And as I said, I don't buy it. The kid hasn't played a minute of relevant NBA action, so I'm going to reserve that judgment for later. If you throw out Duncan and Amare, I'll still take Bynum, Camby, Okafor, Biedrins, and Kaman over him. They've all shown they can perform and perform well on this level. Oden hasn't. So, you're calling him explosive because of word of mouth basically then? That's not any better. What he did overseas means nothing. He was playing against far inferior competition at that point. If he's dynamite come regular season, call him explosive. Until he does something meaningful on the NBA court, much like Oden, he's just an unproven rookie. Peja had all sorts of playoff experience for that team, as did Mo Pete and Bonzi Wells. While most of their guys had very little, they still had some playoff vets on that team, and just having them around can help you prepare, because they know what it's like. As for the Cavs....the Eastern conference that year was as weak as it has ever been. The only good team they beat the entire way to the Finals was the Celtics. And hell, the only reason they made it that far is because they hopped on LeBron's back and basically sat around and watched him single-handedly win games for them. Playoff experience is also a matter of bringing in veteran role players who've been there, done that. Portland hasn't done that, though I expect that they'll use some of their plethora of talent to do it at some point this year. Don't get me wrong, I may make it sound like playoff experience is necessary...it's not. But it does help. So adding three unproven rookies puts you from out of playoffs to NBA champs? How so? The only one of those that is likely to make a huge impact in year one is Oden...I don't see Rudy or Bayless making huge impacts immediately. You're basically hinging your hopes of a title on a trio of rooks and potential, as I stated earlier, and this part of your post doesn't help your cause of denying that. Look at my previous point. You certainly are. There's no way to deny it. The fact that you're taking them over PROVEN teams like the Jazz, Spurs, Lakers, Mavs, Suns, Pistons, Celtics....none of whom have made any notable regressions, shows that you're basically banking on their potential. Not really. Knowing how to win is a great thing actually. If you know how to win, that means you know how to close out games. That's a huge thing if you're going to win a title. I'm sorry, I can't hand the Celtics the title of best team in the NBA just because they're defending champs. They made no moves in the offseason to get better...in fact, they took a step back by losing Posey. The Lakers, on the other hand, add Bynum to a team that won the West without his presence. That gives them a couple things. First, it gives them a legit low post scorer. I love Gasol, but he's more of a high post player. Two, it gives them the biggest thing they lacked when he went down - low post defense. That was the big key in the series against the Celtics is that Gasol wasn't strong enough to guard the bigs of the Celtics. As for the frontcourt, Bynum, Gasol and Odom will probably only be on the court together come the end of the game. Odom is, at least for now, the teams 6th man and will be running with the 2nd unit for most of the game. I don't see why the 3 of them can't get playing time without playing together. There's plenty of minutes to go around actually, and especially with Odom's versatility, he has the ability to play basically any position on the court. As for unhappiness.....doubtful. Odom is actually a solid team player that's never really complained about his role being reduced. He did make a bit of an issue with being the 6th man, but did come to his senses. And I can't foresee Bynum or Gasol making an issue out of it either. Both of them are very laid back players. Ya know, I don't get you. You jump to A LOT of conclusions, and you never really back them up.
I believe Tyson Chandler, Peja, Bonzi Wells, Pargo, and even Rasual Butler that had been to the playoffs. They also have a great player in Chris Paul that is by far a better playmaker than Roy. David West also has way more experience than a usual stud making his playoff debut. How did Utah not have any playoff experience? They had Memo, Derek Fisher,Harpring, and Kirilenko, 2 of those guys had rings. While on the other hand, the only guy I can think of off the top of my head that may have playoff experience for Portland is...Raef Lafrentz?
