I don't care how much offense you think you have--if you don't play sound defense --you are not winning championships in any sport. They are soft inside --Hansborough wilted and was pushed around against bigger players and they just seemed to get rattled. The best player by far that I saw with NBA talent was Jeff Teague who looks like the second coming of Tony Parker with wicked hops included. He is able to do what Tony does--he uses incredible quickness and agility to find seams to the basket at will against anyone or is able to space a mid range J. Just like Tony this allows a guard to shoot a much higher % than a guard who shoots the ball from 18 feet too much. A little bit of a smallish combo guard but realistically so is Tony. Derozen played pretty good as did Holiday but not on the level of Teague in the other game. Derozen looks much better than early in the season but he needs to stay in school. Taj Gibson looks like a guy who can be a good player upfront in high tempo.

I've seen all of the guard prospects and in terms of NBA Teague looks better than Curry Harden and any other guard you want to put in there.

[Edited by - BRIGGS on 01-12-2009 01:39 AM]

Caught the end of the UNC/Wake game. You're right, Jeff Teague looks like a bigtime talent. Very quick with a scorer's mentality. What did he go for tonight, 34? 3rd time he's gone for 30 or more this season. This kid's shooting over 51% from 3 this season but I agree, that's not even the best part of his game. Curious that he's not being considered on some of the 2009 mocks out there - he will be if he keeps playing like this, I think he's probably lottery-level talent right now. Good ending to the game - Danny Green had a good one for UNC and kept it close right to the end...

Taj Gibson's early foul trouble (he missed 14 mins. in the 1st half) against the Bruins killed USC tonight. When he's on the floor though, this guy's a steady factor. He often goes ignored by his teammates for long stretches which is bizarre - he's their best player and a guy who's been there for a while now - if he got the ball more like he should, he'd easily be at the 20 ppg plateau. Can't understand why he's not demanding the ball more and why Tim Floyd's not making it a point to feature him in the offense more. He's shooting 60% from the floor with a lot of mid-range jumpers mixed in. That's impressive. I don't get it - the ball should be going through this guy almost every trip down court. He's everything you'd want out of a PF - not huge but big enough at around 6'9"/230 lb. and long with a large enough frame to support another 10 lbs. of muscle comfortably, he's solid in the post with both hands on quick drop-steps while also possessing a real solid face-up game with nice touch out to 17-18', can put it on the deck and get to the rim from the key or the elbow, athletic and runs the court well, doesn't panic with the ball in his hands and usually makes good decisions passing the rock, is a very good rebounder on both ends AND he's very active on defense -- quality shot-blocker who contests shots inside and on the perimeter (came all the way out to block a Josh Shipp baseline 3 tonight which was very impressive) as well as showing excellent foot speed to pop out to double a penetrating guard and either stick with him or recover quick enough to get back to his own man again (the Knicks do this routinely with David Lee and it never works because Lee's lousy at it). I see all of these strengths translating well to the next level. Probably won't be a star but he's definitely an NBA player in the Drew Gooden mold with a good chance to be even more. He's a nice value PF package overall and a guy I'd love for the Knicks to grab somehow. Nbadraft.net has him fluctuating as a late 1st/early 2nd round pick for a couple of weeks now. He's a little older for a junior and maybe that hurts his stock some but if he stays at that spot, I think he's a steal for some team come draft night...

I was thinking about something with Washington -

How about David Lee, Chris Duhon, Malik Rose and Roberson for Etan Thomas, Mike James, Nick Young, Javale McGee and their 2009 2nd rounder. If they didn't want to part with McGee I might still do the deal with Javaris Crittenton instead, though I'd have to push hard for McGee.

The Wizards would save about $13.7 mil. next year and the younger Lee/Duhon combo. (who work very well together) is a huge upgrade over Thomas/James. Acquiring Duhon/trading Young would allow Arenas to play more at the 2 when he returns (where he probably belongs anyway) and Butler and Stevenson can also help cover the SG spot. They have a huge financial commitment with Antawn Jamison but maybe getting Lee opens up another trade with Caron Butler, who has a much more managable contract to trade. Whatever the case, they could absolutely use a David Lee and what he brings to the table. Maybe with their lottery pick the Wizards take Hasheem Thabeet or Jordan Hill which could open up the possibility of them moving McGee (who they haven't been playing a lot & developing properly anyway - odd considering Haywood's missed the entire season so far). Lee, Jamison, Butler, Dominic McGuire, Andray Blatche along with Thabeet or Hill would make for a real nice frontcourt for them moving forward. For us, Thomas and James aren't much but help keep us afloat for the next yr. and a half (where winning games is no longer the name of the game, at least not this year) and both come right off the cap in 2010. We also get 3 nice salary-controlled pieces to work with - either McGee or Crittenton, Nick Young who's a real nice starting SG in the making with good size and ability (the guy had 28 on 12-15 from the floor the other night @ Chicago) and that early 2nd rounder that we could possibly turn into a Taj Gibson or package with some cash to move up to get a 2nd 1st round pick...


[Edited by - finestrg on 01-12-2009 12:24 PM]

Teague younger brother is twice the player he is. One of the top 2011 kids and will probably go to Louisville