A lot of people have been asking whether or not Jeremy Lin can sustain his stellar performance or if it will be dampened by the return of the Knicks' two stars, Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, to the lineup, because, let's face it, they use up possessions, quite a few of them, and each possession used up is one less possession for Lin to excel. While this may not be great for Jeremy Lin fantasy owners, the fact of the matter is, that Lin's emergence is a boon not necessarily in spite of Melo and STAT but rather, because of them.
First off, I've already said at my other blog, Fundamentally Sound that to me, Jeremy Lin's game most reminds me of Tony Parker. Now in this situation, you may be better suited with a pass first type guard such as Rajon Rondo or Ricky Rubio, however, I believe that Lin, like Tony Parker, will surprise us all in his ability to man the point. While Lin may not be the pass-first, high percentage shooter that Steve Nash was, D'Antoni has to be excited that Lin can see the floor and recognize the options given him. Sure, he's turnover prone, he's trying to make the fancy passes, but I think, as he learns the angles given him, he'll settle down, and hopefully get his turnovers down to a reasonable rate.
Lin's ability to run the pick-and-roll, as well as just involve his teammates make him the ideal floor general for the team. Amar'e Stoudemire got a lot of attention from his physicality and overall game, but his success came mostly from the pick-and-roll game he had with Steve Nash. This season, it was a struggle to get Amar'e involved in the offense because of how it stagnated without someone to facilitate the ball movement around the floor on the offensive end. With Lin getting the likes of even an offensive dud like Jared Jeffries involved, we can see that an Lin-Amar'e pick-and-roll combination will only bring good things to the Knicks in the future. Simply put, Amar'e will start looking like the Amar'e we expected, because he can expect those passes and those looks that he wasn't getting before.
On the flip side, we have to wonder about Melo, sure the ball gets stuck in his hands a lot, but quite frankly sometimes you need a player like that. Regardless of what people say about Melo and whether he deserves his contract or not, the fact of the matter is that he can put the ball in the bucket. Melo is probably one of the best, if not the best, pure scorers in the league. I would argue that with Lin manning the point guard position, Melo can focus on doing what he does best, scoring, rather than trying to do something he's not comfortable doing, facilitating. While Melo may be the most popular and well-paid (though it's arguable now with all the Linsanity stuff), and he may ultimately be the face of the franchise (again, caveat with the Linsanity), he's not really the natural leader of the group. I believe that, at least on the floor, deference to Lin will be a good thing for him, because Lin will try to energize the rest of the guys (i.e. Imam Shumpert and Landry Fields) to get into it. Melo is one of those high efficiency scorers when he's on, remember, he averaged about 26 points per game playing NEXT to Allen Iverson, who averaged I think 23 (I'm too lazy to look it up), helping a relatively successful Nuggets make the playoffs. With Lin getting all the other role players involved, I think this situation is much better than that.
The main "chemistry" issue I sense is the possibility of discontentment from Baron Davis when (if) he gets back. However, I don't find that to be a major issue, because, provided he's healthy, figuring out how to split time between Jeremy Lin and a healthy and motivated Baron Davis is a luxurious problem I'm sure Mike D'Antoni wouldn't mind having. What does concern me though is the frontcourt rotation. While Stoudemire and Chandler look to eat up most of the time on the floor, I don't know that Novak and Jeffries necessarily are going to take them the distance. I like how they are getting involved, and Novak really to me has taken the sort of Matt Bonner of the Eastern Conference kind of role. That being said, I still think the Knicks need to figure out a way to add some size. I don't know who would be a good center for the Knicks, maybe it involves cutting Mike Bibby, maybe it involves trading Toney Douglas, I don't know, but I think that, way more so than any chemistry issues on the court with Melo, STAT, and Lin should be the primary concern of the Knicks.
Showing posts with label Eastern Conference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eastern Conference. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Revisiting NBA Jam: The Eastern Conference
Apparently they're making this again. I did this already before, but not for a couple of years, let's do this again...
If I recall correctly you have three players per team of which you have to choose a two player combination, on the list I will list the defaults then add the third player.
EASTERN CONFERENCE:
Atlanta Hawks:
Default: Joe Johnson, Josh Smith
Res: Al Horford
This isn't going to change unless the Hawks decide to trade Josh Smith or something. As bad as the Joe Johnson contract is, NBA Jam is hardly a game that looks at the long-term prospects of players. This would probably be one of my personal favorite teams to play with, I'd love bombing those alley-oops all day, with the crazy 3/4 shots from Johnson. Horford is probably going to be the third player that no one ever uses, though maybe we could use Jamal Crawford instead.
Boston Celtics:
Default: Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett
Res: Rajon Rondo
It's hard to leave Ray Allen off of this short list, but with the emergence of Rondo and the decline of the Big 3 it's hard to justify adding Allen at the expense of the 3rd best point guard in the league. Pierce and Garnett still remain the face, though Rondo is slowly usurping them. If only Garnett could still play like this in real life. No love for the O'Neals, but that's really not surprising.
Charlotte Bobcats:
Default: Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace
Res: Boris Diaw
The third player here is pretty much just something of an afterthought. You know he's there, but you only really look to see who he is, and you'll only ever play with him if you accidentally choose him to be on your team. That being said, Jackson and Wallace would probably be something I'd enjoy playing too. Especially since Jam players are indestructible, so if they don't give Gerald Wallace concussions in the game, I'm happy with it.
Chicago Bulls:
Default: Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer
Res: Luol Deng
Boozer was the big free agent addition this year, so this would be interesting. Deng is probably one of the more interesting third options, despite his injuries, the whole invincible player thing would solve that problem. So let's not worry about it. Though a substitution thingy would be pretty nifty, I can see it being frustrating actually having injuries.
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Default: Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison
Res: Jamario Moon
Cleveland once again becomes the team that everyone avoids like the plague, it'll be kind of sad, probably more than kind of. Moon, the former Globetrotter makes the cut because, well, he's a former Globetrotter.
Detroit Pistons:
Default: Ben Gordon, Richard Hamilton
Res: Tayshaun Prince
There are going to be a number of these plague-like teams. Honestly, just looking at the roster I had a hard time figuring out who I would actually enjoy playing with on this team... As tempting as Charlie Villanueva, Chris Wilcox, and Kwame Brown would've been, I showed restraint.
Indiana Pacers:
Default: Danny Granger,Tyler Hansbrough
Res: Darren Collison
This is only marginally easier than Detroit to figure out due to the presence of Danny Granger on the roster. I think Collison will be a big part of the Pacers offense. Though I know that this is not an accurate portrayal of the ethnic demographic of the Pacers team, I could not in my right mind bring myself to make a team of Tyler Hansbrough, Jeff Foster, and Mike Dunleavy Jr.
Miami Heat:
Default: Dwayne Wade, LeBron James
Res: Chris Bosh
Gee... that was hard. Insert joke about Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Juwan Howard.
Milwaukee Bucks:
Default: Brandon Jennings, Andrew Bogut
Res: John Salmons
I think Michael Redd is done, and I'm sure everyone hopes that Bogut makes a full recovery. I wonder who they'd get to call the game (it was Steve Kerr if I remember the Live series correctly, but that was 2008). It would be sweet to hear them saying Mbah a Moute, seriously.
New Jersey Nets:
Default: Devin Harris, Brook Lopez
Res: Troy Murphy
I kind of wanted to squeeze Travis Outlaw in there somehow, but hey, this is good. Nets still seem like a sad team, but there are other teams that seem sadder. Still, I suppose you can't get much worse than 18 wins. Good thing this isn't real life.
New York Knicks:
Default: Amar'e Stoudemire, Anthony Randolph
Res: Danilo Gallinari
I hope the Knicks keep Randolph, and I hope he develops into a great player, he's got the potential. I kind of feel bad for Wilson Chandler with the addition of Kelenna Azubuike and D'Antoni's propensity to move forward with Gallinari. I think these are the only three players that are going to be here for the long haul. Maybe this is the only opportunity for Eddy Curry to get some playing time.
Orlando Magic:
Default: Dwight Howard, Vince Carter
Res: Jameer Nelson
This is one way I can continue to convince myself that Vince Carter has still got game. Hard leaving Rashard Lewis off, but he's fallen off so much, it's hard to justify putting him on. Besides, who doesn't want to see Jameer Nelson dunk on and swat 7-footers?
Philadelphia 76ers:
Default: Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand
Res: Louis Williams
This was the first team I was tempted to put a rookie on, but Evan Turner was so disappointing in Summer League that Sixer fans would probably get angry at how good he is in the game. I really can't figure out who is actually any good on this team, but that has never made a difference.
Toronto Raptors:
Default: Andrea Bargnani, Leandro Barbosa
Res: Jose Calderon
Until Calderon gets traded, we'll stick with this. When Andrea Bargnani is your primary scoring option, your team is screwed. If you beat someone else with this team though, you got bragging rights. Can't you imagine running around screaming: "YOU JUST GOT POSTERIZED BY ANDREA BARGNANI! YOU GOT DUNKED ON BY A GUY NAMED ANDREA!!!"
Washington Wizards:
Default: John Wall, Gilbert Arenas
Res: JaVale McGee
Eh... this was a pretty hard one too, throwing Yi Jianlian out was hard. Oh well. Wall is supposed to be good, so he goes in here. Arenas... sure. McGee... well... he almost made Team USA? or did he? What? Anyways, Epic Vale sure.
If I recall correctly you have three players per team of which you have to choose a two player combination, on the list I will list the defaults then add the third player.
EASTERN CONFERENCE:
Atlanta Hawks:
Default: Joe Johnson, Josh Smith
Res: Al Horford
This isn't going to change unless the Hawks decide to trade Josh Smith or something. As bad as the Joe Johnson contract is, NBA Jam is hardly a game that looks at the long-term prospects of players. This would probably be one of my personal favorite teams to play with, I'd love bombing those alley-oops all day, with the crazy 3/4 shots from Johnson. Horford is probably going to be the third player that no one ever uses, though maybe we could use Jamal Crawford instead.
Boston Celtics:
Default: Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett
Res: Rajon Rondo
It's hard to leave Ray Allen off of this short list, but with the emergence of Rondo and the decline of the Big 3 it's hard to justify adding Allen at the expense of the 3rd best point guard in the league. Pierce and Garnett still remain the face, though Rondo is slowly usurping them. If only Garnett could still play like this in real life. No love for the O'Neals, but that's really not surprising.
Charlotte Bobcats:
Default: Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace
Res: Boris Diaw
The third player here is pretty much just something of an afterthought. You know he's there, but you only really look to see who he is, and you'll only ever play with him if you accidentally choose him to be on your team. That being said, Jackson and Wallace would probably be something I'd enjoy playing too. Especially since Jam players are indestructible, so if they don't give Gerald Wallace concussions in the game, I'm happy with it.
Chicago Bulls:
Default: Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer
Res: Luol Deng
Boozer was the big free agent addition this year, so this would be interesting. Deng is probably one of the more interesting third options, despite his injuries, the whole invincible player thing would solve that problem. So let's not worry about it. Though a substitution thingy would be pretty nifty, I can see it being frustrating actually having injuries.
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Default: Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison
Res: Jamario Moon
Cleveland once again becomes the team that everyone avoids like the plague, it'll be kind of sad, probably more than kind of. Moon, the former Globetrotter makes the cut because, well, he's a former Globetrotter.
Detroit Pistons:
Default: Ben Gordon, Richard Hamilton
Res: Tayshaun Prince
There are going to be a number of these plague-like teams. Honestly, just looking at the roster I had a hard time figuring out who I would actually enjoy playing with on this team... As tempting as Charlie Villanueva, Chris Wilcox, and Kwame Brown would've been, I showed restraint.
Indiana Pacers:
Default: Danny Granger,Tyler Hansbrough
Res: Darren Collison
This is only marginally easier than Detroit to figure out due to the presence of Danny Granger on the roster. I think Collison will be a big part of the Pacers offense. Though I know that this is not an accurate portrayal of the ethnic demographic of the Pacers team, I could not in my right mind bring myself to make a team of Tyler Hansbrough, Jeff Foster, and Mike Dunleavy Jr.
Miami Heat:
Default: Dwayne Wade, LeBron James
Res: Chris Bosh
Gee... that was hard. Insert joke about Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Juwan Howard.
Milwaukee Bucks:
Default: Brandon Jennings, Andrew Bogut
Res: John Salmons
I think Michael Redd is done, and I'm sure everyone hopes that Bogut makes a full recovery. I wonder who they'd get to call the game (it was Steve Kerr if I remember the Live series correctly, but that was 2008). It would be sweet to hear them saying Mbah a Moute, seriously.
New Jersey Nets:
Default: Devin Harris, Brook Lopez
Res: Troy Murphy
I kind of wanted to squeeze Travis Outlaw in there somehow, but hey, this is good. Nets still seem like a sad team, but there are other teams that seem sadder. Still, I suppose you can't get much worse than 18 wins. Good thing this isn't real life.
New York Knicks:
Default: Amar'e Stoudemire, Anthony Randolph
Res: Danilo Gallinari
I hope the Knicks keep Randolph, and I hope he develops into a great player, he's got the potential. I kind of feel bad for Wilson Chandler with the addition of Kelenna Azubuike and D'Antoni's propensity to move forward with Gallinari. I think these are the only three players that are going to be here for the long haul. Maybe this is the only opportunity for Eddy Curry to get some playing time.
