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Tbird Topics: Defending Jim O'Brien, comparing us to San Antonio pre dynasty, and draft strategy with the summer of 2011 in mind

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  • #16
    Re: Tbird Topics: Defending Jim O'Brien, comparing us to San Antonio pre dynasty, and draft strategy with the summer of 2011 in mind

    Welcome to the board, Elcharanguista!
    ...Still "flying casual"
    @roaminggnome74

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    • #17
      Re: Tbird Topics: Defending Jim O'Brien, comparing us to San Antonio pre dynasty, and draft strategy with the summer of 2011 in mind

      Al Horford in 2011.

      I would throw big money at him. He is your Player "X". Plays PF/C great shot blocker and rebounder. Smart player. Athletic. Plays the pick and roll well. Can move over to center, but does better at PF. He would be a monster next to Hibbert.

      As for the PG position. We need to be praying that the Nets win the lottery if we don't. The Nets need PF help and hopefully a package for Hansborough or #10 and an expiring possibly would get it done. Devin Harris, Brandon Rush, Danny Granger, Al Horford, Roy Hibbert sounds appealing to me. Price, DJones, Hansborough, and McRoberts can be the future of our bench. Maybe that is too wild to be prophetic.
      "Your course, your path, is not going to be like mine," West says. "Everybody is not called to be a multimillionaire. Everybody's not called to be the president. Whatever your best work is, you do it. Do it well. … You cease your own greatness when you aspire to be someone else."

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      • #18
        Re: Tbird Topics: Defending Jim O'Brien, comparing us to San Antonio pre dynasty, and draft strategy with the summer of 2011 in mind

        Originally posted by pacergod2 View Post
        Al Horford in 2011.

        I would throw big money at him. He is your Player "X". Plays PF/C great shot blocker and rebounder. Smart player. Athletic. Plays the pick and roll well. Can move over to center, but does better at PF. He would be a monster next to Hibbert.

        As for the PG position. We need to be praying that the Nets win the lottery if we don't. The Nets need PF help and hopefully a package for Hansborough or #10 and an expiring possibly would get it done. Devin Harris, Brandon Rush, Danny Granger, Al Horford, Roy Hibbert sounds appealing to me. Price, DJones, Hansborough, and McRoberts can be the future of our bench. Maybe that is too wild to be prophetic.
        In regards to this.....other then Horford, is there any other "Player X" that is out there?

        I'm just trying to get an idea about who fits that mold that is athletic enough to be a PF but also is strong enough to be a Center.
        Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

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        • #19
          Re: Tbird Topics: Defending Jim O'Brien, comparing us to San Antonio pre dynasty, and draft strategy with the summer of 2011 in mind

          Dirk in 2011, can he be player x?
          @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

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          • #20
            Re: Tbird Topics: Defending Jim O'Brien, comparing us to San Antonio pre dynasty, and draft strategy with the summer of 2011 in mind

            Does Nene fit the "player" X need?

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            • #21
              Re: Tbird Topics: Defending Jim O'Brien, comparing us to San Antonio pre dynasty, and draft strategy with the summer of 2011 in mind

              I'm sorry. I just really disagree with everything you said regarding O'Brien.

              I believe coaches should be given a chance, I hate when a coach is given the door after only a few seasons - they deserve a chance to make a difference and it can be hard to do that with someone elses team. In fact, Jim O'Brien is the first basketball coach that I have really been set on firing. I loved Carlisle, but I understod why they fired him, I didn't think Thomas was near as bad as O'Brien and never cared if he was fired or not. O'Brien is different, he is stubborn and refuses to acknowledge what works and what doesn't work. I saw the team quit on him many times this year, however last year I don't think they ever quit on him. But your giving all the credit to O'Brien for changing the mentality of the team, when I think it was actually Bird who just got guys whos attitude reflect what we see now. I think they've always had that mentality, it wasn't anything O'Brien did or did not do. If O'Brien showed the willingness to change, then I might have more understanding torwards him, but he hasn't. The fact that you openly say players are professional when O'Brien misuses them show that its their attitude that made that reaction, not respect torwards him.

              I have NBA League Pass and often, I would get to listen to the other teams broadcasters. You know your coach is bad when other teams broadcasters are constantly questioning his coaching from only watching a few games a year.

              If I was Jim O'Briend attorny and forced to defend him. I would simply plead insanity. Thats the only thing that would explain his decisions.

