PGDT: Preseason game 1 - Jazz (0-0) at Mavs (0-0) 7:30pm Bally Sports

[EricaLubarsky]

The good
We won! Utah didn't have most of their starters, but we won
Luka is Luka. Dude was efficient and awesome.
Brunson's passing. Seems he heard the criticism of being a shoot-first SG and played some PG.
Green is so mobile and active. His defense was amazing.
The Brown Boys look solid. Sterling hitting his jumpers. Moses rebounding well.
Third/fourth string competition, but our Jones and Hunt looked good.
our defense looked slightly improved. Occasionally stifling
5 steals, 5 blocks. Again, we were playing the Jazz bench, but if we want to disrupt, we gotta get steals and blocks. We were 30th in steals and 21st in blocks last year (4.3steals, 4.0 blocks so over last year's average)

the bad
KP and THJ looked rusty and inefficient, although KP did look engaged rather than bored. Just didn't hit shots and got stripped.
Green is a game-changer defensively, but he has no offense.
Our ability to confidently shoot off the pass was bad
Clang clang clang. This team still goes minutes where they stop scoring and allow huge runs. They also answer hot shooting with jacked shots, which they make and we miss.
Huge defensive lapses were not immediately solved by Kidd's hiring

[Zeus]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

The good
We won! Utah didn't have most of their starters, but we won
Luka is Luka. Dude was efficient and awesome.
Brunson's passing. Seems he heard the criticism of being a shoot-first SG and played some PG.
Green is so mobile and active. His defense was amazing.
The Brown Boys look solid. Sterling hitting his jumpers. Moses rebounding well.
Third/fourth string competition, but our Jones and Hunt looked good.
our defense looked slightly improved. Occasionally stifling
5 steals, 5 blocks. Again, we were playing the Jazz bench, but if we want to disrupt, we gotta get steals and blocks. We were 30th in steals and 21st in blocks last year (4.3steals, 4.0 blocks so over last year's average)

the bad
KP and THJ looked rusty and inefficient, although KP did look engaged rather than bored. Just didn't hit shots and got stripped.
Green is a game-changer defensively, but he has no offense.
Our ability to confidently shoot off the pass was bad
Clang clang clang. This team still goes minutes where they stop scoring and allow huge runs. They also answer hot shooting with jacked shots, which they make and we miss.
Huge defensive lapses were not immediately solved by Kidd's hiring

Since offensive variability (deviation from the pack) is greater than defensive variability there is literally no way a player can make up total impact purely from defense unless they are hands down the best defensive player in the league and even then there total impact would be that of a league average defender than can play good offense. Green simply doesn't have discernable offensive skills. He is and will be a bust.

[mac222b]

Originally Posted by Zeus

Since offensive variability (deviation from the pack) is greater than defensive variability there is literally no way a player can make up total impact purely from defense unless they are hands down the best defensive player in the league and even then there total impact would be that of a league average defender than can play good offense. Green simply doesn't have discernable offensive skills. He is and will be a bust.

Agree with the general premise that offense carries more weight in this era of NBA ball. But Green does have discernible offensive skills. He’s already a better ball handler/passer than, say, Jae Crowder. He’s probably a better rebounder too. He will eventually be a better defender. He just needs to develop a 3 point shot that he hits around 35-38% of the time to be one of the super valuable 3/D guys that are so coveted. He’s still 20 yrs old. Siakam shot 22% from 3 on like 130 something attempts in his second year in the league at age 24. Good thing Toronto didn’t give up on him!

I’m not saying that I have any special foreknowledge that Green won’t be a bust. Averages say it’s more likely he will bust so it’s not exactly going out on a limb to say so. But he isn’t a bust yet. I would’ve have preferred Bey or Maxey or Precious. But Green still has plenty of upside and I hope he gets a shot here. We need more athletes and cheap young players.