Orlando Magic:
Default: Dwight Howard, Vince Carter
Res: Jameer Nelson
This is one way I can continue to convince myself that Vince Carter has still got game. Hard leaving Rashard Lewis off, but he's fallen off so much, it's hard to justify putting him on. Besides, who doesn't want to see Jameer Nelson dunk on and swat 7-footers?
Philadelphia 76ers:
Default: Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand
Res: Louis Williams
This was the first team I was tempted to put a rookie on, but Evan Turner was so disappointing in Summer League that Sixer fans would probably get angry at how good he is in the game. I really can't figure out who is actually any good on this team, but that has never made a difference.
Toronto Raptors:
Default: Andrea Bargnani, Leandro Barbosa
Res: Jose Calderon
Until Calderon gets traded, we'll stick with this. When Andrea Bargnani is your primary scoring option, your team is screwed. If you beat someone else with this team though, you got bragging rights. Can't you imagine running around screaming: "YOU JUST GOT POSTERIZED BY ANDREA BARGNANI! YOU GOT DUNKED ON BY A GUY NAMED ANDREA!!!"
Washington Wizards:
Default: John Wall, Gilbert Arenas
Res: JaVale McGee
Eh... this was a pretty hard one too, throwing Yi Jianlian out was hard. Oh well. Wall is supposed to be good, so he goes in here. Arenas... sure. McGee... well... he almost made Team USA? or did he? What? Anyways, Epic Vale sure.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Seriously Cleveland? Suck it up
Sure, this probably feels a heck of a lot worse than the Carlos Boozer debacle in 2004. Still, I'm sick and tired of reading about how LeBron James sucks for announcing on national television that he will sign with the Miami Heat. Frankly, I don't know anybody outside of Miami that is happy. Nobody. Was getting on national TV and screwing over your hometown a poorly planned, narcissistic, inconsiderate, and frankly just plain bad move? Probably. Frankly, I think the only place that LeBron could have gone without getting all this flak would've been like to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where nobody knows what's going on, and that wasn't going to happen. For the people that are upset in regards to the decision to have a fairly classless announcement of his decision via an ESPN interview on national television, I can't help you, it's bad press, it was a stupid PR stunt. For those of you that are upset he didn't stay in Cleveland
Yes, James can probably dubbed an egotistical narcissist, I will neither deny nor endorse that statement. From a purely basketball perspective though, let's consider what James has in store. If Cleveland wants to blame anyone for LeBron leaving, blame the front office, seriously, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in all honesty (and my "expert" opinion) have never been championship contenders, that they even got this far is frankly (I think) a merit to how good LeBron James really is. Seriously, since LeBron James was drafted in 2003 by the Cleveland Cavaliers the Cavs have never had anyone really any good outside of LeBron James. In James's rookie year behind James you had Carlos Boozer, Ricky Davis, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas all averaging about 15 points per game, fair enough, that seems like a pretty good team, right? You still got Tony Battie and Darius Miles coming off the bench. In 2003-2004 the Lakers lost in the Finals to a well balanced Detroit Pistons featuring a starting five of Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Ben Wallace. The Cavs? Yeah, no playoffs. LeBron was a rookie, fair enough. In 2004-2005 season, no playoffs again for the Cavaliers. Oh yeah, Spurs beat the Pistons in 7 that year. Boozer and Davis are gone and the Cavs' second scoring option is Zydrunas Ilgauskas, behind him you now have Drew Gooden as your third offensive option and a huge curtail off behind that with minutes being sopped up by Robert Traylor, Ira Newble, and Jeff McInnis. In the 2005-2006 season, Paul Silas gets canned as the head coach and replaced by Mike Brown. The Cavs make the playoffs and lose in the second round to the Pistons. Cavs front office got the brilliant idea to give a huge contract to Larry Hughes to play next to LeBron, we all know how well that worked... Hughes averaged a rough 15.5 points per game, kind of Ricky Davis-esque performance eh? This year, the Mavericks collapse to the Heat after taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the series. In 2006-2007 we're still featuring a "Big Three" of LeBron, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Larry Hughes/Drew Gooden. The Cavs miraculously get to the finals only to get swept by the Spurs. In 2007-2008 the Cavs revamp, Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes are traded for Ben Wallace and Joe Smith. Smith is later traded to the Sonics for Wally Sczerbiak and Delonte West. Something along those lines. Cavs lose to the new Big Three of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett in the conference semifinals. In 2008-2009, we revamp again, the Cavs draft J.J. Hickson and manage to acquire Mo Williams from the Bucks. Then they are subsequently destroyed by Orlando's pick-and-roll game in the conference finals. Finally in 2009-2010, to remedy their problems, the Cavs add Shaq, who is notoriously one of the worst pick-and-roll defenders in the league. Yeah... makes a ton of sense right? They trade mid-season for Antawn Jamison and then are ousted in the second round once again by Boston.
Now that's a quick snapshot history of the Cavs with LeBron on the team, and quite frankly, Dan Gilbert and Danny Ferry had done a horrendous job of putting any talent next to LeBron, any talent that would get them anywhere. Some people might note that they've had the best record in the league before, so what? The Mavericks had a 67-15 record going into the playoffs in 2006-2007, and they were beaten in the first round by Don Nelson's crazy ball Golden State Warriors. Just because you're a good regular season team doesn't mean jack. The only way it could mean anything would be if the NBA was formatted like the NCAA March Madness tournament, one and done. It doesn't make a difference if Cleveland and LeBron had a 66-16 overall record for the 2008-2009 season, the fact that they couldn't guard a Hedo Turkoglu and Dwight Howard pick-and-roll set means that they can't win in the playoffs. Frankly Cleveland fans, if you're going to be angry, be angry at your FO, be angry at your team roster management, because frankly, they didn't get the job done. Don't tell me they tried, because to be frank the Cavs were never that good.
So LeBron is gone. Yeah, he is. He's gone, and it's too bad. Don't blame him though, he's going where he can be successful. Think about it logically, forget the money, we know he has enough. If I'm LeBron, what are my choices? The top were what? New Jersey, Cleveland, New York, Chicago, and Miami. So think about this, who would I rather play with if I'm LeBron? Who's going to give me the best shot at winning? Should I go back to Cleveland where it's just Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison? Where I haven't won anything in the past 7 years? Should I go to New York where Amar'e is? Play next to Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari? Or New Jersey with Brook Lopez and Devin Harris, who almost broke the record for most losses in a season? Chicago? With Carlos Boozer and Derrick Rose? Or with Miami, where we already knew that Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade, two fellow 2008 Team USA teammates and good friends, and fellow All-Stars have committed to sign? Sure, he was a jerk to do it on national TV but we're all suckers for watching him do it. Seriously Cleveland, suck it up, don't blame LeBron, if you're going to blame anyone, blame your organization for not being able to keep him. Seriously, why do you think Garnett didn't win a ring until he got to Boston? Seriously.
Monday, May 3, 2010
The Exit Roll: Charlotte Bobcats
I apologize for those people that are looking to read my witty exposition and my failure to write for you. Anyways, so here is my next piece, or set of pieces. I'm looking at the teams that got ousted from the first round of the playoffs and how I think they can change it. Let's go:
The Charlotte Bobcats. Well, they did a lot better than people thought they would. I personally think that they got bad luck drawing the Magic for the first round. I really think that they had a shot if they drew Boston, but instead, they had to face Dwight Howard and a rather embarrassing first round sweep as their franchise playoff debut. So going into this post season, how can they get better? Well, let's start at the logical place, what do they have now?
Head Coach: Larry Brown
PG: Raymond Felton, D.J. Augustin
SG: Stephen Jackson, Larry Hughes
SF: Gerald Wallace, Stephen Graham
PF: Boris Diaw, Tyrus Thomas
C: Theo Ratliff, Tyson Chandler
Reserves: Nazr Mohammed, DeSagana Diop, Gerald Henderson, Alexis Ajinca
My first reaction to this roster is simply that, I like it. It's a good lineup full of good players. However, a slew of "good" players don't make up for the glaring lack of excellent players. Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson are known for their above-average defense, and if Gerald Wallace weren't so injury prone then I would call him one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and Stephen Jackson, well, he's showing his age. Boris Diaw, well, he's not consistent, but when he's on, he's a good defender and Tyson Chandler is one of the premier post defenders in the league, but Chandler is also known to be an injury liability. While I think Jackson and Wallace are decent offensively, the Bobcats don't really have a go-to offensive option. Most notably they don't have a presence in the post, while Jackson is decent, he's not great and not someone I'd consider go-to down low. Then, neither are Diaw, Tyrus Thomas, Theo Ratliff, nor Tyson Chandler. Nazr Mohammed is decent, but I understand the reservation Larry Brown has for giving Mohammed extended minutes, we saw how that worked out in every team Mohammed's been on except San Antonio, and of course, that might have something to do with a little someone named Tim Duncan.
I like the core of Jackson, Wallace, and Chandler, and Gerald Henderson looks to be a good prospect, but they need someone, someone that can put points on the board, and given their age and injury track record, they have to win NOW. I don't think they can get rid of Diaw, and Larry Hughes is an expiring contract, but to be honest, I can't say they have very attractive tradeable assets. You figure that with 5 different centers they'd figure out something of a big man rotation, but given who it is, DeSagana Diop, Alexis Ajinca, Nazr Mohammed, and Theo Ratliff, they're not really tradeable. The obvious upgrades, at least positionally, are PG or PF. Raymond Felton and Boris Diaw, serviceable, but only if you have some offensive options next to them. Given Stephen Jackson's underrated passing ability, maybe a score-first point guard (Gilbert Arenas?) or something... Otherwise, a solid post scorer at PF (Carlos Boozer?). I don't know that free agency is really an option to be frank, I don't know that they have the cap-space, so it's gotta be a trade, but they have all these bloated contracts: Diaw, Diop, Mohammed, etc... We'll see how it works. Hopefully Michael Jordan doesn't call too many of the shots.
The Charlotte Bobcats. Well, they did a lot better than people thought they would. I personally think that they got bad luck drawing the Magic for the first round. I really think that they had a shot if they drew Boston, but instead, they had to face Dwight Howard and a rather embarrassing first round sweep as their franchise playoff debut. So going into this post season, how can they get better? Well, let's start at the logical place, what do they have now?
Head Coach: Larry Brown
PG: Raymond Felton, D.J. Augustin
SG: Stephen Jackson, Larry Hughes
SF: Gerald Wallace, Stephen Graham
PF: Boris Diaw, Tyrus Thomas
C: Theo Ratliff, Tyson Chandler
Reserves: Nazr Mohammed, DeSagana Diop, Gerald Henderson, Alexis Ajinca
My first reaction to this roster is simply that, I like it. It's a good lineup full of good players. However, a slew of "good" players don't make up for the glaring lack of excellent players. Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson are known for their above-average defense, and if Gerald Wallace weren't so injury prone then I would call him one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and Stephen Jackson, well, he's showing his age. Boris Diaw, well, he's not consistent, but when he's on, he's a good defender and Tyson Chandler is one of the premier post defenders in the league, but Chandler is also known to be an injury liability. While I think Jackson and Wallace are decent offensively, the Bobcats don't really have a go-to offensive option. Most notably they don't have a presence in the post, while Jackson is decent, he's not great and not someone I'd consider go-to down low. Then, neither are Diaw, Tyrus Thomas, Theo Ratliff, nor Tyson Chandler. Nazr Mohammed is decent, but I understand the reservation Larry Brown has for giving Mohammed extended minutes, we saw how that worked out in every team Mohammed's been on except San Antonio, and of course, that might have something to do with a little someone named Tim Duncan.
I like the core of Jackson, Wallace, and Chandler, and Gerald Henderson looks to be a good prospect, but they need someone, someone that can put points on the board, and given their age and injury track record, they have to win NOW. I don't think they can get rid of Diaw, and Larry Hughes is an expiring contract, but to be honest, I can't say they have very attractive tradeable assets. You figure that with 5 different centers they'd figure out something of a big man rotation, but given who it is, DeSagana Diop, Alexis Ajinca, Nazr Mohammed, and Theo Ratliff, they're not really tradeable. The obvious upgrades, at least positionally, are PG or PF. Raymond Felton and Boris Diaw, serviceable, but only if you have some offensive options next to them. Given Stephen Jackson's underrated passing ability, maybe a score-first point guard (Gilbert Arenas?) or something... Otherwise, a solid post scorer at PF (Carlos Boozer?). I don't know that free agency is really an option to be frank, I don't know that they have the cap-space, so it's gotta be a trade, but they have all these bloated contracts: Diaw, Diop, Mohammed, etc... We'll see how it works. Hopefully Michael Jordan doesn't call too many of the shots.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Sucks for Sessions, Sucks for the Knicks
I'm not really sure what the New York Knicks are going for here. Do they really want to win? I grew up in upstate New York so I'm something of a closet Knicks fan, there's still a little hometown loyalty left in me, but because I started following basketball seriously during the end of the Isaiah Thomas-running-the-show era it was something of a fairly difficult pill to swallow. Since then, Donnie Walsh has successfully removed most everyone Isaiah Thomas had brought in (see: Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson, Stephon Marbury, Jerome James, Renaldo Balkman, Zach Randolph, Malik Rose, and Isaiah Thomas) with few exceptions (see: Wilson Chandler, Eddy Curry, and Jarred Jeffries) with a couple of the fan favorites in limbo (see: Nate Robinson and David Lee). From how I see it right now, the only guaranteed contracts come 2010 are Danilo Gallinari, Eddy Curry, and Jared Jeffries, the latter two of which Walsh is working furiously to get off the books. While Walsh has made strides to rectify the debacle that Dolan and Thomas had brought upon themselves and the once respectable Knicks organization, he's done little else to make the team better, to make the team something to believe in, heck, even something that makes the playoffs in a mediocre (but improving) Eastern Conference. While I understand the concept of saving for a big name star in 2010 (one that might not even show up), does surrounding said star (see: LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amar'e Stoudemire) with a slapdash collection of random talent really help? I mean, I like Wilson Chandler, and Danilo Gallinaro is supposed to be a stud, but are we really going to try to play them at the SG and PF spots respectively if the Knicks do land LeBron? Is that enough?
