Posted by tkf:
Posted by BlueSeats:
Briggs, stop flip flopping. You ride every little streak, up or down, for all its worth.
We are a very weak team that is overachieving for a very good coach. Its tenuous at best. We need a lot of work yet.
so are you happy with what we are doing so far blue seats? just curious.. we know how briggs flip flops, so just forget that for a minute. Tell me. do you like what you see so far? And who you would like to keep going forward... Also what do you think of gallanari? sorry for all the questions, but it has been a while since I have picked your brain... 
Heck, I don't know. I like Walsh and D'. The Marbury situation got off to an awkward start but the right decision was made. I like D's intensity. He's not a defensive stalwart, but some games we've played our best defense since 2003. That's not saying a lot, but still. Walsh stated a plan to be flexible for the 2010 sweepstakes, which I totally support, and dumping Zach and Crawford proved his intent. Unfortunately Eddy is becoming seriously untradable, which is really sad for a guy with his potential only making 10M.
Lee has been our "best" player in my eyes for years now and I'm pleased with his increasing offensive confidence. The other night he got a pass on the low block that he caught and spun under his defender so fast it was unstoppable. Its not like mega powerful, or super athletic, but his instincts are really good, and he plays within himself. He's trying to stretch his range, and he's not a good shooter yet, but nor does he force a lot of shots. A very efficient player. But you can't go all that far with Lee as your best player.
Nate is starting to remind me of Starks. A crazy, sometimes out of control, emotional guy who wins your heart. He needs to up his D to be as valuable as Starks was, and like Johnny, he could be replaced by an Alan Houston caliber player, but I can't hate on the Nate.
Chandler is still iffy. I wonder about his intensity. There's a bit of Tim Thomas to him: incredible physical attributes, bursts of brilliance, but is he hungry enough? Could be a confidence thing, but it looks like hunger.
Duhon has been an incredible surprise, especially as a playmaker. I like him. If we had a shooter it would really open things up. His defense isn't lockdown, but its there, especially when things are slowed down. He's not big or fast enough to contain, but he moves his feet and hands. He tries. Coach D' has been very, very good for him, and vice versa.
Harrington is weird. He's got skills but he's awkward in many ways. His interior moves are so gangly he always looks close to a walk or turnover, but I'd prefer him inside than out. However, he's certainly capable of getting hot out there. He's a bit streaky and seems to play on emotion that sometimes isn't there. For all his athleticism he should be blocking more shots. He's okay, probably a rental.
I like Gallo's skillset. I'd be pretty high on the kid if it weren't for his back. He does vacillate between nice aggression and a deer in the headlights. Can't tell if its because he's young or if the back is tender. I wont hate on the pick because if healthy he deos seem like a prototypical D'Antoi player: Can shoot, pass, put it on the floor, etc. He's a bit of a cross between Dirk and Diaw, and his talent level will fall somewhere between them (a wide range, I know) if he can get and stay healthy.
So I think its a really nice first year fr Walsh and D'. They're both showing the ability to make big changes quickly, and I think for the better. I still see us as a talent poor team, but we're overachieving and setting ourselves up with the possibility to add major talent down the road. I still think its really hard to win big in this league without scoring franchise caliber talent in the draft (yeah, there's Detroit, but even Shaq and LA had Kobe, KG/Ray and Boston had Pierce) so we better get busy there soon. But all in all I've got to give the coach and front office pretty high marks so far.
I think it'll be pretty difficult for anyone to say the culture hasn't changed for the positive in a pretty big way, though I'm sure many will try - and not just the UK mafia. D'Antoni has a whole crew of haters all to himself.
What do you think?
2/1/2009 12:21 AM