I don't really care as much about size. It's a definite bonus, don't get me wrong, but after suffering through some pretty lean years, all I'm concerned about is getting talented players that work hard.
you wouldnt compare our current roster to a roster of a past championship season. they are 2 different eras, teams in many eras thrived b/c of different factors, teams in one era learned from the past eras and have adapted to how teams in past eras have played . best thing to compare our roster to is current championship caliber teams like LAL and BOS.
"Available" needs a definition. Liv Tyler is "available" but that doesn't mean I have a shot in hell. Maggette (6'6") and Artest (6'7") are available. But can we get either? Depends on what we have to give up, of course, and what the ownership of each team thinks. Miller (6'8") MIGHT be available, depending on whether McHale intends to suck a lot or suck a little. With the Clippers dumping Livingston, getting Maggette MIGHT be a little easier now, I say MIGHT, if they're willing to have BJax sitting on their books next year (only). And I wouldn't want to give up Battier. Would expiring contracts (BJax and Steve) plus maybe 2 or 3 first-rounders (possibly including Greene but not necessarily) get it done? Or do they let him go and just go after Arenas or whomever with their newly-acquired cap space? Pietrus (6'6") is available (cogito, ergo sum). But how much of the MLE is Carl gonna cost us, and so how much would be left for such a free agent? Or would another team be willing to go full MLE?
Kenny - 6'3 vs. Rafer - 6'2 KENNY IS A BETTER SHOOTER Max - 6'4 vs. T-mac - 6'8 MAX is a Better Defender that is about it Rob - 6'10 vs. Battier - 6'8 ROB >> Battier OT - 6'10 vs. Scola - 6'9 OT >> Scola Dream - 7'0 vs. Yao - 7'6 Dream >> Yao While Height is important so is skill I can admit that but . . . we do need some size Rocket River
its obvious, chuck hayes is a PF i believe? He's almost ineffective on offense. Luther Head is undersized and is useless on top of that.
here's our solution. http://deadspin.com/sports/american-basketball-association/land-of-the-giants-245830.php i think most of these guys are available.
Ok - let's do that: Based on combine measurements in shoes: Boston: PG Rondo 6'1 SG Allen 6'6 C Perkins 6'10 PF Garnett 7'0.25 SF Pierce 6'7.25 SF Posey 6'7.5 FC Brown 6'10.75 G House 6'0.5 FC Davis 6'9 PF Powe 6'8 SG Allen 6'4.25 PG Cassell 6'3 Los Angeles: PG Fisher 6'1 SG Bryant 6'6 C Gasol 7'0 PF Odom 6'10 SF Radmanovic 6'10 PG Farmar 6'2 SG Vujacic 6'7 F Walton 6'9 PF Turiaf 6'9.25 SF Ariza 6'8.25 C Mihm 7'0 GF Newble 6'7 C Bynum 7'0 (we don't know if they'll start him, or bring him off the bench since we haven't seen him in the lineup with Gasol. He's irrelevant to the discussion anyway since the Lakers made the finals without him) Houston: PG Alston 6'2.75 SG McGrady 6'8 C Ming 7'6 PF Scola 6'10.25 (sourced from 3 international player profiles listing him 208,210,211 cm) SF Battier 6'9.5 C Mutombo 7'2 PF Landry 6'8.5 PF Hayes 6'6.75 SG Head 6'3 PG Brooks 5'11.75 PG Francis 6'3.5 SF Greene 6'9 PF Dorsey 6'7.25 F Novak 6'9.25 PG Jackson 6'0.5 ___________________ Looking at the starting lineups: the only position that Boston is 'bigger' than us is at the PF spot (which PF is taller than KG?) We're just a bit taller than the Lakers at every position except SF (giving up a half inch). Looking at the bench: Our PG's are fine - even the diminuitive Brooks is not dwarfed by the 'massive' House/ Farmar combination. We're a tad 'short' at PF - but only just when compared to Boston! (as mentioned in another thread, vert reach is more important anyway, and our top PF vert reach has the highest of any in the three teams - Dorsey at 8'11) We seem to be 'height challenged' in the backup GF spot alone - with Head at 6'3 pretty small - especially in comparison to the Lakers Vujacic (6'7) Curiously enough that's the exact position that both Adelman and Morey have talked about needing to improve, both in size and scoring, this off-season. That the Rockets are 'undersized' is pretty well a myth. It just looked worse at the end of last season because the 7'6 Ming wasn't there, meaning we had to play our backup PFs (who are slightly short) at C. It's REALLY not that big a deal... Boston was the best defensive team in the league, and at worst we're on par with them in terms of height. We're the second best defensive team - so do we really need to 'get taller' - or just add a taller GF who can score?
The NBA is not the same as back in the 90's. It is designed now for size, athleticism and speed vs. the spot shooting and half court of the past. Teams that went to the finals were chicago, utah, SAS, sonics, phoenix, ROX, NY, and none was a very athletic team.
