Either agree with or have addressed your other points eslewhere, but these two are very interesting. Williams also took on a leadership role last season, I heard, and with pretty good results. Will he want to leave a pretty good situation, though? Booth and Ostertag..are you talking backups here, or for the 4? Donlt see GO as a 4; not really Booth either. But as backups they'd each be effective, but pricey.
1A) Smith was nowhere near as susceptible to quick pgs as Barry is, not even close. And the trend back then was towards bigger 1s, as opposed to the recent move to smaller, quicker 1s. 1B) Camby and Thomas are both really, really interesting. Camby would normally be a little too much to expect for a role player, but with the years and the injuries, might not be too far fetched. As mentioned earlier, he's also developed, as unlikely as it sounds, into a leader type. Thomas I really like, but his game might be too inside O oriented for our needs. Still, he can bang, can board, and can even get out and run. Man, this is one excellent post after another.
Agree about Snow. I didn't see enough of Arroyo, but what I did see led me to think he might be too much of a playmaker/ball dominator to be the point for a Yao/T-Mac offense. Can you correct me? And what's his D like?
Well, it's lessened somewhat by system, which can account for a 4 better than a 1 or 5, but, yeah, at this point we don't have a defensive 4, and that leaves Yao really vulnerable to foul trouble. Okafor isn;t someone I;d considered, as I doubt he'd be available, but he fits the bill...with gravy.
Yeah people, I keep arguing for Arroyo, and you're probably all tired of it, but I'm telling you, I really like this guy. I'm gonna kick myself if we don't at least give the guy a good long look. To address your point of him being too dominant of a point: honestly, it would scare me if he didn't appear dominant on the teams he's played on. I wouldn't want the guy. Because you know what? He's played on some terrible teams. I did see the guy a little when he was with Denver, and I really liked the few minutes I saw in garbage time when he was with Toronto (remember any of that, since you follow the Raps?). Nobody really paid attention to the guy at the time. He wasn't really assertive enough, but I could see flashes. Then he was a top player for Puerto Rico in the Olympic qualifiers, and got a starting job with the Jazz. He improved because he realized something: when you have a crappy team around you with a bunch of guys who can't create shots, you have to create those shots for them. He realized that. Think about it. Brief stints with Denver and Toronto, then the Puerto Rican national team and now the Jazz. KIRILENKO WAS THEIR LEADING SCORER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Those were all TERRIBLE teams! Of course he should be aggresive with the ball! It took him a year to become more controlling and assertive with the ball. He has the quickness, he has a shot, he's got all the skills, and if he already learned to change his game around in a year, I think he can do it again for us. He's 25, and he would likely come relatively cheap. ...damn I'm long-winded. EDIT: Err, hmm, apparently you wrote this while I was composing the delightfully large post you see above. I think I answered the rest of your question, but about that defense part... Honestly, he's not a natural top defensive player. But here's the thing: he's quick. Really really quick. More so than people seem to give him credit for. Think Lue guarding Iverson in that Finals series. He doesn't understand all the intricacies... yet. He's not a cerebral defender... yet. My biggest complaint by far would be that he doesn't chase guys off the ball enough... he tends to only turn it on when he sees the rock in his man's hands. However, that quickness generally keeps him in front of people with relatively little effort, and we have a great defensive coach. I think those intricacies can be taught. If you haven't figured it out yet, I wish we would just sign this guy up. Fisher would be my second choice.
Pfft. Amateur. When he was with the Raps he was all flash, little substance, Crowd pleaser, but coach killer, and as you say, only garbage minutes. Maybe that's stayed with me a bit. WHat I saw of him last year was WAY more controlled, but still not exactly the type we need. I am not at all sure of my take on this, as I only saw him a bit, though, but teammates or not, a point is either a ball mover or a ball handler, and he's a ball handler IMO. Might be a good one, and the best ones make easy plays for their teammates, but I do'lt think we need that. IF he has the other qualities we need and just happens to be a good ( low risk) playmaker to boot, I'm sold. Can you tell me about his D? Don't remember anything either way from his Raptor days, and never noticed last year.
Backups, of course. We have somewhat of a glut/redundency at the 4 and a hole at the 5; Seattle would love to just get rid of Booth altogether- Booth for Weatherspoon at least reduces their $$ commitment by a year. Ostertag is definitely a pretty big boy for a 4. He'd be a backup 5 as well.