The big free agent name of the 2009 offseason for the Knicks has been Ramon Sessions, and if the reports are to be trusted, then Sessions will not be signing with the Knicks, ouch. I can't say I know enough about Sessions save except some numbers to say that I have a fair grasp of what Sessions can do. I mean, I know that he dropped 20 assists in a meaningless game at the end of another losing Bucks season in 2007. I know that Scott Skiles ended up playing him next to Ridnour as an off guard and his production suffered. I know that he's still young, and has tons of potential and everybody likes him, and I know that he's no longer welcome in Milwaukee, and the only other team courting him, the Clippers, would make him the backup failsafe plan of a questionably motivated Baron Davis. I also know that he has holes in his game, he can't hit an outside shot to save his life, but you know what? Neither can Rajon Rondo, nor Andre Miller, Tony Parker had a questionable jumper until recently, Jason Kidd's jumper's not exactly stellar either. My point is simple, certainly Ramon Sessions is by no means a finished product, I mean, he's only 24, he's not been in the league that long, so he has room to grow, but I think that Sessions is exactly the kind of player that the Knicks needs, and the Knicks are exactly the kind of team that Sessions needs.
Sessions is a young explosive player who has the potential to be an exciting draw for Knicks fans and basketball fans for Donnie Walsh. Paired with the freedom that Mike D'Antoni gives to PGs in his 7-second-or-less offense, Sessions has the potential to really grow into his own. I mean, just look at what D'Antoni was able to do with Chris Duhon, a prototypical NBA backup point guard. Just look at Leandro Barbosa and Steve Nash with and without D'Antoni's offense. Yet Donnie Walsh seems allergic to Sessions based entirely on the fact that he wants years, and Jared Jeffries and Eddy Curry are still on the books. It'll be a pity if Sessions is still a free agent come trade deadline, but it'll be a steal for the Knicks if he is and they can jettison one of Curry's or Jeffries's contract if not both, though I don't know why a talent like Sessions would fall to that far. Some might find it hard to fault Walsh because of the 2010 jackpot in free agency, I mean there's LeBron, Bosh, Wade, Amar'e, Kobe, Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Dirk Nowitzki, just to name a few. Honestly though, for those teams that haven't made it, does moving from one mediocre team to another mediocre team that pays more really make it worth it to them? If it does, does New York really want that kind of a player? It really depends on what New York wants to do, and I personally want New York to win, it's pointless if you don't play to win. New York is already still one of the most profitable franchises in the league and they're probably at best the second or third worst team in the Eastern Conference. How long will "At least we're better than the Nets and the Grizzlies" really last you? Will Dwayne Wade find the combination of Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari that much better than one of Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley? Will Chris Bosh really think that it'll be better there than with Calderon and Turkoglu? Really? If they're winners why not go play in Cleveland (taking Shaq's paycheck) with LeBron? Or maybe some Western Conference team that's more competitive? Certainly there is the implication of being a marquee player for a larger market, and while Amar'e might want to play once again with D'Antoni, his competitiveness has been questioned and he's now widely regarded as someone who can't take a team the distance.
So save for the future? What's Donnie Walsh going to do if all of the big names balk at playing at New York with a bunch of misfits? Is there anything even moderately appealing to some combination of Larry Hughes, Chris Duhon, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Al Harrington, Darko Milicic, Eddy Curry, Jared Jeffries, and possibly David Lee and Nate Robinson? Of which only 4 of whom will be around and only 2 of which will likely play in the 2010-2011 season if all 4 are still around. Knicks need direction, and they have none, "waiting for the 2010 free agency" isn't any more direction than "waiting for a multi-million dollar inheritance/lottery" is a career path. Sessions needs the Knicks, the Knicks need Sessions, do the right thing.
So save for the future? What's Donnie Walsh going to do if all of the big names balk at playing at New York with a bunch of misfits? Is there anything even moderately appealing to some combination of Larry Hughes, Chris Duhon, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Al Harrington, Darko Milicic, Eddy Curry, Jared Jeffries, and possibly David Lee and Nate Robinson? Of which only 4 of whom will be around and only 2 of which will likely play in the 2010-2011 season if all 4 are still around. Knicks need direction, and they have none, "waiting for the 2010 free agency" isn't any more direction than "waiting for a multi-million dollar inheritance/lottery" is a career path. Sessions needs the Knicks, the Knicks need Sessions, do the right thing.
Friday, March 27, 2009
What will it take?: Cleveland Cavaliers
I know, I know, I'm pretty long overdue with this post. I was hoping to get some of the more prominent names in the blogosphere involved, but alas, I don't really know anyone in the Cavs blogosphere, as I don't really follow the Cavs outside of the plethora of LeBron news that assaults my reader daily. So I guess that means I'm stuck doing my own analysis. Shucks. I'm sure that's what some of you are thinking.
Anyways, the Cavs have had a pretty strong showing ever since LeBron has been on the team, because well, LeBron is LeBron. The Cavs have made the playoffs for since the 2005-2006 season, and it's largely been on the shoulders of LeBron James, especially since Cleveland got shafted by Carlos Boozer in the 2004 free agency. Regardless, with a supporting cast featuring the likes of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden, Donyell Marshall, Sasha Pavlovic, Eric Snow, Larry Hughes, and the like, LeBron carried the Cavs into the playoffs (albeit in a weaker Eastern Conference), and even as far as the NBA Finals past the Detroit Pistons in 2007, only to be swept by the San Antonio Spurs. I'm sure you're all familiar with the history so I'll try to fast-forward to today.
Basically, everyone (including Mike Brown) realized that the Cavs, while a strong defensive team, desperately needed offense outside of LeBron James. LeBron just wasn't the Allen Iverson type that dominated the ball, and honestly, good defensive teams were able to stop the Cavs' offense by simply bottlenecking the point of origin, LeBron, and since he was the only point of origin, it worked. During the past offseason, the Cavs realized this and made a three-way move sending Joe Smith to Oklahoma City, who in turn sent Luke Ridnour to Milwaukee, who subsequently handed Mo Williams over to Cleveland (and Desmond Mason to OKC). At that juncture, Mo Williams was the second most reliable scorer on the Bucks behind Michael Redd, but the emergence of Ramon Sessions had rendered Williams somewhat expendable. Williams was averaging 17.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 6.4 assists during his last season as a Buck.
What Williams added, was a player who could create his own shot, someone who didn't have to rely on LeBron to make offense, i.e. a second point of offensive origin. Currently, Mo Williams, is doing his Mo Williams thing, just on a better team (17.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists). It's definitely improved the Cavs significantly, as it has made their offense flow better, that and the fact that Mike Brown has developed an offense outside of "pass LeBron the ball at the top of the key". However, despite having the best record in the league (58-13), there is still no guarantee that the Cavs will win a title or even make it to the Finals. They still have to fight through an improved Eastern Conference playoff bracket and then take out whoever the West throws out at them. If they do make it to the Finals again, it won't be the trouncing they received 2 years ago, but again, it's not a given that they'll take it either.
So what's it gonna take? Well, ideally I would've said another scoring option, because to me honestly, I don't think that Mo Williams is a very good second option (I think Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a crappier third option), not that he's a bad player, but I think if you had another player who could score, maybe on the low block or something, they'd be more effective. However, that essentially fell through with the lack of a trade come the deadline. Mo Williams will have big shooting nights, but not consistently as say like Ray Allen, so what's going to have to happen, is that the role players are going to have to step it up.
One of the Cavs biggest weaknesses is offense in the low post, if you look at their front court, you have some pairing of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Joe Smith, Anderson Varejao, and JJ Hickson. Let's assume that they get Ben Wallace back healthy, because I think they're going to need him come playoff time, so throw him into the mix too (Lorenzen Wright does not count). While Big Z is consistent, he's not a guy that can really score at will, and really makes a living off of open face up 12 footers than anything else.
Production-wise JJ Hickson and Joe Smith are virtually identical on a per 36 minute basis. The primary difference being that JJ Hickson coughs up the ball a lot more than Smith. While they're both solid, they, and Big Z, are by no means extraordinary offensive threats in the low block. I haven't seen much of Hickson play, but I'd imagine that he's not great or that his IQ isn't as high as Cavs might like if Brown is leery of playing him as a rookie in the post season and therefore is going with tried and true Joe Smith and his veteran exerpience. If we look at Varejao and Wallace, while Varejao isn't completely useless on offense, like Ben Wallace is, they're both more of an impact on the defensive end, which means they are even less of a scoring option than Big Z, Hickson, and Smith.
The offense then has to come from the shooters. Mo Williams, Delonte West, Daniel Gibson, and Wally Sczerbiak have to keep up their solid shooting from this season in order to carry the team over the top. LeBron is going to find them, but they need to be able to make the shots that they get, and do so consistently, which I suppose is the case for most teams. However, I emphasize this for the Cavs simply because there really just aren't that many weapons to rely on, while Williams was certainly an upgrade (from Larry Hughes and Eric Snow), I don't know that it's necessarily enough to carry them over in 7 games straight, especially since they are a little weak in the low post (see Dallas Mavericks from 2005-2007). My focus in terms of offensive production I think really has to be Delonte West, who's definitely stepped it up for the brunt of the season, but really has to maintain that high level of play for the Cavs to win it all.
While the Cavs have always been a good defensive team, they can't really take all that for granted. With Ben Wallace down, the team really suffers defensively on the block, as Joe Smith and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are by no means stoppers. Joe Smith may know the system and is probably pretty good with the help, but honestly, we can't forget that he was criticized so much last season for his inability to guard Kevin Garnett in the playoffs. Joe Smith is not a young guy, and so his defense isn't really going to get better. They have to really help a lot on the defense with teams that play physical like Boston and Atlanta (and Orlando I guess), while I don't know that they'll win a lot of the frontcourt battles, they can't afford to be beat too much by the opposing bigs.
Of course the big assumption is that LeBron will be enough to tide this better team over. I think that in this off season if they can acquire a major piece, say a solid PF scorer or maybe another explosive swingman then they'd be solid. With what they have now, LeBron will have to continue to be pretty darn amazing, and everyone else is going to have to step it up.
Anyways, the Cavs have had a pretty strong showing ever since LeBron has been on the team, because well, LeBron is LeBron. The Cavs have made the playoffs for since the 2005-2006 season, and it's largely been on the shoulders of LeBron James, especially since Cleveland got shafted by Carlos Boozer in the 2004 free agency. Regardless, with a supporting cast featuring the likes of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden, Donyell Marshall, Sasha Pavlovic, Eric Snow, Larry Hughes, and the like, LeBron carried the Cavs into the playoffs (albeit in a weaker Eastern Conference), and even as far as the NBA Finals past the Detroit Pistons in 2007, only to be swept by the San Antonio Spurs. I'm sure you're all familiar with the history so I'll try to fast-forward to today.
Basically, everyone (including Mike Brown) realized that the Cavs, while a strong defensive team, desperately needed offense outside of LeBron James. LeBron just wasn't the Allen Iverson type that dominated the ball, and honestly, good defensive teams were able to stop the Cavs' offense by simply bottlenecking the point of origin, LeBron, and since he was the only point of origin, it worked. During the past offseason, the Cavs realized this and made a three-way move sending Joe Smith to Oklahoma City, who in turn sent Luke Ridnour to Milwaukee, who subsequently handed Mo Williams over to Cleveland (and Desmond Mason to OKC). At that juncture, Mo Williams was the second most reliable scorer on the Bucks behind Michael Redd, but the emergence of Ramon Sessions had rendered Williams somewhat expendable. Williams was averaging 17.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 6.4 assists during his last season as a Buck.
What Williams added, was a player who could create his own shot, someone who didn't have to rely on LeBron to make offense, i.e. a second point of offensive origin. Currently, Mo Williams, is doing his Mo Williams thing, just on a better team (17.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists). It's definitely improved the Cavs significantly, as it has made their offense flow better, that and the fact that Mike Brown has developed an offense outside of "pass LeBron the ball at the top of the key". However, despite having the best record in the league (58-13), there is still no guarantee that the Cavs will win a title or even make it to the Finals. They still have to fight through an improved Eastern Conference playoff bracket and then take out whoever the West throws out at them. If they do make it to the Finals again, it won't be the trouncing they received 2 years ago, but again, it's not a given that they'll take it either.
