Azubuike!!! We better keep this guy!

http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/nbacom...botn_070212.asx
The Block!!! *

http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/nbacom...op10_070212.asx
It made #2 on nba.com Top 10 Daily Countdown

* Open with Windows Media Player

 

Totally agree. In fact, I'll go farther and say that we should package Pietrus right now with someone and get something in return. Azubuike does the same things as Pietrus, just more consistently.

That's my opinion, flame it if you want.

 

That was a very nice block, but I am not that enamored with him. First of all, the guy is a shrimp. Granted, he has crab arms, but he is very short. I would venture to say he is shorter than Jrich. Pietrus rebounds and defends much better than AZ. With that said, I think if we can not resign him for a very reasonable price, we should get something back for him, either picks or something...

 

<div class="quote_poster">Warriorfansnc93 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">That was a very nice block, but I am not that enamored with him. First of all, the guy is a shrimp. Granted, he has crab arms, but he is very short. I would venture to say he is shorter than Jrich. Pietrus rebounds and defends much better than AZ. With that said, I think if we can not resign him for a very reasonable price, we should get something back for him, either picks or something...</div>

Kelenna Azubuike isn't short. He's 6'5" and with Monta at SG should be a good backup at the SG position. I'm pretty sure Nelson is thinking about putting JRich at SF when he comes back. Still, AZ is a great leaper and can play the SF if need be.

AZ compares favorably with JR Smith whom he posterized:
Kelenna Azubuike
Golden State Warriors
Position: G
Height: 6-5 Weight: 220
College : Kentucky
Player file | Team stats
2006-07 Statistics
PPG 10.1
RPG 3.2
APG 1.0
SPG .83
BPG .39
FG% .449
FT% .796
3P% .500
MPG 21.0

J.R. Smith
Denver Nuggets
Position: G
Height: 6-6 Weight: 220
High School : St. Benedict's Prep (Newark, NJ)
Player file | Team stats
2006-07 Statistics
PPG 15.9
RPG 2.6
APG 1.7
SPG .85
BPG .13
FG% .443
FT% .823
3P% .392
MPG 27.7

What's really super about that play is how AZ covered for Barnes and Cabbages after Smith got by them so easily. He came in like a blur and got up. Smith thought he had a dunk and he looks like he could've had whiplash when his shot was rejected.

 

I dont care what he is listed at. If he is anything like Jrich he is probably closer to 6'2" in real life! I am 6'3" and I was at least an inch taller than Jrich when I took a picture with him a few years ago...

 

There is no way on earth Jason Richardson could ever be only 6'2. Just look at him when he plays and compare him and Steve Nash. It's not that close and Nash is a good 6'2/6'3. You must be alot taller than 6'3.

 

I love how people "Must Keep" guys. This is what people were saying about Murphy, Pietrus, Barnes, The Custodian, hell even Chris Taft. Don't be so quick to jump on a guy's bandwagon because he played a few good minutes. That bein said, I like the kid. I think he's a solid 8/9th man on a rotation, with the potential to be a 7th man in a couple years if he works hard. Pietrus is by far the better talent, but his talent is overrated amongst the league. On that point alone Pietrus is worth trading.... not because of Azubuike

 

Azubuike is a good basketball player. He is very solid, and best of all he isn't really a high volume shooter like most of the other scorers on the team. His perimeter defense is also one of the better ones on the team.

Pietrus and Azubuike are both good players. They may not be starters on all teams but they are good role guys at the very least.

When Pietrus is going though, he's very good. He's just inconsistant and injury prone.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Warriorfansnc93 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I dont care what he is listed at. If he is anything like Jrich he is probably closer to 6'2" in real life! I am 6'3" and I was at least an inch taller than Jrich when I took a picture with him a few years ago...</div>

I don't have AZ's measurements from camp, so have to go by the list.

But your height argument is avoiding the issue. He blocked JR Smith who is taller than him. Smith got by Barnes and Cabbages' matador defense and had a clear path to the basket. To run in and cover that play takes some talent and skill. AZ is very quick and would definitely be a keeper. Other teams will be interested in him for sure.

 

<div class="quote_poster">AllNet Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">There is no way on earth Jason Richardson could ever be only 6'2. Just look at him when he plays and compare him and Steve Nash. It's not that close and Nash is a good 6'2/6'3. You must be alot taller than 6'3.</div>


Do a search in the archives or something or ask the vets in here like Rudeezy or CR2 about my pics with my wife, Jrich, me and some other scrub that I forget his name right now...

