hoyarooter
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Post by hoyarooter on Feb 21, 2008 13:06:08 GMT -5
I was driving home last night listening to the Laker/Suns game on the radio, when the Laker announcer remarked that Shaq can no longer guard the pick and roll. This killed me, since even in his prime with the Lakers, Shaq couldn't guard the pick and roll, and he certainly hasn't improved with age. I was actually impressed by Shaq on offense last night, particularly (and surprisingly) in the fourth quarter, although that facial Kobe laid on him should not have been goaltending. As for defense, Shaq could probably guard Mark Eaton, but I don't know about anybody else.
I thought last night's game was awesome - a real throwback to the old run and gun days.
RDF, you forgot the Hornets in your analysis. I'm sure that was an oversight, since they have a two game lead in the West. I think their lack of playoff experience will hurt them, but wow, what a great job Byron Scott is doing. We'll be able to look forward to Chris Paul/Deron Williams duels for the next decade. No doubt the Hawks are deliriously happy that they passed on both of these guys.
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RDF
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Post by RDF on Feb 21, 2008 13:27:05 GMT -5
I mentioned Hornets--in list of contenders--just said we'll have to see how they handle the Playoffs and one thing against them--their homecourt will be a "neutral site" for Playoffs--many fans will support the team/players they like instead of Hornets. Paul has proven worthy of the hype--finally--and been great, but I want to see David West, Tyson Chandler, and likes take their game up a level in Playoffs--which I'm not sure they can do. They wreak of T-Wolves type of team who flames out in Round One no matter who has that matchup. No interior scoring, too many jumpshots from West and their cheap, easy hoops won't come so easy come April.
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Feb 21, 2008 13:38:59 GMT -5
Thanks to Jack and RDF for answering my question. Sounds like Kurt Thomas is (now) the complete opposite of what I'd heard some time ago. Good to know.
Re: the trade's impact on Jeff, I wasn't necessarily wondering about playing time, but whether having a first-round pick in 2009 or having Kurt Thomas on the roster in 2009 would be better for the Sonics going forward. I'm generally inclined to think the latter would benefit the team more, but after reading RDF's post on KD's development I'm not so sure adding/keeping some veteran players might be a better strategy for the Sonics than adding more young talent.
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vcjack
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Post by vcjack on Feb 21, 2008 15:43:27 GMT -5
TRADING DEADLINE RUMORS!!!!
If half of these are true I will be very pleased
There are rumors of a three way trade between Chicago, Ceveland and Seattle which would move Ben Wallace and Joe Smith to Cleveland and Chris Duhon to Seattle in exchange for Cleveland getting Wally and Delonte West in addition to Wallace and Smith. Seattle gets Duhon as mentioned above and two expiring contracts of Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall
Bulls get Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes and Cedric Simmons (Cap filler)
This makes me happy for three reasons 1. NO MORE BIG BEN! YES!!!!! Joe Smith was a good addition but he was at best keeping the Bulls decent now we added some talented players who have as good a shot at making this collection of idiots into a team as anyone.
2. Gets rid of the dead weight on Seattle which is a big plus for Jeff and it adds a defensive minded/pass first point guard in Duhon
3. Absolutely screws the Cavs hahahs
Other rumors - Ron Artest to Denver or Philly
- Jason Williams for Nene
- and some others that I will add later
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Feb 21, 2008 16:00:37 GMT -5
One rumor that keeps getting mentioned down here is Udonis Haslem to the Orlando Magic.
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Jack
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Post by Jack on Feb 21, 2008 16:26:47 GMT -5
Sounds like the 3-way deal with Sea, Chi, Cle did happen, but not quite as vcjack had it. Seattle gets straight garbage cap-filler, not even a useful player like Duhon. The Bulls still get to dump Ben Wallace. And Cleveland gets nothing appreciably better than what they had (unless you think Wally Sczerbiak is something). I know Lebron wanted a move, but I don't know if he wanted just any move.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2008 16:28:23 GMT -5
Appears as though that big 11 player, three team deal is fact. Awaiting league approval according to several sources.
