I'm not saying that team couldn't be good, eventually. But, there is a team to the south of Portland that has a better C than Hibbert (and just as young) better or equal PF to Aldridge, and one of the best SGs in basketball history and couldn't get past the second round, so it is hard to get too excited about that lineup.
Now, Lillard can't possibly be worse than Felton, which is a plus. But, Portland might be the worst run franchise in hoops not located in Charlotte, and that is saying something. They were very shortsighted and petty with both Oden and Roy (I get the feeling Roy retired to get away from Portland), they ran off a successful coach in Nate McMillan, and have filtered through GMs like crazy. So, my confidence in them is very low.
I get the feeling that things wont quite work out, Aldridge will want out, Batum might get a "Blazer like" offer from someone else, and they will be left in a bad spot.
I hate to see them hurting like this. I absolutely loved the Pippen, Rasheed, Arvydas team. It might be my favorite hoops team of all time. How can a team with Rasheed and Arvydas be anything but my favorite.
Last edited by improbus; 07-01-2012 at 06:35 PM.
Variatio delectat - Cicero
I'd disagree a whole bunch about Pau Gasol being Aldridge's equal. Gasol's 2012 was the very definition of ordinary. LA also had perhaps the worst PG play of any team in the league. Worse than Felton, in fact. (As hard as that is to believe.) And their small forward and bench rotation were among the league's worst.
In short, LA has/ had a great player, a very good player, an average player, and little else resembling league average play.
I get the Portland questions. But I'm a sucker for young, cap-friendly teams with athletic upside and production. The Blazers have four players that should be among the top 10 players in the league, per position. They also have a couple rookies that could blossom.
Portland's Big Four-- Aldridge, Batum, and Lillard, and Hibbert-- could compare favorably with all but OKC as early as next season. Aldridge is a stud. Batum and Hibbert are very, very good, and Lillard's numbers look great. If Wes Matthews (or another SG) can man up, they're as good as anyone this side of OKC in the West. They've got more cap room to add pieces if need be and an owner historically open to adding talent. (Johnson from the ATL would be a nice guy to grab out from under the Nets' nose. And it wouldn't cost all that much in terms of talent. Only cash.)
And actually, the Portland and Indiana situations highlight the one fatal weakness of the NBA. Portland and Indiana are stuck in the dreaded middle ground. They havent bottomed out to get a LeBron, Durant, or Wade in the draft, but they arent good enough to lure the top free agents. If you don't have at least one A+ player, you have almost no chance to win it all. Right now, there are only a few players that I can see leading their teams to a finals victory:
LeBron
Durant
Kobe (maybe, his window might have closed)
Dwight (if he gets his head straight)
Rose (he needs more help)
Dirk (only if he sobers up from last years championship)
That is about it. I'm not sure a PG can do it (Isaiah was the last over 20 years ago). Duncan isn't that player any more. Garnett is close, but he needs a lot of help on the offensive end. Carmelo hasn't figured out the other side of the ball.
For the record, you can bring up the 2004 Pistons as a counterbalance, but that year was a massive fluke. LeBron wasn't 19. The Lakers should have run everyone over (the Karl Malone injury was actually huge. He was playing really well as a distributer in the high post playing something akin to the Lamar Odom role for the Lakers the last few years). The Pacers should have represented the East, but there was this fight thing... Manu only played 38 games.
So, if you don't have one of those guys, what do you do? Well, you sign Joe Johnson for 19 million a year or Roy Hibbert for 14.5 per year, crippling your cap flexibility and tethering yourself to B level players. That is why I admire what Daryl Morey in Houston is doing. He is going all in after Dwight, even if he says he doesn't want to stay. He is hoping that once Dwight gets there, he will like it and want to keep playing in Houston. Sometimes, you have to roll the dice.
Variatio delectat - Cicero
Plumlee was drafted to fill the role Amundson filled last year--the role Jeff Foster filled for many years.
I was thinking along the lines of, say, Chris Kamen and Ian Mahinmi in a tag-team situation with Plumlee gaining minutes at both C and PF.
One advantage the Pacers have is that they can offer Hibbert a fifth year, possibly back loading the deal. More than likely, Hibbert will remain a Pacer. But if George Hill receives an outrageous offer, the Pacers will have no choice except to let the "hometown hero" go, which puts pressure on both Orlando Johnson and Lance Stephenson to perform--unless the Pacers can sign Mayo or Crawford.
Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
Actually, that was the following Fall. It was the Rasheed Wallace heist that Joe Dumars performed at the '04 deadline, one that the Pacers could have/should have just as easily performed, that propelled the Pistons past the Pacers and onto their ensuing championship.The Pacers should have represented the East, but there was this fight thing.
Other than that, I wholeheartedly agree with your post.
Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
Gasol's play was as much a result of poor positioning as anything else. He shot the same percentages as last year, but because he was playing much further from the basket, he took way more jumpers. In 2010-2011, he took 40% of his shots at the rim, 30% from the paint, and 30% on jumpers. In 2011-2012, he took 34% of his shots at the rim, 23% in the paint, 40% on jumpers, and 3% on 3s (while actually making 7 of 18 corner 3s). Also, he only averaged one point less per game. One last thing on Gasol vs. Aldridge. LaMarcus is the number one option on his team, and Gasol is the number 2 and sometimes 3 option. If Pau got the same number of shots, his scoring would be very similar to LaMarcus.
Last edited by improbus; 07-01-2012 at 07:43 PM.
Variatio delectat - Cicero
Rasheed again, I do love that man. Sorry about the year mix up. I always get the two year/single season thing wrong. The same applies to he National Championship game in College Football and the Super Bowl. I can never remember is the Bengals made the Super Bowl for the 1988 or 1989 season...
Variatio delectat - Cicero
This is a very, very good point, though I would probably be comfortable insisting Rondo be added to that group after the playoffs he just had. Dude was Oscar-Robertson-good.
Over the next five years, I might add:
Davis in NOLA (that Davis/ Rivers/ Gordon nucleus is really young and really talented, with inside, outside, and driving abilities)
Cousins in Sacramento (assuming they can find a guard that can actually, y'know, pass the ball-- love TRobinson's game as a fourth option double-double machine)
Blake Griffin and Chris Paul in LA might be rightthere if Odom can find his old school game lost somewhere between LA and Dallas (though they might be one dead-eye shooter short)
Beyond that, yeah, there's little hope for anyone else.
Variatio delectat - Cicero
I also don't want it to look like I am disparaging LaMarcus. He is a very good player. I would like to see him rebound more for a guy his size and take a few less jumpers, but he can definitely be the second guy on an champ.
Variatio delectat - Cicero
Free Agency Primer: Forwards & Centers
http://www.behindthebasket.com/btb/2...s-centers.html
Free Agency Primer: The Guards
http://www.behindthebasket.com/btb/2...he-guards.html
Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
Can you throw my Houston Rockets into that mix? Seems like every year they are finishing with a just-barely winning record and finishing 9th in the West. Picking in the middle of the first round is not a winning formula.And actually, the Portland and Indiana situations highlight the one fatal weakness of the NBA. Portland and Indiana are stuck in the dreaded middle ground. They havent bottomed out to get a LeBron, Durant, or Wade in the draft, but they arent good enough to lure the top free agents.
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