We have the room exception, which we've already used on Nene. All we can offer is minimum contracts now. It's possible we can clear more room by trading away someone like Brewer with no salary in return...
Nation Hate Okay, Gentile has to come over now. His performance (and mistakes in the clutch) have turned the nation of Italy on him. He looks good. Great defender. He needs opportunities.
He played badly throughout the tournament. He's a solid all-around player, can create for himself and others, plays good D and has a strong NBA body, but his shot is broken and every defender just dares him to shoot and crowds the paint. He's a one dimensional scorer and it burned him a lot against higher level competition. I hope this tournament also showed to you Americans that Ettore Messina is straight up trash. His time has passed, his last two head coaching positions with Real Madrid and CSKA Moscow were unsuccessful and he now confirmed his inability again, with the Italian national team. Italy had absolutely the strongest team on this tournament, they had home court advantage, refs on their side, and they had nothing to show for it. Iso, iso and then some more iso ball. Every man for himself, no team identity at all. Just because Messina was a great coach 10-15 years ago and is on Poppovich's coaching staff doesn't mean he's great now.
I've seen other but how can you expect this guy to do well in the NBA when he was basically not existent on both ends of the game the whole game. He was aggressive once in the 2nd half and traveled on that play. And this is international play not an NBA game. The other NBA players showed up big in this game.
Honest Look I haven't been watching Italy but Gentile was the only perimeter defender that could stay with Simone and challenge his shot. He was killing them until Gentile shut him off. This was the case in both the first and second halves. Gentile came in for the rest of the game after Gallinari fouled out with three or four minutes to play. Again, Gentile's defense was more than adequate, but it looked to me like the coaches (and other players) had told him to space the floor and get out the way. He did exactly that. Bring up the ball and go to the corner. Gentile moved without the ball adequately and looked like he wanted to be involved. But the stakes were high and he was timid. This will go down as great experience for him. In last minute of overtime, Gentile got out on the break after a live ball turn over and he narrowly missed a sure left-handed layout. This was his only attempt of the second half and would have tied the game. The crowd (in Italy) audibly gasped when he missed, realizing that their comeback might fall short. But after a foul, and free throws, Italy had one last shot down by three. Gentile got position and rebounded the miss; the crowd came to his feet knowing they would have one last possession . . . But Gentile pivoted and threw the ball right to Croatia. Game over. Olympic bid lost. As I wrote earlier, I'd be shocked if he doesn't come to the NBA to get out of Europe. I think he'll land on his feet. Easily, the toughest day of his short career. To reiterate, Dario Saric is a fantastic leader and player. Watch for him in the Olympics. Fantastic prospect. I'd trade anyone not named Harden to Philadelphia to get his rights. I don't see him fitting into their plans with Simmons as the face of their future.
How many SFs can we play: Ariza, Brewer, Beasley, Dekker, Gentile and am I forgetting anyone? The way Beasley played for us last year should catapult him even in front of Ariza. Ergo, the Rockets will trade him or not re-sign him.
thought i read somewhere the rockets weren't prepared to pay the 700k to free him from his euroleague contract. deadline tonight? dont expect him to play for HOU next year.
I'm going to bump the thread and leave this here. Both Alessandro and MDA talked about his situation in the past days/week in a interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport (which is the most important newspaper in Italy about sport). Gentile about Houston (one week ago): "I spoke with MDA. He said he wanted to coach me. Tbh, he knew how much i liked the idea to go to Houston this summer. At the time looked like everything was ok and basically done. Then i don't know, i guess the franchise changed their plans. I don't know how and why. You should ask them." Gentile about the NBA: "If it won't happen with Houston, i hope it happens somewhere else. My dream is to play there. I shown that i can play at the top in Europe so, now it's time to move on to the next level for me. As for now, i want to make a great season with Milan. Then we'll see what happens" MDA about Gentile's situation (few days after Gentile's interview): "Why he didn't come here? I don't know. It's not my job to make this happen, i'm the coach, not the gm. And i'm sorry, because he would've been another italian in the NBA. I don't know how to explain this, i guess our front office just wanted to follow another way and so they did. Gentile would've been useful in our roster. I really like him, very good athlete, with great talent and feel for the game. And then he comes from the Olimpia family (Milan's team, where he coached, he has friends there, Gentile's father etc...) and the relationship with them is very good."
Is it me or does it seem like MDA likes to deflect blame? I feel like I've seen him say thInga like this similar in the past
Yep, he's already done it with the Dmo situation. Mike will be GM within next 2 seasons IMO. Goodbye Maury
Or maybe he calls BS on BS. Why on DMo and on this kid, too? This kid plays D and rebounds, (a team need) right? We have a coach that plays players to their strengths making the TEAM better. Why wouldn't MDA want a player like him on the team?
Morey needs to let Mike know of his plans. This is a classic case of miscommunication that is not optimal in league front office environment.
Translation... Idk wtf Morey n Les are doing... I was expecting to have DMo.... he aint here... I thought I'd have Beasley as a front court spark... he's gone.... I could use Gentile.... idk why we didn't make that happen... ... instead I got Ennis.... smh..... wtf have I gotten myself into with these clowns? lol
MDA has deflected blame everywhere he has gone. He is a great coach and calling plays and making adjustments. He is a poor coach when it comes to being a leader and handling adversity.
