Sign Gerald Green!

[Flash4thewin]

were the worst team in the league looking at, at least a 3 year rebuilding plan it wont hurt to get Green but sign him to a two year non guaranteed contract. What way if he blows up we can still keep him under a cheap contract for next season. Pat wont be coaching next season most likely ( a blessing for our lottery picks growth)

[Moses_Malone95]

Gerald Green equals Smush Parker. Do you guys want to deal with several more months of that?

[Hoops23]

When Riley is signing veteran players, he is being bad mouth. Now some fans in here don

[CRHeel94]

I don't see how signing him for 10 day would be a bad thing. Let's take a look.

[heat4life]

Green actually has all the skills we need from a SG/SF. All of them; however it is concerning that other teams have passed on him (namely Minny and Houston). I wonder if there is a behavior pattern or attitude problem that makes him hard to coach, especially with his lack of experience and age, it is important that he is receptive.

Riley tired out of Ricky Davis back in the days because he only wanted to run and dunk while he was tying to make him into a basketball player. Could Green be on the same boat? Can he be rescued with the possibility of turning that talent into true basketball professional? I guess a couple of 10-day contracts are worth finding out. Low risk/high reward situation IMO.

[CRHeel94]

Definitely a red flag that he got released by Houston so quickly after they traded for him. Still, they are fighting for their playoff lives and may have not wanted the distraction or the bother to babysit an immature athlete. I thought the word in Minny was that he got lost in the shuffle with their glut at the 2/3 positions from very early on. I could see how that could fester into a bad situation real quick.

Still, it's suck a low risk. I prefer him (or Demarr or Hodge) to bringing back Turdchucker.

[MartyConlonJr]

As long as we don't make the mistake we made with Smush (spending actual cap effecting money on him) and just do it for the minimum, the last 20 games of a meaningless season will give Riley enough of a look (he tires of the Ricky Davis/Smush Parker guys in the first week of knowing them).

I believe that Minnesota said they had too many SF prospects needing minutes, like Corey Brewer, Ryan Gomes and vets like Greg Buckner and couldn't give him any minutes.

Houston made the trade to get under the luxury tax I heard. There was a difference of over a million between Gerald and Snyder so this move pushed them under. I don't know if they ever intended him for more than a tax dump. Battier and McGrady probably fill all their SF minutes, with McGrady, Bobby Jackson and Luther Head all better options at SG.

My guess is still that it's personality/mentality/coachability related be leaving as theres too much physical talent, athleticism on top of having an NBA level attribute in his outside shot.

Still its not like you can screw this team up this season.

[HeatSince88]

When is everyone gonna notice the youth movement hasn't worked?

G Payton - replaced with S Parker / C Quinn
J Posey - replaced by D Wright
A Walker - replaced by R Davis
J Kapono - replaced by D Cook

In every case Riley heeded fans demands to go "young and athletic" rather than his typical "veteran and savvy" ... Notice that in every case a massive amount of basketball IQ was lost.

And where has that taken us? From the best team in the league (2006) to the absolute worst team in the league. But fans still don't get it.

"What? There's a young, athletic bonehead loser with zero basketball IQ we can get? Yes, we need another one of those!! Sign us up!"

Sheesh ...

The focus should be on competitors with PRIDE and high basketball IQ, not quitters and losers with no basketball IQ. That's the only way we're digging out of this hole.

[MartyConlonJr]

Which pride filled, high IQ'ed, winning veteran player wants the vet minimum to play 20 games for a 11-51 team?

We are only advocating having a look the guy, not inserting him into our starting lineup.

An athletic, 3 point shooting swingman where we have struggled all season at the SF position is worth a look. We have, what, 4 NBDL type guys on this roster? Barron, Johnson, Quinn, Anthony all play at positions where we have 2 better players but we can sit them at the end of the bench, why not put in a guy of at least comparable talent at a position where we don't?

