Bill Simmons NBA playoffs mailbag: Very Interesting Trade scenario for the Rox

I had the same impression about CP3 before. But after watching a few of his games closely, I realized(and surprised by) how efficient he is.

He routinely passes the ball to David West whenever West has position inside, and he doesn't force any pass or shot. Sometimes I'm confused how he'd got so many points, assists the way he played the game.

He's also not the kind of guy doing a lot of drive and kick,(like Francis/Brooks). It's amazing how CP3 mostly doing simple/efficient/fundamental things and his stats grows with it.

 

But the main point I'm trying to make is that he's dominating the ball. He has the ball in his hands 75% of the time atleast when he's on the court. Now... whether or not this is a bad thing is another issue all together. Our offense would turn into more of a pick and roll, oriented offense posting Yao up every so often. Plus... you aren't going to be able to front Yao because you have one of the best penetrators in the game with the ball. Penetration kills the fronting defense because you won't be able to rotate.

The offense probably gets better, but its going to be different.

 

I agree he probably holds the ball 75% of time. I want to know better about how much time Brooks holds the ball. My impression is that CP3 has the ball in his hand slightly more than Brooks does, and deservedly so.

Another thing I noticed in watching the games, CP3 actually pass the ball a lot. I mean the kind of passes to smooth the offense with no intention to get the assist. Often times the teammates move the ball around and the ball goes back to his hand before him finding a hole in opponent's defense.

All I'm saying is he's not the kind of PG dominates the ball so much to 'create' everything. He actually do it reasonably within the system. It's just he's so good that the ball almost naturally goes to him more often than not for NO to win games.

To be frank, I'm still surprised how he played so 'unselfishly' and still got big stats. It's somewhat similar to how Yao would have a 'quiet&big' game with only 15 shots some night. Actually you're right about the different offense thing which is good for the team.

 

Down with all of the moves EXCEPT parting with scola; just way too much value there and I think - even more than shane - he is the heart of the team if you look beyond yao

 

I'm pretty sure you are being sarcastice, but what about the trade I proposed do you not think is possible? I could be sarcastic too, but that won't produce any meaningful discussion.

 

We can't give up both Landry and Scola.
Just replace one of them (preferably Scola) with Hayes(expiring) and I'll feel better about it.

 

Wich superstar playmaking wing doesn't dominate the ball, Jordan? Kobe? Magic? Nash? Lebron?...

 

I didn't meant to imply anything about your post. Wade has come up a number of times, so I thought throw something mildly humorous out there.

 

With everyone looking at how good CP3 can be for the rox, I cant help but think how much the others in the suppose trade can fit it.

Chandler, is the exactly the type of player you want to fit in beside yao. He is long, he defend and he rebounds. The best thing about him is that, 1- He have played with CP3 hence chemistry, 2- he can spell minutes for yao without rox losing any height and interior defense and 3- he have 4 years where he played with Eddy Curry a yao ming like player that dominate the paint during offense.

Peja, no longer the same player after being plague by injuries. However his season average of .378 at the 3p, will put him as the 4th best shooter at the rox roster behind Artest(.399), Wafer(.384) and Battier(.380). Just for fun, I did a quick check for number of players that average .375 for 3p and 4rpg, and the results come up to only 25 players.

Posey, is consider as the glue guy ala battier across the league. Someone that give you defense, shoot 3p and pass the ball around. He plays dirty but he is efficient at what he does. And 1 thing that stands out, he have 2 title runs with Miami and Celtics.

Assuming a line-up of CP3, artest, peja, chandler and Yao. Defense improve, size increase, and with the addition of CP3, it eliminate the problem of getting yao the ball. The more I think about this trade, the more I cant understand why some posters do not want this trade to happen.

 

chandler and posey could be useful, although posey seems to be declining. peja is garbage though. i wouldnt expect much from him if the rockets got him, and he has a pretty bad contract.

 

You cant shoot .378 if you can't stay on the floor.
He moves slower than Barry and plays even less defense....he would get Novak(Rockets version) minutes at his current level of play.

 

Wow, what a thread.

Chris Paul is an MVP candidate. He irks me though. They way he tried to humiliate Alston left a sour taste in my mouth.


This is a safe bet assuming that it goes down. McGrady has a history of injury. Paul is on the verge of being the undisputed top point guard in the league.

Could the 50% off McGrady jersey be a sign?

 

Wow. Morey would go from upcoming boy genius GM that's loved around here to one of the worst GMs over night if he made that deal. The team would be giving up all their valuable young pieces PLUS McGrady's precious expiring contract and Barry's.. It takes time for a team to build chemistry...you can't just gut a team and expect them to start performing. Wait till the team starts losing a bunch of games and Morey would get run out of town by the fans. We're just seeing names for the Hornets, but Chandler and Peja have had injury problems and that's why the Hornets weren't very good this year. The other players are much older, while the Rockets have talented young players that could be together for years and pushed the Lakers to 7 games. That young core formed one of the best defensive units in the league. The only player I'd want from the Hornets is Paul, but I suspect that he works best in an uptempo team where he dominates the ball. Plus, Brooks, Scola and Landry look like they have tremendous upside and will only get better.

Jeez....Scola, Landry, Brooks, Tmac, Barry, Battier... who thought of this trade? A Hornet fan. That's all our key pieces not named Yao or Artest.