Now that the dust has settled & the last game played before the new team arrives it's time to clean the slate for the year & start over fresh.
As of Saturday night we will begin our very abreviated season. How will the season be? Will the results be better, the same or worse? Only time will truely tell on this and in truth this season may not be enough time to tell.
There are other factors at play here as well. Are we done trading? If we do make trades how big or how significant will those trades be? Will we still have the same coach?
Who knows, that is for the future to decide I guess.
All I know is that as of now everybody gets to start fresh.
Now to the trade itself.
Hmmmmm.......Do I like the trade?
First off it doesn't matter if I like the trade on a player by player basis. All that matters to me & this is why I LOVE this trade is that Walsh & Bird took a look at the team & said "this isn't good enough".
Do you have any idea how much that restores my faith in mankind? I have lived year after year after year after year of hearing "we don't make trades for the sake of trade" & "We have to be patient" or "we need to get to the off season & then evaluate our future from there" that I had become numb from it all.
It would have been easy for them to sit back & just be content with making the playoffs again, which they will do, and then try & do something over the summer.
But the fact that they had the nads to just literally say we are on a treadmill to nowhere impresses me more than I think I've ever been impressed before by them.
Also, I feel that this goes a long way in ending another big problem of ours. Being half @ssed.
We were half @ss trying to be a running team. We were half @ss trying to be a half court play through Jermaine team. We were doing a lot of things this way.
Well, like it or not, we now have committed to a style & a focus on which we will play.
Jermaine O'Neal is now the one & only. Oh sure someone will have to be scoring option # 2 & heck maybe even they will come close to J.O. in scoring.
But make no mistake this trade does one thing & one thing only. It puts a team in place around O'Neal that should allow him to thrive.
Frankly this may be the best way to go. Instead of trying to find a Robin to go along with his Batman maybe we should have been looking for a legion of superheros (sorry that was truely nerdy on my part but I had to throw in some DC love for Skaut ech)
Not only do I love the trade from the managment side of things I am probably about the only one of you who loves it from a player for player trade.
I harken back to Brad Miller in this part because it's just to obvious for me to pass up.
They go out & get Brad Miller light (Troy Murphy) when they could have just kept the real thing, but that is for a past argument.
Troy will immediately pay dividends on the offensive end with J.O. in the game. Teams will no longer be able to just leave one of our big men uncovered on the floor. In fact if they do decide to do that Troy can burn them from out to about 18'. Now I haven't watched him play for a good while so I'll defer to the good posters from the bay who have already given their reports on him, but I always thought he was a good rebounder.
Defensively? Again, they are adamant that he won't play physical. If that is true I don't see where he will help on the defensive end at all but let's see what he does here first.
My gut feeling? By the end of the first week Troy will either be starting with J.O. or he will be getting the majority of the min. at center.
As to Dunleavy? I have never understood the hate for the guy. Again, I don't watch G.S. that much anymore but whenever I've seen him play in the past I always thought he was a good player. I like his rebounding & I think he is good with the ball.
I don't know where he will end up on the roster btw. I could see him being anything from starting shooting guard to the 6th man who swings between the 2-3.
Ike, come on we all want "I like Ike" pins don't we? I know people are high on him & I like him to but I just don't know where he fits in with J.O. on the team.
He is a 4 pure & simple & J.O. is firmly planted in the four slot. Unless they are hedgin their bets with J.O. (you know in case he walks after next season) I just don't see where he will be anything more than a good big man off of the bench. Sadly this will probably put an end to Maceo Baston playing much.
McCloud? Meh. This years version of Kevin Ollie.
The other thing that I love about this trade is that it will now force Rick Carlisle to go big & not adjust down as he is so want to do.
We now have fourlegitimate big men in Murphy, Foster, O'Neal & Harrison. We now have Baston, Diagu, Williams & Granger who are all big enough to play at the four. We have Daniels, Granger, Williams, Dunleavy who can swing between the 3-4 & we have Tins.,Greene, Armstrong & McCloud at the point
Not to mention Marshal.
Anyway even if he wants to go small someone on the floor is going to have some bulk.
Another thing I love about this trade is the fact that Bird addressed the one major glaring need that we have had on this team in so long I can't remember when it wasn't a problem.
Rebounding.
We should now be a good rebounding team. We may not be great but we should very rarely lose the battle of the boards again.
Defense? I don't think it hurt us IMO, but time will tell.
Now to the players we lost?
