NBA fan blogs - Links to preseason previews Pt. 4
Posted on Sunday, October 21st, 2007 at 12:51 pm by Big Chris
Here are the latest links for the NBA fan blog previews.
Northwest Previews:
Utah Jazz
Daily Basketball
Taking it to the Rack
Basketball John
Seattle Supersonics
Sonics Central
Portland Trail Blazers
TrueHoop
The Inferno
Timberwolves
TWolves Blog
Denver Nuggets
Nugg Doctor
Blog Previews Archives
CelticsBlog NBA Section
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:32 am
Video game season predictions:
Durant: 22.2ppg
West: 6.0 apg
Collison: 9.2 boards
West: 38% 3pt
Sonics go 31-51
http://sports.espn.go.com/videogames/news/story?id=3072237
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:37 am
Nice link, Dave. And the author is giving props to our situation here in Seattle.
Durant looks way meaner in that photo, but he does pick up the ROY that many here expect him to.
“West appeared to be an X factor on this post-heavy team. Early on, Virtual Carlisimo tested the waters with Durant at the 2-guard, but the team struggled defensively. While West isn’t the most versatile defender on the court, he is almost always the hardest working. And while Earl Watson and Luke Ridnour fought over the point guard spot, West managed to distribute the ball better than both.
In the post, Collison’s versatility won him the PF job amongst a roster full of PFs. While Chris Wilcox is great on the glass, his liability on defense often proved too risky, especially in crunch time. The problem remains — not Wilcox, Collison, Kurt Thomas, or even the 7-footer Robert Swift, can handle the bigs in the West.
The fact that Durant led this team in blocks is a testament to the poor post D. Swift did come back with a fresh 30 pounds of muscle and five pounds of ink (yes, his tattoos are in the game), but still managed to get eaten alive by the Duncans and Staudamires of the league.”
So true… seems this game is pretty good with the predictions. One thing we can hope will be different from this scenario is that PJ plays West and keeps Watson on the bench. Maybe that alone will be worth a few more wins.
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:43 am
Just wanted to spread the news of Adam Morrison’s torn ACL, requiring season ending surgery. My condolences to him and his fans. As we all know from Swifty a torn ACL is no fun and Morrison had a promising season ahead of him.
October 22nd, 2007 at 1:04 pm
“Morrison had a promising season ahead of him.”
No he didn’t. He’s a terrible over rated player. In fact I think his injury will force the Bobcats to play Walter Herman more, which will lead to better offensive production for the team.
That said, an ACL tear is terrible news, I hope he as a full recovery.
October 22nd, 2007 at 1:52 pm
You might be right about him being overrated, but who knows what another season of experience might do for him? I never expected him to be an elite player, but he could be a 15+ a night kind of guywhich is solid contribution no matter how you look at it.
October 22nd, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Charlotte will probably be happy if they get Hornets-era Rex Chapman production out of Morrison at this point.
October 22nd, 2007 at 3:52 pm
I know that most of you don’t have ESPN Insider account… however, I also know that most people here are down with John Hollinger’s PER rating for players.
To that end, Adam Morrison had a PER of 7.91…. YES THAT’S 7.91. Here is Hollinger’s player summary of Morrison:
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/hollinger?statsId=4131
“2006-07 season: Because he was getting a lot of minutes, and nobody really watches the Bobcats anyway, people presumed he was doing sort of OK. Some of the writers fell for it too, naming him second-team All-Rookie. But holy moly was he awful, and if he doesn’t improve fast he’s going to go down as one of the great draft busts in history.
For starters, he is quite likely the least athletic perimeter player to enter the league in the past 20 years. Among the league’s 63 small forwards, Morrison ranked 58th in rebound rate, 61st in blocks per minute, and 62nd in steals per minute.
That might have been tolerable if he’d made some shots, but even in his advertised specialty of shooting Morrison proved woefully deficient — and was poor in every aspect:
– He wasn’t good on 3s, making only 33.7 percent.
– Though midrange jump shooting was supposed to be his strength, he was dreadful on long 2s, hitting 35.2 percent.
– On his rare forays to the rim, he was one of the game’s worst finishers. He tied for sixth from the bottom with a 44.5 percent shooting mark on shots in the immediate basket area. (And he was half a foot taller than the five guys below him.)
– Even the charity stripe proved unkind, as he hit just 71.0 percent. Not that he get there often — he was 54th among small forwards in free-throw attempts per field-goal attempt.
One point of interest is that Morrison played markedly better on the road, perhaps because Charlotte fans kept yelling Shooooooot when he caught the ball, especially early in the season, and it seemed to throw him off.
