The Amare/Melo duo isn't quite working out. Note to fans of large markets: if the player demands one city he has basketball second, lifestyle first. This duo is the epitome of that.
Monty Williams is doing an admirable job with the worst batch of talent in the league. They compete every night. I just watched him grab Aminu aside after he shot a horrible shot early in the shot clock and had his ear. Aminu seemed to listen intently on everything Williams was saying.
[video=youtube;Dt1kbkOARpQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt1kbkOARpQ&feature=player_embedded[/video]
Wow, his head was above the rim on that dunk. Of course, it's probably a lot easier to jump that high when your head is empty. BNM
I remember the days when people on BBF wanted to trade for Gerald Green (not saying it was you, relax). I didn't know he was back in the NBA. Good for him! Takes his PER up to a 7.3.
Is Derrick Williams so bad that Rick Adelman needs to start Martell Webster in front of him? I know Williams is a bit of a tweener, but Martell is poop on fire. Good Lord, if Nate was sitting the #2 overall pick on the bench, and a fairly polished player who was Pac-10 player of the year, this place would be going bananas. Minnesota is out of the playoffs as of right now, and they're starting Martell Webster??? Really???
He was drafted to play SF, though. Both Beaseley and Williams sat behind Martell tonight. Adelman is a genius!!! :MARIS61: How does that happen? "Hmm ... I have two #2 overall picks who can play SF, and Rubio isn't playing, so we need to go bigger. I got it. I'll start Martell!"
That would mean something if New Orleans had talent and their best player has been injured all year and Okafor and Landry have been out most of the season. That squad is chalk full of D-League talent. Atleast Monty has them consistently bring effort and try on defense. He gets solid contributions from guys like Gustavo Ayon and Greivis Vazquez. Pace doesn't really mean shit, it has no correlation to success.
I think they drafted him using the BPA method. Something Chad Buchanan has no concept of. I think they hope he can develop into a SF but he is a PF. Rebuilding he is a player I'd love to pry from them. He's like a meaner version of Jamison.
Energy off the bench. He'll eventually be a starter. Its obviously working, Adelmans got them in the playoff hunt.
They're .500 with a guy putting up MVP stats, and three #2 overall picks on their roster. The crazy thing is, none of those players start. Instead, Martell Webster is starting in a game they lost at home to New Orleans. I can't imagine the outrage on this board if Nate started some scrub like Martell over Beaseley, or even Williams, and the team lost to the worst team in the West.
We lost to the worst team in the East at home. Minnesota is in the playoff hunt despite being the 2nd youngest team in the NBA a combined age of 24.6 (just a hair behind Sacramento's 24.57). I'd say Adelman's doing a helluva job. I think its hard to argue really. Adelman > McMillan
Yep, and everybody is calling for the coach's head. Meanwhile, he lost his best player right before the season out of the blue, and Greg Oden again failed to even play a game. Still, he has his team in playoff contention. Nate won 54 games with a team that was the youngest in the NBA, and a starting line-up of Steve Blake, Brandon Roy, LMA, Joel Przybilla, and Nic Batum (rookie), and Travis Outlaw as the 6th man with foul machine Oden playing only 75% of the games that year, with other games in major foul trouble. I'm not making this about Nate vs. Adelman, though. I'm just saying what the reaction would be on this board if the Blazers had lost at home to New Orleans with Batum and Wallace sitting behind Luke Babbitt.
Nate won 54 games with this team. Unreal, looking back at it. Remember, Oden only had a PER of 18.1 in this season. By mpg: 1 Brandon Roy 2 LaMarcus Aldridge 3 Steve Blake 4 Travis Outlaw 5 Rudy Fernandez 6 Joel Przybilla 7 Greg Oden (21 mpg) 8 Nicolas Batum 9 Sergio Rodriguez 10 Jerryd Bayless 11 Channing Frye http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/POR/2009.html
