If I remember correctly, I remember seeing a stat 2 years ago showing Tracy's stats as a SF and as a SG and his stats at the 3 were considerably higher than his stats at SG. Even his lazy ass can beat most small forwards in the nba off the dribble and he definitely has the height to play the position and shoot over people. What about Battier and Artest? Trade Artest and Head for something of value(semi-decent PG or first round pick) and bench Battier and start Wafer at SG. Those saying our defense will sick without one of Battier or Artest starting, so what? We suck at defense with them anyway and we suck at offense also, we might as well try and get better at offense. We could also start shane on nights where we have to play an exceptionally talented wing like kobe. Our line up would be Rafer/Wafer/McGrady/Scola/Yao and our bench would be: Brooks/Barry/Battier/Landry/Deke Now this part is me dreaming a little but if we could package Rafer, Ron, and Head for a competent PG that would be awesome but thats unlikely. Ill settle for a first round pick, since we dont have one this year. This gives us better ball movement since we only have one ball stopper in the line up in McGrady(and hes not that bad when healthy), better chemistry, a better McGrady since he is playing at SF, and an energy player in Wafer. Thoughts?
I kinda like this idea. I dont necessarily wanna trade ron. The only problem with t-mac at SF and wafer at SG is that our defense will suck major ass. Imagine T-mac gaurding lebron... I cant.
Artest + Head for Hinrich (semi-decent PG). Rafer moves to backup PG. I'd still start TMAC and Battier. I'd let Wafer be the first scoring option off the bench at SG in a 6th man role. Brooks has been horrible. Give him garbage time minutes until he gets his game back together. If he does, trade Rafer in the offseason or at the trade deadline.
i mentioned starting battier when playing against skilled wings. i would also wait to do all this until right before the trade deadline that way we give wafer more playing time and see how he pans out. because if he starts sucking my whole point is moot. and polarbear, i like what wafer brings to the table more than what battier does so i would still start von.
I like the idea. But why can't we keep Artest and play him and Battier off the bench? Artest can play SG because he can defend them and post them up at the same time. Just whenever Artest comes in, Tmac has to go out.
I like the idea of Tmac at the 3 but I really dislike the idea of Battier off the bench and Battier can NOT play the 2 whatsoever. So I'll raise you one and propose that we play Tmac at the 4. He can and has guarded opposing 4's in the past with success (Odom, K-mart, Dirk etc) and he's at the age where he's no longer a quick/athletic wing but I know he can hold his own @ the 4 spot in the paint with his added weight and long arms and he'd actually be a lot faster/quicker than majority of them. He'd force other 4's to guard him inside/outside and he could blow by them. The only serious threats where we wouldn't be able to play Mac at the 4 spot would be against Amare, David West and maybe Aldride out in the West. Successful players similar in size who play minutes at the 4 spot just to name a few include Antawn Jamison, Gerald Wallace, Shawn Marion, Rashard Lewis, Rudy Gay, Kirlenko, Marvin Williams, Thornton, Thadeous Young etc. The biggest reason though why we may benefit from T-mac playing the 4 position is because he quote on quote "Kills our motion offense." Which I think we can all agree too. Adelman should utilize him in a similar fashion to Chris Webber when he was in his prime with the Kings. This way we get the benefit of Tmacs good passing when he does have the ball and he doesn't stand around the perimeter all day jacking up contested jumpers or waste time dominating the ball. I think we can get a very nice Point Guard (I know one's steadily available are rare) but if we offered a package of Ron Artest+Landry or maybe even Scola if necessary to complete a deal. Stud PG Wafer Battier Mcgrady Yao Key Reserves : Alston, Brooks, Scola or Landry, Hayes, Barry, Deke
I kind of like this idea because of Battier more than anything. It's clear he's not 100% yet and according to some articles, he may not be all year. So unless we're playing a team with a star perimeter player, it may be better to have Battier in the second unit and keep him from wearing down. Yes, but our defense was REALLY awful when Wafer and McGrady played alongside each other. But this was before McGrady shut it down for 2 weeks, so who knows, it could be better now.
All I know is Wafer needs to be starting. He's earned it and proved that he can be consistent. Plus he's been clutch down the stretch in a handful of games this season.
I actually...love this idea. Our defense has sucked anyway, and Adelman doesn't seem to care that we can't play defense. So why not make that move.
i would do anything for this team to finally have a pg. look what mo williams has done for cleveland. i know it's hard to get a pg at his level but i'm just saying a good pg will make an enormous difference for us.
i sincerely doubt tracy can play the 4 at this stage of his career. i just dont think hes meaty enough for one and rebounding is all about DESIRE. i cant see tracys motivation to rebound and defend which is critical for a PF.
The SG vs SF issue is a little overplayed. He's a wing player, and the other team is going to put the wing defender that matches up against him the best on him. Whether we call him a "SG" or a "SF" doesn't really matter.
Don't know how much of an exaggeration it would be to say that that's the first time I've seen that happen since 13 in 35
Wasn't Van Gundy quoted more than once as saying Tracy's best position was at the 3? Or did I just dream this.