Somehow, I doubt he’ll be hearing that this year. Morrison’s 45.0 true shooting percentage was the second-worst among small forwards. That he averaged double figures anyway was testament to the minutes Charlotte kept giving him and the fact he never stopped shooting. But he had a horrible, horrible season, and anyone who says differently just wasn’t paying attention.
Scouting report: Wait, there’s more. Morrison might have been the worst one-on-one defender in the game, standing far too upright with his hands at his sides while scorers zoomed past him. So bad was it that as soon as he entered one game against Washington, the Wizards immediately called an isolation for DeShawn Stevenson — probably the only time they called that play all season — to attack Morrison on a post-up. Though Stevenson is four inches shorter, he scored easily.
Offensively, Morrison forced too many long jumpers but has the tools to perform better. He’s good at shooting runners going to his right and, as his college performances indicated, he’s capable of shooting much better from outside.
Part of the problem is that he took so many bad shots — Morrison’s usage rate was well over the league average even though he couldn’t make anything, with a contested fadeaway going to his right seeming to be his favorite option.
For now, Morrison needs to content himself with being a spot-up guy instead of going one-on-one so much. If he could get open without the ball more often it also would help — he doesn’t seem comfortable catching off a pin-down and firing.
2007-08 outlook: Last year was so brutal that the expectations for Morrison need some serious revision. Charlotte cost itself several games by giving him so many minutes last year; even a “replacement-level” player would have been a huge improvement.
One has to think he’ll be better in his second go-round, but the Bobcats have a real shot at the playoffs this year and can’t afford to be wasting 30 minutes a game seeing if he can get things figured out. If he can back up at one of the forward spots for 10 minutes a night and hit a few jump shots, that’d be a nice start.
As far as living up to being the No. 3 overall selection in the draft? I think we can already put that idea in the trash bin.
Most similar at age: Glen Rice”
I would like to add that Morrison might be worst SF ever a draft in the NBA lottery and that’s saying a lot because there have been a ton of SF stiff drafted from the lottery since 1985.
October 22nd, 2007 at 3:59 pm
One of my favorite lines from Hollinger’s review:
“But he (Morrison) had a horrible, horrible season, and anyone who says differently just wasn’t paying attention.”
So Michael, I guess you weren’t paying attention to Morrison’s season last year. That you perhaps you’re over optimistic that he had improved his over skill set. Finally 15 ppg a night will not cut it if you can’t, grab rebound, hit a shot, or guard a freakin’ statue.
October 22nd, 2007 at 4:06 pm
mcwalter: nice posts.
“For starters, he is quite likely the least athletic perimeter player to enter the league in the past 20 years. ”
What’s unfortunate is that I as a non-expert could have told you this just having watched a few games before he ever entered the league.
“Morrison might have been the worst one-on-one defender in the game, standing far too upright with his hands at his sides while scorers zoomed past him. So bad was it that as soon as he entered one game against Washington, the Wizards immediately called an isolation for DeShawn Stevenson — probably the only time they called that play all season — to attack Morrison on a post-up. Though Stevenson is four inches shorter, he scored easily.”
How is it that I am not surprised by this development. The guy is the very DEFINITION of one-dimensional. And it ain’t a good dimension in this league today.
October 22nd, 2007 at 4:20 pm
“Some of the writers fell for it too, naming him second-team All-Rookie.”
Does this not cement what a joke NBA awards like All-Rookie teams are? Or what a joke most national NBA writers are?
The awards seem to be based strictly on a players PPG and minutes played … as Hollinger notes, Morrison completely blew goats, but because he played enough minutes to score 15 PPG he therefore must have been good enough to make second team All-Rookie. I think it just proves that NBA writers don’t really pay that much attention to players on teams other than the one they follow.
October 22nd, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Another piling on post on Morrison:
If you look at the video of his injury. The you will see that he still hasn’t improved on his defensive ability or recognition. Clearly recognized that a player was wide open on perimeter, however he did not realize it was Luke Walton. I not a true believe that last season’s turn around in Walton’s outside shooting is for real. So I don’t see why he closed out so fast.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3073563
October 22nd, 2007 at 4:53 pm
“Morrison completely blew goats,”
By my stars, this be the first time I’ve heard these words in that order. Much to my liking, of course. I also like the expression, “to blow donkey balls”. Or various variations thereof.
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Well, crap. I guess the only real attention I was paying to Morrison was his fantasy stats, which, apparently, were a poor indicator of his performance. Anyway, point is: he’s out for the season.
