Re: Non-Celtic Moves of Note

by **beat** Thu Dec 22, 2011 6:28 pm

Lakers The Lakers have waived Zach Andrews, Chris Daniels, Gerald Green, Elijah Millsap and Malcolm Thomas. The roster now stands at 15.

Well he didn't make it1

beat

by **bobheckler** Sat Dec 24, 2011 3:34 pm

Lakers just announced that Devin Ebanks, the second year player who hardly played last year, as their starting SF, beating out Matt Barnes and TAFKARA (The Asshole Formerly Known As Ron Artest).

It's one thing to name Sasha as the starting SF due to injury to the usual starting SF, PP. That's like naming Scal to start for KG when KG was out. Nobody really thinks Scal beat KG out for the spot, he just fillied in until KG was healthy. Same thing with Sasha, this isn't his slot, he's just filling in until Pierce is healthy.

This, however, is a statement about the Lakers' SF corps and/or, perhaps, a statement about the Lakers as a whole. When two veterans, one of whom is on the short side of 30 and the other is a reknown defensive specialist and starter on a Laker championship team, are coming off the bench, that's a statement.

But what is that statement? Is the "statement" that Ebanks is already one hellaciously good player at his tender age, or that both those two veterans are past their shelf lives, or that the Laker bench in general is so weak they need both veterans to anchor it (Barnes can play 2 also)?

This surprised me, frankly. Then again, hiring Mike Brown surprised me, Kobe and quite a few other people too.

This is Jim Buss' world, as he has created it. I'm just watching it in amazement as it spins by.

bob

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by **beat** Sat Dec 24, 2011 3:41 pm

bobheckler wrote:Lakers just announced that Devin Ebanks, the second year player who hardly played last year, as their starting SF, beating out Matt Barnes and TAFKARA (The Asshole Formerly Known As Ron Artest).

It's one thing to name Sasha as the starting SF due to injury to the usual starting SF, PP. That's like naming Scal to start for KG when KG was out. Nobody really thinks Scal beat KG out for the spot, he just fillied in until KG was healthy. Same thing with Sasha, this isn't his slot, he's just filling in until Pierce is healthy.

This, however, is a statement about the Lakers' SF corps and/or, perhaps, a statement about the Lakers as a whole. When two veterans, one of whom is on the short side of 30 and the other is a reknown defensive specialist and starter on a Laker championship team, are coming off the bench, that's a statement.

But what is that statement? Is the "statement" that Ebanks is already one hellaciously good player at his tender age, or that both those two veterans are past their shelf lives, or that the Laker bench in general is so weak they need both veterans to anchor it (Barnes can play 2 also)?

This surprised me, frankly. Then again, hiring Mike Brown surprised me, Kobe and quite a few other people too.

This is Jim Buss' world, as he has created it. I'm just watching it in amazement as it spins by.

bob

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Ebanks??

He's a little old isn't he? Didn't he host the Newlywed Game or something?

beat

by **sinus007** Sat Dec 24, 2011 4:41 pm

Hi,
If it's a move by MB - no surprise here. But I'm still puzzled by the fact that someone hired MB. Poor Kobe: first super coach then divorce. He might as well call it quits.

AK

by **tjmakz** Sat Dec 24, 2011 9:59 pm

sinus007 wrote:Hi,
If it's a move by MB - no surprise here. But I'm still puzzled by the fact that someone hired MB. Poor Kobe: first super coach then divorce. He might as well call it quits.

AK

I could see why you bust on Mike Brown.
He only has a career winning percentage of .663 for a team that only had one all-star player.

by **swedeinestonia** Sat Dec 24, 2011 10:06 pm

Who was the one all-star? Mo Williams, Shaq, Antawn Jamison?

by **tjmakz** Sat Dec 24, 2011 10:06 pm

bobheckler wrote:Lakers just announced that Devin Ebanks, the second year player who hardly played last year, as their starting SF, beating out Matt Barnes and TAFKARA (The Asshole Formerly Known As Ron Artest).

It's one thing to name Sasha as the starting SF due to injury to the usual starting SF, PP. That's like naming Scal to start for KG when KG was out. Nobody really thinks Scal beat KG out for the spot, he just fillied in until KG was healthy. Same thing with Sasha, this isn't his slot, he's just filling in until Pierce is healthy.

This, however, is a statement about the Lakers' SF corps and/or, perhaps, a statement about the Lakers as a whole. When two veterans, one of whom is on the short side of 30 and the other is a reknown defensive specialist and starter on a Laker championship team, are coming off the bench, that's a statement.

