This week in the NBA

[MFer 0]

I have no idea how Dixon's been lately, but Brezec wasn't doing much in Detroit anyways. Might've been worthwhile to keep him around just to have another big body though.

 

As far as the Cavs go, I think they were just making a move to make a move. I really don't think that's enough for them. I love what the Hornets did; I'm real interested to see how far they can go in the playoffs.

[Precious Roy 0]

Well, personally, I think this is a fucking great trade for the Cavs. Marshall was a total bust, Drew Gooden is a good player but they don't miss a beat, probably better in fact with Varejao out there. This greatly improves their depth at power forward and center, say what you want about Wallace but he can still make an impact on the game and will be on his best behavior for King James, Joe Smith is quietly having a really good year, honestly I don't see much drop off from Gooden's production with him, and you can probably play any combination of the 4 at the same time depending on matchups.

 

Trading Larry Hughes is a coup, he's always hurt, and when he plays he shoots sub 40%, he's been a colossal bust. I would much rather have Szczerbiak than Hughes at this point, Wally's a great shooter, and he's another guy like Smith who's quietly having a very productive season even though it seems like everyone has written him off. If you just look at the games where he's playing 26-30+ minutes he's probably averaging 17 or 18 points, a bunch of games where his minutes were in the teens hurt his numbers. All he'll be asked to do for the Cavs is catch passes from LeBron and knock down his looks, it's a perfect situation for him, and he won't actively hurt them like Hughes did. And Delonte West can definitely contribute off the bench, he does a little bit of everything and he made a living with the Celtics getting open looks from Paul Pierce, same as he'll get with James.

 

So yeah, they got 4 players who can contribute to a playoff run, other than Gooden they didn't give up a single player who was crucial to what they do, and moving Hughes and Marshall is addition by subtraction. I think they just gave LeBron what he needs to carry that team back to the finals, and it doesn't really burden them financially any worse than the players they gave up did, I think Wally has one year left and Wallace has two, same as what Hughes had. Only way the trade could have been better is if they managed to pawn off Damon Jones too.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I'm with Precious Roy on this one. I don't know if they're the favorites in the East, but the pieces are there to get them back to the finals.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Getting largely washed up Ben Wallace in a trade is a good thing now? I think the Cavs nominally upgraded their role players. Delonte West at PG is probably the best thing about the deal, but nothing about this screams "HERE COMES THE CAVS!!!"

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Media reports are selling Ben Wallace as the big acquisition, but he's probably the least value player they acquired. In all honesty, I think he was just the pill the Cavs had to swallow to get Larry Hughes out of town. Lebron needs spot up shooters for his drive and kick move and West and Wally fit that description to a T.

 

West gives them a little depth at guard and Joe Smith will give them 80% of what Drew Gooden did. Wallace doesn't add much, but he will be a defensive presence that allows them to rotate four quality bigs depending on matchups.

 

It's not an OMG deal, but it's an attempt to put the right pieces in place for Lebron to make a post-season run. If it doesn't work, they have $34 million to make a splash next year. Just removing Hughes and Marshall from the roster makes this a win, with the others being slight upgrades that fit well with what they are trying to do.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I'd consider the Hornets big winners today, too. Mike James is an overpaid point guard who should never be more than a back-up. Thankfully, that's all he'll be in New Orleans, which should take some pressure off of Paul down the stretch. Wells is a shady character, but the team's competitive and he should find a role as another offensive option.

 

It's easy to write off the Hornets, but with just about 30 games left they still have the best record in the West. It may be time that we have to take them seriously.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

LOL at the people calling the Cavs improved with this. The only thing they did well was gather up the expirings. They aren't beating Boston or Detroit with what they got.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

LOL at the people calling the Cavs improved with this. The only thing they did well was gather up the expirings. They aren't beating Boston or Detroit with what they got.

 

They beat Detroit last year with a worse team than this one. Why couldn't they do it again?

[Precious Roy 0]

LOL at the people calling the Cavs improved with this. The only thing they did well was gather up the expirings. They aren't beating Boston or Detroit with what they got.

 

They are improved, and um, LeBron singlehandedly spanked Detroit last year

 

[Brett Favre 0]

Wally World will be pretty valuable with his outside shooting, and Ben Wallace will defend better than Gooden. West automatically becomes their best PG, so they have some shot at getting to the finals.

[alfdogg 0]

Also, if they get to coast past two teams completely crippled by injuries on their way to Detroit or Boston like they did last year, they have a chance.

[randomguy 0]

Wally is shooting the 3 at 42%. They got better. Better enough? Who knows, but they got better.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

I have no idea how Dixon's been lately, but Brezec wasn't doing much in Detroit anyways. Might've been worthwhile to keep him around just to have another big body though.

Dixon shoots a lot from anywhere on the court and complains about minutes. I'm really happy we got rid of him. Plus the Raps needed more size and, useful or not, Prezec is big. Plus maybe teaming with other Europeans will help him play more to his, supposed, abilities. Worked for Delfino. Also the Raptors got cash from Detroit. No lose situation for Toronto.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Is Manu Ginobli the most underrated player in the NBA? I know people know about him, but he seriously might be one of the 10 or 15 best players in the league. You just never here him mentioned as anything other than Tony and Tim's sidekick, and I think he's proving that he's a hell of a lot more than that.

[Ripper 0]

How can anyone see this as anything but good for the Cavs.

 

Wallace is a better defender and rebounder than gooden, Smith can give you exactly what drew did, Wally is a better shooter than hughes and West is a better point guard than anything they had.

