StutterStep wrote:RA Dickey wrote:big difference between over the hill and past their primes.. kg is still one of the better defenders and team players in the game with a ~20PER on top of it last season, Pierce put up 19/6/5 on a near 20 PER as well..
lots of you will be backtracking and eating your words.. idk how anyone can knock that nets deal.. i HATE the nets, but the team looks flat out scary and better than the knicks
I like the trade for the Nets though I think Boston bent them over.
People keep talking about KG's PER because the reality is that he's on the decline and has been for two years. His minutes have been below 30 and will probably go down to 25. Last year he missed 14 games, and the year before 22 games.
Paul Pierce's problem is that he has not taken care of his body so his stamina comes to playoffs is just not there. He's also declining in shooting, which might have more to do with the lack of PG this past season.
I cannot foresee a scenario where the Nets do not win the Atlantic this coming season. Except for getting rid of Chandler and not re-signing JR, I do not want the Knicks to try and counter them with a big move. I want us to go young so that Melo, Felton and Prigioni are the "vets" on the team with a bunch of younger players and international mercenary types.
Your assessments of KG and Pierce are just really off.
KG is still one of the best defensive players in the league, probably the best per-minute defender. His level of play the last 2 seasons has been pretty consistent, and part of the 14 games he missed this year were intended rest games that Rivers gave him. He could have easily played 70+ games this year if he had to. And he didn't miss 22 games the year before, he missed 6. Maybe you're forgetting that the year before was a 66-game, lockout-shortened season?
Pierce has taken fantastic care of his body, what are you talking about? He's only missed 26 games in the last 6 years, and again, some of those were intentionally missed for rest. His shooting numbers last year were right around his career averages as well. He didn't have his legs in the playoffs, because he literally carried the Celtics the entire season into the playoffs in the first place. He's not a 1st option anymore, but he was forced to be, and he did a pretty great job of it.
Either way, these guys are not going to be asked to do what they did last year, they're going to play about 25 mpg and basically do the things Evans and Wallace didn't do: play defense, space the floor, and make intelligent decisions. That's going to be a night and day difference for the Nets...even if KG and Pierce significantly decline this year compared to last year, they're light years better than Wallace and Evans.