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:47 pm
“I not a true believe that last season’s turn around in Walton’s outside shooting is for real. So I don’t see why he closed out so fast.”
Does it really matter who the player is…..shouldn’t you close out as fast as you can everytime?
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:48 pm
“For starters, he is quite likely the least athletic perimeter player to enter the league in the past 20 years. ”
So let me get this str8. Hes a poor defender that was making an effort to close out……and you ask why he closed out so fast? huh
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:49 pm
My guess would be that he was trying to play D.
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:51 pm
I never saw Morrison play in College except for the one game at the end when he cried…and that only a few minutes of it.
In the pros, I really wasn’t impressed. 6′6″-6′8″ jump shooters can be found fairly easily in the D league, I didn’t see a reason to blow a top ten pick on him. If he had a knack for finishing, and putting the ball in the hole on other than an uncontested jump shot, I might be more impressed, but I never saw that in any of the NBA games I watched. He definitely can’t stay in front of athletic players.
However, I sort of expected him to improve as he gained experience in the league. But now I doubt he will ever be more than a spot up shooter with the knee injury.
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:52 pm
“The awards seem to be based strictly on a players PPG and minutes played … as Hollinger notes, Morrison completely blew goats, but because he played enough minutes to score 15 PPG he therefore must have been good enough to make second team All-Rookie. I think it just proves that NBA writers don’t really pay that much attention to players on teams other than the one they follow.”
Also keep in mind that is was a weak rookie class last year. Remember how weak the draft was? Roy was outstanding, but he won the ROY playing 2/3 of the season. I have no problem with Morrison making a rookie team in a weak year for rookies.
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:56 pm
I don’t know if any of you have seen this from Percy’s blog, but it’s pretty interesting. He (well actually the poster was Elise) intimates that Collison may start at Center when the games count, and D-West is hurt again:
West injured again
Posted by Elise at 04:53 PM
A little more than a week remains before the Sonics regular-season opener at Denver and coach P.J. Carlesimo said he’s still unsure about which starting five he’ll put on the court. A part of me thinks the coach is being coy because I’m quite sure Kevin Durant will start at SG. But competition at the other four spots is tight.
Through five games, no one has really separated themselves from the pack and Carlesimo nearly said that he could toss a coin and decide some positions.
And just when it appeared as if guard Delonte West had played himself into the rotation and possibly a starting job with a strong game (22 points and 7 assists in 30 minutes) last Saturday, he missed Monday’s practice with a bruised right thigh and is listed as a game-time decision for tomorrow’s home game against Golden State.
Carlesimo didn’t say it, but you can tell that he’s frustrated with the rash of nagging injuries that keeps West from playing and practicing. By my count, this is Delonte’s fourth injury (sprained right ankle, left big toe nail removed, sore back) in three weeks and the real games haven’t even started yet. If he breaks down this much this early, what’s he going to do during the season?
So maybe West won’t figure into the rotation as I thought he might, which is too bad because when he has played, he’s been a physical force on both ends of the court that the Supes don’t have in Luke Ridnour and Earl Watson.
Carlesimo talked about tightening the rotation, but look for him to continue experimenting this week in the final three exhibitions. Expect rookie Jeff Green to get lots of minutes at PF against Golden State and Phoenix.
And from the saw-this-one-coming department, Carlesimo said the slow development of the three 7-footers has pushed Nick Collison back into the equation at center. In the words of Yogi Berra, it’s deja vu all over again.
I remember former coach Bob Hill coming to this same rationalization last season. Hill was loyal to head scout Steve Rosenberry and GM Rick Sund for giving him a shot and he wanted to make them look smart by playing Robert Swift, Johan Petro and Mo Sene. However Hill quickly discovered that he couldn’t win with those guys.
It appears as if Swift, who is recovering from right knee surgery, won’t be able to play back-to-back games at least in November and Seattle has five of them. So Carlesimo said he’s going to have to alter his rotation during the games Swift doesn’t play.
Also, the NBA announced a few changes to the upcoming TV schedule.
Most notably, the Portland-New Orleans game on Nov. 7 has been replaced by Cleveland at Utah. Expect more changes involving the Trail Blazers who no longer have the services of No. 1 draft pick Greg Oden. And don’t be surprised if the ESPN-televised game on Christmas Day against the Sonics is replaced.
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Maybe we can get Nick some of those real tall shoe inserts so that he can play taller against Yao and the really big, bigs of the league. Or how about those springy shoes with the little coil on the bottom?
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Seems to be a lot of Adam Morrison hate here. Not sure why.
If you thought that he was going to be a good defender in the NBA then you have a problem with evaluating talent.
