Season Preview - LAC

[blackice]

The team has rounded out nicely but there are questions to be had in Los Angeles. The team is pressing against the hard cap, key pieces to last years team are gone (Paul, Faried) and the team is being driven to win a title this year by ownership while GM BI has put together a youth movement - the balance/goal is the youngest contender in the league.

BI and Michael Wilbon sat down and had a chat:

Interview w/ GM Blackice

Wilbon:

Hi BI, first off I'm glad we got this done and I hope our conversation will prove illuminating for the public.

BI:
Thanks Mike.

Wilbon:

First off after reading quotes across the league some are poking fun at your propensity to trade players. How do you feel about that?

BI:
I think any new GM wants to make their imprint on the team but we did keep Lawson and instead of moving Klay we built the team around his strengths. It is what it is, the real battles are in game and I don't care much about anything else.

Wilbon:

I have a direct quote from a source/fellow GM stating:

"BI is mortgaging the teams future due to the loss of future 1st rounders"

BI: Morgaging the future? For one Lee expires after this season and he makes upward of 15M so we are only at risk this season. Secondary, this team IS the future!

*Points to DC with ages of players attached*

*pending approval of Faried/Olapido trade*

Depth Chart

PG: Ty Lawson (27)/Isaiah Thomas (25)/Isaiah Canaan (24)
SG: Victor Oladipo (23) /George Hill (29)
SF: Klay Thompson (25)/DeMar DeRozan (25)/Shabazz Muhammed (21)
PF: Larry Sanders (27)/David Lee (32)
CC: Roy Hibbert (28)

Wilbon:

I see, how do you gauge your chances at a title this year?

BI: I've had teams of immense talent underachieve, we had a very specific MO this season and that was giving Klay a team that he could win with while keeping the age of the team down. We also feel we can withstand an injury to any player and survive given our bench.

Wilbon:

Thank you for being candid with us and goodluck this season

BI: Thank you.





Roster Overview



22.7/4.9/6.1/0.0/1.4
44/35/81 - %

Lawson was the engine that drove this team to a division title, he put up great numbers playing SG and his defensive tenacity would be better served at PG given his size. Only 27 on a pretty reasonable deal.

9.7/2.2/3.3/0.1/0.3
43/42/81 - %

Isaiah Thomas is an elite long range shooter and an above average backup PG but he isn't a passing wizard or a guy who you want running your team without secondary playmaking. He serves his role here given the talent around him.

14.3/4.2/4.9/0.2/0.5
43/37/76 - %

We expect Hill's raw numbers to go down and his efficiency to go up. His versatility and ability to pass/space and play both guard positions will really bolster our bench

12.1/3.2/3.3/0.5/1.4
44/34/71 - %

The marque acquisition for us, he's one of the only players who can play inside/outside and defend (FGI - 93 / FGJ 80 / DEF 81) and at 23 with a bigger role he could make a leap with us. His ability to lockdown on defense and play a large role in the decision making of the offense makes him the X factor for our team.

20.8/5.0/2.5/0.5/1.0
47/50/84 - %

If Lawson was the engine that ran the team, Klay was the car. At only 25 it might be a blessing that he's an RFA and thus will avoid GM BI's trade barrage. Truth be told his spacing ability + high volume might prove critical in any run the team makes and his age (25) could make any rebuilding effort more bearable.

18.9/4.9/1.7/0.2/0.8
43/28/82 - %

DeMar is our volume scorer off the bench and insurance at both wings position. He can start if need be (injury) and his efficiency should revert back to 2013 form.

13.9/7.2/1.3/0.2/0.8
47/-/78 - %

Lee is our 3rd big and provides low post scoring for us off the bench and strong rebounding. Can play both big man positions

10.6/9.5/1.1/2.0/0.8
45/-/63 - %

Mobile defensive anchor who is more suited to PF (222 lbs) and an above average rebounder. We want to keep his USG% low and have him concentrate on the other end.

8.7/6.6/1.0/2.3/0.6
41/-/80 - %

This behemoth (7'2 - 278 lbs) has under-performed up to now and has the potential to single handily carry a defense. Combined with Sanders and our backcourt we will push for a top 5 defense.

[Dennis]

Interesting line up and it has to be seen if it works. Especially the Noobbert + Sanders frontcourt is an interesting experiment.

The marque acquisition for us, he's one of the only players who can play inside/outside and defend (FGI - 93 / FGJ 80 / DEF 81) and at 23 with a bigger role he could make a leap with us. His ability to lockdown on defense and play a large role in the decision making of the offense makes him the X factor for our team.

Still I dont get that quote. FGI and FGJ are a combination of preferences and the ability to shoot, but its 90% preferences. I wouldnt call him inefficient, but he isnt a good shooter.

[Dennis]

Interesting line up and it has to be seen if it works. Especially the Noobbert + Sanders frontcourt is an interesting experiment.

