David Thorpe’s preseason notebook
David Thorpe’s preseason notebook
Ben Simmons, Trae Young, Tyler Herro, RJ Barrett, Zion, Jordan Poole, and … Jamal Cain?
BY DAVID THORPE
Fans like to get excited about preseason. Who can blame them? Each new season brings new players, sky’s-the-ceiling potential, maybe a chance to sniff a title or, finally, to become relevant. With every bucket, fans start writing the script of a new series starring their team.
Yet, as I often do on the TrueHoop podcast with Jarod Hector, I have to summon my inner Larry David: “I know you’re excited, but why don’t you curb your enthusiasm a little?”
In the preseason, winning possessions is not the dominating motivation. Strategies are floated out; lineups can be weird; opponents might come from Australian, Israeli, or Spanish leagues. Success or failure needs to be noticed and noted, sure—but rarely does anything we see in the preseason inspire a regular-season plot.
So, with that in mind …
Ben Simmons is still a long way off
Ben Simmons has been generating a lot of buzz…
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