A quarter of the season gone -- what's surprised you so far?

[LarBrd33]

Surprises for Boston:

- Bradley's streak was unexpected.  I hope it continues.
- David Lee is disappointing, though I give him credit for his production in limited minutes recently.


Beyond that, nothing has really surprised me.   We're slightly above .500.  Smart's shown minimal development offensively.   Sully still puts up stats when given the minutes.   Our rookies are d-leaguers.   Turner is still way better than people here gave him credit for.   I expected all of these things. 


The biggest surprise for me outside of Boston is how poor Brooklyn's start has been... that and I don't think anyone expected Golden State to be THIS good. 

[bdm860]

- The continued lack of Adam Silver conspiracy theories.  After the initial honeymoon period I expected his name would be written over Stern's in the same old nonsense by now.  Good sign for his administration long-term.

Just wait till the Lakers win the lottery.  So what if they have the 2nd worst record in the league, the lottery is clearly fixed, it's outrageous that the Lakers will jump up one spot, while Boston (through Brooklyn) gets pushed back to 6.

[PhoSita]

Turner is still way better than people here gave him credit for.   

How much better do you think he is than people give him credit for?

He's a decent secondary ball-handler and occasional scorer to have on your bench.  His ability to create his own shot inside of 15 feet has helped the team when Isaiah isn't running the show, especially with Smart injured.  He's like a bigger Sean Livingston with better individual scoring ability.

All of this makes him a nice enough contributor to the team, but I'm not sure what additional credit he deserves.  Are we supposed to recognize him as one of the top players on the team?  Are we supposed to acknowledge that he's vindicated his draft status, or proven Philadelphia wrong for moving on from him?  What has he shown an ability to do this year that he hasn't done in the past?

[alewilliam789]

I think the seamless transition from 6th man to starter for Isaiah Thomas. I was preaching and hoping that Stevens would add him to the stating lineup this year because the backcourt of Smart and Bradley didn't provide enough playmaking for the starting unit. Bradley has made massive strides and that backcourt is almost perfect for each other. Will be interesting to see what Danny and Brad do with Smart once he comes back because this backcourt has played a lot better together than either Smart and Thomas or Smart and Bradley.

[slamtheking]

thanks for the input guys -- much appreciated.  a number of items here I hadn't considered

[TheFlex]

Also want to add --


Jae Crowder, in 30 mpg, is averaging approximately 12 points, 2 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals on 42 / 33 / 85 shooting.  He's attempting 4 three pointers a game and getting to the line 3 times a game.

That is better than I ever hoped he could be as a starting small forward.  I doubted he could perform this well as a starter, and I was wrong.  Those are Demarre Carroll numbers.  If he can sustain this, Crowder gives us Carroll production at half the price, and we locked him up for five years.  That's stupendous.

TP. Avery Bradley has shown similar statistical improvement on a similar contract.

[TheFlex]

Turner is still way better than people here gave him credit for.   

TP. I hope we find a way to consolidate our assets and keep him.

[saltlover]

Turner is still way better than people here gave him credit for.   

How much better do you think he is than people give him credit for?

He's a decent secondary ball-handler and occasional scorer to have on your bench.  His ability to create his own shot inside of 15 feet has helped the team when Isaiah isn't running the show, especially with Smart injured.  He's like a bigger Sean Livingston with better individual scoring ability.

All of this makes him a nice enough contributor to the team, but I'm not sure what additional credit he deserves.  Are we supposed to recognize him as one of the top players on the team?  Are we supposed to acknowledge that he's vindicated his draft status, or proven Philadelphia wrong for moving on from him?  What has he shown an ability to do this year that he hasn't done in the past?

Seriously, the number of cut/bench Evan Turner posts on here should tell you how little credit he gets.  Yes, he's like a bigger, better Shaun Livingston.  Livingston is a quality player on the best team in the league -- yet people here think Turner is dogmeat.  He's our 8th-highest paid player, and provides at least that much value.  No one is arguing Turner is a star.  But the vitriol towards him here is really inexplicable.  So what if he was #2 overall?  We didn't pick him then, so it's not like he cost us.  He suits up every day (hasn't missed a game in Green) ready to help at multiple positions, and hasn't had a hint of the locker room cancer reputation that preceded his arrival.  My only regret is that we didn't sign Turner for three seasons instead of two.

Edit: It's rare that I agree with LarBird.  Didn't even realize he was the one who made the comment!

[max215]

Also want to add --


Jae Crowder, in 30 mpg, is averaging approximately 12 points, 2 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals on 42 / 33 / 85 shooting.  He's attempting 4 three pointers a game and getting to the line 3 times a game.