true but this clipper team isnt built like the knicks. he is coming in as a three point specialist, nothing more and nothing less. three pointers have been a weakness for the clippers in the past few seasons and have cost them a few games. no im not counting on him to be a game changer. what i said is that he is a solid bench player not on the offensive end he wont. but he will good defensively and rebounding.... ly (lol), which is why the clippers got him in the first place i think mobley and eric gordon both fit in perfectly with those three. there role seems to be playing scoring guard. mobley isnt the shooter he used to be but eric gordon is a nice change. we actually have athleticism in the sg spot for a change, something maggette couldnt even bring. ricky davis should get some pt at sf and sg, and although he is an idiot at times, the dude can still score (and the clippers got him for a really reasonable price). that was maggette's sole job, to score. the only difference is that davis can hit a three. mike taylor played very well in the preseason and played along very well with his teammates, if that is any indication of how he will effect chemistry. jason hart has already been a clipper before so im not sure how we could get chemistry problems from that. he knows the system. paul davis, as much as he sucks, wont cause chemistry problems seeing as he has been with dunleavy for the past few seasons. the same goes for brian skinner, who is worse than jason powell (who the clippers should have kept), but i have never heard him causing chemistry problems anywhere. im not expecting this team to mesh right away , which could cost the clips a few games necessary to miss the playoffs. but i dont think they will be the retarded collection of players the knicks have. i dont see an eddy curry type on this team, the isiah thomas distraction, or a player who will make an idiotic mistake like randolph trying to nail a three pointer. the only player on this team who is capable of mistakes like that is baron davis, but he's lead teams to the playoffs before as long as we're healthy, big thing to ask i know, there should be nothing stopping us for competing in the lower spots of the western conference.
feel free not to buy it. no, i'm not doing anything based on word of mouth. what i've seen of rudy has backed up what i've heard of rudy. i'm basing my feelings mostly on what i've seen and taking into account that it supports what i've heard. and i'm not saying he's going to be a star player right now. but i can't see him being any worse than being a solid role player this season, being a good shooter, and making occasional explosive plays. you later go on to talk about how the celtics have made some regressions. the mavs and suns both regressed last season with their panic shaq/kidd trades. the spurs have manu missing time and have to hope their additions of guys like roger mason and ian mahinmi can offset the decline or loss of their older role players. the pistons seem to have faded from title relevance but they have some young players who look ready to emerge and put them potentially back in that picture. to say none of those teams have made any notable regressions is silly. but the lakers haven't proven that they can win a championship(don't worry, i don't actually believe that argument, it just seems to be similar to another one you're making). as i said, during the regular season there are plenty minutes to go around for the 3 of them. if it gets to the playoffs and it turns out that they can't play well together, someone is going to have to settle for not playing the minutes they want. they certainly haven't proven that they can play together. is this likely to pose a significant problem for the lakers? probably not. but it's something that i feel they need to get worked out before i'd be willing to call them a definitive favorite over the defending champs.
Which is why I have them slotted tenth as opposed to whatever the Knicks average out to the past 3 seasons. He didn't do anything in Houston, and who's he going to beat out for playing time in L.A.? I'll take 'provides quality defense and solid rebounding' for 500, Alex. You better hope Eric Gordon is more than 'a nice change' if you want to make it in, because I wouldn't trust Mobley to provide a hell of a lot. I like Ricky, though I don't think he measures up to Maggette. Chemistry isn't the issue with those two, they just aren't any good. For the record, when I said chemistry issues, I didn't mean that every single new player on the roster is a locker room cancer and will rip things apart in there. Chemistry means these players won't be on the same page for a while into the season. The injury factor doesn't help that either. Having chemistry issues on your team =/= having bad guys on your team. Competing's a possibility, closing the deal is doubtful IMO.
