Nba: preseason top and flop: Chicago well, Lakers postponed

After 66 games in 12 days, the NBA preseason has ended, the last step before the regular season which will begin on the Italian night between Tuesday and Wednesday. Lots of technical information for the coaches, bombastic scores, some spectacular plays and, in general, very little defense. Five unbeaten teams, including Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls, new protagonists and some disappointments, such as Lakers and Blazers. Here are our 2021 preseason tops and flops.

top: Jordan Poole (warriors)

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The Warriors coached by Steve Kerr were undoubtedly among the best teams of this preseason, not only for their immaculate record – 5 wins and 0 losses – but above all for the quality and naturalness of the basketball expressed on the court. The cover man of the Dubs, however, is not Steph Curry – 41 points scored in the last game against Portland – but Milwaukee native guard Jordan Poole, always present and with a continuous and positive impact, especially in the offensive half. . For him 21.8 points with 50.6% shooting, 3.4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 recovery in 22.6 minutes on average. Creative from the dribble, quick and unpredictable in his movements, constantly growing in the three-point shot (36.4% from the arc with 3.2 triples scored per game) and, above all, very functional to the basketball professed by Kerr.

top: Tyler Herro (Heat)

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Tyler Herro’s third NBA season may be the one of the definitive explosion, after a dazzling debut and a harder and more problematic second year. The sixth man of the Miami Heat played a premier preseason, showing improvements in every aspect of the game, including physical and athletic. Herro is an evolving player who seems to have found greater completeness in the playmaking phase, in addition to the proven accomplishment skills that extend far beyond the “simple” three-point shot. His pre-season numbers say 22.4 points in 27 minutes on average, with 51.3% from the field and 44.8% from three (out of almost 6 triples attempted per match), 4.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Miami closed the preseason 5-1 and Herro showed that he could potentially be decisive for the balance of the team coming off the bench. Do we already have a possible candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year award?

top: chicago bulls

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Four victories in as many games – which count for the right, it should be emphasized – but above all a renewed enthusiasm around the team and a clear improvement in the overall quality of the roster, enriched during the offseason by important players such as DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball. Chicago has already shown flashes of good basketball and hints at a concrete and competitive team identity within the Eastern Conference. Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic now have a supporting cast at their disposal that can be seen, both aesthetically and in terms of functionality, by the basketball ideas of coach Billy Donovan. Watch out for the Bulls, in short, without thinking about it for a second too long. Chicago’s clear present is not an illusion.

flop: Los Angeles Lakers

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Zero victories in six games played, little, indeed very little team chemistry and a defense well below the usual – already very modest – preseason canons. The Lakers struggled a lot to produce a basketball of content and meaning, going little beyond the natural talent of its champions and a few small gusts in transition, and they gave the impression of calculating almost nothing these official friendly, which also would have served to start. to build something for the regular season. The emblem of this yellow-purple preseason is the newcomer Russell Westbrook, undisputed leader of the league in this phase for turnovers (5.8 per game), well under 40% shooting and overall almost always out of rhythm. So much confusion, in short, and a collective structure still firmly in watertight compartments.

flop: charlotte hornets

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Pass the defeats in the preseason (records 1-3), which we have learned to weigh, but not the bad figures. The sensational debacle suffered against the Dallas Mavericks on the Italian night between Wednesday and Thursday, a frightening 127-59, represents one of the most miserable pages in the history of the Hornets. A point of enormous baseness and technical paucity that can only radically discolor the pre-season performance of the boys trained by James Borrego. Paradoxical how the fact of losing 68 points is almost less painful than having scored just 59 in the whole game. For Charlotte a preseason to forget quickly.

flop: portland trailblazers

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Four defeats in four games played, the league’s last attack for points scored (91.3 on average) and a defense far from any criterion of sufficiency. The Blazers have certainly not given their best in this preseason, lacking in brilliance and versatility, especially in the attacking half, historically the strong point of the house. There are a thousand mitigating circumstances to consider and many reflections to be made behind these numbers and in the analysis of the game timidly expressed by Damian Lillard and his companions. The new head coach Chauncey Billups will certainly have time – hopefully – and a way to better understand his players, make himself understood and find a viable path with the aim of keeping the team on the competitive standards it deserves.