XMAS and Smith frankly looked lost to me, over whelmed , they were out classed by the Euro guys even. That won't cut it in the NBA talent pool.
I think Doc & Danny needs to keep an eye open for a REAL POINT guard .
I agree absolutely. From what I've seen XMAS is an absolute non-option at the PG spot.
Jamar Smith looks TERRIBLE out there. Not only does he look uncomfortalbe handling the ball and running the offense, but he never seems to want to do anything but jack up bad shots early in the shot clock.
To be honest I wasn't too impressed by any of the young guys outside of Melo and Sullinger.
Ironically Joseph was probably the one I liked best simply because he didn't do anything, and not doing anything is better than doing terrible things.
In short I think we have more than enough youth on our roster right now. I'd I would much rather ditch all of those unproven young guys, pick up one proven veteran PG with solid IQ, and leave any other roster spots free for later.
People are giving Dooling a hard time about how he played the point. He's not a pure point guard, but he did a pretty reasonable job considering he's a combo-guard and was injured a couple of times throughout the season.
He was reasonably quick, handled the ball well enough, was a bearable passer and played solid defense. He was never a fantastic playmaker, but combo-guards rarely are.
He was about 10,000x better at the role than any rookie currently on our roster, and even if he was average as a PG at least he was proven and consistent...you knew what you were going to get.
Lee and Bradley are no better at PG than Dooling was and I don't know if Terry is really much better either - all are predominantly SG's who can bring the ball up.
Carlos Arroyo is a HELL NO. We had him for a little while if you guys remember, and he was utterly useless. He might be a superstar in international leagues, but his game doesn't seem to translate at all to the NBA because he was garbage when he came here.
Out of the guys in that list I'd definately take Derek Fisher. He may not be ideal but he's experienced and he spent years playing as the starting PG on playoff teams - yes I know this was in the Triangle offense (where the PG handles the ball less) but fact remains he held down the position, he's tough mentally, he plays hard, and come playoff time he's one of the most clutch shooters of the last two decades. For a 1 year vet min contract we could do a LOT worse.
For example we could sign any of the young guys we're working out right now...that would be worse.
If (by mid season) a better PG becomes available, let him go...or sign someone to the spare roster spot, and let Fisher ride the bench until his contract expires at the end of the season.
As I said it sure as hell isn't ideal, but it will do the job and has practically zero risk. The 'ideal' option right now does not exist.
Also Barbosa is not an option because:
1. He probably wouldn't sign for vet min
2. He's a shot jacker
3. As a playmaker he'd make Dooling look like John Stockton