Has there ever been a tandem like Zach and Curry in the NBA? What I mean by that is has there ever been two highly effective low post scorers with terrible defensive skills starting for a team? Fill me in because I REALLY feel this season will be a disaster. 25-57

25-57??? WOW!! You, my friend, are a brave brave man posting that prediction when that's like 13 wins below what Islesfan thought!

I guess anything is possible, but even though, even though we have a shot at being mediocre, I just think we just have too many talented players for us to go to that level again, and believe me, I hate saying we have just "Talent." But it can at least take you a little far.

I guess we need an extremist on both ends though!

Posted by Cookdcokehop:

Has there ever been a tandem like Zach and Curry in the NBA? What I mean by that is has there ever been two highly effective low post scorers with terrible defensive skills starting for a team? Fill me in because I REALLY feel this season will be a disaster. 25-57

Do you mean a tandem like them that was on a winning team? I can't say that I can really remember a bigtime tandem that was primarily offensive in nature. But then again we haven't really seen them play together yet. We don't know how they're gonna be used by Isiah this year and what kind of defensive schemes he'll employ. I'll also say that they play D, just not great HELP D. The absence of blocked shots isn't the whole story.

We should also look at the froncourt as a group and in that regard we have a very good one. Not many teams have a double double guy like Lee in addition to two 20pt scorers in the starting lineup. I think the defense this year is gonna be a very key factor for us. If we can find a way to hold teams under 100, I believe that will be enough to win games. For that to happen we have to cut down on TO's and play better periemeter D. We actually give up too many points from 3. As bad as people think our D is, it's not only the D that is leading to so many points. We gave up 100 ppg last year, but clearly we gave up easy points due to too many TO's and wide open 3's. Just fixing those areas should make a difference. I'd also expect a higher % from the FT line. Zach is a guy that get's to the line like Curry, but he hits for 82%.

I don't see the team going 25-57 but I do agree with your premise. Unless our TWO BEST PLAYERS, come ready to play defense than we aren't going to far. Mediocrity is about our level.

Posted by Cookdcokehop:

Has there ever been a tandem like Zach and Curry in the NBA? What I mean by that is has there ever been two highly effective low post scorers with terrible defensive skills starting for a team? Fill me in because I REALLY feel this season will be a disaster. 25-57

the closest i can think of would be moses and sir charles. those teams did well, but they ended up trading moses away. they both hit the boards hared obviously but they really went after the offensive boards and low-post scoring and neither was known for defense at all.

Robert Parish and McHale were not exactly fleet of foot. They both had decent midrange shots but played low.

THey did pretty well. They were good defense players and very professional on and off the court.

I think really good coaching is gonna make or break this!

From the answers it seems like Zach and Curry are the first of this low post tandem. Maybe because other teams realize it makes no sense to have 2 low post scorers and no low post defense.

Posted by Pharzeone:

Posted by Cookdcokehop:

From the answers it seems like Zach and Curry are the first of this low post tandem. Maybe because other teams realize it makes no sense to have 2 low post scorers and no low post defense.

First, I would not consider Randolph a primary low post scorer. He can shoot from the outside. His offensive skills resembles that of Karl Malone. So if you want to find a recent tandem, take a look at the 03-04 Lakers that had O'Neal and Malone on the same team. Also, as far as low post questions. Add the 96-97 Knicks to that list because many critics suggested it would not work because both Ewing and Johnson needed the low post to be effective.

[Edited by - pharzeone on 21-08-2007 11:57 AM]

Only difference is Shaq, Malone, Ewing, and Johnson played good D

Posted by Cookdcokehop:

Posted by Pharzeone:

Posted by Cookdcokehop:

From the answers it seems like Zach and Curry are the first of this low post tandem. Maybe because other teams realize it makes no sense to have 2 low post scorers and no low post defense.

First, I would not consider Randolph a primary low post scorer. He can shoot from the outside. His offensive skills resembles that of Karl Malone. So if you want to find a recent tandem, take a look at the 03-04 Lakers that had O'Neal and Malone on the same team. Also, as far as low post questions. Add the 96-97 Knicks to that list because many critics suggested it would not work because both Ewing and Johnson needed the low post to be effective.

[Edited by - pharzeone on 21-08-2007 11:57 AM]

Only difference is Shaq, Malone, Ewing, and Johnson played good D

Larry Johnson was widely viewed as a poor post defender until he arrived in NYC. Another reason why critics were outspoken against the trade. Trading Mason a strong post defender for a one that was considered a weak one.

Nix I agree with what you are saying but if we want to win a title eventually none of that matters. We are going to need some interior defense in order to do so. Find me a title team that didn't have great help defense. So either they have to improve by leaps and bounds or else we are wasting our time trying to build around them.

Posted by Cookdcokehop:

Posted by Bippity10:

Nix I agree with what you are saying but if we want to win a title eventually none of that matters. We are going to need some interior defense in order to do so. Find me a title team that didn't have great help defense. So either they have to improve by leaps and bounds or else we are wasting our time trying to build around them.

Exactly! Are we building a champion contender( Spurs,Pistons) or an offensive juggernaut(Suns,Mavs,Wizards)?

I think we've got a big part of the equation. Unlike the Suns, Mavs and Wizards, we have a dominant post offense. I think it will give us an advantage in the playoffs. Jumpshots can be off, but a dominant post game is a SOLID foundation like good defense. This team can still be a good defensive team with the use of our better perimeter defenders. We have guys that should be able to play better D this year in Balk, Mardy, Jared, Q and even Steph. I'm expecting these guys to be more attentive on the perimeter and that will help Zach and Eddy.

It's really just like Isiah said. They played with James Edwards and Laimbeer and got to the finals 3 years in a row. Neither guy was that amazing in terms of moving on help D. But they had good perimeter D and that helped. Isiah, Dumars and Rodman took up the slack and made Edwards and Laimbeer more effective since they didn't have to cover as much ground. We don't have that exactly, but Balk and Q aren't bad defenders along with Mardy and Jared. If they don't workout Isiah also has Malik, Chan and Jones if he's still here. I think the competition will make guys play harder to stay on the court.