OFFICIAL 2010-2011 NBA PLAYOFFS THREAD : VOL. MOST. ANTICIPATED. PLAYOFFS. EVER?

Originally Posted by Kevin Cleveland

For about a week, maybe.
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Come on now.

Dude would be the third leading scorer on the Hornets, play 40 MPG, and be a star.
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 and
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 if all Chicago could get at SG is Jason Richardson.

Chicago needs to be looking at bringing in a SG that will help them actually beat Miami in a series. I'm sure they won't be making too many moves this off-season since their bench and frontline is pretty much set. Which means, they need to strike gold with whomever they get to play SG.  

"BUCHER: The Memphis Grizzlies knocked off the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs and pushed the Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games in the conference semifinals, all without their second highest-paid player and second leading scorer, Rudy Gay, who had season-ending shoulder surgery in late March.

While a number of opposing GMs are convinced the Grizzlies will put Gay on the market to lighten their payroll, because they did so well without him and need to re-sign two key free agents, Marc Gasol and Shane Battier, owner Michael Heisley has said he has no intention of moving Gay. The question is, would they be better served to keep him or not? I believe there's a reason the team found its stride after Gay got injured and that they should look to move him.

BROUSSARD: I think the Grizzlies should try to make it work with Gay. He's too talented to move without at least giving him a try. While they had a terrific playoff run, they are far from a complete team, far from a team that can just get rid of a guy like Gay without seeing if he can fit in first. The major weakness of the Grizzlies was their inability to hit 3-pointers, and Gay is one of their better long-range shooters. That, combined with his mid-range game and scoring ability off the drive, should only make Memphis better -- if he makes an effort to fit into their inside-out game rather than be a ballstopper. Gay came out of a strong system at UConn, so I believe he can fit in. At the very least, the Grizz should give him a chance.


RB: On paper, I agree that Gay provides a piece that was missing in the Grizzlies' playoff arsenal: namely, a guy who can create his own shot with a game on the line. And my suggestion that they move him is based on the presumption that they're going to get a similarly talented player back. Who that player would be is a big factor in this.

But let's face it, there were massive chemistry issues with the Grizzlies that were holding them back, issues that were resolved with the injury to Gay and the acquisition of Shane Battier. I would like to believe that Rudy saw how successful the team was without him and would be willing to change how he plays, to commit more effort on defense, stop taking tough shots and move the ball quicker. I would have more confidence that that could happen if he'd found a way to be more effective incorporating his talents with Team USA.

The fact is, Andre Iguodala, who doesn't have the same pure talent, made the exact transformation both last summer and this season that Gay needs to make. The tricky part, as I see it, is that there is obviously a tremendous amount of interest in Gay and the market may never be better than it is right now. The suitors for him now may not have the cap room to acquire him under the next CBA, or the same inclination to trade for him if the Grizzlies' experiment in bringing him back doesn't work.

CB: At one time I thought a Gay-for-Iguodala trade would be a good idea -- for both the Grizzlies and the Sixers. But what you like to call "a transformation" was really regression. Fact is, that while Iguodala is wildly athletic and versatile, he's not skilled enough to be a No. 1 or No. 2 scorer on a deep playoff team. He's now a role player -- a valuable and versatile one, to be sure -- but he has become a better, glorified version of Sam Young.

My point is that the Grizz already have good role players, including Battier. What they need now is a bonafide perimeter scorer who can give them 20 points a night. That's Gay. Gay was a 40 percent 3-point shooter this year! Imagine if he had played in that series against OKC. He would have opened up the post for Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol and left OKC with too many poisons to pick from.

Gay only shoots 16 times a game. It's not like he's a volume shooter. He's efficient and a good rebounder as well. Watching the Grizz do it without him will only make him want to fit into Lionel Hollins' new system. Ok, he may drop to 18 points per game and be the second-leading scorer to Randolph. But by bringing his unique skill set to Memphis and helping the Grizz become legitimate contenders, he'll get more love, respect and accolades than he ever would as a 22-point scorer on a lottery team, and I think Rudy's smart enough to realize that. Memphis needs to keep him.

RB: You are, to this point, the only person I know who views how Iguodala played last season as a regression. He made the 76ers collectively better by putting more into defense and becoming immensely more efficient on offense. He was an all-defensive selection (second team) for the first time in his career and Doug Collins, who does not hand out compliments gratuitously, thought he deserved more defensive player of the year consideration than he received. He also was far more efficient with the ball, as his career-high assist-to-turnover ratio reflected.

