Randle? I don't have a good read on his mentality just yet, especially on the court. I do see the, "I will probably score on you," thing going on, but that will get shot down a few times this year and he'll have to develop options including passing. I think he has a lot of things going for him in terms of tools. His biggest strength offensively, imo, is his first step. For his size, it's so unassuming and combined with his strength and size, it's almost Lebron-esque when you hear Upshaw and Clarkson referring him to an "ox" or "beast". He's also got decent handles and vision as well. My favorite is his ability to rebound and be able to bring the ball up the court a la Odom. Last year, he was out of control quite often, but so was Clarkson. He'll learn to settle himself down and be in control, then he'll REALLY hit his stride. I didn't expect much from Clarkson last season, and he really showed great development over the season. Randle will have to go through those same tribulations this year so I'm not expecting a "stellar" season. All I really want out of him is a steady improvement in his game and to stay healthy.
Our team is so versatile. We can go big, we can go small. Having two guards that can both play PG at 6'5 is going to be a matchup nightmare. We have 4-5 guys that can bully the crap out of the other team. Oh and let's not forget about old man Kobe. They can be very exciting next year.
Guys, do we have a legit shot at the 8 seed this year? Spurs Warriors Thunder Clippers Rockets Grizzlies Pelicans ? I have either Suns or jazz taking that last spot, with outside chance of the mavs or Blazers sneaking in. But hey, I don't think any of these teams are significantly better than us on paper. Obviously a lot would have to go right for us, but we can be competitive and make it interesting. I'm feeling optimistic that this squad can actually make the playoffs.
Yeah. It would be great xp for our younglings too, even if it would just be an absolute throttling at the hands of GS, SA or OKC.
Injuries can disrupt any team's Playoff chances.. Look at OKC last year.. We'll have to see how our young team gels.. It would be greatly exceeding expectations for them to sneak in, but it's not out of the question.. I expect Utah, NOLA & PHO to be much better this year too, but you never know.
It doesn't matter if NOLA is gonna be much better because they are taking a spot in the playoffs regardless....it matters if UTAH or PHO is going to be much better. As of now I project Utah to be much better...PHO? Meh. Adding Tyson Chandler was nice, but he's not a game changing player. It's weird how the Clippers getting DJ and Spurs getting LMA actually improved our chances at making the playoffs....cuz it eliminated any chance the Mavs and Blazers had of making the playoffs and opened up 2 spots for OKC and ...maybe us? UTA? PHO? I dunno...but I like our chances. I would be down to "boston C bag" it this year (ugh, someone smack me now) and get our young guys some playoff experience....all while making our team more attractive to FA's next summer (Demar Derozan anybody?).
No optimism for me right now, but I was hoping someone else could spin this disastrous summer league into something to be hopeful about...
Disastrous? It hasn't been that bad. They've all looked good. Randle will come into his own. I'm liking Russell's ability to shoot that mid range j when defenders sag off that screen and roll
I bought into Mitch's statements that we are a playoff contender in the West. Most of our core is playing in the Summer League. We've struggled against the worst teams in the league. I'd say it's been disastrous.
I think a lot of us, myself included, were expecting too much from Russell and Randle. They're both basically rookies and will need time to adjust to the new level of speed and skill in the NBA. Unless Kobe can somehow turn back the clock I don't see us making the playoffs. With this being the optimism thread I will say that it's only summer league and a lot of players, such as Stephen Curry, had struggled in these games.
I think playoffs is really unrealistic. Unless Russell can be a 15/5 player, Randle can be a 16/8 player and Kobe stays healthy and shoots better than 37%, we might have an outside chance. But I think thats asking for too much. At this point we KNOW that this is a transition year. The goal is to prove that our rookies are talented and on the right path to lure a couple of max FAs. We need to show promise and give FAs hope that our guys can help them win. Thats all that matters to me.
On ething everyone needs to chill about is how they play in the summer league. It really doesn't matter as a collective. Most of these guys have never played NBA basketball, they are new to the city, to eachother, to the coaches and to the style of play in the SL. Its about getting an idea what it means to play together and recognize individual weaknesses to work on. Sure, we are all excited to have some young talent with potential but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how these guys play right now, it matters how these guys play down the road. Again, for us, this season doesn't have to be very successful. It has to show growth and the players need to prove that they can help premium players win. If we accomplish that, next off-season we might be lucky to pick up 2 max players and be ready to go. If not...2017 is coming with Westbrook and other FAs...thats how life is. You take what you get and move on.