So what's it gonna take? Well, ideally I would've said another scoring option, because to me honestly, I don't think that Mo Williams is a very good second option (I think Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a crappier third option), not that he's a bad player, but I think if you had another player who could score, maybe on the low block or something, they'd be more effective. However, that essentially fell through with the lack of a trade come the deadline. Mo Williams will have big shooting nights, but not consistently as say like Ray Allen, so what's going to have to happen, is that the role players are going to have to step it up.
One of the Cavs biggest weaknesses is offense in the low post, if you look at their front court, you have some pairing of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Joe Smith, Anderson Varejao, and JJ Hickson. Let's assume that they get Ben Wallace back healthy, because I think they're going to need him come playoff time, so throw him into the mix too (Lorenzen Wright does not count). While Big Z is consistent, he's not a guy that can really score at will, and really makes a living off of open face up 12 footers than anything else.
Production-wise JJ Hickson and Joe Smith are virtually identical on a per 36 minute basis. The primary difference being that JJ Hickson coughs up the ball a lot more than Smith. While they're both solid, they, and Big Z, are by no means extraordinary offensive threats in the low block. I haven't seen much of Hickson play, but I'd imagine that he's not great or that his IQ isn't as high as Cavs might like if Brown is leery of playing him as a rookie in the post season and therefore is going with tried and true Joe Smith and his veteran exerpience. If we look at Varejao and Wallace, while Varejao isn't completely useless on offense, like Ben Wallace is, they're both more of an impact on the defensive end, which means they are even less of a scoring option than Big Z, Hickson, and Smith.
The offense then has to come from the shooters. Mo Williams, Delonte West, Daniel Gibson, and Wally Sczerbiak have to keep up their solid shooting from this season in order to carry the team over the top. LeBron is going to find them, but they need to be able to make the shots that they get, and do so consistently, which I suppose is the case for most teams. However, I emphasize this for the Cavs simply because there really just aren't that many weapons to rely on, while Williams was certainly an upgrade (from Larry Hughes and Eric Snow), I don't know that it's necessarily enough to carry them over in 7 games straight, especially since they are a little weak in the low post (see Dallas Mavericks from 2005-2007). My focus in terms of offensive production I think really has to be Delonte West, who's definitely stepped it up for the brunt of the season, but really has to maintain that high level of play for the Cavs to win it all.
While the Cavs have always been a good defensive team, they can't really take all that for granted. With Ben Wallace down, the team really suffers defensively on the block, as Joe Smith and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are by no means stoppers. Joe Smith may know the system and is probably pretty good with the help, but honestly, we can't forget that he was criticized so much last season for his inability to guard Kevin Garnett in the playoffs. Joe Smith is not a young guy, and so his defense isn't really going to get better. They have to really help a lot on the defense with teams that play physical like Boston and Atlanta (and Orlando I guess), while I don't know that they'll win a lot of the frontcourt battles, they can't afford to be beat too much by the opposing bigs.
Of course the big assumption is that LeBron will be enough to tide this better team over. I think that in this off season if they can acquire a major piece, say a solid PF scorer or maybe another explosive swingman then they'd be solid. With what they have now, LeBron will have to continue to be pretty darn amazing, and everyone else is going to have to step it up.
Monday, January 26, 2009
All-Star Picks: East
As is with the way they have you vote, lets move from the West to the East. Actually, for the past few years, the East has always consistently outplayed the West in the ASG, which leads to some contention, but usually the game is good. The balance of stars has always been there, just not the balance of teams, so in this case (the ASG) then it doesn't really matter. On with the show...
Starters:
Again, remember you voted (well, fans that voted, including you if you did) for these players, so I really can't do anything about who starts or not, so the main picks by me in this case would have to be the reserves and wildcards.
Dwayne Wade (SG, Miami Heat)
D-Wade's revival has been sort of the marquee of the year since the Beijing Olympics over the summer. Last season was a major disappointment with him trying to recover from a devestating shoulder dislocation from a collision with Shane Battier, and then knee problems, eventually forcing him to miss the majority of the season, causing the Heat to stumble to an embarassing league worst of 15-67, which ultimately turned into a lottery pick landing them Michael Beasley. Now the Heat stand at a respectable 23-19 and that's largely thanks to Wade's return and revitalized play. Wade is averaging an insane 28.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.5 blocks on 47.5% shooting. Ridiculous. This is a guy who fantasy owners were disappointed in because he fell below 2 blocks per game in his averages. As a guard. Yeah. Scary. His averages thusfar for points, assists, steals, and blocks are all career highs. Also good to note that he's the league's leading scorer at the moment scoring 0.7 more points per game than LeBron, and a whole 2.4 points more than Kobe.
Allen Iverson (SG, Detroit Pistons)
This is a point in time where a player's reputation is a little greater than his actual on-court value. At least from what we've seen so far. Detroit has managed to hold to a 24-19 record while trying to fit The Answer into a more team oriented system. Iverson still has a lot of game, definitely one of the best if not the best undersized players in the game. I'm more prone to blame adjustment to the system than his age for the dropoff in production, but I could be wrong. Since the swap for Billups, McDyess, and Samb, Iverson has been averaging 17.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.6 steals per game on 41.9% shooting. While it is his career low scoring average at the moment, I think that was to be expected with the team oriented offense system as opposed to Iverson-oriented offense that AI is used to. Instead of playing around players like Aaron McKie, Dikembe Mutumbo, and the like, who were all supporting cast for Iverson, AI now has to play with players that produce with the ball more, taking away his shots, like Rip Hamliton, Rasheed Wallace, and the emerging offenses of Tayshaun Prince and Rodney Stuckey. Definitely disagree with this pick, but hey, the fans like him, so to me, this is a fan pick more than anything. Iverson makes enough sense to keep David Sterns tinkering ways out of this vote. So, he's in more because of career achievements and the fact that he can still kind of play, more so than that he's actually playing well.
LeBron James (SF, Cleveland Cavaliers)
I really shouldn't have to say anything here, I shouldn't, but I will, just because. Maybe there's some contention as to whether or not he's the best player in the league at the moment, however, I don't think there should be any contention that should he continue to develop, he will be the best player in the league at his prime, if not the best player of all time. His scoring, rebounding, and assists are down from last year, but that's largely because of the help that Danny Ferry got LeBron in the form of Mo Williams, as well as the revitalized play of the other supporting cast like Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Delonte West. While Big Z and West's injuries are worrisome, the Cavs are still one of the elite teams in the East (there I said it), though I personally am not convinced that they have what it takes to win, but still they have LeBron, and that's quite a bit. He's "down" averages are: 28.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 2.0 steals on 49.4% shooting. Ridiculous. As a reminder to all of you, he just turned 24 this past Christmas (well, technically a little after).
Kevin Garnett (PF, Boston Celtics)
The reigning DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year) I think is deserving of an ASG slot. While I didn't vote for him, he's definitely bringing a lot to the floor. More so than the numbers tell. His averages are definitely down across the board; 16.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.2 blocks on 52.5% shooting. Some of it might be attributed to age (he turns 33 this year) however, I believe a large part of it is the emergence of Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins as major forces on the floor, in addition to the strong starting performance of Ray Allen. What Garnett brings to floor beyond the numbers though, is a tenacity and intensity that invigorates his teammates. He is the anchor of the defense, where Tim Duncan is the silent, lead by example kind of player, Kevin Garnett is the opposite, he's the guy that will get in your face and get loud and be intense. Garnett and Duncan are like the polar opposite PFs of the time, but both are elite and show that both ways can work. Definitely a beyond the stats pick, not my pick, but he deserves it.
Dwight Howard (C, Orlando Magic)
What's amazing about this pick isn't that it's Dwight Howard, there are no other centers in the East that really deserve to be the ASG except for Howard. What's amazing, is that Howard got more votes than Kobe, LeBron, Wade, Yao, and Duncan, the other position vote leaders. That aside, Dwight Howard is a beast. He's starting to refine his game a little beyond spin and dunk, and while he has the big-man weakness of not being able to make free throws, you can't really fault him too much on that as it's something other great bigs like Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal struggled with. Superman is averaging 20.0 points, 13.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 3.2 blocks on 56.5% shooting. Yes, I did type that correctly, 3.2 blocks per game. As the currently league leader in rebounds and blocks Howard is also 5th in FG%, behind Nene, Shaq, Emeka Okafor, and David Lee. Like LeBron, Dwight is still a ways away from realizing his true potential, he's only 23. While he's been known to take plays off on times, and Stan Van Gundy recently called him out, he's been crucial to the Magic success (33-10), and he's definitely making the difference.
Reserves:
Ah, now here we go, my picks. Remember; 2 guards, 2 forwards, 1 center, 2 wildcards
Joe Johnson (SG, Atlanta Hawks)
Joe Johnson has his game together. His not-too-shabby averages of 21.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.1 steal, and 2.0 threes per game on 42.6% shooting are definitely one of the reasons the Hawks stand 26-17, 4th overall in the Eastern Conference. Ok, so I don't put a huge amount of emphasis on team performance, so let's just get back to the Armadillo Cowboy. He's been playing amazing basketball, and honestly, I would've voted him in over AI (I did vote for him I recall) and the numbers don't lie, he's playing at a high level, I can't think of another guard on the East more deserving to be in the ASG (well, after Wade I suppose).
Devin Harris (PG, New Jersey Nets)
He's not by far the best PG in the East, but he is the best PG. On that alone, he should make it in. While the numbers should be taken with a grain of salt, that grain being that Lawrence Frank is running most of the offense through Harris, 21.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 1.6 steals on 44.6% shooting is still rather impressive. Most people have already locked him in as MIP (Most Improved Player) and I wouldn't disagree. Most people also say that he's now making the Jason Kidd trade look stupid, and while in terms of player value, maybe the Nets won out, I wouldn't say that the trade didn't make sense, perhaps that's where the grain of salt comes in.
Danny Granger (SF, Indiana Pacers)
So a lot of people are probably saying, "I told you so!" to me and my earlier "Danny Granger is overrated" posts. Well, maybe not, because that would mean that people are actually reading this. Nonetheless, Granger has indeed proven me wrong, and it's a good thing I think. I like being proven wrong in this case. Granger has definitely stepped it up on a Pacers squad that really didn't look like much (still isn't looking great, but definitely some great pieces in there). He's definitely become the floor leader for this squad and has brought it, his game has definitely stepped it up. While some might argue that his per-48 stats are actually similar to previous production, he's just getting more minutes, the fact that he's putting up 26.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.0 steal, and 1.4 blocks per game, on 44.3% shooting just means that he was that good to begin with.
Antawn Jamison (SF/PF, Washington Wizards)
Of a dismal Wizards squad, surprisingly Jamison has been the one bright spot. I give him this slot because Jamison is one of those hard workers that always brings 110% to the floor. While I have my doubts that Jamison would actually be put on the ASG East team, I think he deserves a spot because of his consistent contribution. He's averaging 20.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.2 steals on 47.2% shooting. Solid numbers. This is the point where I note that I think ASG is more about individual achievement though arguably if a guy is All-Star material he should be contributing to the team's win category as well, but honestly I can't hold that against a guy like Jamison.
Chris Bosh (PF/C, Toronto Raptors)
Chris Bosh again wins the "center" spot on the reserve roster. Regardless of what position it is, Bosh definitely deserves a spot in the ASG game, let me first get that straight. However, being that he's close enough to being a center, and there are no centers I think deserving of the spot (Zydrunas Ilgauskas is injured, Jermaine O'Neal on the injured list too long, Rasheed Wallace too inconsistent, Kendrick Perkins isn't a big enough factor, and it just tails off from there) Bosh gets the spot. People have held the Raptors' recent struggles against him, but again, I can't really blame him for the ineffectiveness of Jason Kapono, Jamario Moon, and Anthony Parker as well as the injuries to Jermaine O'Neal and Jose Calderon. I voted for Bosh to start instead of Kevin Garnett, because he deserves it. He's averaging 23.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists on 49.7% shooting.
Wildcards:
Vince Carter (SG, New Jersey Nets)
It feels weird putting two Nets into the ASG, but, still, Carter definitely has put himself in a spot that deserves it. A lot of people (myself included) questioned Carter's motivation for playing with the Nets, as the franchise is obviously moving towards the rebuilding phase (only Carter, Harris, and Eduardo Najera have contracts longer than 2 seasons). However, Carter came out this year playing strong, and while he's struggled a couple of games, he's definitely shown that his heart is still in the game. He's kept his head in the game and playing the basketball that we've wanted him to play for as long as we can remember. Late is better than never. He's averaging: 21.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.1 steals on 44.8% shooting.
Rashard Lewis (SF/PF, Orlando Magic)
I had a really hard time picking this one, really, there are a lot of guys that could go in here, but I'm going to have to go with Lewis. While a lot of people think throwing that $15 million contract at Lewis was a big mistake, I happen to think the opposite. I think Rashard Lewis is a quality player, an All-Star caliber player. He makes a huge difference on the defensive end, playing out of position, guarding PFs, making them work for their shots with his length, and he's been a solid contributor on the offensive end as well. He's averaging 19.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.9 treys on 44.8% shooting. He's leading the leagues in 3-pointers made (per game). I think that warrants a shout-out.
