Markieff might be the last of the buyouts. https://heavy.com/sports/2020/02/lakers-celtics-others-wait-as-buyout-market-hits-a-stalemate/
We should've gotten one of the Morris twins instead of Carroll. Carroll is super washed up and he looked like it too last game. Also Carroll was playing peacekeeper when Westbrook got into it with the Warriors but if we had Morris, he'd be smacking people down for getting into it with our star player.
i'm not sure what game you are watching these days, but nba defenses can play literally whatever defense that they want, be it zone, man, box and 1... literally everything. you're right in that hand-checking was no longer allowed since 2004, but that was mainly to adapt to the international game, where team usa was getting called for fouls non-stop, even though other teams were hand-checking and playing more physical. puerto rico, argentina, lithuania... those teams weren't comfortable with hand-check rules and no player other than ginobili would be able to "shred defenders off the dribble" with nba players hand-checking them. freedom of movement didn't come about until the 2018 nba season, and it was made to favor teams like gsw and hurt the rockets when trying to stick to their man on off-ball screens. adam silver couldn't have his golden child curry go through another playoffs shooting 30%. also if you watched team usa at all during the 2004 olympics... you would know that larry brown didn't play lebron, carmelo, or dwade a single minute in any single game. they just rode the bench every game... even in those embarrassing losses. it's funny that you're blaming them of all people. larry brown was so stubborn and persistent on playing "his" guys.. and ended up playing stephon marbury and allen iverson the most minutes of any player on that team. after that 2004 olympics debacle, david stern made it a point to make sure it never happens again, so he made zone defenses legal in the nba, because that was what hampered the 2004 usa olympic team. usa lost because no one on that team could make an outside 3 point shot consistently and because puerto rico, argentina and lithuania were playing zone defenses (i mean, no one in their right mind would play a man-to-man defense against nba allstars who are bigger, stronger, and faster than you, and where they could just iso you out, and pick and roll you to death), usa had no idea how to attack on offense with the lane all packed. that is why that team lost. the nba that we knew in the 80s, 90s, early 2000s... people forget so easily, but that era was literally just isolation basketball and exploit the mismatch. nba only allowed for man-to-man defenses - anytime a defensive player wasn't engaged with an offensive player and was caught in no man's land, they would be whistled for illegal defense. this made big men dominant, because bigs had all day to work in the post and could just back down their defender for days. if the double team came, they'd just throw it out and re-post, or swing it for the open shot. some teams would get creative and use a pick-and roll with a smaller player and get a small defender attached to the big... mouse in the house. players weren't as creative scoring from the perimeter until michael jordan came along, so you would mostly see teams dump it into the post to the big man. once jordan revolutionized the game, you had players in his mold come into the nba in the 90s, like grant hill, penny hardaway, kobe bryant. allen iverson and steve francis brought on that whole dribble your heart out isolation ball, and honestly.. it was pretty hard to watch sometimes.. as they'd have 4 players cleared out to the other side of the court, and iverson or francis going one-on-one for 20 secs of the shotclock then throw up an inefficient mid range 2 pointer. once the rules changed, and zone defenses were no longer illegal... most nba teams weren't so quick to change and remained stubborn.. sticking to man defense. but eventually you had teams experiment with different defensive sets.. and in-game, teams would try a zone defense for a few plays just to confuse the offense. that 2006 golden state team with baron davis and don nelson at the helm, they would sometimes implement a zone, or they would also box and 1 and stick al harrington or stephen jackson on dirk, and that helped them upset that mavs team, 8 seed over 1 seed. steph curry didn't change anything for team usa... he wasn't even on that redeem team in 2008.. he wasn't even in the nba then. he didn't "find his game" because of team usa bball... he found his game when he was in high school/college when he realized how much smaller, weaker, and slower he was compared to his competition so he extended his range as a way to get his shot off. he also didn't modernize the nba game as to how we see it today. the rockets with daryl morey realized that shooting more 3s, even at a lower percentage than your typical 2s, was analytically a better proposition. curry had nothing to do with it. gsw and mark jackson, even though they had curry and klay thompson, didn't utilize the 3 pointer like they do now. it was only until they fired jackson and hired steve kerr where they realized they needed to shoot more 3s. the rules prohibit true help? 7 footers given the freedom to patrol the paint on D? do you even watch basketball? they are allowed to patrol the paint literally all game long... all they need to do is tap one foot outside of the key for a second and then get right back in.... the only reason you don't have bigs camping the paint as much these days is because you have 4s and 5s shooting 3 pointers. hakeem olajuwon looking silly trying to stay in front of a smaller player?? the guy was pretty much a guard trapped in a big man's body... he had unreal quickness and the best footwork in the game... he'd be perfect in today's defensive switching schemes. if anybody is making anyone look silly, it would be hakeem destroying curry on the perimeter. don't be ridiculous. players have freedom on defense? so allow hand-checking again and slow the game down to a halt? coaches allowed to draw up any scheme? like i said, they are already allowed to play any defense that they want. there's a reason why harden has seen all sorts of absurd defenses the past 2 years... have you not been watching? and zone defenses, as you mentioned before? teams play it... i've seen miami pull it off a few times this season... but it's largely ineffective now because so many teams are able to shoot the 3ball well. any zone defense gets killed when you have good 3 point shooting. that layup dribbling exhibition that you keep ranting about... like i said, that was even more prevalent in the 90s and especially in the 2000s. if you hate harden and his isos... just be honest. but he's largely an anomaly and we'll never see another player as efficient as him in an isolation situation. nba has always been about taking advantage of a mismatch and harden has the advantage one-on-one in almost every situation. if he draws the double, how is that any different than drawing a double in the post? it pretty much accomplishes the same goal, except now with harden getting doubled out at halfcourt and 4 shooters, you have a wide open lane going 4 on 3. you honestly make no sense at all... you're arguing for complex defensive schemes - which already are allowed and coaches are allowed to conjure up any defense they want- ... and a re-birth of team offense? go watch gsw or giannis and the bucks then if you hate how the rockets play so much. rockets just racked up near 30 assists in their last game, but yea just go ahead and eat up that bs media narrative. not sure if you even know what you're watching if you're watching basketball at all.
