Because I'm very close to the family that adopted his A#@... The father was constantly trying to teach him basic fundamentals and his middle school son was beating him that arena alone.. The father was always amazed how many schools were interested in Thabeet just on height alone.. He was on the bench in High School Man with that kind of height.. I mean seriously how many 7 footers in high school are on the bench? That is why I dislike Thabeet so much.. (Not as a person) just as a basketball player.. will contribute nothing to this organization.. Seriously Jarred Jefferies defense > Thabeet
I know it's worthless on these boards, but a friend of mine in the sales department just text that Battier has been traded
Excellent point, and if they can get a pick as well, sounds like a decent backup plan. While Thabeet has been bust, it takes playing time and coaching to help, and the Rox can offer both, and the Rox need to take some wild swings like this and hope they work out. It also clears some of the logjam at the wing position, though having a Martin/Budinger SG/SF combo really REQUIRES a shot blocker. I know Thabeet is not anyone's Melo, or DWill, but it does fill a need and the guy was the 2nd pick in the draft......got to take shots like this, IMO. DD
You guys are delusional if you don't think Thabeet can help. No, he's nowhere anywhere NEAR talent as where he's selected, but he's a servicable defensive presence. I'm not huge on him, but I know he'll make an impact. If you've ever seen him play, he changes/alters a ton f interior shots and grabs boards fairly well. Again, not a #2 pick, but not a scrub or throw-in. If we manage to get him and a pick for Shane, then we basically are able to acquire a legitimate defensive presence for 20-25mpg + a future pick for someone that's here for just another 2 months. I'd like to see us move Aaron, Shane, and Jared. We must get value for these guys and then re-asses in the off-season. Additionally, testing the value for Scola could and would be wonderful, as we can sell high. Our goals should be to add a top tier pick or young talent, hopefully the Clippers' T-Wolves pick, Chicago's Charlotte pick, or Sacramento picks. Or someone like Cousins. Then, develop these young pieces more(like T-Will), and by virtue probably end out with a worse pick. If we can go into the off-season with 2 top 10 picks or a top 10 pick and a young talent, we'll do well. Unfortunately, our asset stashing has backfired coupling with these new generation stars wanting to form superteams. We're not out of it, but the way to build isn't through assets and dealing(i.e. Boston 2-3 years ago), it's either be a big market with franchise appeal(LA, NYK, etc.) or build through the draft(OKC). We can be in between both, but we need a franchise player.
Personally, I'd dump Battier for a pick by itself to a team that could absorb his salary. Thabeet is just a throw in ... if he turns out to be a serviceable backup, great.
<!-- http://twitter.com/#!/AlexKennedyNBA/status/40794258512424960 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox40794258512424960 {background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/162826036/Twitter4.jpg) #ffffff;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}</style> <div class='bbpBox40794258512424960'><p class='bbpTweet'>MEM is confident that they'll land Shane Battier before deadline. HOU likely receiving Hasheem Thabeet and pick. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/4eueqpj" rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/4eueqpj</a><span class='timestamp'><a title='Thu Feb 24 15:24:43 +0000 2011' href='http://twitter.com/#!/AlexKennedyNBA/status/40794258512424960'>less than a minute ago</a> via web</span><span class='metadata'><span class='author'><a href='http://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA'><img src='http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/1215004357/ak_normal.jpg' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA'>Alex Kennedy</a></strong><br/>AlexKennedyNBA</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet -->
I do think Shane's gone, but Jared and Aaron need to go too. I want to get more picks in or young talent and just start a rebuilding process.
Twitter update: Alex Kennedy: MEM is confident that they'll land Shane Battier before deadline. HOU likely receiving Hasheem Thabeet and pick. http://tinyurl.com/4eueqpj 1 minute ago Read more: http://hoopshype.com/twitter_media.html#ixzz1EtGo2mF5
Great move. Absolutely fantastic, if true. We basically moved a 2-month rental, improved another team/moved ours down(better chance at a higher pick now) for a future pick + a defensive presence down low with. This has three benefits; 1. Value for Shane since he was going to leave, 2. Directly improving Memphis from where they are now, and disimproving us thus a higher chance at a better pick 3. Adding a defensive presence.
So benefit two means that we are worse although benefit three states that we are better at defense. That made a lot of sense!