Potential "snubs"
Ok, before I start this list, I know you people are going to yell at me, because of the people I left off, so I'd just kindly request you remember that these are just my picks, you can civilly disagree in the comments if you so please.
Ray Allen (SG, Boston Celtics)
As I mentioned earlier, Allen has been playing great. He came into the season with some hot shooting and has sustained that thusfar. He's averaging 18.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.0 steals, and 2.4 treys on 50.4 % shooting. 50.4%! This is a guy that's supposed to be the team's 3pt specialist. As great as he's been playing though, I think that other players have stepped it up more.
Paul Pierce (SF, Boston Celtics)
Let me again get this straight, 19.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.1 steals per game on 44.2% shooting is great. It really is. However, Pierce hasn't really brought it every game. Sure he hasn't needed to, but some of his earlier struggles in the season definitely haven't helped his overall individual performance, and thus he gets nudged out.
Caron Butler (SG/SF, Washington Wizards)
He's about as deserving as Jamison, except, I suppose he hasn't lived up to expectations. He really hasn't been a huge difference maker on his team, and has faded at times. He doesn't take over the game like the Wizards (or the rest of us) really want him to. Granted, you can't blame everything on him, but he just hasn't been there consistently.
Rajon Rondo (PG, Boston Celtics)
Rondo had a streak of craziness, but he's kind of come back down to earth. While his game has significantly improved, it hasn't to the point where he's All-Star material. Certainly, he deserves some consideration, but, with the Celtics, it's hard to point to any individual contributing with outstanding performances, which is something I take as the most important in an ASG candidate.
Jameer Nelson (PG, Orlando Magic)
Nelson has proven a lot of people, who didn't think he had what it took to run a club wrong. He's been having a phenomenal season and is the floor leader that the Magic look to for offense intiation. Consistency has been another issue here, and Nelson, while for the most part solid, has sort of tapered off.
Other players that I don't have time to write about, but I considered were Emeka Okafor (PF/C, Charlotte Bobcats), Gerald Wallace (SF/PF, Charlotte Bobcats), Josh Smith (PF, Atlanta Hawks), Mike Bibby (PG, Atlanta Hawks), Hedo Turkoglu (Orlando Magic)
Friday, January 9, 2009
Filling Teams' Needs: Atlantic Division
Now for the much anticipated (not really) continuation of what teams need to make their rosters more solid and give them a better shot a playoff berth. Granted, that might not be where all teams want to go, but, hey, you never know. I think every team wants to get to the playoffs, it's just that some teams (in the Atlantic Division; New York and New Jersey) it isn't their primary goal, just an added bonus if it happens. For other teams though (Boston and Toronto) the owners and front office are more concerned with winning than with improving. Without further ado, let's look at the teams.
Boston Celtics
Strengths: Returning champs, starting 5, defense
Weakness: Depth (especially in the frontcourt)
Tradeable Assets: Leon Powe or Glen Davis, Brian Scalabrine
If we were to make the NBA a series of 30 minute 5-on-5 pickup games, there would be no doubt that Boston would win, they always have the best 5 on the court whenever they start the game. Granted currently their in something of a slump, teams are adjusting, Rondo isn't shooting well, Pierce has been struggling, but nonetheless, as a starting unit, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Kendrick Perkins are the most solid squad any team can floor. Perkins and Rondo have made huge strides and the Big 3 (Allen, Pierce, and Garnett) haven't really dropped off all that much. That being said, once you hit the 6th man on the roster, the dropoff is pretty sharp. They are severely missing the hustle and length of PJ Brown and the tenacity and shots of James Posey. The reserves on the squad consist of; Eddie House, Tony Allen, Glen Davis, Leon Powe, and then maybe Brian Scalibrine and Gabe Pruitt. It's not really an impressive bench, what they need is length. Perhaps Doc will give Patrick O'Bryant another run, but it's telling how bad a player is when he's the tallest guy on the team and doesn't see any playing time.
There are two things that hurt the reserves whenever they come out on the floor; they have no scoring options and they're short.
Let's address the first issue:
Their bench can't score. Their leading scorer off the bench is Tony Allen, who is averaging a measely 7.9 points per game and then Eddie House who averages 7.5, the next being Leon Powe at 6.7 per game. That means that on average the top three reserves average only 22.1 points per game. For comparison's sake, let's look at the next East contender, who we'll say for all extensive purposes is Cleveland. Now, let's say for the sake of simplicity the starters' scoring cancels each other out (Boston's starters score 72.9 pts/game, Cleveland's 72.4), so in terms of scoring production Rondo+Allen+Pierce+Garnett+Perkins = Mo Williams+Delonte West+LeBron James+Ben Wallace+Zydrunas Ilgauskas. However, if we take the second unit as a whole, we see that Boston's bench is in actuality rather weak. Let's say the reserve squad would be Eddie House, Tony Allen, Brian Scalabrine, Leon Powe, and Glen Davis. That ends up being 28.2 points per game. In comparison, if we look at Cleveland's 2nd squad of: Daniel Gibson, Sasha Pavlovich, Wally Sczerbiak, JJ Hickson, and Anderson Varejao; you have a reserve unit scoring average of 32.7 points per game, which more than covers the difference. Granted there are matchup issues and all that, but there just isn't really a goto scorer kind of person, which is why they're contemplating bring Sam Cassell back out of semi-retirement, since he at least can create his own shot. As many have been speculating, this is also where the Stephon Marbury talks come in, while he's a headcase, Marbury would solve the scoring problem, should he be put into his place in the roster, that is a reserve PG for scoring. Tony Allen was thought to be the James Posey replacement, and has been doing decently, however, watching Allen play is remarkably frustrating as he tries time after time to attack the rim and hoist highly difficult, low-percentage shots.
The second issue is height. As I said before, it's telling when your team's tallest player is at the end of the bench and hasn't really seen the floor since preseason. Which means, that the tallest player coming off the bench is the 6-9 Glen Davis. Even if you measure against reserves, you'd be matching Davis against a 6-11 Anderson Varejao (Cleveland), a 7-0 Marcin Gortat (Orlando), a 6-10 Maresse Speights or Theo Ratliff (76ers), a 7-0 Rasho Nesterovic, 6-11 Jeff Foster, or 7-2 Roy Hibbert (Indiana), etc... The best matchup would be against like a soft Andrea Bargnani (Toronto), who might still burn them with his outside game, or the smaller energy man Jason Maxiell (Detroit). They just get outmatched in the paint with the second unit in length. To me, Davis and Powe are both just high energy bigs, I mean, the ideal would be they turn into the hyper-efficient Paul Millsap, but honestly, they're just not there, and two of them doesn't really help the team.
Trading one of the two (Powe or Davis) seems to be the solution, otherwise finding a solution outside of trades. Scalabrine, Pruitt, and O'Bryant are also somewhat expendable, but I don't think anyone really wants them. There have been rumors of signing Dikembe Mutumbo, and should he have any game left, he'd be a brilliant addition, solving the problems of length and interior defense on the second unit. Recently, Boston recalled their rookies Bill Walker and JR Giddens from their D-League team in Utah, which they hope to solve their problems, Walker was averaging 18.7 points per game in his 15 games with the D-League while Giddens averaged 17.3 with his 13. Here's to hoping they make a difference, because there really isn't much they can do with their salary cap.
Toronto Raptors
Strengths: Frontcourt
Weaknesses: Wing play, depth, defense
Tradeable assets: Andrea Bargnani, Anthony Parker, Joey Graham
Where to begin with these Raptors? Firstly, people have said that in general it's hard for the Raptors to ever get good, because no one wants to go play in Canada. Makes sense. This team, has a lot of jump shooters, and because of that, their wing play is extraordinarily weak. Jose Calderon is struggling to adjust to being a full-time starter, Jermaine O'Neal is struggling to fit in and not take flat-footed 15-foot wing jumpers, and Chris Bosh is struggling to find a reason to stay once he hits the 2010 free agency pool. Firstly, they're pretty soft on defense, I think having O'Neal, healthy on the floor will help that problem. Depth is a second issue, primarily at the PG slot, though Calderon's recent injury have given Will Solomon and Roko Ukic to really step it up, and they've been doing a decent job.
This brings me to the biggest weakness that Toronto has, its wing play sucks. Granted they are one of the best shooting teams on the court, but no one outside of Chris Bosh can really create a shot for himself. The wings consist usually of Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Jason Kapono, Joey Graham, and sometimes Andrea Bargnani, the most consistent of these would be Anthony Parker, and he's consistently average to below-average. Sub-par wing play has forced this team to rely too much on Chris Bosh's dominance, and honestly, might be why Jermaine O'Neal thinks he has to do more on offense, because honestly, you can't rely on Parker, Moon, or Kapono to average 17pts a night.
Parker and Graham are both rather packageable as expiring contracts which would then lead us to consider what kind of player they might get in return. Parker makes $4.5 million and Graham $2.4 million, not to say that they could swing for a $7 milion swingman in a 2-for-1 but it's an option. The only thing I see that might make sense for both teams would perhaps be a trade for Golden State Warrior's Stephen Jackson. Of course, that's provided that Toronto is willing to be lumped with him for the next 5 years. He does add a lot on the wing and is a decent defender, a pretty good scorer, and I think an improved second option over Anthony Parker behind Chris Bosh. Kind of unfeasible. Another one that is a maybe, but also potentially unfeasible, would be to see if they could convince Portland to give up Travis Outlaw for Anthony Parker. Outlaw is the kind of slasher that scores in bunches and is athletic and the kind of guy that Toronto could really use. On the other hand, Parker, is an expiring contract, giving Portland an extra $4.5 million next year in cap space, but additionally, for this season at least, provides a little more legitimacy to the squad's long-range game, as Martell Webster is yet to return. Of course, I'd imagine that Kevin Pritchard wants to get something of value in return instead of an expiring contract.
Philadelphia 76ers
Strengths: Attacking the basket
Weakness: 3pt shooting
Tradeable assets: Samuel Dalembert
Honestly I don't really know what to make of this team. Everybody, I mean everybody has underperformed. I don't know if it's their perimeter play, but that's definitely one of their weaknesses. The only players that I would think you can call "3pt specialists" on the squad are Willie Green and Donyell Marshall. Obviously 3pt shooting isn't high on their list otherwise they wouldn't have traded away Kyle Korver for Gordon Girecek whom they no longer have on their roster. Ultimately, I think this team has a lot of the pieces, but everybody has to figure out their role, starting with Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala. From there, Andre Miller and Samuel Dalembert will know what to do, Thaddeus Young will have a clearer understanding of his role, etc, etc...
A lot of people say that Elton Brand will prove doubters wrong and regain his All-Star form, but you're going to have to count me among the doubters. It just seems like Brand's style of play doesn't match those suited to the other key players in the rotation, namely Thaddeus Young and Andre Iguodala, of course, the results of overall decreased production (at least for Brand and Iggy) could be completely unrelated. Samuel Dalembert has just looked lost, and the strong play of Marresse Speights probably hasn't helped his cause a whole lot either. I think he needs a change of scenery.
If they could foist Dalembert to a team that needs a strong big that clogs the paint, cleans up on the offensive glass, and blocks shots, for a strong shooter, then I think the GM has done his job. There are rumors of Maggette for Dalembert, but I really don't see that as an improvement, Maggette is too close of a player to Iggy, and we've determined that Iggy doesn't know what to do at the SG slot, I don't know that Maggette would fare that much better, Crawford would be the better fit, however, I don't know that either is the answer. Trading away Dalembert does leave a large gap in the middle for the 76ers, I don't know that a straight swap of centers, such as Dalembert for Brad Miller would be the answer, though arguably both would benefit more from the change, and Miller can play off of Brand better. While I doubt that the T'Wolves are shopping him, especially with Corey Brewer out for the season, Mike Miller has been tremendously disappointing in Minnesota. Some kind of package of Mike Miller and Mark Madsen for Dalembert would help solve some of Philadelphia's perimeter offense problems and Minnesota's lack of strong interior defense (sorry, but Big Al is just not a center). However, the problem of coexistence between Al Jefferson and Samuel Dalembert might raise a few question marks as well. An interesting mix might be Dalembert for Larry Hughes, while Hughes isn't the most coveted player in the league, I think he'll solve some of the scoring from the perimeter woes that the 76ers have, and allow Andre Miller to do what he's best at, facilitating the offense and finding the open man. Of course this might be difficult if Tony DiLeo doesn't think Marresse Speights is ready to start and Theo Ratliff doesn't have enough juice left in him to be a full time reserve, especially with Jason Smith out for the season, maybe they can try to convince Chicago to throw in Aaron Gray. Regardless, this also solves Chicago's need for some kind of interior presence. Dalembert, while not really an All-Star, has shown in the past that he can be effective in the middle, epsecially on the defensive end. Getting rid of Hughes also solves the platoon of guards and opens up playing time for Thabo Sefalosha, which Chicago has been trying to do for a while.
