Around the NBA (preseason edition)

icat2000 · Post #21 » by **icat2000** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 12:38 am

D.J. Augustin with a poor shooting display 1-7 in 28 minutes. Managed to 1 assist and couple of rebounds and turnovers.

Mo Williams strugging with shooting 3-14 in 22 minutes (currently in third quarter). Has five assists.

steger_3434 · Post #22 » by **steger_3434** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 12:43 am

Mo is having an ugly shooting game. 3-12.

Yi is now 4-6 for 9 points. He does have 3 TO's and 4 fouls to go with that, though. I really hope we don't end up regretting this trade. RJ is out of shape and just doesn't seem interested.

steger_3434 · Post #23 » by **steger_3434** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 1:53 am

PP, in case you missed the box score so far in 16 minutes Lopez has 8 points and 9 rebounds on 4-5 shooting in 16 minutes.

LISTEN2JAZZ · Post #24 » by **LISTEN2JAZZ** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 2:45 am

steger_3434 wrote:Yi with a solid game. Looks like Miami played their starters most of the game as well 7-13 for 17 points. Didn't do much on the boards, though with only 2

I disagree that a big man can have a solid game with only 2 boards. Even if it's better than the zero he grabbed tonight.

LUKE23 · Post #25 » by **LUKE23** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:06 am

Yeah, Yi's rebounding bugs me as well. You're 7-0, athletic, and have a pretty good reach. Quit being a puss and get inside. Mo with a bad game tonight.

El Duderino · Post #26 » by **El Duderino** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 5:46 am

LUKE23 wrote:Yeah, Yi's rebounding bugs me as well. You're 7-0, athletic, and have a pretty good reach. Quit being a puss and get inside. Mo with a bad game tonight.

Yi will always be a poor rebounder for his size. He is soft and has terribly weak hands, a dynamic duo of disaster for rebounding.

Joana · Post #27 » by **Joana** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 10:17 am

I watched the Nets game last night. It was funny listening to Mike Fratello explaining his viewers that Yi has lots of "technique" but he can't be expected to play as a.. hhmm.. PF. He scored by shooting over the people from the short corner and that was basically it; he remains the same, very one-dimensional - although I predict he'll have plenty of good looks to fire his jumper this season. The Celtics played with small line-ups and he got 1 rebound, I think. Lopez scored almost all of his points (and grabbed his boards) when matched with the very diminutive Powe. But I wholeheartedly agree with the feeling that he's more ready than Alexander to help a NBA team.

Things don't look pretty for the Nets. Their new offensive system is a turnover factory and they got beaten by the Celtics 2nd/3rd unity (0 minutes to the big 3; 20 to Rondo/Perkins) after a hot start where all their contested shots were falling. Tony Allen abused Carter and everyone the Nets put on him (he was scoring like 30 points with an insane efficiency when I stopped watching) and I liked Gabe Pruitt. Darius Miles looks terrible, I would be comfortable if I was Portland.

Rockmaninoff · Post #28 » by **Rockmaninoff** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 1:58 pm

^^^I watched that Nets game as well. Yi did a mid-range turnaround jumper. He looked like a taller Joe Alexander. Minus the passing ability, of course.

I'm an Eddie House fan. So seeing him almost lose the game with missed free throws and a turnover with seconds remaining, only to win the game with a steal, was pretty sweet.

CDR looked pretty good, even though he was the victim of the last second theft. Bobby Simmons looked terrible.

Both Lopez brothers have played well against smaller players and bigger camp invites. I need to see them against Bynum, Oden, Bogut, Kamen, Big Z, Howard, etc. - before I make any judgements.

Post #29 » by **paulpressey25** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 2:04 pm

Good update above on Bobby Simmons. I know some of you guys are worried about RJ being interested and in shape. At least with RJ he can be disinterested and out of shape and still outplay Bobby by a 10 to 1 factor.

Ty has a good take on his bucks diary blog about Yi. Essentially pointing out that his performance for a PF just sucks even though he hits some nice jumpers.

LISTEN2JAZZ · Post #30 » by **LISTEN2JAZZ** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 2:10 pm

Rockmaninoff wrote:^^^I watched that Nets game as well. Yi did a mid-range turnaround jumper. He looked like a taller Joe Alexander. Minus the passing ability, of course.

There's another huge difference - Alexander projects to be able to play the SF in the NBA, while Yi does not. Considering both guys look like poor rebounders, that's an extremely important difference. If down the road we are giving 30 minutes to Alexander and he's only giving us 5 rebounds, that's perfectly fine if he's at SF, and we have the opportunity to put a rebounding PF in the lineup.

But if Yi only gives you 5-6 rebounds, and he's your bigman, you're at a disadvantage. How good of a scorer does he need to become to make it worthwhile to give up rebounding? Because 45% from 2 point jumpers is something your guards can give you - there's no added benefit to having the PF take those shots as compared to having your guards take them with a rebounding PF ready to collect rebounds.

The Nets are going to be a horrible team this year. But I'll take Lopez in the middle rounds of fantasy drafts.

Post #31 » by **paulpressey25** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 2:15 pm

Here's the link to that Yi article....

http://bucksdiary.blogspot.com/2008/10/ ... -nets.html

Yi's first month last year, the guy was pretty good at mixing it up inside on defense and blocking shots. Then he decided to leave the battle in the paint. If he ever got back down in there, that's what will make his career IMO.

