I was hard on Nate the first month of the season. And he deserved it. Later, I refused to give him 'kudos' for pulling his head out and doing the obvious. But I'll give Nate credit now: Our summer league lineup isn't winning games without some good work from the entire coaching staff.
They do, especially the coaching staff. So much of professional sports is mental, and this is a team that - other than that atrocious second half against Philly - has played determined, even inspired, basketball over the last few weeks. The coaches deserve a great deal of credit for getting this rag-tag bunch to believe they can win, so long as they play hard and stick with the game plan. I think some credit is due Kevin Pritchard and his talent evaluators, as well, since he chose Cunningham and Pendergraph with the sense that they had a shot at being decent role players, even as rookies (at least I'm assuming they thought that, and they didn't just get lucky). By the way - I came away particularly impressed tonight with Jeff Pendergraph. Not since - dare I say it? - Brian Grant have I seen a guy so tenacious and fundamentally sound on the defensive and offensive boards. And both Cunningham and Pendergraph have surprisingly quick feet for guys their size - which makes them good defenders for rookies, and potentially excellent defenders when they get a little experience.
I gotta say I'm glad KP went with two 4-year college guys in the 2nd round. They have the fundamentals and maturity to play the big game Nate's way.
Good point. The only good part to this cursed season is that it shows us what good pickups Pendergraph and Cunningham were. I still would have taken Blair, but I can't complain now.
Blair isn't two people (despite what his bathroom scale says), and this year, we needed two players, apparently. I'm happy we have both of them.
I still wish they had picked Casspi instead of Claver in the 1st round, but you're right - it looks like they found something in Pendergraph & Cunningham. Dante has a nice little midrange game - he hit a big shot tonight late in the 4th. And how can you not be excited about Pendergraph? How about that pick he set tonight (when he rolled and dunked the Bayless air ball) Talk about trail by fire, these guys are getting big time minutes in crunch time on a team that's tied for 1st place.
Last year at this point... 20-14 This year... 21-13* *Half our roster Future is bright. Anyone who doesn't have us as a runaway #1 future team, IMO, has serious issues. If you have Bayless stepping up, and you see Pendergraph... I mean... Bayless, Rudy, Roy, Batum, Pendergraph, Oden, Aldridge and even Webster, Outlaw and Cunningham? That is an incredible core... Especially if Bayless keeps improving, IMO. He is one of the main keys to any title run, but not nearly as big as Oden.
Ask yourself this question. Do you think it's a mere coincidence that when this team had a full roster and too many players for too few positions, chemistry was bad, they were tight and couldn't stop stepping on their own dicks and now that the team has been whittled down to eight healthy guys, they are playing looser and freer and leaving it all on the court? Don't be fooled, this current little mini-run of good games (while nice) should be a lesson for KP: A team this young and mostly loaded with scorers and shooters can not be sustained, it needs more lunch bucket guys and fewer guys who need lots of shots and minutes to productive and satisfied.
No. I've said for a while we need a consolidation trade. Either way, there is no denying our core of young talent for now and the future. That is what i'm excited about. Also, I think this year has shown how important maybe 1 or 2 veterans are in the rotation.
I can see a strategy here, though: bring in a bunch of young, hungry guys, and see who plays their way into the starting lineup. Cut the worst of them, and draft/acquire a bunch of lunchpail guys in the second phase. See who bubbles up. Cut the worst two or three players. This gives KP an opportunity to see the success of the lunchpail gang. Coincidence that they get this opportunity, for sure. But the real skill will come this summer, when the lunchpail guys have proven their worth. In my opinion, we don't need more players. We're stuffed to the gills with good players now: 15 on our roster, and three more in Europe. As much as it would make some people go crazy, I think KP should simply let players go to save Allen some cash, or trade for picks. Resign Juwan as an Assistant Coach so he can continue to mentor Jeff (or as benchwarmer #15 again). Bring in Mills, draft another couple of lunchpail guys in the 1st and 2nd rounds to sit the bench (we need one or two more years of drafting 4-year college workmen), and call it a day. Batum will be back. Rudy will be back. Oden will be back. Joel will be back. Miller/Bayless/Mills Roy/Rudy/Bayless Batum/Webster/Dante LMA/Pendergraph/Dante Oden/Joel/Pendergraph Webster and Rudy should have a wing-eating contest, with the loser having to leave the team with his possessions tied to a stick in a picnic tablecloth like a hobo.
While I agree that some kind of consolidation moves needs to happen, I think there is more to the chemistry thing than this. Listen to Quick's chat from yesterday - and there is, maybe, a hint that it is something to do with Miller as well. Of course, with Quick - it is hard to figure out what of this is true and what of it is sensationalism - but, the comment is there. Also, I think the real issue was undefined roles, more than the number of people. I think they were trying to force feed the post maybe a little too much, leaving Brandon and LMA somewhat left out and confused. Were I KP/Nate - I would continue with a deep team going forward (maybe a bit better balanced, however) - but would emphasize the offense going through Roy/LMA with an occasional sprinkling of Oden, with Oden being the team defensive captain. Roy, LMA and Oden are too smart not to figure it out offensively in the long run. I would just look to make it a more gradual experience. The core of this team, going forward, should probably be JB, Roy, Batum, LMA, Oden as the "starters" and Blake or Mills, Rudy, Webster, Travis, Jeff as the 2nd unit - unless we know that Joel is back from his injury... where I would look at moving one of Travis/Webster.
Also, if Blair has the ability to lose what, 50 some odd pounds from last year in college to this year in NBA. What do you think he can do in the opposite direction? Kevin Duckworth anyone? I still would rather have our guys then Blair. But I can't lie, I wanted Blair REALLY bad at the draft.
As a fat guy with knee problems, I was real gunshy with Blair around draft time. I know how bad my own knees can be, and I didn't think Blair was going to magically lose a bunch of weight.