CAVS GET: Ben Wallace (from Chicago) Joe Smith (from Chicago) Wally Szczerbiak (from Seattle) Delonte West (from Seattle)
CHICAGO GETS: Drew Gooden (from Cleveland) Larry Hughes (from Cleveland) Shannon Brown (from Cleveland) Cedric Simmons (from Cleveland)
SEATTLE GETS: Ira Newble (from Cleveland) Donyell Marshall (from Cleveland) Adrian Griffin (from Chicago)
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Feb 21, 2008 16:52:29 GMT -5
Appears as though that big 11 player, three team deal is fact. Awaiting league approval according to several sources. CAVS GET: Ben Wallace (from Chicago) Joe Smith (from Chicago) Wally Szczerbiak (from Seattle) Delonte West (from Seattle) CHICAGO GETS: Drew Gooden (from Cleveland) Larry Hughes (from Cleveland) Drew Gooden (from Cleveland) Shannon Brown (from Cleveland) Cedric Simmons (from Cleveland) SEATTLE GETS: Ira Newble (from Cleveland) Donyell Marshall (from Cleveland) Adrian Griffin (from Chicago) Looks like a steal for Chcago. They get not just one Drew Gooden, but two!
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FormerHoya
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Post by FormerHoya on Feb 21, 2008 17:42:39 GMT -5
Ding-Dong Ben Wallace is gone!!
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Eurostar
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Post by Eurostar on Feb 21, 2008 19:11:04 GMT -5
i dont know how seattle could possibly get worse, but they did. at least they will have some money after this year. hopefully they'll at least get a decent pick where they can pick up Rose (or Gordon) in the draft... although i dont know if jeff would ever be able to shoot if you paired durant with gordon.
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hoyarooter
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Post by hoyarooter on Feb 21, 2008 20:51:44 GMT -5
i dont know how seattle could possibly get worse, but they did. at least they will have some money after this year. hopefully they'll at least get a decent pick where they can pick up Rose (or Gordon) in the draft... although i dont know if jeff would ever be able to shoot if you paired durant with gordon. This trade did make Seattle worse in the short run, but they wanted to rid themselves of Wally's contract, and they did. Consider this: Given that Seattle has now flipped Thomas, it means that in exchange for a second round draft pick, the Sonics have received Brent Barry, Francisco Elson, and three first round draft picks. The NBA - it's FANNNNNNTASTIC!
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Feb 22, 2008 2:01:44 GMT -5
Ding-Dong Ben Wallace is gone!! I'd rather have Ben Wallace's overpaid ass than Larry Hughes' overpaid ass. I think Cleveland wins this one, then Seattle, then Chicago, which frankly just seems confused. ------- I'm late for the Kidd trade, but quick, did Dallas just deal for the sixth best PG in the western conference (and even worse if you consider Harris better)? Paul, Williams, Nash, Parker aren't even debateable. Iverson is still better, too, IMO, but you could argue he's not a point.
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vcjack
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Post by vcjack on Feb 22, 2008 11:02:08 GMT -5
Ding-Dong Ben Wallace is gone!! I'd rather have Ben Wallace's overpaid ass than Larry Hughes' overpaid ass. I think Cleveland wins this one, then Seattle, then Chicago, which frankly just seems confused. . Hughes is 29 and a 6-5 guard who fits in well with the rest of Chicago's tall guards. Once Gordon is let go over the summer (as all signs indicate that will happen) I believe its good to have good sg rotation Wallace is 33 and rapidly declining, never was a good offensive player and now becoming a worse defensive player. Not to mention he's become a lockeroom cancer (Yes Noah had A LOT to do with that but it wasn't the first problem with Ben). Like I said I miss Joe Smith more, but now that we get to keep Duhon and put ourselves in a position to reshape the franchise. Gordon cannot and will not be the face of this franchise so Chicago needs reinforcement at the 2
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RDF
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Post by RDF on Feb 22, 2008 13:19:57 GMT -5
I'd rather have Ben Wallace's overpaid ass than Larry Hughes' overpaid ass. I think Cleveland wins this one, then Seattle, then Chicago, which frankly just seems confused. . Hughes is 29 and a 6-5 guard who fits in well with the rest of Chicago's tall guards. Once Gordon is let go over the summer (as all signs indicate that will happen) I believe its good to have good sg rotation Wallace is 33 and rapidly declining, never was a good offensive player and now becoming a worse defensive player. Not to mention he's become a lockeroom cancer (Yes Noah had A LOT to do with that but it wasn't the first problem with Ben). Like I said I miss Joe Smith more, but now that we get to keep Duhon and put ourselves in a position to reshape the franchise. Gordon cannot and will not be the face of this franchise so Chicago needs reinforcement at the 2 To get things on right track--Bulls need to fire Paxon--he's a disgrace. Hinrich stinks. Gordon is a one trick player, and the drafting of Noah made no sense whatsoever. Agree with VCJack about dumping Ben Wallace being a great move for Bulls. He was overrated in Detroit--and they got every last drop out of him-production wise. He's a terrible offensive player and defensively he's been overrated--and exposed in Chicago. Good move by Bulls, although Larry Hughes is a tease. He's got some game--but would rather be a D-list celebrity in music videos and at parties/move premieres then a big time basketball player. He's got the $ that shows he's "big time" in checkbook--but his game is garbage/underdeveloped.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Feb 22, 2008 17:42:52 GMT -5
Hughes will jack up stupid shots, turn the ball over and get credit as a good defensive player because he gets steals.