“How is it that I am not surprised by this development. The guy is the very DEFINITION of one-dimensional. And it ain’t a good dimension in this league today.”
Worked ok for Rashard Lewis.
“I would like to add that Morrison might be worst SF ever a draft in the NBA lottery and that’s saying a lot because there have been a ton of SF stiff drafted from the lottery since 1985.”
Thats laughable considering he played one season. Ever heard of ummm…….Darius Miles!!!
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Another “would you do this” trade scenario…
Seattle send Earl and Petro to Cleveland.
Cleveland send Eric Snow to Seattle.
Works under the cap.
The Cavs get a breathing point guard and six fouls from Johan.
Eric is at least classy enough to be a reserve point. His contract is $6m/year for two years. So it expires at the same time as Wally’s, making our cap space in two years’ time gigantic.
So, would [b]you[/b] do this?
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Bah. Stupid brackets. Make that…
Would you do this!
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Why in the world would Cleveland do that is a better question?
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:11 pm
I’d argue that the combo of Hughes/Gibson/Snow isn’t that bad and cheaper than our situation.
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:38 pm
First of all, who gives a sh!t about Adam Morrison. Sorry, I had to get that out first after reading all this ish.
OK, now to my point. It seems to me that Seattle, who is stocked full of decent players but not a lot of huge talents (except for Durant, etc), would be a great trading partner for teams that are star heavy or paying one or two guys a lot of scrilla and can’t afford to attain anyone else.
Take Cleveland for instance. We hate Petro, Watson, and, to a lesser extent, Sene or Wilkins, but each of these players would get quality minutes on the Cavs due to their issues with getting a surrounding cast around Lebron.
Same with Boston. Who’s going to surround the big three? It seems to me Petro would probably back-up KG or even Kendrick Perkins at the five. Wilkins would play minutes on that team too, backing up Ray Ray or whoever.
My point is Presti could find value where, to be frank, we can’t. I don’t want Petro to see the light of day for us, Wilkins just bugged the sh!t out of me watching him against Houston, with his still unpolished offensive moves, and I wish ppl would cease calling him a defensive stopper. Bowen is a defensive stopper, WILKINS IS NOT!!!!!
Anyway, Presti, an open letter to you, find value for our rubbish please!!! Before I have to watch them for another abysmal season!!
I’m done, I’m gonna go watch the 96 finals and dream about pre-coke Kemp like I like to do on a sultry Monday evening. hehe
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:48 pm
First of all, who gives a sh!t about Adam Morrison. Sorry, I had to get that out first after reading all this ish.
Thank you. I was waiting for someone to say that. I wonder if Bobcats fans even discuss him this much. Actually, no I don’t wonder, since I don’t care.
It seems to me Petro would probably back-up KG or even Kendrick Perkins at the five.
If Petro can’t find minutes on this roster, what makes you think a contender would be interested?
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:56 pm
It might sound stupid, but I bet we’re deeper with players that can crack a rotation than a lot of teams in the east. We’re not good, don’t get me wrong, but we have a lot of “serviceable” players, in my opinion.
It just depends on the situation. Watson is whack and I don’t want to see him play for us, but he’d be getting 25 minutes a game on some contending teams, say Miami for instance…
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:02 pm
“Take Cleveland for instance. We hate Petro, Watson, and, to a lesser extent, Sene or Wilkins, but each of these players would get quality minutes on the Cavs due to their issues with getting a surrounding cast around Lebron.
Same with Boston. Who’s going to surround the big three? It seems to me Petro would probably back-up KG or even Kendrick Perkins at the five. Wilkins would play minutes on that team too, backing up Ray Ray or whoever.”
While Damien Wilkins would get minutes behind LeBron James at small forward with the Cleveland Cavaliers, there’s no way that he’d surpass James Posey or Tony Allen on the depth chart with the Boston Celtics. Yet, as a last ditch effort to dump Wilkins come mid-season, shipping him off to the Cavaliers for Ira Newble — who’s got a highly sought after expiring contract — isn’t a terribly bad idea.
Finally, the Cavaliers have absolutely no use for either Mouhamed Sene or Johan Petro. Presently, Danny Ferry has already stocked Mike Brown with a couple of big man projects, Dwayne Jones and Cedric Simmons, who’ll rot on the bench this season like most raw post players.
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:17 pm
“Seattle send Earl and Petro to Cleveland.
Cleveland send Eric Snow to Seattle.
Works under the cap.
The Cavs get a breathing point guard and six fouls from Johan.
Eric is at least classy enough to be a reserve point. His contract is $6m/year for two years. So it expires at the same time as Wally’s, making our cap space in two years’ time gigantic.”
