. |
Gravy has played well at times this season, but the more i watch i find he is responsible for most of our long scoring droughts. Hes great when hes aggressive, but whenever he gets passive we start to force shots and passes lose possesion or get the clock run out. He just has too many lapses of concentration, and with his limited physical gifts he cant afford that. We need a lilliardish point guard pretty badly on this team.
Actually what I meant was "Our goal shouldn't be making the playoffs". In my opinion, a top 10 pick in next year's draft is more useful (to this team, right now) than the experience the players would get from a first round exit in the playoffs.
But yeah, I'm aware Monty wouldn't like what I said.
George had 9 threes?
Gordon for George, straight up.
R. Anderson is not top 30. He's a 7 foot jump shooter that can't create his own shot. Far from top 30. The Hornets have too many guys that need to be set-up and not enough guys to set them up. Also, perimeter defense is horrendous. We need E. Gordon back in the line-up. AD & EG make this a different team. I hope Dell is trying to upgrade us at the PG position so that Vasquez can go back to being the back-up. I still don't understand why we drafted Rivers. We need players that can help us now. Everyone hates Aminu but he had a double double. Rivers gives us nothing night in night out and he's a fan favorite. I know he's 19 but so is AD and a bunch of other players that are contributing or contributed when they were 19. Last part of the rant. Monty needs help with implementing an offense. That's not his forte. Some of the issues may be personnel but scheme also has a lot to do with how bad the o is.
I like Aminu's game now especially on this team. He provides hustle points, fast break dunks, and great defense. He, Lopez, and Anderson have been good for us. We just don't have all our horses healthy yet plus we need to get more out of Rivers. He's got to give us more finishes at the rim and 3 pt shooting!
Funny how people are criticizing Anderson by saying he can't create his own shot yet he averages 16 ppg on 46% shooting and 37% from the arc while playing with the worst offensive backcourt/wing players in this league. These people need to get a clue.
Emeka Okafor - Joe Smith - Carmelo Anthony - Manu Ginobili - Jason Williams
Al Jefferson - James Posey - Aaron McKie - Shaun Livingston
Rivers is just fine and he plays the most difficult position on the floor. He's getting better and he needs to add weight. The Hornets are missing their big money people playing against teams who aren't.
If that guy ever comes back, and Davis is healthy, you're looking at a 2nd unit that brings in Anderson, Rivers, and Smith. Roberts remains the backup pg so Rivers backs up a the 2. If not, Rivers backs up the 1 and Mason comes in at 2. At this point Rivers will do MUCH better against a 2nd unit and it makes the Hornets bench top 10.
You would think after receiving a few very large game checks any animosity towards the franchise would vanish. Unless that guy is the greatest d-bag in the history of the sport, I will try to remain optimistic for the near future if they can just keep it together right now.
Yeah I believe a starting line-up of Gravy, Gordon, Aminu, Davis, and Lopez with the bench of Rivers (swing guard), Anderson ( mismatch forward/ 3pt specialist), Smith (back-up big), and Miller (back-up 3/2) is a pretty good play-off team. They just need to get healthy and gel.
At this point, I'd rather see Rivers start at the point over Vasquez if Gordon ever comes back. I like Rivers foot speed on both ends of the floor and he won't have to create as much playing next to Gordon.
Highlights of Lopez's night for any dangerously curious souls.
Rivers has just turned 20 and is one of the youngest guys in the league. Is also a runt.
How can people even start to form opinions of the guy's ceiling yet?
For everyone complaining about how we need to win now. Would it be nice if we were talented enough to do that? Sure. Fact is, with Gordon out and an inconsistent lineup, we're not talented enough to 'win now'. You know what's worse than sucking for a year? Getting good too quickly, not accumulating any assets, and being in the same position we were in last year 5-7 years down the road.
We want to see our team be competitive right now, and there is no doubt we are being competitive. We've not been outclassed too often this season, some may argue only once by the Knicks, although the Thunder did a pretty good job making us look foolish too. We have to improve, and not a single person is saying we don't need to improve, but let it happen naturally. What would you have this team do to win now? What improvement would you make that is realistic? I'd love to hear anyone's ideas, because I assure you there is nothing we can do with the pieces we have now that would improve us significantly. We, regardless of who we draft at the 10th spot, would not be any more competitive than we are now.
I think we need to get rid of lopez at the end of the year, he aint a starting Centre, really solid backup but he aint a starter.
Why get rid of Lopez? You just said it yourself, he is a solid backup. I think he is more than a solid backup center, and we will see his value as the season goes on, but why rid ourselves of a low priced asset? You won't get equall talent in return.
