I'm starting to get really annoyed with not improving my team further. To rectify that, I'm going to write a long winded diatribe about it most of you probably won't finish while I enjoy the wonderful programming on a thursday.
Harris
Sefelosha
Casspi
Lee
Lopez
Idealistic Pros:
Harris is still young, and had a borderline all-star season last year. This year he's been inconsistent, and kinda pouty at times, but idealistically (see that? see what I did there?) a lot of that you can chalk up to a season mired in uncertainty and an expectation to frankly, fail. Couple that with obviously drastic changes in the wind and an impending move, change in ownership, and open desire from the Nets management to shed all salary not taken by Brook Lopez, and you can understand the man's frustration.
Sefelosha is a very good defensive wing. Just very very good. He's dedicated to his role too. He also bounced back from a career low in 3's last season to up his rate to 33% this season, which while not spectacular, isn't terrible either. He also plays alongside Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, who are both excellent scorers in their own right, no Thabo has never really been asked to expand his role with the thunder. He has nonetheless managed to hold off James Harden thusfar this season both for playing time and the starting role. I don't think he can really improve too much more as an offensive creator, but I don't think he's reached his offensive ceiling yet either. I think he can top out somewhere around 9 points per game, and up his 3pt % to around 35%.
Omri Casspi has been one of the top three rookies for nearly all season. Nobody has noticed because he plays behind the best rookie, Tyreke Evans. He's an excellent 3pt shooter, and on top of that, his biggest knock coming into the season was his 3pt shot. He's primarily known as a hard nosed passionate player, and a slasher. He'll be a cornerpiece on my franchise
David Lee is another 100% player kinda guy, and this season he's averaging 19pts and 11 rebounds. He's got an okay mid range shot, and he's not scared to put the ball on the floor. He's not known as much of a defender, but he's used to defending centers. He shouldn't be overmatched every night so much against smaller 4's, and he's fast enough to guard them. I hope.
Brook Lopez is one of the best young centers in the league, bar none. Behind 'the Dwight', he may be the best. He's averaging 19pts and 9 boards on an awful team. He's also grabbing 2 blocks per game.
I see my starting 5 as an inside out kind of team, that will get better as they all mature. The oldest guy out there is David Lee's 26. I picked guys that I think are dedicated, and guys that will gel without egos. Maybe we're not quite a playoff team yet, but Nets management under my vision will be patient enough to allow them to develop. In a lot of ways, we're trying to mold ourselves after the OKC thunder. Not Roy's ridiculous incarnation, but the actual team. (wink!)
Cynically pragmatic (or pragmatically cynical?) diagnoses:
Devin Harris was a borderline all-star last year. That was when they ran the ball primarily through Vince Carter. They traded Carter, and put two young wings out there and have been letting Harris run the show. He's responded with a big stinking pile of shaving cream for his play. Can't say that gives me huge amounts of confidence to run my squad.
Thabo Sefelosha creates his own shot about as well as Milli Vanilli creates music. That is all.
Omri Casspi was one of the best rookies in the league coming into the new year. Since then he's been demoted to second string at times, he's complained about playing time, and his numbers have dropped. Flash in the pan? I'm gonna hope not.
David Lee gets a stellar near 20-10 average, On. The. Knicks. He scores a lot of his points because he can outquick the bigger centers. He's not necessarily going to have that same option against 4's. His rebounding will probably drop too because he's playing next to someone who actually rebounds.
Brook Lopez..well he's just awesome.
I cynically see this as a team that cannot score, and is lacking a battle tested defensive leader. So, if I plan to have a defensively sound team, a lot of things have to go right. David Lee needs to improve because he's facing smaller assignments (literally). Brook Lopez is going to need to evolve into a legit defensive powerhouse of a center, quickly. Casspi, Harris will need to commit 100% against opposing teams. That's a lot of ifs.
The next two picks are going to matter a lot for me.
Topic: Is Your Pick Two Team Better than When it Started? (Read 195597 times)