The marque acquisition for us, he's one of the only players who can play inside/outside and defend (FGI - 93 / FGJ 80 / DEF 81) and at 23 with a bigger role he could make a leap with us. His ability to lockdown on defense and play a large role in the decision making of the offense makes him the X factor for our team.

Still I dont get that quote. FGI and FGJ are a combination of preferences and the ability to shoot, but its 90% preferences. I wouldnt call him inefficient, but he isnt a good shooter.

As Im a nerd and wanted to waste some time anyway I run a regression via SPSS with FGJ as dependent variable and jumper%, 3p% and preferences jumpers and three as independent variables.

results are (looking only at sig levels):
J% 0.272
3p% 0.519
preferences jumper 0.42*
preferences threes 0.67

preferences are significant for jumpers and close to be significant for threes.

[NanashiWake]

Good read, you do have a nice young talented team. However I thought you were closer to the title with the last team, although you can't deny that your team is going to be competitive for longer.

[Rizzo]

You've got some talent but I think that front court could be suspect together. I'm sure you will prove me wrong though. And playing Klay at the three could be a mismatch problem on both end of the floors.

[KW]

I definitely like your roster, you've got a lot pieces, but more frontcourt depth is definitely necessary or you're going to have to play major small ball.

[Marcos_Beck]

Interesting line up and it has to be seen if it works. Especially the Noobbert + Sanders frontcourt is an interesting experiment.

The marque acquisition for us, he's one of the only players who can play inside/outside and defend (FGI - 93 / FGJ 80 / DEF 81) and at 23 with a bigger role he could make a leap with us. His ability to lockdown on defense and play a large role in the decision making of the offense makes him the X factor for our team.

Still I dont get that quote. FGI and FGJ are a combination of preferences and the ability to shoot, but its 90% preferences. I wouldnt call him inefficient, but he isnt a good shooter.

As Im a nerd and wanted to waste some time anyway I run a regression via SPSS with FGJ as dependent variable and jumper%, 3p% and preferences jumpers and three as independent variables.

results are (looking only at sig levels):
J% 0.272
3p% 0.519
preferences jumper 0.42*
preferences threes 0.67

preferences are significant for jumpers and close to be significant for threes.

Explain this a little bit more. Translate it for those who don't know statistics very well haha

[Marcos_Beck]

It's a BI team so we can expect something big to happen during the season.

You have 6 perimeter (PG/SG/SF) and 3 interior (PF/C) players. This isn't the ideal balance for a team as with only 3 bigs, should any of them gets into foul trouble (not to mention injuries) you are guaranteed having to go small-ball.

I see you trying to trade your way into someone like Josh Smith (who can play both SF and PF positions) when all those restrictions are over. Then it would make your team way more balanced. I think you'll reach postseason fairly easily, and once you're there, a rotation of:

Lawson / Hill
Oladipo / DeRozan / Hill
Klay / DeRozan / player acquired from trading Thomas
Sanders / Lee / player acquired from trading Thomas
Hibbert / Sanders

will be very difficult to play against. There are 4 strong defenders around Klay starting and off the bench you have a nice blend of scoring in what appears to be a very complete 9 man rotation.
Clearly Thomas looks like he's the odd man out there and if you can trade him for the kind of player I'm telling you (Luigi Datome, Evan Turner, Derrick Williams, any of those so called "tweeners" who plays both F spots), even if he's not a good player (as he's not getting more than 10mpg unless its due to foul trouble), you'll be extremely good.

I see a lot of things just like my team here. A possible 9 man rotation that looks like a lot with what I'm trying to do!

[Dylan]

It'll be interesting to see how this works out. Definitely young enough to build a real dynasty if everything goes as planned. The big men are interesting, and it's a pretty great defensive team.

Should definitely see the playoffs in the west, but need to see some games to determine whether this is a championship contender or not.

[Myles]

I think the biggest concern here is a little thing called the hard cap.

[Cyrisnyte]

Well, you have gone "all in" that is for sure. I've been around in leagues with you long enough to never doubt you man. Just when it looks like chaos, you pull an ace out of your sleeve. I'm sure your plan will have backup plans B - Z.

[lakeshowak7]

Statement from the Blazers front office: "Portland is beginning a new era of basketball that involves hard-nose, in your face style basketball reminiscent of the Bad Boys era Pistons. With that said, the Clippers are a steaming pile of poo."

[blackice]

Statement from the Blazers front office: "Portland is beginning a new era of basketball that involves hard-nose, in your face style basketball reminiscent of the Bad Boys era Pistons. With that said, the Clippers are a steaming pile of poo."

Right, cause we the shit.

[NanashiWake]

Statement from the Blazers front office: "Portland is beginning a new era of basketball that involves hard-nose, in your face style basketball reminiscent of the Bad Boys era Pistons. With that said, the Clippers are a steaming pile of poo."

Right, cause we the shit.

Dayum!