Do we need a legit C in the rotation for the playoffs?

The Captain93 · Post #21 » by **The Captain93** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 4:21 am

As far as help for Tayshaun, what about Walter?

He's very active on D, and won't get shoved around by the likes of Lebron and Pierce. He's muscular and quick.

But Flip won't notice this.

mercury · Post #22 » by **mercury** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 7:02 am

Yes we absolurtely need a decent center to make/win the finals (this eliminates Brezec)... look for a minute at your options if Sheed gets hurt.... scarey huh?
Counting on Dice or Amir or Samb to hold their ground against most 5's is not a smart option... this would be brutal on the defensive boards and holding centers from getting deep post position.... sure Amir & Dice can get their share at PF.

BTW, Brezec sucks hind titty... all flop and no action... just check with the Bobcats board for confirmation.

srt4b · Post #23 » by **srt4b** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:33 am

mercury wrote:Yes we absolurtely need a decent center to make/win the finals (this eliminates Brezec)... look for a minute at your options if Sheed gets hurt.... scarey huh?
Counting on Dice or Amir or Samb to hold their ground against most 5's is not a smart option... this would be brutal on the defensive boards and holding centers from getting deep post position.... sure Amir & Dice can get their share at PF.

BTW, Brezec sucks hind titty... all flop and no action... just check with the Bobcats board for confirmation.

same for DH, KG, Dirk, Pau, TD, etc.

The top 6 temas are all fubar if their best player 95% of the time a PF goes down. doesn't matter if we get the best backup option possible if Rasheed (or Billups) go down we are toast.

Hunter · Post #24 » by **Hunter** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:03 am

I think we definitely need a veteran enforcer in the middle. Not necessarily somebody who will play every night, but somebody capable of coming in and giving us a solid 10 minutes of defense and rebounding when necessary.

If nothing else as insurance in case of foul trouble, suspension, injury or whatever but also just as a change of pace. Somebody who will come in and lay the wood on somebody and make em think twice about coming into the middle. A Dale Davis type.

I think PJ Brown is done and unfortunately Kurt Thomas is probably out of our price range so that really narrows the potential candidates., but I think we need to find somebody.

Warspite · Post #25 » by **Warspite** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:30 am

On the trade board is a thread about the Pistons getting into the kidd trade. We could get Diop and send expireings to the Nets.

best part Diop is an expireing as well. if he pans out great if not hes a FA.

Post #26 » by **Snakebites** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:37 am

If we want a center who can play some minutes of the bench, block some shots and pull down some rebounds, we wont do much better than Diop.

The idea of us getting in on that scenario seems a bit far fetched though.

To answer the original question: We are gonna need another big bodied rebounder who can play some defense. Rasheed, Maxiell, and Dice all have their strengths, but it still pays to have a true center on the roster, even if the era of the league being dominated by true centers appears over.

tmorgan · Post #27 » by **tmorgan** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 2:23 am

This is where I interject my once a month JEFF FREAKING FOSTER comment.

so...

JEFF FOSTER, please!

Hunter · Post #28 » by **Hunter** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 3:40 am

tmorgan wrote:This is where I interject my once a month JEFF FREAKING FOSTER comment.

so...

JEFF FOSTER, please!

I'm as big a fan of Jeff Foster as you'll find on these boards, I just don't think we can get him.

bstein14 · Post #29 » by **bstein14** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 4:00 am

I don't see Indy trading Foster because they're trying to make the playoffs.

He's expiring so there's no monetary reasons for Indiana to do this trade.

We'd probably have to give up expirings, $3 mil cash, and two future firsts to get him.

mercury · Post #30 » by **mercury** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:11 am

Agree with you guys about Diop... not that he's got any offensive skilz... just a good fit for our needs...
Unfortunately he's on his way to the Nets with their new deal....
Krystic, Magloire & Diop... hmmm

I luv this time of year... speculating on what might happen... It'll be dissapointing if the only thing we use our expirings for is future cap space... this would just reaffirm that Mr. D is not willing to spend to improve.. because there is no doubt that the contracts could be turned into a nice piece.
If we don't make the ship nobody will point to the fact that we had a chance to add that big man and let it slip away.... they'll be too busy blaming Flip and someone else.

KB24VC15 · Post #31 » by **KB24VC15** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:04 am

Andrea Bargnani

^^rofl yes i'm kidding

7r5ur · Post #32 » by **7r5ur** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:46 am

tmorgan wrote:This is where I interject my once a month JEFF FREAKING FOSTER comment.

so...

JEFF FOSTER, please!

Remember when you're talking about adding a guy like Foster, you're also giving up Amir Johnson. That is what it comes down to. Foster's minutes would have to come from somewhere. That is all of AJ's and a bit of Maxiell's.

