I watched Olajuwon's early games as a soph-he was raw-explosive but no skills-worse than Beans as a rookie. Next few games I saw him-i was amazed at the progress. A year later-he was a damn good player-dominant on D,on the boards-with a bit of offense. As a SR-Hakeem had become a force on offense-though he didn't really have much jump shot. What he had got him picked #1. A year later-He's shooting a J,spin moves..a few years later-is putting the ball on the floor very well,hitting longer shots-passing great. Biedrens is the ONLY guy I ever saw inprove at that rate. Nellie will polish up EVERYONE. The Warriors will win...making the playoffs....folks...we want home court advantage. Cohen will be happy about this strange thing....success..and will fork over the $ to keep everyone here....well.....almost. Zarko has to play to stay.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Dunelavy is also thriving in bench role. Ever since he was benched, he averaged 12.8 pts / 51 fg% / 34.4 3 pts%. The day when he was booed seem to be over for now...</div> Ya, that crowd last night was a true Basketball crowd. The Arena was alive again. And they gave DunDun his well deserved cheer when he was subbed out at the end. It's nice seeing the true energy back again. Now the dillema, do I fork over the money for the TV or a 10 game package....
<div class="quote_poster">custodianrules2 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah, Ellis ain't that creative yet in the team game. But at least he's not like Fisher laying the 30 foot jack with 20 seconds left on the shotclock. Ellis tried to go inside a few times and eventually rounded out his fg%. So I'm happy because I own him in fantasy league. It's funny that Ellis is as quick as Parker, but which one of those two can actually dunk without getting denied by the iron? Tony Parker has dunked like maybe two times in his nba career. Mad quickness, no hops.</div> Ellis is developing like something we have not seen since Hardaway. I exclude Arenas because I never thought he was very good defensively and just wanted to hog the ball to show how he should have been a 1st rounder. He's an All-Star now and one of the best "finishers" but I still do not like his game. Ellis plays hard both ways and that makes him special. There may be better on the ball defenders at the PG position but his ability to score 31 sets him apart. I do not think Parker plays D that well. But of course no one gets in the lane and finishes like Parker. I have the utmost respect for Parker and outside of Nash, I think Parker is the best PG out there. Well maybe Paul. But Ellis is rising fast.
<div class="quote_poster">REREM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I watched Olajuwon's early games as a soph-he was raw-explosive but no skills-worse than Beans as a rookie. Next few games I saw him-i was amazed at the progress. A year later-he was a damn good player-dominant on D,on the boards-with a bit of offense. As a SR-Hakeem had become a force on offense-though he didn't really have much jump shot. What he had got him picked #1. A year later-He's shooting a J,spin moves..a few years later-is putting the ball on the floor very well,hitting longer shots-passing great. Biedrens is the ONLY guy I ever saw inprove at that rate. Nellie will polish up EVERYONE. The Warriors will win...making the playoffs....folks...we want home court advantage. Cohen will be happy about this strange thing....success..and will fork over the $ to keep everyone here....well.....almost. Zarko has to play to stay.</div> Good to have an older fan perspective on these things And I guess if Biedrins continues like this and gets better like most promising nba bigs do in this league, Mullin just solved our inside presence at both ends of the floor? I guess we will see when the league starts to figure him out.
<div class="quote_poster">philsmith75 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Ellis is developing like something we have not seen since Hardaway. I exclude Arenas because I never thought he was very good defensively and just wanted to hog the ball to show how he should have been a 1st rounder. He's an All-Star now and one of the best "finishers" but I still do not like his game. Ellis plays hard both ways and that makes him special. There may be better on the ball defenders at the PG position but his ability to score 31 sets him apart. I do not think Parker plays D that well. But of course no one gets in the lane and finishes like Parker. I have the utmost respect for Parker and outside of Nash, I think Parker is the best PG out there. Well maybe Paul. But Ellis is rising fast.</div> I agree about Arenas. Great combo, but still not a point guard that is better in the team style of game compared to combos like Sam Cassell, Chauncey Billups, or Kirk Hinrich for their teams. Maybe, I'm biased with Billups and Cassell, because they were nba champions. But I like any of these shoot first combos that are smart enough know when to stop jacking shots and try to run something. Arenas is a little wild sometimes, but damn I would rather have him at the two than Jrich. Arenas is definitely a franchise player, but at the point guard, it makes it hard because he's got to learn how to be more unselfish and get better on-ball defense and cut down on turnovers. Parker is a good scoring point. He's decent on defense otherwise he would not be starter as Rasho Nesterovic eventually washed out, guys like Stephen Jackson were basically dropped. I think the Spurs owe their wins to their defensive style, the ability to control the glass and inside the paint, and be able to run or slow it down. A team that scores efficiently and moves the ball, doesn't need that much free throw %, I guess. If the spurs had Ginobilli that guy operates as a point or shooting guard that can play annoying defense or score in the clutch or dribble drive and pass or layup. I think he's been the huge factor when parker was so young and so was the guy playing next to Duncan. Bowen is also great at what he does. Being cheap on defense. I love Ellis' potential. If he's a guard, he's going to be athletic like Baron, but quick like Parker. And as fg% indicates he could be a Barbosa or Kirk Hinrich right now. I think both guys play some pretty tight D, but Ellis will be better because he reacts so much quicker and anticipates. His lateral movement is like that of Pietrus. I'll be so proud for Ellis if he can use his lefty finish like Dunleavy does. As much as I rip on Dunleavy, the guy has very good technical skills as a bigger man pretending to be a guard.