If it is to take our pick and Lopez and move into the top 3, then go ahead by all means. But I doubt any lotto team will do that.
If you Jimmer it, they will come.
You Guys fall in love with a player and get upset when they are criticized. Truth of the matter is that Orlando didn't even try to keep him. He walked away. I do like Anderson as a complimentary piece but he's not a go to guy like everyone seems to think he is. You can quote stats all you like but it doesn't disprove that he can't create his own shot. All those stats prove is that he can shoot which was never in question. He is a great shooter that will help this team win games once our SG returns. That will let him do what he does at the highest level.
Last edited by UptownFuz504; 11-22-2012 at 07:34 AM.
This is not an excuse. AD is the same age and producing. There are a bunch of other guys that are in the league that came in at 20 and produced. What I don't understand is we are willing to wait however many years for Rivers to reach whatever his ceiling is but we don't want to work with/wait for Aminu to finish developing. He's damn near averaging a double double and is contributing night in and night out but all you read is how terrible he is. Rivers on the other hand is "Mr 3-10" and is praised for things like pedigree and work ethic. Lopez is also in the same Boat as Aminu. Everyone hates him but he produces night in and night out. So to answer your question I can make a judgement on his ceiling based on what I see. Either you got it or you don't. I can't argue with emotions because you feel what you feel and I respect that but according to the eye test, Rivers doesn't have it. Coach K actually said on ESPN radio that Rivers needed to stay in college so don't listen to me but you have to believe Coach K, right?
If he needed to stay in college then that means he obviously has some growing and learning to do. He didn't stay so he's going to have to do his growing and learning in the NBA now. He didn't stay in college so that's a moot point. I don't think I've ever seen anyone leave college for the NBA and then once there say, "oh, I should've stayed in college, I think I'll go back". Moot point. I just pointed out the other day that adjustment is the key word for rookies. The adjustment for some is sometimes bigger than it is for others. As a rookie, there will be many nights of inconsistencies. He had what was probably the best game of his early career against the Knicks as far as scoring efficiently goes but I don't think his criticizers were anywhere to be found. Most of the team is young so there will be inconsistence along the way. I say as long as you keep seeing some kind of progress, then that's a good thing. That says you're headed in the right direction.
Who said he needs to be a superstar though? Does every #10 pick become a superstar? With a #10 pick you can either get a guy like Andrew Bynum (who would probably be a superstar if he were to stay healthy), or you can get a Keyon Dooling. At #10 if he can have an average, productive career, that's not totally a bad thing. Everyone can't be a superstar. If he were to turn out to be a superstar then I guess a lot of people would be happy. I can't speak for other people's emotions or what they think he brings to the table but it's possible they feel that way because they've seen flashes of what they think he CAN be.
There is this thought that your bigs aren't go to guys if they can't create their own shot, and that just isn't true.
No one is falling in love with Anderson. No one said Anderson is truly a go to guy, but he still can create his own shot at times off of screens or talking big guys off the dribble. His game is similar to Kevin Love and yes he probably is a complementary piece, but he's a good one. He's not part of the problem either. In fact, I'm surprised how well he is playing despite the talent around him right now. Aminu, Rivers, and Vasquez aren't doing him any favors and yet he's still getting his own shots off. He's creating most of his own shots. Orlando was rebuilding so they didn't need him. I'm not sure why you're criticizing Anderson when he's playing really well and is easily the best player when Davis and Gordon are out. Pretty dumb to me.
I do agree with you on Rivers. He just isn't very good right now, especially offensively. Huge liability on the floor and probably needs more time in college or in the D-league especially since he needs to mature physically.
Disagree on Aminu. He's inconsistent offensively because he doesn't do anything well outside of dunking. He's very good defensively, but below average offensively and that won't change anytime soon because he's limited with his shooting and ball-handling. Probably should be a backup on most teams.
Ah. The ol' "they other teams passed on/released/traded/didn't resign him for a reason" line. The most constant of lines when criticizing a new player.
They sign and traded him btw. Remember that Gustava Ayon guy? He didn't just magically bamf onto their roster when we got Anderson. No one thinks he's more of a go-to guy than any other elite 3pt shooter in this league.
Which boils down to backing someone down. Which Anderson has actually shown he can do when the time calls. Stepbacks, up and unders. He's more versatile offensively than I thought bringing him in.
Last edited by Eman5805; 11-22-2012 at 09:06 AM.
There are currently 2 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 2 guests)