J.R. Smith has literally been shanghaied away for the foreshortened 2011-2012 NBA season: rolling ILH sandbox thread

its funny how hollinger always over rates houston, like explain to me how gasol/nene dont get dunked on every play

its funny how hollinger always over rates houston, like explain to me how gasol/nene dont get dunked on every play

― Cooper Chucklebutt, Sunday, December 11, 2011 9:35 AM (37 seconds ago) Bookmark Permalink

uh, nene is good defensively bro.

I don't get how Nene and Pau are complimentary players. I get Nene and Dwight, but not those two.

nene is a pretty flashy shotblocker

nene/gasol would be one of the best defensive 4/5 combos in the league, actually.

they would just have issues against the monsters like Bogut.

and DHo of course.

fellas fellas fellas this is so hilarious to me that odom was so butthurt about a potential trade that the lakes had to throw him into the welcoming arms of mark cuban for a bag of donuts

uh, nene is good defensively bro.

― Matt Armstrong, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:36 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink

no hes not

nene/gasol would be one of the best defensive 4/5 combos in the league, actually.

― Matt Armstrong, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:38 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Permalink

youre insane

gotta say im not really feeling any money for jeff green, wondering when this david west thing is done, not really feeling a lot of kg at center, etc etc

like randomly signing chris wilcox though, he can play 8 min a game and not kill you

wish joel pryzbilla or something was out there to keep kg out of playing center

nene is a pretty flashy shotblocker

― dayo, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:38 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink

totally w/that monster .5 blocks per game average

or .9 rather

nene/gasol makes sense to me offensively... i mean, nene's not really a back to the basket player is he?

he's a solid defender man. Crafty with steals, strong, mobile.

nene so rarely looks to score that it's hard to say, jord.

I would say he likes to isolate and face up mid-post.

man nene kinda sux, doesnt rebound, doesnt protect the rim, always injured, scores efficiently but has never averaged more than 15ppg

kinda pissed that the post-melo nuggets were only around for a half season, that team was exciting as fuck

nene made the most sense to me in that environment, where he could really run the break. dude was dropping atomic dunks on fools in that thunder series.

i mean, that's another one where i'm like... okay, you're absorbing the nucleus of a team that just lost to the hawks in the first round and adding a 33 year old kobe bryant. hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

― v-shasty, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:18 AM (25 minutes ago)

yeah why not just trade kobels to orlando, change disneyworld to disney land and basically you have the same thing

"protecting the rim" is the most overvalued defensive skill there is.

or .9 rather

― Cooper Chucklebutt, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:43 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

lol I didn't say he blocked a lot of shots - just that there are some good highlights of him blocking shots

like nene you wouldnt mind pairing w/big rim protecting shot blocker and gasol you wouldnt mine pairing w/a big rim protecting shot blocker, together ehhhh

nene made the most sense to me in that environment, where he could really run the break. dude was dropping atomic dunks on fools in that thunder series.

― v-shasty, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:46 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

yeah I think nene is really mobile for a guy his size, very quick on his feet

"protecting the rim" is the most overvalued defensive skill there is.

― Matt Armstrong, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:47 AM (27 seconds ago) Bookmark Permalink

it is perhaps the most important thing in the entire nba, definitely by far the single most important thing a team can do defensively

btw, i think it really goes to show, for all his faults, how fucking incredible lebron james is, to have carried the cavs as far every year as he did every year. howard and the magic had that totally embarrassing first round loss last year, paul could basically never get out of the first round if he even made it in the playoffs, and wade couldn't even win a playoff game after the 06 finals.

but i digress

drawing charges is protecting the rim. So are forcing missed layups. blocking shots is not "protecting the rim" but it's what people mean by "protecting the rim."

the one time that KG took the wolves past the first round, it was like we had cured AIDS or some shit

like deandre jordan is about to get paid a zillion dollars for "protecting the rim" but really he just blocks shots and doesn't do anything else defensively. I would rather have a guy who blocks a third as many shots and is actually capable of locking someone down.

having a big man that stands near the basket preventing layups is undoubtedly the single biggest predictor of defensive success in the nba

undoubtedly!

i don't think nene is truly max worthy, but honestly, a gasol/nene frontcourt was as good as houston was ever going to do, bcuz they're never going to get one of these big stars, no matter how often their name is floated. they definitely could've built around that and made it to like the WCF one year.

locking people down is cool but defense the way its played in the nba today is a team operation, having a big man who can lock down the middle makes everyones job easier, ask 'defensive genius' bruce bowen abt that one

idk, i feel like tyson chandler's effect on the finals was pretty minimal for a guy that's about to get paid $50m for "protecting the rim"

"protecting the rim" is the most overvalued defensive skill there is.

― Matt Armstrong, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:47 AM (27 seconds ago) Bookmark Permalink

it is perhaps the most important thing in the entire nba, definitely by far the single most important thing a team can do defensively

― Cooper Chucklebutt, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:48 AM (1 minute ago)

otm, look at the magic last year

Miami Heat's awesome defense last year def. was based around Zydrunas.

the magic won two total playoff games fwiw

like deandre jordan is about to get paid a zillion dollars for "protecting the rim" but really he just blocks shots and doesn't do anything else defensively. I would rather have a guy who blocks a third as many shots and is actually capable of locking someone down.

― Matt Armstrong, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:51 AM (2 minutes ago)

nene can't lock anyone down is the thing

"protecting the rim" is definitely important if you don't really mean "blocking shots." Blocking shots + Drawing charges, for example, is a much better metric.

well nene is pretty athletic, he's a pretty decent defender i think

nene can't lock anyone down is the thing

― k3vin k., Sunday, December 11, 2011 9:56 AM (45 seconds ago) Bookmark Permalink

I just totally disagree.

the magic won two total playoff games fwiw

― v-shasty, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:55 AM (38 seconds ago) Bookmark Permalink

they were a top 3 in defensive efficiency while having only one above average defender on their team

the magic won two total playoff games fwiw

― v-shasty, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:55 AM (1 minute ago)

they were like sixth in team defense and had like eight terrible defenders other than howard

howard is superman tho

i would say that that speaks more to the absurd talent of dwight howard

"protecting the rim" is definitely important if you don't really mean "blocking shots." Blocking shots + Drawing charges, for example, is a much better metric.

― Matt Armstrong, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:57 AM (26 seconds ago) Bookmark Permalink

yeah w/e blocking shots is a bullshit stat, charges is too, its abt making people miss or chose not to attempt layups, doesnt matter how you do it

i would say that that speaks more to the absurd talent of dwight howard

― v-shasty, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:58 AM (8 seconds ago) Bookmark Permalink

it speaks to both - like not even the best perimeter defender the world has ever seen could have that sort of effect on a team

ah ok I think we were talking past each other then. xp

well nene is pretty athletic, he's a pretty decent defender i think

― v-shasty, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:57 AM (41 seconds ago) Bookmark Permalink

nene can't lock anyone down is the thing

― k3vin k., Sunday, December 11, 2011 9:56 AM (45 seconds ago) Bookmark Permalink

I just totally disagree.

― Matt Armstrong, Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:57 AM (35 seconds ago)

the numbers agree with me - he can't stop other centers for shit but his mobility and help defense make him a solid defender. he got murdered in the post last year

well tbf he's a PF.