Gater with his irrational Chuck hate. Who was starting at the end of the season? It wasn't Chuck. Until Yao went down and Landry was hurt Chuck's minutes were significantly decreased. Do you suggest they instead blow everything up and trade as many players as possible?
The Lakers were not in first seed before obtaining Gasol. Here are the records of the top teams before February 3rd (which is when Gasol started playing for the Lakers). Lakers - 29-16 Hornets - 32-14 Spurs - 30-16 Suns - 33-14 Mavs - 31-15 At least three other teams had better records.
His age has nothing to do with it. Players improve regardless of what age they were when they came to the league. Scola and Landry will both be improved. Sam Cassell was a 24 year old rookie who improved. Mobley improved. Looking around the league - Ginobili improved and is still improving. There are several examples.
I want the same team plus Desagana Diop and Mike Miller minus what we would have to give up to get them (no starters obviously). I'm certain that this team is good enough to win it all if Yao and T-Mac play at least 75 games each and don't miss the playoffs. However, we know that they are injury-prone so we have to mitigate that risk with: Diop and Miller. I'm comfortable with our PG situation (Rafer, Brooks, cheap veteran) as long as Brooks uses the summer to improve and draws on his rookie experience. I'm comfortable with T-Mac and Mike Miller at SG. I'm fairly comfortable with Battier at SF, although I worry about him in games where there's no scoring swingman to defend. This is where Mike Miller would help too. I'm VERY comfortable with our PF position (Scola/Landry). I would be very comfortable with Yao, Diop and either Hayes or Mutombo at C. Yao/Diop/Hayes Scola/Landry/Hayes Battier/Mike Miller T-Mac/Mike Miller Alston/Brooks/vet signing (to mentor and challenge Brooks) I can see us signing Diop using the MLE and trading for Mike Miller (BJaxx+1st+Head?). We don't need to touch the core this offseason. We just need to prepare to face the same risks as last season.
age has everything do with it. the older you get the less potential you have as a player. older players can improve usually building on skills already there but were not going to see the same growth as we saw from bynum. that's why their potential is limited.
Bynum was out after the Memphis game on 1/13. They were on a nice win streak before he went down. After that, the lakers had to start Turiaf at center and went on a bit of a slide. Once they got Gasol they started winning again. They weren't first seed at the time they got Gasol, but they were when Bynum was playing (around 35 games in).
Older in terms of years in the league, yes. Not in terms of what age you enter the league. Bynum's 2nd year he put up 8pts/6rebs. That's about the same as Landry's first year. His second year, 13/10. That's not a drastic improvement.
No. And the Rockets didn't give up any of their core rotation players last offseason besides Juwan. Scola for Juwan was a clear upgrade so I don't consider that any sort of loss, and besides that the Rockets only added depth at PG and PF with Jackson/Brooks and Landry .. no subtractions. The big change last offseason was Adelman for JVG. Personnel-wise, if we can make similar moves (no major substractions, only smart additions) then I'll all for it. Next year, Scola, Landry, and Brooks will be more experienced, and the team will have grown more comfortable under Adelman's coaching. That means we should basically resume where we left off. That's a good thing, because the Rockets were playing at a high level to close the season (considering they didn't have Yao). I think with minor tweaks, we should only get better. More aggressive changes to the core group will run the risk of disrupting the chemistry that was built in the second half of last season. I'm not saying we shouldn't look to add that "third scorer". I think that should be a priority, in fact. But we can't be impulsive about it either. Overturning the existing core of players to add another scorer would be unwise, in my opinion.
Yes I concur with this. I think a third scorer would be optimum for this team. However, that third scorer might also come from within as our younger players develop or if Francis gets healthy. That being said, if somehow a Baron Davis falls in our laps without having to give up too much, well you just have to do it.
I actually think our line-up is the best since the last ten years. I mean the franchise worked so hard to get this current line-up for us and you're not satisfied? 55 reg. season wins. 4th seed. 22-game winning streak. Only reason we didn't beat Utah was because of injuries, and no matter what players you have they will always get injured. Eventually.
I "suggested" on the day Yao Ming first placed a Rockets' baseball cap on his head they surround him with multi-dimensional players and force tempo. Instead, we were treated to standstill, spotup shooters and others who can't get their own shot. I "suggested" that you don't go to the Lottery with 2 stars of questionable health and bring back a pot of glue. I "suggested" before the last fan left the TC after Game 7 a year ago that "if any 2 of 3 of Hayes, Alston and Battier play starters minutes, they are another first round exit". They (overall as a team) are too short, too slow, too unathletic, and horrible in transition O. "Consistency" be damned. They need multi-dimensional players who can take over on those days when McGrady and Yao are injured or struggling. Days which are far too frequent. Sorry to disagree. Not making significant moves is breaking even. In the WC. breaking even is going backwards.
