Do we have the shooters to Surround T-Mac and Yao I said it last year I will say it this year WE NEED SHOOTERS When T-mac and Yao draw the double team We need shooters to KNOCK DOWN that d*mn shot Will JJ Pike Nachbar, howard, MoT be able to do it? IS there some Shooters out there to get I know we need a PG but i think he NEEDS TO BE A SHOOTER! If we not knocking down the open shots. . . we will be no better than last few years Rocket Rivers
We have enough shooters. JJ, TMac and Pike are all proven shooters, although Pike did have a bad season. Lue is a career 38% 3-pt shooter. Boki is ready to have a breakout season. Juan Howard is far superior offensive threat than Cato. Now check with other teams. How many teams have more shooters than us. Seattle? Kings? Mavs?
If the Nuggets really do want Pike and want to move Skita as it appears, we should try to do a sign-and-trade deal with something like Pike/future 1st rounder for Skita/Jon Barry. Denver might be able to get a better offer for Skita but by the looks of things (Thorn wanting nothing to do with Skita, Minnesota thinking Hassell is better) they may not be able to get a better offer. If its shooters you want, this deal makes a lot of sense.
shooting % are just numbers IMO, they have little meaning. If you give the ball to lue wide open after tmac or yao draw the double team, he'll knock down that shot, hes a scorer in the nba, comeon.
AP is still out there. 2 year deal for 3.3 mil (old mil exemption) anyone? Jon Barry, Wes Person, & Hoiberg are also URFA? Probably might as well give Pike another chance and use whatever Les will spend on another PG and back-up C.
When Yao has the ball, these are the options we'll have: JJ, T-Mac and Lue. Now, you're NEVER going to leave T-Mac open, so you've got either Lue (38% shooter) or JJ (shot almost 40% last season) with NO DEFENDER on them. We're not talking single coverage. At MOST, if the other team uses a zone, then there MAY be some half-ass defense on them, but that's it. Shooters for Yao: Check. When T-Mac has the ball, here are the options available: Lue and JJ around him, MoT or Howard for the midrange, and the defense fronting Yao. Most likely, he gives it to our PF who will drain the 15-footer thanks to the attention on Yao. If he wants, he can drive and kick it out to Lue or JJ, who are both great from the perimeter, or better yet, he runs the pick and roll with Yao. Forget the fact that Yao can hit a shot from 20 feet out. Forget that McGrady is 6'8 and can get his shot off from wherever he likes. We haven't even mentioned our bench, Boki and Pike. Boki hit 36.5% of his shots from beyond the arc last season, while Pike had his second worst season ever, hitting 35.3%. He's 39.9% for his career. Oh and dno't forget that we will most likely be getting Mike James (36% last year), Damon Jones (36% last year and career), or Antonio Daniels (36% last year). The LAST thing I'd be worried about is shooting. The only shooting we lost is Mobley. How much worse will T-Mac be than Mobley's 38%? 2%? You don't think Pike will be 2% better? What about Lue being at 38% versus Francis' 29%? Shooting is the least of our worries. I would worry about shotblocking more than any other individual stat.
Rocket River- great point. Everyone has an opinion but the obvious strategy teams will have against the Rockets is to try to take away Yao and TMac and then see if the rest of the team can beat them. If we can kill teams from the perimeter then they will have to respect our other shooters and this will make it much easier on Yao and TMac. This is basic to success in the NBA- you have to make them pay if they do a good job defensively against your go to options. JJ, Lue, Boki, J Howard, MTay- that's who will have to supply the dagger at this point. Might be ok? If these guys play like Mario Elie, Sam Cassell, Matt Bullard, and Robert Horry and just kill the opponent with the open shot, we should be headed to some great chemistry and 50+ wins.
I agree that shotblocking is a legitimate concern but not as critical due to Yao's bigger impact on defense. People worry that Yao does not block a lot of shots, but his mere presence keeps most players from even coming in the lane. He can't block the shot if they are too afraid to take it in the first place. I think this aspect of Yao's presence is often overlooked.
Yao's not suddenly going to block more shots. However, we lost Cato. I know that Howard's offense will make up for Cato's defense. But then again, JVG doesn't work with offense, he works with defense. What if Howard's offense drops due to JVG's system? We need two shotblockers, like all great teams. It's either that, or excellent defense at all positions: we don't have that at PF or PG so far. Detroit: Okur, Wallace, Wallace, Prince. LA: Shaq (whole other world) Spurs: Duncan and either Robinson or Nesterovic. Minnesotta: KG and whoever their C is. Currently, we don't have 2 big men who can block around 2 per game in 35 minutes per game each. Last year we did, and the year ebfore we did. Remember, I think we lost only 8 games last year when blocking 7 or more shots as a team. I think we lost only 8 or 9 when Cato and Yao combined for 4? Dont' remember, but the stats were staggering like that. Clutch posted them last season. When Cato went down, we slumped from being 6th seed to fighting for playoffs. I hope Howard's offense can make up for the loss of Cato's defense, but I'm skeptical. Getting Keon Clark would REALLY REALY ease my worries, and would give us a SOLID backup C as well as a VERY solid PF rotation with varying abilities.