And in my opinion, AJ is already quite a bit better than Foster. Yes, foster will crash the glass (his only real strength), but so will AJ. Statistically they are very close per minute on the glass. Foster @ 17.2 RP48, Amir @ 16.1 RP48. But the problem with foster is, despite his size, he provides zero presence around the rim defensively or offensively. He has blocked 11 shots in 1184 minutes this year. Amir has blocked 40 shots in 332 minutes.

And before anyone brings up "experience", I will never buy that. Look at Daniel Gibson killing us last year. Look at Tayshaun Prince his rookie year. Michael Curry's "experience" almost lost us that Orlando series before Tayshaun stepped in. I will take talent 100 times out of 100. Especially considering AJ would never be in the game in the playoffs during crunchtime and without at least a couple veterans with him. The experience factor kicks in when you're talking a team full of guys who have never been there, or a goto player without experience.

The only legitimate argument for Foster would be his size. But let's be real here. How many teams are we going to run into with 2 legit post options with size? The only teams out there are in the west (LA and Phoenix). And even then, those guys will be on the bench when AJ is in the game.

Also keep in mind how this team is playing right now. Do you think it is a coincidence that Amir has been in the rotation for exactly 10 games (the first being the Philly game) and we're 10-0 in those games? I don't.

ElectricMayhem · Post #33 » by **ElectricMayhem** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 12:09 pm

mercury wrote: It'll be dissapointing if the only thing we use our expirings for is future cap space... this would just reaffirm that Mr. D is not willing to spend to improve.. because there is no doubt that the contracts could be turned into a nice piece.

You can't assume that just because you've got pieces, someone is going to offer you a fair price for them. It would be a bit presumptuous to blame Mr. D's firm pocketbook grasp on trading inactivity. I've been saying since the Nazr deal that Brezec and Hermann were acquired to help us upgrade our bench before the trade deadline but if nobody wants to play ball with us then Joe should sit on his hands rather than cave in to a lousy trade.

I'd have no problem with letting the expirings expire if we can't get a slam dunk trade. We have a great (and growing) core that all need their paydays in due time.

mercury · Post #34 » by **mercury** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:36 pm

BDM22 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Remember when you're talking about adding a guy like Foster, you're also giving up Amir Johnson. That is what it comes down to. Foster's minutes would have to come from somewhere. That is all of AJ's and a bit of Maxiell's.

I would see it as Foster taking minutes from Dice insted of Amir... Amir is not a center... nor should he be.

Low-Ki · Post #35 » by **Low-Ki** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:50 pm

mercury wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
I would see it as Foster taking minutes from Dice insted of Amir... Amir is not a center... nor should he be.

However if McDyess isn't getting minutes at center, he'd still get his, just at PF. either way, Amir is the low man on the totm pole and thus is the first player to lose minutes.

Muzzleshot · Post #36 » by **Muzzleshot** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 4:10 pm

It won't happen, but if the Pistons were to get Foster and Amir loses minutes, so what. The Pistons championship window is closing, not starting to open.

Ideally the Pistons need a backup big man, preferably not named Primo that can hold his position in the paint. That's not Amir.

7r5ur · Post #37 » by **7r5ur** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:38 pm

Muzzleshot wrote:It won't happen, but if the Pistons were to get Foster and Amir loses minutes, so what. The Pistons championship window is closing, not starting to open.

It matters because Amir helps the team in more ways than Foster would. Amir's shot blocking, finishing, rebounding, and running ability easily outweigh Foster's Rebounding/Size IMO.

tmorgan · Post #38 » by **tmorgan** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:06 pm

Let me be clear: I love Amir's future.

That said, I don't want to hear about rebounds per 48 minutes when comparing a guy with 50 games at 24 mpg (Foster) to a guy with 34 games at 10 mpg (Amir), especially when the second guy has gotten half of his minutes in garbage time against total scrubs.

Foster is a great rebounder and good defender, and don't use blocks as a measuring stick, because that's not the kind of defense he plays. Amir is a shot blocking machine, but he also gets beat constantly because he doesn't know how to guard big guys that are still quick -- he's new to the NBA.

I'm all for making sacrifices to better the future of the team -- playing Amir, Stuckey, and Afflalo now will pay off in the future. I see no reason to curtail Amir's regular season minutes, even if we were to obtain Foster. For the playoffs, however, having a guy like Foster to bring off the bench would be a huge boon and one we'd be foolish to pass up if all it costs us is expiring contracts and one late first rounder.

Foster's expiring too, ya know, and I don't think we'd try and keep him unless we ship off another big man. All this "costs" Amir is some minutes in this year's playoffs, and that's worth the risk if it betters our chances to win another title now.