Okay, I get that there a difference. But I still think that this points to CD going out of his way to keep the TPE. Otherwise, why go to the trouble. We're not under the cap, and we're still a few million below Luxury Tax levels, so AG's contract on our books won't make much difference there. I just wanted to point out to people who think CD is going to just let the TPE expire, that he does want to keep it.
I've learned to just ignore these people. Like Andy Dick said, you start to get the feeling that they are out there to delibrately piss you off.
To the folks who think Pike would have played a larger role on the team than Dikembe, think back to when Yao was slumped over and tired during the game. JVG would go to the combo of Cato and Mo for the frontcourt. The nightmarish scenario of Juwan and Mo in the frontcourt defending against slashers into the paint is what triggered this trade. Of the 5 starters (Ward, TMac, JJ, JHo, Yao), Yao is the guy who will have to get a breather more often. A decent defensive backup center was more needed than a backup SG even though I think Pike will have a comeback year from behind the arc. Ward is not a bricker. His career numbers are not shabby at all from behind the arc. For the folks who think the supporting cast around TMac and Yao is garbage, I contend that Shaq and Kobe would have won a championship last year with this supporting cast. I really do think the "pieces fit" now. Doug Collins is going to more positive about the team than last year.
Hopefully in the next-gen consoles, probably around 2006, they'll be able to take advantage of the new power they can produce and will have more realistic games. Maybe in 4 years, all of us will be like our cap friends here at the BBS, able to easily comprehend the CBA and how the NBA works thanks to ESPN NBA 2K9/NBA Live 2009.... Oh wait, this isn't the gaming thread, is it? Oh yeah! About Mutumbo: I'm pretty happy to get him, especially for what little we had to give up. Like mentioned, he put up pretty good stats for being "washed up," and I think I read someone say that he wanted to play more last year, so I guess he could work a little harder maybe. Getting 2BPG and 7RPG off the bench should be pretty good, not metion any time he just goes off, like how he did some last year, and get 10/10/2+. I really don't see how anyone could complain about getting him. I feel as though Wilt Chamberlain could come back from the dead and play for the Rockets, but due to massive detoriation of his muscles, he could only produce 15PPG, 7 RPG, and 1.5BPG; yet, people would call him washed up, slow, etc. I don't care how slow he is, how "washed up" he is, how "injury prone" he is; if he can produce good numbers, especially in a field that we got weaker in due to the loss of Cato (RPG and BPG), then I think I can get used to those "faults." But's that's just my opinion. While I did think Pike had an off year last year, he would have to have really earned some PT this year, and probably had to have hoped for others to play bad as well. I will miss him, along with Wilks (Griffin gets not love from me...I don't know why), but the chance to get a player that can do the things we need was a bit too much to keep these guys, IMO.
Willis25 i understand your point that you get a limited talent pool which you can choose from... okay the Mutumbo deal will only be graded by how the season goes.... so i guess its a wait and see situation...fine. BUT you people are not realizing the importance of having a legit 3 point threat(other than Mc G)... IMO i believe Pike would have worked out real well....but hey i guess its easier to get a 3 pt shooter than a backup center who might or might not work out.. anyway time will tell if i'm right... By the way WARD knowing JVG system does not mean Jack Sh*t....every point guard in the league blows by this guy...he can't play D or O....but "knowing the system helps" "Sura plays D" hahaha have you seen this guy play.... the guy turns the ball over as many times as he may contibute with his "D"... a very poor mans Steve Francis in my opinion. basically what i am saying is that we got guys that have question marks in even their strong attributes which is why i think we got garbage... but L.A had garbage and won...though a man named Shaq played on that team too.
Man I love having Motumbo on our team, but I just hope he doesn't get injured at his age, like hakeem in toronto, or barkley for us.
The chances are diminished since he will only be playing 10-15 minutes a night. He has not historically been injury prone.
