indeed i was about to say that i wont mind having a solid center to back up yao... I'll take anyone except Michael Olawahkhandi
No, Yao is one of the best low post defensive player, he does very well guarding low post offensive player one on one (Stoudemire, Shaq...), His defense became liability only when against a pick for shooting C or PF like Boozer and Harrington... when Yao guards Duncan, Duncan can't get anything going, the reason Yao dosen't guard Duncan is b/c Yao may pick fouls against Duncan. (that's the reason Duncan dosen't guard Yao either)
You said Magloire is no better than Mutombo, and Mutombo doesnt play cuz he's not a good fit with Adelman's system. But Magloire isnt a Mutombo type player. Diop is closer to that then he is. Magloire has a liiiittle more offense he can lend than Mutombo. Interestingly Magloire's per 36 min averages are about the same as his past 4 seasons, except his scoring is down. I think he'd make sense as a backup but I agree its not the biggest team need right now.
We do need a backup C. Our frontline is too small besides Yao (and Deke who isn't seeing much floor time). Hayes is good at post defense, but he is a total liability on offense and he is only 6'6. Scola is only decent at post defense. He got abused by David West last two games. Landry isn't a good post defender and he fouls too much.
Assuming Bobby Jackson is at least a competent backup PG, I think a backup C is second on the list after a wing player capable of being in the (Brent Barry/Bobby Jones). What many people fail to realize that our interior defense drops quite a bit without Yao in there. We have to adjust our defensive scheme whenever Yao's on the bench. This may not matter against some teams, but can kill us against others. That said, unless we can find someone Deke(previous couple of years version), it's an impossible position to upgrade. Big men who can actually play don't get cut from teams.
they dont need a backup center now since they have deke, but next year it is a concern when deke retires.
Magloire does have more O than Deke (slightly) but he plays a style very similar to Deke thus would also not fit into our scheme. And its not like Magloire is actually a good offensive player.
i think we need one to back up Yao lakers. suns...have more big guys to defend Yao..they can change players to deal with him , Yao could be tired soon and get injoured easily..We do need a big guy most of the time when against such teams though we did not bad when without Yao sometimes.. Also , if we get another their big guys can't just defend Yao in the low position..then Yao could score more easily..
Ummm a backup center would not play with Yao on the court thus not helping Yao score easier. You know he'd be a back-up.
How quickly people forgot our last loss against Utah was when Utah changed game plan, kept attacking the rim in the 4th quarter, scored 13 possessions in a row. We had no shot blocker so we had to foul them or let them shoot easily. But since we were down, put Deke on the floor eouldn't help the offense to catch up.
I was thinking about the Utah game also. Yao was out and Deke tried but we cannot keep with their offense. We lost to them but not much. During that game, I was hoping we got another big who can help Deke out perhaps we could have won.
