Break Down Your Squads Individual Weaknesses

[ralph_i_el]

Now that rosters are about set, let's take a break from being homers and Stans to share our favorite teams weaknesses. You don't have to do every player, but try and at least do the projected starters. I'll start:

Wizards:

John Wall- shooting is an obvious weakness, but he's improved noticeably every season. I'd like to see him.improve his decision making coming off a pick, and turn some of those long 2's into drives. He also has issues defending small quick guards (DJ Augustine and Isiaih Thomas have given him fits). He's great on bigger points and Sg's, but he needs to improve his focus to deal with little waterbug guards.

Brad Beal- if he wants to be the alpha scorer he has the potential to be he needs to figure out a few go to moves inside the arc. He looks like he's winging it out there when he comes off a pick or goes ISO. He's a great shooter so he makes it work, but he's inefficient inside the arc (symptom of not getting to the rim/line more also). Seemed to be more focused in the playoffs though. He also needs to start the season off well. The past two years he's had slow starts.

Pierce- stay healthy and rested for the playoffs. Develope some PnR chemistry with Wall and Beal for the end of games when we really need a bucket

Nene- free throw shooting. He gets to the line a ton but his shooting % has dropped off. He needs to stay healthy too. He's an all-star caliber big when he's actually on the court without restriction. Insane combo of agility and size. It all goes to waste when you fake a guy out, get fouled and miss your FTS.

Gortat- try and shoot less long post attempts, an 8-10ft hook shot is not a great look. Gortat has issues with strength. He's lanky and has a weak lower body. I remember Dwight dunking on him 4 times in the 1st quarter in a game last season, every attempt coming off a straight bully back down, before we had to put Kevin Seraphin in the guard Dwight. Besides that Gortat is a stud!

Otto Porter- bring that confidence you had in the summer league! Last season he looked shook at times.

[Mr Exlax]

Dwight Howard - Still can't make freethrows consistently, but he's getting better. Needs to get healthier. Still not fully recovered from his back surgery.

TJones - Still raw, but getting better. Lost a ton of weight in the offseason. I imagine he's trying harder to be a stretch 4. Can't hit the 3 at a good clip. Not good on defensive rotations or rebounding. Super young so it's understandable.

Ariza - Can't create off the dribble and he's old now.

Harden - Bitch still won't play consistent defense

Beverly - Not a PG. Can't handle the rock. Can't create for others.

McHale - Possibly the worst coach in the NBA. No, he is for sure the worst coach in the NBA

Bench - I have no idea because they're either really young or really old.

[T_L_P]

Parker: staying healthy, learning to not push the issue.

Manu: staying healthy, decision making in big games (though it wasn't a problem last year)

Marco: DEFENSE! For all the crap a guy like Harden gets, Marco is almost equally as bad.

Kawhi: too passive at times. Doesn't look to take over like the Big 3 do.

Duncan: his midrange shot is unpredictable; sometimes it works for a whole season and sometimes it's just broken. He pretty much abandoned it in the Playoffs last year and looked to post-up.

Splitter: maybe work on play around the basket. For his role he's basically the perfect player though.

[oarabbus]

Avi Lee - self explanatory

[Milbuck]

Gonna go with the starting 5 that I hope to see on opening night..

PG: Brandon Knight - obviously not a point guard, but a shooting guard in a PG's body. This isn't that bad considering we're gonna use Giannis as a point-forward..but Knight's weaknesses as a PG are really damn clear. The dude can't run an offense, period. I like him as a starter right now, but down the road his real future is as a spark off the bench.

SG: Giannis Antetokounmpo - Just lacks experience and physical maturity. He's got all the tools, he just needs to refine them. His shooting looks improved, but he can still get even better. His ball handling and playmaking is great for his age and size, but playing the role of the team's primary ball handler should make him even better. Looks like he gained significant muscle since last year, but he's not done, needs to keep getting in the weight room.

