#Energy - The Jason Maxiell Thread

[yosemiteben]

OMG WE CAN'T WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP WITH JASON MAXIELL AS OUR THIRD STRING CENTER

[Braggins]

OMG WE CAN'T WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP WITH JASON MAXIELL AS OUR THIRD STRING CENTER

You are clearly just being an apologist here. Even though we sometimes disagree I generally appreciate your take on things but come on. You know Maxiell has no business on an NBA roster and it is strictly wrong to have signed him and now be guaranteeing his contract. It isn't a huge deal but there is really no reason to defend this.

[yosemiteben]

An apologist? I don't care about him. Third string centers generally aren't reliable big men. If they were, they wouldn't be third string centers. Lots of teams don't even carry three centers. The vast majority of teams that do don't play them. We are stuck needing one with Al out so it makes sense to keep him. It's better than cutting him and then going searching for a random big under a rock somewhere and expecting him to immediately contribute.

I think if Al was healthy and we kept him, that would have been surprising given the fact that he would not have played since 11/21 other than spare minutes in blowouts. He's not, so I'm not surprised that they kept him.

[Liver_Pooty]

Sorry, but debating over whether Maxiells contract should be guaranteed or not is the equivalent of me trying to talk my sons into eating all of their food at dinner. I don't think its that big of a deal to get all tore up over.

[catch20two]

-snip-

Yup. He's in some rare company of trash. He's the worst 3rd string C in the league. The other guys on the list don't play C or aren't in their teams rotation.

Pero Antic (ATL's second stringer) is BARELY over 40% (40.2%) and he averages only 5.7 rebounds per 36.

Jason Smith shoots 43% for a miserable NYK team and he averages only 6 rebounds per 36. Justin Hamilton was shooting 41% and averaging 5.7 rpg.

He's in rare company of third string centers that ever play. Third stringers like Mike Muscala, Alex Kirk, whoever Chicago considers to be their third string between Nazr Mohammed and Cameron Bairstow, Greg Stiemsma, Jeff Withey, Shayne Whittington, Clint Capela and Brendan Haywood don't get enough PT to even merit looking at their stats.

It's a stupid argument to say that Maxiell is worse than Joe Shmo third stringer for Chicago who never gets in the game.

He's the worst big in a rotation that's for sure. Any other team woulda been looking over hell and high water for a replacement BUT NO NO NO NOT US because he's a nice guy. Lol

[catch20two]

Sorry, but debating over whether Maxiells contract should be guaranteed or not is the equivalent of me trying to talk my sons into eating all of their food at dinner. I don't think its that big of a deal to get all tore up over.

And then you wonder why we're such a sh*tty team and Kemba's inefficiency is the only thing that bothers you the most. Lol. You know why? Because you overlook all of the real problems with this dumb team.

[Liver_Pooty]

Sorry, but debating over whether Maxiells contract should be guaranteed or not is the equivalent of me trying to talk my sons into eating all of their food at dinner. I don't think its that big of a deal to get all tore up over.

And then you wonder why we're such a sh*tty team and Kemba's inefficiency is the only thing that bothers you the most. Lol. You know why? Because you overlook all of the real problems with this dumb team.

What does Kemba have to do with this thread? God damn does everything have to be about Kemba to you?

I've done nothing but praise Walker lately kiddo.

[catch20two]

Sorry, but debating over whether Maxiells contract should be guaranteed or not is the equivalent of me trying to talk my sons into eating all of their food at dinner. I don't think its that big of a deal to get all tore up over.

And then you wonder why we're such a sh*tty team and Kemba's inefficiency is the only thing that bothers you the most. Lol. You know why? Because you overlook all of the real problems with this dumb team.

What does Kemba have to do with this thread? God damn does everything have to be about Kemba to you?

Oh no this is about Maxiell and the fact that he's the worst big in a rotation around the league. Can't defend anybody because he's too short and can't score any better than Biz.

[Liver_Pooty]

And then you wonder why we're such a sh*tty team and Kemba's inefficiency is the only thing that bothers you the most. Lol. You know why? Because you overlook all of the real problems with this dumb team.

What does Kemba have to do with this thread? God damn does everything have to be about Kemba to you?

Oh no this is about Maxiell and the fact that he's the worst big in a rotation around the league. Can't defend anybody because he's too short and can't score any better than Biz.

Well then don't bring up me talking about Walker being "inefficient" out of no where.

[catch20two]

What does Kemba have to do with this thread? God damn does everything have to be about Kemba to you?

Oh no this is about Maxiell and the fact that he's the worst big in a rotation around the league. Can't defend anybody because he's too short and can't score any better than Biz.

Well then don't bring up me talking about Walker being "inefficient" out of no where.

I'll bring up you talking about Biz next.

[Liver_Pooty]

Oh no this is about Maxiell and the fact that he's the worst big in a rotation around the league. Can't defend anybody because he's too short and can't score any better than Biz.

Well then don't bring up me talking about Walker being "inefficient" out of no where.

I'll bring up you talking about Biz next.

[Braggins]

It's better than cutting him and then going searching for a random big under a rock somewhere and expecting him to immediately contribute.

This is where I disagree. Maxiell doesn't contribute at all and is a massive negative most of the time. We could sign almost anybody and they would at least not be worse. We already know he is as bad as it gets so there really isn't any reason to keep him in lieu of looking for someone better. We are supposed to be competing for a playoff spot and there is no way to justify Maxiell getting 20 minutes a game when that is your goal. We actually need our 3rd center to play right now and we could definitely do better.

