This poses a interesting question , i think thread worthy. Which back court see's more time on the floor Lowry\Brooks or Lowry\Lee
I think the recipe for a championship is basically one that resembles the Lakers. They always cause so many mismatch problems for other teams. With that said, I think we could "upgrade" at the PF and SG. -I would prefer a taller and more defensively minded PF that's around 7 ft to help Yao protect the rim. (Much like Bynum and Gasol) -At SG, I would want that star talent (i.e. Kobe, Wade, Tmac) who would not only be a huge offensive threat but also a great play maker. Gives the team an identity and puts us on national tv. While the above would be my upgrade, my downgrades (in order to make this whole situation seem plausible) would be at the SF and SG. SF position would just be w/e. Battier would suffice. He would just be a lock down defender whose offense wouldn't be needed as it would only take shots away from our core players. Just needs to knock down that corner 3 every once in awhile. He'd also be taking a pay cut. SG wise, I'd probably start Lowry. Good play maker, good defender, and just got a raise. Would probably try to work a SnT with Brooks since the team probably can't afford him with the upgrades I've made above.
Battier is not worthy of a starting position, and on our high powered team may only be used occasionally for special defensive duties.IMHO
Center. You cannot count on him playing. I would have preferred to move him before it became obvious that he was going to be injury prone. You have to look at upgrading the 5 not so much as getting a better player than Yao, but as getting someone who you can count on to be out there. So picking up someone like a LaMarcus Aldridge would be good.
I just had to disagree with you about something. Calvin Murphy was an excellent passer. During the 73-74 season, he averaged 7.4 assists per game. For the 75-76 season, 7.3 assists per game. What happened after that? John Lucas. When Murph was needed as a creator at the point, he could and did do the job. Very underrated in that respect, as he is sometimes in other aspects of his game, like defense. For his size, he was an excellent defender. Just sayin'. Otherwise, nice thread.
Simple statistical numbers of players over different eras and systems are really difficult to gauge. Take assists for example, it doesn't take into account the pace, level of competition, and teammate competency. Also, Rick's system nerfs pg assist numbers. Bibby's assists/game as a grizzly was 8+ before being ~6 in Sac I think. You are absolutely right about Brooks' defense though. He HAS TO BECOME A BETTER DEFENDER if we have any hopes of being a real threat to anyone. Imho, the biggest improvement will come with strength training so he doesn't get bullied/abused by every other guard in the league.
They started keeping Pace figures during the 73-74 season, actually. The Rockets were ranked low for Pace (15th and 12th) during Murphy's top two assist seasons, but 3rd and 1st in offense. At the same time, their defense was one of the worst in the league. It wasn't Calvin's fault, IMO, but that's my memory speaking and it's been some years.
lol, the hole of SF wins this one easily and we just traded a starting SF for a bench......talking about good GM.
Why would all of you assume you can get a super star without giving up some of the starters? Say get Melo and give up Brook or Martin? Then PG/SG need an update afterward. Think deeper like inception does
I hope we draft one. I am starting to hope Patterson or someone can magicallly turn into one. We need to start drafting 18 year old projects in hope one breaks out or some reaches on guys who score crazily in College but for some reason fall to the middle rounds of the draft. Thats the only way I see it happening the way we make trades here and free agency lately. Everyone wants to go to New York and Miami and frankly our own fans give them the OK on its a valid excuse to choose other teams over us. I would to with that kind of vote of confidence in other teams.
Small Forward. Why would we get rid of Brooks who is already an established pg now for another pg. Yea Chris Paul is better, but we still will be left with a whole in 3 spot. Brooks is good enough to hold that spot down. So upgrade at the 3! same scenario goes for the 4. Scola can hold it down. yea theres people out there who are better. But that 3 spot just needs an upgrade
Small Forward a thousand times. We went from a supposed "logjam at SF" to "weak at SF" in the trade. We're a Battier injury away from really being in trouble.
My first instinct was to vote SF, so I did. But after looking at your starting lineup with a Superstar SF, i.e. Melo, I notice the 800 lb gorilla in the room. No perimeter defense. Yao is not an "elite" post defender, so a lot of our guys (well, all of them) would get exposed on defense. So I would say a superstar PF or SG because this would also help keep Yao out of foul trouble (less penetration by the little guys or weakside help in the post)
I see your point to an extent, and I agree all comparisons have to be taken in this context. But I have never subscribed to this theory. People say you can't compare MJ vs Kobe or you can't compare Olajuwon vs Wilt or Tim Duncan because they played in different eras. Well, I saw Usane bolt, Carl Lewis, and Michael Johnson run in different eras. I can tell which one is faster..
Is it really an upgrade if it doesn't make the team better? We get a superstar SF and we esentially have 5 scorers in the starting lineup. You have no role players. Very exciting to watch, but not a championship contender. Everyone will suffer because there will be less touches. I am all for getting Melo, but given a choice between say Melo, CP3, LaMarcus Aldridge, Dirk, or Amare.... I'd probably take one of the other guys. I'm not a Battier homer. As much as it pains me to say, i would say keep Trevor for the same reason, although at less money. For instance, let's say you move Peyton Manning to a team with a smaller, faster, more atheletic offensive line. A line that was designed to get out and run with a mobile quarterback. Whatever team this is, I probably just "upgraded" my quaterback position. But did I upgrade my team? Will it equal more wins?
Really? Point guards even fewer than star centers? I'd say star point guards are probably most common right now. Deron Williams, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo, Jason Kidd, Derek Rose, John Wall, Chauncy Billups, Tony Parker, Devin Harris, Russell Westbrook, Baron Davis, etc etc. As for centers there is Dwight Howard, Yao Ming and possibly Brook Lopez? Who else? Maybe you can include Tim Duncan despite the fact he likes to call himself a power forward? And for Power Forwards there is Nowitski, Bosh, Stoudemire, Aldridge, Gasol, Garnett, Duncan and maybe Boozer? And both Garnett and Duncan are only making the list because they've earned it over their careers. They aren't really playing at that level anymore.
The poll is flipping all of us the bird. Anyways, SF. /thread. Brooks and Lowry are more than capable. Martin and Lee are more than capable. Battier and Budinger...ehh. All the PFs we have = amazing. The best C in the league + a legit backup = amazing. In each of the 5 positions, we are solid. But SF is the weakest.
