aren't you even least bit disappointed that you ended up with boozer and not wade, lebron, joe johnson, bosh or amare? still, that's a strong team...
Amare? Seriously? Why would anyone be disappointed with a player that can't play defence. We got Boozer and Korver for the same price as Amare. I'm not too disappointed that we didn't get any of those three players because the team is very well rounded and has many "possibilities" (thanks Rafa).
But we don't need Korver to play defence and he won't play a lot of minutes. He'll probably be the 2nd off the bench.
I'm even more glad that the Bulls weren't completely impressed with Tracy "30 points" McGrady. Last person I want on this team. Actually, 2nd last behind Chris Richard.
korver is a great pickup... he'll stretch the defense which will make it easier for rose to get to the hole -- not that he needs a lot of help... it's okay to be afraid of the wiz, too, guys... we have john wall, now.... we also have.... um.... some other guys... oh, yeah... we still have arenas... hooray... there will be a lot of rebounds...
Ive heard that someone altered McGrady's comments to make him sound like a jerk. I originally read/thought I read this: He actually said "were"...and in regards to the 30 points better, I think he was referring to games...therefore meaning he expects the Bulls to be able to finish the season at 56-26. Ive very quickly changed my mind. Thibodeau has coached him for 3 years previously, and if he thought McGrady would be a dressing-room problem then I doubt he'd work him out and interview him. If he does become a problem, then hopefully we give him a no-guaranteed contract only low money (2-3 mil) and can get rid of him. No harm done. No team would have more depth. Still, Miami should win...but should is never a good word in sport.
I'm going to see USA Basketball against France at MSG on Sunday. I got really good seats for a good price. Its our first warm up game for the World Championships. Kevin Durant is the star of the team.
It was a fun game. There were people there from all over the US wearing all different jerseys. There was also a suprising number of French fans who were getting loud when France started the game in the lead. The US won by like 30. Coach K gave everyone playing time. Chauncey Billups won the player of the game award. The US have a lot of good PG's. Billups was mainly playing as a 2. Rondo and Rose got most of the time at PG. Russell Westbrook hardly played. He might be one of the three cuts. Andre Iguodala started and got a lot of playing time. Rudy Gay had a really good game and scored a lot of points. Durant never really got going. Steph Curry was hitting his shots. We don't really have any big men that can score. Tyson Chandler started at center. Lamar Odom played some at center. We also have Kevin Love who hardly got any time. I'm looking forward to the World Championships. We clearly have enough talent to win it, but Spain and Argentina will give us a run for our money.
i don't think that gasol or ginobli are playing in the tourney, though... that will help... thanks for the report!
True. But Spain have a really solid team. Mark Gasol, Rubio, Calderon, Rudy Fernandez, etc. Plus they have a lot of experience playing together. The US team is much more talented though. We should win the tournament.
oh, both teams will be rough, for sure... plus, the US usually drops a turd against some a weak team early in tournaments (ie. puerto rico, lithuania)... i've always thought that a US team with only 1 or 2 superstars surrounded by some good role players would play better in these tournaments as opposed to the so-called 'dream teams'... the last olympics team tried to tap into this to a certain degree, but i feel that this team is a better mixture with billups, odom, chandler, gay as the 'role players' ... they probably could use some more big men, though...
so, in an interesting twist to this huge offseason, the knicks just might have a chance for the stacked team they were hoping for if they can get chris paul and carmelo this year or the next... in fact, i would venture to say the a trio of amare, paul, and carmelo are a better in a 'team sense' than lebron, wade and bosh... the concern with lebron and wade is that they are too similar... paul, melo and amare will each have specific strengths that will work well together -- paul to penetrate, carmelo with the great jump shooting, amare with the athleticism in the post... it will be very interesting to see how this plays out...