[HeatSince88]

OK Marty, just a look-see is alright I suppose. Even if it hurts us, it helps us. (See the masterful "We're going streaking" thread)

But once this season ends, I will not tolerate any more threads about acquiring bonehead losers just because they're "young and atheletic"

[HeatInOhio]

When is everyone gonna notice the youth movement hasn't worked?

G Payton - replaced with S Parker / C Quinn
J Posey - replaced by D Wright
A Walker - replaced by R Davis
J Kapono - replaced by D Cook

Well there's a couple problems here. First, some of the youth movement are guys that are barely good enough to be in the league. That's not exactly the kind of youth the fanbase clamors for. The second issue is Riley's dealings with youth. He yanks Wright and Cook at the drop of a hat yet lets a guy like JNill play like garbage all year long. He let Ricky Davis shoot his way out of a oh... 20 or so game funk but send Cook to the D-League because of a handful of bad shooting games.

[CRHeel94]

When is everyone gonna notice the youth movement hasn't worked?

G Payton - replaced with S Parker / C Quinn
J Posey - replaced by D Wright
A Walker - replaced by R Davis
J Kapono - replaced by D Cook

In every case Riley heeded fans demands to go "young and athletic" rather than his typical "veteran and savvy" ... Notice that in every case a massive amount of basketball IQ was lost.

You left out Riley's signature veteran acquisition this offseason, Penny Hardaway.
Payton is/was done. Kapono got a boatload of money. I never though I'd say this but swapping Walker for Davis led to a lower basketball IQ on the court. From a cap perspective it was a good move. Posey really hurt.

It's not so much that the concep of youth failed, but rather the young guys we got weren't very good. We all basically hated Smush the moment he was signed. Chris Quinn might be an adequate thrid string pg on a good team, but on this roster with the questions about JWill's health and Smush, you would think they would want to upgrade at that position. Sacramento signed Udrih for pennies. I also don't think anyone was doing cartwheels about the prospects of Barron, Johnson or Anthony (three projects in the post was a bit much...in retrospect we could have used a post vet).

I still find it amazing that previous to the Davis trade, Riley had no good backup plan to the SF situation. It was Wright or bust basically. There were some decent bargain bin 3s out there (Jarvis Hayes and Ime Udoka to name two).

[Lane1974]

you guys know my mancrush on Kapono, but for some reason he has only taken 13 three pointers since Dec 29.

Whats up with that?

[MartyConlonJr]

OK Marty, just a look-see is alright I suppose. Even if it hurts us, it helps us. (See the masterful "We're going streaking" thread)

But once this season ends, I will not tolerate any more threads about acquiring bonehead losers just because they're "young and atheletic"

Agreed.

And it's not like I think the guy will pan out either. It's probably 95% he doesn't, 5% he does. Theres just noone else worth the spot. Only a young dude would bother to come to this situation, or a vet clamoring to stay in the league (Penny like). We'd be giving those players more of a lifeline then them offering us anything. Taking a flyer on a young guy is the only thing to do for a team with our record.

It should be at SF, and I'd be happy with Hodge as well, maybe even DerMarr Johnson, but Johnson is 28 years old and had numerous chances in the league. Has an adequate 3 pt shot and not much else. Hodge is younger (24) and is putting up good numbers in the NBDL and the NBL this season (20+ points and close to triple double averages in both leagues) but hasn't been able to get his footing in the NBA.

Green is younger (22), has the most success as an NBA player (22 mpg and 10.4 ppg average for a season) and the best skill for our need (3 point shooting).

If, and likely when the player we take doesn't make an impact, then in the offseason we should be trying to get our team back to - not necessarily veterans - but getting guys that are defense first and more savvy rather than the flash in the pan guys that can dunk a 12 foot rim, and I don't care if the player we acquire is 20 or 30, as long as he can play. For the time being though, we just need to take a flyer on some youth to close out the season, convince them to sign on for a minimum team option second season (really, what leverage do these guys have) in case they do pan out.

Next year is to build a synergetic team, this last 20 games is to attempt to gain assets.

[heat4life]

When is everyone gonna notice the youth movement hasn't worked?

