Improvements and Pitfalls to the upcoming '18-'19 season

[In2ition]

The over/under prior to last season was 31 wins. They were on that track before kicking the tank into full gear. This year they are expected to win 28.5 wins.

I think we can all agree that the West is stronger this year and nearly every team improved, but I'll counter that Suns may have improved more than any team in the league and let me give you the reasons why.
1. #1 draft pick - Deandre Ayton. Usually a rookie is not a positive addition in the first year, but I think he will be an exception. He is going to be put in a good position on defensive awareness and not have to make a ton of reads on the defensive side. The Suns most likely will use a Channel 2 defense with Ayton, and a ton of switchable defenders on the perimeter. Ayton should provide some gravity that they never had with Len or Chandler which eleviates pressure on the perimeter. He will be able to catch lobs that Chandler can't quite do anymore and Len never could. He is also reportedly a better midrange shooter than Len and certainly Chandler. He also supposedly has a better post game, and a better passer than Chandler who you couldn't really pass to him in the post or expect him to pass well. Len was actually a decent passer in the post, one of his strengths.
2. The Suns should add wins with the elimination of minutes given to both Knight and Chriss. Neither were a plus on the floor and in many instances they were a big negative. You could possibly add in Ulis, as he was hurt the first half of the season, couldn't shoot and was abused by larger guards the entire season.
3. The other additions to the team. Ariza, Holmes, Bridges, Anderson, Okobo, Melton all give the Suns some value in the proper role and are an upgrade to the players they replaced and the way that they want to play this year. The team in theory should play much better together.
4. The natural improvement of the young players on the team. I think we should see at least some improvement and possibly one of them making a large jump in development from Jackson, Harrison, Booker, Warren, Reed and even Bender.
5. Igor should be considered a 20 win improvement in coaching over Watson(I kid...maybe). Igor has already developed a good reputation for developing players, especially pgs. He also has shown the ability as a coach to develop and offensive and defensive system around the players he has where he will put them into the best position possible to perform their best and hide their weaknesses. I was impressed with him during his stint as the Slovenian coach(although he did have Dragic and Doncic), and he played a different style when he coached the Georgia team in the past with Zaza Pachulia as his best player.

Year National Team Tournament Standing Pld W L
2009 Georgia EuroBasket Div. B 1st 10 9 1
2010 Georgia EuroBasket Qual 2nd 8 5 3
2011 Georgia EuroBasket 11th 8 2 6
2012 Georgia EuroBasket Qual 2nd 8 6 2
2013 Georgia EuroBasket 17th 5 1 4
2014 Georgia EuroBasket Qual 1st 6 4 2
2015 Georgia EuroBasket 15th 6 2 4
2016 SloveniaEuroBasket Qual 1st 6 6 0
2017 SloveniaEuroBasket Gold medal 9 9 0
EuroBasket 5/5 34 20 14

6. The Suns were the worst team in the league in Record, 3 pt shooting, Defense, and Offense. The players that they added and got rid of should be a huge plus on improving all these things. I could easily see them improve to middle of the league in all areas this year.
7. Every starting position on the team will be an upgrade from last year if you include Booker should improve this year over last year, unless Chandler is going to be the starting Center.
8. The bench should be much improved this year, where the other teams aren't going to be able to take advantage of the Suns when the subs come in.
9. Partially with the change in the lottery coming this year, partially with the understanding that the Suns can't just keep adding young players and rookies, and partially due to Management and the organization not tanking the season or doing their best to win every game, the Suns should improve just from this.
10. Age of the team will be more conducive to winning or there could be a trade we don't know about or something that is a mystery to us at this moment. Could go good or bad.

Possible Pitfalls to this season as currently projected:
1. The West is tougher from top to bottom. No one is just going to get gimme wins as teams just laydown for them.
2. The Suns don't currently project to have a "Starting caliber" pg on the roster. This could be a huge limitation for them, or maybe one of the young guys provides more than expected.
3. Still relying on young to rookie players playing a large role.
4. New coach with no NBA head coaching experience.
5. Bad defensive, offensive and losing habits with the team and organizationally may carry over into this season.

[Superbone]

Nice thread, In2. Channel 2 defense? Is that when they channel the offense into the middle where Ayton can defend the rim?

5. Bad defensive, offensive and losing habits with the team and organizationally may carry over into this season.

Sure hope not. Time to turn this ship around. We had large player turnover and new coaching. Shouldn't be an issue.

[O_Gardino]

Yeah, I basically agree with In2.

The Good:
Igor is a +.
Booker (if healthy) is +.
We added shooters and defenders.
We added inside scoring.
Last season's young players have more experience.
Addition by subtraction.

The Hopes:
Our rookies are ready to play.
Bender and Jackson are grownups now.
The Front Office won't destroy team chemistry this season.

The Bad:
No good veteran PG.
No good veteran Center.
Too many forwards, and they don't necessarily fit together.
Our shooters are mostly declining veterans or unproven rookies. Or "most talented" don't necessarily fit well together.

[In2ition]

Nice thread, In2. Channel 2 defense? Is that when they channel the offense into the middle where Ayton can defend the rim?

5. Bad defensive, offensive and losing habits with the team and organizationally may carry over into this season.

Sure hope not. Time to turn this ship around. We had large player turnover and new coaching. Shouldn't be an issue.

I got that from David Nash who co-hosts the 7SOL podcast.

https://twitter.com/theIVpointplay/status/994043495873560576

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2018 ... film-study
As far as #5 on the Pitfalls, I thought I needed to put that in just in case, but I don't think there it's going to be a problem this year either.

[pickle]

I love the enthusiasm, but I guess by no stretch of the imagination did the Suns get better by the largest margin, since LeBron joined the Lakers. As much as I hate that team, LeBron makes them instantly relevant again.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way...

What I hope for this year:
1. A real coach with a real system and a focus towards real improvements to the young players
2. Some of our young players pulling their heads out of their asses
3. Stability, one voice in the locker room (Kokoskov's), and accountability

What I worry about:
1. This whole playoffs push that forces a certain playing style, minutes pattern, or awful trade mid-season that interrupt the player development
2. Locker room dissent due to overlapping talent/positions and lack of minutes

What I like:
1. Team's focus towards defense, and an actual style
2. Improved shooting -- while I'm not a huge fan of Anderson, I do think he brings something tangible to the table and think that giving him 20 mpg does way more good than harm

I'd say this is a do or die year for Bender, and a year for Josh to justify his high draft position. After this year, if neither can get their act together, then I will no longer consider them part of the core, and will shift my focus to Ayton/Mikal/Okobo/Melton instead.

[Indy]

If you don't follow David Nash on twitter, you are missing out.

[In2ition]

If you don't follow David Nash on twitter, you are missing out.

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[Superbone]

If you don't follow David Nash on twitter, you are missing out.

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