Its looking like Carmelo coming to NY is a strong possibility. However, its not really possible to acquire Paul also. They will have to wait until next year, or perhaps 2012 when Paul becomes a free agent. For now the Knicks have Raymond Felton who they expect to thrive in Mike D'Antoni's system. Did you hear what Jeff Van Gundy said about the Heat? He thinks that they will break the Bulls record of 72 regular season wins, and only the Lakers even have a chance to beat them in the playoffs. He obviously thinks that Lebron and Wade together will be unstoppable and he was also impressed with what Pat Riley has done filling out the rest of the roster.
Hmmm... ... ...no. Melo is clearly the better basketball player (except for the obvious...rebounding and defending) but a straight swap would leave us very short in the 4 and 5 spots. Boozer and Gibson would start, leaving us more undersized than what we are currently, with only Asik, who's apparently more athletic than Noah, but has ZERO ability on the offensive end (more of a shot-blocker) and Kurt Thomas, who at 6-9 has fairly limited length, to back them up. Boozer has also had injury troubles in the past, and while Noah was injured for a bit last season, I would back him to play more games than Boozer. We also went on a 10 match losing streak when Noah was out, clearly showing how important he is to our team. He's not a match winner, someone who relies on scoring and breaking open defences to help his team, however, his ability means we are harder to beat and he will almost always give us a chance to stay in the game, even if Rose and co. and below-par. I wouldn't be surprised to see him given the captaincy if Deng is moved on. If we were able to get Melo for Deng, Gibson, another player and unlimited draft picks I would do it, despite my appreciation for Gibson, who last season, was definitely underrated by the media as a rookie. He put up almost a double-double on every night, in a .500 team, while playing the almost entire season with a foot injury. Good defender, despite not being a "big" power forward. He's not very versatile in regards to his position (e.g. playing at centre), however he can defend away from the basket with almost as much ability as close to it. He's an extremely good 3rd option behind Noah and Boozer. And with Brewer as well, I'd say we have a very strong defensive unit coming into this season, along with the fact that we have been a very strong rebounding team in the last two seasons. This should help ease the pressure on our offense, given that we know we can stop the opposition's offense. Even if we got Melo, I would still argue that Miami are clearly better than us in regards to ability, meaning we would really go no where. If we can keep Noah, and get a 'better-than-Deng' small-forward, then I'll be very happy...even if it's next season...because I know we'll probably need some time to gel as a team with so many new players.
Amar'e Stoudemire has been the MVP of the league so far. He now has 7 games in a row with at least 30 points, and he leads the league in fourth quarter scoring. He has just been taking over games in the 4th quarter. He has developed a great chemistry with Raymond Felton, and they are running the pick and roll brilliantly. Amare has also stepped up his defense big time. Felton is also playing on an All Star level. The Knicks have won 11 of 12 and have brought excitement back to the Garden for the first time in 10 years or so. I admit that they are beating up on some poor competition. This week will be a great test. Denver, Boston, and Miami are coming to the Garden this week. It starts tomorrow when Carmelo comes to the Garden for final time as a visiting player I will be there. Then next Friday, will be a special atmosphere when the Knicks play the Heat.
http://espn.go.com/nba/transactions NYK get Carmelo Anthony and trade away Chandler, Felton, and Galinari. The Knicks will presumably now make a big run for Chris Paul. Celtics trade away Perkins, Robinson, and Harangody for cash and draft picks. It looks like they are trying to clear cap space for this summer. Any thoughts on who they may try to sign as free agents? I only see Caron Butler or Zack Randolph being good fits for them.
I was at Melo's first game the other night. It was amazing. The Knicks are still a couple of pieces away from being a legitimate contender, but nobody will want to face them in the playoffs. The Celtic deal made very let sense. Their size and depth in the front line was their major advantage over the rest of the East. Several commentators on ESPN believe that the Celtics have come back to the pack with their deadline moves. Its very puzzling that a team with a limited window to win titles would be making moves with an eye on the future. At the same time, Oklahoma City now has another big man with lots of experience who can rebound and is great defensively. That could make a major difference if they are in a series with the Lakers or San Antonio.