G Payton - replaced with S Parker / C Quinn
J Posey - replaced by D Wright
A Walker - replaced by R Davis
J Kapono - replaced by D Cook

In every case Riley heeded fans demands to go "young and athletic" rather than his typical "veteran and savvy" ... Notice that in every case a massive amount of basketball IQ was lost.

And where has that taken us? From the best team in the league (2006) to the absolute worst team in the league. But fans still don't get it.

"What? There's a young, athletic bonehead loser with zero basketball IQ we can get? Yes, we need another one of those!! Sign us up!"

Sheesh ...

The focus should be on competitors with PRIDE and high basketball IQ, not quitters and losers with no basketball IQ. That's the only way we're digging out of this hole.

I don't think Riley did it to please fans. It was necessity after the spanking the younger and more athletic Chicago Bulls gave us.

I don't think a "youth movement" is the way to go when you are a title contender" but we are nowhere near that right now. We need players who we can develop into our rotation or players who have a "future" with the team.

Do we go sign Ira Newble to satisfy the veteran approach? He would do nothing for us. On the contrary, a player like Gerald Green, Julius Hodge, Brian Chase could show signs of being worth of a roster spot and even a rotation spot. What do we have to lose as the worst team in this league? Earl Barron has been on our roster for the last 3 years!!! how much worst can we do?

[HIF]

Quinn>>Payton
Anyone>>>Walker

[HeatSince88]

Sorry guys, I guess Riles opted for a hard-nosed, hungry player after all instead of a lazy bonehead ...

DraftExpress on Bobby Jones:
"His coaches rave about his work ethic and attitude off the court, and he

[Hoops23]

When is everyone gonna notice the youth movement hasn't worked?

G Payton - replaced with S Parker / C Quinn
J Posey - replaced by D Wright
A Walker - replaced by R Davis
J Kapono - replaced by D Cook

In every case Riley heeded fans demands to go "young and athletic" rather than his typical "veteran and savvy" ... Notice that in every case a massive amount of basketball IQ was lost.

And where has that taken us? From the best team in the league (2006) to the absolute worst team in the league. But fans still don't get it.

"What? There's a young, athletic bonehead loser with zero basketball IQ we can get? Yes, we need another one of those!! Sign us up!"

Sheesh ...

The focus should be on competitors with PRIDE and high basketball IQ, not quitters and losers with no basketball IQ. That's the only way we're digging out of this hole.

Finally I see someone who has a strong voice for his support for acquiring veteran players. Just like you, I always favor experience players as part of the rotation with the exception of lottery picks like Wade & Caron, who has 3 years college experience. In fairness, there

[HIF]

not against veteran players but the likes of GP, penny etc... forget it.

[HeatSince88]

I wouldn't diss GP - he played a key role on our championship team, particularly defensively.

At 6'4" with good length and TONS of savvy, he took the toughest PG/SG defensive assignment while Wade was allowed to 'rest' defending the easier one. GP was excellent at chasing thru screens (Gordon, Rip, Vince) and at getting up into someone's body to make shooting uncomfortable. These are things that, unfortunately, most fans either don't notice or don't care about, but they win games.

Offensively, yeah he had fallen off. It would be nice if his shot was a bit more efficient, but you knowm it seems like he always hit when we really needed him to hit. But more importantly, because of the high basketball IQ and years of experience, he controlled tempo for us *perfectly*, which is top priority for a PG. There were times he would push it for us, and times when he knew to pull back and dump it into Shaq or isolate Wade. And again, what was rare was having someone who could handle well and control tempo while also defending SGs or even SFs if need be.

All this for the league minimum.

When it was clear GP was at the end of the road, it became clear how difficult it would be to fill that role. A PG who had the size to defend multiple positions. So they spent 2yrs/$5mill on Smush, and we all see how that turned out. Unlike GP, he can't defend or control pace or get the ball to the right spot or play hard or ..... well, you get it.

So please don't diss GP. For the league minimum he served his role well, and our attempt at replacing him has been a costly disaster.