In short, a view of the West...

K

Kings113

All-Star
From InsideHoops.com contributer...

No one in the west has made any significant changes that made them better... Phoenix is coming back with virtually the same team and I do not expect Amare to return to form for another year if even that... Clips lose a potent 3-point threat (Vladimir Radmanovic) and gain Mr. Fugazy himself in Tim Thomas. I do not expect Thomas to dazzle anyone this season without Nash passing to him... Sonics retain Chris Wilcox and make up for what they lost in that fat guy that plays for the Knicks and that guy in Denver who likes to grab the family jewels. (Jerome James and Reggie Evans)... Warriors are a bad organization despite Chris Mullin being at the helm... Tracy McGrady has serious back issues (last three years), Yao will never be intense enough... Spurs top defenders are getting older and slower by the minute... The players hate Fratello in Memphis because he keeps telling them his hair is real. No they really don't respect his coaching style... Hornets are young up-and-comers who don't realize that Peja can ONLY hit threes when he has five hands in his face... Nuggets have the shooting range of WNBA players. No offense to WNBA players... Jazz management has been exposed for their weaknesses ever since those two good guys they had retired... The Jailblazers are lucky they don't get chartered by a paddy wagon for every game... Regular NBA rumors commentary resumes tomorrow... Go INSIDE HOOPS every day.
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http://www.insidehoops.com/nba_rumors.shtml

I tend to agree with just about all of that and how it's meant.

Kings get off the hook! ;)
 
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I disagree about Yao as well, he should be more aggressive and show more fire. Rockets, other than adding Battier, didn't really improve much at all. They'll be a good team as long as T-Mac isn't significantly unhealthy though.

I also disagree about the Hornets, they improved to be a low seed in the playoffs. If they don't make the playoffs, that's a huge disappointment for them.

Kings will be significantly better than last season.

Utah, mainly AK and Boozer, have to be healthy for them to be any better. But they did address shooting and athleticism decently.

Lakers will be similar as last season.

Suns, ditto.

Grizzlies lessened some, but will be in the low playoff picture. Up in the air if they make the playoffs, as it'll be a dog-fight like always down around 7/8/9/10 spots.

Mavs improved their bench to some degree.

Wolves got Mike James/Randy Foye, which will make them a little better. But they still need another defensive big, and maybe another scorer.

Blazers got better in the sense of their future, and being more competitive.

Spurs will get at least mid-50 wins as usual. Losing Rasho/Nazr and replacing them with Elson/Butler is pretty much a wash to me. Getting Eric Williams and Jacque Vaughn gives them a couple more tough team-playing veterans off the bench. Addressed youth a bit by getting Butler, didn't get that athletic swingman though.

The Nuggies still haven't gotten one consistent/proven outside shooter. Getting Joe Smith is nice and adds depth, can shoot well from inside the arc, but where will he be at the PF spot? Getting Nene back should be good. Losing Patterson/Buckner is a significant hit to any perimeter defense they had before, which was decent at best. As now it's average to below-average. Adding Yakhouba Diawara could well be a diamond in the rough, but he's a rookie. Are quite thin at shooting guard with just JR Smith and Julius Hodge there.

Clippers will be a quality team again. Livingston will improve and build on last season. Adding Tim Thomas in place of Vlad could be pretty good. Getting Aaron Williams is an okay addition as a veteran big. Maggette staying healthy is somewhat of a concern though, also is in trade rumors lately.

For the Warriors, their situation of being an above-average squad or a bad team is up in the air. Baron Davis, Troy Murphy, Richardson can't miss a lot of time. If one or two of Davis/J-Rich/Murphy doesn't stay healthy, they're a bad team, outta the playoffs and in the lottery again. If not, they won't be bad, but in that battle for spots down near the bottom. If they get Bonzi, and the aforementioned stay healthy, they'll be a decent team, if not, they'll be average.

The SONICS... they'll be a little better than last season because of having Wilcox/Watson for a full season, and Petro/Swift likely improving a bit. Other than having Watson, they didn't improve on the perimeter and inside defensively though. Still iffy there. Sene is another center project, but has intriguing potential. Their 2005 R2 pick coming over, Mickale Gelabale is a long, thin athletic wing-player, not sure of much else about him or how he'll be. I think the Sonics should be in that fight around 8-10.
 
