I really do believe Bud can turn things around defensively. That ALONE should make this a playoff team with all the offensive fire power we have provided we stay healthy. However, couple that with improvements in the ISO ISO ISO offensive we were running? I am more optimistic then some. I still think we fall short of being a legit title contender because we have too much wrapped up in 3 guys and the bench is going to be razor thin again. To me there is zero excuse for at a minimum this team being a playoff team IMO unless coaching wasn't an issue at all.
When we shot more the 35-40 3 point shots (shot, not made), we won most of those games. There were two main problems with this team -- one, like you said, the ISO problem. That was the achilles heel of our 4th quarter problems. The other is that we didn't shoot enough 3 pointers. And that was with Grayson Allen and Eric Gordon, who should have in theory been high volume 3 point shooters.
Bud is a more modern NBA coach than Vogel was, in that he requires his offense to have a lot of 3-point shots. If we can get just that and reduce the ISO garbage, then we are looking at a contender. Most people on this board have written them off, but the proof is in the pudding and I refuse to completely write them off, even with similar personnel to last year.
The fact of the matter is that Vogel could not coach our 3 stars. Now whether they CAN be coached on the same team is another question, but Bud did coach Giannis, Middleton and Jrue on the same team and they won the chip, so you can't write us off yet.