I agree with this. On our current roster, the backup center has to be someone who not only is effective playing at most 10 minutes a game, but also gladly accepts such a limited role. Many of the players suggested in this thread will not be willing to do that IMO.
I think adelman plays this way at times because his hand is forced, not because he wants to. Hayes would never see the floor and generally doesn't unless there is a emergency just like deke, the reason are obvious. Scola, in a sense can play backup, but just as he has truoble guarding length at the 4 spot, he struggles with it at the 5 spot. I'm not buying into this "the new guy will only get 10 mins" stuff either. If Adelman gets a guy he's comfortable with, that can play offense and defense, he will play him. In sac, he played funderburke and in portland he played cooper and even a guy like cliff robinson at center. He's not too found of playing a guy who's man can clog the cutting and passing lanes. Watching the way Birdman play and i wanted him this season, but with his tag going up because of what he brings, i cant but think of any guy similar like Williams from New Jersey. Ideally, i wanted Turiaf this summer because not only is he a shot blocker, but he has a ok mid range shot and plays balls to the wall all the time, but a guy like williams can be had for probably Barry's contract. They don't play him, we dont pay barry and they make pretty close to the same money. He had similar off court issues as anderson, but is similar in terms of ability although anderson is better today than he was 2-3 yrs ago. After that, the rox can still signanother big for when yao does go down for some time. In the even that happens, they would still have another big to start and williams comes off the bench and hayes is in the mix also.We've been down this road before and it just seems like they're not taking it as seriously as they should.
I would split the pf mins with scolandry and play williams 15-18 mins behind yao. Its too many times the layup parade starts with yao out because the only guy that can challenge at the rim is yao. Play williams with landry,lowry, and whomever else on the 2nd unit and now you have 2 finishers and a shot blocker in williams. If you could have birdman, are you telling me you wouldn't play him directly behind yao for 18 mins?
You're now limiting Landry and Scola to 48 minutes total in favor of Sean Williams. That's silly. I would rather play Landry and Scola closer to 30 minutes. Call it 30 minutes each. If Yao plays 30 minutes a game as well, that leaves all of 6 minutes a game at the 4/5. I'm perfectly happy giving 6 minutes to Chucky, or depending on how the rest of our roster shakes out, going small with Artest/Battier at the 4 for a few minutes a game. 1.) I prefer not gambling on coke addicts. 2.) Different question than Sean Williams. 3.) Sean Williams causes trouble, kind of sucks, and wants to play small forward The bottom line is, acquiring someone who is actually good enough to displace Scola/Landry or even Hayes for minutes will cost assets -- either a significant chunk of the MLE or trade asset. I would rather focus on getting additional scoring punch on the wing. The best situation would be for the Rockets to acquire a starting 4 who can easily slide to the 5. Basically, a Scola with shot blocking. That is how the Lakers do it -- they slide Gasol to the 5 when Bynum is hurt/out of the game. They don't start playing DJ Mbenga because he happens to be a 7 footer, and Josh Powell logged less than 12 minutes a game -- that is essentially what Sean Williams is. I'd go after Bosh or Stoudemire if they happened to come available for that reason.
His drug problems aren't relevant right now, he's done well this season........30 mins each is great against good matchups, but it's not going to be great for big teams with depth at the 4 and 5. There's no doubt we need added shot blocking, even more than wing scoring. Right now, this time still has a good chance of getting added wing scoring if tmac comes back, he may not be back, but there's still a good chance he will, but shot blocking? right now there's ZERO chance of getting that from our current roster. Scola isn't going to do it, hayes isn't going to do it, Yao has his limits and is only one guy, and Landry is only a spotty shot blocker from the weak side and he's not going to be more than that.
Just to throw a name out there, Drew Gooden. He has a bad rep, but he does have size and some offensive skills and he probably can be had cheap.
Playing the tandem 48 mins keeps them and the defense from getting exposed. I like both and and i'm not saying williams is better, but there is a reason why they platoon. Neither is really good enough to hold it down for big minutes against really good players. I like chuck and his defensive ability, but no one respect anything offensive frrom him and no one is pump faking because he's at the rim. I do think he plays good position defense, but as we have seen before that players can throw the ball over the top. I'm surprised more teams don't do it more. Scola isn't gasol on offense or defense. Gasol is a legit 7ft er who can alter or block shots as well as score. When Bynum was out, mbenga started playing and actually made the decision to ship mihm out easier. In denver, with nene in the fold and birdman signed, it allowed them to move camby out. That still didn't stop them from having hunter, who is injured or trading for petro, another 7ft er. The rox are small and get smaller when yao is on the bench or out. We all know yao is going to miss games and really needs to play 30mins anyway. It would actually help landry and scola play better if they had a shot blocker behind them like williams. I only bring him up because he's young, athletic, and cheap. He could also play against some of those mobile longer 4's if scolandry struggles or protect the rim when teams pull yao away from the rim. It doesn't have to be williams, but it would be good if they had someone like that. Mihm if healthy is a good option. Elson through trade would be good. Boone from nj through trade makes sense also. Petro, I think is a free agent is cool also, but whatever the case, they need to get bigger up behind yao. They need to diversify the group at 4/5. Yao and Deke are plodders, scola,landry, and hayes are small. The agile,perimeter types, both yao and deke struggled with and the long,athletic types scola and landry struggled with. Hayes can guard some of those guys, but now you just ran your offense in the ditch. They need a guy that can play behind yao and also with him if need be. That's why I was willing to give up landry for turiaf last offseason.
this is EASILY our biggest need in the offseason. yao simply can't play more than 30 minutes a game and expect to finish out the entire playoff run. 1) either trade tmac for a backup C + a playmaking wing 2) draft a big man
I believe the Chicago Bulls own his rights. Also, it will take a pretty good trade asset to pry him away from the Bulls, who gave up three (3) second round picks to acquire his draft rights.