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Kings113 said:
I disagree about Yao as well, he should be more aggressive and show more fire. Rockets, other than adding Battier, didn't really improve much at all. They'll be a good team as long as T-Mac isn't significantly unhealthy though.

I also disagree about the Hornets, they improved to be a low seed in the playoffs. If they don't make the playoffs, that's a huge disappointment for them.

Kings will be significantly better than last season.

Utah, mainly AK and Boozer, have to be healthy for them to be any better. But they did address shooting and athleticism decently.

Lakers will be similar as last season.

Suns, ditto.

Grizzlies lessened some, but will be in the low playoff picture. Up in the air if they make the playoffs, as it'll be a dog-fight like always down around 7/8/9/10 spots.

Mavs improved their bench to some degree.

Wolves got Mike James/Randy Foye, which will make them a little better. But they still need another defensive big, and maybe another scorer.

Blazers got better in the sense of their future, and being more competitive.

Spurs will get at least mid-50 wins as usual. Losing Rasho/Nazr and replacing them with Elson/Butler is pretty much a wash to me. Getting Eric Williams and Jacque Vaughn gives them a couple more tough team-playing veterans off the bench. Addressed youth a bit by getting Butler, didn't get that athletic swingman though.

The Nuggies still haven't gotten one consistent/proven outside shooter. Getting Joe Smith is nice and adds depth, can shoot well from inside the arc, but where will he be at the PF spot? Getting Nene back should be good. Losing Patterson/Buckner is a significant hit to any perimeter defense they had before, which was decent at best. As now it's average to below-average. Adding Yakhouba Diawara could well be a diamond in the rough, but he's a rookie. Are quite thin at shooting guard with just JR Smith and Julius Hodge there.
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I agree with all of what you said.

I think the Hornets are overrated as of now, but with all the money they spent anything less than the playoffs is a big disapointment.

The Grizz may take a small step back this year, but their offseason will help them by leaps and bounds in the future in my opinion. You follow them some don't you Kings113? What'd you think of their offseason? I liked it a lot...(especially their draft)
 
Well, since Memphis has been involved in the playoffs the last few seasons, they're still going to be expected to be in the hunt and get there. Getting Swift back will help them in the FC.

Yeah I follow the Grizz pretty regularily. For their future, yeah, they definitely improved that. Lowry/Gay/Alexander Johnson, along with having Gasol, Warrick, Big Jake, and Eddie Jones' expiring as a good asset.
 
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Kings113 said:
Kings will be significantly better than last season.
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I need, some kind of proof we will be significantly better? is it possible we might be a little better or better then average/pretty good? sure but significantly is making a big stride and having a improved team. with this current roster i can't possibly see how much we can improve. we lost Bonzi and we replaced him with Salmons and Loren Woods seems to be the big summer talk so far...

we will probably fight for the last couple of playoff spots because in reality we never did much to improve in this off-season and who knows at this point how fast the players can adjust to there new coach? we'll likely be a 500 team in the 1st half of the season but finish strong at the 2nd half of the season. at this point i'm not expecting much because we haven't really made moves that tells me otherwise.
 
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"Clips lose a potent 3-point threat (Vladimir Radmanovic) "


If the Clips lose a potent 3-point threat...how come they don't mention that the Lakers added a potent 3-point threat? Plus, another year of tri experience for those who weren't playing under Phil before. (which is all but KB) That can't be a bad thing.
 
The Spurs aren't going to be as strong as they were before. Duncan is getting old, Parker and the flopping master Ginobili can't carry the team if he gets hurt. Bowen is old along with eric williams as well as horry. They are not nearly as good as they were before. The Mavs are my choice for the title of you ask me (i never thought i'd type that).
 
hoopsfan said:
"Clips lose a potent 3-point threat (Vladimir Radmanovic) "


If the Clips lose a potent 3-point threat...how come they don't mention that the Lakers added a potent 3-point threat? Plus, another year of tri experience for those who weren't playing under Phil before. (which is all but KB) That can't be a bad thing.
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I think Vlad Rad was a better fit on the clippers than he will be on the lakers, atleast on defense.
 
Eric Williams has already slowed down from what he was with the Celtics. But he's still solid in the form of a tough veteran hustler off the bench. He won't be a major or regular minute guy because of others in front of him, but he'll be used, and adds depth to the Spurs swing spots. Manu/Bowen/Finley/Barry/Williams. Not that young, but it's experienced and versatile. Again they failed to get that athletic swingman they've been wanting for a year or so now. Jumaine Jones says hello, by the way. ;)

Despite getting exposed by the Kings and that carrying over to not being able to match-up vs. Dirk, along with Dirk taking advantage of that and getting better himself - I still think Bowen will be playing quality, tough, tenacious defense next season. The guy keeps in top shape, and think he has 1-2 seasons left in him as a valuable team-player.

