We're still 1st in our division. We're playing this well without Oden and Pryz, or a full Roy. Wesley Matthews and Rudy aren't even playing well yet. We're in very good position to make a good trade. Aldridge is showing he can be a man. Likewise for Batum. We could be 7-2 if it weren't for the last bone-headed couple minutes vs. Thunder. Thunder are not living up to the hype. Nuggets won't matter by trade deadline. Jazz are extremely lucky to have won against the Heat and Magic. Let's not talk about blowing the team up just yet. We might look terrible against the Lakers, but we still can lay the hammer down on any of the weaker teams. Which is what contenders usually do. We're going to have some great home wins against playoff teams this year as well. I still say we win at least 52. And 56 if Oden returns in good form and Roy's at least still 75%-serviceable.
Some of you might not realize how big a deal it is that LMA is finally taking this next step. Some of us have doubted him, thinking that he's reached his ceiling the previous year. But he's been working hard and is going inside a lot more often. Rebounding well this year, not to mention. He's missing some easy close up shots that will soon go down for him if he keeps it up. If this really is an emergence, and that's a big if, he could play a bigger role than a Roy at 100% can. Legit PF's that can shoot, go inside, rebound, and play relatively decent defense is actually becoming rare nowadays.
Hey you, welcome to the forum. Anyway, thanks for trying the rainbows and lollipops angle. It won't help, but it's a valiant effort.
LA doesn't look comfortable down low with his back to the basket. But that will come with time if he contiues to play in the key and force the issue. I think LA has looked great this year, and I really love the change in playing style. Plus, he's still got the jumper when we need it.
And we've played one of the most difficult schedules, even with weak East teams. And 10th in Hollinger's rankings.
I think this thread needs this: [video=youtube;WlBiLNN1NhQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlBiLNN1NhQ[/video]
Uhh ... by what measure? our strength of schedule has been pretty soft if we're talking about the winning percentage of our foes.
back-to-backs and east coast road trips early in the season? I don't think our schedule has been easy.
Bright side... Rudy seems to be moving much better then last year... like pre-Ariza hit days. If last year's struggles were largely due to physical issues (like back surgery) and now a year removed he's regaining his physical ability/confidence, we might see him play his way back to relevancy. Just a few months after seemingly most here had written him off of ever possibly contributing again, dude might see his role increased dramatically. He was pretty good as a 23 year old rookie... most players don't peak at 23 STOMP
My deal with Rudy is that defensively his defense is just non-existant. He's good at playing the passing lanes and poking the ball away, but that can only get you so far. He's just a sparkplug type off the bench. We can't really count on him to play big minutes and be effective. He's basically Eddie House.
Again, that doesn't take into the frequency and the travel - which is just as big as the opponents in the NBA season. Don't think it's coincidence that we play 22 back-to-back sets while the Lakers only play 10.
Rudy has a much better all around game than Eddie House. He can pass, dribble, and shoot from a variety of locations on the floor. He's "basically Eddie House" in this system. And his defense has improved.
that seems to be the general opinion of Roy's D http://www.basketball-reference.com...m=1&p1=houseed01&y1=2011&p2=fernaru01&y2=2011 besides Rudy already having a significantly higher career PER then Eddie, their pre-draft info says he's a full 5" taller. I'm not saying he's going to set the world on fire this year but you're selling him very short in this comparison. STOMP
