it took awhile for us to get rid of the negative players that Isiah targeted.
We finally had nice core of young players, that were unselfish, played the "right" way, good ball movement, good spacing, and players that were skilled that complimented each other to play TEAM BALL. A culture that wasn't about players generating stats but emphasis on team work and wins.
With Felton's ability to penetrate, Wilson and Gallo capable of playing the SG, SF, and PF, it caused a lot of mismatches, sometimes for us, and against us.
Both players laced the speed/quickness to play the SG consistently and the size to play the PF, but it also caused a mismatch on the other.
While they might not be the ideal starting lineups, they were good players that were young and still developing, they were players that gave us the luxury to switch tempos and caused mismatches, especially with the 2nd units. We were all on same page, with the right core of players that would allow us to be athletic/skilled for the next decade.
Their play was infectious, helping role players like Shawne Williams, MozGoV, Fields and TD a chance to get in rhythm and a role/identity.
Adding Tyson Chandler, Iman Shumpert, and Jorts to that core, would have made us one of the deepest teams in the league, probably the deepest.
While neither of these players are better than Melo, their play together, team effort, and spacing, improved the team as a whole.
Basketball is a team sport, not a 1v1 game, that Isiah targeted during his tenure. We had chemistry, youth, talent, and unselfish basketball traded for the exact opposite.
As great as Melo is, he was not worth what we gave up. We aren't capable of moving the basketball, playing as a team, good spacing, and good ball movement
because we are missing the skills and chemistry we once had. That core played the right way and allowed new players acquired to continue to play that same way
with team effort.
Iman Shumpert is inspired by the talent and how the players play on the court. Like during the Eddy Curry, Starbury, and Crawford days, it took awhile
before David Lee, Wilson Chandler, Gallo, and Felton were able to change that culture. As talented as AR is, he didn't play much mainly because his style was not on
the same effort and page of the team. Having the right players that Donnie Walsh targeted, prioritizing the hard working blue collar players over physical talent.
This system and identity allows rookies or younger player to develop the right way and infect one another.
It shows, whether it is on the court, in practice, or in the gym.
We had the players that gave us depth, skills, and culture that were unselfish skilled players. They enabled us to play uptempo basketball in Dantoni's system.
Our players right now are lacking chemistry, skill, depth, ball movement, no identity, and no ball movement because we are lacking the physical skills and mentality needed.
We resort to 1v1 basketball now and even when we try to move the basketball, we are clearly missing the skills needed to take good shots.
I believe Tyson Chandler would actually prefer to play with this style of basketball. He was very close to signing with GS and our core is much more interesting.
We had the cap to resign Wilson Chandler and sign Tyson Chandler if we got rid of Turiaf's contract. Tyson Chandler wanted to go to a team which lacked a starting Center
and prove to himself with the league his importance in defense. That was the exact position we needed and would have allowed us to compete with any contending team.
Wilson Chandler could be resigned for about 7m or he could have took a 1 year deal, where we would still have his bird rights. And we would still be able to go over the cap to resign him this summer. I truly believe he really wanted to be here and would have preferred to stay...
Felton
Wilson Chandler
Gallo
Amare
Tyson Chandler
Iman
Fields
Shawne Williams
Jorts
MozGoV
TD
JJ
Walker
AR
Donnie Walsh targeted players that are unselfish and his plan was to ADD to the core. With these players, we would be a realistic option for Cp3, Deron, or Dwight Howard.
Which are players that improve TEAM play. Even if Amare is having a bad game/year, we have the luxury of sitting him, same for any player or position. Our defense would be 3x better with this depth. The reason why Amare is also struggling is because we don't have players that can penetrate, space the floor, and allow good ball movement.
We are capable of having 4 shooters, surrounding Amare, and they are not just players that can shoot, they can skilled in other areas.
Gallo and Wilson Chandler are both players that can initiate the offense by posting up.
Our chemistry, ball movement, and offense would be 10x better than it is right now. We don't NEED to trade for Cp3, Deron, or Dwight Howard.
We would be an ideal partner for the GM's that want to remain competitive, young, and rebuild though.
For all the people that believe Melo is better than all the players that we gave up, he is better than any 1 of them.
However, he is not better than the production of all of them.
1/18/2012 5:39 PM