Posted by gunsnewing:

exactly. I've been harping about this all along. Name a center who wasn't the 1st or 2nd pick who you can justify taking over the best player available?

Posted by franco12:

just watch what Amare is doing in the phoenix-dallas game.

its not just size that matters, though it helps and we are undersized

its skill and we badly need to upgrade our general skill levels with this draft

So even if we get lucky and draft a 7 footer, we might not be getting the best player

Posted by djsunyc:


we'll see how the rankings shake out over the next 1 1/2 months. so far, we're all just speculating and talking out of our asses until then.

Posted by BRIGGS:

thats cool, a player like amare stoudemire comes along every 20 years, the only comparison i can think of is karl malone. you cant just arbitrarily say we dont need a 7 foot player! you dont get many choices anyway! no one is trading you amare stoudemire and guys like patrick get traded when they are shot or closingin on the end. ben wallace is a real good player, but not anywhere near this status.

Posted by tapseer:

For all those who think we don't need a 7' footer, and who is using Ben Wallace as an example...Ben Wallace bounced around for a minute before he matured into the player he is now. A lot of you guys wouldn't have the patience to watch him develope his game before you're looking to get rid of him. Please be realistic. For everyone who wanted IT to turn this thing around in one year or 16 months, you're not going to wait 3-5 years for a player to find his game. Ben Wallace's first 4 years were nothing to write home about. This is just for those who think IT should be gone already. After looking at Ben Wallace's first 4 years, you all would be crying that IT brought another undersized PF to the team, and that Ben Wallace and IT should go immediately. If you're not going to give the GM a chance to see his vision thru, what makes you think you're going to wait for a player to develope? If a player doesn't show any discernable talent after the first or second year, the GM can't draft and the player has to go. You would bet money Washington and Orlando wished Ben Wallace was still on their team.

Posted by diderotn:

Look here, don't get your analogy mixedup. The reason why Amare is successful is because of the players that he has around him. Marb made him look extremely good a couple of seasons ago, but Phoenix wasn't as effective because they didn't have enough shooters (Q Richardson, Joe Johnson, Nash, Marion, Jimmy Jackson, etc) like they do this season. Without those players to spread the court, Amare's size would have been exposed. Don't get it twisted. Same goes for Ben Wallace, he has guys around him to better his defense. Prince, Rasheed and others are no chumps, they are all first class defenders and scorers. When going against Ben and Amare, you have to account for those other guys, and that along makes the game smoother for those two out of position athletes....

Posted by BRIGGS:

thats cool, a player like amare stoudemire comes along every 20 years, the only comparison i can think of is karl malone. you cant just arbitrarily say we dont need a 7 foot player! you dont get many choices anyway! no one is trading you amare stoudemire and guys like patrick get traded when they are shot or closingin on the end. ben wallace is a real good player, but not anywhere near this status.

[Edited by - diderotn on 05/14/2005 01:45:39]