New York Knicks
Strengths: Athletic forwards, strong perimeter play
Weakness: Defense, height
Tradeable assets: David Lee, Eddy Curry, Jerome James, Malik Rose, Stephon Marbury, Jared Jeffries
Firstly, I understand that the New York Knicks are currently in the business of only collecting contracts that are 2 years or shorter in hopes for the LeBron James sweepstakes in the 2010 free agency. While, LeBron may decide to stay with the much improved Cleveland Cavaliers, they also probably wouldn't mind landing the likes of Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, or Amare Stoudemire. Given their current cap situation they will only have $6 million of Jared Jeffries on the roster by 2010, that plus any potential big free agents they sign next year, which I don't think will be any. The ideal situation would be Nash signing for cheap, as he would then be able to play for D'Antoni and be in New York where he is part owner of a soccer club, sign LeBron for max contract and perhaps Chris Bosh for a max contract, and then build around that. Not sure if they have any priority in retaining players, perhaps Danilo Gallinari to show he wasn't a wasted pick, and Wilson Chandler, who has really stepped it up, and perhaps Chris Duhon as a backup, as he has played well as well. As they haven't yet extended David Lee and Nate Robinson, who become free agents end of this season, it's possible that Donnie Walsh might just let them walk.
That being said, the biggest issue with the current D'Antoni offense is that David Lee is a short center, the guy stands at 6-9 at 240 lbs, to give you a relative comparison, let's look at a typical center (not Dwight Howard, who is a monster, 6-11, 265 by the by), say Andrew Bogut, he's 7-0, 260. I mean, there are shorter centers, like Emeka Okafor or Kendrick Perkins at 6-10, and there certainly are skinnier centers, like Andris Biedrins, who weighs only 245, but the general trend is, that David Lee is a short center, I mean, he's already not that humungous for a PF already, kind of typical (same height and weight as David West). Eddy Curry is an end of the bench ornament at this point in time, and honestly, Donnie Walsh would be just as happy to move him, which means that the tallest players to crack the rotation both as starters and reserves are; David Lee (6-9), Al Harrington (6-9), Tim Thomas (6-10), and Jared Jeffries (6-11). I know, you're thinking, "Jeffries is 6-11, that's not that short, and look at Jerome James, he's 7-1, there's no height problem in New York, and Tim Thomas is the same height as Emeka Okafor." Yeah, but this is Jerome James, Jared Jeffries, and Tim Thomas we're talking about. First, I wouldn't really trust Tim Thomas to play SF let alone the PF position, secondly, I would trust Jared Jeffries to play, thirdly, Jerome James has only played 2 games, total this season, it's telling when the team is trying to force you to retire before the season even starts.
That being said, basically anyone on the roster is tradeable, except maybe Chris Duhon, but I think Donnie Walsh could be convinced to part with him if he thought the price was right. The only requisite for trading with the Knicks is that the contract has to expire in 2010. Now Jeffries and Curry both have player options that extend to 2011, which is why it's something of a priority to move them, however, that makes their contracts that much uglier than even Kenny Thomas's, whose contract at least expires by the 2010 free agency. While D'Antoni may not like Harrington, he's been the most effective offensive option on the Knicks thusfar, averaging 21.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals, 2.6 threes on 42.3% shooting since being traded. Lee is much coveted across the league, apparently by Portland GM Kevin Pritchard, trade rumors have murmurings of returning Channing Frye to New York with someone like Sergio Rodruigez or something, perhaps also involving a third team, however, this only works if Pritchard can convince Lee that he won't get a better offer as a starter elsewhere, and is satisfied being a perpetual sub behind LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden. There were also rumors of Curry for Diaw, which Charlotte would do for an inside scoring presence, which New York would do simply because Diaw makes less per year. I don't know that D'Antoni is all that worried about the height issue, but if he can get an athletic big that can run with the team, it wouldn't really be all that bad either, that's the key though, finding someone that can run with the team. Marcus Camby was mentioned as an option, which would free up time when for Kaman when he returned, as the Clippers seem to like Randolph. I personally feel that perhaps some trade for Shawn Marion, (if Eddy Curry can get in game shape again, so like Eddy Curry and Quentin Richardson), would benefit both teams. While Marion doesn't add a whole lot of height, he does add some defensive tenacity.
New Jersey Nets
Strengths: PG
Weaknesses: Forward slots
Tradeable assets: Everyone except Devin Harris
Well, maybe not Brook Lopez either, and if Yi is bringing enough money. I haven't really given up on Yi yet, but things aren't looking too promising for him, at least as a basketball player, I'm seriously hoping he proves me wrong. If not, the Nets did draft the next all-American version of Yi in Ryan Anderson. Needless to say, the Nets, like their New York counterparts, are waiting patiently for the 2010 free agency. The only players that are signed for contracts longer than two years currently are; Devin Harris, Vince Carter, and Eduardo Najera. The step that the Nets have over New York currently, is that they at least have Harris and Carter to rebuild around, a young burgeoning point guard and an old saavy vet, say what you will about Carter, he's still got game. I don't know that the Nets disklike Najera, so they'll likely keep him, there's no reason for them to upgrade over Jarvis Hayes or Bobby Simmons as they're just waiting for LeBron to fill in the PF slot, so they'll just coast with Harris and Carter and hope that Yi and Lopez develop.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Season Preview: New York Knicks
Honestly, it wasn't the quote itself that I found interesting, but more that it's Zach Randolph saying it for some reason, and maybe that it's the Knicks.
Starting 5:
PG- Chris Duhon
SG- Jamal Crawford
SF- Quentin Richardson
PF- David Lee
C- Zach Randolph
Off the bench
Guards: Nate Robinson, Stephon Marbury, Fred Jones
Forwards: Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Patrick Ewing Jr, Jared Jeffries, Malik Rose
Centers: Jerome James, Eddy Curry
Being from New York (granted upstate) I really want to root for the Knicks, I really do, but the whole roster and the Isaiah Thomas thing, and all that, just make it really, really hard. Anyways, in looking at the roster, the thing that frightens me the most isn't necessarily the talent level, they're a decent bunch, but the fact that Jamal Crawford is getting lost in a run-and-gun system. The issue ends up being that Crawford isn't getting the touches he's used to to create his shot, he's taking almost 7 less shots per game and that's not allowing him to get into a rythm and get consistent, something he struggles with from time to time. What that means, is that very soon we could see Stephon Marbury starting in place of Crawford if this doesn't work out. That'd be interesting.
Another portent could be the packaging of Crawford with Curry and shipping them both off somewhere, clearing up some roster space for the highly anticipated 2010 free agency, especially with Randolph looking more and more like he fits the D'Antoni system quite well. Another player that thrives in the new run-and-gun system appears to be David Lee, who's hard work and hustle has always merited him to be a fan-favorite but never really got him a enough playing time under Isaiah Thomas to see his potential. Eddy Curry on the other hand has been fighting off a bacterial infection, but more importantly than that, came to camp completely out of shape. As hard as he tries now, I don't think he'll be more than the backup center at best, 3rd string at worst, which he is now. On the plus side, I don't know that he'd qualify for Yahoo!'s Eddy Curry Line should this persist. To continue along views of pessimism, beyond flashes of brilliance we saw at maybe one preseason game, 1st round pick Danilo Gallinari has been sidelined with back issues, not promising, especially considering all the scrutiny and skepticism he came with when he was drafted. However, when healthy look for him to crack the rotation, the big question is, when he will be healthy.
Nate Robinson remains another bright spot in an increasingly glum situation, however, his play hasn't merited him to be much aside from the energy 6th man, as good as the numbers he's putting up, he won't thrive as a starter, though I expect him to get a lot of minutes, like when he played behind Fred Jones last season. Wilson Chandler has been another bright spot, playing well, and producing. With Renaldo Balkman gone to Denver, he's the key SF/PF backup until Danilo Gallinari gets back. A lot speculate that since Quentin Richardson has been so unimpressive, especially for someone who's played for D'Antoni before and is familiar with the system, could lose a lot of playing time, that and the fact that he was pretty consistently injured last season.
Like the Nets, I doubt the Knicks care much about this season or the next, it's all one big project for the 2010 free agency sweepstakes. I hope something about this team makes me like them again.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Season Preview: Charlotte Bobcats
Only a couple more weeks!!!
Starting 5:
PG- Raymond Felton
SG- Jason Richardson
SF- Gerald Wallace
PF- Sean May
C- Emeka Okafor
Off the bench
Guards: DJ Augustin
Forwards: Matt Carroll, Jared Dudley, Adam Morrison, Shannon Brown, Jermario Davidson
Centers: Nazr Mohammed, Alexis Ajinca, Ryan Hollins, Andre Brown
I don't know, but this teams looks like it should be doing a lot better than it actually has been. I like Jason Richardson, and in terms of production, Charlotte looks like it got the better end of the deal on what was essentially a Jason Richardson for Brandon Wright straight swap. The offense should continue to run through J-Rich, though how that will work is up to the new coach: Larry Brown. If we look at the roster, the draft choice of DJ Augustin doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, and seemed to imply that Raymond Felton would be soon departing, but there's nothing for certain yet. Gerald Wallace has expressed that he refuses to play the PF position since he seems to always get concussions while doing so, and there was word out that Michael Jordan is less than pleased with his performance. Honestly, I think if any player merits a Scottie Pippen comparison it's Wallace, a lot of people forget about his defense and only point to his poor shot selection, that, and the fact that he's on the Bobcats makes his accomplishments forgettable. So here I remind you, Wallace is known for his defense first. Okafor is another solid guy that just hasn't been able to find his groove. He has the size of a power forward but plays like a center. Some say that the answer is to play a center next to him, but I feel like that's not the answer, unless you use him like a Tim Duncan kind of guy, but even Tim Duncan is effective out of the paint. We'll see, Okafor is still young, so he still has a ways to grow.
The bench isn't horrible, but it's not great. I've never really liked Adam Morrisson and nothing about him now is leading me to change my mind. Matt Carroll is a hard working but not really all that impressive to me, however, he's a solid contributor. With Wallace injured often, we saw flashes of brilliance from Jared Dudley, if he could become a solid contributor and consistent, then that'd be great. Nazr Mohammed, well, is Nazr Mohammed. With starter's minutes he put up monster production for a bit last season, and then was promptly benched, no one's ever really sure what to do with him. Look for DJ Augustin to develop as a rookie, and if Larry Brown likes him better, which arguably he does, and his game develops enough, then he could easily supplant Felton as the starting point. Things don't bode well when a 40 year old Michael Jordan shows up to practice and rocks all your players, however, we'll see. Hopefully Sean May can get back in shape. However, while this team looks good, it's also looking for a clue. I'm not really sure where they're going either.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Season Preview: Chicago Bulls
I realized that, the season is coming (yay!), but I still have a good number of teams left (like 5 not including this one) to preview (not so yay). So I'll try to start cranking.
Starting 5
PG- Kirk Hinrich
SG- Larry Hughes
SF- Luol Deng
PF- Drew Gooden
C- Joakim Noah
Off the bench
Guards: Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon, Thabo Sefalosha, Darius Washington
Forwards: Tyrus Thomas, Andres Nocioni, Demetris Nichols
Centers: Aaron Gray, Omer Asik, Cedric Simmons
Forgive me if I'm not on the Derrick Rose bandwagon. I haven't seen a whole lot to impress me yet though. Regardless of how well the no 1 pick pans out, the fact of the matter remains that this team still needs a lot of work. It's a young team, the veterens being the expendable Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, and Andres Nocioni. I believe that to begin with Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden will get their starts, but if Vinny Del Negro decides to go young, I can see them benched with Derrick Rose and Tyrus Thomas picking up starting spots and Kirk Hinrich sliding over to the 2 guard position.
Starting 5
PG- Kirk Hinrich
SG- Larry Hughes
SF- Luol Deng
PF- Drew Gooden
C- Joakim Noah
Off the bench
Guards: Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon, Thabo Sefalosha, Darius Washington
Forwards: Tyrus Thomas, Andres Nocioni, Demetris Nichols
Centers: Aaron Gray, Omer Asik, Cedric Simmons
Forgive me if I'm not on the Derrick Rose bandwagon. I haven't seen a whole lot to impress me yet though. Regardless of how well the no 1 pick pans out, the fact of the matter remains that this team still needs a lot of work. It's a young team, the veterens being the expendable Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, and Andres Nocioni. I believe that to begin with Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden will get their starts, but if Vinny Del Negro decides to go young, I can see them benched with Derrick Rose and Tyrus Thomas picking up starting spots and Kirk Hinrich sliding over to the 2 guard position.
The thing I note with this team is that they're deep, however, their depth consists mostly of average level talent, and doesn't begin with any All-Star caliber players. The center position is the weakest as I believe Joakim Noah to be little more than a young Ben Wallace, meaning, high energy and negligible on the offensive end. Omer Asik is supposed to have a lot of upside, but I haven't heard or seen anything to tell me it's anything but upside right now. All in all, Deng, Gordon, and Hinrich have not shown that they can carry a team unless they're all playing at their best at the same time, which hasn't happened in two years. I'm not as optimistic about this team as most other people.
34-48
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Season Preview: Indiana Pacers
I warn you that this isn't written for fantasy, so you use your own discretion if you use it for such.
