The ridiculousness of "small ball" is SJax on Bosh late. Bosh spun and got a layup. After dribbling for at least 3 secs. On the other end, it was Moon on SJax so there went that matchup. Wright has length and will at least challenge the post-up. So what if he gets moved out, we all know that size inherently makes rebounding and defending easier.
Here's a tidbit about Wright from Adam Lauridsen's blog on SJ Merc: Here's the rest of the post: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/warriors/2008/12/30/faint-praise-warriors-117-raptors-111/
I agree that Wright should play more, because he plays pretty good defense. I think he should play a little more than Turiaf when the team needs defense against a non-legit center or someone who wouldn't over power Wright. So I would have liked to see Wright get at least another stint of playing time in last night's game. But I don't think Nelson's decision to not play him hurt the team significantly since I don't know if Wright's slight improvement in rebounding over someone like Azubuike would have helped a whole lot.
Hah -- Ronny Turiaf an excellent defender -- that's a laugher! Turiaf is a poor defender who gets a lot of blocks. He gets blocks much like CJ Watson gets steals -- by gambling and over-playing and over-committing himself. In other words, by being irresponsible. My goodness -- did you see Kris Humphries last night? He looked like Carlos Boozer against Turiaf. He just absolutely took Turiaf to school. It was embarrassing. At one point, Turiaf entered the game, got scored on, and then was substituted out on the next possession. I love Turiaf's attitude and sportsmanship for his teammates. And it's fun when he gets blocks. But he's a terrible defender and a terrible rebounder -- that's just all there is to it. He's stiff, he stands straight up, he stumbles on himself when trying to move his feet, he has no interior vision, gets caught with his back to the basketball, leaves his feet at even the hint of a pump fake, every time, and 50% of his block attempts result in flailing fouls. Then, he gets boxed out and rebounded over by 6'3" guards. Not only do they rebound it, they put it back in the basket right in Ronny's face because he's still on the way down from his last block attempt. Sorry to say, but Adonal Foyle > Ronny Turiaf
I don't know about that. At least the offense can flow through Turiaf, where as Foyle had trouble catching a basketball, period. I would say that Foyle is a better defender than Turiaf, so if that's what you're saying, I agree. But in order to stay on the floor, you have to have some semblance of offensive ability, which Foyle sadly had none. I'd say your criticism of Turiaf is a little harsh, given that his role is limited and the team necessarily hasn't been bad because of him. There's a lot of other reasons why we've sucked, and Turiaf doesn't seem to top my list.
Oh no, I don't blame him for the teams woes. He only plays 17.5 minutes a night. I don't really mind him as a back up, although he gets eaten alive when Nellie tries to play him at center. I was just saying that the blogger from the Mercury doesn't seem to know what the hell he's talking about if he's calling Ronny an excellent defensive center. And you're right, he's better offensively than Foyle. So I should clarify that. Ronny doesn't have the greatest hands, but Foyle's were the worst in the NBA -- Foyle couldn't catch a cold! Ronny is a good passer and has good vision on offense. He just can't rebound a lick. So, I should clarify: Defensively, Foyle > Turiaf Actually, to stay on topic with the thread... Defensively, Brandan Wright > Turiaf How about that?
Sure, no worries. I think Adam Lauridsen could have elaborated a bit more, especially after making a statement such as that (Turiaf being a great defender).
I don't think it's fair to judge Turiaf on one game and say he's worse than Foyle when it comes to D. Besides I can take slightly less D from Turiaf if it means more competency and basic skill level on offense. I'll take the guy that knows how to play the big man's game, move the ball, can actually dunk without hitting the front of the rim, and does other things besides block shots. I'd take the more complete, physically stronger player than getting somebody like Foyle or DJ Mbenga who ONLY blocks shots. It's excruciating to not have a complete big man. Turiaf has been that guy who fulfills the tough guy role game in and game out. Besides, it's not like the rest of the team plays proper D or do the things that properly support the big man (except for maybe Belinelli/CJ Watson/Sjax who understands that dribble drive penetration gets the close range finishers open and gets outside shooters open. Crawford is showing that Baron Davis mentality which I hate which is to try and spread the floor by chucking and overdribbling into nowhere. Then there's the small ball which we totally lucked out on for the win. The one issue I dread above all other issues with playing small is that when we put somebody like Biedrins in at C, with a small forward at PF, we lose all ability to block shots at the 4 spot. It causes us to rely on Biedrins as the last man back. When Beans leaves his feet to challenge a shot, some other guy rolls in and gets the offensive rebound. This would not happen if we put in a bigger dude and get a shotblocker like Wright/Turiaf in there to contest shots. Meanwhile Biedrins would be trying to get position for the defensive rebound (where he is very good in this role because he's quicker to the ball than most C's). I think this explains why Biedrins seems to rebound much, much better when there is a real power forward to play defense next to him. I think Wright and Turiaf are very capable rebounders, but leapers like to leap. I say let them leap and change the shot where guys like Azubuike and Biedrins and CJ Watson can rebound the ball. A guy like Sjax was never a good rebounder to begin with. Same with Belinelli. If there is a role that involves both Sjax and Belinelli to create offense for everyone else, then we need a shotblocker/rebounder at the 4 otherwise our Warriors will show its weaknesses when it goes small. If the outside shot isn't falling, then they need a guy like Turiaf to set some screens and hard picks so guys can take midrange shots. Turiaf is very good when he's got Watson/Belinelli to work with.