The Mavs are certainly a favorite, but I'm not thinking they'll actually win it. They'll go as far as Dirk takes them, and he was effectively slowed down with sound defense by Haslem and Posey. Which I loved, btw. Heat totally blew the Mavs out of the water.
 
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That article was amateurish and full of miscues. Not to mention incomplete + a little confused about teams like Phoenix and the Hornets who got obvious talent upgrades, and Houston who, health permitting, is far more solid than they were a year ago as well.
 
Bricklayer said:
That article was amateurish and full of miscues. Not to mention incomplete + a little confused about teams like Phoenix and the Hornets who got obvious talent upgrades, and Houston who, health permitting, is far more solid than they were a year ago as well.
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It wasn't an article. It was just a contributor doing commentary at the end of the daily InsideHoops news, in place of the regular guy who adds his comments at the end.

TheJoker said:
we lost Bonzi and we replaced him with Salmons and Loren Woods seems to be the big summer talk so far...

who knows at this point how fast the players can adjust to there new coach?

I need, some kind of proof we will be significantly better? is it possible we might be a little better or better then average/pretty good? sure but significantly is making a big stride and having a improved team. we'll likely be a 500 team in the 1st half of the season but finish strong at the 2nd half of the season. we will probably fight for the last couple of playoff spots because in reality we never did much to improve in this off-season. And at this point i'm not expecting much because we haven't really made moves that tells me otherwise.
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1. We didn't replace Bonzi with Salmons. Salmons will be off the bench playing 3 positions, and is a completely different kind of player than Bonzi. Kevin is stepping into the starting SG spot. Loren Woods, a back-up center on a 1-year 950K deal, is the "big summer talk" on this board. But nowhere else that I've seen. You already know how I feel about him, and I already know how you feel about Woods.

2. From what I've gathered, just about all of the players should fit with Musselman, IMO.

3. You'll have to wait, and I completely disagree.
 
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Kings113 said:
We didn't replace Bonzi with Salmons.
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Um yes we did, and trying to deny that is just trying to obscure the issue. We even rather explicitly waited for the Bonzi thing to play out before going to a Plan Z in Salmons. If Bonzi was resigned, Salmons would not have been. Once Salmons was signed, Bonzi's return was impossible. They are both guards. It changes the balance of the guard mix, but its still quite clearly the replacement move. And hence we go from Bonzi Wells to John Salmons which is a >>>>> move. Now its overall effects on us may be closer to >> rather than >>>>> if other people step up. But there is no "getting better" out of that move, particularly in light of what happened in the playoffs. And givne that we have done nothing else but sign a 3rd string center and draft a 3rd string PG/OG, we are down yet another pint as it stands today.
 
Not trying to do anything, Brick.

We did go out and get him after we stopped dealing with Bonzi, Salmons filled the general open swingman spot. But I don't think that is justification Salmons is replacing Bonzi.

So, we agree to disagree.
 
I think Kevin is Bonzi's replacement (promotion within), and Salmons is now the backup.
 
Bricklayer said:
Um yes we did, and trying to deny that is just trying to obscure the issue. We even rather explicitly waited for the Bonzi thing to play out before going to a Plan Z in Salmons. If Bonzi was resigned, Salmons would not have been. Once Salmons was signed, Bonzi's return was impossible. They are both guards. It changes the balance of the guard mix, but its still quite clearly the replacement move. And hence we go from Bonzi Wells to John Salmons which is a >>>>> move. Now its overall effects on us may be closer to >> rather than >>>>> if other people step up. But there is no "getting better" out of that move, particularly in light of what happened in the playoffs. And givne that we have done nothing else but sign a 3rd string center and draft a 3rd string PG/OG, we are down yet another pint as it stands today.
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I painfully agree with you Brick, it's a shame we have not done nothing to really improve us in the off-season. i'm not sure what the Kings motives are but its frustrating to say the least. i'm still excited to see us play next year but i just don't expect much cause like i mention we just haven't done anything to make me think otherwise its been a disappointment.
 