But what is that statement? Is the "statement" that Ebanks is already one hellaciously good player at his tender age, or that both those two veterans are past their shelf lives, or that the Laker bench in general is so weak they need both veterans to anchor it (Barnes can play 2 also)?

This surprised me, frankly. Then again, hiring Mike Brown surprised me, Kobe and quite a few other people too.

This is Jim Buss' world, as he has created it. I'm just watching it in amazement as it spins by.

bob

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I love the Lakers putting Ebanks into the starting line up.
He is unbelievably athletic and will probably score more then Artest, partly because Artest is now a terrible offensive player.
The youth movement is underway...

by **tjmakz** Sat Dec 24, 2011 10:19 pm

swedeinestonia wrote:Who was the one all-star? Mo Williams, Shaq, Antawn Jamison?

Mo Williams was named to the all-star team as an injury replacement one time.
Shaq was not an all-star player with Cleveland. He averaged 12 ppg with Cleveland.
Jamison was never on an all-star team with Cleveland. His best years were gone by the time he was traded to Cleveland.

by **sinus007** Sat Dec 24, 2011 10:42 pm

TJ,
I bust MB because I'm of very low opinion of him as a coach - the guy who not only draws x and o but builds the team, manages the team, inspires the team, somebody similar to, say, PJ. Sure, .663 is a nice number but it's not round, round as in ring.
IMHO, it's a sad day when such a great team as LAL stoops down to hire MB.
Sorry if I rain on your parade but it's my opinion and I'll stick to it until he proves me wrong.
Happy holidays!

AK

by **swedeinestonia** Sat Dec 24, 2011 11:13 pm

tjmakz wrote:
swedeinestonia wrote:Who was the one all-star? Mo Williams, Shaq, Antawn Jamison?

Mo Williams was named to the all-star team as an injury replacement one time.
Shaq was not an all-star player with Cleveland. He averaged 12 ppg with Cleveland.
Jamison was never on an all-star team with Cleveland. His best years were gone by the time he was traded to Cleveland.

I know, was just pulling your leg some Smile

by **tjmakz** Mon Dec 26, 2011 7:22 pm

I know they are the NBA Champions, but it was shocking at how slow the Mavericks starting 5 were in yesterday's game against Miami. They were on an incredible run last year but I can't see them making that magical run again this year.
Here's the ages of their top 7 players: Vince Carter 34 (almost 35), Brendan Haywood 32, Jason Kidd 38, Shawn Marion 33, Dirk Nowitzki 33, Jason Terry 34, Lamar Odom 32.
They have not made up for losing the speed and athleticism of Barea and Chandler.

by **bobheckler** Tue Dec 27, 2011 1:23 pm

The Knicks have claimed Jeremy Lin off of waivers.

Jeremy who?

Palo Alto, CA native, he graduated from Harvard (he was not offered an athletic scholarship by any college). He is the first and only American of Asian descent to play in the NBA (as opposed to Chinese Nationals who come here to play like Yao Ming). Undrafted but signed to a two year contract by the GSW (who also gave a $7M contract to Kwame Brown) as a local boy made good, he just got cut by them this year to make room for DeAndre Jordan (whom they did not land). He then went to the Rockets, who just cut him.

I'm rooting for him, but to be frank, I think this just highlights just how weak the Knicks PG corp is. Lin is not a big upgrade. He is (I hate to say this but...) a marketing tool.

bob

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by **tjmakz** Tue Dec 27, 2011 1:29 pm

bob,

You are wrong about this one. The signing of Lin is not for marketing purposes. NY desperately needs another pg who can take some minutes from Toney Douglas. Mike Bibby is not real healthy but should play tonight.

Lin is a decent offensive player but a bad defensive player. He has very good ball handling skills but is not very athletic.

Lin is on a non-guaranteed contract and will not be marketed by the Knicks.

by **bobheckler** Tue Dec 27, 2011 5:02 pm

tjmakz wrote:bob,

You are wrong about this one. The signing of Lin is not for marketing purposes. NY desperately needs another pg who can take some minutes from Toney Douglas. Mike Bibby is not real healthy but should play tonight.

Lin is a decent offensive player but a bad defensive player. He has very good ball handling skills but is not very athletic.

Lin is on a non-guaranteed contract and will not be marketed by the Knicks.

TJ,

I think you described Lin well. As far as "being marketed" goes, I meant to the asian community of NY.

bob

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by **tjmakz** Tue Dec 27, 2011 5:08 pm

Lin will probably only be on the team for a few weeks until Shumpert comes back. I don't think there will be a marketing program for a guy that will probably be with the team for 3 weeks.

by **bobheckler** Wed Dec 28, 2011 5:43 pm

GSW signs Fesenko to a one-year $1.07M deal.

