Merged: blazers linked to serge ibaka

Ibaka - 6'10", 235 lbs, age 27
Vonleh - 6'10", 240 lbs, age 21

Both of those are from basketballreference.com. It can be questioned if Noah is 6'10" but if they are both listed at the same height, maybe Ibaka isn't quite 6'10" wither. All I know is when Vonleh bumps people, they go down. He is slowly growing into his role even though that includes less than 1 play run for him per game. He is very athletic and quite good at defending smaller players on the perimeter.

Of course there is no comparison between the two. All I know is the 'undersized' Vonleh put Joel Embiid on his butt 3 times.

 

He's 26. I don't think he is a vet yet and can play for a good few more years.

If we move Crabbe for him and he accepts a similar deal to the one that Crabbe has, it sort if makes sense, except it leaves us very short at the backcourt.

 

Bottom line is he is, right now, today, regardless of his age, way, WAY better at both ends of the court than anyone and everyone we have currently playing the PF position. I really don't think there is any debating that.

The only questions are how much will he cost and is he worth it, and can we resign him and will he be worth it. Those are things for Neil to figure out. If he says yes to both, look for a deal. If he says no to either, it's not happening.

BNM

 

Vonleh is listed as 6'9" on ESPN. He looks even shorter to me (6'8") and is often lost in the trees down low. If he were 2 inches taller, he would be a great prospect, but he's a tweener that doesn't match up well with most starting PFs IMHO.

 

I would agree with that but there are so few PF's in the league....most are stretch 4's. Even with his deficiencies, he Noah is the best option to guard PF's currently on this roster.....but Ibaka would be so much better. Just would he stay here beyond 3 months?

 

Ed Davis is having a weirdly terrible year, but I'd still trust his defense at power forward more than Vonleh going forward due to the years of good defense (and he's still early-prime). I can't imagine he's simply forgotten how to defend--something is going on, like he's getting lost in the vortex of suck around him or something.

Of course, Davis can't shoot. That's a problem.

 

Vonleh's biggest problem has nothing to do with size. It's coaching.

I know Kim Hughes crossed a line when he told the press Aldridge was gone, and that's a fire-able offense. But, why haven't we hired a big man coach since?

We have totally fucked up Meyers Leonard's development. It was like as soon as the staff saw him make a few 3-pointers in practice, they parked his ass out at the 3-point line, relabeled him a stretch 4 and decided to piss away all that size and athleticism.

Vonleh shows occasional flashes, but I can't help but think his potential is also being pissed away due to the lack of a dedicated big man coach.

I mean seriously, why the fuck would you invest a fortune in these very young, very raw players and then not send the extra 2% to hire a dedicated coach to get the most out of them?

A full time, experienced, dedicated big man coach would be ideal but at the very least, throw some money at Hakeem, Patrick Ewing, or (my first choice) Kevin McHale to spend the off season working with Noah and Meyers (assuming we plan to keep one or both) and teach them the fundamentals.

Why hasn't this been done??? We've had Meyers for five summers and Noah for two. Early on, Meyers was working with Kim Hughes and then Chris Kaman. Now, we have no one - and it shows. Same for Noah. Two summers pissed away. WTF???

BNM

 

They did hire a big man coach...from within the organization..can't remember his name though.
I believe it's Jim Moran

 

no....I'm a fan of Bill Laimbeer for the job....I'd even bring in Kevin McHale or Ewing

 

If we could do that that would be awesome. Even if Ibaka left, that'd be dumping $28M a year of bad contract.

 

Boston seem the most probable destination IMO. They should be trying to win now and have the assets to trade for him.

 

Lol, Jim Moran a 6'7" small forward as our big man coach. How's that working out?

WTF is with the Blazers and promoting video coordinators to positions WAY over their heads? Skippy Canales a head coach and Jim Moran a "big" man coach, right...

BNM

 

I'm more interested in teaching them the fundamentals of the position, than attitude. Laimbeer, for all his toughness, did not exactly dominate in the low post. I suppose he could work with them on boxing out and defensive position, but I think just about any experienced big man could help in those areas.

Give me Kevin McHale, Hakeem or Patrick Ewing any day. Too bad Pete Newell passed away about a decade ago. He was the master of teaching big men the footwork that is the foundation of playing their position.

BNM

 

They will be pursuing bigger free agents than him this summer, and have their sights set on better players

 

he won championships in the NBA and coached the Sparks to two of them in the WNBA....he's a great coach and a defense first coach....he's got a get track record of getting the most out of players. Attitude from his playing days is sort of ancient history...he's coached longer than he played....don't quite follow the gist of your post

 

IIRC, Moran was used with Dame to block his shots at the hoop. Make him learn new angles to finish better around tall shot blocking centers. No, I don't have a link, and I don't remember where I read it, so take it for what it's worth.....