Well, I dislike that trade proposal ’cause Eric Snow is a shell of his former self and, moreover, his contract lasts through the 2008-2009 season. For those exact same reasons, I’m averse to the Seattle Supersonics acquiring one of Snow’s teammates, Donyell Marshall, who someone brought up in an earlier trade proposal.
In any event, I’d rather have Earl Watson and Damien Wilkins offered to the Miami Heat for Jason Williams — even though it sucks that Watson and Wilkins weren’t dealt there for James Posey and Gary Payton prior to last season’s trade deadline — since Williams, unlike the abovementioned Snow, has an expiring contract.
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Well, I botched the italics tag in my previous post. At least I used the quotation marks correctly, though.
“I’d argue that the combo of Hughes/Gibson/Snow isn’t that bad and cheaper than our situation.”
For the Cleveland Cavailers, Larry Hughes and Daniel Gibson should start in the backcourt. Hughes would be the primary ball-handler and guard the most talented wing player on each team, while Gibson would play off of the ball on offense and defend opposing point guards.
Eric Snow and Damon Jones ought to be the main backups, with Snow handling the playmaking duties and Jones doing his thing as a long-range shooter. Lastly, Jones shouldn’t relinquish any of his playing time to Shannon Brown; the youngster shoots at a low percentage, commits too many turnovers, and plays crummy defense.
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:54 pm
The Seattle Supersonics waived Jermaine Jackson.
http://tinyurl.com/2zkmqp
Hell, Jackson is just a scrub — à la Randy Livingston, Mike Wilks, and Mateen Cleaves — and that’s that.
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:15 pm
“Carlesimo didn’t say it, but you can tell that he’s frustrated with the rash of nagging injuries that keeps West from playing and practicing. By my count, this is Delonte’s fourth injury (sprained right ankle, left big toe nail removed, sore back) in three weeks and the real games haven’t even started yet. If he breaks down this much this early, what’s he going to do during the season?”
This is very concerning to me and anyone else who digs the kid’s game. We DON’T HAVE A GOOD PG on this f’ing team, and if you think Rid is the solution then you can f’ck right off, thanks so much. Delonte was like the solution beyond all other wasted hope. This is a real f’ing problem, IMO.
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Well, at least I don’t have to f@ck right off, because D. West has made Ridnour look like Richie Frahm.
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:40 pm
that was my point, I guess. Don’t go f’ing yourself, now, without proper purpose and all.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:07 pm
Living here in S.Calif., I am the biggest Sonics fan there is; however, guys, don’t waste too much of your time concerning yourselves with this season’s edition of the Supes. They will struggle to win 20 games; are they really better than last season’s Memphis squad? Seattle will struggle to score points in the 4th quarter with just 3 scorers, Durant, West and Wally (guys who can get to the FT line on occasion). Allen and Lewis’s offense will be severely missed. The mentality of every NBA team will be. . . “We play Seattle tonight? Thats a sure “W”.
On the bright side, they will be right in line for the no. 1 pick next summer, and if they remain in Seattle will be a championship contender when they begin the 2009-10 season. In Sam we Trust; something I once uttered in the 1970’s.
We all, myself included, have WAY too much time on our hands if we worry about these guys too much, as fun as it is . . .
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:35 pm
“It just depends on the situation. Watson is whack and I don’t want to see him play for us, but he’d be getting 25 minutes a game on some contending teams, say Miami for instance…”
You said it yourself. He is wack. Why would a contender want him and his salary? Especially when you can probably get a similar player for the minimum off the waiver wire. Sorry but Watson is here to stay. He certainly will never be the focal point of any deal.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:44 pm
“I’m done, I’m gonna go watch the 96 finals and dream about pre-coke Kemp like I like to do on a sultry Monday evening. hehe ”
I can dig that… you’re not alone fella
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:49 pm
“In any event, I’d rather have Earl Watson and Damien Wilkins offered to the Miami Heat for Jason Williams — even though it sucks that Watson and Wilkins weren’t dealt there for James Posey and Gary Payton prior to last season’s trade deadline — since Williams, unlike the abovementioned Snow, has an expiring contract.”
If you were a GM…..would you trade an expiring contract for Earl Watson and Damien Wilkens. Pretty sure most GMs would say hell no.
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:32 pm
“[Being a one-dimensional player] [w]orked ok for Rashard Lewis.”
Any statistics to support your proposition, Menace? Morrision didn’t average 15 points per game. I believe he averaged fewer than 13 points a game, which is pretty bad considering that he received attempted over eleven field goals a game. Tyrus Thomas, Rudy Gay, Brandon Roy, and Randy Foye were all available at the #3 pick.