I will, and you feel free to crown an unproven rookie as the 3rd best center in the league behind a plethora of proven guys when you have no evidence that he is the 3rd best center in the NBA. Hey, whatever helps you sleep at night, I guess. Again, another unproven rookie. I don't care what he did in Europe. Those guys are lesser players. Just because he was dynamite there doesn't make him a sure thing over here. Shall I throw some examples out there? Sure, why not. Wang Zhizhi, a former Mav, was dynamite for the China National Team. For the under-19 team, he averaged 22/11 on 60% shooting. In the '96 Olympics, he averaged 11/6, in the 2000 olympics he averaged 13/5. How about Vassilis Spanoulis? Another example of a very good foreign career that equated to nothing in the NBA. How about Andrea Bargnani? Everyone was saying he could be the next Dirk...and he hasn't panned out yet either. Case in point - just because you're good overseas, doesn't mean you'll do jack here. NBA >>>>>> Europe. I did mention regressions, but despite that, I'd still likely take any of those teams over an unproven Blazers squad. As for the Mavs, I actually think they're going to be a lot better this year. Kidd is going to be given a lot more freedom to play the way he wants to play and Rick Carlisle is going to open up the floor for their shooters as well. They're not going to be constricted to the iso-offense of Avery Johnson anymore, which was clearly not the type of basketball that team should be playing. As for the Spurs...it really doesn't matter what they do in the regluar season. They're a team that's built for the playoff grind. They may play slooppy to start the season, but once that team is healthy, they're going to be one of the most dangerous teams in the NBA. The Pistons have hardly faded from title relevance. They've been the ECF what...7 straight years now? They have the same team that won 59 games last year, PLUS an improved bench. Maxiell, Amir Johnson, and Rodney Stuckey should all have great seasons for them, and that should take the stress off of the starters. There's no way they've faded from title relevance, hell, I still have them as the #2 team in the East. Hell, YOU have them at #3 in the East, which means that they're still one of the top teams out there. I never said that they didn't regress. Just because you get older doesn't mean you regress...which seems to be your thought on the Spurs and Pistons. The Celtics regressed in the aspect that they lost Posey, the Suns have "regressed" in the terms that they're going to be running a whole new system. Regression doesn't mean you suck, it just means that you might not be as good, and quite frankly, that happens to a lot of teams. Not sure what you're getting to here...regardless, the Lakers at least proved they could get there. Now that they have added Bynum to that picture, I find no reason to believe that they can't be the best team in the NBA. They were the best in the West last year, and with the addition of a big of Bynum's caliber, there's no reason they can't be the best in the NBA. You clearly aren't comprehending this, so let me spell it out for you. Bynum. Gasol. And. Odom. Are. Not. Likely. To. Play. Together. During. Long. Stretches. Of. Time. Did you get that? Bynum, Gasol and Odom will not likely play together A LOT. Odom is going to do most of his damage with the 2nd team, and the only tiem he's likely to be on the court with Bynum and Gasol will be in the last 4-8 minutes of the game when it's crunch time. And again, you clearly missed when I said this, minutes will not likely be a problem. Odom can play any of four positions (PG, SG, SF, PF), so there's plenty of places he can fit. Gasol can also play either the PF or C. The only person on that frontline that won't be flexible is going to be Bynum. No one is really going to have to "settle". Everyone already knows what their role on this team is and have accepted it.
oden is unproven in the sense that he hasn't played an nba game. but i've seen the guy play at every level and he simply is an immense talent who is ready to contribute right now. is he instantly the 3rd best center, maybe not, but that isn't what i said. i said by the end of this season he will be. as for evidence, i watched the players play. you obviously don't have to take my word for it, the season starts tomorrow and then the evidence will present itself. it's like you aren't even reading what i wrote. again, it's like you aren't even reading my posts. if an odom/gasol/bynum frontcourt proves not to workout together, you aren't going to see them playing together in the playoffs(either that or you'll be unhappy with the results that they bring). in that case, there isn't enough minutes to go around and keep everyone happy. if they prove to be able to play together effectively, then this doesn't become a problem, but it is something that i would like to find out before crowning them the favorites. and no, odom can not play 4 positions. he can play two(sf/pf) with a 3rd(c) being possible with a very small team. and even then he's going to have a hard time guarding a lot of sfs out there. i realize you're going to say that he can run the offense and that makes him pg, but that really doesn't make him a pg. that would require him to actually be the primary ballhandler, bring the ball up the court, etc for significant periods of time.
