James is a "good" addition, don't get me wrong, but Rafer is still horrible. And we are not going to have James run our offense, believe me. He feels he's got to score on every possesion, as history has witnessed with every team he's played since we tradede him has shown. And after watching the playoffs, again, I'm convinced our biggest need is at PG. There are some good pointguards late in the first, and early second that could make a significant difference next year. My favorite "realistic" pick would be Zabian Dowdell, 6'3", a lefty, and a reliable scorer if called upon. He posseses the ability to create off the dribble, shoot from long range with accuracy, collects a good amount of steals, and, most importantly, see the floor well. Vspan is gone, JL3 is a carreer backup, and Rafer almost lead the league in 3attemps last year with an atrocious %. Morey, if your read this before you select, and your favs are gone, I suggest trading down and taking this guy with a 2nd rounder. Zabian Dowdell Petteri Koponen, Ramon Sessions, and Taurean Green aren't bad consulation prizes either.
i think mike will be able to buy into adelman's offensive style which is more team oriented. in jvg's offense, it was all too easy to have that selfish attitude when noone else was doing a damned thing.
skip is going 2 be very effective now that he isn't gonna b on the court for 38+ minutes a night. along with mike james, they create a pg duo that contrasts nicely. i think our guard situation has gone from a weakness to a strength. and i agree, stop hating on rafer.
i agree that we need a better pg but we already have WAY too many guards as of this moment. right now we really need a 4 desperately. we have chuck hayes and... shane??? i say big baby or sean williams at 26.
Ok, I understand you hate Rafer Alston but you still can't be serious. PG is still our biggest need? We have Mike James, Rafer Alston, Vassilis Spanoulis, John Lucas, Luther Head and, if you want to get crazy, Bob Sura at PG. We have Chuck Hayes and Steve Novak at power forward. Seriously. Chuck Hayes and Steve Novak. And Steve Novak may be better as a third string small forward than as a third string power forward. It may be that none of our point guards are the perfect point guard for this team, but at least we have point guards. How is having Alston worse than not having anyone? Explain that.
if we get a 2nd rounder...ramon sessions! he probably will be gone to the sonics though. he's a solid assist man who can run a team and limits his turnovers. drives to the lane, but has problems finishing because of a lack of super athleticism and needs to bulk up. he'd be a nice addition and would compliment mike james' style.
I agree about James & Alston. Also if VSpan, Head or Lucas3 can develope into a 3rd string point, then we are good to go there.
If our biggest hole is PG... And we draft a PG at 26 or trade for a 2nd rounder. Our biggest hole would still be PG......
how can you even say PG is our biggest need...WE DONT HAVE A PF...i think that should be your biggest need..we have about 4 pgs...2 of which are pretty good that i think can take us all the way...sheesh
I don't like any of our point guards at all. I don't hate Rafer, he's just a terrible shot that can't hit a wide open three. James appears to be a shoot first head case. Lucas is shooting first and last tiny player. VSpan I want to like, but I just cannot see what all the fuss is about. I don't like any of our point guards. A trade for a legit power forward is required, but then spending a draft pick on a possible long term solution to point guard would be okay with me. Yeah we got a bunch of them but if you really add it all up we got a big bag of nothing.
James and Alston is not a bad PG setup for the needs of this team. Think about Adelman's system, and think about Mike James' game. At his best (in Toronto) he was basically a Mike Bibby clone. Here he'll probably just be Bibby-lite, but that's good enough. Meanwhile, we have a gaping hole at PF.
"Rafer is horrible..." Wow, way to be objective. I guess Zorbian Dodell or whatever the hell could have done a better job playing 45 minutes a night against a budding superstar like Deron Williams in the playoffs, right? Rafer did alright considering the circumstances. It's not his fault our organization was too stubborn to address a GLARING need at the trade deadline that essentially left him out to dry. Seriously, imagine if Rafer got hurt and we went into the playoffs with JLIII and V-Span as our only options at the point.
I agree with everyone...to me everyone has a point why it seems like we still need a point guard we don't have any power fowards really.Rafer did ok agiasnt willams he was just over matched.Baron davis and Tony parker couldn't even guard willams either remember.
MJ and Rafer will fit in Adelman's run , or at least , they are the shoot-1st type ,which means they wont hesitate when open . ......and quite a push for Yao to be more versatile and a determined passer... Btw, by drafting a rookie , however brilliant he is , it may at least take one year or so for the team to run like a team , which the DUO cant afford...
Did you not see Rafer play in the playoffs? He was Lost out there. Period. Watch the 4th quater of game 7 if you need a reminder. He coughed it up or took some ill advised shots when the season was on the line and JVG had no other option at the 1. Vspan is gone, can't guard anyone anyways, that's why he saw such little PT. JL3, give me a break! He's like 5'10", can't defend anyone, and with no ability to get to the hole. Do you honestly think Coach A is gonna use him? And Luther at PG?? Your whole arguement justified my point! Our PF need will most effectively be filled by a FA. Do yall honestly think Coach A is gonna take over this team with Fazekas, Bigbaby, quiter and pothead Williams, or any other PF they get at 26 to take them into the playoffs? That's delusional. At least our PG will share minutes with Mike or hopefully not Rafer. We had no answer for Deron in the playoffs. Zabian Dowdell averaged over 2 steals a game the last two seasons in the ACC. He's got a 6'10" wingspan , left handed wich would make opposing PG's struggle to score since there going to his left, and he's got a legit 3pt shot. That's alot more than you can say for "can't get it together" Rafer. Simply put, watch our series against Utah. It's all there. ANd for baller4life315, Monon, and everyone else who thinks Rafer is just fine, you'll see Rafer will becomethe biggest liability when coach A starts running his offense with a no shot, no confidence PG. If you didn't see it all season , You weren't watching the games. Rafer is a clown. Do yall honestly think Vspan or JL3 can guard any PG in the playoffs?? At least Zabian Dowdell will make them play some man defense.
Orlando Pre-Draft Camp: Final Recap June 4, 2007 Zabian Dowdell had a very strong camp here, putting up 11 assists to only 3 turnovers, shooting a respectable .440 from the floor, hitting two NBA three-pointers, showing good range, and playing tremendous defense, using all of his 6’9.5 wingspan to lock down his man, even though he picked just one steal in the camp. The thing that really jumps out about Dowdell is how all of his strong points would seem to translate very well to the NBA level, especially with his NBA body and that wingspan. He may not have starter potential, as he hasn’t really ever shown he can dish out a lot of assists consistently, but he runs his team pretty well, can hit the spot-up shot from outside, has a very tight handle, plays excellent defense, and was probably the most deadly player pulling up from mid-range here, being nearly automatic coming off his crossover in the lane. from his profile on draftexpress.com He's not gonna be an impact player, but does he need to be with Yao and Tmac on the team?
