Bick:
Arob, i really don't understand this trade for the suns. i mean, honestly, does steve kerr have an idea for what he wants the identity of this team to be? are they a slow it down team with shaq or are they run and gun? jason richardson plays no defense and he traded away his best on ball defender and backup 4/5. i mean, matt barnes is going to be starting for them and does amare play defense? i mean, how are they going to stop anyone?
Arob:
Whoa, whoa, whoa. . . Jason Richardson is a massive upgrade over Matt Barnes. And Dudley is a tougher interior player than Diaw AND isnt' bitching about his coach. Does Richardson really play no defense. I remember that he killed Dirk in that Mavs series on defense. Raja Bell hasn't played defense in three years! Honestly, I think the Suns got the TWO best players in this trade. If I was Phoenix, I can now go Nash, Barbosa, Richardson, Amare, and Shaq .. .With Barnes and Lopez (who I am sadly impressed with) coming off the bench. And a lot has been made about how the Suns suck on defense. But, their bigger issue has been that they aren't scoring in the half court as effectively. Richardson is a better shooter than Bell, better driving the ball and I really think he's the equal on defense. Dudley's underrated. . . I don't see how this is bad for Phoenix. And, is it me or do the Suns seem better with those two goofy white centers tonight, than they do with Shaq?
Bick:
In all honesty, I forgot about barbosa. I was thinking the suns would be starting nash-richardson-barnes-amare-shaq. momentarily lapse of judgement in that email... but i refuse to acknowledge that dudley is better than diaw or bell. and raja bell is shooting 46.8% from 3-pt range this year, so i will also not acknowledge that richardson is a better shooter. richardson is shooting 45.8% but has taken significantly less threes (94 for bell and 59 for richardson). and dudley is averaging 5 & 3 in 21 minutes for the bobcats vs. 8 & 4 in 25 min for diaw... i disagree completely. but yeah on to your other point shaq doesn't just have his best days behind him, he has most of his good days behind him, yes, even on the heels of a 35 point night, i'm saying this. he's slow. he's out of shape. he doesn't even really protect the rim anymore. i mean, he's a complete liability against anyone who can hit a jump shot from 10 feet and he can't run the floor... that's why the suns look better tonight, because they're more fluid without him. who is this dragic guy?
Arob:
I am impressed by Dragic. It takes him forever to set up from beyond the arc, he shoots left handed and it never goes in. But he seems at least the offensive match of Luke Ridnour which is fine for a rotation player. However, Barbosa has been a dissapointment , right? Three years ago didn't he project to be the heir apparent to Nash and a guy who could run the point or play off the ball? Now he looks like a guy who can score in transition, and that's about it. His lack of development has been one of the most underrated aspects of the Suns collapse. Where was Kobe against the Kings last night?
Bick:
yeah, barbosa has been a massive disappointment. i can't believe it. i thought he was going to be awesome and he hasn't gotten any better. it's really shocking. it's definitely the most underrated part of the suns collapse. last night was just a terrible game from the lakers. kobe was nowhere. gasol was the only player on the lakers who showed up. kobe was taking terrible shots and getting killed by john salmons. killed. and francisco garcia was also killing them. it was just a poor performance from a team that was caught looking ahead to tonight's game with phoenix. they were playing a desperate team who still views them as a main rival and really got up for the game. kind of a perfect storm against the lakers. speaking of perfect storms... melo scored 33 in the third quarter. wow. he's gotta be loving that trade for chauncey, right?
Arob, i really don't understand this trade for the suns. i mean, honestly, does steve kerr have an idea for what he wants the identity of this team to be? are they a slow it down team with shaq or are they run and gun? jason richardson plays no defense and he traded away his best on ball defender and backup 4/5. i mean, matt barnes is going to be starting for them and does amare play defense? i mean, how are they going to stop anyone?
Arob:
Whoa, whoa, whoa. . . Jason Richardson is a massive upgrade over Matt Barnes. And Dudley is a tougher interior player than Diaw AND isnt' bitching about his coach. Does Richardson really play no defense. I remember that he killed Dirk in that Mavs series on defense. Raja Bell hasn't played defense in three years! Honestly, I think the Suns got the TWO best players in this trade. If I was Phoenix, I can now go Nash, Barbosa, Richardson, Amare, and Shaq .. .With Barnes and Lopez (who I am sadly impressed with) coming off the bench. And a lot has been made about how the Suns suck on defense. But, their bigger issue has been that they aren't scoring in the half court as effectively. Richardson is a better shooter than Bell, better driving the ball and I really think he's the equal on defense. Dudley's underrated. . . I don't see how this is bad for Phoenix. And, is it me or do the Suns seem better with those two goofy white centers tonight, than they do with Shaq?
Bick:
In all honesty, I forgot about barbosa. I was thinking the suns would be starting nash-richardson-barnes-amare-shaq. momentarily lapse of judgement in that email... but i refuse to acknowledge that dudley is better than diaw or bell. and raja bell is shooting 46.8% from 3-pt range this year, so i will also not acknowledge that richardson is a better shooter. richardson is shooting 45.8% but has taken significantly less threes (94 for bell and 59 for richardson). and dudley is averaging 5 & 3 in 21 minutes for the bobcats vs. 8 & 4 in 25 min for diaw... i disagree completely. but yeah on to your other point shaq doesn't just have his best days behind him, he has most of his good days behind him, yes, even on the heels of a 35 point night, i'm saying this. he's slow. he's out of shape. he doesn't even really protect the rim anymore. i mean, he's a complete liability against anyone who can hit a jump shot from 10 feet and he can't run the floor... that's why the suns look better tonight, because they're more fluid without him. who is this dragic guy?