That being said, Nash is probably closer to 5'10", nowhere near his listed height. Come on man, what is more believeable? That most player list their height in shoes, etc or that my height was 6' 3.25" stretching for all I am worth without shoes. I wish I was a lot taller than 6'3", I might actually be a decent player then...

 

<div class="quote_poster">jason voorhees Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I don't have AZ's measurements from camp, so have to go by the list.

But your height argument is avoiding the issue. He blocked JR Smith who is taller than him. Smith got by Barnes and Cabbages' matador defense and had a clear path to the basket. To run in and cover that play takes some talent and skill. AZ is very quick and would definitely be a keeper. Other teams will be interested in him for sure.</div>

No, I was not avoiding the issue, the point is all these NBA heights are stupid. You think Charles Barkley was as really tall as he was listed? He was notorious for talking about how he is not even 6'4" when he is broadcasting.

 

Height to me doesn't matter if you got skill, heart, and a combo of either strength or quickness for the possible positions played. He seems like a guy that can finish/shoot from everywhere/slash his way to the rim/pass it some/defend on the ball, like a decent-pretty good swingman. He could be a nice inside and outside player coming off the bench and somebody to throw the other team off guard because most teams realize that this guy can shoot while wide open and actually hit his free throws should he drive or cut. He also can shoot the midranger pretty well which we'll never see from any of our 40% shooters at the guard position (except Ellis who has been killing it from 18 feet last week when he takes that shot instead of drawing the foul by going inside).

I don't think he's anything to scream about unless he starts playing more consistent and with greater intensity, but he at least plays smarter than Barnes, tha'ts for sure. I like him right now when he's playing within himself. He's not really a greater rebounder, but the rest of his game is really good, I think. He's got some polish for the two position that could translate better than Pietrus at shooting guard.

I think AZ is pretty cool as long as he keeps it simple because he has good skills,. We just have to remember that he isn't the sort that dominates despite the fact he owns some pretty good lateral movement and a 38-40 inch standing vertical. Those things don't mean anything if they don't use it with skill, consistency, and with desire. Fans of his said the biggest knock against him was consistency and maybe desire. He's like one of these guys like a healthy, better attitude version of Eddie Robinson or somebody that just could be a lot better if they somehow got more consistent or showed that they can turn on the juice. I think AZ could be one of those type of players and who knows... maybe he turns out to be much better than anticipated like Corey Maggette.

Time will tell. But I get good vibes from him, unlike when Barnes put up back to back 30 point games with rebounds, steals, assists, blocks, I was still unimpressed with his game...

I want to see more AZ, I think he's come a long way.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Warriorfansnc93 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Do a search in the archives or something or ask the vets in here like Rudeezy or CR2 about my pics with my wife, Jrich, me and some other scrub that I forget his name right now...

That being said, Nash is probably closer to 5'10", nowhere near his listed height. Come on man, what is more believeable? That most player list their height in shoes, etc or that my height was 6' 3.25" stretching for all I am worth without shoes. I wish I was a lot taller than 6'3", I might actually be a decent player then...</div>

WFS93 is right.

Jrich is not 6'6. Not even close. But his wingspan is 6'11, so it's not a big deal to me. You don't contest shots with your head. Plus, Jrich's hands are gigantic. Some power forwards can't even palm the ball very strongly, but Jrich can.

Plus, people claim that point guards need to look over defenses by being tall, but I think that applies more to football than it does basketball. The only reason scouts and gms care about a point guard's height is because they can shoot right over smaller defenders and most likely post them up if they got the weight/strength.

I think Nash isn't that short. He's like 6 feet or 6'1. But in a lot of pics Jrich and Baron are almost the same size. Plus Rudeezy is taller than Jrich. On his player card or boxscores he was listed as 6'5 or 6'6 or something.

http://athletics.fresno.edu/sunbirdsports/...z_rudy/bio.html

I wonder what his pro team website says.

 

Pretty much all NBA guys "height" is with shoes. Us normal folk are measured barefoot. In that context,J Rich is 6-6,Azu is 6-5 etc

The KEY THING......Azubuike becomes an FA at seasons end and to my knowledge we have no Bird rights and he is not RFA. Pietrus IS RFA,and we have Bird rights. We have a pretty HIGH probability of re-signing Pietrus. As for Azubuike,Barnes,Powell,I don't think we really have any control. We CAN'T just say we should trade off X because we can sign Azu or Powell...we may be one of a dozen bidders and to keep a non-Bird player we'd have to divvy up the MLE. Logically we try to retain Azu/Barnes/Powell asap after the season. We COULD go 0-3 on them...and then keeping MP is a no brainer. We are not apt to assume anything until the deals are on paper.

