Offseason Grades—Western Conference

[Gaddabout]

Zarko Cappykarpakachiocik of the Suns?

There's a Harry Carey joke in there somewhere, I just don't know what it is or of it's too soon to laugh.

 

[F-Dog]

i guess that it is all in how you view the core of the team. in picking up tmac the rockets lost their starting point guard (yes he doesnt have a clue on how to play the team game), shooting guard (you mean you want me to pass the ball to the big guy? what is a pass?) but also a player most would have called their sixth man or the second most important part of their team in cato. just to clear things up take a look at the players and their ages for houston.

If you're talking about three years from now, though, how many of those players are going to matter? Yao and McGrady and that's it, probably. The others will be replaced, and several of them will be replaced by quality veterans who will take less money to play in Houston because they're attaching themselves to a "sure thing".

As I said in the original post, the Rockets probably won't improve at all next season--but having McGrady instead of Francis is going to pay huge dividends for them down the line.

 

[F-Dog]

Great article F-Dog!

Thanks eric, and cheese and SweetD!


I guess I'll get started on the East when I have a little more free time. I can't promise it will be as good, though...

 

[carey]

As I said in the original post, the Rockets probably won't improve at all next season--but having McGrady instead of Francis is going to pay huge dividends for them down the line.

I don't believe he's signed an extension yet. I wouldn't put it past T-mac to up and bolt if the next two seasons don't go
exactly the way he wants them too.

 

[PhxGametime]

I liked article as well

 

[NugzFan]

Denver Nuggets: B-

Key additions: Kenyon Martin
Key subtractions: Chris Anderson, Rodney White?

The Nuggets were prime candidates for a Suns-style “back into the abyss” season—last year, they benefited from Marcus Camby’s miraculous health, Anthony’s grudging willingness to accept a limited role as a rookie, and plenty of luck and momentum besides, and still barely made the playoffs. This year, they’ve got a coach on the hot seat, a year-older-and-more-brittle Camby, and looming chemistry problems as Melo looks to take over…

Signing K-Mart put that to rest, of course. Denver will be a better team now, and will probably have a slightly better record; their frontcourt is among the league’s deepest and best, and with the momentum from Martin’s signing, they should continue to hold one of the league’s biggest home-court advantages. The Nuggets still need a SG, but quality SGs are not impossible to acquire, even with an MLE, so that shouldn’t kill their future prospects.

The closer I look, though, the less I like the K-Mart deal for the Nuggets. My problem is, the Nuggets punted all of their high risk/high reward assets in the deal—they traded their lightly-protected Clippers pick, and they can now write off any hope of having future cap space, or seeing a Tskitishvili break-out.

What that means is that what you see with the Nuggets right now is pretty much what you’re going to get. And what that is, is a future starting lineup of Nene at C, K-Mart, Melo, Andre Miller, and a decent-quality SG to be named later—which doesn’t scream “championship” to me, or even softly whisper the possibility. Nene and Martin are both undersized at their future positions, and Miller vs. Melo looks like a long-term issue, but most of all I don’t think there’s enough talent there to ever beat a championship-caliber team.

It looks to me like Denver would have been better off taking the big slide, firing their coach, and having Anthony get used to the idea that winning in the NBA is difficult and requires sacrifices. Instead, after a long and painful (and nearly successful) rebuilding process, Kiki Vandeweghe panicked and sold out a year or two early.

I could be wrong, of course, and Denver did improve themselves significantly in the short term, so I bumped them up to a B-. If I were being really honest here, I'd probably have them down with the Lakers...

 

[George O'Brien]

Did Rodney White sign with someone?

 

[Joe Mama]

F-Dog, you really should have this story/Post on the front page of this web site. I've read several summer grade articles on various sports web sites, and I don't believe any have been as interesting and informative as yours. On top of that it was very well written. If you wouldn't mind putting this up on the front page I'm sure George wouldn't mind helping us (it's been so long since I've written a story that I'm not sure I remember how to do it).

I do disagree that Steve Nash is not a good fit with his team's needs. I really don't think the Phoenix Suns are looking to win later rather than sooner. I don't think they believe they are going to win the championship next year, but I also don't believe they are on a five-year program. Besides, I believe Steve Nash will be just fine at that point as long as they limit him to around 30 minutes per game.

On the floor I think Steve Nash is a near-perfect fit with his team... at least offensively. I agree that Quentin Richardson seems redundant. However there's no telling what will happen with JJ as he nears restrictive free agency, or whether he will revert to his pre-Marbury trade ways. At this point it also doesn't seem that they overpaid for him. I just worry about Richardson's streaky shooting.

Scotsman, it's hard to take you seriously when you're counting Stephen Hunter as a major acquisition this summer. He is intriguing, but so far he has shown next to nothing in the NBA.

