Comments on: Layup drill: Zach Randolph edition

By: TheMicrowave

TheMicrowave — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 23:13:50 +0000

On behalf of HVC, thanks Ian.

By: Mat

Mat — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 22:54:09 +0000

On Randolph: Portland wouldn’t trade away Zach. They’ve built their team around him, and he is the only scorer they have. ZBo is the only thing keeping them from being a laughingstock, which would be decimating for an already disgruntled and borderline damaged fan base.

On the other side of the coin, ZBo is wildly overrated. A one-trick pony who doesn’t play a lick of D, doesn’t pass, and isn’t a good team player. As a Portland resident, I see him often, and while he is a gifted scorer and enjoyable to watch, he isn’t going to upgrade the Pistons as much as one might initially think. The truth is that Zach is about average for a starting PF. Any all-star talk is preposterous. His overall game combined with his brutal contract would handicap the Pistons franchise for years to come.

If the Pistons want to sell-out the future for Zach, to make a last run while Sheed and Chauncy are still in their prime, I won’t complain. Just realize that we’d be paying the price for years to come…

By: Mat

Mat — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 22:42:22 +0000

Not to sound like a raving homer, but Chauncy is the #1 PG in basketball. He routinely outplays anyone on that list whenever they match up. He has won most (if not every) head-to-head matchup with Nash. I love watching him play, but Nash really can’t handle anyone on D. I haven’t watched Chris Paul enough to say definitevly one way or the other, but I’m going to go with experience there, at least for this year. AI and Arenas have an argument as scorers, but it depends on what your team needs I suppose. Chauncy brings the entire package: scoring, distributing, and decent D. As far as team basketball goes, Chauncy should without a doubt be considered the #1 PG in 2006.

By: Ian Cameron

Ian Cameron — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 18:26:47 +0000

Agree that Chauncey’s D is not his strong suit.

As I look at it, the same characteristic that makes the move Garrett describes (the pump fake in the lane) so effective is the same characteristic that handicaps him on D. Chauncey’s built. But while that strength allows him to overwhelm the TJ Fords of the league and enables more than a couple And-1s, his lateral quickness suffers.

This is what amazes me about Jason Kidd. He too is a pretty big guy, and yet he always seemed to keep guys in front of him.

By: Garrett

Garrett — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 17:06:04 +0000

I noticed this about Chauncey a few years ago and it has nothing to do with him being #3 in the league, but I think it’s interesting when you watch him play. I’m convinced he can draw a foul from anyone in the league. He does this thing where he gets by his man and gets to the foul-line extended area, with the defender on his back trying to catch up to him, and then he pulls up for a jumper. It’s almost a foul every single time on the guy on his back. Sometimes he’ll pump fake and then flail a bit when the guy hits him, but it’s a money move. He can get this play any time he wants and make a living at the stripe.

By: g

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 16:46:44 +0000

Well, so much for youtubue embeds. That was Ben’s block on Shaq from the Eastern conference finals last year, and however you feel about his departure — you “gotta” look at that (insofar as yes, his effort WAS there), and Flip’s poor coaching in that series last year — and in general — is a big deal. Can’t agree with Matt on the coaching thing a few posts back. Flip didn’t accomplish a whole lot last year, he inherited a well oiled machine and tinkered with it until it broke. This year, we’ll see. I’d rather have Larry and all his b.s. back at this point… we’d have Ben and another ’ship as a result.

Chauncey Billups might be #3, yeah. I worry about his D though.

By: g

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 16:41:24 +0000