You are quickly becoming one of my favorite posters DeBeards.....but the Rockets ran the Lakers bigs off the court in Covington's first game. Since then we have added Carroll and Jeff Green. MM would complete this team. I would give the Rockets the best odds for the chip. Just my humble opinion
1) we could still get Morris if we wanted 2) the dude signed hours before the game not sure if you can judge a guys value to team on that 3) you need a peacemaker rather than someone will escalate then situation with a temperament Westbrook.
Agreed. This team is to not be charged contusive to a big on offense. They just need to commit to lanky 6ft8 guys
Well, we won't likely agree on much of anything here. You are right that Coach Brown and that '04 team lacked harmony. But just to clarify, in my previous post, I was trying to condense a lot of history into a few words (as I knew that post would lead some to TLDR moment). As I understand the evolution of basketball from that historic Olympic loss (after which the NBA discarded the hand check rule, which was the right thing to do) was to note only a few points. I think you will find that Curry, Harden, George and plenty of others participated in heated USAB scrimmages, fed off one another, and elevated their games. Many point to the famous 2014--15 practices in particular. Curry himself had been a regular participant in the Team USA system since '07 (as a member of U-19 teams). My larger point is that illegal defense has outlived its usefulness. It's an unnecessary artificial rule that hurts defenders. The NBA has opened up the game enough and perimeter shooting has finally improved. Now I think it's time to make it an even better game and allow a defense to set up however they would like. And I think coaches would find creative ways to involve big men in that equation.
your judging somebody of 13 mins of play?, and mind you I thought he was pretty solid in those 13 mins good Defense, good hustle, good offensive rebounds, moved the ball around for offensive flow and he’s really gritty. he can score as well but just didn’t get the chance to show it off. I think he will be like a tucker for us, like a faried but way more skilled on offense.
I mean seriously, what else did he want from Carroll, come in and start jacking up shots lol. He was in good position defensively, he was mostly at the right spots offensively, if anything, that short spurt of time showed us that he can fit the system and looked to be moving just fine despite previous knee surgery. Some members have unrealistic expectations.
you still clearly don't understand something. the only "illegal defense" in the nba that exists now is when a defensive player parks himself in the key for more than 3 secs without engaging an offensive player. every defense is legal now. teams can run whatever defense that they want. it's not the 90's where you're required to play man defense. stop trying to misinform people here by spouting stuff you have no clue what you are talking about. and as much help as usa basketball has been, that wasn't the reason players like curry, harden, paul george elevated their games. they train and scrimmage without usab all summer long. also, curry isn't a regular participant... and paul george was barely with the program before he shattered his leg. stop giving it so much credit. if it were so good, then players like mason plumlee, or grayson allen would be better than they are. kawhi leonard has never been with the program and he turned out to be a decent player, no?
are you serious?. At this moment in time Carroll is way better then Faried that’s why Carroll is in the team and faried is not
Lets see what gonna happen on mar 13. 1 Game W over lal can say something, but can't make a quick conclusion yet! REASON As you know, like in playoff series (any round), 2 matchup in 3day…other than a big test on physical endurance for both contenders, its actually more about kinda MIND GAME i.e. who can adjust themself well guided by coaching team, finding flaws n revamping them ,working out another set of countermeasure XOXO (inlc a plan b) based on last matchup. In that way, every single matchup of 7 game series can be deemed as a substantive game, the better self-adjustive teams make home run and W all. Conclusion: I would rather we act low-ptofile a little bit and let our key potential W&E conf contenders to give a help on leading us finding our flaws of small ball system in remaining games, other than BEAT LA TWICE and then stun us in playoff matchup. All in all we are still WIP of pivoting things, stay cool, learn more from ZEN n pop: at right time the lose is much bigger and meaningful win.
