Please don't try and put thoughts into my posts. If you want to ask me to clarify something, cool. I never said smart trumps talent. I am just saying we got rid of lower BBIQ, and gained higher BBIQ. I don't even see how that is up for debate. Am I glad we got rid of Amare? Yes, I am. After the last two years of his stupidity, and ego, his all talk, his stupid nicknames and nation wide promotion tour, I am very happy he is off this team. Now will I miss some of his plays? Sure, he was a Sun, and he helped this team succeed. I will tell you that I will miss Lou more than I will miss Amare. [/quote]So you think there it's better to replace dumb talent and replace it with smart mediocrity? Smart does trump stupid, I agree, but what about talent? Does talent not factor into this at all? Was he not one of the biggest parts of our championship campaign these past 5 seasons? Amare may be dumb as a rock but he got things done. He stepped up during the playoffs and won us games. If it isn't smarts then it's ridiculous talent.
I don't know which Amare you have been watching, but he didn't pass out of the double team, so it would not matter how wide open someone was, if they never got the ball. People are open in our system because Nash forces the issue. His PnRs with Lopez were just as effective as the ones with Amare. Lopez hit his shots last year, it had nothing to do with Amare. It came down to Lopez working hard on his foot work and his shot form. Please don't try and credit Amare with hard work put forth by Lopez. Amare has very little post game, which is what I consider an inside presence.
Lopezs PnR as effective as Amare's? Which Lopez have you been watching? Lopez is a decent option but to say he's just as effective as Amare just blows my mind. And do you really think that the other team throwing the double, stuffing the lanes and putting their best front court defender on Amare not have any effect on Lopez's offensive game? Lopez's hustle has a lot to with his basket, but if defenders actually played defense against him, he would not be shooting 58% again, not unless he develops a post game.
Look, I said who I would trust in crunch time, and Amare isn't a player I would trust, hence the reason I did not include him. Funny how you didn't even touch the Spurs game comment, which is a great example of my point.[code][/code]
I didn't need to touch your one "great" example. I could name other examples where he's missed a pass but that's not the point and besides your example was like 3 seasons ago. The point is that he was a more willing passer *this* past season not that he's a better passer. Last season he would pass out from the high post and establish position in the low post. He would drive in and pass out to baseline shooters like Dudley and LB. He's still not a good passer but I saw a lot of patience in his offensive game.
And honestly, when Amare has a proven ability to finish in traffic and also has one of the highest rates of getting sent to the line where he shots close to 80%. I thought last season he had a good balance between forcing the issue and drawing the fouls and passing out when the double team was coming.Boris a natural PF? Are you joking around now, or are you just pulling stuff out of your butt? He was playing PG/SG for ATL before we got him. Then when we tried him around the SF position, but we still weren't sure where he would fit. We knew he was a smart player, but not sure of his role in the system, other than maybe a point forward (sounds like someone we just picked up.) That year, he was playing a F/C position the whole time, with no clear positional role. He wasn't playing a strictly post position. In fact, when KT was center, Boris played around elbow in a point forward role. He fit well because he could play within the system. Something I see many of the core players on this squad doing. But again, time will tell. The only time we strictly ran the offense through him, was the last two games of that Spurs series. You remember the one, it was the one where the so-called willing passer had a one to ten assist to turnover ratio.
Everyone knew Diaw was versatile. he had a body of a PF and ATL decided to play him as a guard because of his ball handling and passing skills. He wasn't 6-7 200 lbs. He wasn't just tall, the guy was 6-8 230lb, he had what it takes to play in the post. His rebounding rate and per36 rebounding numbers in ATL were very similar to his numbers during his break out season.
I've always only said that Amare was a more willing passer last season. Didn't say he was always a willing passer.Here are some facts for you: Hill was not a good three point shooter when he came here. Now he is fairly decent. Childress has not played in our system, and with the players we have. You need to give him some time. Our team doesn't play with distinct roles. We really haven't for about eight years now. When Porter tried to label things, the team did not respond well.
Here are some opinions: Amare is dumber than a box of rocks. This team will be better off without him and his moronic ego. Critics of this squad will be eating crow come January. Many people don't remember how this team played in 2005-06, and therefore try to make stuff up. Shinny things aren't always great.
Hill is decent but not in the sense of a 3PT shooter decent. He hits open shots when he's left open but he's not a 3PT shooter. He's just not a guy you can count on being a 3PT threat. There's a reason why defenders don't run him off the 3PT line.
Look there could be surprises this season, I'm not arguing that, but you seem to discount how big Amare was for our system, in SSOL and in the Gentry era. If you really believe in addition by subtraction then you believe we'll have a better record than last season and go deeper in the playoffs?
