Joel Przybilla could be headed back to Portland

My thinking is that they want Joel as the team hasn't given up on making the playoffs. Which means they haven't been watching Failton & Crawful play.

As to Joel himself, maybe he's not chasing a ring but just wanting to play and have some fun before really retiring.

 

If he does come back to Portland, I'm fine with it, as long as his job description includes:

Teach LaMarcus Aldridge how to set a pick!

Even if that's ALL he does, he'd be worth Armon's roster spot.

BNM

 

I love Joel and would give him a standing ovation in his first game back at the RG. But bringing him back doesnt make much basketball sense IMO.

 

I'd rather have Joel on my roster than Chris Johnson.

I'd rather Prz at backup center and Kurt Thomas at backup PF, than KT at backup C and Wallace at backup 4. This can let Gerald play all 35 mpg at his natural position.

Seems like a sensible pickup (with nice marketing bennies on the side.) Every move doesn't have to be a home run.

Do that, swap out Felton for Calderon, and see how we look with Batum/Aldridge being the true focus of the offense. Those small changes pretty much ensure we make the playoffs, and allow us to have an offseason not desperately casting about for a PG.

 

How many years have LA and Prz already played together? If he hasn't learned to set a pick yet, I despair that he ever will.

 

So yet another year until we start to realize we need a do over? At some point this team needs to aim for the high lottery again. Had they made choices based on the medical information they had in front of them, this team would be one of the best in the league right now with Aldridge and Durant dominating people, and PG's wanting to come play here with them. The plan worked last time.

 

I think you'd have a point if Prz were taking minutes away from promising youngsters. Not the case. He'd take up minutes that would cause other old guys (Gerald, Thomas, Camby) to use up fewer minutes at the PF/C positions. They play fewer minutes, and at their natural positions, which means they can play at a higher level for shorter bursts. Gerald can get all his minutes at SF, so there's really no downside. From a basketball standpoint it makes perfect sense.

 

Batum is on the path to being an All Star next year. So is Aldridge. Why do you think a team with likely two All Stars should aim for a high lottery pick? When was the last time a team with two All Stars (barring serious unforeseen injury) were able to tank hard enough to get a top draft pick?

 

Now mook, don't go bringing logic into the argument, that's unfair.

 

Good posts Mook! Repped!

 

Batum is nowhere near an allstar player in the west.

 

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/batumni01/splits/2012/ Look at his 7 games as a starter (yeah yeah sample size; we had this dance last year around LaMarcus).

 

Unless Nic puts up monster scoring numbers, he will never really be an all star. Coaches oddly don't value efficiency as much as they should.

 

This is what I was getting at. Nic is good at a lot of things, but not great at any. Those are the type of players usually left out of the all star game. Nic is a nice player, and one I would hate to lose, but he is no all star

 

If, and I stress "if" he consistently plays like he has since starting at SG I would disagree with you.

 

As a backup small forward, no. As a starting shooting guard, yes. Very close. He's putting up numbers similar to what Ginobili (and even Roy in two of his seasons) did when they made the All Star team.

It's a small sample size, but I gotta say, he's been really, really impressive. His length is a fantastic advantage over pretty much every SG in the league.

It's funny, because the big controversy had been whether he should start or not during this season. In hindsight, the big controversy should have been whether we shouldn't have played him at SG the minute we acquired Gerald Wallace.

 

Yet.

 

20 points, 6 rebs, 50%fg, 40%3fg as a starting shooting guard. That's right now, with the team basically running three or four plays a night for him. What's he going to be like when the team has an off-season to focus on featuring him? What's he going to be like when he's actually used to playing the position?

The only thing holding Batum back is aggression, not talent. If he, for just once in his NBA career, gets a coach in his ear yelling at him to shoot more....man.

 

That may have been true earlier in the season, but they're actually running quite a few plays for him now, especially in those games LA was out. Nate is finally starting to realize what they have in Batum.

The biggest thing is he's taking advantage of these opportunities.

 

Defenses will adjust to him. It's the nature of sports. I get that everyone will disagree with my opinion, just like with Nate, but that's what I believe to be the case. I hope I am wrong.