2016 NBA Draft Thread

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

Warriors lost to switching and size

 

Yeah, warriors lost to a team who could switch every screen. You're making my point

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

Also, Ibaka is 6'10 250. Vucevic is 7'0 260.

 

Playing Ibaka at 5 isn't going small

[Mack1085 57]

I don't have a strong opinion about this deal either way. But unless more moves are made, I see some problems with the current roster:

 

1. Ibaka has apparently said he doesn't want to play as a 4. While it seems that he and Vuch might actually fit together fairly well, Vuch certainly can't play the 4. Therefore many people are assuming that Vuch is gone, which may be the case.

 

2. A roster of Ibaka - Gordon - Payton - X - X has 3 guys who don't shoot very well on the floor at the same time. I know Ibaka is not a terrible shooter but having him pounding away from the outside doesn't seem like anyone's vision of success. How do you win in today's NBA with 3 mediocre shooters on the floor at the same time?

 

3. I've agreed with a lot of HeHateMe's analyses in the past, but I think in this case, he's been completely forgetting about Oadipo's defense. Skiles, who didn't complement players all that much, was clear that he thought Oladipo was our best and most consistent defender. On the other hand, Mario often got torched on defense, and while Fournier gave it his best, he doesn't have the same physical attributes that Dipo had to keep up with faster/stronger players.

 

4. A lot seems to be hanging on a very raw and unproven second year player, Hezonja. Is that really what anyone wants the upcoming season to depend upon?

 

Fair points. I have a few thoughts on each.

 

1. If you're referring to the Fake 4 comment, here was the context: "After this season, I feel like I have to be a stretch four. No more fake four."

 

He was not saying he didn't want to play the 4.

 

2. Ibaka had a better catch and shoot 3 point % than Dipo did last year. If you put him on the court with Fournier and let's say a guy like Batum, you have enough shooting to keep an offense going, although I agree it's not going to scare the Splash Brothers. But you are getting way more on defense than you're giving up offensively over whoever he is replacing at the 4 or 5.

 

3. Dipo's defense was really strong last season. No doubt. Hopefully we get a wing like Batum to strengthen our perimeter D, but even if we don't replace it fully, at least we'll have a better rim protector to allow our guys to close out harder on the perimeter because they won't be as worried about easy buckets inside.

 

4. Mario is definitely has some expectations and if we don't get a starting 3 in free agency and ask him to start there, I'll agree with you that we are probably asking too much. But let's see how FA pans out before we decide how much Mario is going to have to contribute next season. I did read an article on the Ringer that mentioned Mario would've been a top 2 pick in this year's draft. Are the expectations high? Yes. Are they too high? I guess we'll see. And hopefully free agency can lessen the burden either way.

 

5. I love how structured your post was!

[MagicFanInNevada 51]

Can people please stop over-reacting to Ibaka's 'decline'

Some of his defensive decline, rebounding, scoring has links to other causes.

 

Standing out at the 3pt line defending PF's who shoot threes puts him away from the basket, reducing his FREQUENCY of shot blocking. This is today's game, bringing bigs away from the rim.

 

Rebounding he has had the load taken off his shoulders from when he was playing with Perkins, to playing with Adams/Kanter who excell at rebounding so Ibaka was able to step out to the 3pt line and shoot, and so that he could box out and allow Adams and Kanter go to the boards effectively. Sometimes people forget it's a team game and someone else needs to contribute even though it reduces a players statistical significance.

 

His scoring like someone mentioned above, that is something that he can focus on being more balanced. Perhaps though, in our team we only will need him as a stretch 4 playing possibly next to Vuc depending on what happens, but I do agree he can go inside a little more in order to get him going in all facets of his offense.

 

He is 26, he is coming to play for Vogel. Who lets not forget makes defensive bigs MONSTERS.

 

Let's see how it plays out.

 

I couldn't agree more

[JJZFL 619]

Fair points. I have a few thoughts on each.

 

1. If you're referring to the Fake 4 comment, here was the context: "After this season, I feel like I have to be a stretch four. No more fake four."

 

He was not saying he didn't want to play the 4.

 

2. Ibaka had a better catch and shoot 3 point % than Dipo did last year. If you put him on the court with Fournier and let's say a guy like Batum, you have enough shooting to keep an offense going, although I agree it's not going to scare the Splash Brothers. But you are getting way more on defense than you're giving up offensively over whoever he is replacing at the 4 or 5.

 

3. Dipo's defense was really strong last season. No doubt. Hopefully we get a wing like Batum to strengthen our perimeter D, but even if we don't replace it fully, at least we'll have a better rim protector to allow our guys to close out harder on the perimeter because they won't be as worried about easy buckets inside.

 

4. Mario is definitely has some expectations and if we don't get a starting 3 in free agency and ask him to start there, I'll agree with you that we are probably asking too much. But let's see how FA pans out before we decide how much Mario is going to have to contribute next season. I did read an article on the Ringer that mentioned Mario would've been a top 2 pick in this year's draft. Are the expectations high? Yes. Are they too high? I guess we'll see. And hopefully free agency can lessen the burden either way.

 

5. I love how structured your post was!

 

Well said. The only area I might question is your comment about having enough shooting. Even with three guys who at least have to be guarded, it's still gonna be tough if the defense can sag way off the other two. We saw that last year.

 

Thanks for your thoughtful reply.