Posted by nixluva:
Posted by Bippity10:
PG: The facade needs to come to an end. Steph is not a leader and is on the downside of his career. In 3-5 years it will be worse. The time is now to phase him out. Stop half asseing and trying to eek out a few wins and start moving forward. Maybe Mardy is the guy. I don't think so, but maybe he is. But until he is we need to understand that with two post players, this is the most important position on the floor. We need a veteran to teach Mardy and need to target a young PG until we find the right one.
Steph should be fine for right now, but I would love for this issue to be resolved. This seems to be the season where we should find out something about what we have and if it's gonna be good enough. I like Mardy, but I don't know how Isiah feels yet. A lot will depend on if Mardy develops his shooting. I think he does everything else well enough to get the job done. Then you still have Jamal and Nate as options, but they aren't naturally inclined to be distributors, so I'm doubtful.
Posted by Bippity10:
Perimeter Defense: With Curry and Zach in the frontcourt if the next acquisitions we make don't play perimeter defense than anyone defending the move is really kidding themselves. Unless they fill the next need
The only guys that fits the bill are Artest and maybe AK47. Not sure i'm in love with either move. Then we still have Balk, Mardy, Jared, Chan and DNic who I think have real potential in that area. So i'd say that isiah has addressed this need, but we for some reason tend to discount these players. This season will again be a good test to see what we've got, but only after isiah either cleans up the roster or takes a hard line on his rotations. If Jared isn't getting it done he sits.
Posted by Bippity10:
Dead Eye perimeter shooter: Not talking Jamal Crawford or Nate. I'm talking about a guy that can guard the two or the three and does not miss a shot. IF we also get that at the point than that's a bonus. But at any given time we should be able to put 2-3 dead eye shooters on the floor with Zach and Eddie that can make teams pay for doubling, and of those 3 positions 2 of them need to be able to defend well.
Again this sounds like we may already have guys to fill this need in Chan and DNic. Unless you would want us to try and make a deal for guys like Kapono, Carroll or Korver, which I see zero chance of happening. These guys will come from within.
Posted by Bippity10:
If you do the above, and Eddie and Zach even give the slightest inkling towards playing defense and not just "trying" then you have a team that can truly compete. Until the team looks this way we will always be an also-ran.
So it would seem to me that we aren't far off from being where you want this team to be. We'll find out once Aug. 28th hits and we can see what Isiah decides to do.
Nixluva: I've been saying since the day Eddie Curry was acquired, that if the guy figured out what a true "star" entailed and decided to strive for it we would be a lock for the playoffs. If him and Zach do it at the same time there is no reason this team can't compete for the East tomorrow. The problem is that these guys have a combined 12 seasons of showing no interest in developing their all-around games. And you can't win if your star players only play one side of the ball. So we are at their mercy. And since they haven't shown evidence of changing, fans do not trust them to change. Why should they? This is why fans have no confidence that this team is title bound. They are tired of stars that promise what they are going to do, and want stars that are actually getting it done. These two could change that mood tomorrow. Talentwise we are one of the best in the East. None of us deny this. But it isn't talent that holds us back, it's understanding of what it takes to win.
I don't know if Nichols and Wilson are the guys because they've never played a minute. So those guys can step right in and take over or they may be career NBDL guys. I am passing no judgement until they take the floor until 3 years from now when Isiah hasn't given up on them and traded them. We don't know until they play. That's why if Isiah is going to go the route he is going, and having question marks with the rookies, then he needs to start targeting a few vets that already do these things. Guys that already hustle, shoot, defend. Enough getting guys and having to teach them how to perform, or hope they grow, target some guys that already do it. Even if it's a one year rental to teach the young guys. Again, this is why long-term contracts to lazy guys like JJ and one way players like JJ2 is so asinine. It puts us in a position of inflexibility so that when a guy like Kopono, Korver etc is available, we can't go for them. This is why I've screamed for years about trimming the fat(which some called depth), and now that it's obvious others are hopping on the bandwagon.
Now the Korver's, the Kopono's, the young stud PG's, the game changing shot blockers are not easy to find. It make take a few seasons to find these guys, and that's why it's imperative for us to put ourselves in position to acquire these guys when they are available. Keep your draft picks and pay your guys market value. If Isiah does it right he could be a few years away from achieving this goal. If Isiah continues with the notion of finding excitement we will never reach it.
8/8/2007 6:20 PM
