As much as Boozer is a gun for us, I still dont see him as an allstar. He can put up 17-12, but I think he still will miss out. Martin, O'Neal, Carter and Artest are all ahead of him, and now you can throw Wallace into the mix. He may be a shot for those two wild card positions that the coaches have, but as you know, we are guard heavy in the East. If Z maintains his form, he will be there ahead of Magloire, while James is a certainty. Imagine our big three all in the team.
Actually, Boozer received strong consideration this year, Karma. One rumor had him going over James, as you might recall. If the Cavaliers had a better record, it could've been close. With James practically a shoe in next year, that takes up another spot, but I really don't have any worries about Boozer being left off the roster, as long as he puts up the numbers. If the Cavaliers continue to improve their record, the rest of the East is going to absorb those losses, which means less respect for some of the other All Stars and more for Boozer. Heck, Z's been playing far and away the best basketball at center in the East, so all 3 could make it, as long as the Cavaliers continue to win.
So much for a Sophomore Slump. This kid puts that theory to shame. He deserved consideration for an All Star spot this year, and if he improves on his numbers, he'll make it next year. If we start winning more, we'll have a few players on the team. But back to the subject, Boozer is THE MAN.(!)
[/QUOTE]This team is about more than just James' astounding performance and the addition of McInnis. Carlos Boozer, a second-round draft choice a year ago, is playing at an All-Star level and 7-foot-3 Zydrunas Ilgauskas is too tall and has too many offensive skills for the big men of the East. Just a couple of lines from Kahn's latest article on CBS Sportsline. Tank. http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/7158392
Carlos is awesome, and i wouldnt want any other guy as our power forward. But.... O'Neal is definitely a better power forward, Kenyon Martin is not better by much, but still better, and Rasheed is definitely a better all around player. Boozer's game fits the mold of OUR basketball team very well. he's not our number 1 guy, he's never gonna be as long as LJ23 is around, but he knows his role and loves his role, which is to score a little and rebound ALOT.
In Kahn's power rankings, he always places too much emphasis on full season records and not enough on recent success. The Cavaliers that started the season 6-19 no longer exist. Since then, they've purged half of their roster and have done nothing but play solid basketball. Regardless, he's coming around, and it's a very entertaining read nonetheless.
The numbers KJ predicted seem fair and realistic. However I could also see him doing quite a bit better than that over his career. It also all depends who he plays with.
I've had the pleasure of watching Boozer since he was a JV. His talent , work, ethic, determination, are hard to deny. But he goes beyond that as a player. He has always shown a willingness to do what ever it took to contribute within the TEAM concept! He bulked up to 280# at Duke to play center when there were taller players on the team because it was what coach K wanted. He played with his back to the basket for three solid years when he would have been better served in preparing for the NBA at PF. After he was drafted he shed 25# of that bulk on his own, and showed up in camp at 255#, knowing he was going to have to gain a little quickness and mobility to swap over to the PF slot. All we can do is speculate on what his ultimate point production might turn out to be. But within the framework Silas seems to be using him now, it's possible it will only go marginally higher. It's important to remember, He doesn't figure into the offensive sets. His touches are only a result of the plays breaking down. Of a certainty, he could score more, but he'd have to have access to more shots, which he's unlikely to get unless Silas is willing at some future point to restructure the offense to include him. Coach John Thompson was broadcasting one of the games not long ago when the subject came up. He said Silas had told him that Carlos had come to his office and indicated his desire to become more involved in the offense. While he was pleased that Boozer felt comfortable in approaching him, he had no intention of changing anything at this point. Quite to the contrary, he told Carlos what he needed was a board man, and "I'm going to teach you how it's done." He said,"If you want the ball, go get it off the boards." And he's pushing the top of the rebounding charts as we speak.. Has adjusted his game once more to fit within the Team Concept. All that said , there's a limit to how far he might go in PPG. It's unrealistic to think his FG% will rise much higher. And without another 6 to 8 shots a game, he's probably gettin close now. Just how I see it............Tank
I dunno about 20/15.... I would be happy with 17 and 12 on 50% shooting from Carlos for the rest of his career.
20 and 15? no real chance at that, 20 points yeah thats very possible but 15 rebounds? not even Ben Wallace and Kevin Garnett get that many anymore, the overall talent is too much to be able to pull down that many boards throughout a season. I see no reason why Carlos can't be a 19/20 and 12 player.
If we can get another scorer at that small forward position (SJAX), and Boozer still puts up 15-17ppg and 12rpg, I shall be a very happy Cavalier fan.