Yeah, I agree. I feel that it is important to have a 3 pt threat on the team other than T-Mac. Lucky for us, JJ, Lue, Ward, and maybe Boki can all shoot the 3 pretty well. You could also throw in Padgett as well since I'm sure we're paying him 45 milllion () for something. So we got our 3pt threats. We just needed someone inside to get some boards and block some shots. I think Ward knowing the system is more about running the offense than playing D, although I'm sure JVG knows how to scheme a defense with a weak link at PG. For all those guys that blow by Ward, they'd then run into Yao...or..um...MUTUMBO! I'm not exactly thrilled with Ward but as long as he doesn't turn the ball over and hits open shots, I'm fine with him. Sura does have a tad high amount of TOs, but so does Emanuel Ginobili. I'm not saying Sura=Ginobili, but hopefully he'll be an energy guy off the bench. With that energy may come a few TOs, but it should spark our 2nd unit, which seemed to be a need of ours that we didn't have last year. It seemed like whenever Yao and/or SF went out, our team would die. (or even if they were in). By no means am I trying to say that these are not concerns for the team. These guys do need to work on these to help on the team. I'm just saying that these guys bring other things to the table that this team seems to need. You may call them garbage, but they seem like they could be rather useful garbage. We could also bring out concerns in Pike as we could just about any player. What if he hasn't really got over his injury and he still can't shoot like the "old Pike?" His defense certainly isn't good and he doesn't really do anything else that well. He's pretty much garbage then, I guess. So we got garbage for garbage. At least we trimmed down our garbage.
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Hakeem was traded to the Raptors to START! It was a "dream" of theirs to have him matched up with Vince Carter. We already knew what the Raptors didn't. All they wanted was a superstar. With Deke, we KNOW that he's OVER-THE-HILL! We know that he's NOT A STARTER. But, we KNOW that Yao NEEDS A REST SOMETIMES! Hey, show me that magical wand that you have that you can just produce All-Star players for the Rockets! This was the best backup center we could get. And about your "career stats don't lie." Heh...Pike wasn't the same Pike we all knew...You need to stop acting like Pike was Bullard. He's not. He started playing scared ever since he joined the Rox. "Career stats?" Bah! How about "Rox Stats!?" Would I rather have Chandler? Sure. But it didn't happen. Maybe next year we can get better role players. I don't want Deke to play like Hakeem. I want him to play like Charles Jones! A old backup center that can give our "star center" a rest. Willis25, funny post, by the way.
When did Eric Piatkowski become so popular? The bottom line is that Tracy McGrady is going to be playing 40 minutes a game, Jimmy Jackson around 30, and Sura will get a good chunk as well. We spent the #15 pick in the draft on Nachbar - we need to see if this guy has any game. On the other hand, we had NOTHING behind Yao who also happens to be the player with the worst stamina on our entire team. How can you knock this deal?
love it, griff pike and wilks gave us almost nothing this year. the question we need to ask is, can deke do the same job that cato did when yao was OFF the floor? we are, however, screwed if yao gets injured, but lets not worry about that now. can deke play for 20 min? hell no can he be a defensive presence and put in significant effort in 15? hell, yes. is he an albatross on our team? no im all for cookie monster, hoya saxa, baby.
Ward, JJ, and T-mac can all shoot the three - and a one point in his career, Sura could too - AND all four of those guys can play D - Pike is a nice player, but he will fit better in an offensive minded system in Chicago. Deke is a rental - his money will come off the books in 2005 and then the Rox can go after the Steven Hunters of the world
Last year's 3-point % Padgett - 43.1% Ward - 40.8% Jackson - 40.0% Mobley - 39.0% Nachbar - 36.5% Lue - 38.3% Piatkowski - 35.2% McGrady - 33.9% Francis - 29.2% Sura - 26.6% (ouch) Career 3-point % Piatkowski - 39.9% Lue - 38.5% Padgett - 38.5% Mobley - 37.2% Ward - 36.6% Jackson - 36.3% McGrady - 35.4% Francis - 34.6% Nachbar - 34.2% Sura - 32.1% Using career averages, Francis + Mobley + Piatkowski = 37.2% average. Lue + Ward + Sura + McGrady = 35.7% average. We have lost 1.5% in average 3-point %. When we look at last year's percentages, we get averages of 34.9% (incoming guys) versus 34.5% (outgoing guys). We actually gain .4%. The percentages are REALLY close. (This is just analysis based on PURE numbers. Yes, it would be wise to look at MPG and other factors. I'll leave that to someone who's actually GOOD at math. )
thanks for the stats, but Sura... wow, I hope that he leaves the three's for Ward, Lue, Boki, and Padgett to shoot. that 26% is horrible. I hope Sura plays aggressive with the second unit taking the rock to the hole, playing hard nosed D. With Deke clogging up the paint, blocking shots and getting boards we look really good on the second unit. Motay will be the offensive spark and If Boki can step it up our second unit can compete with any other 2nd units in the league.
i might the only one in this board to ever say this... but i guess you guys are right ... i was in luv with pike's career stats.