That's the "regression" Rudy needs to experience if he's going to improve this Memphis team and not set it back. And how can you say he's not a volume shooter? He averaged the most on his team and was among the top 20 in the league in shots taken, yet was 65th in points produced per shot. Perhaps most important, the Grizzlies won when he shot less last season. An opposing player told me they knew they could beat the Grizzlies by forcing Rudy (and Zach) into bad shots because they would still take them.

For Rudy's and the Grizzlies' sake, I'd love to see him realize it's incumbent upon him now to change, but why didn't he accept that last season before he got hurt? Why didn't he learn the same lesson about how to win that every other guy who played on Team USA in Istanbul did? I hate to be the curmudgeon on this; I prefer believing guys will evolve and mature. But don't tell me what he could provide if he changed -- heck, we all know that. And don't tell me about what he'd reap by making the transformation -- we all know that, too. Just tell me why I should believe that Rudy has it in him to change, one thing he's done previously that suggests he's capable of being a different guy. Because that's one thing that is not debatable: Rudy has to come back with a different mindset and a different game if he's going to make the Grizzlies better than they were without him.

CB: First of all, let's stop acting as if Philadelphia made some great improvement. They were 41-41, same as they were two years ago, before Iguodala made his "transformation." That year, he averaged 19 points on 47 pct shooting, numbers far more befitting of an $80 million man than the 14 pts and 44 pct shooting he put up this season. I know Andre Miller was there two years ago, but Elton Brand was hurt. The presence of a rejuvenated Brand plus the improvement of Jrue Holiday more than make up for the loss of Miller. My point is that you act as if Iguodala's "transformation" led to some vast improvement when they're actually the same mediocre squad they were with a "different" Iguodala. Just shows how bad they were under Eddie Jordan. But I digress ...

Rudy Gay is 24 years old and a veteran of five seasons. Who are you to write his epitaph? To relegate him to the status of a stuck-in-his-ways old fogey? People thought Paul Pierce couldn't change either, that he wouldn't want to share the ball with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. How'd that prediction work? Fact is, Rudy has no choice. The entire world has seen what ball movement and teamwork has done for the Grizzlies. Why wouldn't he conform and fit in? He's got the skill set to do so and still get his points.

And you know what? If it doesn't work, if Gay can't adjust, or the chemistry just isn't there, then they can trade him. But to do so before the season, before even giving it a try would be shortsighted and a mistake.

RB: What a crazy argument: Iguodala shouldn't adjust his game to make the team better because A.) he's making $80 million and should keep his individual stats high to justify that money, and B.) because they were only a .500 team, the sacrifices he made weren't all that important. If Rudy Gay has the same attitude, the Grizzlies are sunk.

And how are you going to make a comparison to a Sixers' team two years ago when there are seven different faces on the roster? No one -- I mean, no one -- was worried about Paul Pierce sharing the ball with KG and Ray Allen. He'd already done so with Antoine Walker, Ricky Davis, Wally Szczerbiak and a host of other guys not nearly as talented.

That's what concerns me about Rudy: he's had talent around him and still been stuck on taking bad shots even when it has been counter-productive. I would wholeheartedly support giving Rudy a chance to prove he's seen the light if we weren't looking at a league about to severely crimp player movement with a new collective bargaining agreement, and if teams weren't eager to make a deal now before that happens. If the Grizzlies sign back Marc Gasol and Shane Battier, they will have one of the fattest payrolls in one of the smallest markets. Do they move Gay, maintain their cap flexibility and collect some future talent -- Derrick Williams, for example, with the No. 2 pick -- or do they hang their hat on Gay being a changed man and thereby making the team a championship contender? From what history has taught us, I'd say they're better served keeping their options open.

CB: The Sixers' core is virtually the same as it was a couple years ago (minus Andre Miller), but that's besides the point. I personally spoke with a handful of coaches who had questions about Pierce's willingness to share the ball, but that's not the point either. The point is that the Grizzlies have got a guy with the skill set to help them out big time. There's no need for Memphis to rush into a trade without giving Gay a shot."
Wait...the Grizz had chemistry issues prior to Rudy's injury? Last time I checked they were 22-10 in the last 32 games before Gay's injury, 16-7 since the new year, and were 11-3 in their last 14 games that Rudy played in.


