Surprise Pacers contributer

[Scoot McGroot]

By making 1.5 mil I meant that the team made the money (though I misstated and forgot he only makes 1.2 mil) because Dallas needed to pay Dirk. I was more speaking to the fact that we don't have an athletic big at all outside of him and Christmas, so I could see him being brought in to possibly provide that as well.
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I'd say both Thad and Turner are very athletic as big men. Really, I'd say that Jefferson and Whittington are the only two big men that aren't really athletic at all, and Lavoy is more of a strong than an athletic, though he can handle a few minutes of either. If you mean just undersized and a guy that will run all day to make up for talent and size, then yeah, Evans and Christmas are it, but teams don't really need two of those, and usually not even one.

Different kind of athletic. Neither Thad nor Turner have a chance at defending quicker bigs. I guess the best way to put it is a "hustle big," though that kind of applies to Lavoy as well, so maybe not the best way.

Like I said in my previous post, guys who can have a better chance at handling the Tristan Thompson's of the world. Do I expect Evans or Christmas to be able to handle them? Absolutely not. But they match up with those types of bigs better than our other bigs for spot minutes.

I consider both in the Lou Amundson, Reggie Evans, Kris Humphies, etc. mold (not as good as some of those guys, but same idea) and that's the type of big I feel our roster is lacking with the main rotation guys.

Isn't that actually exactly what Thad Young does and was brought here for? I'm genuinely asking, because I thought that was, but I haven't seen a ton of Thad playing in the last couple years, so maybe he's changed and slowed down, but I think he's always been a better, more mobile defender than Amundson and Humphries, and Evans was never a hustle guy, as much as a "get under your skin" slower big man.

[pacers33granger]

I'd say both Thad and Turner are very athletic as big men. Really, I'd say that Jefferson and Whittington are the only two big men that aren't really athletic at all, and Lavoy is more of a strong than an athletic, though he can handle a few minutes of either. If you mean just undersized and a guy that will run all day to make up for talent and size, then yeah, Evans and Christmas are it, but teams don't really need two of those, and usually not even one.

Different kind of athletic. Neither Thad nor Turner have a chance at defending quicker bigs. I guess the best way to put it is a "hustle big," though that kind of applies to Lavoy as well, so maybe not the best way.

Like I said in my previous post, guys who can have a better chance at handling the Tristan Thompson's of the world. Do I expect Evans or Christmas to be able to handle them? Absolutely not. But they match up with those types of bigs better than our other bigs for spot minutes.

I consider both in the Lou Amundson, Reggie Evans, Kris Humphies, etc. mold (not as good as some of those guys, but same idea) and that's the type of big I feel our roster is lacking with the main rotation guys.

Isn't that actually exactly what Thad Young does and was brought here for? I'm genuinely asking, because I thought that was, but I haven't seen a ton of Thad playing in the last couple years, so maybe he's changed and slowed down, but I think he's always been a better, more mobile defender than Amundson and Humphries, and Evans was never a hustle guy, as much as a "get under your skin" slower big man.

I've personally never seen Thad as that kind of player. Certainly more mobile and a much better fit for the style Bird wants than Lavoy (or Turner at the 4 for that matter). But I don't see him keeping guys off the board much.

I mean, we were tied for 15th last year in DRB% as a team and we lost several strong rebounders (Mahinmi, Hill, Solo). Maybe Thad's rebounding last year wasn't an abberation, but it was way up from his career averages and it's not surprising that he was playing next to Lopez whose a fairly poor rebounder for a center.

I guess I'm just not sold that Thad provides that element as a big for us. It's a small element, so not a huge deal, but I think we should have someone on the roster and possibly in the rotation who can really attack the glass. We've seen for several years now how big it can be, especially with TT on the Cavs. Hell, we may have won the Raptors series if we could have just grabbed a few more boards.

Overall my main point is that I feel Evans/Christmas can possibly bring something we don't have with our other bigs, albeit small contributions, which is why I feel Christmas could be a surprise contributor, though I wouldn't bet on it.

[Wizop]

Can I vote for McMillan? I think he can out perform expectations.

I really hope he can surprise everybody with good coaching, but somehow I really doubt it

So it's a low bar and would be a big surprise. I feel good about our coaches but it's July and I always feel good about everything in the summer.

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[Grang33r]

Can I vote for McMillan? I think he can out perform expectations.

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Great one!

Outside the box thinking like this I love. I'm actually a McMillan pessimist. Maybe it's because I was a Vogel-loyalist, but i just don't think he was the direction we needed to go with. It is what it is, and i need to accept it and move on and cheer for my team but i'll be pleasantly surprised if he can do an excellent job coaching. Essp, in certain game situation, such as closing out games and late game play calling.

[Wizop]

i'll be pleasantly surprised if he can do an excellent job coaching. Essp, in certain game situation, such as closing out games and late game play calling.

I liked Vogel too. his positive approach was just what we needed when he came in. however, he set the bar on late game play calling pretty low. I'll be very surprised if we don't see improvement there. we could hardly do worse than last year.