Bricklayer said:
Um yes we did, and trying to deny that is just trying to obscure the issue. We even rather explicitly waited for the Bonzi thing to play out before going to a Plan Z in Salmons. If Bonzi was resigned, Salmons would not have been. Once Salmons was signed, Bonzi's return was impossible. They are both guards. It changes the balance of the guard mix, but its still quite clearly the replacement move. And hence we go from Bonzi Wells to John Salmons which is a >>>>> move. Now its overall effects on us may be closer to >> rather than >>>>> if other people step up. But there is no "getting better" out of that move, particularly in light of what happened in the playoffs. And givne that we have done nothing else but sign a 3rd string center and draft a 3rd string PG/OG, we are down yet another pint as it stands today.
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IMO:

Douby, Salmons, and Wood > Bonzi
 
walker60 said:
IMO:

Douby, Salmons, and Wood > Bonzi
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Come on man are you nuts? do people even remember Bonzi was one our best players on the team?

Douby is gonna be a 3rd string and hes a Rookie Salmons is not comparable and Woods? i don't know what to say anymore i'm shocked...
 
We played our best basketball of the season with Bonzi out with injury. We have someone to step in and take his place (Martin). We now have a backup C (Woods) and PG (Salmons) who are improvements over last year. Douby adds more depth. We added a young coach who will help re-energize the team. Are you disagreeing with any of that?

But anyways, the whole Bonzi situation is a moot point, Bonzi didn't want come back. By the time Geoff figured that out, he went out and did the best he could. I don't see how you are losing faith in manangement when we have completley rebuilt the team on the fly? Certainly we are better this year then we were at this point last year...
 
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^ i disagree that we got a back-up center. woods = sampson

that young coach may also screw up the team if he hasn't learned

martin > bonzi 1/2 the time (home games)

we played our best basketball in the playoffs WITH bonzi

salmons > hart

a little out of order...

the only way i think we can definitively say we upgraded is if we get rid of those damn gold jerseys.
 
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TheJoker said:
Come on man are you nuts? do people even remember Bonzi was one our best players on the team?

Douby is gonna be a 3rd string and hes a Rookie Salmons is not comparable and Woods? i don't know what to say anymore i'm shocked...
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I know you don't. :p
 
Jerryaki said:
^ i disagree that we got a back-up center. woods = sampson

that young coach may also screw up the team if he hasn't learned

martin > bonzi 1/2 the time (home games)

we played our best basketball in the playoffs WITH bonzi

salmons > hart

a little out of order...
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We went 2-4 in the playoffs. We didn't win a single game on the road. Granted, we were playing a second-round playoff team, but I don't think that was our best basketball...Also, I'd rather have Woods because he is bigger.

And another thing is that Rick was getting tuned out, as good of a coach as he was, we needed a change.
 
that was our best ball. when ron got suspended, the team stepped up. they made the miracle win in game 3. they trounced the spurs in game 4. these were the defending champs. bonzi went ballistic on them. and plus the playoffs are when it really matters.

we were just anemic going through last season.
 
Jerryaki said:
^ i disagree that we got a back-up center. woods = sampson

that young coach may also screw up the team if he hasn't learned

martin > bonzi 1/2 the time (home games)
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From what I've come to (a bunch of various interviews and articles), the coach isn't gonna screw up the team because the Warriors were a completely different situation than the setting Musselman has now. Also, this roster much better suits Musselman's make-up as a coach, along with it being better in general. The only problems he had were with Mullin/Mike Dunleavy, which from what it was, I think it was justifiable from Musselman's stand-point.

The Golden State Warriors were 2-3 years ago - quite the long time.

Kevin did struggle on the road, but still had several nice road games. He'll be more confident and better from this past season, along with the work over the summer.

Woods doesn't equal Sampson because he'll actually get minutes, ate dinner with the coach, and is most likely to be the back-up center. Along with the coach who goes 8 or 9 players deep. Potapenko? I'd be surprised if he's a regular player for us, mainly the back-up C, and even still here. He's irrelevant to me until some time in October at least.
 
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Jerryaki said:
that's cuz he's never gonna get the ball. :p
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Ok..OK...Those comments are getting a little old, don't ya think? I think someone's who's a 3 time champion knows how to play team ball. In the past 2 seasons, the other players on the Lakers have had career numbers,(they're scrubs, I know, but the common factor with all of them is KB), but that's never pointed out either.

I see the :p though..so it's cool.
 
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