2012 - CB Draft: "How's My Team Look?"

[indeedproceed]

CB Draft: Utah Jazz

PG - Deron Williams
SF - Danilo Gallinari
PF - Zach Randolph

I think the team is in good shape offensively. Top three options in place. Next few picks will likely have more of a defensive focus.

My biggest reserves are 'Can Z-Bo return to 2011 form? And 'Can Deron Williams still be Deron Williams'

Gallo I'm a huge fan of. He's tough, and he earned a lot of respect from me last season.

[Who]

How about Detroit?

PG: Paul
SG
SF: Gay

There is something about this that doesn't sit right with me. Not with CP3/Gay or Nash/Gay.

I am big fan of Rudy Gay's. I think he is a very good player. I consider him the 5th best SF in the league behind LeBron, Durant, Melo and Pierce. And he could surpass Melo and/or Pierce in the near future if he keeps improving.

But I question how well he'll play with a PG like Steve Nash or Chris Paul. He likes the ball in his own hands. Likes to play one-on-one basketball offensively. Can be a bit of a ball-stopper at times as a result. He doesn't accept help well from his teammates. Keeps trying to do things on his own instead of playing off of opportunities others create (such as Z-Bo + M.Gasol in Memphis and also M.Conley).

So I wonder how smoothly he'll fit alongside a guy like Nash or CP3.

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Don't get me wrong, I think it'll work. Work well ... just not wonderfully.

But that there will be some diminished returns there. And I wonder if Detroit aren't better off trading Gay for a player who better suits Steve Nash's style of basketball. Maybe a big man that Nash can play the two man game with. I wonder if that would give Detroit a larger gain than Gay gives them.

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That was one of the things that was holding me back a bit on Phoenix's trio with Nash, Gay and Love and why I thought trading Gay for Joakim Noah was such a good move for them. The superior balance and on-court chemistry it created.

[WeMadeIt17]

What's everyone think of the knicks

[indeedproceed]

What's everyone think of the knicks

I like Rubio, I like Ibaka, and one of the two of Melo/Ellis. Like it way better without Cousins.

[Roy H.]

Elton Brand was a surprising choice at center.

The pick surprised me, too.  

In all seriousness, I like Brand in the role of center.  We all think that a center needs to be 7'0".  As we saw here in Boston, though, a strong guy like BBD could be an effective defensive center, because he could muscle guys away from the hoop.  Brand has that strength, but he also possesses athleticism and instincts that a guy like BBD doesn't.  That's why Brand was an elite defender last year.  I won't rehash the article I posted, but both in the regular season and playoffs, Brand's defense was top notch, and he was always drawing the toughest defensive assignments.

Obviously, there's a long way to go.  However, if Miami can win a title with Ru Paul at center, I think Lebron can thrive with a superior defensive big man in the middle.

[Roy H.]

What's everyone think of the knicks

I like Rubio, I like Ibaka, and one of the two of Melo/Ellis. Like it way better without Cousins.

I don't like Ellis, period.  I can't think of any type of contender that he could thrive on.  We thought about sticking him beside Lebron, but the bad outweighs the good.

I have concerns about Carmelo sharing the ball with a high-assist PG.  That's probably me just reacting poorly to ___-sanity, though.  Carmelo hated sharing the ball there, but Rubio is a lot less ball-dominant than Carmelo's last PG.

[indeedproceed]

Obviously, there's a long way to go.  However, if Miami can win a title with Ru Paul at center, I think Lebron can thrive with a superior defensive big man in the middle.

LeDiva wouldve choked the Boston series away without Bosh's help.

People keep propping up Lebron, but understand, the guy needed two top 20 players to finally win a title. I'd be nicer to Ru Paul, without him you'd just be spending another year explaining why Lebron won't choke.

[Roy H.]

Obviously, there's a long way to go.  However, if Miami can win a title with Ru Paul at center, I think Lebron can thrive with a superior defensive big man in the middle.

LeDiva wouldve choked the Boston series away without Bosh's help.

