IT doesn't make anything stronger. He's a little person whose best days are behind him. He singlehandedly got half of Cleveland's roster traded because of what a cancer he was in the locker room. And Nuggets weren't all that impress when Millsap played. I don't see them making playoffs next year and this time, it won't be close. Lakers, Grizzlies, Mavs and maybe even the Suns will pass them in the standings.
No team, even a "super team"can accomplish success unless the other players contribute, a good coaching staff knows what to do in the last quarter and the GM acquiring contributing players. Iguadala proved this when he left Philly and played for GS.
Their PGs last year were Emmanuel Mudiay and Devin Harris. How did he get half of Cleveland's roster traded when he barely played before the trade deasline, and the team sucked before that? Quit acting delusional and reaching for a narrative you want. We're not a "superteam".
Sorry but I don’t buy this at all... If IT came here as our 1st option off the bench we would be ecstatic and talking about how if he’s anything near Boston version of IT our bench got so much better.. Is Denver going to make the playoffs? I don’t know but they aren’t that far off, their in the same general group the Blazers are in. I think Personall the a Blazers are in a better place because of Dame but that’s about it.
And Isaiah Thomas was a huge cancer. He blew up the whole locker room. Don't you remember Love mocking him DURING A GAME. They hated him especially BECAUSE he had barely played. And the team did not suck before then. They actually went on like a 18-3 run at one point early in the season. Thomas showed up and blew up the locker room.
actually it was an 18-1 run Cavs were 5-7 and then they were 23-8. Not exactly sucking as you put it.
I'm so embarrassed that this thread has remained on the top of the forum feed for this long. I won't even read it.
I know this isn't a popular way to think around here but i have thought many many times the Blazers would have performed much much better if they would have taken both the Dallas and Memphis games and had a weeks worth of real rest before the Playoffs. To me stretching the season out at the end like that killed their spirit and they looked tired at the end of the first game.
That, Harkless' injury, and Dame's girlfriend going into labor. Killed our season. We were on such a roll. Dame had just dropped 40+ on the Pelicans.
I mentioned Millsap, but even half a season of him wasn't enough to pull them up above 25th in defense. And, he's now another year older and in decline. In the 20 games Nurk played in February and March of 2017, he pulled POR's defense up from 28th to 24th. That may not seem like much, but he had that much of an impact in just 1/4 of a season, and of course, last season he was the anchor of a defense that was 8th best in the league. They have put most of their eggs in the Jokic basket, and as talented as he is offensively, he is not a leader and very soft defensively. He also regressed last year. He's a unique talent, but I think the league is adjusting to his game. Here's DEN's DRtg over the past 5 seasons: 25th 29th 24th 26th 21st I'm not sure how much of that is coaching and how much is personnel, but neither DEN's coach (Mike Malone) nor their GM (Tim Connelly) has ever had a defense that ranked better than 21st in the league. Prior to last season, Stotts got a lot of shot around here for being a poor defensive coach, but when he's had the personnel, his teams have been in the top 12 in defense (8th last season, 10th in 2014-15 and 12th in 2013-14). I just don't see DEN making any kind of a leap until they can figure out how to at least crack the top half of the league in defense. I don't see anyone on their roster who can have the same level of impact Nurk has had for the Blazers. Ironic, since they are the ones that gave him to us. BNM
Their defense is bad, our defense is good. You're pulling stats for a narrative that I'm not arguing against... I'm using the fact of where they finished in relativity to us, which was very close. Are you arguing that more Millsap and IT won't help them at all? Or are you arguing that their youth is overhyped and therefore, they don't have a brighter future?
Both. Millsap is another year older and past his prime. IT was a complete shit show in both CLE and LAL last year. He makes their shitty defense even worse. If you include Jokic yes, I think their youth is over hyped. I think Jokic is overrated because he only plays on one side of the ball and the league has started to figure him out. My "narrative" is none of their youth have the potential to become the type of defensive stud that will turn them from a shitty defense into an above average one. Adding more scorers won't help them. There is only one basketball and only five players on the court at a time. Adding more scorers (either IT or rookies) is redundant. It doesn't address any of their problems. They already score plenty. Summary: I don't see a bright future for a team that sucks at defense and hasn't addressed that issue. BNM
So you think IT is an upgrade over Devin Harris? Over Emmanuel Mudiay? Those guys suck on both sides of the court. ITs an upgrade pin that end and no worse defensively. Last year is a likely aberration. Classic case of "What have you done for us lately". You forget that they're already on our heels with a defender that can only get better. If their defense goes from "horrible" to "bad", then they reach our level. Their offense will continue to get better and better as well, and that alone could lead to them surpassing us. They'll have more longevity as well, which gets them the time to fix their issues. Plus, in the best-case scenario, they'll have 3 stars in Murray, MPJ, and Jokic, as well as other role players other teams actually want. Us? We have one star, one borderline star, and no players with legitimate star potential.
I would be scared to keep mentioning MPJ - I can say from experience (Thanks guy who hit me with a Ford Truck) that Back issues freaking suck... Of he’s had 2 back surgeries I’d be nervous about him if I were Denver.
No nerves, they got him at 14. Low risk, high reward. Not saying he ends up great, but he has a ton of potential.
I agree, but I keep seeing his name brought up and I keep thinking there is a big chance he can’t keep healthy enough to ever really fulfill the potential. I think Denver is going to be a fun team to watch, now how many wins it gets them... I don’t know.
