NyCeEvO wrote:kerry kittles wrote:@nydninternets: In Livingston, Pierce and Blatche, Nets lost 5,690 min. They said it didn't matter cause Brook was coming back and Plumlee/Mirza need time.
Didn't watch this game but this is true. We miss these guys as some of us had mentioned we would.
And the thing is Pierce got better as the season went on.
Most people railed on him in the begging but a few of us (cough cough) kept saying "He's like an old machine…it'll take time to get him going but once he does, he'll be good." That's exactly what happened.
Bogs is a rookie and while he was playing stellar ball, it'd be foolish to expect him to be very good for the entire year. He's going to have his struggles and rookie moments.
Pierce has been there, done that. I'm not saying that I'd rather Pierce than Bogs going forward. I don't think Pierce fits a Hollins team anyway.
But if you look at the dynamics of last year's team, we had the talent and depth to clean up our act and at least put a nice run to the end of the season.
This year we're missing the talent and the depth. Those things simply can't be overcome by Brook Lopez and Deron Williams being healthy. We need a full, talented, and healthy team in order to do serious damage in the league. Last year we weren't healthy, but we had depth and talent. This year we don't have the depth and IMO we're definitely less talented than last year, but we're healthy (so far).
This is the main reason why I picked us to win less games even if we were healthy for the entire season. We just don't have enough to make the run that we made last year to salvage a bad season.
Yes, Pierce played at a near All Star level after the all star his final season and had been taking a little while to warm up the past couple years. He was also play with a cast on his shooting hand, which obviously affected his shooting. Livingston was terrible to start the season, but so instrumental in us turning the season.
You can't just compare these two teams and say oh they were here when we 10-22, buy ignore the fact they were two of the biggest reasons we turned the season around. Whose spearheading the turnaround this year? Can't see anyone on this roster.
Blatche was so unbelievably frustrating, but talented. Didn't think we would need him with expecting Plumlee to take the next step forward. Blatche is definitely the more talented player than Jordan whose being relied upon right now.
I said after Pierce left theres a good chance we miss the playoffs. I changed my stance after PG went down and thought it would be the same teams as last year with the Pacers and Cavs trading places. It is looking much like the Knicks season last year where we be fighting hard in a historically bad east for the chance to be the worst 8th seed ever or an expensive flop with our pick being shipped out.
Also like the Knicks these pieces cant be moved. Our big 3 all have negative trade value and we can't pay for someone to be take them