Arob:
I am impressed by Dragic. It takes him forever to set up from beyond the arc, he shoots left handed and it never goes in. But he seems at least the offensive match of Luke Ridnour which is fine for a rotation player. However, Barbosa has been a dissapointment , right? Three years ago didn't he project to be the heir apparent to Nash and a guy who could run the point or play off the ball? Now he looks like a guy who can score in transition, and that's about it. His lack of development has been one of the most underrated aspects of the Suns collapse. Where was Kobe against the Kings last night?
Bick:
yeah, barbosa has been a massive disappointment. i can't believe it. i thought he was going to be awesome and he hasn't gotten any better. it's really shocking. it's definitely the most underrated part of the suns collapse. last night was just a terrible game from the lakers. kobe was nowhere. gasol was the only player on the lakers who showed up. kobe was taking terrible shots and getting killed by john salmons. killed. and francisco garcia was also killing them. it was just a poor performance from a team that was caught looking ahead to tonight's game with phoenix. they were playing a desperate team who still views them as a main rival and really got up for the game. kind of a perfect storm against the lakers. speaking of perfect storms... melo scored 33 in the third quarter. wow. he's gotta be loving that trade for chauncey, right?
Arob:
Yeah. He does love the Chauncey trade. One of the most underrated aspects of team construction is getting players comfortable in different roles and spaces on the floor. Melo and AI occupied the same spaces on the floor all the time. Both guys took tough shots, and were at their most comfortable putting the blinders on and going one on one with their guys. Chauncey takes a lot fewer shots, can hit open jumpers and stays solely around the perimeter. So now, Melo has the whole wing to work on, Nene has the post, . . . He puts everything in order with that team. This is what is so important about the Cavs this year, too. With Mo Williams and Delonte West, the Cavs have all the ballhandling and shooting they need around the top of the key. It forces LeBron from the foul line down, or he spots up for open threes instead of that awful step back three pointer. I've watched two Laker games this year, and Odom has looked bored in both. Is that normal?
Bick:
i would just like to point out that i read that right as odom dunked on amare. LAMAR ODOM, SILENCING HIS CRITICS!!! then he missed the free throw. yeah. lamar is a very jekyl and hyde player. some days he plays off his ass for his 25-30 minutes and some days, he does nothing. literally nothing. it's absurd. he should be a top 25 player in the nba with his skillset he just doesn't have the desire the great ones do. and the lamar dunk again. LAMAR ODOM, SILENCING HIS CRITICS!!! the cavs are great. i really want to put them atop the power rankings, i just cant justify it when they lost to boston in their head-to-head matchup and boston's won 12 straight. kobe for 3! this game is really concerning me as a laker fan. i mean, there's just something off about this team. shouldn't they be killing the short-handed suns?
Arob:
I just don't get the Lakers. You see them so much more than I do. But they really don't look any different to me than they did last year. They have definitely added players. Bynum and Ariza are both very, very good. But it doesn't yet add up to a better team to me. I still like them more than anyone, but I would really be comforted if Kobe, right now, would score the next 8 points and seal this game up (5:02 left.) I do wonder if Phil Jackson is starting to lose it. But, my opinion is so skewed because they have not played well in the two games I have seen them in, so I don't know. They are 15 games above .500... I hate to keep talking about the Cavs. But the biggest improvement on that team is Mike Brown, their head coach. He spent two years being LeBron's lackey/ defensive motivator. Now it looks like he has good grasp on the team and finally has the balls to play James at the 4. His rotation and team is really sharp. Who's the second best team in the West?
Bick:
the thing is, the lakers bench is what really was carrying them through most of the beginning of the year... the starters would get them out to a lead and the bench would literally put teams away. they bench has been awful in december. hopefully it picks up... ariza and vujacic have been impressive tonight.
second best team in the west... that's a toss up right now between denver, portland and san antonio. i feel like i'd have to go with denver right now, just because of melo and chauncey both being such fantastic complements for each other. san antonio will probably end up being the best or second best team in the west by the end of the year, but they need to win some more games for that to happen. i didnt even mention utah and new orleans... who were both in western conference semis last year. utah has been impressive this year, but new orleans has kinda been a disappointment. what happened with them? are there really issues between cp3 and byron scott? how could they not get along?
Arob:
This will be my final point. But Scott and Kidd got in fights by the end of his third year or so. I think Scott just wears on people. I don't know any more than that, really. I know very little about the West. Not quite as dominant. I have made it pretty clear I like the Spurs out there, but the Jazz is about the one top team I have seen play 0 minutes this year. I think it's cause I have distaste for Boozer. Any thoughts on the Jazz would be welcome this week. Lakers won unimpressively tonight. However, NBA teams only put forth full effort in about half the games, so it's a sin easily forgiven. I sure would like to see them when they are on all cylinders though.
Bick:
i will say, anyone willing to make a deal with a blind man and then go back on it, certainly has karma against him. ladies and gentlemen, carlos boozer.
Arob:
This will be my final point. But Scott and Kidd got in fights by the end of his third year or so. I think Scott just wears on people. I don't know any more than that, really. I know very little about the West. Not quite as dominant. I have made it pretty clear I like the Spurs out there, but the Jazz is about the one top team I have seen play 0 minutes this year. I think it's cause I have distaste for Boozer. Any thoughts on the Jazz would be welcome this week. Lakers won unimpressively tonight. However, NBA teams only put forth full effort in about half the games, so it's a sin easily forgiven. I sure would like to see them when they are on all cylinders though.
Bick:
i will say, anyone willing to make a deal with a blind man and then go back on it, certainly has karma against him. ladies and gentlemen, carlos boozer.
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