Joe Mama

 

[scotsman13]

Scotsman, it's hard to take you seriously when you're counting Stephen Hunter as a major acquisition this summer. He is intriguing, but so far he has shown next to nothing in the NBA.

Joe Mama

joe, do i think that hunter is going to be the second coming of hakeem? no i do. what do i think that the suns will get out of him? i would think that the suns will get 5,4, and 2 blocks per game out of him. i think that he will play his best defense (against the best centers holding them to just under their season average for the season just like he did with the magic).

so how can i even begin to think that hunter bring anything to the table for the suns? well lets see? first last season was the first season back after an acl injury and only his 3rd in the nba. it takes about a year to start getting back in shape after an acl injury and with it happening so earily in his career it has slowed his development down (so yes he does have some upside and some learning that he can still do). but the one thing that hunter can do is block shots. he did it well in his time with the magic last year. since mark west left us we havent had anyone in the middle to block shot and stop people from going to the hoop. yes marion and amare can block shots but both are weakside shot blocker and not defensive shot blockers, which is what hunter is. even having the treat of a good shot blocker can help out team defense greatly. plus the fact that one of the best way to get a team running is to have a shot blocker.

so do i know that hunter will be able to do all of this? no i dont but based on his stats from last years game (look at the games not the overall stats) http://www.nba.com/playerfile/steven_hunter/game_by_game_stats.html
you can get a good idea on how he might help this team.

 

[PhxGametime]

yes marion and amare can block shots but both are weakside shot blocker and not defensive shot blockers, which is what hunter is.

This might sound dumb but I have wanted to ask before - what's the difference between the two? I've always assumed, it was coming from weakside but Amare and both Shawn can block shots straight up: from post-ups, penetration, jump-shots, etc (with excellent jumping ability). Basketball is the 1 sport, I haven't played on team (other than Hockey)...

I've noticed when mentioned of weakside shot-blockers, they seem to be Forwards and Centers are defensive shot-blockers but other than intimidation by a much bigger player - can someone explain in more detail?

 

[F-Dog]

F-Dog, you really should have this story/Post on the front page of this web site. I've read several summer grade articles on various sports web sites, and I don't believe any have been as interesting and informative as yours. On top of that it was very well written. If you wouldn't mind putting this up on the front page I'm sure George wouldn't mind helping us (it's been so long since I've written a story that I'm not sure I remember how to do it).

Sounds fine to me. (It's not a big deal either way, though--most of the people who would be interested have probably read it by now anyway.)


I agree that the Suns are looking to win now (because of the ownership agreement), but I think they should be concentrating on winning later, because those are the games that might count. Ideally, the team's new $60m point guard would be about 26 and holding steady, instead of being 30 and on the decline.

I agree Nash will still be worth something in five years (although I think he'll be down to 25 mpg), but he won't be outperforming his contract by then, as Quentin Richardson might be.

Again, I didn't say that these weren't good signings, just that the Suns' pieces don't fit together the way Utah's do (for instance)--they don't all play different positions, and they won't all be at their peaks at about the same time. Because of that, the front office still has significant moves to make if they want to put the best possible team on the floor.

 

[scotsman13]

the differance between a weakside shot blocker and a defensive shot blocker have to do with how the block is being made. a weakside shot block will come from out of the play and then block the shot, they generally block the shot of someone beside the player that they are guarding. they will come from the side to get the block. while a defensive shot blocker is generally a player that will block their own player (person they are guarding or person who has beat their defender and are heading towards the hoop). the block is mostly done straight up and facing the shooter.

 

[F-Dog]

I've noticed when mentioned of weakside shot-blockers, they seem to be Forwards and Centers are defensive shot-blockers but other than intimidation by a much bigger player - can someone explain in more detail?

"Weak-side shot blocker" generally refers to a player who guards the basket. The idea is that he's coming from the other side of the court, so he has the space and the time to gather himself before going up for the block. The alternative is a player who's good at blocking his own man's shot. (The best shot-blockers are able to do both.)

Marcus Camby is a good example of a weak-side shot blocker. He's got the athletic ability to cover a lot of space, but usually doesn't have the strength to recover if the shooter gets into his body first and knocks him off balance. The other end of the spectrum is a player like Ostertag, who can't cover a lot of ground, but has the strength and timing to get a hand on shots that are taken in his area.

At least, that's what I take from it.

 

[PhxGametime]

Golly thanks - so I'd be considered a weakside shot-blocker against friends and family (I'm not that tall but got blocks from behind players and from weakside)... I hardly play anymore and I have no offensive skills at all (defender with limited height)

 

[George O'Brien]

F-Dog,

With your permission, I can post your article on the front page of ASFN.