 

Powell continues to impress, i think of the four he should be priority one.

Pietrus, if we dont move him at trade deadline, we should take a wait and see approach and see what the market bares for him

AZ, i would like to see use retain him, i dont think it is the end of the world if we dont, but he has shown a lot of qualities of a solid bench guy, good defense, plays well under pressure, heady smart player, athletic..etc...


Barnes - should be shown the door, which most likely will be the end of his career, someone will waste money on him, but he will never have the circumstances that he currently has, to make countless mistakes and still get floor time, and a free flowing offense. I see him getting a deal, getting no time and washing out fast.

 

Both AZ and JRich have great hops so you don't have to worry about height as much. While height is important, there are other factors such as wingspan, standing and jumping reach, vertical jump, quickness etc. which could offset that.

Charles Barkley is the prototype of a guy who was short for an NBA PF, but played much larger than his height. OTOH the PF who disappointed me most recently was Ike Diogu. Ike was listed as 6-8 in shoes but measured 6-6 1/2 w/socks. His wingspan was very long though at 7-3 1/2 and a standing reach of 9-1 was thought to give him an advantage. However, we found out he wasn't a great leaper and ended up being disappointing during his stint as a Warrior. Foyle just destroyed him with that block during the Indiana Pacers game which the Warriors won.

Yeah, I'm pretty certain AZ is 6-5. I haven't met JRich so he may not be 6-6, but again he's well known for his hops and quickness so it's not a factor. As CR2 said, his wingspan makes up for it, too. He can easily play the SF position in addition to his SG duties. Same with AZ.

Josh Powell looks to be another keeper as he's had some good games and has PF size. He's also possesses a mid-range J and can shoot free throws. Always like a big man who can shoot FTs.

My odd man out would be Matt Barnes. While he's put up some numbers on the offensive end and has been able to get rebounds, he's made a lot of dumb and costly mistakes which don't show up in the box scores. The guy is more a scrub off the bench and shouldn't be getting the time he's been getting. Even Nelson said words to that effect, but he doesn't have anyone else to play at the PF and point forward position.

As for Pietrus, I think he'll likely be traded. That's just because he's our most valuable trade asset right now and we got enough guys at the SG and SF positions.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Warriorfansnc93 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Do a search in the archives or something or ask the vets in here like Rudeezy or CR2 about my pics with my wife, Jrich, me and some other scrub that I forget his name right now...

That being said, Nash is probably closer to 5'10", nowhere near his listed height. Come on man, what is more believeable? That most player list their height in shoes, etc or that my height was 6' 3.25" stretching for all I am worth without shoes. I wish I was a lot taller than 6'3", I might actually be a decent player then...</div>

Sorry -- I respect your input on the forum, but IMHO there's no way Jason Richardson is 6' 2"... he's measured at 1.98 meters, which equates to 6' 6" -- that goes back to college... That may be with shoes on, but even without he'd still be 6' 5"... is it possible the angle of your photo perhaps skewed the relative height or something?

 

<div class="quote_poster">AlleyOop Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Sorry -- I respect your input on the forum, but IMHO there's no way Jason Richardson is 6' 2"... he's measured at 1.98 meters, which equates to 6' 6" -- that goes back to college... That may be with shoes on, but even without he'd still be 6' 5"... is it possible the angle of your photo perhaps skewed the relative height or something?</div>

You are right, I am really 6'5" and was standing on my tippy toes...

 

<div class="quote_poster">Warriorfansnc93 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">You are right, I am really 6'5" and was standing on my tippy toes...</div>

hehe, okay.

 

I suspect JRich was slouching. I remember another photo he took and he was slouching forward, so he looks shorter.

Besides Barkley, the guy who was much shorter than his listing was Antawn Jamison. He was listed as 6-9 as a Warrior, but Peja Stojakovic who is a true 6-9 towered over him. Jams was more like 6-7 in shoes. Maybe Garry St. Jean was the one who put that in to make his draft pick appear taller.

Again, while height is important, it's not the main criteria on how someone plays on the court. There are a lot of factors and even if we could figure them out with a computer or have a system, it's not full-proof.