What Have been the Biggest Suprises This Year?

1. Alpi falling out of bed and getting 20/9/5
2. Aaron Holiday playing like a young FVV
3. Coaching matters. Really impressed with Ime’s assistants

 

Well, last season he wasn't even our starting Center at the beginning of the year (yep, Silas was an incompetent coach) - his defense last year was kinda boo boo which made him a questionable player going into this season if he's going to be our Center of the future.
Obviously, he surpassed our expectations

 

2 biggest surprises for me are how good Dillon Brooks actually is, and how good we're actually doing as a team. I genuinely thought we'd have a much slower turnaround with a lot more struggles early doors.

 

1) Sengun playing like an All-Star and developing a middie game.

2) Dillon Brooks outside shooting and discipline on offense.

3) Jock Landale getting what little talent he had stolen by the Monstars.

 

The level of incompetence it took to start Bruno over him was mind blowing. And stop with his defense. It's impossible to cover for all the turn styles we played in front of him.

Do you actually think he's playing better defensively or did we just get better defenders around him. He was always in the right spots, just no one was ever helping or held accountable except him.

 

Seriously people, did you guys not see that it was our perimeter defense that let anyone roll to the basket with impunity? Like, you could see the barebones of a good defender with Alpi but the man was the worst scapegoat for Silas and our awful backcourt of KPJ and JG opening the doors and laying a welcoming mat anytime they drove to the basket. The last couple years were awful to watch knowing what we had and how deluded most of the fanbase was.

I'm surprised at how impactful JVV, Brooks and Jeff have become.

I'm surprised at how good Ime is as a coach, even better than I expected.

One thing I'm not surprised though, is how good Alpi has been in every facet of the game. I expected it with a proper coach and a basic professional scheme.

 

Everyone who all of sudden think he's a much better defender this year, can you tell why you think this? Like what do you think he's actually gotten better at? I'm just curious where you see this drastic improvement from him.

Even from his rookie season he was always good at deflections and anticipation. He was just neutered by the stupid drop coverage Silas had him play. His defensive instincts have always been good,

 

Don't let the title fool you. It is not just about Sengun...It is mostly about improvements from the youngsters

 

I generally agree with you that most of his apparent improvement on the defensive side is moreso a matter of improved team perimeter defense, so I'm not disagreeing with your premise.

But I would say that Alpi has improved in regards to bad reaches inside and is getting called for fewer stupid fouls inside, allowing him to stay on the floor more. Not a huge thing but just something I've noticed

 

Honestly: nothing.
I didn’t have a firm idea of what the team will look, but I had hopes it will jell around Dillon and Fred and be a decent team if not more. The youngsters have talent, I liked the FA signings, it was just a matter of starting to play serious basketball instead of the trash that we were watching for the past 2-3 years.

 

Fouls are just an arbitrary thing that refs decided to call on rookies. You always knew as he got more experience that he would get more respect from officials. I actually wish he would go back to reaching more. He made plays back then. Lots of his fouls weren't even real fouls he just surprised the heck out of even the refs that he could make a play like that.

 

Biggest surprises is that people haven't figured out that this stuff is rigged

Dillon Brooks as one of the biggest chunkers and inefficient shooters over the
years, now shoots like Steph Curry.

In in season playoff is designed to win LeBron some championships.
They have tried so hard to get LeBron over the finish line in recent years.

Can't put LeBron over MJ as the G.O.A.T. without 6 championships.

20 year old fanbases can't relate to Jordan since they don't see him actively playing.
Therefore LeBron has to carry the torch and hand it off to Wemby. Soon.

 

I think that’s due to him being 2nd option as a villain in the Rockets, who knew Ime Udoka being a bigger villain than Dillon

 

Sigh.

No.

It really wasn't.

There were numerous people butting their heads against the wall stating that Sengun is nowhere near the defender people tried to make him out to be.

We tried to tell people KPJ and Green were the cause of nearly all of Sengun's defensive 'mistakes'.

Oh you mean KPJ gone and a coach making Jalen improve from the worst defender in the league to just bad right now, has unexpectedly made Sengun look better?

Geez. Who could've seen that coming.

This narrative that Sengun was a terrible defender needs to be put to bed. I am so sick of hearing it. He has proven it as embarrassing as the idea that a lob threat should be starting over him.

 

1 Teams defense
2 Alpi
3 Coach staffs

 

His positional defense is FAR better and that's a big deal. His feet are almost always in the right place now, this wasn't true last season when he'd try to reach in because he wasn't positioned well.

He's gambling less on blocks/steals.

He's better at guarding smaller players.

There are clear improvements. The only thing we need to know is whether he can be the starting C on a top 10 defense because a top 10 defense is sufficient to win an NBA title. It looks like that's definitely possible.

 

1) There is no unlikable character around. It just looks like a group of good guys with a good coach. No ball hogging, no forcing shots, no me-time players. This is weird. There is usually at least one of them. Everybody buys into the concept and it doesn't feel forced.
2) Sengun's defensive improvement(and I thought he wasn't&wouldn't be a negative on defense but he improved on so many different aspects of defense)
3) Sengun's mid-range shooting
4) FVV, Brooks, Jeff Green all better than expected, both individual play and veteran roles.
5) How good Ime is; a tactical level, in game adjustments, communication. Just looks like a perfect coach so far.

 

They will soon call it the LeBron James invitational.

The in season tournament MVP: LeBron James Award

 

- got much stronger. Cannot be pushed around by other bigs, holds his ground
- contests shots much better. Got longer, and fouls less in those positions
- his positioning on the court was mostly correct last year, and even better this year. Maybe this has just become easier with the other players playing proper defense though.
- as others have said, cut down the reaching fouls, ambitious blocking attempts that resulted in fouls
- stays better with guards