I have less respect for Barkley's opinions than virtually any other talking head in television sports. I honestly do not believe he watches basketball beyond a few clips here and there.
Honestly how many Centers in this league are solid on D? I think I'll take the 20-25 and 10 he can put up and and rely on team defense.
People disagree with Barkely and discredit him because he doesn't like Portland. He is right about Portland though.
No. Not until we have a low post scoring threat, or change the offense. Portland doesn't shoot as many jumpers as some teams in the league, but I think it's percieved by him that we are a jump shooting team because the ball rarely goes into the post and gets kicked out. Thus a "perimeter team"
How many teams consistently enter the ball into the post? I watch a lot of NBA; outside of Orlando and Houston with Yao, I don't see much of an inside-out game, at least in terms of being a primary offense. Utah, even with Millsap and Jefferson, are running more of a high-post/pick and roll game than a low-post set. Your criticism applies to the majority of teams in the NBA, IMO.
Newsflash Barkley, the Thunder have no big men either. I'm going to enjoy watching the Thunder fail to meet expectations this year. IMO the top 3 will be 1. LA and then 2 and 3 will be the Mavs and Spurs. Portland comes in 4th.
I know, but I don't see how it is unique to the Blazers in terms of being a perceived weakness. I mean, Barkley should have said it about Utah and OKC more than Portland, since at least the Blazers tried to get an inside threat in the draft. Greg Oden was drafted to be an inside presence, since he looked/looks to have the skills/coordination to be somewhat reliable as a primary low-post scorer. Just because Greg's hurt, should it mean that the Blazers should play away from their other bigs' strengths (mid-range/high-post), and make them lesser players by asking them to be something that they are not? Especially with Brandon Roy in the back-court? Barkley knows less about the actual NBA than most posters on this board, at least in terms of what is actually going on during play. Just because he now makes commercials with Dwyane Wade doesn't mean he is watching as many games as the average poster on this board.
I've watched CB on TNT only a little bit. In that time he has demonstrated that for games in which he is being paid to do "analysis" on that he doesn't even know who all of the players are. CB is a moron. However, the bottom line isn't that he's wrong - it's that we won't get much national respect until we win a playoff series. In fact, we'll still have naysayers until we go to the finals. (Unless you count Mixum, in which case we still won't get respect even if we win the finals).
Boston, Miami and the Lakers being classic examples of post up/kick out. Or wait, they're not. All three teams initiate from the wing, even though all three have a talented big man. Talent wins, not a preconceived notion of "how teams win," style-wise.
I think Barkley still does not understand how his Rockets teams never won - despite the fact that the ball would go into him with him dribbling with his big ass to the basket for 20 seconds before he would kick it out... "Charles will never win a championship because he never has the dedication" - Scottie Pippen.
Well, he's right. What he's saying is we don't have a post threat. Camby is primarily a rebounder/defender while LMA is a jumpshooting PF who rarely attacks the hoop.
I just watched the L*kers the other night and they threw the ball into Pau several times. I have not seen the other two play this season
I'm not so sure I trust Mixum's source. The guy is a troll. As for Barkely, I have respect for him. He's not afraid to say what he believes. And let him talk. We'll prove him wrong and he'll give us an ass kissing.
It's also Joel's last year on his contract, and they haven't offered him an extension. So subtract another 7 footer.