[JDR720]

Who would/could we bring in to replace Maxiell, the only one i can think of is Dalembert (did the Knicks waive him?), Cliff probably wouldn't play him until he had at least 4 months of practice time anyway because he is just an old man and they take time to learn new stuff whats the saying "you cant teach an old dog new tricks" ? I think Clifford knows all about that.

Whenever Cliff deems Vonleh to be worthy of playing time or Al comes back Maxiell will go back to the bench anyway. Is he horrible? Yes, but not many 3rd string players aren't horrible.

[MPM]

My (very minor) disappointment here is purely selfish. Guaranteeing him means I have to actually continue to spend time/pay money watching him play, which I find the worst form of eye torture. To put this in context, I really, really (really) enjoyed watching Jeff Adrien play - a very similar player. Come home, Jeff. Please.

In a team context, continuing to lose with Max playing significant minutes a game is painful. We can lose just as well by pushing Vonleh out of the nest - it has to happen sometime, and now seems opportune. I guess I was also hoping we would take a stab at Dalembert as well, as I've always liked him as a player and would provide a much, much more legit inside defensive presence when called upon, or rifle through some of the other recent castoffs (Brandon Davies, etc.) before committing to Max.

None of this is Max's fault (I'm sure he's a swell fella), it's Cliff's and the FO's, but whenever I see Max out there, I think it could be literally anyone else - someone that I might enjoy watching play/develop - or should be someone like Vonleh. On a side note, I'm also tired of us being so damn short.

Again - mostly selfish. I just wish Max was anyone else. I understand he's a scrub, I just want a scrub that has something going for him (young, tall, goofy, fantastic hairstyle, gay, dating a supermodel, lumberjack beard - or that has one slightly discernible basketball skill other than being orb shaped).

[BeesWax]

I do not like the fact that we kept him but I do understand. With our injuries I am not sure we had a choice. I would like for Noah to start seeing at least a few minutes a game while Al is out though. There is not reason Noah can't get 5-10 minutes that were going to Max. If he is making mistakes and costing us you can always put Max in or Biz back. Max is not a good player he isn't even a good backup but with the coach we have I am not sure we could have found a better option at this point.

[HornetJail]

I do not like the fact that we kept him but I do understand. With our injuries I am not sure we had a choice. I would like for Noah to start seeing at least a few minutes a game while Al is out though. There is not reason Noah can't get 5-10 minutes that were going to Max. If he is making mistakes and costing us you can always put Max in or Biz back. Max is not a good player he isn't even a good backup but with the coach we have I am not sure we could have found a better option at this point.

Max isn't even a center. There are point guards his height. He doesn't have the skills or athleticism to even start making up for his lack size height. If he was 19, I would understand holding on to him in hopes that he'll improve. But he's a month away from being 32. There is no other explanation. He's mentoring Vonleh or something. There is nothing at all about his play that separates him from D-League scrubs. None at all.

[mrknowitall215]

I do not like the fact that we kept him but I do understand. With our injuries I am not sure we had a choice. I would like for Noah to start seeing at least a few minutes a game while Al is out though. There is not reason Noah can't get 5-10 minutes that were going to Max. If he is making mistakes and costing us you can always put Max in or Biz back. Max is not a good player he isn't even a good backup but with the coach we have I am not sure we could have found a better option at this point.

Max isn't even a center. There are point guards his height. He doesn't have the skills or athleticism to even start making up for his lack size height. If he was 19, I would understand holding on to him in hopes that he'll improve. But he's a month away from being 32. There is no other explanation. He's mentoring Vonleh or something. There is nothing at all about his play that separates him from D-League scrubs. None at all.

Once Maxiell's age caught up to him and he lost his athleticism, he lost his ability to make up for his lack of height, and that was about 3-4 years ago

[HornetJail]

I do not like the fact that we kept him but I do understand. With our injuries I am not sure we had a choice. I would like for Noah to start seeing at least a few minutes a game while Al is out though. There is not reason Noah can't get 5-10 minutes that were going to Max. If he is making mistakes and costing us you can always put Max in or Biz back. Max is not a good player he isn't even a good backup but with the coach we have I am not sure we could have found a better option at this point.

Max isn't even a center. There are point guards his height. He doesn't have the skills or athleticism to even start making up for his lack size height. If he was 19, I would understand holding on to him in hopes that he'll improve. But he's a month away from being 32. There is no other explanation. He's mentoring Vonleh or something. There is nothing at all about his play that separates him from D-League scrubs. None at all.

Once Maxiell's age caught up to him and he lost his athleticism, he lost his ability to make up for his lack of height, and that was about 3-4 years ago

Yup. Even if Vonleh isn't in the rotation, I'd let Biz and Zeller split center minutes evenly, give Zeller a few PF minutes, give Marvin about 20mpg at PF, and let MKG soak up the remaining PF minutes. Even without Jefferson and vonleh there's no reason we should ever have to see Max/Marv as our 4/5 for any meaningful minutes.

[yosemiteben]

Maxiell has gotten minutes when either Biz or Cody (or both) has been benched. If Al was around, Maxiell would be getting zero minutes. You can be mad about Biz or Cody getting benched. I'm not interested in arguing about that. I'm just pointing out that he's getting minutes by default.

Frame Clifford as irrational if you want to. I'm not trying to defend him when I talk about Maxiell. All I'm saying is that there is a void and Maxiell is filling it.

[Liver_Pooty]

Our beat writer is absolutely amazing.

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