It makes total sense to me. The league is more flush with talent than it maybe has ever been. Even bad teams aren't playing total scrubs the way it used to be back in the day. You can't just show up against any team and give less than your best and expect a win.JeremyG wrote: ↑Fri Feb 28, 2025 9:51 amWhat I don’t understand is how this team can have a losing record this season. Yeah the team was poorly constructed and has no chance at being a contender, but there’s so much talent to where you think they could at least be .500 or above just by showing up to play each game, even without cohesion or good coaching or heart.
A perception that lots of folks still seem to have is that the secret to a winning team is to assemble a "super team" or a "big 3" or whatever, and that this should consist of guys who like to score 30 ppg every night. Having scorers is great, but the league has really changed. You can win a ton of games if you can just play with discipline on both ends of the floor and get good shots (3s and layups) almost every possession. The usefulness of having a Jordan / Kobe-esque guy who can hit a tough fadeaway mid-range shot down the stretch is still greater than 0, but it has dropped a lot over the past decade or so.
It is much more important to build a team defense that prevents the other team from getting good shots, along with an offense that moves the ball into position to get yourself those good shots. We built our team almost completely against what has become winning NBA basketball in 2025: we tripled down on max-contract ball stopping finishers and we didn't invest anything in offensive facilitators nor in developing an excellent team defense. And with 3 guys on max-sized deals, and most of our picks already out the door, we just don't have any way to round out the roster and fix what's wrong.
TL;DR - We suck.