Starting 5
PG- TJ Ford
SG- Mike Dunleavy Jr
SF- Danny Granger
PF- Troy Murphy
C- Rasho Nesterovic
Off the bench
Guards: Marquis Daniels, Travis Diener, Jarrett Jack, Brandon Rush
Forwards: Josh McRoberts, Austin Croshere, Shawne Williams
Centers: Jeff Foster, Roy Hibbert, Maceo Baston
I would like to reiterate the fact that I don't think this team is very good, in fact, it's average, so average that it's forgettable. Which shocks me, because Danny Granger is considered like top 5-10 SG/SF material on like every other ranking board I've seen. Ok, he had a career season last year, 19.1 pts, 6.1 rbds, 2.1 assts, 1.2 stls, 1.1 blcks per game, a respectable line. Top 5? I don't know about that. Here's Yahoo!'s Kelly Dwyer's take:
There you have it. I'm done. No, I'm not, but seriously. Danny Granger is good, but he's not THAT good. There are still other people I'd rather have on my team, and that is the reason why he, little Dunleavy, and TJ Ford are not going to take the Pacers to a playoff series this year.
That seems to be the problem with everyone else on the roster too, they're all just OK. I don't see Marquis Daniel or Travis Diener being anything more than serviceable, Jarret Jack already is serviceable, and unless Roy Hibbert and Brandon Rush somehow manage to win playing time and breakout then maybe. However, I don't see them outperforming Rasho Nesterovic and/or the above mentioned Marquis Daniels anytime in the near future. Honestly, there's nothing that convinces me that this team will perform well against the better constructed teams. It's like where all the players that deserve a contract but no one really wants ends up. I might change my analysis if Rasho Nesterovic or Troy Murphy start averaging 20-10, but until then, Pacers have a bleak season ahead of them.
34-48
Starting 5
PG- TJ Ford
SG- Mike Dunleavy Jr
SF- Danny Granger
PF- Troy Murphy
C- Rasho Nesterovic
Off the bench
Guards: Marquis Daniels, Travis Diener, Jarrett Jack, Brandon Rush
Forwards: Josh McRoberts, Austin Croshere, Shawne Williams
Centers: Jeff Foster, Roy Hibbert, Maceo Baston
I would like to reiterate the fact that I don't think this team is very good, in fact, it's average, so average that it's forgettable. Which shocks me, because Danny Granger is considered like top 5-10 SG/SF material on like every other ranking board I've seen. Ok, he had a career season last year, 19.1 pts, 6.1 rbds, 2.1 assts, 1.2 stls, 1.1 blcks per game, a respectable line. Top 5? I don't know about that. Here's Yahoo!'s Kelly Dwyer's take:
8:29 | [Comment From Jaceman] Is there any specific reason that Granger is ranked so high in all the power rankings? Or am I the only one that thinks he's been massively overhyped? |
8:29 | KDonhoops: Because it sounds right. Solid player, does everything OK, but that's it. He's OK, but he's just ... OK. |
8:30 | KDonhoops: ... as he charges into Tyson Chandler. |
8:31 | [Comment From Jaceman] Ok enough to be considered top 10 SG/SF? |
8:31 | KDonhoops: Nope. |
There you have it. I'm done. No, I'm not, but seriously. Danny Granger is good, but he's not THAT good. There are still other people I'd rather have on my team, and that is the reason why he, little Dunleavy, and TJ Ford are not going to take the Pacers to a playoff series this year.
That seems to be the problem with everyone else on the roster too, they're all just OK. I don't see Marquis Daniel or Travis Diener being anything more than serviceable, Jarret Jack already is serviceable, and unless Roy Hibbert and Brandon Rush somehow manage to win playing time and breakout then maybe. However, I don't see them outperforming Rasho Nesterovic and/or the above mentioned Marquis Daniels anytime in the near future. Honestly, there's nothing that convinces me that this team will perform well against the better constructed teams. It's like where all the players that deserve a contract but no one really wants ends up. I might change my analysis if Rasho Nesterovic or Troy Murphy start averaging 20-10, but until then, Pacers have a bleak season ahead of them.
34-48
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Season Preview: New Jersey Nets
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Starting 5:
PG- Devin Harris
SG- Vince Carter
SF- Bobby Simmons
PF- Yi Jianlian
C- Josh Boone
Off the bench
Guards: Chris Douglas-Roberts, Keyon Dooling, Julius Hodge
Forwards: Eduardo Najera, Jarvis Hayes, Ryan Anderson, Brian Hamilton
Centers: Brook Lopez, Sean Williams, Stromile Swift
Another one of those upside and potential teams, for good reason, their just collecting the pieces until they can hopefully win over LeBron in the lucrative free agency market to come. Thus, they have a hodge-podge of small contracts and are building up a lot of cap space hopefully to make a splash and land a new big star. They still have Vince Carter, and don't get me wrong, Vinsanity still has game. He put up a respectable 21.3 pts, 6.0 rbds, and 5.1 assts per game, and as much as he says he cares, it's pretty apparent that he wasn't really trying, meaning, he could play better. Granted he's another year older, he's a year past the wrong side of 30 for NBA players, and he's probably lost some of that athleticism that defined him in the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk competition.
Now that the show has officially become Vince Carter's and only Vince Carter's, it lends for him to step up and show that he's worth the contract given him, he's worth the remaining 4 years on it. Jason Kidd has been shipped to Dallas, Richard Jefferson to Milwaukee, now all that remains is Carter and a bunch of young guns that show promise but not much else. Devin Harris was considered the biggest mistake Dallas made, that is, in giving him up, he was considered the Tony Parker stopper, and instead, he was exchanged for playmaker Jason Kidd. Granted Kidd has more on his resume, but Kidd's also a lot slower, that makes it harder, not easier to stop Tony Parkers. In Jersey, things are looking up for Harris, perhaps now that he is a more integral part of the offense, he can begin to thrive more and be able to develop his game. Chris Douglas-Roberts, or CDR as he is known, has shown a lot of promise and Ryan Anderson has shown streaks of solid gameplay, granted both in Summer League. Likewise is the case for 1st round pick Brook Lopez. If Lopez develops I can easily see him ousting Josh Boone out of a starting spot, since his offensive touch around the rim is much more refined.
Yi has been listed as something of a marketing ploy more than any contributions he brings on the court. His game has shown flashes of greatness but they've easily been lost in his inconsistent rookie season at Milwaukee. Hopefully, on a team that doesn't care to win, Yi can really get some solid playing time and develop his talent much more. The obviously glaring gap within the lineup remains the SF position (hint, hint, LeBron), with only Bobby Simmons and Jarvis Hayes to fill the spot, it's not very promising, but again, we all know what they're after.
In review of the Nets roster, I realize, that they do indeed suck. 30-52.
Starting 5:
PG- Devin Harris
SG- Vince Carter
SF- Bobby Simmons
PF- Yi Jianlian
C- Josh Boone
Off the bench
Guards: Chris Douglas-Roberts, Keyon Dooling, Julius Hodge
Forwards: Eduardo Najera, Jarvis Hayes, Ryan Anderson, Brian Hamilton
Centers: Brook Lopez, Sean Williams, Stromile Swift
Another one of those upside and potential teams, for good reason, their just collecting the pieces until they can hopefully win over LeBron in the lucrative free agency market to come. Thus, they have a hodge-podge of small contracts and are building up a lot of cap space hopefully to make a splash and land a new big star. They still have Vince Carter, and don't get me wrong, Vinsanity still has game. He put up a respectable 21.3 pts, 6.0 rbds, and 5.1 assts per game, and as much as he says he cares, it's pretty apparent that he wasn't really trying, meaning, he could play better. Granted he's another year older, he's a year past the wrong side of 30 for NBA players, and he's probably lost some of that athleticism that defined him in the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk competition.
Now that the show has officially become Vince Carter's and only Vince Carter's, it lends for him to step up and show that he's worth the contract given him, he's worth the remaining 4 years on it. Jason Kidd has been shipped to Dallas, Richard Jefferson to Milwaukee, now all that remains is Carter and a bunch of young guns that show promise but not much else. Devin Harris was considered the biggest mistake Dallas made, that is, in giving him up, he was considered the Tony Parker stopper, and instead, he was exchanged for playmaker Jason Kidd. Granted Kidd has more on his resume, but Kidd's also a lot slower, that makes it harder, not easier to stop Tony Parkers. In Jersey, things are looking up for Harris, perhaps now that he is a more integral part of the offense, he can begin to thrive more and be able to develop his game. Chris Douglas-Roberts, or CDR as he is known, has shown a lot of promise and Ryan Anderson has shown streaks of solid gameplay, granted both in Summer League. Likewise is the case for 1st round pick Brook Lopez. If Lopez develops I can easily see him ousting Josh Boone out of a starting spot, since his offensive touch around the rim is much more refined.
Yi has been listed as something of a marketing ploy more than any contributions he brings on the court. His game has shown flashes of greatness but they've easily been lost in his inconsistent rookie season at Milwaukee. Hopefully, on a team that doesn't care to win, Yi can really get some solid playing time and develop his talent much more. The obviously glaring gap within the lineup remains the SF position (hint, hint, LeBron), with only Bobby Simmons and Jarvis Hayes to fill the spot, it's not very promising, but again, we all know what they're after.
In review of the Nets roster, I realize, that they do indeed suck. 30-52.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Season Preview: Atlanta Hawks
Considering that John Hollinger has done in a day what I've been doing for the past week, I'm almost tempted to ask why I even bother. Then, I remember that he gets paid to do this stuff, and I would add, that I respectfully disagree with a lot of his rankings, though his reasoning makes sense, I suppose. I'll let you decide whose commentary you like better, but again, remember, Hollinger is the expert, me, I just like to think I know what I'm talking about, maybe I do.
Atlanta Hawks
Starting 5:
PG- Mike Bibby
SG- Joe Johnson
SF- Marvin Williams
PF- Josh Smith
C- Al Horford
Off the Bench
Guards: Speedy Claxton, Maurice Evans, Acie Law, Ronald Murray, Thomas Gardener
Forwards: Othello Hunter
Centers: Zaza Pachulia, Randolph Morris, Solomon Jones
The platoon of guards to replace Tyronne Lue and Anthony Johnson is pretty impressive, that is, assuming Speedy Claxton gets healthy again and Maurice Evans is once again somewhat serviceable. I like Flip Murray and I haven't quite given up on Acie Law yet, he just needs to see some floor time, which he hasn't. As I mentioned in Greg Boome's proposal to send Carter to Atlanta, I would love to see some coach like Adleman, D'Antoni, or Nelson coach the talent on the Hawks. That being said, it's not going to happen. So with the team as it is, less one Josh Childress and plus one Ronald Murray, we have in essence the team that pushed Boston to 7 games in the playoffs.
That being said, the Hawks do boast one of the more dynamic starting 5s, and one that I like a lot, in the league. Bibby is an experienced PG that can run an offense, while he may be past his prime, he's still a perimeter threat. Joe Johnson is a big guard that can shoot and drive and has very good ball handling abilities. Al Horford was a pleasant surprise last season, posting good defensive and rebounding numbers. Additionally, he's able to produce off the block fairly well as well. Josh Smith, the man's a beast. He's only 22, he's a monstrous weak side shot blocker and he's got hops. Marvin Williams, well he can score. Many people I think have a shaded perspective of Marvin Williams, especially since he was drafted before and now stands in the shadows of PG standouts Chris Paul and Deron Williams. However, take into mind that during that draft year, Joe Johnson had declared he would play the point guard position, so front office went with Williams (Marvin) and the Joe Johnson experiment failed. Anyways, Marvin Williams isn't really as bad as people make him out to be, whether or not he's a talent worthy of the 2nd overall selection remains to be seen, of course in light of Paul and Williams (Deron) most people will say no. However, Williams is developing quite nicely and is a legitimate scoring option.
The depth on this team is something of an issue. The primary reserves I see being Zaza Pachulia and Speedy Claxton, who are serviceable at best. Flip Murray and Maurice Evans have shown that they can be fairly reliable given minutes, but Solomon Jones and Othello Hunter? Excuse me, who? This is not a bench I'd go to in crunch time. Injuries aside, you always need a strong bench to add to any squad. Hopefully they figure out a rotation that works.
I don't anticipate significant improvement from last season honestly, and with the Eastern Conference that much better, I see them going like 37-45 and sliding out of the playoffs.
Atlanta Hawks
Starting 5:
PG- Mike Bibby
SG- Joe Johnson
SF- Marvin Williams
PF- Josh Smith
C- Al Horford
Off the Bench
Guards: Speedy Claxton, Maurice Evans, Acie Law, Ronald Murray, Thomas Gardener
Forwards: Othello Hunter
Centers: Zaza Pachulia, Randolph Morris, Solomon Jones
The platoon of guards to replace Tyronne Lue and Anthony Johnson is pretty impressive, that is, assuming Speedy Claxton gets healthy again and Maurice Evans is once again somewhat serviceable. I like Flip Murray and I haven't quite given up on Acie Law yet, he just needs to see some floor time, which he hasn't. As I mentioned in Greg Boome's proposal to send Carter to Atlanta, I would love to see some coach like Adleman, D'Antoni, or Nelson coach the talent on the Hawks. That being said, it's not going to happen. So with the team as it is, less one Josh Childress and plus one Ronald Murray, we have in essence the team that pushed Boston to 7 games in the playoffs.