 

[F-Dog]

F-Dog,

With your permission, I can post your article on the front page of ASFN.

I couldn't send you a PM, so I sent an e-mail instead, George.

Permission granted, btw.

 

[scotsman13]

Again, I didn't say that these weren't good signings, just that the Suns' pieces don't fit together the way Utah's do (for instance)--they don't all play different positions, and they won't all be at their peaks at about the same time. Because of that, the front office still has significant moves to make if they want to put the best possible team on the floor.

i think that the jazz are much farther behind the suns then you think they are ahead of them.

i will give you that boozer and okur are both good player and they may make the already strong rebounding team even stronger. but this team doesnt have a player that can get you the points when the chips are down. they will play great team ball dont get me wrong there but there is no malone, stockton or horny there to get me the points with .6 of a second. ak47 is a nice player but he isnt a great shooter or scorer, boozer is a nice rebounder but he doesnt creat his own shot, harpering is good in the team play but he doesnt brake down his man to score, and it goes on and on with the whole team.

with the suns it is just a question of who is going to take that shot nash (most likely, for a couple years), jj, amare, and maybe Q (his shooting % has been so low i dont know if he will ever get there) can all be called in to take the last shot to be the clutch player. the suns also have a superstar (in making) in amare. the jazz dont even ak47 is just a very good all around player he isnt a player who will put the team on his back and score 40 in the playoffs (he is just like marion).

 

[Errntknght]

It's going to be interesting to see what Sloan can do with Okur and Boozer, both of whom are quite poor team defenders. One assumes Sloan watched their play a good bit and figures he can live with their deficiencies but it sure looks to me like he's got his work cut out for him. In any case, I can't imagine a Sloan team defending anywhere near as badly as the Suns did last year so the real question is whether the Suns defense will improve this year.

Scotsman is right about the Suns having plenty of go to guys but I certainly wouldn't dismiss the Jazz on that line of thinking, however - I'd much rather have a team that executed an efficient team offense than one that relied almost exclusively on individuals getting their shot. All game long, including crunch time. And the Suns having 'goto' guys isn't going to be very helpful if they aren't even in the game at the end, which brings us back to defense again.

One slender possibility is that our new asst coach, Alvin Gentry, can take over the defense. I've never heard anyone mention that he's a defensive whiz and his Piston and Clippers teams weren't heralded as defensive powerhouses that I recall. But if he is just average for NBA coaches he'll be a big improvement over D'Antoni.

Hunter may help some - his shot blocking stats are exceptional and, who knows, maybe he's a competent defender as well.

Watching the Olympics I was struck by how much different the NBA game and the FIBA game are because of the rule and rule interpretation differences. I thought I would enjoy the European style of game with it's emphasis on teamwork and playmaking but it's an ugly game despite that. Yeech, moving picks all over the place, defenders sliding under guys as they shoot - even layups. Guys clearing out with their off arm whenever they drive to the hoop. And all that teamwork being used to get guys open 3 point shots, ridiculously close 3's at that. (Hey, now we know how to bring back the mid-range game - just move the 3 pt line in a few feet!) Anyway, it went a long ways in explaining why D'Antoni is such a pathetic coach in the NBA yet a great success in the Euroleagues.

 

[Errntknght]

I forgot to congratulate F-Dog on a truly outstanding article to start this thread... so congrats and keep it up.

 

[NugzFan]

Did Rodney White sign with someone?

nope

 

[Joe Mama]

Watching the Olympics I was struck by how much different the NBA game and the FIBA game are because of the rule and rule interpretation differences. I thought I would enjoy the European style of game with it's emphasis on teamwork and playmaking but it's an ugly game despite that. Yeech, moving picks all over the place, defenders sliding under guys as they shoot - even layups. Guys clearing out with their off arm whenever they drive to the hoop. And all that teamwork being used to get guys open 3 point shots, ridiculously close 3's at that. (Hey, now we know how to bring back the mid-range game - just move the 3 pt line in a few feet!) Anyway, it went a long ways in explaining why D'Antoni is such a pathetic coach in the NBA yet a great success in the Euroleagues.

You just can't help yourself, can you?

Joe Mama

 

[F-Dog]

i think that the jazz are much farther behind the suns then you think they are ahead of them.

If it was just who's ahead of who, I would have given the Spurs an "A", the Wolves an "A-", etc.


I thought the Jazz were behind the Suns last year (as far as long-term prospects are concerned--obviously, they spanked us on the court), and I think the Jazz are behind the Suns this year. My main reason for this is that I believe Amare projects to be a more dominating player than Kirilenko will be.

I think the Jazz are less behind than before, though, and that's why they got the better grade.

I forgot to congratulate F-Dog on a truly outstanding article to start this thread... so congrats and keep it up.

Thanks--I'll do my best!