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:58 pm
I’m not defending Adam Morrison. I agree his season sucked.
But Rashard Lewis is completely one dimensional and he gets paid fat.
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:09 am
“Seattle will struggle to score points in the 4th quarter with just 3 scorers, Durant, West and Wally (guys who can get to the FT line on occasion).”
Huh? What about Wilcox? If they don’t respect Wilcox in the post, then KD’s going to get his points. But I still think KD opens things up for Wilcox inside. Don’t forget that Luke has displayed some pretty good shooting so far in the preseason.
But I agree, there’s a high chance that we’ll blow this season. We’ll be so inconsistent, some games will make me want to yack.
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:17 am
“If you were a GM…..would you trade an expiring contract for Earl Watson and Damien Wilkens. Pretty sure most GMs would say hell no.”
For the most part, Menace, I agree with you. The Miami Heat are the one team that might bite on Earl Watson and Damien Wilkins, however. Despite Watson and Wilkins’ shortcomings, Pat Riley could theoretically have some use for them –especially in light of James Posey and Gary Payton’s departure this off-season — thus, Jason Williams may be available for that package.
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:45 am
Menace said: “Why in the world would Cleveland do that is a better question?”
They’d kill for a half-decent point.
Right now they’re splitting time between Snow and… er… well, you get the idea. Even Earl is an upgrade for them, and they’d willingly throw us Snow, who is well past his use by date.
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:18 am
Adam Morrison, who unfortunately tore his left ACL the other day, is closer to becoming the next Danny Ferry than a reincarnation of Larry Bird. Prior to the 2006 NBA Draft, my estimation was that Morrison would replicate Chris Mullin’s career. Obviously, I was totally off the mark on that prediction.
As we all learned last season, Morrison’s lack of athleticism, ghastly shot selection, dreadful ball-handling, reliance on isolation plays to score, laziness on the boards, and horrendous defense made him the worst regular rotation player in the entire NBA. John Hollinger, who’s work is cited earlier in this thread, precisely sums up the dilemma concerning Morrison.
Sans Morrison, the Charlotte Bobcats will probably insert Walter Herrmann into the starting lineup alongside Emeka Okafor, Gerald Wallace, Jason Richardson, and Raymond Felton — with Primoz Brezec or Ryan Hollins, Jermareo Davidson, Jared Dudley, Matt Carroll, and Derek Anderson or Jeff McInnis picking up the reserve minutes — thus, his absence this season won’t derail the rising franchise.
On the other hand, though, Sean May’s season-ending microfracture surgery on his right knee earlier this month — in conjunction with Othella Harrington’s chronic knee tendinitis — has depleted the Bobcats’ low-post depth. Beyond Davidson, who’s just a rookie, the injury prone Okafor is without a capable backup.
At this rate, I stand by my prognostication that the Bobcats will post a 23-59 record this season and, in consequence, suffer a setback by finishing last in the Southeast Division.
http://sonicscentral.com/blog/?p=1462
All things considered, Michael Jordan doesn’t seem to be doing any better with the Bobcats than he did with the Washington Wizards. Nonetheless, “His Airness” will have a few more years to get things on the right track—so long as he doesn’t pull a Kevin Willis and drag his 44-year-old body out of retirement.
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:39 am
“They’d kill for a half-decent point.
Right now they’re splitting time between Snow and… er… well, you get the idea. Even Earl is an upgrade for them, and they’d willingly throw us Snow, who is well past his use by date. ”
His point though, was you can find a point guard of Watson’s level in the free agent pool for the minimum. Why overpay for somebody when you get just grab them for dirt cheap?
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:40 am
They’d probably take Ridnour instead. From our standpoint, it wouldn’t be bad if it weren’t for West being constantly hurt. However, West is fragile right now so it looks like we’re going to hold on to all of our pg’s.
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:55 am
“But Rashard Lewis is completely one dimensional and he gets paid fat.”
So I take this statement to mean that you have no statistics to support your proposition. Are your eyes the only basis for one-dimensional argument? Eyewitness testimony is often the most unreliable form of evidence in a court of law; basketball observation may not be too different.
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:11 am
“His point though, was you can find a point guard of Watson’s level in the free agent pool for the minimum. Why overpay for somebody when you get just grab them for dirt cheap?”
Earl Watson is vastly superior to those shitty point guards who are floating along in the free-agent pool (e.g., Andre Barrett, Tierre Brown, et al.), so let’s not spout hyperbole. Likewise, washed-up has-beens (e.g., Gary Payton, Doug Christie, et al.) can’t hold a candle to Watson.