Rockmaninoff · Post #32 » by **Rockmaninoff** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 2:28 pm

Adam - I know that Alexander projects to be, at the very least, a tweener. I'm just having a little fun with where he is at now. He's not what I want out of a lottery pick, but he'll be alright.

Now, one of the guys who we should have our sights set on, in the up-coming draft, is Stephen Curry. If we can get him, passing on Bayless doesn't seem so wrong.

uesbc · Post #33 » by **uesbc** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 2:37 pm

The Nets look bad now, but I think they have a great shot at the playoffs. They have two known quantities in the backcourt. Devin gets better each year and Vince is old, but still Vince. They have a ton of young bigs. We know Josh Boone is good. We know Sean Williams is good. Everyone expects Lopez to be good. If Yi becomes anything resembling a starting four, NJ will make the playoffs. The big hole is obvioulsy SF. They are counting on Bobby Simmons. Gulp. Even while waiting for Lebron, the Nets can be a playoff team.

emunney · Post #34 » by **emunney** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 2:48 pm

Who are the Nets getting past to get into the playoffs? That would be shocking to me. I see no way for them with that quantity over quality frontcourt.

steger_3434 · Post #35 » by **steger_3434** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:03 pm

If we're talking about the Bucks possibly making the playoffs, I don't see why the Nets couldn't make it either. They're significantly better than us at the starting PG position. SG is pretty even, but I'd give a slight edge to Carter. We have them beat significantly at the SF position, but if RJ doesn't get in shape and doesn't show passion for playing with this team that narrows a little. We have a slight to medium edge at PF. I think Yi will drastically improve his offensive game this year coming close to CV. Both are defensive seives so that's a wash. We have them beat significantly at C with Bogut. As far as the bench goes they have the edge.

Ridnour <<<<<<<<< Harris
Redd <= Carter
RJ >>>>>>>>> Simmons
CV >>>Yi
Bogut >>>>>>>Boone

Bucks Bench <<< Nets Bench.

I think we have a better team, but not by a lot.

LUKE23 · Post #36 » by **LUKE23** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:12 pm

The Nets don't have any really quality player in the frontcourt. It's a bunch of guys thrown out there hoping something sticks with Williams, Yi, Lopez, Swift, Anderson, etc. Redd and Carter, blah, take your pick I guess but neither is that great. Harris is better than Ridnour, but we easily have the better backup. Simmons if he's starting is the worst SF in the NBA.

I would be pretty surprised if NJ won more games than us.

Post #37 » by **paulpressey25** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 4:26 pm

steger_3434 wrote:Ridnour <<<<<<<<< Harris
.

I'm going to respectfully disagree on this one. I think it is Harris > Ridnour.

I think for our team, Ridnour is a better fit the way he can work the entry pass. Harris is better defensively, but I think Ridnour is the better pure PG.

LUKE23 · Post #38 » by **LUKE23** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 4:30 pm

I think on defense alone I'd have to take Harris on our roster over Ridnour press. I do think Ridnour is a better with the ball decision-maker, but Harris is a bigger offensive threat and a better defender. Harris has never had the high assist totals, but he's never really been fully in charge of the offense, outside of a 25 game stretch with the Nets.

Another thing that Harris gives us is the ability to attack the rim at the PG position.

I do think overall Ridnour is being undersold by this board, however. He can run an offense at least.

steger_3434 · Post #39 » by **steger_3434** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 4:35 pm

The reason that I undersell Ridnour is that if he was on another team I woudln't think that team had a very good pg. If we were playing Seattle last year, were any of us worried or thought highly of Ridnour? Maybe some did, but most here did not. Fans tend to overvalue are own players. It's just part of being a fan, but I'm trying to be a little more objective. Ridnour is the better distributer, but Harris is definately the better PG.

Joana · Post #40 » by **Joana** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 4:44 pm

Rockmaninoff wrote:^^^I watched that Nets game as well. Yi did a mid-range turnaround jumper. He looked like a taller Joe Alexander. Minus the passing ability, of course.

I'm an Eddie House fan. So seeing him almost lose the game with missed free throws and a turnover with seconds remaining, only to win the game with a steal, was pretty sweet.

CDR looked pretty good, even though he was the victim of the last second theft. Bobby Simmons looked terrible.

Both Lopez brothers have played well against smaller players and bigger camp invites. I need to see them against Bynum, Oden, Bogut, Kamen, Big Z, Howard, etc. - before I make any judgements.

House is going to be very important for the Celtics. Rondo still can't shoot, neither can Tony Allen and they don't have forwards with range in the bench besides Scalabrine; I can see teams playing zones against them every time one of Pierce/Ray is out of the game and Rondo is still there.

Re Simmons, don't be surprised to see Trenton Hassell as the starter. Yi doesn't have the body strength, the skills or the instincts to play inside. If that's the way the Nets project him, they'll have to build a new player. I'm glad it isn't our problem anymore.

Predicting the Nets to make the playoffs is a crap-shot. It depends so much on how they develop their youth. And how well will their offense work. Not to be nasty, but being a purist who hates dribble penetrations (European, girl... go figure...), I hope they lose every single game. That thing makes me dizzy. Anyway, as of now, I don't see a single reason why they are more favourites to make the play-offs than the Bucks.

CDR is fool's gold, IMO. The Nets are probably the only NBA team he can play. I can elaborate on this later, if anyone cares.