NBA Off-Season Thread

I'm not one bit sold on Crawford. He's on the decline, shot about 39 percent last year. Hardly what you want from a guy who is in the game to fill it up.

 

Neither am I and I'm not so sure what Billups actually has left

 

Ray Allen signs with Miami.

 

;D

 

OK, I'm as anti-Jamal Crawford as the next guy, but saying he has a bad handle is absurd. His crossover is one of the all-time best.

 

Stojakovic was done in New Orleans. I was surprised the Raptors were willing to take on that contract given his back issues. Somehow he ended up playing pretty well in Dallas' title run and getting a ring before he retired.

 

I think Hollinger looked at this once and found that accurate shooters and 7-foot centers tended to stick around in the league the longest. The centers, because there is always a need for height in the league, and the shooters, because their skills decayed the slowest. If you can hit an open jumper or make free throws, a better coach can normally find a way to use you in certain situations. Popovich and Phil Jackson teams always seem to have a guy like that - Steve Kerr, etc.

 

Not sure if this is the right thread, but it involves off season NBA players, so close enough. Final roster for Team USA announced today:

http://espn.go.com/olympics/summer/2012/basketball/story/_/id/8139144/2012-olympics-blake-griffin-james-harden-andre-iguodala-us-men-basketball-roster

First impressions: pretty frickin SMALL. Tyson Chandler is the only center on the roster, hope that doesn't come back to bite us when we play that Ibaka/Gasol brothers trio Spain has in the middle.

 

James Harden? I know some guys are hurting and can't play, but are they really that thin?

They should be OK with Anthony, Kevin Love, Kobe, Kevin Durant, LeBron, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, etc. Lot of firepower, if they can just play a tiny bit of defense every once in a while and fast break at every chance.

 

I think Team USA is in a bit of rough shape, with all of the injuries (Howard, Bosh, etc.) and that some of the better big men aren't eligible (Gasol brothers, Nowitzki, etc.). If you have to, probably better to go small and try to overwhelm with athleticism vs. putting someone like Roy Hibbert on the team.