NIKEstrad already responded to you better than I will, and I pretty much agree with his points, but I'll just add my late $.02. I'm not against bringing in players of Birdman's or Turiaf's caliber. I just don't think we can do it without sacrificing one of our current pieces. The hypothetical new player will probably get (and should expect to get) around 20 minutes per game as the primary backup big. And I agree with you that Adelman will have no problem giving the new player the minutes if he thinks it is what is best for the team. I also think the starting frontcourt guys Yao and Scola should continue to average around 32-33 minutes and 30-31 minutes, respectively. IMO you can't reduce those minutes further without it starting to hurt the chemistry of the starting group. Factor in Artest/Battier who will get some minutes at the 4 depending on matchups, and that leaves about 10 minutes for Carl Landry. Again, I'm not necessarily opposed to bringing in a backup big who can play substantial minutes. He just better be worth relegating Landry to spot duties or even trading Carl. If not, we'd be better off bringing in a less talented 7-footer who'd be happy and productive playing 10 minutes or less.
Ughhh.... Geezzzz... 1. Sean Williams is NOT the Birdman. This kid couldn't even produce in the D League, for God's sakes. 2. Brent Barry is WAY more valuable as a veteran locker room presence than what Williams will bring. 3. Sean Williams is a COMPLETE KNUCKLEHEAD! I know the Birdman recuperated from that ugly coke incident, but that's not a mature Sean Williams we're talking about. I would not risk our perfect locker room chemistry for a "potential" contributor like Williams. 4. lee, you know what you're wrong on? Basketball is a TEAM sport. It's not just about talent. Say you have a team comprised of Eddie Curry, Zach Randolph, Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis and Q-Rich. Sounds very talented, huh? Guess what? A team like that could probably contend for the most losses in league history. HEART, LEADERSHIP and COMMITMENT are stuff that we need to look at every player we bring in. I'm not saying taht talent isn't important, but look, I would rather have somebody on my team that overachieves than underachieves.
Okay Turiaf blocks shots, gets the limelight, but isn't really a "big". How tall is he, 6'9''? he gets his block stats form the weak side, not as an intimidating defensive cog in the middle. Now a guy like Gortat would really help.
His drug problems are relevant for the same reason Artest's history is relevant. We need a shot blocker more than a wing scorer? What you're basically saying is that McGrady is more likely to play than Yao. All signs point to no on that one. Against the Lakers, they only broke 100 twice and and we held them under 90 four times -- that's a team that averages 102 a game. Lack of shotblocking did not prevent us from play tremendous defense. We need someone to replace Dikembe for sure -- but that's not the area where most of our assets and available money should go. Scola already plays 30 minutes. You'd want Sean Williams in the game against "really good players"? Not me. Mbenga played a grand total of 181 minutes this year. Trading Mihm saved them $5 million. And I'm fine with that. We need another big man with the loss of Mutombo, and should have carried one more halfway capable big anyway. Morey may have thought Cook was capable of being that emergency guy, but clearly not. I've already said that we should add an athletic 7 foot project type. If that's Williams, fine. Just don't expect him to get serious minutes, because anyone you get for that cheap is unlikely to beat out Scola or Landry for minutes. Probably not Chuck either. I actually agree with this entirely (though I wouldn't be keen on Landry for Turiaf, because I don't think Turiaf is starter quality). If a great offer came up for Scola or Landry, I'd be tempted.
Sean Williams is a little too light in the pants to play center. There is a reason he prefers the SF position. Is everyone so ready to give up on Dorsey? He has the physicality and athleticism to be just as effective as Birdman. Not to say the Rockets should not acquire a 7 fter, but Dorsey could be a cheaper alternative, until a better deal comes along. Desperation leads to overcompensation, which is not Morey's M.O.
I know its a team sport and talent sport. if you can get a young guy on the cheap and only give up a scrub like barry you do it. Let me say something, the lockeroom ,older leadership doesn't have anything to do with winning if a guy cant play. If thats the case, why not bring dream back and let him sit on the bench in a uniform. Barry won't play anytime soon, and when he does, what does he do. Now get it mistaken that I'm saying williams is the answer, but i'd rather bring him into a winning locker room and see what i can get out of that lump of clay vs having a guy like barry wearing a warmup waiting on his retirement. I don't know how long you have been on this board, but nikestrad can agree with me on a few things, when i've asked for a certain guy that was availible and the rox passed, that guy has played well and then people on this board start clamoring for that guy. Stephen Jackson comes to mind as one such guy. How many people would want jackson now? Williams will cost you next to nothing and all you have is everything to gain. If williams comes in a destry's the locker room, then it wasn't that good to begin with. You have never heard of a guy destroying a strong locker room. The spurs got glen robinson off the heap and he didn't play alot, but he played some and won a ring. Did anyone ever hear about him being a locker room cancer? If you bring guys in with problems and annoit them leaders or they take the lead, thats when you have problems. BTW, how many problems did rafer bring with him from toronto?
Turiaf is 6'10 with long arms and is a really good shotblocker with good reaction time. When guys for the rocketts get beat to the hoop and yao isn't in the game, they finish without problems because the rox are small and cant challenge at the rim. Having that " weakside" shot blocker to erase some of those shots would help alot. Durvasa had the chart or stats about the fg% around the rim and the rox weren't that good. That means guys are finishing at the rim.
