These five teams have had a bad start to the season
We are two weeks away from the NBA regular season and although it is still early to draw conclusions, we can enter the realm of hypotheses. The first games brought with them a first x-ray of the franchises, a preview of what they may or may not be in this 2023-24 season.
Some things have looked very good and others not so much. Precisely, we will immerse ourselves in this second order: the territory of suspicious earthquakes for equipment that must change before collapsing.
Memphis Grizzlies
If I had to pick just one nightmare team to start the season, it would be the Grizzlies. With raw materials to fight for important things, they lost six games in a row (the most since 2002-03 when they started 0-13) and could only recover against the weak Blazers on Sunday night.
The arrival of Marcus Smart to Taylor Jenkins’ team has been positive, but without Ja Morant (absent due to suspension during the first 25 games) the Memphis offense looks chilling: they appear in 28th place in offensive efficiency, only ahead of New York and Portland. The defense, to make matters worse, is not a luxury either: they allow 110.3 points per hundred possessions and rank 18th.
Desmond Bane has stood up for his team, but his efforts are insufficient. And Jaren Jackson Jr., without Steve Adams out due to injury for the entire season, is not the same. Who do they miss? In part, to Dillon Brooks, today at a high level in the Houston Rockets.
The return of Santi Aldama serves to strengthen the team as does the signing of Bismack Biyombo. We will see if this victory against Portland is a takeoff or simply a breath of encouragement before descending deeply in the Western Conference standings.
Miami Heat
They beat the Pistons, but then fell, consecutively, to the Celtics, the Timberwolves, the Bucks and the Nets. They bounced back against the Wizards, but this 2-4 start is disappointing considering all the good they had done in previous playoffs.
At the moment, the departure of Max Strus and Gabe Vincent on the perimeter is noticeable. Kyle Lowry’s start is below expectations and Bam Adebayo lacks serious company in the paint. Yes, the Tyler Herro and Jimmy Butler thing has been acceptable, but that alone is not enough. Rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. still needs to fit in more and Luka Jovic doesn’t seem to have Erik Spoelstra’s full confidence yet. The truth is that the Heat appear in sixteenth position in defensive efficiency and nineteenth in offense, well below a team that intends to compete in the playoffs in the future.
There’s a long way to go, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Pat Riley and Spoelstra were already thinking about a possible move to improve the team after the deep disappointment of seeing Damian Lillard leave for the Milwaukee Bucks.
phoenix suns
We’ll give the benefit of the doubt because Bradley Beal still hasn’t played a minute in the regular series and Devin Booker has been more off the court than on it. But this version of the Suns, with Kevin Durant in responsible superhero mode, can only lead to one place: disappointment. They have won three games out of seven played and are still far from a competitive version that allows them to think about something more than a good position in the West.
Eric Gordon and Grayson Allen help Durant on the perimeter and Jusuf Nurkic continues to try to fill the vacancy left by DeAndre Ayton. But it’s not enough. Frank Vogel knows that, to compete, it is impossible to live on mediocre offensive efficiency. The thing about these Soles is that after two weeks they are still far from fluid: they are a dance group that has no coordinated movements and hopes to resolve the impurities as soon as possible. For now, it’s much more of a wish than a work in progress.
Time. Perhaps this is what Phoenix needs to continue working on chemistry in the lab, but for now the results in the field seem much more like a nightmare than a hopeful dream.
The Chicago Bulls
Worse than doing it right or wrong is not knowing why you are in a place. That’s what happens with these Bulls, who continue in cruise mode towards infinite insignificance. They defend terribly (22nd in defensive efficiency) and attack even worse (27th in offensive efficiency). They won two of seven games and their star players, such as Zach Lavine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic, have suffered an unfortunate decline in their brand image of late. Beyond isolated positive productions, we all know that if there is something missing in Chicago, it is leadership.
There is no need to go back to the golden era of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen… Where were those years of Derrick Rose’s explosion? Far. Maybe too much. The sadness of not knowing if one day they will be able to count on Lonzo Ball again, and Billy Donovan’s vain attempts to form a team over individuals, makes us think that this season will be very stormy in the Windy City.
For what reasons should we keep an eye on the Bulls in 2023-24? They do not know? Well, me neither.
milwaukee dollars
The Bucks a nightmare? Oh really? This situation may change soon and be a temporary bad dream, but the truth is that Milwaukee is not playing well at all. They have won three of five games, but they are still crying profusely over the departure of Jrue Holiday from the perimeter. They are still looking to accommodate Damian Lillard in star mode, but attack is one thing and defense is another. The Bucks are tenth in offensive efficiency (111.1 points per hundred possessions) but 27th in defensive efficiency! (they allow 115.2 points per hundred possessions).
Holiday’s departure completely changes the map of this team’s off-ball game. And also the inexplicable departure of Mike Budenholzer that caused the arrival of Adrian Griffin to the substitute bench. I think the Bucks are going to improve as the games go by, but today they look tough, predictable and individualistic. It’s not about Giannis Antetokounmpo putting on the superhero cape or Dame Time arriving to tip the balance: they have to grow as a structure. More passes in attack, better rotations at the back and regaining good feelings again.
They are very far from the team that won the championship in 2021. Oh, and the whereabouts of Khris Middleton, who signed a multimillion-dollar contract and knew how to be, not long ago, an NBA star, are still being sought.