              In regards to another coach making a difference. I definitely think there are a few out there who could have gotten more wins. There are probably even a few who wouldn't have gotten as many, but I still would have rather had them. Jim O'Brien coaches bad basketball and installs bad habits into the players. Whether or not another coach could have gotten more wins this year is irrelevant to me, because our future won't be as good with the way O'Brien has handled things. Any new coach is going to have to start from scratch again.
              Last edited by Dr. Awesome; 05-09-2010, 03:00 PM.

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              • #22
                Re: Tbird Topics: Defending Jim O'Brien, comparing us to San Antonio pre dynasty, and draft strategy with the summer of 2011 in mind

                Originally posted by Dr. Awesome View Post
                I'm sorry. I just really disagree with everything you said regarding O'Brien.

                I believe coaches should be given a chance, I hate when a coach is given the door after only a few seasons - they deserve a chance to make a difference and it can be hard to do that with someone elses team. In fact, Jim O'Brien is the first basketball coach that I have really been set on firing. I loved Carlisle, but I understod why they fired him, I didn't think Thomas was near as bad as O'Brien and never cared if he was fired or not. O'Brien is different, he is stubborn and refuses to acknowledge what works and what doesn't work. I saw the team quit on him many times this year, however last year I don't think they ever quit on him. But your giving all the credit to O'Brien for changing the mentality of the team, when I think it was actually Bird who just got guys whos attitude reflect what we see now. I think they've always had that mentality, it wasn't anything O'Brien did or did not do. If O'Brien showed the willingness to change, then I might have more understanding torwards him, but he hasn't. The fact that you openly say players are professional when O'Brien misuses them show that its their attitude that made that reaction, not respect torwards him.

                I have NBA League Pass and often, I would get to listen to the other teams broadcasters. You know your coach is bad when other teams broadcasters are constantly questioning his coaching from only watching a few games a year.

                If I was Jim O'Briend attorny and forced to defend him. I would simply plead insanity. Thats the only thing that would explain his decisions.

                In regards to another coach making a difference. I definitely think there are a few out there who could have gotten more wins. There are probably even a few who wouldn't have gotten as many, but I still would have rather had them. Jim O'Brien coaches bad basketball and installs bad habits into the players. Whether or not another coach could have gotten more wins this year is irrelevant to me, because our future won't be as good with the way O'Brien has handled things. Any new coach is going to have to start from scratch again.
                I think people are missing the point when they say "what would the difference have been with a different coach."

                I don't know about you, but I don't want to watch Josh, Roy, and Tyler become Murphy lite.

                I don't want to watch Rush and Price learn that they better jack up threes, or they're coming out.

                I want them to continue to learn good fundamentals, not some gimicky crap. And Jimmy teaches them gimicky crap...and doesn't even give them as much time to play his gimicky crap as he should.

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                • #23
                  Re: Tbird Topics: Defending Jim O'Brien, comparing us to San Antonio pre dynasty, and draft strategy with the summer of 2011 in mind

                  More than anything else the point guard is the key and what we're lacking. In the franchise history we've only had 2 really good point guards. Freddy Lewis and Marc Jackson. When we had them we won championships and were title contenders. Freddy was a free agent and we traded for Marc. If we can pick up a good PG and stay healthy this can be a good team. TJ looked like a good PG when we made the trade, but did not live up to expectations. I think we are going to have to trade for a point guard. The Pacers have been successful in the past when they were able to trade for a player who was sitting on the bench somewhere else and came here to play well. I hope we can do that again as I don't believe that we can get a top quality PG in the draft (whether we drafted at the 4th or the 10th!) However, getting a good trade is very hard. One thing to remember about the draft, Wall could turn out to be another Oden.
                  Go Pacers!

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                  • #24
                    Re: Tbird Topics: Defending Jim O'Brien, comparing us to San Antonio pre dynasty, and draft strategy with the summer of 2011 in mind

                    Great points BMac.

                    One thing I will say is that I don't know that we had huge expectations for Ford. He was salary filler for O'neal. Without adding his three years to that deal, Toronto would have taken on way more money than they already did. So in looking back, would you trade Ford and Hibbert for O'neal? I wouldn't trade Ford straight up for O'Neal if that trade even worked realistically. Anything we got from Ford was a bonus IMO. But he is a prototypical backup PG who can give you 20 minutes of mayhem. We have been relying on him as a starter and that just isn't suitable. He would be great for a team that had a solid cheap young PG, such as Milwaukee, NJ (if they get Wall), Charlotte, Chicago (if they trade Hinrich), and Boston. We would be a solid destination for him if we could rely on Price to give us starter minutes.

