They are different molds of power forward. Scola is more of a garbage man and post player. Aldridge is more of a SF type.
You know I really thought Lamarcus was the guy to pick up when we got him. But the guy hasn't improved one damn bit except when it comes to collecting fouls. Every year his shot blocking goes down. His minute have gone up, but his production per minute, hasn't. The guy comes in every year, spouting about intentions to make the all star team, talks a good game, and then comes back and doesn't back up his talk. When the #1 scorer goes down, the #2 scorer is supposed to pick up the slack, just like the rest of the team. When the #1 scorer went down this year, Portland was a team without a go to guy. Lamarcus is fine as long as we don't depend on him for more than we should. But as of right now he doesn't cut it as the #2 option on the team.
Anf both can be good with the right people around them. I think someone like Aldridge would flourish with a banging type of SF (Gerald wallace), but with someone like Batum, I think it woul dbe more benficial to add a banging type of player that isn't affraid to mix it up
I think it's a bit comical that, without a GM or assistant GM, PHX attempted to make the Amar'e deal work but couldn't, so they (apparently) blew the Trade Exception. Here comes Tom Penn on ESPN to show, step by step, how they can structure the same stuff they're trying to do (sign Frye and Haslem, get Amare to NYK) in such a way that they can actually S&T him for a 13.2M exception, as well. So now they can structure it on the 8th the way Penn said, instead of how they were planning on it. I don't know who (though I could probably get it in 3 guesses) Penn pissed off, or how he did it in such a way to be immediately fired, but the man's earning some future bank this last 2 weeks.
I think that the Knicks are going to be happy with Amare as a Knick. He won't be able to turn the team around single-handedly, of course, but given how messed up that franchise has been, getting an MVP-level player is definitely a good start. Ed O.
Your post makes my blood boil. Penn had better have raped somebody, and Pritchard perhaps was embezzling money, because if it really is an ego thing, or if Paul Allen's widdle feewings were hurt, then ... ah fuck it, I said was was moving past this.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I want to see what Stoudemire can do without the best passing PG in the league spoonfeeding him easy baskets.
He hasn't been at that level for a couple of years. I'm not sure he'll ever be back to a 25+ PER player, and his defense isn't good. I think he's going to be an All-Star level player, which is still a very nice addition, but not a superstar. I think he's going to be overpaid for most, if not all, of his contract.
I do, too. I am more interested to see how Nash does without a fantastic scorer at the power forward spot. He's 27 years old. He had a good year (22+ PER) in spite of the uncertainty regarding his eye surgery and in spite of an off free throw shooting year. We won't know until he does it, but he's primed to be an MVP candidate again this year, IMO. Ed O.
I believe the 2005-2006 Suns will tell you. (Lost in the WCF with STAT playing 3 regular season games). Of course, with Amare out, Marion had a career year playing the PF position - and having the kind of performance he never replicated before or since... You could argue that given a good athletic 4 - Nash would make him an all- star... This is the year Hakeem Warrick blows up
No, but his performance this last year and that year were not that different, statistically... What is more interesting - is that Marion had a better statistical season that year than Amare had last year. In other words, no disrespect to Amare - I think Nash has shown that he can elevate other people's game just fine. What happens to Amare without Nash is yet to be determined...
You're saying that a 31 year-old Nash without Amare had basically the same season as a 35 year-old Nash with Amare. That sounds about right. I wonder how a 36 year-old Nash is going to do without Amare. It's a bigger question to me than how Amare is going to do. Ed O.
No, I am not. I am saying that without Amare a 31 years old Nash had a slightly better year than a 36 years old Nash had with Amare, and yet the results for the Suns were about the same - WCF loss. What really is interesting to me is not so much Nash (who have had pretty much the same performance year in, year out whenever they ran the fast system in PHX) - but if Warrick - which is a fantastic athlete that never had a great PG - can really cash in. Unless Nash's body breaks down next year, and the Suns still use the run and gun system, I think you can pretty much pencil Nash to the same kind of performance - 21-23 PER, fantastic TS%, questionable defense.
In summary, Steve Nash is one of the most underrated players in NBA history. He should make Greatest 50. He is far, far better than Gary Payton.
Steve Nash won an MVP award with Stoudemire out for almost an entire season in 2005-06. What were you saying?
