As I look at the Pacers lineup, all I can think is that they are one good center from a championship. Am I wrong? On paper, they look damn good. So, for something like Pollard and Bender, they can get Damp (well, that has been the rumor, though I don't know that the contracts quite work), and they are in the championship hunt for the next 3-4 years. Do they understand how hard it is to get to that position? Don't they realize that sometimes, to win it all, you have to risk the future!?! But they won't give up Bender, who apparently has great athletic skills, but in 5 years in the NBA can't stay healthy, can't break into the starting lineup, and reportedly is still very inconsistent. And we take the Pollard contract to boot. Oh how I would love to be one player away from a championship...
They definately need to fill that spot if they expect to beat the Heat and the Pistons in the coming years, even if that means giving up a young talent like Bender.
Bender has physical skills, but he's still very much a question mark. I know Damp has his questions, too, but to hold onto your backup SF when you could win a championship (and you would still have Artest-Croshere at SF), that seems like some screwed up priorities. Of course, these are all rumors, and there are rumors they are shopping Croshere and Artest, so maybe Bender is slated as the starter this year.
Why would they get rid of Artest over Bender? The Defensive Player of the Year vs. an unproven youngster. Doesn't seem like a tough decision to me.
I've got no clue, but if the Pacers give us Artest/Pollard/something for Damp and they ask for Speedy, would you do it? I dunno Speedy's kinda valuable, but chances are he'll be injured for at least a 1/4 of the season.
I don't think we can really afford to trade Speedy now that NVE is gone. Would you be confident with Dickeau as our backup?
Heck no. I don't even think he's as quick as Derek Fisher now. But maybe he'll prove the haters wrong.
I don't mind him being a back up in the future, but I would not be confident at all going into next season with Speedy gone.
Neither would I. The guy is like Allen Iverson because he dominates with speed and agility. But he's not like A.I. because he doesn't shoot so many j's (even though he's worked on getting a reliable 18'-20' foot shot), plus Speedy has better shot selection and attitude. But Artest sure is an attractive option with his defense and offense. What about 1.) Richardson 2.) Pietrus 3.) Artest 4.) Dunleavy 5.) Foyle We'd probably lose the rock a couple times if Jrich hasn't practiced handling the ball by this season so maybe Dunleavy has to play point forward and we substitute Richardson at the 3 Pietrus at the 2 and Artest at the 4 spot. I'd rather have Dunleavy play power forward though because he's the better rebounder and Artest is a solid perimeter and man-to-man defender. So then Dunleavy doesn't have to worry about perimeter defenders , Pietrus covers the point guard on defense, Artest covers the shooting guard, and Richardson plays close to the small forward. And hopefully if Dunleavy has worked on his strength training he's gained about 10 more pounds so he can be at least as heavy as Pat Garrity whe playing in the paint. Or you could do 1.) Dunleavy 2.) Pietrus 3.) Artest 4.) Cliff Robinson 5.) Troy Murphy You got decent low post defense with Murph (hopefully the center has no fancy moves because Murph ain't that fast side to side) And you got Cliff Robinson who is an excellent defender in the post against almost all the power forwards in the league, Artest who is defensive player of the year, Pietrus who is a rising defensive stud that can guard smaller, quicker players. And you got Dunleavy who can handle the rock and play in the post against guys 8 inches or more shorter than him. Basically all these guys can hit from the outside and you got guys who can cut toward the basket like Pietrus or Artest if Dunleavy gets double teamed in the post. Dunleavy can receive passes as well from the high post from either Murph or Robinson. Let's hope Montgomery can be creative if he ever received this lineup because Dunleavy would be scoring 30+ points a night if all he has to do is bring the rock up, give it to a big man to set it up and feed Dunleavy the ball on the smaller guard. All Dunleavy has to do is lay it up or shoot over him or pass to whoever is undefended.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post"> 1.) Richardson 2.) Pietrus 3.) Artest 4.) Dunleavy 5.) Foyle</div>The Warriors would not survive with jrich running the show. We would be plagued with turnovers and poor decision making. And Dunleavy playing the 4? He would get eaten up alive. Could you imagine him trying to guard TD/KG/Malone/Martin? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> 1.) Dunleavy 2.) Pietrus 3.) Artest 4.) Cliff Robinson 5.) Troy Murphy </div>I would be a lot more confident with Dunleavy running the show. But we aren't paying Fisher and Foyle to come off the bench.
Those matchups wouldn't be full time matchups of course. We still need size and a point guard who can run plays and handle the rock.
