bada wrote:Chum wrote:Beast Mode wrote:Lol @ Udoh just magically surpassing AR in the starting line up. And get your head straight, stop looking at Thabeet's height/weight combo and watch the games, he's far from productive.
READ!!! AR was traded in this TRADE scenario.
Having a giant at center helps a ton. They don't have to pull down double doubles to be effective either...
Kendrick Perkins: 10.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.7 bpg
Michael Jordan has stated that the hardest player for him to drive on was Manute Bol.
A giant at center just plain makes things difficult for opposing offenses. Thabeet is a giant with way more athleticism than I've seen from a giant since... I actually can't think of a more athletic giant unless you count Robinson or Shaq.
Thabeet/Turiaf would make an excellent combo at center. Lot's of beef and blocked shots there. We just need a coach that knows how to teach bigs to play D.
I dunno Beast, you kind of sound like Nellie to me. "He sucks, he can't score." <--paraphrase
As for Udoh, I think he needs to start right away. Give him tons of minutes, it's the best way to make him NBA ready. This is reason #2050 for why we should TRADE AR's ASS!!!
obviously I went on a huge tirade in last year's draft thread about my issues with Thabeet and nothing I saw change my opinion.
He will NEVER been a competant offensive player... which is fine. I think we can all accept that given his main value is as a defender.
He certainly will be a factor in blocked shots and will not only block shots but change a lot of shots based on his height. But I question whether he can be a dominant defender because he gives up position so easily and is pushed around by players way smaller than him.
How this is happens is because he has an extremely high center of gravity. He is like a baby giraffe....he is contantly pushed around by players becuase he just plays too high and you barely push him and he falls down. It really is freaky to see (much like how freaky Kwame Brown's rediculously short arms look on a guy so big).
I think Thabeet can carve out a decent career and if we could get him cheap as far as talent given up, then I would not mind seeing him on the team but I personally DONT find him this great athlete. His high center of gravity and how he plays shorter than his length is just bizzare to watch. He seems to be a great kid and hard worker, but his "body" flaws render him not as effective as he should be.
The baby giraffe comment cracked me up!
I'm willing to concede that Thabeet "might" not be a good choice, but I watched him play several times when he played for UCONN and I was very impressed. Apparently so was the Girzzley's FO.
I think we need height at the center position. I think we need another defensive banger to pair up with Udoh, and most importantly we need a new coach that can both teach our bigs to play D and actually play them.
Ideally I'd like to see Udoh paired up with Al Horford, and yes I know Horford isn't very tall. They are both scrappy, long and very athletic. It would a different defensive chemistry than say Udoh + a slow giant, but if the the two bigs are athletic enough they would be hell to deal with.
There really aren't that many great starting centers in the league and trading for Horford or Gasol seems very unlikely. This is why I'd be very happy if we took a chance on Thabeet. If it doesn't work out, no worries. His contract will be up after this season.
Moving AR to center.... maybe. He'd need the right coach, right nutritionist and right weight coach to make that work. But I don't think it will work out and I rather have the defensive minded Udoh getting the bulk of the minutes at PF. Just like everyone here wants Tolliver gone so he doesn't eat up PF minutes from AR, I don't want AR eating up minutes from Udoh.
AR at center is not going to work with the current FO in place. I can't freaking wait until the new owner start making changes. I'm praying that Ellison believes defense needs to come first.
In the meantime I'd like us to shed salaries and and get young players that will compliment Curry. Trading Monta for Thabeet gets rid of our biggest problem, and we might come out of it with a player (Thabeet) that turns into a defensive problem for opposing teams. If not, no worries. Thabeet's contract is up after this next season.
btw I'd like nothing more than for Biedrins to return, completely healthy, ready to kick ass and reprove himself, and finally.... shooting underhanded free throws