                    In regards to us being compared to San Antonio, I think that is a suitable reference. I just think the Spurs started with an emphasis on defense and that is clearly not our team's philosophy. They were a top defensive team for several years. We are a bottom defensive team. I am talking about the Spurs with early Robinson, not early Duncan. Robinson came in and was a clear difference maker year one. They also had young guys in Vernon Maxwell, Willie Anderson, Sean Elliott, and Rod Strickland, and the veteran in Terry Cummings. Those teams that really started out with their young guys and gave them legitimate minutes.

                    When I look at our roster, we still have way too many minutes getting eaten up by older players who have less talent. This is further assurance that our team will be better once JOB is gone. He is not a coach that prioritizes defense. With a 7'2" shot-blocker, our defense should be much better, but we also need to give him some serious help on the interior to not expose him. The makeup of our "veteran" team is nothing like those Spurs teams. The young core I will agree with. The only difference is their young guys were playing significant minutes. If you parallel Robinson/Elliott to Hibbert/Rush, they still had Willie Anderson and Rod Strickland eating up the majority of the minutes at SF and PG. If you want to compare Granger to Cummings as the veteran older player, this means that Price and Hansborough/McRoberts weren't getting nearly the minutes they should have compared to those young Spurs players. I wish we wouldn't hold this team back anymore by wasting time playing Murphy, Dunleavy and Ford other than spot minutes off the bench. It does nothing to get us closer to becoming a good team. Yes those early Spurs teams had much better immediate success than we have, but I think most of that is our "veterans" playing worse defense. Bring in the young legs and let them figure out how to defend. Plus they had a coach in Larry Brown that emphasizes defense that JOB does not. I can't wait for 2011-2012.
                    "Your course, your path, is not going to be like mine," West says. "Everybody is not called to be a multimillionaire. Everybody's not called to be the president. Whatever your best work is, you do it. Do it well. … You cease your own greatness when you aspire to be someone else."

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: Tbird Topics: Defending Jim O'Brien, comparing us to San Antonio pre dynasty, and draft strategy with the summer of 2011 in mind

                      Wow. Are we still having fallout from the Brawl in that we are lauding bringing professionalism as the main selling point for our coach? Have we become that gun-shy (oops, sorry) of even a whiff of controversy that we play it safe in terms of our roster, and don't take chances?

                      (It would make a fascinating book to dissect just how far reaching the effects of the brawl have been for this franchise...even to this day.)

                      I like the idea of the Spurs model, but there were some unique things about the Spurs they we don't have, and frankly, no one else does either. Popovich was GM and set a tone, then fired Bob Hill, and took over the coaching, setting his stamp there, too. Pop used force of personality to bring his military sensibilities to the Spurs from top to bottom.

                      For me, I don't feel like we have a master plan for this organization, despite what Bird says. I don't feel a sense of vision for the future and that has been my major gripe. If we wanted to build a team based on O'Brian's style of play, we would have drafted the high flying Javale McGee over Hibbert (jmho). Does drafting Tyler fit with this team? Really? In terms of O'Brien's style of offense/defense? (I actually think the 76ers roster fits more with what style O'Brien projects)

                      I've said it before, but despite Bird's endorsement of JOB, my biggest gripe if what I feel is a lack of direction. (And I'm sorry, that all fine and dandy that JOB has brought a more professional stance to the team, and I admire that quality in teams like Utah and the Spurs, about everything else he brings just doesn't do it for me. And, no, I'm not trying to derail this into JOB bashing.)

                      T-Bird's original post had me overwhelmed with a ton of stuff I'd like to say about his original post, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but being at work and time constraints for me in to this tiny response.
                      Hey! What're you kicking me for? You want me to ask? All right, I'll ask! Ma'am, where do the high school girls hang out in this town?

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                      • #26
                        Re: Tbird Topics: Defending Jim O'Brien, comparing us to San Antonio pre dynasty, and draft strategy with the summer of 2011 in mind

                        Love Nene and Horford and both fit the mold of player X for me, but how realistic is it that we could acquire them regardless of the method of acquisiton? You really think the Hawks won't suck it up an retain Horford? Can't imagine Nugz want to part with Nene for zilch. I think player X will have to be more under the radar than them, although I don't have a great suggestion right now.
                        I'd rather die standing up than live on my knees.

                        -Emiliano Zapata

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