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:18 am
I do agree though that the Heat would likely not waste Jason Williams’ expiring contract on Earl Watson and Damien Wilkins. Earl has the type of contract that only teams unconcerned with financial ramifications, such as the Mavericks and Knicks, could stomach. The Sonics may just have to deal with this two-headed PG monster this season.
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:32 am
Dammit, I hate defending Rashard Lewis — especially since I’m currently envisioning him swimming merrily in a moat of greenbacks outside some colossal castle while being pleasured by several medieval wenches — yet, that notwithstanding, it’s clearly evident that he’s more talented than Adam Morrison.
http://tinyurl.com/3yrcpd
Now, let’s end this one-sided debate.
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:45 am
Alex - I like Rashard. I wish him the best. But prove to me that he isn’t a one dimensional player.
Why do I need statistics? Tell me what he does besides score?
Is he a good defender?
6′10″ and his career rebounding average is 5.8 per game
Is he a ballhandler? Assists (1.7 career)? Blocks (.5 career).
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:05 am
“Even Earl is an upgrade for them,”
IMO Earl is a defensive two guard, who can’t shoot, in a PGs body. He is not a great distributor of the basketball.
Hughes/Snow are equal if not better defenders. Jones and Gibson (from limited exposure) are arguably better offensively.
Adding a guy who isn’t a good distributor/scorer is an upgrade? Its a wash. Its treading water. If you had Eric Snow and his expiring contract……would you trade it for Earl Watson and 2 extra years? I don’t think I would.
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:06 am
Correction. 1 extra year with Earl.
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:16 am
Alex - google: Rashard Lewis one dimensional
I’m not alone on this one.
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:30 am
“IMO Earl is a defensive two guard, who can’t shoot, in a PGs body. He is not a great distributor of the basketball.”
Statistically, Earl Watson (Assists To Turnover Ratio: 2.62; Assists Per 48 Minutes: 9.7; Passing Rating: 12.6; Hands Rating: 24.3) was a more proficient playmaker than Luke Ridnour (Assists To Turnover Ratio: 2.36; Assists Per 48 Minutes: 8.4; Passing Rating: 10.3; Hands Rating: 21.2) last season.
For their respective careers, Watson (Field-Goal Percentage: 41.0%; Effective Field-Goal Percentage: 46.8%; True Shooting Percentage: 49.7%) is no worse than Ridnour (Field-Goal Percentage: 41.8%; Effective Field-Goal Percentage: 45.4%; True Shooting Percentage: 50.5%) on offense.
Furthermore, Watson (Player Efficiency Rating: 14.8; Net +/- Production: -0.1; Net Points Per 100 Possessions: -0.4; Roland Rating: -1.0) was more efficient than Ridnour (Player Efficiency Rating: 15.0; Net +/- Production: -1.8; Net Points Per 100 Possessions: -2.0; Roland Rating: -2.5) last season.
All in all, the 28-year-old Watson is BETTER than the 26-year-old Ridnour.
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:05 am
Menace - This a late reply to your retort of my Morrison commentary.
“Does it really matter who the player is…..shouldn’t you close out as fast as you can everytime?”
HELL YES IT MATTERS!!! If Shaq, Swift, Collsion, D. Howard, etc are out there beyond the arc then you don’t need to close out so fast and force them to step in side the arc to shot/drive to the hole. Rather you’d let those guys bomb away. That why when you youtube highlights of Zach Randolph shooting threes theirs absolutely no body around, because the defense has recognized he’s out there, even before has the ball and is daring him to shoot it.
In regards to my comments that Morrison could be worst SF ever drafted you said:
“Thats laughable considering he played one season. Ever heard of ummm…….Darius Miles!!!”
Miles Career Stats
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3402/career;_ylt=At7VnSYb7NnAGA.g9QVNNd6kvLYF
Morrison’s Career Stats:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4131/career;_ylt=At7VnSYb7NnAGA.g9QVNNd6kvLYF
To me these look like the same guy.
Category - Miles Rookie YR vs Morrison Rookie YR
Mins - 26 vs 29
FG% - 50% vs 37%
FT% - 52% vs 71%
Reb - 5.9 vs 3.0
Ast - 1.2 vs 2.1
TO - 1.8 vs 1.7
Stl - 0.6 vs 0.4
Bik - 1.5 vs 0.1
PF - 2.4 vs 2.3
PPG - 9.4 vs 11.8
Menace not to your not right about Miles being one of the worst SF ever drafted, but I’d say Morrison also belongs in that category. Let’s hope Morrison’s career doesn’t follow Miles’ injury riddled career.