3 seconds on the clock . . .T-mac driving and dishing or Yao posting a dishing WHO DO YOU WANT TO TAKE THAT SHOT JJ? Kewl . .if his foot not on the line Lue? Big Timer? Pike? Nothing yet BOKI? Jury still out Mo T's 15 footer USE to be automatic. . last year it was not I remember alot of RUN STOPPERS when we bricked a shot at the wrong time NOW i know everyone will say Francis didn't get the ball to the person in the right time at the right stop etc But I need shooters that don't need a PERFECT senario to knock it down Other than JJ I have little confidence in everyone else Lue shot a good percentage. . but how much did he shoot? Rocket River
If you want some extra shot blocking, bring Eddie Griffin back to camp for the vet minimum. Bring Tmo in for the min. Get Keon Clark if you have to. Those are all minimum guys - which should tell you weakside block help isn't a high priced commodity. Shooting is VERY important. We need to have someone that will absolutely bury the other team if they double, with a quick release and a crazy high percentage. I'm willing to take on ugly contracts like Wally to get +50% shooting. Matt Harpring is a crazy good shooter, too - but don't know how to pry him loose. Wes Person would be great. I like the shooting at the 2 or 3 instead of the 1, actually. Our sets are going to favor the kick out going to the wing. The 1 should advance the ball in a hurry and put it in the 4 score option quickly, where we can attack the defense. The point can do some damage by cutting backdoor, then drifting out for a mid range pop, instead of having to be a 3 point-bomber. Short passes make everything crisper and more efficient. A sweet shooting 4 like Troy Murphy or even Vlad Rad could also be nice, but that's for another day.
Pike doesn't seem to blend in well as a spot up guy for some reason. He's missed so many spot up threes when we needed it the most last year, yet his percentage is still relatively high (35% I think??). Most threes I remember him making isn't in the flow of the offense. When I say the flow of offense, I mean throw it inside, Yao gets double teamed, gets swung around to the open guy, open guy makes shots (ie Bullard, Max, Kenny, Sammy, Mario, and Eddie). Pike's three's are too quick to a point where the guys aren't ready to get the long rebound. A lot of times when he shot the ball, I am just shocked as to how quick he shot it. I guess I'm just not used to his unorthodox quick release. Anthony Peeler would be a GREAT pickup.
Although I'd be delighted to acquire Antonio Daniels, all we really need is a quality backup center. I give Eric Piatkowski a bye because of the injury that really limited Pike last year. Left open he can -- and I think will -- be a deadly shooter. I also believe JVG's work with Bostjan Nachbar will pay off this year. He is more than capable of draining three's, but I also like the fact that he can drive to the basket and dish to the open man. We tend to forget about Boki's ability to pass. I also believe Mo Taylor will be the starter at PF this year with Howard putting in a strong performance as sixth man. Rumor has it that Taylor has been working like a madman on his strength, conditioning and game. It is purely my gut hunch that he really wants to be a starter again. As far as PG is concerned, yes, as I said, I would be ecstatic at the acquisition of A.D. However, with that much firepower on the floor, I think the Lue-Gaines-Wilks triumverate will do just fine. So, Mr. Dawson, please find a backup center that will rate a solid thumbs up.
Problem with Pike and even JJ is you need a shooter who delivers a dagger at key times in a game. Like Mario Elie, Sam Cassell and Horry (at least in the playoffs) yes Pike and JJ and Boki can hit three's but often it is the key 3 point or key open basket at critical points in games that has most effects. D Fisher had that for a couple seasons, R Hamilton and C Billups had it all through the playoffs last season. Horry had it for awhile with the Lakers. S. Jackson and B Bowen had it at times with SA. John Stockton had a dagger. Eddie Johnson had a dagger. Those kind of shooters can kill another time because they demoralize their defense when you defend Yao and TMac perfectly and someone else gets off for 17 key points and seals the deal. As far as shot blocking- we will need at least an intimidator if not a shotblocker =Cato, because we don't want Yao in foul trouble most games and we don't want teams walking through our lane like it was layup drill.
