Around the nba part 6

[ibraheim718]

Melo just wants the ball, he says alot of things.

He don't want to bang with bigs man.. I bet if you asked him off the record behind closed doors about the nagging injuries he'd say it has a lot to do with banging with 4's down low. I wouldn't have ever put the guy at the 4... when you have a good matchup maybe... but I want him happy.. he's getting the ball all the time anyway.

[ibraheim718]

I dont think the 3 guard lineup really startered it all, to me it was lack of centers in the paint and power forwards wanting to shoot long jumpers.

But when we first started seeing 3 guard lineups there were real centers. Teams most definitely started going small on the perimeter first. I've got not doubt about that.

[Thugger HBC]

Melo just wants the ball, he says alot of things.

He don't want to bang with bigs man.. I bet if you asked him off the record behind closed doors about the nagging injuries he'd say it has a lot to do with banging with 4's down low. I wouldn't have ever put the guy at the 4... when you have a good matchup maybe... but I want him happy.. he's getting the ball all the time anyway.

I wouldn't be so sure about that, ever since that memphis game where he asked to guard Gasol because of his olympics play in which he was the center quite a bit, i do think melo wants that matchup at times.

And he certainly did not want to be taken off Blake Griffin, but that might have been being a national TV game thing.

[j4remi]

Melo just wants the ball, he says alot of things.

He don't want to bang with bigs man.. I bet if you asked him off the record behind closed doors about the nagging injuries he'd say it has a lot to do with banging with 4's down low. I wouldn't have ever put the guy at the 4... when you have a good matchup maybe... but I want him happy.. he's getting the ball all the time anyway.

Agreed! At the 4 now, he's a disadvantage anyway...he's still guarded by 3's and the four's just take whichever wing can't shoot. Then on the opposite end they get boards, force doubles and exploit the poor pick and roll D of Melo.

[Thugger HBC]

I dont think the 3 guard lineup really startered it all, to me it was lack of centers in the paint and power forwards wanting to shoot long jumpers.

But when we first started seeing 3 guard lineups there were real centers. Teams most definitely started going small on the perimeter first. I've got not doubt about that.

No worries, we'll just agree to disagree.

[moocow007]

Not sure what the original discussion is, but Thaddeus Young is a combo forward. That means he can play both positions. Kinda like Wilson Chandler and Marvin Williams. All these guys may not have the ideal height for it but they have the athleticism and strength to handle those positions IMO (all 3 are in the 6'8" 230-235lb range).

None have the ideal postup skills nor the perimeter skills that define them as purely a PF (former requirement) or purely a SF (latter requirement). That's why none of the three are viewed as starters (none of them have started the majority of the games they've played in in the NBA).

So what was the argument again?

Im guessing some bitching about (belittling, minimizing of) Carmelo Anthony?

Anthony has both the skills to play PF as well as the skills to play SF. You can argue that he's also more or less a combo forward but his ability to put the ball in the basket (far FAR FAR better than any of the other 3 guys) really puts him in a different light altogether. The fact that he's been a SF most of his career, and he's obviously been successful at it, dictates that SF is the position he should be playing. He's spent how many years of his career playing it? It's where he should play.

[Thugger HBC]

Good post Moo, but we're totally civil up in here.

[j4remi]

I can accept that... Like I said earlier Young needs to put on some weight.. A guy like Melo eats him up down low.. and when we play Philly we see the more efficient Melo because he goes straight to the post. The problem with Young is he can't shoot and he can't handle the ball.. so one has to give either the shooting and the ball handling or the weight.

Young's jumper has improved though, he's adding range, just not enough yet. Dude trains his SF skills more than PF...he really can't post up because of the weight issue and ANY big man that can post up will have a field day. Looking at his frame, I don't think he could have the advantages he has at PF (offensively) if he added the weight necessary to guard the position...Tweeners are killing me these days...How many PG's (premier PG's included) play the position like SG's because they never learned how to play PG.

Edit: Exceptional post moocow.

[moocow007]

I can accept that... Like I said earlier Young needs to put on some weight.. A guy like Melo eats him up down low.. and when we play Philly we see the more efficient Melo because he goes straight to the post. The problem with Young is he can't shoot and he can't handle the ball.. so one has to give either the shooting and the ball handling or the weight.

Young's jumper has improved though, he's adding range, just not enough yet. Dude trains his SF skills more than PF...he really can't post up because of the weight issue and ANY big man that can post up will have a field day. Looking at his frame, I don't think he could have the advantages he has at PF (offensively) if he added the weight necessary to guard the position...Tweeners are killing me these days...How many PG's (premier PG's included) play the position like SG's because they never learned how to play PG.

Yeah you can tell that Young prefers SF even if he's pushed into PF responsibilities. Same with Wilson Chandler (his perimeter skills is what he's been working on not his post game). Even Marvin Williams has said that he prefers SF and the one area of his offensive game that he's worked on most since coming into the league has been his shooting (which indicates that he sees himself as more of a SF than PF).

[Rasho Brezec]

You can't say someone who spends all of his time defending PF's and playing like a PF is a better SF than some other player who actually plays like a SF and defends SF's. There is no logic behind that.

Thad Young is better than Gallo.

[Rasho Brezec]

Can Bj Mullens or Spencer Hawes guard 2's?

It was a pretty obvious joke...but anyway, if a coach put them at the two and forced them to guard 2's...they could, just not well. And because they played the majority of their minutes at the 2 by Rasho's definition, they'd be Shooting Guards.

That's a fantasy comparison that has nothing in common with reality.

[Knicker23]

As nice as the Grizz team is on defense, and I do enjoy watching them play... they are way too offensively limited to go anywhere. They do have the rare type of D in this league that can be relied upon as a sorta form of offense, and use it to claw good offensive teams down to their level..... but come playoff time, when talented guys will inevitably go off, they just don't have the scoring power to realistically consistently match.

They may be a better team than they were with Gay, but without having supplemented him with some sort of scoring talent, they still aren't a good enough team.

[NYKMentality85]

Big night of Eastern Conference basketball coming up.

Knicks beat Orlando.
Milwaukee beats Atlanta.
New Orleans upsets Boston.
Dallas beats Brooklyn.

Dream scenario right there.

[frogfood]

Not too unrealistic, other than the NO win.

[NYKMentality85]

Just checked the box scores around the league since we're heading into halftime, and just wow at Cleveland being up by 20 on Miami. Have Cleveland fans gave LeBron the business both before and during the game or no? It'll be awesome to see Miami's streak along with (especially) LeBron end against Cleveland of all teams.

Also, nice to see the Nets down 10 points after 1 @ Dallas.

@ Dallas.
@ LAC.
@ Phoenix.
@ Portland.
@ Denver.
@ Utah.
@ Cleveland.

Their dreams for the Atlantic Division ends now. Lose against Dallas tonight, and Brooklyn's done for moving forward. They could drop to the 7th seed, if not the 8th... Brutal schedule.

[kane]

lol @ heat down by 20 to the cavs... i knew they would have a let down after that game vs boston

[Pharmcat]

lol @ heat down by 20 to the cavs... i knew they would have a let down after that game vs boston

dont worry they will come back and win by 15

they dont need to play the first half

[Falstaffxx]

Lin's having a nice game. The Rockets are tearing up the Jazz.

[Quick Kick]

lord Jesus the Jazz are GODAWFUL

[Falstaffxx]

Hmm, the Heat are within 9, lol.

edit: now 6.