Yeah, my point was that, essentially, he wasn't a top twenty guy last year, and that people are basically putting him there because of his playoff series against Miami. To be fair, he was great in that series. I just need to see him do it for an entire season before I call him a top twenty player.
Now, if we were making a list of the top twenty up-and-comers, he'd almost certainly be on that one. But top twenty in the NBA right now? Gotta earn that, and it takes more than one hot playoff series to do so.
It's really the same with Hibbert as well.
Thing about Indiana is that they are built to not be reliant on a player to be a superstar or top 20. They are built on D first and the ability of multiple guys to step up. I think the Cavs are set up to have more offensive options than the Pacers do, but they have a loooonggg way to go to come anywhere near the Pacers on defense.
The Cavs are building closest to Indiana's model, though with more offensive upside. They are focused on rebounding (not a surprise, as that was a strength when LeBron was here) and defense. Those two things are the Pacers' bread and butter. And the two really go together. Every defensive rebound takes away a second chance while every offensive rebound gives you a second opportunity. Being excellent off the glass is a cornerstone to good basketball. Good defense usually allows for the rebounding to shine as a minority of plays ends with blocks and steals. Those are great things too, but most of the time you want to put the opponent in a bad position to shoot and have them try to force it. Then your rebounding kicks in.
The limiting factors for the Cavs are health, defensive ability, and the learning curve to maximize that ability.
I tend to think Indiana is most likely to finish with the #2 seed this year. The Bulls are good, but with Granger returning and the other adds for the Pacers, I see them as a 55 win team. The Bulls will be near that, but I think they'll just finish below that. I also tend to think that Miami won't get to 66, but be closer to 60 this year - maybe 61. The EC will be a tighter race at the top this year.
And the Pacers were close last year to unseating Miami. Honestly, I think they should have taken game 1. I'm not sure that game ends like that if they don't pull Hibbert at the end. I just don't see Hibbert letting anyone have a clear path to the basket. Similar things happened with the Spurs. The Heat do deserve credit, but they were helped by some bad coaching decisions. That's part of the game.
But Indy is even better on paper. Can they stay healthy and can the defense continue to be suffocating? With the EC being tougher, Miami might be worn down a bit before getting to the EC Finals too - though same goes for Indy.
