GT: Charlotte @ New Jersey 7:30pm

[thruthefire]

Substitute Okafor with Lopez and our rebounding becomes what it is when Diop is on the court....

Saying DJ's potential is a part-time starter is ridiculous! He's already good enough to average 17-20 ppg over the course of a season. No question he needs to get his teammates more involved and become a better defender (Bynumite....yikes!), but with time, I think it's a guarantee that he will improve in both those areas.

Not saying I wouldn't take Lopez if we could redo the draft. Having to pay Gana Diop 6 million every season to do a quarter of what Lopez can do at a third of the price is sad.

I doubt we bring in Diaw if we did draft Lopez, though. If that's the case, i'll take an Okafor/Diaw combo over Lopez/Okafor.

And i'll take Okafor over Lopez straight up.

[Dexmor]

WHY CAN"T MEK PLAY WITH LOPEZ? Nobody answers that. Mek is an undersized 5 who should be playing the 4. He could have played the 4 with Lopez at the 5.
I wasn't saying DJ can't start cause he can but Lopez was the obvious choice.
If you agree they should have gotten Lopez why are you arguing?
They should be shot for not taking Lopez over DJ.

Anybody that says they would rather have Mek is not thinking clearly. They call 2 7 footers twin towers. They wouldn't even call us that if we had them cause Mek is just average size for a 4.
And saying we wouldn't have traded for Diaw has nothing to do with it. They still might have gotten him or they might have gotten somebody else who works out.

[thruthefire]

WHY CAN"T MEK PLAY WITH LOPEZ? Nobody answers that. Mek is an undersized 5 who should be playing the 4. He could have played the 4 with Lopez at the 5.
I wasn't saying DJ can't start cause he can but Lopez was the obvious choice.
If you agree they should have gotten Lopez why are you arguing?
They should be shot for not taking Lopez over DJ.

Anybody that says they would rather have Mek is not thinking clearly. They call 2 7 footers twin towers. They wouldn't even call us that if we had them cause Mek is just average size for a 4.
And saying we wouldn't have traded for Diaw has nothing to do with it. They still might have gotten him or they might have gotten somebody else who works out.

I'm not arguing. I'm giving my opinion......

And part of my opinion is that labeling DJ as a backup/part-time starter is wrong.

As far as Mek and Lopez playing together, I wouldn't mind seeing Mek more at the four, like I have said before. He's done a good job overall this season of switching on players and staying in front of them. The latest example is the charge he took guarding Kevin Durant. With that said, he's best suited for the 5, and he's a well above average defender at the center position, so there's little reward in trying to convert him to a power forward full-time. Let's be honest, he's easily a top 7 center in the NBA.

And no, Mek is not average size for a power forward. 6'10/255 is not average size for a power forward.

[Dexmor]

These days being 6'10 is nothing special for a pf and is what people want. Maybe not average if you include backups but almost half the starting pf's are 6'10. Do you like us being undersized? It's not like were small and have a 31 year old Nash. How many pf's are 6'10 or taller off the top of my head

Duncan
Bosh
Amare
KG
Gasol
Dirk
Love
Aldridge
Camby
Sheed

The list goes on and on.

Lopez is an excellent scorer and they could have had Mek concentrating on D and Lopez doing the post offense. They screwed the pouch big time. DJ is a starter but not an allstar. Lopez will be a franchise player.
And who cares if he is a top 7 C.

[W_HAMILTON]

Augustin will end up being a better NBA player than Lopez. A few tweaks, and Augustin will be a 17ppg+ scorer that can get 6apg+.

Lopez is averaging 13/8 in over 30mpg. Our "underachieving piece of crap" isn't even considered a franchise player, and he put up 15/11 in his rookie year. Okafor anchors one of the best defensive teams in the league, Lopez anchors one of the worst defensive teams in the league. Okafor averages (and has always averaged) double-digits in rebounds; Okafor plays alongside a guy (Wallace) that averages almost as many rebounds as Lopez does, and Lopez is the NJ Nets best rebounder.

Lopez is better than expected offensively, but don't overrate him. Lopez isn't even better than Okafor, much less on his way to becoming a franchise player.

Lopez averages 13/8, starting almost every game and being showcased as his team's low post threat. Augustin averages 12/4 being Felton's backup. As a starter, Augustin averages 19/6 on **48% FG** **57% 3pt** and 86% FT.

Augustin has a much higher ceiling than does Lopez. You let Augustin start almost every game at PG and have virtually no competition at his position, and it would be obvious he's better than Lopez.

[Dexmor]

You think 17 and 6 is better then Lopez?

Lopez will average 19 9 and 2 at least. That's way better.
Plus we could of KEPT MEK.
STOP COMPARING MEK TO LOPEZ BECAUSE THEY CAN PLAY TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[thruthefire]

You think 17 and 6 is better then Lopez?

Lopez will average 19 9 and 2 at least. That's way better.
Plus we could of KEPT MEK.
STOP COMPARING MEK TO LOPEZ BECAUSE THEY CAN PLAY TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't see how you can say Lopez will average 19/9/2 atleast, that would be his max potential, in my opinion. He'll beat out the 9 rebound mark some seasons, though.

DJ averages 18 ppg per 40 minutes this season, on one of the slower-paced teams in the league, so I think a 20 point-scorer is a guarantee in the future if given the time, and barring injury.

[thruthefire]

I will say Augustin is a more efficient scorer, and player for that matter, when playing next to Felton as oppose to playing next to Bell. Felton creates a lot of his scoring opportunities that Bell simply can't create.

[Dexmor]

Of course a scorer is gonna score more on a team that doesn't have any other scorers.
Lopez has a pg in Harris who always scores and Carter who is a 24 point a game scorer.
Does this really need to be explained to you guys.
Denial or ignorance. Can't figure it out. You guys are smart so Im thinking denial.

[thruthefire]

Of course a scorer is gonna score more on a team that doesn't have any other scorers.
Lopez has a pg in Harris who always scores and Carter who is a 24 point a game scorer.
Does this really need to be explained to you guys.
Denial or ignorance. Can't figure it out. You guys are smart so Im thinking denial.

Brook Lopez is the only low-post threat on his team. He wouldn't be posting up half as often if Boris Diaw was on his team.

And no, Carter is not averaging 24 ppg.