more like for the past decade. And finally getting what we truly needed.
We got the best available FA in Tyson Chandler for our team.
The only 2 players that are similar to Chandler's size and athleticism is McGee and possibly Hibbert.
Chandler has great combination size, length, and defensive mentality with communication.
His defense is in the same category as Kevin Garnet, however, at the Center position.
No doubt Dwight Howard, is alone in his own category of AMAZING, but that's another story.
In my opinion, McGee and Hibbert, are both similar to Chandler than this year's FA centers.
Although Gasol, Deandre Jordan, and Nene have similar contracts with Chandler, they all have
different games. With McGee and Hibbert being RFA next year, they will probably look to cash
in as well. However, like this year's RFA in Gasol and Jordan, the teams are expected to match
the offer. So will team's still bite, being used to get a better deal than their RFA and following
year salaries?
Matt Gasol is the most different from then them all. He is a big body and is heavy, probably the
best post player among them all. He is probably the most fundamental center to go with, great all around
skills at his position, and size. It's not a coincidence, being a European player. Overseas, the
game, has a lot more basics and fundamentals vs athleticism and 1v1 play in the NBA. Unsurprisingly
he also has a great shot for a center. He has the ability to hit long range shots, European 3pointer.
What is surprising, especially for a European player, is that he loves contact on both ends of the court.
He is a extremely good post player, with moves, great passing, and high basketball IQ. Unfortunately,
he is playing with ZBo, who had shown he has a great ability to score and rebound and a high rate
throughout his career. Some people believe, Gasol, should be the #1 option ahead of ZBo because
he is the much better passer. While Zbo doesn't pass the ball much but shoots at over 50%, while averaging
20pts a game. He also has the ability to get fouled with a lot, shooting 400 FT's last year, while hitting
300 of them.
Deandre Jordan was a 2nd round pick and he surely made the greatest jump in pay, a situation where
being picked in the 2nd round cashed in for him vs being held to 3-4 years if he was picked in the 1st round.
He is listed at 6'11, with 7'6 wingspan, 9'5'5 standing reach, and is also quite athletic.
Last year, he showed, what he could do with the combination of the above, and he protected the paint
very well, especially with his help defense. He is still considered raw and has a lot of improving to do
but he can still score buckets, simply by dunking. He doesn't have a lot of offensive moves but with Griffen
getting so much attention and Jordan's physical talents, he can score over 10-12 points a game with
put backs and dunks. I believe this is where Cp3 would go to and Jordan, with Griffen, will greatly benefit
from Cp3's ability to pass and penetrate. Cp3 elevated Tyson Chandler's offensive game during his 2-3 years
at NO. Blake Griffen, can create for himself but Cp3 will make it only easier. Jordan however, will probably
benefit the most.
Nene Hilario was once a New York Knick's selection for minutes before he was part of a package with Camby
for Mcdyess and 2 2nd round picks. He was once aka the Brazilian "silk smooth", standing at 6'10,
7'4'5 wingspan, and 9'1 reach with explosive athleticism. He is known more for his offense, however, has great
speed and quickness as well, with steals. He has a smooth shot and is very quick for his size. He probably
is closer to PF than center, but could play center with his combination of quickness, length, agility, and
athleticism. He isn't a great defender but is adequate with his physical talents and mediocre rebounding.
He is probably the best scorer out of the centers, besides Dwight and Howard. He has a variety of lost post moves
to go with his shot. It would be unfair to call him a true center, while he capable of playing the position,
but would be undersized. Like Amare, he is probably the weakest at defense, among the FA's at center
position. Regardless what position he is, he a very talented player, and could be a 2nd to 3rd option on a good team.
He is probably the weakest at defense, among the FA's at center position.
I believe he can spark our players, the same KG, revived the Celtic's in one season alone.
Of course, one player can't cover 5 guys, in the end, its a TEAM effort.
Amare and Melo both have the ability to be good defenders, they just never tried as hard.
However, Melo will has to realize, he sometimes must go out and not let shooters shoot.
While at times, he can cheat for the rebounds. Amare showed us last year that he can be a good help
defender. He blocked/altered many shots for us to win games last year. He does need to work
on his 1v1 defense though. Not giving up position, boxing out, and it will be easier with Chandler.
He won't have to this vs 7foot 300 pounds centers and conserve some energy on offense.
However, it doesn't mean he can give up on defense. Everyone's job on the defensive end
just became easier, especially Amares. However, it doesn't mean any player should stop trying at all.
We must show that willingness to defend, take pride in it, and increase out effort. Standing at 7'1,
a wingspan of 7'3, and a reach of 9'1, he play's the best defense of this year's FA class.
Picked right out of High School with the 2nd and 4th overall pick in 2001, the Chicago Bulls
selected Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry to be the building blocks of rebuilding after Jordan's retirement.
He has grown and improved a lot since then, while Curry a early lead in the scoring department.
Chandler, hid Curry's inability to defend, grab rebounds, and block shots during their years in Chicago.