SF: Jabari Parker - Defense and conditioning (for now). Offensively he's a beast, but defensively he lacks that fire and awareness you need to defend at a high level. I hate to say it..but defensively he reminds me a lot of James Harden. Gets lost sometimes, and it's more because of being too lax than actual IQ..he showed he can play defense when focused and engaged, he just needs to give that effort consistently. And a lot of it was because he was out of shape this summer, for whatever reason. He's gonna have NBA-level training and conditioning staff around him and access to great workout facilities and nutrition at all times..he has zero excuse not to be in 100% shape by the end of the season.

PF: John Henson - Strength. Apparently he put on a lot of muscle in the offseason, but I need to see him use it in the season. No more getting pushed around and bullied, he needs to impose his presence defensively. He blocked 2.3 shots per game per 36..if he gets even stronger we could have a sick defensive duo in the FC with him and Sanders.

C: Larry Sanders - Health and motivation. If/when he's healthy, he's one of the most impactful defenders in the game..shotblocker and great rim protector. If we ever hope to be good defensively he needs to be healthy and needs to cut the bullshit off the court to be 100% focused with the team. He's a good dude and seems to care about his teammates but being nice =/= being focused on the game.


We're not gonna win that many games..but I think when healthy, we have a much better starting 5 than people will admit. I honestly think we could scrape together 30-35 wins if everyone is healthy, especially Sanders.

[Demitri98]

Westbrook - decision making
Lamb - Ball handling
Durant - defensive awareness
Ibaka - Post scoring/passing
Adams - free throws

[KobesFinger]

Assuming Lin/Kobe/Young/Boozer/Hill is our starting 5

Jeremy Lin is a turnover-prone score first guard

Kobe Bryant is coming back off two injuries and has played only 6 games since April 2013. He's also 36 and has been an average to poor defender for about 5 years now.

Nick Young can't get his points in the offence, is a poor/unwilling passer/ has tunnel vision, can't handle and is inconsistent

Carlos Boozer is a horrible defender and is aging

Jordan Hill isn't a great man defender in the post and isn't a reliable scoring option

[StephHamann]

This one is easy:

Nelson - defense
Ellis - defense
Parsons - defense
Dirk - defense
Tyson - staying healthy

[BlackWhiteGreen]

Depth chart:

PG: Rondo 38 - Smart 8
SG: Bradley 34 - Smart 14
SF: Green 34 - Turner 7 - Young 7
PF: Sullinger 34 - Olynyk 14
C: Zeller 30 - Olynyk 18

Rondo: Will he be the Rondo of 2010 game 4 vs Cleveland, the 2012 game 2 vs Miami, the 2009 series against Chicago? Or will he be the Rondo of @Atlanta on a Wednesday in mid-December? If he puts in the former, Boston will be in the hunt for the 8th seed. If he puts in the latter, he'l be traded for an expiring and a pick. We'll see.

Bradley: He needs to display the shooting of the last month of last season (47% 3PT) or comparable to justify being the starting 2. He's short, and can get abused by bigger guards - I don't know how they'll guard Golden State (without Smart to take on Thompson) for example - and his over-aggression can lead to early fouls. But generally, if his shot is falling, he's the most consistent offensive threat on the team.

Green: The only thing holding him back from being from challenging the top 4 SFs is his mentality. He is more inconsistent than politicians under pressure. Fantastic as a 3rd option - no use on this team.

Sullinger: Too short, not athletic enough, and takes too many threes - but aside from that, he potentially has as much potential as any 4 in the league.

Zeller: Likely a (very) poor man's Tyson Chandler at best, he's effectively the starting Centre because there's no one else. Doesn't block shots, can't shoot - not exactly starting calibre. But effectively a free shot with the Pierce TPE, so can't complain.

Smart: I really like the kid, but he needs to be able to shoot before anyone will take him seriously.

Olynyk: similar to Sullinger, but taller. Potentially as good as Dirk - realistically closer to Spencer Hawes.

Turner: low-cost reclamation project. If he ****s up, just give his minute to James Young.

Young: Very raw. Can shoot and has great raw athleticism - needs to apply himself. Not sold on his character.