If McGrady's our 3, then Barry as our 2 would be an excellent idea, imo. Much better than as our 1. I suppose platooning him would be a lesser evil, but there's still gonna be a lot of minutes this year where we're facing points who will cause him fits. God, Fisher AND barry would be a hell of an ideal backcourt for us, if we use T-Mac as the 3, and JJ as a defensive 6th man. probably too much, though, and JJ's days of being a heat up scorer are gone.
I basically just want role players that can hide Yao and Mcgrady’s weaknesses. The durability of both Yao and Mcgrady are a concern. Yao’s got stamina issues causing him to disappear for stretches. Mcgrady obviously has back problems. -Get another shotblocker/rebounder so Yao doesn’t have to expend all his energy getting every rebound and intimidating every shot. -Get a great perimeter defender so Mcgrady doesn’t have guard the opposing teams best player every night. Both players have reputations for being soft and not playing with enough heart. -Get blue collar players that can do the dirty work like rebounding, defense, make hustle plays, and contribute in ways other than scoring. Neither guy has shown a ton of leadership. -Get a floor general type of point guard.
MacBeth, Great list. Under PF, I would have just one more qualification: shotblocker. I think we underestimate the presence that Cato brought last year on the interior and the impact that had in our defense. It's a huge weakness on our current squad - if we still intend to win with our defense. Finding a PF that fits should be our number one priority. I think we'll be able to settle our PG position without much of a problem. Who fits that is available? Antonio McDyess, Keon Clark, Marcus Camby, Stromile Swift??? Are there some additional players that would be available via a trade with Taylor, Howard, Boki, Pike, or the TE?
we need someone at around 6-10 at the 4. Right now, we have noone above 6-9 except for yao. We need length. I seriously hope badiane gets a chance to play like 5-10 minutes to spell yao and our other 4.
for some reason this strikes me as being similiar to "Do we really need T-Mac? Don't we already have a shooting guard?" MacBeth's threads always seem to just be a cut above most others...
Everyone likes MacBeth because he quotes your posts. Hey! that's MY post again! Neat! and then there's the pornstar thing.
Yes, I understand that MacBeth always posts great stuff, but starting a new thread for it is the equivalent of saying the other poster's thread is not worthy of his words. I believe MacBeth's posts are in a higher class. But to open a new thread on the same topic, isn't that a bit disrespectful to the other poster? Just my opinion I guess. Nevermind, carry on..
Good point. Although overpriced, Camby would suit many of the needs short of being a banger, which he is not, though I hear he's touhened up with age. He also took on the role of leader for the young Nuggs, with some success, I hear.
Yes, great observation, in conjuction with Rocket Addict's. I think many are coming to the conclusion that the 4 spot should be the area in which we inveat the most, although with no more stringent requirements than the 1. And if SJC is correct that we're planning on using T-Mac at the 3, then that also alters things a tad, although in general you'd shift the needs of the 3 listed to the 2, with the stress on shooting a little higher. Excellent stuff you guys are coming up with.
I'm with you all the way here. I've been saying the exact same thing for days... it's unbelievable to me what a lack of concern Bary supporters show for his defense. It would be foolish to acquire so much talent and then knowingly give the opposition an obvious weakness to exploit night in and night out.
Wow! I can honestly say that that was furthest from my mind. For one thing, and I acknowledge the fact that I have not read every thread in the past couple of days, in that there has been so many, but of the ones dealing with role players that I have seen, they have all been isolated to one position. As my point was an overall one, and that the context needed for my point was comprehensive, it wouldn;t have been appropriate in the other somewhat related threads I read. But more to the point, my intention when I start seperate threads somewhat related to issues covered in current threads is exactly the opposite of saying they are not worth my words; as I sometimes feel when I start a discussion and see it derailed, I am sensistive to the fact that, if I include a worthy dicussion which is nominally about the issue at hand, but actually a seperate discussion, I am myself derailing that poster's thread and confusing the discussion at hand. That, to me, is disrespectfull, and that's what I try to avoid. It's not a hard and fast rule, as sometimes the divergent conversations can be more organic, but when I feel it's a clear departure, I err on the side of what I always intended to be respect.
