Takeaways from tonight:
1) This team will be impossible to defend once fully gelled and accustomed to playing with each other. That first five of Jrue, White, JB, JT, and KP is unstoppable given their shooting and spacing.
2) Similarly, defensively we also have the potential to be elite. KP is a gamechanger down low, particularly when playing a team with a non-shooting five.
3) However, it's going to take some time. We're basically a brand new team, and they clearly had some struggles adjusting to the new teammates out there. Expect some rough stretches the first quarter of the season until we iron out the kinks. Defensively, too, they'll have to get used to the rotations.
4) The bench is tenuous. If PP and Hauser aren't hitting their shots, that's a big problem and makes the bench even weaker. And don't get me started on Kornet, but he's just not a NBA-level big, especially for a role this size on a title contender. I think we'll start seeing more Stevens and Brissett moving forward, as the two big Kornet lineups looked so awkward out there.
5) Lastly, I think at least one or two of the stars are going to see some fairly substantial sacrifice in their numbers. I think we'll see Jrue's scoring drop quite a bit, but I think we'll also see JB's scoring drop. Given their advantages at their respective positions and how well they can play off each other and the rest of the team, they're going to get theirs and be the primary cogs in the offense.
Topic: Celtics (0-0) at Knicks (0-0) Game #1 10/25/23 (Read 41727 times)