimistic. I’m also banking on Ham learning throughout the season and improving.
75% of the regular season sucks unless the team is fully healthy and is dominating ala 19/20 regular season Would be cool to play the C-bags in the Final in Vegas . Translation : April can't come soon enough ( if we're healthy )