Exactly! Er...now it's your turn to agree with me agreeing with you agreeing with me. BUt seriously, that's my exact point. It''s like intentionally giving a great boxer a glass jaw.
The ability to hit the 3 is necessary from the 1, 2, and 3 in our system. You simply cannot give the other team a guy from which they can double without fear of punishment. That's why I hate the Eric Snow idea. It isn't about how much offense we need - but about how well we can punish the double.
I think 3 pt range is necessary for 1 or at least 2 of them, but as long as he can hit open shots, I'll take Calbert Cheaney range on 1 or 2 of them.
I'm happy with Howard and Mo T at the 4. I'd be even more happy at the 4 if we could get a 6-10/banger/rebounder/shot blocker. Cato anyone? If we have to give up Howard or Mo T to get this that would be ok but it would be nice to add via FA. It would be great if this player were big enough to serve as Yao's backup but we'll likely have to settle for something less. Maybe McDyess? We may need to sign another stiff specifically to backup Yao. It would be nice to invest more money in one player to do both jobs than to spend half as much on two players. Whatever Weatherspoon can add is fine, we're stuck with him. Padgett is a FA, right? I wouldn't mind keeping him too but only if there's a roster spot open. I'm also pretty happy with TMac and JJ at the 2/3 with Nachbar, Piatkowski (sp?), and Griffen backing them up. I'm not as concerned about getting a "shooter", Tmac will help some and I still believe in Nachbar and Paitkowski. So that leaves the 1 spot. Not sure who I want as long as we bring in someone. I'm probably leaning towards fisher at the moment but only because I don't like Snow and I like Fisher's experience. Hudson seems like a longshot, has he expressed interest in leaving Minn? More importantly Houston? Could we even afford his asking price? In an ideal world whoever we bring in would be a "shooter" also but I realize that's not likely. Wouldn't mind Ward for depth but I guess we already have Lue, Wilks, Gaines, and Vassilis (likely to Europe). Mark Jackson can stick around if he likes but again only if there's a roster spot open. I guess we would be near the 15 player limit in my scenario.
I really think we should find a younger point guard and develop him. Somebody like Carlos Arroyo. Or maybe proven backups that have been forced to start, like Mike James or Damon Jones. As long as we've got Leu, we're not taking that big of a risk on a less known player. I like Derek Fisher, but I just don't know how much longer he can hold up.
For me, the "non-negotiable" point is defense. Bbarry would be a mistake. Our starting 1 and 3 must play serious defense. I agree with MacB's point about 1's being able to elude and disrupt system defenses. Against good teams, our defense will keep us in all games and in the 4th quarter, Tmac and Yao will close it out (particularly Tmac). We should destroy bad and mediocre teams. Point Guard: Fisher and Arroyo are my top 2 choices. I think Lue will be more valuable than expected. JVG will turn him back into the gnat that harried AI in the finals. A defensive sparkplug, which I think is underrated. (Separately, I expect Tmac to be nearly incredible on defense.) Damon Jones is worth considering. Small Forward: Shane Battier is smart, good defensively, and a competent shooter. Trenton Hassell might even be a better choice. Top notch defender, with good length. Damn he would look good next to Tmac. Underrated shooter from midrange. I think he is available as a FA or RFA. Cheap. Both are young. (I would also be curious to see how a Ruben Patterson might do as a role player, but probably not a good fit because my grandmother could shoot better. Clearly, Patterson could be had in a trade for close to nothing). Power Forward: The top priority is physicality and rebounding. That usually comes with defense but I am not as concerned that the PF be a lock down, 1 on 1 defender. I want rebounds and someone that flattens people. I am afraid that we are stuck for a while with Howard and MoTaylor. I would pick up Skinner in a heartbeat. I'd deal for Aaron Williams if we could. I've always been impressed with his physical play. I would not sign Swift to a long lucrative contract. Bench Scorer: Mo Taylor is good for one thing . . . bench scoring. He is damn good at it too. Anthony Peeler cannot cost much as a RFA. He is a good scorer and shooter. Ideally, I would love to get Cuttino Mobley back. He would be the modern day Vinnie Johnson. I have no idea if it is possible, but perhaps Cuttino can opt out of his contract next year and resign with us. I don't know if we have that kind of cap space, but he would literally be perfect.