Al. I like Al Harrington. I liked Al Harrington returning. However it wasn't working. Was it Al's fault? Maybe. It could also be Jermaines fault or Rick's fault or the moon's fault. The fact is it doesn't matter who's fault it was it just wasn't working.
I'll miss Al & I wish him well in the bay, but frankly this time I am not stomping the ground cursing the fact he was traded.
Jackson? It was time. Actually it was past time. Jackson was not a bad player nor was he even a bad person probably. But he just was not a good fit with our team. On a team of veterans that could shrug off his oddness like S.A. a few years ago he could get by with that. But on a team filled with some people less than mature he was just a disaster. The fans were often times to hard on him but there were times he deserved every single boo he got. I'll miss his defense. I won't miss him harping to the refs. after every offensive possesion.
Saras. Sad really. I thought at the beginning of this season that he was really starting to get it. In fact I loved when he & Armstrong would come into the game & often times would change the tempo. He's a good passer & a good shooter. He has improved his defense. However he was never as good as advertised & sorry to say this but a lot of his fans hurt his popularity more than they helped it here. But he was never as bad as some of us were saying either. I also wish him well in G.S. & I have a feeling that Saras will retire from Europe not the NBA. Not that he is not good enough, but I think he will go back to where he is more comfortable after this contract is up.
Josh Powell. Sorry fellas, but I blame Rick for us not knowing what Josh could offer. Instead of keeping 5 point guards on the active roster he should have put Powell in there for more than a few token apperances. In the pre-season he looke very good. Not a star but somebody who looked like they could have helped on the glass & some post defense. But Ricks fascination with playing his small forwards at the 4 & even the 5 spot never let this happen. I don't think Josh will ever amount to much in the NBA but I think he could have been & still could be the 3rd or 4th big man on an NBA team.
Overall let me just say this.
I love the trade from the aspect that it says to me that TPTB are not content.
That is all that I ever ask of them.
But on top of that I actually like the trade itself & what it does to the team.
So starting Saturday everybody starts fresh with me. That means J.O. gets a clean slate as well. I will now try my best to put the post game 8 argument out of my mind.
Maybe the team hasn't ever really tried to give him the players to elevate his game before. Well with this trade I think they have.
So my avatar changes & my sig. changes.
What other changes will come?
As of Saturday night we will begin our very abreviated season. How will the season be? Will the results be better, the same or worse? Only time will truely tell on this and in truth this season may not be enough time to tell.
There are other factors at play here as well. Are we done trading? If we do make trades how big or how significant will those trades be? Will we still have the same coach?
Who knows, that is for the future to decide I guess.
All I know is that as of now everybody gets to start fresh.
Now to the trade itself.
Hmmmmm.......Do I like the trade?
First off it doesn't matter if I like the trade on a player by player basis. All that matters to me & this is why I LOVE this trade is that Walsh & Bird took a look at the team & said "this isn't good enough".
Do you have any idea how much that restores my faith in mankind? I have lived year after year after year after year of hearing "we don't make trades for the sake of trade" & "We have to be patient" or "we need to get to the off season & then evaluate our future from there" that I had become numb from it all.
It would have been easy for them to sit back & just be content with making the playoffs again, which they will do, and then try & do something over the summer.
But the fact that they had the nads to just literally say we are on a treadmill to nowhere impresses me more than I think I've ever been impressed before by them.
Also, I feel that this goes a long way in ending another big problem of ours. Being half @ssed.
We were half @ss trying to be a running team. We were half @ss trying to be a half court play through Jermaine team. We were doing a lot of things this way.
Well, like it or not, we now have committed to a style & a focus on which we will play.
Jermaine O'Neal is now the one & only. Oh sure someone will have to be scoring option # 2 & heck maybe even they will come close to J.O. in scoring.
But make no mistake this trade does one thing & one thing only. It puts a team in place around O'Neal that should allow him to thrive.
Frankly this may be the best way to go. Instead of trying to find a Robin to go along with his Batman maybe we should have been looking for a legion of superheros (sorry that was truely nerdy on my part but I had to throw in some DC love for Skaut ech)
Not only do I love the trade from the managment side of things I am probably about the only one of you who loves it from a player for player trade.
I harken back to Brad Miller in this part because it's just to obvious for me to pass up.
They go out & get Brad Miller light (Troy Murphy) when they could have just kept the real thing, but that is for a past argument.