7'0", 288#. That's a lot of beef on the hoof. Wonder why Danny didn't take a run at him. I thought he filled in pretty well for Okur when he was out.

bob

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by Mooltrikon Wed Dec 28, 2011 7:03 pm

Unfortunately, I don't think Danny and Doc are looking for big bigs. They like less monstrous bigs and small ball. I'm with you, BH. For several seasons, I have been wondering, where's the beef? And also, where's the length?

J.O.N. is a good start. But when J.O.N. rests, I don't like that the Cs always go smaller at those times. But small ball seems to be what Doc and Danny like.

by **bobheckler** Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:14 am

Mooltrikon wrote:Unfortunately, I don't think Danny and Doc are looking for big bigs. They like less monstrous bigs and small ball. I'm with you, BH. For several seasons, I have been wondering, where's the beef? And also, where's the length?

J.O.N. is a good start. But when J.O.N. rests, I don't like that the Cs always go smaller at those times. But small ball seems to be what Doc and Danny like.

Mool,

I think we all agree that the Celts don't have enough depth at 5. As far as "monstrous bigs", I wouldn't mind having one now. :-)

We had Shaq last year (that's not just monstrous, it's mountainous). Perk at 280# was a bit short (6'10") but had the monster part down well.

As Danny and Doc have said, there are only a few true centers in the NBA. So, do you stock up on players who can match up against those few, or do you prepare yourself for the night-to-night battles. Apparently, their philosophy is the latter.

bob
P.S. Nice to see you posting.

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by **Outside** Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:10 pm

bobheckler wrote:As Danny and Doc have said, there are only a few true centers in the NBA. So, do you stock up on players who can match up against those few, or do you prepare yourself for the night-to-night battles. Apparently, their philosophy is the latter.

Bob,

As you say, that's one philosophy. However, I think there's another way to look at the alternative -- it's not just attempting to match up against the few teams with true centers, but also to take advantage of the other teams that don't have a true center.

Fesenko is a plodder, but he's improving and has shown flashes of using his size to overpower opponents. Jerry Sloan saw something in him. Over the longer haul, I'm more encouraged by the Warriors signing Fesenko than Kwame Brown.

Outside

by **Sam** Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:47 pm

Bob,

I know that there are only a few true centers in the NBA. However, an argument could be made that this is a great reason to procure a true center in one manner or another—to present matchup problems for all those teams who don't have one as well as competitiveness against those teams who do have one. In other words, I'm not sure I subscribe to the philosophy that it's acceptable to have glorified PFs at center just because that's what most other teams do.

Wouldn't it be nice if Stiemsma developed into just such a player? Heck, I'd settle for "adequate."

Sam

by **bobheckler** Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:48 pm

Outside wrote:
bobheckler wrote:As Danny and Doc have said, there are only a few true centers in the NBA. So, do you stock up on players who can match up against those few, or do you prepare yourself for the night-to-night battles. Apparently, their philosophy is the latter.
Bob,

As you say, that's one philosophy. However, I think there's another way to look at the alternative -- it's not just attempting to match up against the few teams with true centers, but also to take advantage of the other teams that don't have a true center.

Fesenko is a plodder, but he's improving and has shown flashes of using his size to overpower opponents. Jerry Sloan saw something in him. Over the longer haul, I'm more encouraged by the Warriors signing Fesenko than Kwame Brown.

Outside

outside,

I agree. There's nothing wrong with having a player that only a few other teams can match up with.

I also agree about Fesenko vs Brown. They're both on one-year contracts, so we'll see about "the longer haul" but I still agree.

On the other hand, when it comes to Kwame Brown, I'd have agreed with just about any player you mention.

bob

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by **Sam** Thu Dec 29, 2011 3:11 pm

Outside,

I have to apologize for repeating almost exactly what you said in your post about the value of having a center who can be a tough matchup for teams with no true centers.

Sorry about that. I was actually about to run out to pick up a new car we have purchased, and I didn't take the time I should have to read earlier posts.

Happy New Year,

Sam

by **tjmakz** Thu Dec 29, 2011 3:31 pm

After this interview I think Ron Artest could be considered legally insane...

http://deadspin.com/5868091/metta-world-peace-is-just-as-insane-as-ron-artest

by **bobheckler** Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:42 pm

tjmakz wrote:After this interview I think Ron Artest could be considered legally insane...

http://deadspin.com/5868091/metta-world-peace-is-just-as-insane-as-ron-artest

TJ,

Absolutely certifiable. I think he passed "loopy" a couple of psychotic episodes ago.

Could the Lakers get a medical waiver for him and save his salary? :-)

bob

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