Weekend Links

Scrolling down the article, it talks about how Brandon Rush came on during the last 10 games are so last season, to the tune of close to 17 ppg.

I know he went before our pick in 2008, (17th) even IF we had kept it. But I don’t think a bball team can have enough 6-7,6-8 swings on the team. They offer the flexibility to play SG/SF if needed, and offer mismatch potential. Indiana with Danny Granger, and now Rush is a great example of going for size and athleticism on the wings. With the defense of those two, they can afford to run Dunleavy out there against the less offensively gifted opposing wing player.

I hope the Raptors take a similar approach towards surrounding Hedo with wings that can defend the other team’s threat. DeRozan will be one of those guys, just give him a few years to get acclimated. I think the next task for the Raptors is finding the second, preferably Granger sized, wing who can rebound from the 3 spot. They could then take Wright’s minutes and serve as primary backup for Hedo at SF. Having Hedo and Belinelli both in the wing rotation long term strikes me as too soft, especially in the playoffs.

In the short-term, I can see Belinelli platooning with DeRozan. Once DeRozan hits his groove (second/third season), he’ll take starter’s minutes, and the Raptors can look for someone more defensively adept to split the backup SG minutes with Jack.

By naming those players he has basically listed all of our back court, adding (I red the article) that for any team containing Kobe would be a team effort and his defender job , in that situation would, be to drive Kobe toward the Help defense / defender…. hardly surprising.

 In relation to Bargnani’s contract, we all know you have a different opinion. Fair enough, just please never confuse your own opinion with the stance “any” reasonable person would take…
R

I always think it is interesting to debate whether so and so would go higher if only we all knew then what we knew now errr know now. I don’t think you can debate that Kobe would go #1 over all if we did the draft again but to be fair, it would still be pretty close with Iverson as Iverson is the lower risk (irony?) from potential bust view point so you can’t really fault Philly. As for the Raps taking the Iverson #2, I just do not see it happening. If they did they would have had to flip him a la Steve Franchise. It would have made more sense to take Nash at that spot. In fact as good as Iverson has been, I would take Nash over him just because he is the polar opposite of Iverson. Remember, Iverson’s game is more designed for the old school NBA where you ran a lot of iso’s but now teams are gearing more and more to moving the ball for an open shot and playing a team offensive game which is where Nash’s game is. I think even though Iverson will eventually end up a hall of famer (and I do not agree with that) I still think Nash is the better player to have on your team as he makes everyone around him better.

Even though I would agree that Lamar could be banging Laker Girls (and other cheerleaders around the league, along with strippers and casual fans) it only shows how smart he is to hook up with money so he can have his money and bang the Laker Girl on the side too.