Troy will immediately pay dividends on the offensive end with J.O. in the game. Teams will no longer be able to just leave one of our big men uncovered on the floor. In fact if they do decide to do that Troy can burn them from out to about 18'. Now I haven't watched him play for a good while so I'll defer to the good posters from the bay who have already given their reports on him, but I always thought he was a good rebounder.
Defensively? Again, they are adamant that he won't play physical. If that is true I don't see where he will help on the defensive end at all but let's see what he does here first.
My gut feeling? By the end of the first week Troy will either be starting with J.O. or he will be getting the majority of the min. at center.
As to Dunleavy? I have never understood the hate for the guy. Again, I don't watch G.S. that much anymore but whenever I've seen him play in the past I always thought he was a good player. I like his rebounding & I think he is good with the ball.
I don't know where he will end up on the roster btw. I could see him being anything from starting shooting guard to the 6th man who swings between the 2-3.
Ike, come on we all want "I like Ike" pins don't we? I know people are high on him & I like him to but I just don't know where he fits in with J.O. on the team.
He is a 4 pure & simple & J.O. is firmly planted in the four slot. Unless they are hedgin their bets with J.O. (you know in case he walks after next season) I just don't see where he will be anything more than a good big man off of the bench. Sadly this will probably put an end to Maceo Baston playing much.
McCloud? Meh. This years version of Kevin Ollie.
The other thing that I love about this trade is that it will now force Rick Carlisle to go big & not adjust down as he is so want to do.
We now have fourlegitimate big men in Murphy, Foster, O'Neal & Harrison. We now have Baston, Diagu, Williams & Granger who are all big enough to play at the four. We have Daniels, Granger, Williams, Dunleavy who can swing between the 3-4 & we have Tins.,Greene, Armstrong & McCloud at the point
Not to mention Marshal.
Anyway even if he wants to go small someone on the floor is going to have some bulk.
Another thing I love about this trade is the fact that Bird addressed the one major glaring need that we have had on this team in so long I can't remember when it wasn't a problem.
Rebounding.
We should now be a good rebounding team. We may not be great but we should very rarely lose the battle of the boards again.
Defense? I don't think it hurt us IMO, but time will tell.
Now to the players we lost?
Al. I like Al Harrington. I liked Al Harrington returning. However it wasn't working. Was it Al's fault? Maybe. It could also be Jermaines fault or Rick's fault or the moon's fault. The fact is it doesn't matter who's fault it was it just wasn't working.
I'll miss Al & I wish him well in the bay, but frankly this time I am not stomping the ground cursing the fact he was traded.
Jackson? It was time. Actually it was past time. Jackson was not a bad player nor was he even a bad person probably. But he just was not a good fit with our team. On a team of veterans that could shrug off his oddness like S.A. a few years ago he could get by with that. But on a team filled with some people less than mature he was just a disaster. The fans were often times to hard on him but there were times he deserved every single boo he got. I'll miss his defense. I won't miss him harping to the refs. after every offensive possesion.
Saras. Sad really. I thought at the beginning of this season that he was really starting to get it. In fact I loved when he & Armstrong would come into the game & often times would change the tempo. He's a good passer & a good shooter. He has improved his defense. However he was never as good as advertised & sorry to say this but a lot of his fans hurt his popularity more than they helped it here. But he was never as bad as some of us were saying either. I also wish him well in G.S. & I have a feeling that Saras will retire from Europe not the NBA. Not that he is not good enough, but I think he will go back to where he is more comfortable after this contract is up.
Josh Powell. Sorry fellas, but I blame Rick for us not knowing what Josh could offer. Instead of keeping 5 point guards on the active roster he should have put Powell in there for more than a few token apperances. In the pre-season he looke very good. Not a star but somebody who looked like they could have helped on the glass & some post defense. But Ricks fascination with playing his small forwards at the 4 & even the 5 spot never let this happen. I don't think Josh will ever amount to much in the NBA but I think he could have been & still could be the 3rd or 4th big man on an NBA team.
Overall let me just say this.
I love the trade from the aspect that it says to me that TPTB are not content.
That is all that I ever ask of them.
But on top of that I actually like the trade itself & what it does to the team.
So starting Saturday everybody starts fresh with me. That means J.O. gets a clean slate as well. I will now try my best to put the post game 8 argument out of my mind.
Maybe the team hasn't ever really tried to give him the players to elevate his game before. Well with this trade I think they have.
So my avatar changes & my sig. changes.
What other changes will come?
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