vallen wrote:nykballa2k4 wrote:vallen wrote:
unfortunately many can already see the future, because weve been here before. Im not completely giving up on Jax yet, but I dont see it ending in any form of success. I expect him to bail back to LA, long before were a 500 team again. This FA is already looking like another strike out. The Kid might be onto something, but unfortunately were gunna have to sit through and deal with it.
While I agree it would be nice if Phil was able to trade Afflalo and Grant during the weekend for Draymond Green, I think that Phil has done VERY well with what he has had to offer. Afflalo signed for 2year16M what starting 2 guard was a better deal? KOQ signed for less than 4M per for 4 years, who was a better option at that price? Derrick Williams signed for less than the MLE. Robin Lopez has been better than advertised and the only player you could say would have been better is Kosta Koufos.
Phil has made 1 error since being GM, and that's mistaking Jose Calderon for a better passing Steve Blake. Jose has been a PnR player for too long, the transition clearly is not as easy. Usually Euro pg's excel in ball-movement offenses, he isn't. I bet Phil wishes he could have an Xbox controller hooked up to Jose to help him pass to the right guy and to shoot at the right time.
Im glad your enjoying the season, and I wouldnt want to take that away from you. But writing down a bunch of names and their salary's doesnt change the fact that they suck. Lets hope the new coach proves me wrong. But i dont think God could coach these scrubs, and their contracts, to the playoffs. but we'll see. keep hoping eh ?
Think of it this way. Look at the Mets. Their team, on the field looked abysmal last season. They added 1, bat and Wright got healthy. That knocked everyone down to a better slot. Instead of 3 .200 guys in the back of the order, and .250 guys in the front, they put one big name in there and everyone moved into a more appropriate slot.
If you take our current core, we basically look a lot like a contender that is missing one of their big names. If CLE was without LeBron, TOR without Val, OKC without Durant/Westbrook(pick one), you'd have a roster similar to ours. Those teams are towards the top. If we were to wave a wand and magically get D-Wade on this team w/o giving up an asset, we may be a contender. IMO we area coach away from being the Pacers. I think our team is actually better/more talented than they are.
As much as everyone wants to say "9 games below, we have no chance" If someone said when we were .500 that we'd go 2-9 I think we'd have scoffed. We pick up two quick wins vs inferior teams (which there are statistically few of) and then go 3-2 against some low-tier PF teams, that's a 5-2 start, and now our 9 down is cut to 6 down. Much more manageable.
Next 11 games:
Nets (we should win) Wolves (should win) Raps (played close, split so far, 50-50), Pacers (even talent, could go either way) Magic (owned us, but lost key players, 50-50 shot here) Heat (Bosh is down, struggling team), Blazers (Varejao!), Celtics (split so far, could go either way), Pistons (another team we have split so far, lots of improvements, but must adjust), Nuggets (no excuses here), Suns (ironic Suns having fire sales), Clippers (now Lance-free! Easy loss).
Their is ONE game there where we don't have a chance. Strong effort, and good dice rolling, and we are back in the hunt. Particularly since we are playing SIX teams ahead of us in the playoff picture (not counting westerners).
I am confident that 10 games from now, we may be looking at a MUCH smaller gap. Unfortunately, I am not on the team, nor interacting with the team (unless they choose to read) so I cannot really share my vibe with them, but hopefully Phil breaks out his good stuff, got off his boney azz and spent time around the team in practice.
LETS GO KNICKS