That being said, the Hawks do boast one of the more dynamic starting 5s, and one that I like a lot, in the league. Bibby is an experienced PG that can run an offense, while he may be past his prime, he's still a perimeter threat. Joe Johnson is a big guard that can shoot and drive and has very good ball handling abilities. Al Horford was a pleasant surprise last season, posting good defensive and rebounding numbers. Additionally, he's able to produce off the block fairly well as well. Josh Smith, the man's a beast. He's only 22, he's a monstrous weak side shot blocker and he's got hops. Marvin Williams, well he can score. Many people I think have a shaded perspective of Marvin Williams, especially since he was drafted before and now stands in the shadows of PG standouts Chris Paul and Deron Williams. However, take into mind that during that draft year, Joe Johnson had declared he would play the point guard position, so front office went with Williams (Marvin) and the Joe Johnson experiment failed. Anyways, Marvin Williams isn't really as bad as people make him out to be, whether or not he's a talent worthy of the 2nd overall selection remains to be seen, of course in light of Paul and Williams (Deron) most people will say no. However, Williams is developing quite nicely and is a legitimate scoring option.
The depth on this team is something of an issue. The primary reserves I see being Zaza Pachulia and Speedy Claxton, who are serviceable at best. Flip Murray and Maurice Evans have shown that they can be fairly reliable given minutes, but Solomon Jones and Othello Hunter? Excuse me, who? This is not a bench I'd go to in crunch time. Injuries aside, you always need a strong bench to add to any squad. Hopefully they figure out a rotation that works.
I don't anticipate significant improvement from last season honestly, and with the Eastern Conference that much better, I see them going like 37-45 and sliding out of the playoffs.
Season Preview: Milwaukee Bucks
Just in case you haven't seen it, OKC has jerseys now (they didn't tell me it was a v-neck version of the old Pistons' jerseys). I personally think they should've stuck with the Summer League ones.
On with the show.
Milwaukee Bucks
Starting 5:
PG- Luke Ridnour
SG- Michael Redd
SF- Richard Jefferson
PF- Charlie Villanueva
C- Andrew Bogut
Off the Bench
Guards: Tyronne Lue, Ramon Sessions, Charlie Bell, Damon Jones
Forwards: Adrian Griffin, Joe Alexander, Malik Allen, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
Centers: Francisco Elson, Dan Gadzuric
Luke Ridnour goes from a team with 2 PGs it couldn't figure out how to use to a team with 4... something about that just seems wrong to me. Now that OKC has decided to go young with Russell Westbrook and decidedly prefer Earl Watson over Luke Ridnour he gets sent to Milwaukee, who incidentally also picked up Damon Jones from Cleveland and signed Tyronne Lue. Am I the only one that remembers that Ramon Sessions averaged 11.5 pts, 11.3 assts, 4.9 rbds, 1.5 stls on 46% shooting in about 39 minutes of play during the last 10 games of the season? We're talking about a guy with the potential to give you a 24:2 turnover to assist ratio on any given night so long as you play him. Ok, so it was garbage time, no one cared anymore because everyone knew who was in the playoffs already, so start the vet, start Luke Ridnour and play the sophomore behind him, but seriously, Tyronne Lue? My assessment; big mistake.
Sometimes this team confuses me, and because of that, I feel kind of bad for Michael Redd, I really do. I don't know if this team is in a win now mode, or if they're going for building for the later seasons. Landing Richard Jefferson for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons, understandable, even applaudable of a move. In that context though, it makes the drafting of Joe Alexander something more of an enigma, since he has tons of upside but almost no immediate impact, but he speaks Chinese! Great, that might be useful, in... New Jersey, Houston, or Los Angeles, NOT Milwaukee. All reports show that Alexander has potential, a large amount of athleticism, but really isn't very basketball saavy. Mbah a Moute I don't know a whole lot about, and I don't know that he's much of a standout, except for his name. The only reason I've even heard of him is because his name is funky. He's one of those guys that won't see a lot of playing time but when he does, the commentators will have a field day.
With Scott Skiles at the helm, I think this team has a pretty good shot at doing decently, of course, in lieu of how the Eastern Conference has improved we'll have to see how well they actually do. Additionally, we'll have to see how Richard Jefferson adjusts to getting more shots, as he'll be the second scoring option behind Michael Redd. Also we have to see if Andrew Bogut continues to improve at the rate he has been improving at and if he really does become a standout center. They're moving to a more traditional lineup, but again, I'm not overly enamoured with their options in the reserve roles. Their weakness, especially at the forward positions (Adrian Griffin and Joe Alexander? Two big unknowns who I'm leaning more towards the scrub side) is something to be considered. Desmond Mason would've been a good backup, but getting rid of Mo Williams was a good choice, and Desmond Mason was the price that had to be paid.
Maybe 41 wins? Break even we'll say. Top of the bottom-feeders in the East. I see mediocrity at best, with a few flashes of brilliance. Seriously Skiles, play Ramon Sessions.
On with the show.
Milwaukee Bucks
Starting 5:
PG- Luke Ridnour
SG- Michael Redd
SF- Richard Jefferson
PF- Charlie Villanueva
C- Andrew Bogut
Off the Bench
Guards: Tyronne Lue, Ramon Sessions, Charlie Bell, Damon Jones
Forwards: Adrian Griffin, Joe Alexander, Malik Allen, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
Centers: Francisco Elson, Dan Gadzuric
Luke Ridnour goes from a team with 2 PGs it couldn't figure out how to use to a team with 4... something about that just seems wrong to me. Now that OKC has decided to go young with Russell Westbrook and decidedly prefer Earl Watson over Luke Ridnour he gets sent to Milwaukee, who incidentally also picked up Damon Jones from Cleveland and signed Tyronne Lue. Am I the only one that remembers that Ramon Sessions averaged 11.5 pts, 11.3 assts, 4.9 rbds, 1.5 stls on 46% shooting in about 39 minutes of play during the last 10 games of the season? We're talking about a guy with the potential to give you a 24:2 turnover to assist ratio on any given night so long as you play him. Ok, so it was garbage time, no one cared anymore because everyone knew who was in the playoffs already, so start the vet, start Luke Ridnour and play the sophomore behind him, but seriously, Tyronne Lue? My assessment; big mistake.
Sometimes this team confuses me, and because of that, I feel kind of bad for Michael Redd, I really do. I don't know if this team is in a win now mode, or if they're going for building for the later seasons. Landing Richard Jefferson for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons, understandable, even applaudable of a move. In that context though, it makes the drafting of Joe Alexander something more of an enigma, since he has tons of upside but almost no immediate impact, but he speaks Chinese! Great, that might be useful, in... New Jersey, Houston, or Los Angeles, NOT Milwaukee. All reports show that Alexander has potential, a large amount of athleticism, but really isn't very basketball saavy. Mbah a Moute I don't know a whole lot about, and I don't know that he's much of a standout, except for his name. The only reason I've even heard of him is because his name is funky. He's one of those guys that won't see a lot of playing time but when he does, the commentators will have a field day.
With Scott Skiles at the helm, I think this team has a pretty good shot at doing decently, of course, in lieu of how the Eastern Conference has improved we'll have to see how well they actually do. Additionally, we'll have to see how Richard Jefferson adjusts to getting more shots, as he'll be the second scoring option behind Michael Redd. Also we have to see if Andrew Bogut continues to improve at the rate he has been improving at and if he really does become a standout center. They're moving to a more traditional lineup, but again, I'm not overly enamoured with their options in the reserve roles. Their weakness, especially at the forward positions (Adrian Griffin and Joe Alexander? Two big unknowns who I'm leaning more towards the scrub side) is something to be considered. Desmond Mason would've been a good backup, but getting rid of Mo Williams was a good choice, and Desmond Mason was the price that had to be paid.
Maybe 41 wins? Break even we'll say. Top of the bottom-feeders in the East. I see mediocrity at best, with a few flashes of brilliance. Seriously Skiles, play Ramon Sessions.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Season Preview: Miami Heat
In continuation of everything that's been happening so far.
Miami Heat
Starting 5
PG- Marcus Banks
SG- Dwayne Wade
SF- Michael Beasley
PF- Shawn Marion
C- Mark Blount
Off the Bench
Guards: Chris Quinn, Mario Chalmers, Daequan Cook
Forwards: Dorell Wright, Udonis Haslem, James Jones, Yakhouba Diawara
Centers: Jamaal Magloire, Joel Anthony
There could be a number of shifts in the starting 5, most people feel that Marion is not likely to be in the future of the Heat, though many would like it to be. A possible move would be a trade to Memphis for added depth. However, that's a side note, as things stand now, I see the lineup going something like this. I'm sure that most people are pretty disappointed that Udonis Haslem could not crack the starting rotation somehow, but with both Beasley and Marion, then there isn't much space for Haslem there thusfar. People, including head coach Eric Spolestra have speculated at the possibility of playing Haslem as an undersized center for a smaller lineup. The Rookie Transition Program indiscretion aside, Beasley and Chalmers look to become impact players. Beasley has the talent and hopefully a Riley-run system can discpline him to have the mindset to be a winner.
Chalmers from all appearances is ready to make an impact, however, if he isn't, look for Chris Quinn, who showed hints of being able to play last season. Marcus Banks the veteran of the PG crew with the departure, and subsequent retirement of Jason Williams, I think will step it up and retain the starting spot unless usurped by Chalmers who proves to be something of a rookie phenom. Should Chalmers ultimately prove to deserve the starting spot I would slide him there without hesitation. He lit it up at Orlando Summer League, which of course we have to take with a grain of salt, that grain being, that it was Orlando Summer League. Developing with players like Wade though, I see him becoming a very effective point guard in the future, at the very least. Beasley is something of an interesting phenom, he's got talent and no one doubts he will be something of an immediate impact player as soon as he gets the first couple weeks of adjustment to the league. One blogger (Graydon) likens Beasley to Lamar Odom, only fully realized. We'll see if that's the case, attitude will always be something of an issue, and one can only hope that he takes to heart the hard work ethic of someone like Udonis Haslem.
Blount wins a starting spot because he's better than Joel Anthony, however, with Wade returning healthy and the Heat actually trying to win this season, tacked on with the fruit of their last season's poor performance (Beasley), Blount won't be asked to do much other than rebound. Actually, I'd be pretty leery of holding onto him if that were all he were asked to do, but Jamall Magloire and Joel Anthony aren't really improvements either. Again, I can feasibly see Marion traded for better options or Haslem seeing time as the big man. Wade's explosiveness and rebirth during the Olympics have made believers of everyone, he'll again be asked to carry the onus of leadership on the team, but this team looks a lot better than the one he struggled with in his previous injury laden season.
There is still a period of feeling out each other since last season was so atrocious, but I say a good 43-44 wins, slipping into the playoffs. East is finally beginning to look semi-legit.
Miami Heat
Starting 5
PG- Marcus Banks
SG- Dwayne Wade
SF- Michael Beasley
PF- Shawn Marion
C- Mark Blount
Off the Bench
Guards: Chris Quinn, Mario Chalmers, Daequan Cook
Forwards: Dorell Wright, Udonis Haslem, James Jones, Yakhouba Diawara
Centers: Jamaal Magloire, Joel Anthony
There could be a number of shifts in the starting 5, most people feel that Marion is not likely to be in the future of the Heat, though many would like it to be. A possible move would be a trade to Memphis for added depth. However, that's a side note, as things stand now, I see the lineup going something like this. I'm sure that most people are pretty disappointed that Udonis Haslem could not crack the starting rotation somehow, but with both Beasley and Marion, then there isn't much space for Haslem there thusfar. People, including head coach Eric Spolestra have speculated at the possibility of playing Haslem as an undersized center for a smaller lineup. The Rookie Transition Program indiscretion aside, Beasley and Chalmers look to become impact players. Beasley has the talent and hopefully a Riley-run system can discpline him to have the mindset to be a winner.
Chalmers from all appearances is ready to make an impact, however, if he isn't, look for Chris Quinn, who showed hints of being able to play last season. Marcus Banks the veteran of the PG crew with the departure, and subsequent retirement of Jason Williams, I think will step it up and retain the starting spot unless usurped by Chalmers who proves to be something of a rookie phenom. Should Chalmers ultimately prove to deserve the starting spot I would slide him there without hesitation. He lit it up at Orlando Summer League, which of course we have to take with a grain of salt, that grain being, that it was Orlando Summer League. Developing with players like Wade though, I see him becoming a very effective point guard in the future, at the very least. Beasley is something of an interesting phenom, he's got talent and no one doubts he will be something of an immediate impact player as soon as he gets the first couple weeks of adjustment to the league. One blogger (Graydon) likens Beasley to Lamar Odom, only fully realized. We'll see if that's the case, attitude will always be something of an issue, and one can only hope that he takes to heart the hard work ethic of someone like Udonis Haslem.
Blount wins a starting spot because he's better than Joel Anthony, however, with Wade returning healthy and the Heat actually trying to win this season, tacked on with the fruit of their last season's poor performance (Beasley), Blount won't be asked to do much other than rebound. Actually, I'd be pretty leery of holding onto him if that were all he were asked to do, but Jamall Magloire and Joel Anthony aren't really improvements either. Again, I can feasibly see Marion traded for better options or Haslem seeing time as the big man. Wade's explosiveness and rebirth during the Olympics have made believers of everyone, he'll again be asked to carry the onus of leadership on the team, but this team looks a lot better than the one he struggled with in his previous injury laden season.
There is still a period of feeling out each other since last season was so atrocious, but I say a good 43-44 wins, slipping into the playoffs. East is finally beginning to look semi-legit.
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