Over the years, its fair to stay, they were complete opposites, while Chandler improved in many areas and expanded
his defensive abilities over the course of his career. Chandler has nasty combination of size, strength, length, quickness,
speed, and athleticism. He mastered the use his this combination, able to even defend guard at times, and defending
the pick and roll. He takes full price in his defensive abilities and can score double digits without a play
called for him. His speed and quickness is very unique for someone his size and mixed with his other physical abilities
he has become one of the premier defenders with strength, size, and length. Being a diehard Knick fan for years, a
player of his caliber was what we were missing for the pass decade. Many laughed at me here, when I pushed for the
signing of him in the past years. Many people look at his stats, which aren't surprising at all. He averages
under double digit points, rebounds, with under 1.5 blocks his entire career. What many don't realize is that, he
isn't a stat whore at all. There is no stat for defense, there is no stat for getting a stop when needed most,
there is no stat for many things he does great in and he doesn't care, because the stats that matters most to him
is the Win and DEFENSE. And that is what he accomplished, leading the Dallas Mavericks to being a good defensive team for the
first time, removing the label "soft", and striking fear on both ends of the court. Surprisingly, Dallas and Cuban
decides to go after bigger FA next year, after wining their first Championship against the big trio of the Heat.
No one expected him, even me, after they won at Dallas. He has been one of the most under rated players of all the recent
years. New Orleans went from being a good defensive team, to a mediocre one, after Chandler left. His presence was
very much missed and part of the reason why Cp3's first thoughts of leaving the franchise began.
McGee is a more athletic version than Chandler. He has a great upside, however, he lacks the experience Chandler has.
McGee stands at 7' tall, wingspan of 7'6"5, and a reach of 9'6'5 with freakish athleticism for his size. Probably known
for his crazy dunks last year, at the slam dunk contest, showing off his athleticism and length.
Hibbert stands at 7'2 and has more length than both McGee and Chandler,however, lacks the athleticism that both have.
With his length, Hibbert, still has great combination. He actually also has a pretty good shot and free throw in his arsenal
as well. However, he is still raw, with plenty to learn. His rebounds, defense, foul prone, and scoring isn't consistent enough.
Both McGee and Hibbert still have a lot of learning to do, they are still very young, learning and improving everyday, and
haven't peaked out at all. They still have a high ceiling to be reached and still regarded as a young and high prospects. While,
both have not shown to be the "all star" to build around, they both are still at the very least starting caliber centers. It would
be interesting to see what the market price will be for them next year, as they can test the market, being RFA. Most importantly,
they can continue to improve, while Chandler has probably peaked out already. He did elevate his game last year, with his free throws.
He also even improved his defense and team defense, bringing it to another level.
McGee and Hibbert were both young prospects, in Gallo's draft. Both Hibbert and McGee were selected 17 and 18 after each other.
Ibaka was also picked after them, with at 24. We probably could have drafted all 3, trading down our picks, with the 6th pick.
We have also passed on Amare, "traded Nene", Mark Gasol, and of course Andrew Bynum. I honestly never thought, we would ever be able
to get a center of Chandler's caliber with our cap situation, lack of picks, and inability to draft one when we all the opportunities
were there. I think size is an issue, that Walsh has tried to covert the most, in the past years here. He knew that was what we lacked
and needed most importantly. However, Walsh just lost a little bit of himself after the Melo trade was official, and needed time to recover.
I do not think he was happy with Dolan's decision, overiding his plan he waited years to execute. He deserves credit, with Grunweld
and I sincerely Thank and Wish them the best, as our Knick's are back....
I don't know if Jorts can play PF. I know Jordan, can't play together with Chandler, they would be too slow together.
In fact, I am not even sure if he has the strength to even play in the league. It's possible both players can play rotation minutes,
close to 5-10minutes combined together. It would come out of Turiaf/JJ * especially at center * playing time.
However, Chris Hunter is the only other true legit big man, that can come in and contribute, at backup PF and center.
I really feel we should look at a player like Ak47, being able to play the SF-C, with his athleticism, quickness, and length.
He is a great team player, that emphasized defense, and his strength is his versatility mixed with the above. He also is one
of the only players to have ever record 6 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assist, 6 steals, and 6 blocks.
He almost lead the league one year in blocks with 220, just behind Camby, for an average of 3.3 blocks.
I would probably even prefer AK47 with 2.5m over Shawne Williams because of our lack of PFs, excluding JJ, I think he is
a great luxury to have in our 2nd unit and we should look hard at him. As for a shooter, we can look in to Peja as well.
Problem is we don't have many roster spots, I believe you can send one person to D league. With a roster of 15
3 can be inactive as well. So we can have a total of 16 players in contract, in a sense, if we can have one develop
in the D League. Deshawn Stevenson or Mo Evans are nice role players but AK47 was once a star and top defender in the league.
With 2.5m, I don't see a better risk/reward player that can play 3 positions, SF, PF, C. I haven't been hearing much on him
and I think he has game left in him to make a great contribution to this team. I would like to create more roster spots
with Balkman and Jeffries playing very limited roles. A few acquisitions, some practice together, and team effort and
I expect go be the unexpected trio to win it all this year...
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3347
12/14/2011 2:30 PM