studdog- isn't battiers contract longer than any on the rox? Also, the other teams that advanced further thn the rox have young players that are getting better faster than the rox young players. Paul came in 2nd in the mvp. Has any player on our team ever finished that high? Williams,roy,parker,west, and a healthy bynum are all star caliber players. The same teams we're looking up to, it will look yhe same next season. This team is at a point now because of recent decisions are winning dave copperfield style. Would yao have helped? No doubt, but who's to say boozer wouldn't have went like last season? To me its not about 1 step at a time. Its about the ring. Patting yourself on the back becuz of a 1st rd advancement doesn't cut it. Drastic times calls for drastic measures. Like my man continues to say, if this starting 5 isn't altered, its 1 and done. Either u compete for the ring or u rebuild.
Rockets were what, 30-9 when Scola became a starter? Why not view that as indicative of what he lends to the team? No he's not a deal breaker. But Scola's 14 and 9 averages the last month of the season, with similarly corresponding playoff averages, make him almost as intriguing to keep around as any new acquisition in my opinion... If Scola was Landry's age no quesiton he'd be a deal breaker, but you do have to be wise and see if he's already near his peak. But a 28 year old at his peak that helps the team win 22 straight games the moment he's a starter, deserves a chance to begin the next season as the starter. Artest trying to be more than what he is scares me off. For some reason I don't see him accepting a role as 3rd fiddle. Plus he's only advanced past the 1st round just once himself. Ron Ron might be a challenge to the opponents but he'd be a challenge to his own teammates as well.
I don't think tracy cares about whether what option he is. I think he would welcome a guy that don't need him to get a shot. Yao's demeanor suggest the same. Its really about the ring. I'm sure Duncan has heard how important parker and manu are, but titles are what makes it work. I just see it coming if the rox don't make something major happen. I see teams like adelmans kings that couldn't breakthrough for a title. It seems like they were always missing something. Next thing u know, webber gets hurt and the team snowballed downhill. Waiting till next yr isn't going to get it done.
You're perfectly right. The difference between you and me is that I don't think Artest can be that big a difference maker but we do need a 3rd star without a doubt.
It's ironic that he mentions the Kings and the playoff flop. They brought Artest in to be their difference maker and take them to the next level. They are a talented group that can beat anybody. They also have poor chemistry and an incosistent rotation. Artest is in and out of the lineup, but for suspensions and injuries.
I guess trading webber for kenny thomas helped a lot. What about giving wallace and hedo away for nothing.
Dennis Rodman and Rasheed Wallace helped their teams win championships after they got traded. Depends if you view Artest as a overly eccentric guy who's indifferent to convention like Rodman and Rasheed. Or a flat out headcase nut job like Isiah Rider. Well, maybe Scola wouldnt be a deal breaker for Artest after all.
yeah, I think the same. Chris Webber and Hedo were the real difference makers for the Kings, not Artest. Hedo has helped Orlando alot. Webber would have made a bigger impact for the 76ers, if he was healthy. If Chris Webber was healthy, we should target him or Hedo over Artest.
I think he is more in class of Rodman and Wallace, he's not totally destructive to his team like say ummm Owens (Terrell), or ko....be.....bry .... ant. He doesn't teammates under the bus or carry on rivalries with players on his team or management. He's a warrior on the court, he may not make some good ones off, but like those other two, he can play when the whistle sounds. I would try to get him without given up Scola...if we did that we win would be favorites to win everything. I don't think he would mind being a third wheel, since I think he sort of always has been, he was not the main option in Chicago or Indiana. Imagine lineup of yao, scola, artest, t-mac, and whoever at pg. And throw in our bench, that team could easily win the west.
scola is an obvious deal breaker for miller, but i would definitely give scola to get artest. miller is 1 dimensional, but artest brings toughness, defense, and scoring so you definitely give up scola for him. plus as an added bonus, landry could develop more as a result of him taking scola's minutes. i suppose that's wishful thinking though...
So you want this team to go from two injury prone starters to 3 injury prone starters and one trouble-prone starter? Not to say that we are on route to the All-Undurable frontline title.
well 2 things, 1. yao is injury prone largely due to freak injuries, and i think he's gonna have a healthy year (prays/knock on wood) tmac was in 70+ games last year i think, and hes been more durable lately. landry is a tough call. he missed time last year but it wasn't like his knee gave out, he had a collision so i wouldn't call him injury prone yet.
Keep Scola. Not trading him away for anyone along the lines of Miller. Starter PF for backup SG? Doesn't sound good to me. We have to wait for another decade after we trade away Scola to fill the PF position...
i never said trade him for miller, i said don't do that, but that he wouldn't be a deal breaker for artest. artest would not be a backup sg.
scola is not untradeable for sure. but trade him for artest (or miller), i'd say he should be a deal-breaker. if scola is gone in an artest deal, who are we gonna start at the 4? landry? some rookie from this year's draft? or we go back to heyes? any realistic free agent we can get at the 4? or do we do another deal to acquire another starting 4? if so whom and how? is battier included in the artest deal? if so who's our other 3? mike harris? the bottom line is, artest could help. but you don't create a hole in the roster to get him. if it is too cost-prohibitive, then say no to artest is the only option. plus, with his character issue, artest is a huge risk. so huge that more likely than not the risk is gonna be larger than the reward imo.
