With what we know now, what would YOU try to do this summer, if you were CD?

MacBeth,

Obviously, I don't know as much about the Raptors as you do. Everytime you talk about Bosh, you compare him to Kevin Garnett, much like we used to do with Eddie Griffin. Just like people used to do with Pau Gasol.

My question is, do you think Bosh will ever be anywhere near Garnett level? I'm a HUGE fan of Chris Bosh, but personally I don't think he's a Garnett. He could very well be a Wallace or Webber, but he's not Garnett, I don't think so.

 

I'd also like to add that I think they'd trade Vince before they would trade Bosh at this point.

I believe Bosh was playing tons of C this season, and with his frame, his numbers are a major accomplishment.

If he is truly a hardworker (Actions speak louder than words), then he will bulk up this offseason, work on some kinks, and become one of the best PF's in the East immediately.

 

We rarely agree on a topic, but there's a first time for everything .

I think CD should step down as well, and we need someone with a stronger (stronger than JVG) and more aggresive (Isaiah, Ainge, Dumars) personality. We have assets and we have a good core - we should be a top 5 seed in the West next year, and it all falls on CD's shoulders.

 

MacBeth, what's your assessment of Rose? I was going to propose a Mobley, Cato, and Spoon for Marshall, Rose trade, but I balked because I hear Rose is turnover prone and a sieve on defense. What sort of turnovers is Rose prone to? As a Rockets fan, (given our current team), would you even consider taking on Jalen?

sup, Sonics fans are disenchanted with Rashard because he hasn't materialized into a go-to player for them, and other than rebounding, doesn't do a whole lot for them. They've decided that Vlade Radmanovic, who has played PF for them this year, is playing out of position and so they're trying to decide between Radmanovic and Rashard. Because Rashard has such a large, lengthy contract and doesn't seem like a franchise player, he's incurring their wrath much like Stevie is here.

 

I'm back and forth about Cato; I think he COULD be a fairly solid EC center, but I also see that it would be a huge gamble. He has severe limitations ( shot, hands, etc.) and has never, ever stood up for an entire season. He could easily be a guy who plays better in limited time than extended, when his extreme weaknesses become more apparent/ are more easily exploited by the opposition. And he's got that bad contract.

On the other hand, Yao has foul trouble, and low endurance. Right now those issues are lessened by having Cato. SO, unless we get a tram willing to overpay in order to take a gamble on Cato as a full time 5 ( which could happen given the lack of real centers), I'd say he's better as our back up 4 and 5, at least until Yao shows better endurance and gets the benefit of more calls.


I disagree, however, about Marshall. I can't imagine who you think would start ahead of him on the current roster.

 

NP...and I got the Rose mention, which I meant to demonstrate I was acknowledging.

 

I just see so much more Garnett than any of those two. He has a simiiar build to early Garnett, the same remarkable athleticism, the same surprisingly lean strength, the same work ethic, the same instincts. He's not quite as tall ( about an inch shorter) but is a much better shooter.


A look at their respective rookie years:

Garnett: .491 fg%, .286 3pt%, 6.3 rebs, 1.8 assts, 1.64 blocks. 10.4 ppg

Bosh: .459 fg%, .357 3pt%, 7.4 rebs, 1.0 assts, 1.41 blocks. 11.5 ppg.


Bosh played a few more minutes, but also played out of position at the 5 ( can you imagine Garnett as a rookie playing center!?!?) and played on a team that emphasized defense and was even lower scoring than the Rockets, whereas Garnett's Wolves played farily up tempo his rookie year.

But it's more esthetic. You have to see this guy play night in and night out. He's going up against guys who outweigh him by 40, 50, 100 pounds night in and night out, and he's coming out at least even much of the time. He's also a sponge; coaches say you tell him something once, and watch amazed as it's immediatley learned and shown on the floor. You watch a guy beat him with something in the 1st half, and when he tries again the second, Bosh has already figured out how to stop it. A much bigger guy would lay a cruncher on him, and rather than sit and whine about it, he'd pop up and beat the man on the next play. And he routinely makes the huge play or plays at crunch time.


I don't think Eddie had nearly this much talent, but I do know that Bosh has all plusses on attitude, which was Eddie's biggest minus. I don't see any comparison.

Some people say he's more like a more athletic, slightly smaller DUncan, because he's so fundamentally sound and patient. Others see a lot of Jermaine O'Neal, with a much faster progression. But most observers compare him to KG. They are different, no doubt. Although hampered by a plodding offense, Bosh still doesn't strike me as quite the passer KG is; he'll make really nice ones, and rarely makes a bad one, but he might not be quite the overall passer. On the other hand, as said, he's a much better shooter, might already be better than KG is, and is certainly way ahead of him on a relative scale.

People forget two things about Bosh because of the hoopla surrounding James and Melo: Bosh, not Melo, was the top rated player coming out of HS last year, and big men almost always progress at a slower rate when quite young. I will be very, very surprised if he sin't an elite player within a few years, and I rarely say this about young players.

 

Rose is something we just don't have; a basketball player. You know what we see missing when we watch Steve? That undefinable instinct for the game? Rose has that. His turnovers come from trying to make something out of nothing more than not having a feel for the game, a la Steve.

I expected to not like Rose, to be honest, and there are things not to like, but by the season's end, I really, really liked him. Despite the rumours coming out of Chicago he had no problem at all deferring to VC, he played hard, he played better D than I expected ( not great, and partly helped by the system/emphasis, but decent.)

But what really impressed me was what he did late in the year. When they lost him, they essentially lost it as a team. Rose had been making teams pay, somewhat, for doubling/tripling VC, and without him they went right back to it. Bosh was having to fight hard to play 5's, so couldn't become a second option, and Marshall is more of a system guy than someone who can create, so it was all back on Carter's shoulders. Rose, with 5 breaks in his shooting hand, was out for the year. And the team, which had been pretty comfortably in a playoff spot, fell apart.

And Rose came back early, played with a sort of cast on his hand and with bolts in there just holding it together, and played better than he had all year. He couldn't shoot as well, although he'd hit big shots, so he drove to the bucket and just found ways to get it through the hoop. If the Raps had't been busy falling apart amidst reports of a feud betwen the coach and the GM, and if they weren't so undersized that they were getting worn down and beaten most nights under the boards, they'd have made the playoffs and Rose would have been a big story.

I was very impressed. I think he's overpaid, but not as badly as I previously thought. He's not an elite player, but he's definitely a player. He would make a great point forward for us, and probably is a better playmaker than Steve, although he shouldn't really be a starting 1 either. Not sure if he's a JVG type of player, though.

 

I've seen seen only a little of Bosh this year, but I was very impressed with what I saw. Obviously, I'd love to have him on the Rockets next to Yao, but that's never going to happen.

Sherlock, Marshall's not a star (darn good roleplayer), but I don't think we need a star at PF. I agree that we need another star next to Yao, but I think it needs to be at SF, or maybe SG. For me, the questions surrounding Marshall is whether he can be a good enough defender in the low post. In terms of everything else we'd like in a PF, I think he's a good fit