He's completely and utterly uninterested in winning.
His game requires him to have the ball in his hands, but he's not nearly good enough to be the guy with the ball in his hands. In other words, he's talented but more or less a useless player.
Wallace is overrated and overpaid, but at least you can ask him to rebound, defend and sit the bench. He won't take the ball out of a good player's hands. Every possession Larry Hughes used in Cleveland was a possession LeBron didn't -- which is beyond idiotic.
Congratulations, Chicago. Larry Hughes is now your offensive creator. Uggh. He certainly can't be your spot-up shooter.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Feb 22, 2008 18:22:32 GMT -5
Being in the Bay Area, I'm an idiot. Kidd isn't any better than Baron Davis right now, either.
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Cambridge
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Post by Cambridge on Feb 22, 2008 21:12:35 GMT -5
Screamin' A and Bill Walton go at it again.
The ESPN studio is like a bizarro TNT studio: there is no chemistry, lots of shouting, little to no real analysis, and obviously scripted bits. Oh, and at no point is it ever, ever entertaining.
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RDF
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Post by RDF on Feb 24, 2008 0:13:58 GMT -5
Nuggets give up 135 to a bad Bulls team, and then lose to Milwaukee blowing a 23 point lead. Yeah-they are "ready" to up their level of play. What a failure of heart/basketbally IQ as a team and George Karl should be fired--immediately. It's one thing to not trade for an upgrade because you know your team isn't talented--another when you are protecting Linas Kleiza from leaving. Seriously?
Anyways--it'll be interesting to see if Iverson is wanted back--think he can opt out of his deal or it expires at end of this year--and would Nuggets want him back? Would he want to return to Denver? I don't think there would be a big market for Iverson as he's a unique player and at this time--a team who I think he'd fit in well with is Dallas--but don't think he'll end up there. Anything that makes sense--throw it out window in regards to Iverson. He needs to leave Denver though--that franchise is going nowhere-and he's part of the problem--he doesn't adjust his game to do what is best for that team to win--and it's a team who isn't committed to anything other then playing streetball. It's fun to watch--but they aren't a smart enough team to win.
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hoyarooter
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Post by hoyarooter on Feb 24, 2008 1:48:12 GMT -5
I still say Denver should have traded for Artest. That team needs a jolt, and what better player to give a team a temporary jolt than Artest? These last two games have been really bad.
I hope that Wallace can resurrect whatever is left of his game in Cleveland. My hat is off to him - a little known player from a small college with minimal skills who somehow worked it into a pretty nice career and a couple of rings. Not to mention that he made a lot of jack. His signing by the Bulls may have been the worst free agent signing of this decade. On second thought, the Hughes signing isn't far behind - and now they're traded for each other. The NBA - it's FANNNNTASTIC.
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MCIGuy
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Anyone here? What am I supposed to update?
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Post by MCIGuy on Feb 24, 2008 9:23:37 GMT -5
Denver's last two losses were inexcusable. Unfortunately the Nuggets have about six other losses like that this season. Hey, its alright to lose to bad teams every so often, especially on the road. But they lost to a Bulls team that had just reshuffled its lineup the day before because of a trade and had limited bodies to play with. The Nuggets scored 121 points and got a career 42 points from JR Smith. And still lost by more than ten to a team not known for its explosive scoring.
Then they were up by 23 against Milwaukee and lost that one too.
I'll give the Nuggets a bit of abreak for being without its lone post player (on offense) all season long but they prove the doubters right again with these types of losses. Yes, they needed to make a trade and they failed to do so.
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