Yea I thought SoSH changed the channel from CBS to PBS this year.
Still looking forward to our advanced analytics gurus fixing this or maybe .500 is a reach?
I don't think there is a fix and that this is the team's true talent level. Unless they add some talent, 41-46 wins. 46-36 is probably good for the 5 or 6 seed. 41 is a play in game. They'll go on 4-5 game winning streaks that will buy some good will and then lose 6 out of 8. If there's a silver lining, the C's played well without Brown. If they can play that way and incorporate Brown into it, they could be closer to the 46.
It's also the NBA where 1 player can change a lot. A player like Seth Curry has a lot of value around the league but he'd have even far greater value on the C's. Buddy Hield, Joe Harris. These players are sometimes available and they aren't super expensive. Being able to go Jay/Jay/Smart/Sniper/Al or Jay/Jay/DS/Sniper/TL would help immensely, never mind as you get into deeper bench rotations.
I've been saying it for awhile but I think the biggest problem the C's have is personal. Unless there's a leap from a younger player, even if this team is healthy and plays optimally, they aren't going to be much better than a .500 team. There isn't enough offense/shooting. Just focus on shutting the Jays down. Shut those 2 down, and you've all but eliminated the C's perimeter game. Teams are in a position to trade 3s for 2s.
Hell, I think adding Malik Monk to this team would make the team considerably better. Monk isn't great shakes himself but he provides a desperate need. Jabari, Kanter and PP are the C's "offense minded" players off the bench. PP isn't a "scorer" and has struggled shooting. Jabari and Kanter can be relied on to score buckets but they can't score at all 3 levels.
A 3rd star is an extremely hard, and unrealistic, get. A sharpshooting microwave off the bench should be manageable. Maybe the C's didn't have the ability to acquire that player, they thought PP/Others would provide it, or the player just wasn't available... but they really need one. Add Desmond Bane to the C's at the start of the season and instead of 41-46 wins, it's probably 50+ and the C's are looking at home court. Add Bane to Atlanta and they are playing at roughly the same level because Bane isn't filling a desperate need.
Out of players that qualify at 3pt%
Romeo leads the team at .438, 14/32
Grant is 2nd, .412, 28/68
Jaylen 3rd, .367, 27/79
Richardson 4th, .349, 14/43
Schroder 5th, .322, 29/90
Tatum 6th, .320, 55/170
Horford 7th, .292 21/72
Smart 8th, .257, 25/91
That's dreadful. C's are 26th in the league in 3pt% despite being 12th in attempts. The team is at .324 for the year, which is about where DS and Tatum are. When your entire team is shooting 3s like DS, you have some problems. Tatum reverting back to form will help quite a bit but they'll still be a shooter short. Grant Williams is their best shooter off the bench and I'm not sure it's even debatable atm. Maybe PP and AN emerge but they've been brutal in the early going. Even if RL doesn't regress from .438, he doesn't get nearly enough volume.
The team only has 2 real threats from 3 and one of them can't hit the broadside of a barn atm. The C's can be defended way too easily.
It's frustrating because we all see it. 90% of what ails the team could be cured by Kevin Huerter. It's more frustrating that Herro and Haliburton were drafted right before the C's selection and that a lot of good players went after AN. Still, the team should be able to find their own Kevin Huerter. Makes me think they had high hopes on PP.