This is a conversation between a person who actually watched the Grizzlies before April and one who didn't.

Only the uninformed think the Grizzlies got better after Gay got hurt.

Also, who are all these talented players Rudy has played with prior to this season?
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I know yall be feeling like smacking these analysts in the mouth some times. Not watching the teams actually play.

I actually think Rip would be more consistent for the Bulls outside of a bad matchup but JRich is overall the better player but I'm not sure if he could come to the Chi and face the challenge of being a legit #2, some times #1 for them.
 
Are we going to overlook how awful Jason Richardson was in the playoffs? It looked like father time caught up to him real quick.
 
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I was but most of the season he hasn't played that good imo and outside of Dwight who played good on the Magic in that series?

Thing is I think it's the same with Rip. Is he in that Ray/Reggie shape to be running off screens for possibly 30+ min on the Bulls? I think ppl focus on his dispute with the coach but he needed to not play every game this season.
 
Originally Posted by bhzmafia14

Wait...the Grizz had chemistry issues prior to Rudy's injury? Last time I checked they were 22-10 in the last 32 games before Gay's injury, 16-7 since the new year, and were 11-3 in their last 14 games that Rudy played in.


This is a conversation between a person who actually watched the Grizzlies before April and one who didn't.

Only the uninformed think the Grizzlies got better after Gay got hurt.

Also, who are all these talented players Rudy has played with prior to this season?
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End of the day, the Grizz were able to replace Gay's offensive and defensive contributions with the role players. Two small of a sample size to really say if they got better or worse to be honest. One things for sure, the Grizz with a healthy Gay haven't done much. Next season with a healthy Gay, we can discuss again.  
 
Are we going to forget how awful Rip Hamilton has been for the past 5 years basically?

Jason Richardson >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Rip fricking Hamilton.

Any day of the week, twice on Jesus Day.
 
thing is jrich has been reduced to nothing but a spot up jump shooter (basically a more athletic kyle korver). Rip is more capable of creating his own shot which is what chicago desperately need.
 
Maybe I"m just crazy, and I feel like we can't write him off yet. He was traded mid-season to a team where there was just a logjam and a cluster at each position he could play.

He was absolutely fine when he was in Phoenix, it's just the change in scenery messed him up.

He was nothing but superb in Phoenix.

Rip Hamilton? When has he shown he can do ANYTHING in the past 3 seasons?
 
Jrich is streaky as hell, hes just a 3pt shooter and thats it.

Rip is still good, people dont see that well since the Pistons arent winning, arent on TV they dont know what he can do. Hes got a mid range jumper, he can hit the 3 fairly well plus he can pass.

Rip is definitely a better fit for the Bulls, trust me. I love Rip but its time for him to move on from Detroit since we are losing and trying to get younger and if he went anywhere id want him to go to the Bulls since its the best fit for him and he would help them out GREATLY.
 
Originally Posted by JapanAir21

Originally Posted by NobleKane

Originally Posted by JapanAir21

Rip Hamilton for Kobe+Bynum.

Do it Mitch!
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when are you going to admit the dallas defense is overrated?
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When someone shows us that our defense IS overrated.

So far? Ain't seen it.
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the thunder averaged 102 ppg the last series. but ofcourse you didnt see that right?

still waiting on all star tyson chandler to sh0w me this defense thats made him all star worthy..
 
Originally Posted by NobleKane

Originally Posted by JapanAir21

Originally Posted by NobleKane

when are you going to admit the dallas defense is overrated?
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When someone shows us that our defense IS overrated.

So far? Ain't seen it.
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the thunder averaged 102 ppg the last series. but ofcourse you didnt see that right?

still waiting on all star tyson chandler to sh0w me this defense thats made him all star worthy..
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Their in the finals tho....
 
Originally Posted by shoeking2101

Originally Posted by NobleKane

Originally Posted by JapanAir21

When someone shows us that our defense IS overrated.

So far? Ain't seen it.
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the thunder averaged 102 ppg the last series. but ofcourse you didnt see that right?

still waiting on all star tyson chandler to sh0w me this defense thats made him all star worthy..
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Their in the finals tho....
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And OKC only won 1 game...
  
 
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