With the bottom feeders getting better, that means more losses........for every team that is not a bottom feeder. SA and LA will be better. Houston will not be better and no other playoff team has done shit to help themselves.
LMFAO!!! Nice. Anyhow, how can anyone say our lineup looks bad?! That is laughable. 54 wins. The team that beat us last year probably wont even make the playoffs next year. WE will still make the playoffs because the West will be the exact same in the playoff picture except swap Houston with whoever else decides to play well. I guess PHX. Anyhow... this lineup is what I would do. Blake\Bayless\Mills Roy\Rudy Batum\Webster\Cunningham LMA\Outlaw\Pendergraph Oden\Joel If we can figure out a way to get Bass, maybe Hakeem Warrick, maybe Shawn Marion? We would be set. I would prefer Bass.
I think so, we dropped lafrentz(30), frye(26) and sergio(25) i'm guessing on the ages from memory, I'm too lazy to check. If we drop ruffin too we'll get younger still. Of the players that actually play though, we have blake(30) and Pryzbilla(30)
Really only the east coast really loaded up. Sure spurs got Jefferson and lakers got artest. But Duncan and Manu are another year older and while Bowen isn't what he was defensively anymore they also lost him. And with the lakers they probably just side stepped getting artest with ariza leaving, and possibly odom as well. Minnesota got a little better through the draft but with rubio deciding not to come over quite yet they aren't a threat and I'm not really concerned with OKC or Memphis either.
No. We weren't the youngest team last year, though, so we can't "still" be the youngest team. We might be the youngest team right now. I'm not sure if the Warriors are still younger than we are or not. Ed O.
Dear god man! Did you behead, and then grind up the corpses of our team to make some sort of giant sized cannibalistic pastry of doom?!
Awesome Baby! Now, just add in a veteran point guard who can defend and create for others and an experienced banger backup big and we can stick that shit in the oven!
The Lakers acquiring Artest instantly makes them better, provided Artest keeps his shit together and gets along with Kobe. If the Lakers re-sign Odom, they are the obvious favorites. Look for them in the western conference finals once more. The Spurs trading for Jefferson instantly makes them better. They got rid of age and poor play in exchange for a solid 4th option on offense and an accomplished defender. Furthermore, the Spurs were riddled with injuries last year and STILL won 54 games. The big 3 played a total of half the season together. Manu's health won't be an issue with a full offseason of rehab. Duncan's "age" and knees will be managed. Look for the Spurs to improve their record over last year and make at least the 2nd round of the playoffs. I have yet to see the Blazers make any improvements. Granted, it's still early. But simply hoping that Oden learns to play(yeah, good luck with that), and hoping Batum and Fernandez just improve doesn't sound like a great strategy to me. I hope the Blazers improve. I really do. But, without a better point guard and some serious maturing by some of the younger players, this team is headed for another 1st round exit.
"Bake it" is like putting all your eggs in one basket. Stupid!! Every year the team must improve and cut off dead weight through re-tooling. We've already started that by trading Sergio and drafting youngins Pendergraph and Cunningham. IMO I also hope to see Hinrich or Bibby here at PG. But I also think we gotta spend that money we freed up with RLEC and Francis. We need to consolidate this roster - keep Roy, Aldridge, Oden, Batum, Bayless, and TRADE any of the rest to get the best PG, SF or any other position player available. We were TOO DEEP last year. I think we'll see a trade in the next two weeks.
I wanted Hedo really bad. I think signing him would've led to a change of events that would've improved the roster. Now that we don't have him, I say we stand pat. Let the team continue to grow together. They've gotten better each year and they're still all very young. Go Blazers
Except that Blake and Joel *aren't* young. Outlaw may be "young", but he has also peaked. Frankly, I believe the same is true of Webster - though is injury makes that a moot point. I am hopeful that Batum will eventually be the solution at SF. How long it takes is another issue entirely. As for the PG problem.....Bayless may become a good basketball player, but I am not optimistic he will ever be a good PG. At best, he is a long way away. If we don't find an external solution to the PG situation, it is going to hold the entire team back, and quite possibly retard Oden's development.
It's not even really a PG problem in terms of Oden. Just someone, anyone at all to make a competent post pass. ANYONE. And dump the switching scheme for the love of god.
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I believe all we need are a few solid stopgaps that can fill in for a MAX of two seasons. Our future dynasty lineup is already on the team, folks. Bayless IS the future point guard for this team. People here underrate him. This guy would've gone top 3 in this years draft. Players with his combination of speed, athleticism, attitude, and most importantly, drive and work ethic, rarely become failures. If you dont think he has the potential to be a lethal combo alongside Roy within 2 years you're out of your mind. It's gonna be fun digging up some of these threads in a few years. Batum, likewise, is also the small forward of the future. Feeling for the game, IQ, speed, length, this guy is gonna be a monster in a few years. It's not an exaggeration to suggest he has first team all defensive potential. He's the real deal. Our other positions, needless to say, are set, save for backup PF. We aren't going to win the title this year. Our championship window isn't cracked open yet, despite the impatience of us fans (myself included). The only thing we need are stopgaps for PG and to a lesser extent SF. We don't need a 5-year deal for anyone. We don't need an all-star. We have everything we need. I repeat, we are not going to win a title this year. It's foolish to trade bayless, batum, rudy, or anyone else for an aged veteran. We need good backups, and some veteran bench players. Nothing else. If I'm being a homer, so be it. We'll see who's right soon enough.
Harris: yes Parker: very good player, but in the SA system he isn't asked to really be a traditional PG Nelson: OK, but (IMHO) over-rated Williams: no, better suited to the "Vinnie Johnson" role
then i don't really see how it's important for bayless to develop into what you consider a good pg. what you seem to consider a good "pg" is not something necessary for a team to be a title contending team.