Well spoken. We have to do something. Everybody else will,we must make a move in the upward position!
Not to ride Gaters coattails, but I've been there saying the same thing. When u think about a team like the rox that won almost half their games during the win streak, it really gave the fans a false sense of title contention. If u really think about it, if the rox go 16-6, whih is 72% winning clip, they in 7 or 8 place. I've created threads explaing why I didn't like the team before yao got hurt, and many posters shrugged off the midget status, lack of a 3rd scorer and reliance of rookies as we'll be fine. A lot even used the "system will take care of it." Players make playsnot systems. Another mistake is posters think the rox young players will develop faster than everyone else rookies. So if the rooks improve, then the rox are title worthy. What they don't look at is the already good young players like paul and williams getting even better. To be honest, unless the rox make major move, I don't see them being better than the other top 6 teams in the leage. Another offseason as our 2 best players have compensate for the lack of talent frustrates me. It really has to frustrate tracy because he has to do everything. People wonder why he coast during the regular season. Once again, if Battier and Alston are both starting, the 1st rd exit door is waiting for the rox.
What significant moves did the Jazz make? The Hornets? Even the Lakers were significantly improved from last year before the Gasol acquisition without making a major offseason move (and acquiring Gasol didn't require them to give up a key player). Now, there were a couple playoff teams that made significant changes. Golden State traded away its starting SG. Dallas made the Kidd trade mid-season and Phoenix made the Shaq trade. How did that work for them? I'm not against a big trade, on principle. That includes trading away Battier and/or Hayes, which could make a lot of sense if we get back the right package of offensive/defensive versatility and veteran leadership. But there is something to say about the benefits of retaining some continuity year to year amongst your core rotation players. Franchises that try to remake their roster every couple years are not helping themselves. You mentioned this a number of times, though I'm not sure of the relevance at this point. We went 0-3 in games where only Battier played starter minutes, and we went 2-1 in the games where Alston and Battier both played starter minutes. Also, before the season I think we all would have predicted a first round exit in any circumstance where Yao was unable to play.
We need to be smart with Yao and T-Mac. We know there bodies cannot go through 82 games plus play-offs without breacking down. So, don't give them full minutes early in the season. For the first 25 games or so give them 20 minutes a game. Yes we need to get Mike Miller. Maggette is injury prone, and we don't need another one of those. I also agree with drafting Richard Roby. He can back-up Mike Miller early in the season while we nurse T-Mac. If he sucks balls, when T-Mac is ready to commence full playing time, he can go into the D-League.
Superb job thread starter! Artest is the key. If they are willing to pay tax, I dont know what the problem is. He already said he is. Artest is the guy. There's nothing else to it. He's hustle, defense, offense, intensity, hungry, "insane" - competitive. The worst thing that can happen is he is suspended for a couple games and ejected a couple. Rick has experience with Ron too so man, Artest is the answer. He isn't even that expensive, yet.
You're taking advantage of the fact that the 9th seed in this year's West was a 50-win team. Realistically, 7th or 8th seed with the amount of games Yao and T-Mac missed is pretty damn good. Yes, they ARE a risk to go down every season. But that doesn't mean you restructure the team. It just means you cover your bases - something we didn't have the luxury of doing till now. Get a solid swingman and a solid C who can provide: 1) Rest for Yao and T-Mac easily. 2) Serious productivity in case any of the two go down. WHY would we restructure the team? There is absolutely NOTHING to indicate otherwise. The only thing that has stood in our way is injury to our two stars. How could that possibly equate to what you're saying? It just means we have to get a better safety net ASAP and ASAP is this summer.
Losing in the first round will NOT be accepted by the Wizard. he saw what we lacked last offseason, and then went and got it done. we doubted him and the whole Moreyball thing, but he came up with the goods. there's no doubt this years team has been a great boost on the last few years, energy, more offensive options. Add to that a better and more imaginative offensive coach in Adelman. this team is going places - we're not the only ones feeling the hurt of our season concluding by early May (at the latest!) for the last 12 years or so - management feels it also and they have the werewithall to get us set for a big 2008/09. I can't wait.
This is adleman and morey's second offseason together, so we should see them begin to change the team to a more compatible team for adlemans offence. Hopefully we clean house on our bench and at the starting 3 position. Dike needs to retire! Hayes needs to go. Luther Head needs to go. Bobby Jackson needs to go. Shane needs to go. We need plain old fashion athletiscism!
