Vote NOW for the CB Draft Playoffs, Conference Finals (Q&A Thread)

[Roy H.]

Dons,

I refer you to this post:

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=41728.msg846197#msg846197

And read this:

I mean Dirk Nowitzki is a great player, but LeBron James has not gone 2 consecutive years without at least making the Conference Finals since 2004-2005. Dirk hasn't made it past the second round in 4 years, and didn't make it past the 1st round in 3 of those 4 years. Jason Kidd didn't make a difference. Neither did Jason Terry (better than anyone on your bench), Brendan Haywood (better than Gortat), Shawn Marion (better than Rip Hamilton or Corey Maggette), or Caron Butler (better than Rip Hamilton and Corey Maggette).

And you're postulating that Dirk can break my defense and stop my offense? You're saying that Dirk can send LeBron home because of a broken Rip Hamilton, plus Corey Maggette and Marcin Gortat? No way.

EDIT: Alright, I got a 45 min ride home. I will discuss this more after that.

Appreciate the quick response, IP.

That's 1, where's the other 3?  

My argument is in the same thread:

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=41728.msg846077#msg846077

Phoenix's is in there, too.

[Rondo2287]

And just saying people are old, broken, wearing down doesnt make it so.  

Kidd was still top 5 in the NBA in Assists, Stls, and Assist to TO ratio

Dirk was All NBA second team, and i contest should have been first because all NBA first team doesnt have a true PF but i digress

And as i said, a broken down Rip averaged 19 pts per game and shot a higher percentage than your second offensive option while playing solid defense.  

Some Notable Maggette Stats

7.9 fta/g. Fourth among all SFs in free throw attempts per game, trailing only Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.

51.6% fg%. Only Nicolas Batum (51.9%) shot better from the field in 09/10 among small forwards.

66.2% at rim. Maggette's driving ability meant a significant chunk of his shots came at the rim, where he finished at a good clip,12th among all small forwards.

27 charges taken. Maggette knows how to draw charges, ranking fourth among small forwards in charges taken.

20.40 PER. Fourth among all small forwards in PER, ahead of such notable names as Danny Granger, Paul Pierce, and Gerald Wallace.

[Rondo2287]

However i do have to say, if i finish 4th in this thing after getting the 12th pick in the draft i will feel pretty accomplished.  And also, if i learned anything about this year its that i need to learn more about the basketball sabermetrics, half of IP's arguments i didnt understand cause they went right over myhead.  which is why i couldnt combat alot of them haha

[Donoghus]

Question for Milwaukee:

I hate Maggette and am not completely sold on Gortat aa a starter.  What makes you think that a team that has Maggette as one of their centerpieces can keep advancing in the playoffs? 

[Donoghus]

Question for Chicago:

How many minutes do you plan to have Ilyasova on Dirk?  Can Ersan really hang with him?  Can Amundson?

[Rondo2287]

Question for Milwaukee:

I hate Maggette and am not completely sold on Gortat aa a starter.  What makes you think that a team that has Maggette as one of their centerpieces can keep advancing in the playoffs? 

I would say that while people may not like Maggette they have to respect what he does.  When you look at his career he is going to average 17-20 points a game, 6-7 rbs, shoot a good percentage and get to the free throw line.  

One of the main reasons why the celtics lost in the finals was because they were in the penalty very early in the quarter.  One of the things that Maggette does is not necessarily get a single player in foul trouble but gets the team in foul trouble because of how often he is on the line.  This makes the rest of his team more effective.  Means other defensive players can't be as agressive on Dirk and Rip, or they risk putting them on the line.  You will also notice that my starting 5 other than gortat are all above average to very good free throw shooters.  

[Roy H.]

Milwaukee,

Don't you wish you still had Prince and Ray?

[Donoghus]

Question for Milwaukee:

I hate Maggette and am not completely sold on Gortat aa a starter.  What makes you think that a team that has Maggette as one of their centerpieces can keep advancing in the playoffs? 

I would say that while people may not like Maggette they have to respect what he does.  When you look at his career he is going to average 17-20 points a game, 6-7 rbs, shoot a good percentage and get to the free throw line.  

One of the main reasons why the celtics lost in the finals was because they were in the penalty very early in the quarter.  One of the things that Maggette does is not necessarily get a single player in foul trouble but gets the team in foul trouble because of how often he is on the line.  This makes the rest of his team more effective.  Means other defensive players can't be as agressive on Dirk and Rip, or they risk putting them on the line.  You will also notice that my starting 5 other than gortat are all above average to very good free throw shooters.  

So you're banking on your guys to get to the free throw line?  Your hope is to get the other team into foul trouble? 

It's the playoffs, if you're banking on getting the other team to get into foul trouble, isn't that wishful thinking?  I mean, in the playoffs the refs seem to let things fly a bit more.

Plus, I can't ever imagine Lebron getting into foul trouble.  If he's guarding Maggette, your boy Corey might not be seeing the line as much as you hope.

[Rondo2287]

Milwaukee,

Don't you wish you still had Prince and Ray?

Not really, Ray turned into Rip and Gortat, i still think thats a good deal for me.  

And while people may not like Maggette I think we are gonna find out just how good he can be for real milwaukee.  

I still think Maggette is a better fit for my team and is a legit second scoring option that adds diversity to my offense.  

[Rondo2287]

Question for Milwaukee:

I hate Maggette and am not completely sold on Gortat aa a starter.  What makes you think that a team that has Maggette as one of their centerpieces can keep advancing in the playoffs? 

