thecampster

The thing with Pippen is his motor was 110% rev all the time. I grew up in the Chicagoland area and had the pleasure of watching Jordan and Pippen play together. Jordan would openly tell people the Bulls might not have won a championship without Pippen. Part 2 of the video I linked begins with them saying he was a 1 man wrecking crew. it's an overused phrase but totally described the man. He made point guards play scared. There have been very similar players in the league....None with the skills and motor. Demarre had that motor but no where near the skills. Some have had the skills but no where near that dog in them. Pippen was obsessed, every play, every night.

Needless to say, if he ends up 1/2 the defender PIP was....we'll be ecstatic.

Watch how many times he just pokes the ball away...his instincts were next level and there was no lane safe from his fingertips

Pippen was a lane disruptor as much as he was a 1v1 defender. Gonna take a while to see what he becomes but yes he's built in that mode. Pippen wasn't as good a shooter when he came into the league but was a very good decision maker.

Baze will get showcased some to see if he can be moved at the deadline, as will Crabbe but playing time is Reddish's to lose. Hunter was drafted to play the 3. Collins is the 4. Everything else are just fill lineups. The main lineup, most minutes by far will be Young, Huerter, Hunter, Collins, Len. Adams and Bembry (as of this moment) will backup the 1. Bembry, Baze, Reddish will backup the 2. Baze, Reddish, Crabbe will backup the 3. Some collection of Spellman, Bruno or Hill will back up the 4. Same + Plumlee at the 5. The real question is the 1 free agent we will sign and or acquire via trade for the 15th spot and how that will change rotations.

Bembry will be playing the 2 with a bit at 1. The whole thing with him being a 3 is because of who he guards more often.

The problem with Baze/Crabbe on this roster is that Hunter's play style, years at Virginia and his size all translate to being a contributor right away and shooting 50% last year and 43+% from 3 all are signs he might be more valuable. When you include how well Huerter did as a rookie, there are only so many minutes at the wing to go around. I don't think there is any hurry to push Reddish to get minutes but if reports are true that his inconsistency was due to nagging injuries then you play him on athleticism alone. If analytics are any measure, they drafted Hunter to have a true 3 next to Huerter whose numbers were very, very good at the SG last year and less than average at the 3. Factor in that LP seems to really like Bembry and you now have 4 possible rotation players at the 2/3 and neither is named Baze or Crabbe.

Food for thought....Hunter held Culver to 5 of 22 shooting....

Holy crap was that stupid.

Well technically on we're in the off-season now and can carry 20 but I agree with you in principle.

https://www.testudotimes.com/maryland-terps-basketball/2019/6/18/18683155/bruno-fernando-nba-mock-draft-projections-first-second-round-center Okay...why the hell isn't end quote working???

The reality is there are going to be a lot of disappointing players in this draft. A lot of teams are going to look back at this draft and wonder wtf were they doing. The Hawks avoided every one of those players. Its a huge win based on that only.

So this is a hard year to determine wins because if they are competitive come trade deadline they'll drop those expirings for talent...if not, they might trade a player or 2 for future considerations....depends on the first 2 months.

In my world, I have to compare Cam to Prince as that is who he and Hunter are replacing and the huge...mongo big benefit Cam brings is his handles. He is much smoother with the ball than Prince.

His footwork is atrocious in one on one defense in the post. Like Rosie O'Donnell in a mini-skirt bad.

They get an A- from me because I believe there was better movement to be had and I really would have rather spent our draft capital on moving Plumlee off the squad and recovered that salary now for a backup PG. But I can't complain one bit about the picks and I can't complain about where they came in the draft. They got excessive value everywhere and I believe all 3 will be rotation players down the road.

That one defensive sequence will have you begging for more Alpha Kaba. Don't follow the ball...just watch Bol Bol. You'll throw up in your mouth a bit...maybe a lot. He looks like a drunken sailor on roller skates deciding what to do in the post on defense.

He is going to get killed on the boards. He gets his rebounds on height, not footwork. There is no world where Steven Adams can guard Bol at the 3 point line but there is also no world where Bol gets double digit rebounds against Golbert, Baynes, Adams, Chandler, Len, etc Rebounding and defense still wins championships and Bol couldn't box out a 6th grader. This obsession with centers shooting 3's has to end. A center gets gets drafted for his work around the basket....if he learns to shoot 3's, god bless him. He might be amazing at the 3 point line but the game is still won and lost in transition and if you can't get a rebound, you can win transition. Watch this one clip and everything you think you know about Bol shrivels like your plums on a cold day at the beach.

by the way...word from offseason workouts is that Len is doing serious work on his legs so he can improve his 7 inch vertical. Trae is working on lifting for body balance. Huerter is looking to gain weight period and Spellman has continued his weight program. In other news, John Collins can still dunk.

Few people realize this but Len had equal to or better per 48 numbers to Dedmon last year. Per 48 Len per 48 Dedmon 27.1 P/48, 20.6 P/48 13.5 R/48 14.3 R/48 2.7 A/48 2.7 A/48 2.2 B/48 2.1 B/48 49.4% FG% 49.2% FG% -.9 PER -4.4 PER 43.4 wins% 39.1 wins% Per 48 Len was the much more aggressive player offensively which led to him posting a slightly better PER and holding his opponent to a 2.5 point lower PER. Statistically he was better offensively and defensively per 48 which is probably why he was starting by the end of the year. I believe Dedmon's eye test was greatly skewed by who he was on the court with during the more exciting games but the statistical facts show they were better with Len on the floor. A similar analysis of Spellman shows that although he was offensively statistically absent at times, they were still better against opposing Centers with him on the floor as well. I believe the key to this season is Spellman doing his work and Fernando's adjustment period. If Bruno is what he is supposed to be as a 3rd option and if Spellman avoids McDonald's like a pregnant ex, we could actually be better at that position. IMHO (and stats bear this out) Bruno as the 3rd center > Fat Spellman and healthy Spellman is similar to Dedmon.

https://www-sbnation-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/2018/2/9/16994790/nba-free-agency-nba-buyout-market-explained-how-do-contract-buyouts-work?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQDoAEC#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From %1%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sbnation.com%2F2018%2F2%2F9%2F16994790%2Fnba-free-agency-nba-buyout-market-explained-how-do-contract-buyouts-work See here for buyouts. Basically the player gives up what he will get in a new contract. Usually the vet minimum or exception level.

MLE doesn't apply until you hit the cap. It's the very definition of an exception (ie an exception to cap rules). Do simple math at this point. We have 14 players need 1, have $12 millionish

Addressing Adams, he is here for now and will stay unless something surfaces post July 6. Use shamsports.com capulator to figure things out (currently catching up). Remove Dedmons hold because either he signs or he doesn't so the room to sign him is the same.

Removing all cap holds for free agents we have approximately 12 million assuming no one is waived and al draft picks sign for their hold. 13 million if the draft picks sign minimum of their scale.

He'll definitely need adjustment time for sure. He's a classic zone center. He has the skills to play in the NBA but the zone helped him look incredible. He will need time, coaching.