Vasashi17 wrote:Not only that, but this team is built for a triangle type offense. We have post players galore. We have multiple core players that have already played for Phil and the triangle. Dwight would play the center position in the offense which not only highlights him instead of being some dummy roll guy with limited touches in this D'Antoni offense, but the 5 spot is also the easiest position to learn in the triangle.
The only post players we have are Kobe/MWP. D12 doesn't have a post game, he's good for dumping it in to get a double, but teams are just stripping him or fouling him right now and unless he gets an and-1, it's a victory for the defense. Him in the triangle getting constant post touches scares me because what my eyes see and what Trodgers numbers are showing IIRC, D12 isn't really THAT effective in the post. I might be wrong on that, I haven't looked at it in awhile.
Pau isn't a post player RIGHT now. He was for sure 2-3 years ago, but now he's shooting absolutely terrible from the post area, just terrible. Look at Trodgers numbers in the big Pau thread. Shooting below league average at the rim and sub 30% from 3-9 feet. Just like the last couple of years, Pau in the post is a major disappointment. The only thing he has is one or two good passes out of the post a game, not worth it IMO.
Meanwhile, you have Nash who is a great shooter and is smart enough to pick up the triangle and know where to get his scoring opportunities from. Plus, why a guard heavy offense when your guard is about to turn 39. He should be a complimentary player to this team, rather than the engine that could. Some of you guys think he's still at the southern end of 30. Nash can really make this offense look good, but why burn him so much during the regular season...to only have him burnt out in the postseason? Meanwhile the Bean tacked on another 40+ minute game.
I don't like Nash in the offense because he assumes the Fisher role. Stand in the corner and hit 3's. That's severely undermining his skills as a PG. Him and Kobe aren't getting burned out because of the offense, it's because we don't have anyone worth a damn besides Meeks to sub in for them. We have ZERO depth at the backup 3 and backup 1. It's not like we are sprinting up and down the court with this offense, we simply don't have the bodies to get effective play when they are on the bench. I fully agree MDA should be resting them more, but when your options are Duhon (recently), Morris, Ebanks, it really puts him in a bad situation. We need another wing player or two to fix this.
All this nonsense simply would not happen under Phil. His track record says so! Meanwhile, D'Antoni is staying true to his....and surprisingly management went with the latter.
Nash/Kobe/D12/Meeks/Hill are really the ONLY players giving us anything. Pau/Duhon/Morris don't give anything or much consistently, Ebanks/Jamison don't even play. We are an old team, with no depth, in a fast paced league built on athleticism at every position. The game has changed since Phil hung up the zen, I'm not to sure he could DRASTICALLY change the team to a team that is dominant in this same time period MDA has had because we have a mish mash of personnel that doesn't fit and is too slow to hang with teams that have the young guns that make it difficult on our old players.
Vasashi17 wrote:I remember a lot of people questing the teams effort and such with Jackson here, saying he has lost it and such. 3 consecutive Finals appearances before we flame out in Phil's last season. Sprinkle in Kobe and Pau taking part in summer Olympics and Fiba tourneys. That definitely led to Kobe's knee injury and in Phil's last season, you can't ignore that Kobe limped into the playoffs and just didn't have it. During that window where it appeared Phil was about to get hired, Kobe said just as much...he felt he did Phil wrong that season cause physically he was not all there.
You've said this a couple times around here. My defense to that is, while that may be true, these guys might be burned out in Phil's last run, that "core" of players you referred to above is still here and playing big minutes after that 3 year run, after another Olympics and more playoffs. Everyone from that time is a few years older, gotten little rest since then and we haven't replaced the people we've lost with anything worthwhile (except Nash/Hill) since then. Pau was done then, he's burnt toast now, MWP isn't the defensive ace since those days and Kobe's defense has dropped significantly. They were burnt out with Phil, things haven't changed.
Also, lets not forget Phil had already one foot out the door after beating "those guys". He was ready to call it. It took Kobe and Fisher to convince and drag Phil back into the fray. I'm not saying its a valid excuse, since Phil was payed handsomely, but that last season wasn't entirely his decision. Plus, lets say he lost that team...well that's "that" team...not "this" team.
If this is true, can you fault management for not wanting him back? He had to be dragged back to coach, when he was ready to leave the game and now years later, they are supposed to bring the guy back that "had one foot out the door" on them?
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