Spurs/Raps trade.. Rasho to Canada

#31
Buford said that Duncan will be spending more time at center. That the West is going more to small ball. Duncan doesn't play the smaller, quicker PFs like Odom, Amare, Dirk as well on the periemter, he's better manning the paint, staying home against othr teams centers.
Any idea who the Spurs plan to add to guard the players who you mentioned above? Will one of the Euros be able to do it? Just curious more than anything as it appeared to me from this year's playoffs that Horry wasn't quite in top form to handle guys like that for the majority of a game.
 
#32
center Robert Javakotas is coming over, not sure about Scola/Mahinmi. Scola maybe? He's 6'9" and was compared to Kenny Thomas on nbadraft.net.

Odom went back to SF this year, BTW, and will stay there. Also, Marion should be moving back to SF with Diaw/Amare/KT all on the team. KT or Diaw will be at center, with Amare back at his preferred position of PF.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#33
There is nonetheless a hole there for the Spurs -- lack of strong, agile, rangy guys at the 3/4. Hiding Duncan at C is fine -- he always was a center just lining up at PF because of Robinson. But just gamblng on a pack of Euros to clean up the 3/4 problems...are the Spurs retrenching? One year off of a title, and with a franchise win record and talk of dynasty still echoing, are they kind of doing a semi-rebuild here giving up a year or two whiole they retool?
 
#35
I don't expect the Spurs to just rely on the Euros. I'm not sure how good they would/could be defensively, especially since they'll be asked to gaurd some elite players.

I wouldn't be surprised to see them look at Al Harrington if they’re looking to move Duncan to the 5.
 
#36
Great move by the Raptors.

They filled a huge gap in their starting 5 for 1 player that is very replacable(Bonner), 1 that was never part of the rotation(Williams) and a second rounder. They needed a banger to help take off some of the pressure on Bosh and adding Rasho certainly helps. He's not a dominating center but he certainly gets the job done and he will help the Raps tremendously.

For all you Raptors doubters, this team sure looks good. I love the fact that they are heading in the right direction with great young players and good draft picks to build around. Bryan Colangelo will make them relavent. Sure they still have a long way to go and still might not make the playoofs this year but they're a work in progress that is still far from over. I love how they plan everything long-term and for the future and realize that you cant build a truly great team overnight and that it takes time and above all else, a plan. Unlike acquiring overpaid veterans just to hope they can provide a quick-fix a la Isiah and the Knicks. Anyway, good move by the Raptors. Another move in the right direction. I like how my second favorite team in the league is coming along. So far so good.
 
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#37
center Robert Javakotas is coming over, not sure about Scola/Mahinmi. Scola maybe? He's 6'9" and was compared to Kenny Thomas on nbadraft.net.

Odom went back to SF this year, BTW, and will stay there. Also, Marion should be moving back to SF with Diaw/Amare/KT all on the team. KT or Diaw will be at center, with Amare back at his preferred position of PF.

Scola was campared to Kenny Thomas?! Wow, I would never ever compare those two. Scola actually reminds me of Tim Duncan a little bit. Of course nowhere near as good as Duncan. Scola seems like a guy that needs the ball to be effective.
 
#38
Any idea who the Spurs plan to add to guard the players who you mentioned above? Will one of the Euros be able to do it? Just curious more than anything as it appeared to me from this year's playoffs that Horry wasn't quite in top form to handle guys like that for the majority of a game.
Not sure what they'll do. They just signaled that they don't intend to bring in Scola and will look to trade his rights. Also said they see Javtokas as more of a bench player. Mahinmi will almost certainly stay in Europe for another year if not two. Pop, Buford and Presti have their work cut out but they don't have to fill all their needs, no team is complete. I'd say either a PF that is a good defender and a decent offensive threat or a good, long SF will put them in pretty good shape. That and a more capable backup PG than Van Exel was which would be just about anyone with a pulse.

The big threat to me for all the West is the Suns with all their talent plus great picks courtesy of the Hawks. The Hawks didn't do anybody any favors getting raped by Colangelo.
 
#39
Scola was campared to Kenny Thomas?! Wow, I would never ever compare those two. Scola actually reminds me of Tim Duncan a little bit. Of course nowhere near as good as Duncan. Scola seems like a guy that needs the ball to be effective.
Indeed..

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]NBA comparison: Kenny Thomas

Strengths: Has great hands, and NBA upper body strength. Will not have the problems that other Euro players like Kirilenko and Gasol have been facing. Also, a good athlete with leaping ability and runs the floor pretty well for a big man. Used to playing high-level basketball at the age of 22. Played in the Euroleague Finals last year which was the highest level of club competition in Europe. Also, almost doubling his averages every year (last year: 8.8 ppg, this year: 16.4 PPG). Besides that, used to play in a big rotation which shows that he is not likely to have "staying on the court for longer minutes" syndromes. Has good ball handling skills for a big man. Can go coast to coast and finish it off with a dunk. Can spot a fellow big man from a variety of positions. Also, a good pick'n roll player. Can score by popping up from up to 15 ft, rolling down with control, find an open teammate both on the perimeter as well as down low. Very good at passing to big men, especially from high post to low post which will be beneficiary for zone offenses. Has the experience, the vision and the guts to select the correct pass. Knows how to score around the basket whether it be a fade away, a finger roll or a bank shot. Uses his body well not to get blocked. Also, contains a nice touch with a right hand jump hook.

Weaknesses: Not versatile. Can only play one position, namely power forward and may be a little soft for the position. Probably will have difficulty in defending big PF's. Not possible for him to "steal" some minutes from either C nor SF as he is literally too small for one and too slow/small for the latter. Needs to improve rebounding skills. Good at crushing the boards when running from the wing but not nearly as effective from a stationary position. Must improve upon his 65% free throw shooting.

-Emir Alkas - www.turkbasket.com [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]PHOTO by Diario Olé[/FONT]​
http://nbadraft.net/profiles/luisscola.htm

Might be outdated.