fair enough tim thomas. like i said they brought him in for the sole purpose of hitting 1-2 threes a game. i prefer my bad grammar he seems to be one of the underrated rookies of this season. he might just be this years al thornton, that rookie that goes under the radar. which is why they drafted gordon and brought in ricky maggette seems to be really overrated except by clipper fans. this guy was a solid starter but he was never a game changer. his defense was below mediocre at the best of times, he only developed a subpar three last year, and he always made boneheaded decisions in crunch time. the guy knows how to slash and get the line, thats all. well jason harts suckiness almost got them into the playoffs a few seasons ago... and thats when he was starting. and we have no idea how well mike taylor will play this season so based off preseason action, he should be a good energizer off the bench if he gets pt. dude has some great defensive hustle and is somewhat athletic. only problems are his court vision is a little off at times i know what you meant by chemistry and i did say that i dont expect them to mesh right away. if this team can aim towards common goals during games and stay healthy, they could be the upstart team of the west. and i'll disagree here as well. if dunleavy can find somebody who wants to pick up the expirings contracts of mobley and TT, then we could get somebody else to help us at a run to the playoffs. you seem to doubt the depth of the clippers, who dont have great depth, but it isnt terrible pg- Baron Davis|Jason Hart|Mike Taylor sg- Cuttino Mobley| Eric Gordon| ricky davis| Mike Taylor sf- Al thornton| Ricky Davis| Tim Thomas pf- Marcus Camby| Tim Thomas| Paul Davis C- Chris Kaman| Brian Skinner| Paul Davis| DeAndre Jordan
EAST 1. Boston Celtics 2. Orlando Magic 3. Cleveland Cavaliers 4. Philadelphia 76ers 5. Detroit Pistons 6. Toronto Raptors 7. Atlanta Hawks 8. New York Knicks 9. Miami Heat (all depends on Dwayne Wades health) 10. Milwaukee Bucks 11. Washington Wizards 12. New Jersey Nets 13. Chicago Bulls 14. Indiana Pacers 15. Charlotte Bobcats -Side note: Defending champions, will be the number 1 seed again, but I don't see them winning 60+ games again this year, maybe somewhere around 57, or 58. You might have noticed how high [the] Orlando [Magic] is, it's because with the addition of Mickael Pietrus who's a huge upgrade from Bogans & [Maurice] Evans, who will bring for them hustle, defense, rebuilding, and 3 point shooting, . Why are the Cavs so high you might ask? Well, I think with the Pistons bringing in a new coach (who I do think is a good coach, and a good teacher) but I just think it's hard to coach Detroit now, if you've noticed last year in the playoffs against the [Philadelphia] 76ers, they seem to have these mood swings, and choose when they want to play, and I think with that kind of attitude, especially towards a new coach, I think that's just going to cost them, but they definitely have the talent to be the best, also a lot of the other teams in the East' has improved, and Detroit are still the same. Caveliers added Mo' Williams this off season who's a huge upgrade to their backcourt, and adding offense to a team that probably already has one of the top 10 defenses in the East, and especially having one of, if not then the best player in the league on your team... it'll get you places. Might be surprised by the Knicks, I think they'll win about 35 games, and that'll be enough to get them the 8th seed. But honestly, the last 2 seeds for the playoffs (7th and 8th) is hard to predict IMO, I feel like any team can make it, the Heat, Bucks, Wizards, Bulls, even the rebuilding Nets. WEST 1. Los Angeles Lakers 2. Houston Rockets (IF! they can all stay healthy, I honestly think they can be number 1) 3. New Orleans Hornets 4. Utah Jazz 5. Phoenix Suns 6. San Antonio Spurs 7. Dallas Mavericks 8. Los Angeles Clippers 9. Portland Trailblazers 10. Denver Nuggets 11. Golden State Warriors 12. Minnesota Timberwolves 13. Sacramento Kings 14. Memphis Grizzlies 15. Oklahoma City Thunder' -Side note: Lakers number 1 seed again, no surprise is it? But with a healthy Bynum back, the Lakers will be even better. I know Houston is really high, but I believe that this might be the year, where McGrady & Yao' will stay healthy for 3/4's of the season, and will go deep. Spurs are low, because of Manu's health early on, but honestly whatever seed they are, I don't think it matters, to them it seems like as long as they're in the playoffs, they'll make a run deep into the playoffs as always. The 8th seed is really a toss up between the Clippers & Trailblazers, I think down the stretch the inexperience of the young fella's will hurt them, and that ill make them miss out on the playoffs this year. took this outta my blog