People keep propping up Lebron, but understand, the guy needed two top 20 players to finally win a title. I'd be nicer to Ru Paul, without him you'd just be spending another year explaining why Lebron won't choke.

Lebron couldn't single-handedly beat Boston, a team of three (and maybe four) Hall of Famers?  I'm not sure that Jordan could beat the original Big Three by himself, either (despite dropping 63 points).

Make no mistake, though:  Lebron beat Boston, and he came up insanely clutch.  45 points and 15 boards in Game 6, where he seemingly couldn't miss.  31 and 12 in the clincher.  What was Wonderboy Wade doing in those games?  Averaging 20 points on 41% shooting.  That's pretty weak for a "superstar".  Ru Paul was big in Game 7, but Games 5 and 6 were pretty pedestrian.  

You could have taken any SG and PF in the top 1/3 of players at their position and Lebron still would have won a title.  He was that dominant, and I expect that you know it.  Crown him, because Lebron finally played like a king when it counted.

[indeedproceed]

Without Bosh playing tough, beyond what we though or knew he was capable of, LeBron is not a champion. you can't call bosh soft after those playoffs anymore than you can call Lebron a choke artist.

[StartOrien]

Without Bosh playing tough, beyond what we though or knew he was capable of, LeBron is not a champion. you can't call bosh soft after those playoffs anymore than you can call Lebron a choke artist.

So if I hear you guys right, what you're saying is that neither Bosh nor Lebron could win a championship without each other?

[Roy H.]

Without Bosh playing tough, beyond what we though or knew he was capable of, LeBron is not a champion. you can't call bosh soft after those playoffs anymore than you can call Lebron a choke artist.

No?  You'll concede that Ru Paul had nothing to do with any of the first 3 wins, right?  He was injured in two, and shot poorly in the third.

So, Ru Paul is now "tough" based upon one game?  A game when he had exactly *one* inside bucket.  Bosh wasn't pounding the ball inside, scoring against tough defense.  Rather, he got hot, and hit a bunch of open shots.  He was playing as far away from the basket as possible, bombing away on three pointers. 

Or was it that tough interior defense he was playing against Boston's great interior combo of Jump Shooter #1 and Jump Shooter #2?  Still, Boston's starting jump-shooting big men shot 60% in Game 7.  Tough Guy Ru Paul wasn't using his toughness to shut people down.

Dude is soft.  The fact that he shot some three pointers and allowed the guys he was guarding to score at a 60% clip doesn't disprove that.

[Roy H.]

Without Bosh playing tough, beyond what we though or knew he was capable of, LeBron is not a champion. you can't call bosh soft after those playoffs anymore than you can call Lebron a choke artist.

So if I hear you guys right, what you're saying is that neither Bosh nor Lebron could win a championship without each other?

Lebron would have won a championship with probably 45 other big men other than Ru Paul.  He just needed somebody competent.  He won three games against Boston with either no contribution from Bosh, or a minimal one.

[indeedproceed]

Without Bosh playing tough, beyond what we though or knew he was capable of, LeBron is not a champion. you can't call bosh soft after those playoffs anymore than you can call Lebron a choke artist.

So if I hear you guys right, what you're saying is that neither Bosh nor Lebron could win a championship without each other?

Kinda. Basically I'm saying it's hypocritical to cast Lebron in this new light while not doing the same for Bosh. Kinda like how Kobe shed the 'can't win without Shaq' but casual basketball fans still called Pau soft.

[Rondo2287]

Without Bosh playing tough, beyond what we though or knew he was capable of, LeBron is not a champion. you can't call bosh soft after those playoffs anymore than you can call Lebron a choke artist.

So if I hear you guys right, what you're saying is that neither Bosh nor Lebron could win a championship without each other?

Kinda. Basically I'm saying it's hypocritical to cast Lebron in this new light while not doing the same for Bosh. Kinda like how Kobe shed the 'can't win without Shaq' but casual basketball fans still called Pau soft.

The dude was wearing a man purse during the finals

[nickagneta]

Houston Boxers

PG: Russell Westbrook
SG: Paul George
SF:
PF:
C: Marcin Gortat

The Boxers are a happy pack.