I would say that while people may not like Maggette they have to respect what he does.  When you look at his career he is going to average 17-20 points a game, 6-7 rbs, shoot a good percentage and get to the free throw line.  

One of the main reasons why the celtics lost in the finals was because they were in the penalty very early in the quarter.  One of the things that Maggette does is not necessarily get a single player in foul trouble but gets the team in foul trouble because of how often he is on the line.  This makes the rest of his team more effective.  Means other defensive players can't be as agressive on Dirk and Rip, or they risk putting them on the line.  You will also notice that my starting 5 other than gortat are all above average to very good free throw shooters.  

So you're banking on your guys to get to the free throw line?  Your hope is to get the other team into foul trouble? 

It's the playoffs, if you're banking on getting the other team to get into foul trouble, isn't that wishful thinking?  I mean, in the playoffs the refs seem to let things fly a bit more.

Plus, I can't ever imagine Lebron getting into foul trouble.  If he's guarding Maggette, your boy Corey might not be seeing the line as much as you hope.

Dons, in their matchups, Maggette is the only SF in the league that averages more free throw attempts than Lebron.

Also, I didnt mean that i was counting on getting other teams into foul trouble im just saying its an added bonus while Maggette scores 20 pg.

[Donoghus]

Question for Milwaukee:

I hate Maggette and am not completely sold on Gortat aa a starter.  What makes you think that a team that has Maggette as one of their centerpieces can keep advancing in the playoffs? 

I would say that while people may not like Maggette they have to respect what he does.  When you look at his career he is going to average 17-20 points a game, 6-7 rbs, shoot a good percentage and get to the free throw line.  

One of the main reasons why the celtics lost in the finals was because they were in the penalty very early in the quarter.  One of the things that Maggette does is not necessarily get a single player in foul trouble but gets the team in foul trouble because of how often he is on the line.  This makes the rest of his team more effective.  Means other defensive players can't be as agressive on Dirk and Rip, or they risk putting them on the line.  You will also notice that my starting 5 other than gortat are all above average to very good free throw shooters.  

So you're banking on your guys to get to the free throw line?  Your hope is to get the other team into foul trouble? 

It's the playoffs, if you're banking on getting the other team to get into foul trouble, isn't that wishful thinking?  I mean, in the playoffs the refs seem to let things fly a bit more.

Plus, I can't ever imagine Lebron getting into foul trouble.  If he's guarding Maggette, your boy Corey might not be seeing the line as much as you hope.

Dons, in their matchups, Maggette is the only SF in the league that averages more free throw attempts than Lebron.

Also, I didnt mean that i was counting on getting other teams into foul trouble im just saying its an added bonus while Maggette scores 20 pg.

That's H2H?  With Lebron actually on Maggette?

[Rondo2287]

Question for Milwaukee:

I hate Maggette and am not completely sold on Gortat aa a starter.  What makes you think that a team that has Maggette as one of their centerpieces can keep advancing in the playoffs? 

I would say that while people may not like Maggette they have to respect what he does.  When you look at his career he is going to average 17-20 points a game, 6-7 rbs, shoot a good percentage and get to the free throw line.  

One of the main reasons why the celtics lost in the finals was because they were in the penalty very early in the quarter.  One of the things that Maggette does is not necessarily get a single player in foul trouble but gets the team in foul trouble because of how often he is on the line.  This makes the rest of his team more effective.  Means other defensive players can't be as agressive on Dirk and Rip, or they risk putting them on the line.  You will also notice that my starting 5 other than gortat are all above average to very good free throw shooters.  

So you're banking on your guys to get to the free throw line?  Your hope is to get the other team into foul trouble? 

It's the playoffs, if you're banking on getting the other team to get into foul trouble, isn't that wishful thinking?  I mean, in the playoffs the refs seem to let things fly a bit more.

Plus, I can't ever imagine Lebron getting into foul trouble.  If he's guarding Maggette, your boy Corey might not be seeing the line as much as you hope.

Dons, in their matchups, Maggette is the only SF in the league that averages more free throw attempts than Lebron.

Also, I didnt mean that i was counting on getting other teams into foul trouble im just saying its an added bonus while Maggette scores 20 pg.

That's H2H?  With Lebron actually on Maggette?

Yup, and when you look at the box scores, lebron isnt often in foul trouble but the big men behind him often finish the game with 4 or 5

[Donoghus]

Question for Sacramento:

Does your team have much left in the tank after, presumably, a 7 game series in the semis against Utah?  We've seen teams in the past survive a 7 game series only to simply "run out of gas" in the following series?  How will this be different?

How much do you really think Dampier will slow down Howard?  I'm not really seeing it. Not seeing it with Randolph, either. Also, to me, foul trouble isn't really gonna be a factor this late in the playoffs so I hate to see teams throw out that they might be banking on it.  Is whoever going to be going up against Howard really gonna be able to be effective offensively being guarded by him?

[Donoghus]

Question for Phoenix:

Can you illustrate to me how the heck Wes Matthews is going to stop Derrick Rose? 

Is Salmons guarding Lewis?  Isn't that quite the mismatch?  How will you minimize the damage there?  Just hoping Salmons can outscore Lewis on the offensive end?

[StartOrien]

Wesley Matthews is a very skilled defensive player who will use his defensive abilities, and good game planning (challenging Rose to shoot) to limit D-Rose.

Salmons and Hedo will split Rashard duty. And you're somewhat right Dons, either way it's a slight mismatch offensively. But I think b/c of his lack of lateral quickness, Rashard has a lot tougher of a time defending Salmons/Hedo than Salmons/Hedo will have defending him.