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:08 am
Come on, Earl Watson can’t be compared to those whack-asses hovering on the waiver wire.
Just two years ago, E-Wat was playing quality minutes for a pretty damn good Denver Nugget team, the dude is a player. I think both he and Ridnour sputtered in their dual roles as pg for the Sonics, but they are both better than they showed last season.
Even though I’m not a Ridnour fan, even he is better than what he showed. But, I still believe if he wasn’t white, he’d be buried on the bench even deeper than he currently might end up being this year. Either that or Seattle doesn’t want to look dumb turning another high lottery pick into nothing…
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:56 am
Guys that you can get for dirt cheap off the waiver wire:
Dee Brown
Mike Wilks
Keith Mcleod
Will Conroy (might have signed, not sure)
I’d take all these guys for the minimum to backup Gibson instead of an overpaid backup like Earl. Please stop overrating him. He’s not much of a playmaker and can’t shoot. Hell, has anyone even signed Boykins yet? I’m betting his contract demands are simmering down a bit.
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:10 pm
Give Rashard a break! He can hit outside and he can post-up–and he’s even taken it on the dribble once or twice. That’s already more dimensions than Morrison. Plus, he was arguably the best defender on the Sonics last year (by far the highest defensive rating, which as a statistical measure is a work in progress, but still a place to start in looking at defense). In other words, Shard can at least be an average defender in the league. Is he a stat sheet filler? No. too bad for Orlando. But, to paraphrase a recent post, Morrison couldn’t carry ‘Shard’s jock strap.
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:22 pm
“I’d take all these guys for the minimum to backup Gibson instead of an overpaid backup like Earl.”
Tell that to Lebron James. He doesn’t care about an extra couple of million. He’s one of the top players in the NBA at, what, 21 years of age. Do you want to pinny pinch and pick up a Mike Wilks instead of having a proven NBA vet like Watson?
And sure, Watson sucked for us last season, but please don’t forget that Watson has been a huge commodity in the NBA pre-Sonics (the 2nd go-around). He killed it on the Nuggets, do ppl not remember this at all? Get Seattle out of your mind and remmeber that he was huge for Denver before the trade!!!
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Too bad Lebron isn’t in the front office. They don’t even want to pay Varejao, a proven hustler and positive force on the defensive end as well as an extra possession guy on offense, 9 million. What makes you think they’ll want to pay Watson 6.5 mil when you can get Dee Brown for 5 mil less? Not only is Dee Brown younger, but Watson’s skills have declined.
Let’s not bring up what he did in the past; this is now. If you want to go on past production, might as well bring in Payton instead.
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:13 pm
RE: Rashard Lewis
“Plus, he was arguably the best defender on the Sonics last year (by far the highest defensive rating, which as a statistical measure is a work in progress, but still a place to start in looking at defense). In other words, Shard can at least be an average defender in the league.”
Lost you at arguably the best defender on the Sonics. But for the record I’ve never said Morrison had a good NBA player or in anyway compared him to Rashard Lewis. My only statement was that both are one dimensional. Not sure if that can be argued.
“Do you want to pinny pinch and pick up a Mike Wilks instead of having a proven NBA vet like Watson?”
Yes. I would rather have Mike Wilks at the minimum for a year than Earl Watson at $6 mm per for 3 years. Earl Watson is not a hot commodity in this league. Hell I’d probably give Dahntay Jones a shot. Earl Boykins is definitely more of a difference maker than Earl Watson.
“HELL YES IT MATTERS!!! If Shaq, Swift, Collsion, D. Howard, etc are out there beyond the arc then you don’t need to close out so fast and force them to step in side the arc to shot/drive to the hole.”
I see your point. But it wasn’t a center out there. It was Luke Walton who shot 38% from 3 last year. I would argue that a good defender closes out on everyone no matter who it is.
McWalter - Out of curiosity how do you feel about Mo Sene? He has also played one year in the L.
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Man, I guess ppl really loathe Watson’s game. I don’t like what he’s done for the Sonics, but dude can play. Everybody has forgotten that.
Don’t get me wrong, I HATE him on Seattle, and him and Ridnour are the worst two-headed monster in the NBA at the point. But Wilks over Watson. C’mon now…
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:00 pm
For 1/3 - 1/5th the money. Yeah its probably worth it. I’d rather give Gary Payton, Jalen Rose, or Boykins a couple mill for a year than Earl Watson $18 million for 3. I’m not saying their better, but it makes much more fiscal sense that way.