Jopa said he would hesitate to trade martin for anything less than a superstar. Gasol is a 2nd fiddle, but he is a all star. Gasol is paid like a 1 which he is not. If they get gasol, it is because lakers are getting the much better player. The rockets shouldn't ever do a deal in whcih la is clearly getting the better,younger player.
Let's not ignore that C-Bud also had a poor game. I'm not going to lie, I'm ready for him to be packaged out--I think some combination of T-Will, Morris, and Lee is our best long-term answer for small forward. And who the h*ll is Jeff Adrien?
Last season we had a pretty bad start at 5-12 Tue 26 @ LA Lakers L 110-112 Wed 27 @ Golden State L 128-132 Sat 30 vs Denver L 94-107 November Opponent Result Wed 03 vs New Orleans L 99-107 Sat 06 @ San Antonio L 121-124 Sun 07 vs Minnesota W 120-94 Wed 10 @ Washington L 91-98 Fri 12 @ Indiana W 102-99 Sun 14 @ New York W 104-96 Tue 16 vs Chicago L 92-95 Wed 17 @ Oklahoma City L 99-116 Fri 19 @ Toronto L 96-106 Mon 22 vs Phoenix L 116-123 Wed 24 vs Golden State W 111-101 Fri 26 @ Charlotte L 89-99 Sun 28 vs Oklahoma City W 99-98 Mon 29 @ Dallas L 91-101 can't get worst than this
Totally agree with your points, especially with regards to Twill who just hit a few shots, but nothing more though he did try on defense more than Budinger imo. The thing that is mind boggling is why we didn't pass Scola the ball more, he should've had around 25-30 pts easily. We went away from him, settled for the three and perimeter game, iso ball and that's the game. Defense still a nightmare, layup drills were in session. One thing about Dalembert: does he have any moves in the post ?
I might as well toss in my dos centavos. Probably what it's worth anyways. I was encouraged, primarily by the play of Dalembert. I was not familiar with his game, but it seems he will bring something to this team it has not had for some time. It should alter our defense and the way teams prepare for us. His addition exceeds my expectations. As for the game as a whole, it could have been a lot worse. They are a playoff team playing on their home court. If two of our starters go cold, it may not necessarily be difficult to overcome, unless it is the two who are not in there for their lock down defense or ability to crash the boards. It seems unnecessary to trash any of our players. They should be encouraged to play well, whether they end up playing a significant role in a successful season, or by increasing their value as assets that other teams may value.
I will give the team and McHale another month for the offensive system to get back to normal. Right now, it is nothing like Adelman and Finch. For example, I don't think I saw one down screen in the entire game. I thought the point was to keep the offense the same. anyhow, I'll give it a month...but I'm watching you McHale.
well it was good for a season opener, but to be honest for the first time in many years I feel like our team isn't going to be a serious threat to the league as previous years. I hope I'm wrong though
The team played decent. Obviously Martin and Bud couldn't hit the ocean with the golf ball. The defense was not to bad (other than Martin's). Dalembert impressed me. He will be a good Defensive C but that one play they dumped it off to him to make a post move was not pretty. I would not even give Dalembert the ball in the post so he can post someone up. That won't happen. It is a new coach and a new system so it will take some guys to adjust. Especially given they only had 2-3 weeks to even get into it. Like heypartner said, see how they look after a month of game experience. I think they will do good, but not great. Maybe 8th seed in the west if another team breaks down. I hope I am wrong though!
Also, why the hell was Scola playing Center against Howard for like 5-6 minutes!?!?!?!? That was really stupid and I was honestly in shock when I saw that.
Do you pull Scola out of the game after carrying the team? They went small with Turkoglu at the four. Would you be comfortable with Scola guarding him? Personally, I think you keep Scola at the four and put Dally back in there to finish the game, but I don't think it's an easy decision when you consider the matchup problems.
Agreed, that was one of my biggest beefs with the gasol trade, we'd be giving the Hornets everything they wanted for the best pg in the league, but we would be getting a 2nd option (albeit a very good one) instead, also let's not forget Gasol's massive contract and the fact that his age will soon become a factor.
Rockets were somewhat impressive. TWill, Klow, CLee, Scola, and Dalembert all looked great, not to mention the spurts from Hill. KMart struggled big time, as well as i noticed that Bud is just not quick enough laterally to guard properly. I dont know what were gonna do, but I hope Morris, PatPat, and Twill get a lot of playing time!
I would have much rather seen Scola at the 4 guarding Turkoglu than Howard. Scola doesn't play the best D but putting him on Howard was just ridiculous.
I was encouraged by our center play, both Hill and Dally. They weren't great but they were going up against the best and both of them battled really well. We missed Patterson's contributions at the 4. And we need more defense at the 3. Gotta start TWill out of defensive necessity. Or at least start Lee out of defensive necessity.