 

And all they gave up was Gooden(who got replace properly and means more minutes for Anderson, who is more important on this team), Marshall(...HA!) and Hughes(HAHHAHAHAAHA). They upgraded at every position they traded away. How are they not better?

[Ripper 0]

Is Manu Ginobli the most underrated player in the NBA? I know people know about him, but he seriously might be one of the 10 or 15 best players in the league.

 

No because everyone says he is one of the best players in the NBA. I don't think anyone can say you are underrated when there isn't anyone that rates him low or even average or even just above average.

 

Josh Smith, Gerald Wallace, Kevin Martin, Hedo and others are all great players and barely get any mention.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I overreacted by saying they WON'T beat Boston or Detroit (even if I think that's the case), but really, everything went right for the Cavaliers last year in the postseason. They faced an injury-riddled Wizards, a sorta sucky Nets and overconfident and lazy Pistons. When they faced a team worth its salt AND played like the team they're supposed to be, they got swept, didn't they? I just don't know. Like someone else said, these trades don't scream "FINALS CONTENDER!" to me. Maybe if everyone like Ben Wallace and Wally Szcerbiak played with a spark, then that's possible.

[Ripper 0]

I overreacted by saying they WON'T beat Boston or Detroit (even if I think that's the case), but really, everything went right for the Cavaliers last year in the postseason. They faced an injury-riddled Wizards, a sorta sucky Nets and overconfident and lazy Pistons. When they faced a team worth its salt AND played like the team they're supposed to be, they got swept, didn't they? I just don't know. Like someone else said, these trades don't scream "FINALS CONTENDER!" to me. Maybe if everyone like Ben Wallace and Wally Szcerbiak played with a spark, then that's possible.

 

 

If they could have gotten a rebound they would have beaten the Pistons the year before too.

 

At the end of games in the playoffs it comes down to superstars. Lebron always gives you a chance to win. thats why the Cavs got through the playoffs. I doubt that the Wizards would have beaten them if they had Butler and Arenas in that series. The Nets were the Nets, and they just beat Detroit. All that cocky talk and stuff, they went out there and beat them because when it was crunch time, the Cavs had the best player on the court. Now they have another shooter to go along with Gibson that can actually make shots. A point guard that can defend in West and take help Lebron, and a firey when motivated Ben Wallace who will no doubt be motivated now.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I overreacted by saying they WON'T beat Boston or Detroit (even if I think that's the case), but really, everything went right for the Cavaliers last year in the postseason. They faced an injury-riddled Wizards, a sorta sucky Nets and overconfident and lazy Pistons. When they faced a team worth its salt AND played like the team they're supposed to be, they got swept, didn't they? I just don't know. Like someone else said, these trades don't scream "FINALS CONTENDER!" to me. Maybe if everyone like Ben Wallace and Wally Szcerbiak played with a spark, then that's possible.

 

 

I just think that your judgment may be clouded into thinking that they needed steal someone (Gasol to LA), acquire one big piece (like Kidd) or do a major shakeup (Shaq on the Suns) because those were the big stories in the past week. The Cavs don't need to do anything like that. They just needed some shooters to complement Lebron and depth players that don't make them actively worse when they are in the game (like Hughes and Marshall do).

 

Like I said, it's not a deal that locks them into the Finals. It just gives them a better shot to beat the best teams in the East and since they've done it before, I wouldn't bet against them. Also, that's sort of revisionist to say that Detroit was lazy and overconfident. Lebron made them his bitch for four consecutive games. Detroit was demoralized. You don't beat the hell out a team in a seven game series unless you're the better team.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

It seems like every time Pistons play the Cavs, the Pistons always say they come in overconfident, and when the Cavs take them to the limit, the first time around, the Pistons woke up and beat them, but then came into the Miami series totally out of gas. The second time, the Cavs just beat them. I do have to wonder if the Pistons are really what they say they were, lazy and unmotivated against the Cavs, or if the Cavs are just simply better with Lebron than the entire Pistons team.

 

Cheech- you might be right. I might be clouded by the more blockbuster deals that was going on.

[Brett Favre 0]

And you can actually play with them on NBA 2K8 now. Szczerbiak draining threes, with Wallace grabbing boards. LeBron has someone to past to now other than Daniel Gibson.

 

LeBron has beaten the Celtics by himself this year, twice. I think people underrate his ability to carry a team because they got beat by the Spurs. Now they have another shooter, another distributor who can shoot, and a defensive beast (well a lot better than Gooden).

[alfdogg 0]

I do think the Cavs got better with this trade, but not to the extent that people are trying to talk themselves into. I'd say they're a solid #3 in the East now, but to me the Pistons are to the East what the Spurs are to the West. They've been the most consistently great team in the East for the last several years, and until I see someone beat them that's who I'm picking. Even though I just said Boston about a month ago, but that was before the Pistons went on their recent hot streak, in which they looked like arguably the best team in the NBA.

 

I think Ginobili is definitely underrated. A lot of people write him off as a flopper and forget that he's one of the more exciting players in the league to watch. If you asked people to list their top 5 SG's, I don't think he would appear on many people's lists, but I think he definitely has an argument.

Edited February 23, 2008 by alfdogg

[Precious Roy 0]

I'm sure he's underrated, nobody watches fucking Spurs games

[alfdogg 0]

These referees are hilariously awful. It's really starting to suck the fun out of the game.

[Guest]

This game is everything bad about the NBA all rolled into one. Horrendous shooting. Horrendous ballcontrol. Horrendous officiating.

 

I haven't seen a worse game all season.