OT:SI Telfair Article

[Rocky5000]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/w ... index.html
Talks about his reaction to the TWolves draft, and his work ethic over the summer

One thing jumped out at me is this passage

He might have to stand in line anyway, behind the people who blame him for not being as good as his cousin Stephon Marbury (at least the early Marbury) or the fix to the Blazers' or Celtics' needs -- especially after Boston removed the nameplate from above his locker when news broke of a handgun possession charge. He got blamed shortly after arriving in Minnesota for not being Rajon Rondo, the player McHale could have extracted from pal Danny Ainge in the Garnett trade if owner Glen Taylor hadn't pushed instead for an extra draft pick. Now Telfair isn't Rubio, though he once rivaled the Spanish playmaker in sheer prodigal hype. Nor is he Flynn.

How would our team be if Telfair had not been included in the trade, and Rondo had been moved instead? Do you think we would have been able to keep Gomes as well?

Also, now that it's a couple years after the Garnett and Ray trades we can begin to see what would have developed had we not made the trade.
The team...

Rajon Rondo / Telfair
Delonte West / Tony Allen
Paul Pierce / Jeff Green
Al Jefferson / Leon Powe /Ryan Gomes
Kendrick Perkins

would no longer be the same pushover that it was a couple of years ago. Delonte has gone on to start in Cleveland, and Jefferson is arguably the best post scorer in the NBA.

[BRUNiNHO91]

Bassy is a better shooter, and passes the ball just as well IMO. Rondo has the edge in just about everything else. But I think Bassy would have been pretty decent along side Paul, Ray and KG. Nobody here really knows how good Rondo really would be without those 3 guys. And nobody will ever know how good Bassy would have been next to them either.

[Cyclical]

We would not have won the championship IMO. Our calling card is defense, which is one of Telfair's glaring weaknesses. He would have gotten abused in the playoffs. Rondo is tons better.

[celticfan42487]

It was just something written in an article.

We all know DA had a hard on for Rondo the likes of Robert Swift... who if Ainge had his way we would of been stuck with instead of being blessed by Big AL.

Telfair staying automatically at the very least means we keep Gomes and our pick.

[GreenDreamer]

Rondo is a much better player than Telfair. It isn't as if we didn't get to see that up close and personal a couple of years ago. That version of Rondo wasn't as good as this one.

That being said, Bassy is a solid backup point guard. He knows what he is doing out there on both ends, and Minny was much better with him than without him last season. He has actually become a fairly solid defender, and he knows how to run an offense. He was way beyond Foye in performing at teh point last year.

It just goes to show that a guy's numbers don't necessarily show what his value is. Scalabrine's are horrific, but when you put him out there with our good players, he helps out quite a bit. Bassy is pretty much in the same category. He isn't going to win you games, but he can help you to not lose them... if that makes any sense. He won't hurt you if used right. He can come in and do a solid job, and keep things in order while the starter gets some rest. You don't want to rely on him as your main man, but he can take care of business. So what if he never became the start that some people thought he was going to be. He isn't a bad player.

http://www.82games.com/0809/0809MIN.HTM

That tells me that Sebastian Telfair ranked pretty low on the list of people to blame for the Wolves last season.

[Cyclical]

^
There's only one thing to blame for their miserable season - Big Al's injury. They were on a furious roll before he went down. The McHale-Al combo was a good one. Minny made a mistake letting McHale go. It'd be like firing Doc after the 06-07 season when Pierce was injured.

[eloper]

Bassy's a good kid in my book, he has his flaws, but it'd be nice to see him succeed in the NBA as a starter.

His biggest problems are his inability to hit an open jumper, and his inability to defend. If he's smart, he'll do nothing but shoot jumpers all day, just like Rondo should be doing, because it's whats stopping him from being a real offensive force. He's got EXCELLENT point guard traits, he runs a team very effectively (the assist numbers may not quite pop out at you, but for the amount of time that he handles the ball he does a very good job), and does a good job of limiting his turnovers. I have 0 doubt that he can run a team, the problem is when he's asked to do anything but distribute on offense he struggles. He's not very good finishing around the rim despite being a good penetrator, and he's a woeful shooter, his mechanics are better than Rondo's but the results aren't.

Defensively he'll always be somewhat of a liability due to his size/length/lateral quickness, but that can be covered up with a good team defensive concept. If he becomes a good jumpshooter he'll have a long, successful NBA career ahead of him, but its not something too many guys learn overnight.

[jfs1000d]

I think we would have won the title in 2008 because I don't think Rondo was especially spectacular at the PG.

But, Rondo is clearly superior to Bassy anyway. Going forward its no contest. Bassy is more of a scoring PG, but he isn't strong enough to finish in the lane. He is also a pound the ball type NYC PG. Rondo has much better strength and athleticism and a more mature body.

Celts made the right call. Bassy is a great talent, but he is just so small and lacks explosion and strength.

He hasn't had a lot of opportunity to play however, so we'll see.

[Jwade]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/steve_aschburner/07/09/telfair/index.html
Talks about his reaction to the TWolves draft, and his work ethic over the summer

One thing jumped out at me is this passage

He might have to stand in line anyway, behind the people who blame him for not being as good as his cousin Stephon Marbury (at least the early Marbury) or the fix to the Blazers' or Celtics' needs -- especially after Boston removed the nameplate from above his locker when news broke of a handgun possession charge. He got blamed shortly after arriving in Minnesota for not being Rajon Rondo, the player McHale could have extracted from pal Danny Ainge in the Garnett trade if owner Glen Taylor hadn't pushed instead for an extra draft pick. Now Telfair isn't Rubio, though he once rivaled the Spanish playmaker in sheer prodigal hype. Nor is he Flynn.

How would our team be if Telfair had not been included in the trade, and Rondo had been moved instead? Do you think we would have been able to keep Gomes as well?

Also, now that it's a couple years after the Garnett and Ray trades we can begin to see what would have developed had we not made the trade.
The team...

Rajon Rondo / Telfair
Delonte West / Tony Allen
Paul Pierce / Jeff Green
Al Jefferson / Leon Powe /Ryan Gomes
Kendrick Perkins

would no longer be the same pushover that it was a couple of years ago. Delonte has gone on to start in Cleveland, and Jefferson is arguably the best post scorer in the NBA.

Nice 40 win team. No thanks.

Delonte is one of the lowest performing SG in the league. He gets overrated because he plays opposite Lebron.

[Red2]

c'mon.. anyone who seriously thinks that we should have kept telfair over rondo is nuts. telfair is a lousy defensive player and when he was here he couldn't finish nor could he shoot. He can dribble the ball but that's about it