smit-tay griz

Minnesota gave him about the same thing we were paying, actually a little less.

You want to trade Tillman when we just lost Jaren? Adams gonna play 48 minutes?

I hope so. My point is it probably won't be next season when we make a deep run. If I'm wrong and we exceed my expectations, I'll be as excited as anyone. I just think there are too many new additions we will need to rely on to go deep next season.

We didn't replace JV with a rookie.

It's not lost production so much as people not understanding how we got to the second best record. Two things helped Ja's elevated performance last season. One was Steven Adams ability to clear the lane and shield Ja from the interior defender, the other was our defense causing turnovers enabling Ja, and others, to get out on the break. I don't foresee us getting anywhere near the number of turnovers as last season. I'm not dragging the rookies. Give them time and they will improve, but NBA defense is not anything like college and takes time to learn. Next season I don't think we're going to be as good.

Agreed.

Where's the defense? We still have Dillon, but while he is a hard working, annoying, pesky defender, he is not really a talented defender. He doesn't cause many turnovers, and since we're a fast paced team that struggles in the half court, our offense will bog down. We saw that, both in the regular season and playoffs. We better learn how to play some half court offense. We certainly will need it. Adams, BC and Tillman are our next best, and while they are decent defensive players, I don't think their game will step up enough to cover the loss of those three guys, Jaren, Melton, and Kyle. Those three were probably responsible for causing the largest part of of opposition turnovers which in turn gave us more shots at the basket.

Who is playing defense?

I think we'll take a big step back.

A lot of us value what Jaren brings, but he sure didn't do it all by himself. That's what I constantly read from you. You have no sense of team. You always seem to think that one elite guy is better than a whole bunch of good ones. You seem to have bought into the NBA propaganda that it's all about stars. Sure, you need a couple really good players, but most teams have those. The supporting cast makes an enormous difference.

I don't have anything against the draft picks we selected. I hope they all turn out great, but we can't realistically expect them all to turn out like BC and Bane. I think we may have been better suited by only using one or two picks to try to fill a need, and then resign the guys who got us there.

You really do not have enough appreciation for those guys.

They're rookies. It'll probably be several seasons before they are good. Hey, remember Jevon Carter was an elite defender in college too. There is no guarantee that they will be able to do it at the highest level, much less out of the gate. I hope they are smart defensive players because none of them appear to be very athletic. Roddy looks strong, so did Jarrell Martin. Hope Roddy will be better.

If you think we're the same team as last year, you're in for a very rude awakening. We were second best in the league because of our defense and rebounding. We just lost three of our best defenders/turnover creators and two good rebounders.

Okay. Maybe if we could fuse him with some shot blocker and make him eight years younger?