That is better than I ever hoped he could be as a starting small forward.  I doubted he could perform this well as a starter, and I was wrong.  Those are Demarre Carroll numbers.  If he can sustain this, Crowder gives us Carroll production at half the price, and we locked him up for five years.  That's stupendous.

While he can definitely be frustrating to watch at times, I'm thrilled we have Jae locked up.

[LarBrd33]

Turner is still way better than people here gave him credit for.   

How much better do you think he is than people give him credit for?

He's a decent secondary ball-handler and occasional scorer to have on your bench.  His ability to create his own shot inside of 15 feet has helped the team when Isaiah isn't running the show, especially with Smart injured.  He's like a bigger Sean Livingston with better individual scoring ability.

All of this makes him a nice enough contributor to the team, but I'm not sure what additional credit he deserves.  Are we supposed to recognize him as one of the top players on the team?  Are we supposed to acknowledge that he's vindicated his draft status, or proven Philadelphia wrong for moving on from him?  What has he shown an ability to do this year that he hasn't done in the past?

Seriously, the number of cut/bench Evan Turner posts on here should tell you how little credit he gets.  Yes, he's like a bigger, better Shaun Livingston.  Livingston is a quality player on the best team in the league -- yet people here think Turner is dogmeat.  He's our 8th-highest paid player, and provides at least that much value.  No one is arguing Turner is a star.  But the vitriol towards him here is really inexplicable.  So what if he was #2 overall?  We didn't pick him then, so it's not like he cost us.  He suits up every day (hasn't missed a game in Green) ready to help at multiple positions, and hasn't had a hint of the locker room cancer reputation that preceded his arrival.  My only regret is that we didn't sign Turner for three seasons instead of two.

Edit: It's rare that I agree with LarBird.  Didn't even realize he was the one who made the comment!

To PhoSita... no, I don't think we're supposed to see Turner as a star.  Heading into this season, there were lots of posts about how Turner would be the odd man out of the rotation, how he was basically a garbage role player that we had no need for.   This despite the fact that during our run last season, he was arguably our best player.  And not surprisingly, he's still contributing quality minutes for us this year (5th most minutes at 26mpg).   

[konkmv]

I think bradley offensivly is the biggest surprise

[TheTruthFot18]

- Bradley's streak was unexpected.  I hope it continues.
- David Lee is disappointing, though I give him credit for his production in limited minutes recently.

I was going to add AB has been the only real surprise. Nothing else jumps out as a huge step forward or backwards.

The biggest surprise for me outside of Boston is how poor Brooklyn's start has been... that and I don't think anyone expected Golden State to be THIS good.

On paper they seemed OK for the East but they just reeked of a  pending implosion. I would say as a team Houston has been the biggest surprise despite having a cancer like Howard.

[LarBrd33]

- Bradley's streak was unexpected.  I hope it continues.
- David Lee is disappointing, though I give him credit for his production in limited minutes recently.

I was going to add AB has been the only real surprise. Nothing else jumps out as a huge step forward or backwards.

The biggest surprise for me outside of Boston is how poor Brooklyn's start has been... that and I don't think anyone expected Golden State to be THIS good.

On paper they seemed OK for the East but they just reeked of a  pending implosion. I would say as a team Houston has been the biggest surprise despite having a cancer like Howard.

Oh yeah I'd add Houston's struggles as another surprise.  There was a time this offseason where trading for Ty Lawson seemed like a great idea.  Plenty advocated trading IT for Lawson. I was envious that Houston landed him for very little.   

[manl_lui]

- Bradley's streak was unexpected.  I hope it continues.
- David Lee is disappointing, though I give him credit for his production in limited minutes recently.

I was going to add AB has been the only real surprise. Nothing else jumps out as a huge step forward or backwards.

The biggest surprise for me outside of Boston is how poor Brooklyn's start has been... that and I don't think anyone expected Golden State to be THIS good.

On paper they seemed OK for the East but they just reeked of a  pending implosion. I would say as a team Houston has been the biggest surprise despite having a cancer like Howard.

Oh yeah I'd add Houston's struggles as another surprise.  There was a time this offseason where trading for Ty Lawson seemed like a great idea.  Plenty advocated trading IT for Lawson. I was envious that Houston landed him for very little.

my biggest knock on AB back then was his inability to dribble or pass. I see GREAT improvement with that in the past few games. Hope his improvement continues

[CelticSooner]

As other have already stated it's how mediocre the Western Conference has looked to this point. Only the Warriors and Spurs have met their quota so to speak. Both conferences might be finally starting to balance out.