alaskansnowman, my comment was a sarcastic reply to chenzhen's absurd comment. Sorry for the misunderstanding. ------------------ Hakeem, Hasaw, Haconquered.
Actually it was a great cross court pass he threw after he crossed half court and was in no way a bad pass.Secondly, you ARE supposed to stop at the middle of the free throw line on a fast break and make the easy pass, thats a fact and is practiced at all levels highschool and up.Its just basic basketball and a drill that highschools and colleges run all the time ------------------
KeepKenny: My bad. I dint see the "gimmie a break". Well then my original post is directed at ChenZhen. ------------------ da ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence - alaskanSnowman
Of course he'll get better defensively. He has the athleticism to be great, he just needs to work on fundamentals, which can be learned by anyone, even point guards. ------------------
Who said it wasn't a great cross court pass. But you know, I cannot remember one great cross court transition pass by Magic Johnson. That's because he ALWAYS WENT DOWN THE MIDDLE! This is incorrect. I hear many times how stuff taught at "all levels" are supposed to be used in the NBA. That is incorrect. The point guard on an NBA fastbreak should NEVER stop their dribble. Maybe we do agree and this is a choice-of-wording problem only. You make it sounds like he stops and then passes. I am saying he should never actually stop unless he shoots. The pass is either the immediacy of a flick, or he should keep dribbling. Anyhow tacomah, that's not the issue. The issue is that Francis does not get us into transition like a PG should. He would rather slow it up or run the wing for an ESPN slam. Tacomah...we do not run enough transition, and it is, more than anyone else, the fault of the PG that we don't. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited January 06, 2001).]
I dont necesarrily blame all our transistion woes on Steve. Our big men have some blame in this. If we got consistent defensive rebounds from them and they outleted the ball a little better we would have alot more transition oppertunities.Steve catches the ball from our big men and decides whether or not there's an oppertunity for a fast break and most of the time there is not.Also, aside from Shandon we have NOBODY who really makes a consistent effort to run the lanes after we get a rebound on the defensive end. We cant blame our bad transistion game completely on Steve. ------------------ [This message has been edited by tacoma park legend (edited January 06, 2001).]
Do yall think its because Steve and the rest of the guards try to rebound more then get out on the break ------------------ Agent
Kenny & Alaskanwoman, Of course he can always get better BUT to what extent? very very little, really...sure he can learn how to play the pick and roll better through experience, but he just doesn't have the defensive skills to be a great defender, plain and simple...you think he'll ever take over a game with his defense? maybe if we play the Bulls every night. Do you really think he can 'work on his defensive skills' and can be in the same level defensively as gary payton, jason kidd or kobe bryant? I think NOT...its a HUGE gap there I might add... ------------------
Agent 86, our guards HAVE TO rebound on the defensive end to make up for our poor rebounding big men. Its not like they are trying to go after every rebound, it's just that they have to if we ever want to stop teams from having 2nd chance points.ChenZhen, Jason Kidd is an overrated defender in my opinion. He can not stay in front of the truly quick players in this league, and he is in reality only a good team defender.He cheats off of his man when they are postin guys up to try to get in the passing lanes and in the Sun's system the big men try to stop the momentum of the guy coming off the pick to help Kidd, unlike the rockets do for francis. Payton, yes he's a good defender but more than that he's a smart defender. Most of the time he stays off of guys he knows can blow by him like Steve and welcomes them to take the jump shot, and he has really learned how to play the pick and roll. AS for Kobe, he is a damn good defender and remarkable good at staying in front of smaller quicker players, but it's always nice to have a 7ft2 300 and something pound oaf at the basket to help you out if you get burned. The one fault of Steve is that he's too agressive on defense. He's trying so hard on the defensive end and then that pick comes,our big men need to communicate better on those picks, and the point guard gets the open shot. I somewhat agree with Rudy's philosiphy though. Would you rather have a team try and beat you with easy shots in the lane, or with long jumpers?Steve will learn, dont worry. ------------------ [This message has been edited by tacoma park legend (edited January 06, 2001).]
Isn't basketball a team game and the bottom line is TEAM DEFENSE? Tacoma, would you rather have someone who is a great team defender (ie. Dream in the old days where he helps his teammates out by intimadating every shot near the goal) or someone who is an amazing one-on-one defender BUT he doesn't help out his teammates? I've seen Kidd guard Steve last year and he was sticking to Him like a Gloooooove...I don't need to tell you how great Payton and Kobe are defensively. ------------------
Im just trying to point out that Steve is a good on the ball defender and that you are WRONG in your assumption that he will not improve in his defense. The players you mentioned are all SMART defenders not necesarilly the quickest defenders. When Steve learns how to read a teams offense and see the picks coming he will be a great defender, bet me. ------------------
How much you want to bet that Stevie will never ever be on an all-NBA defensive team? ------------------
but he just doesn't have the defensive skills to be a great defender-Chen What kind of defensive skills are those? You arent born with good defensive skills. Stevie has the physical skills to play good defense. Kobe was a sorry defender too a few years ago. Then I remember suddenly after the all star game, Kobe started playin real good defense... one of the reasons for that is cuz he had a talk with GP during the all star festivities and GP showed him how to be better defender. And guess what? Kobe learned. Defense is all about experience and learning... thats why all rookies get burnt their 1st years. you think he'll ever take over a game with his defense? I haven't seen too many guards take over the game with their defense. Games are taken over by scoring now. Sure there have been defensive stops made by guards, or a steal or block, but they havent truly taken over a game. ------------------ da ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence - alaskanSnowman
I didnt know you had to be an all NBA 1st team defender to be a good defender. Get real, there's alot of great defenders out there that dont get named to that team like Ruben Patterson and many others in this league who arent even good players. ANYBODY can be a good defender. It doesnt take god given talent to be a good defender.It amazes me you think Steve from this point on will NEVER get better as a defender or even make a significant stride. Have you been watching the same rocks games I have? He's been gettin better on D every game ------------------
