Why did people like J-Rich so much?

[Jeff41]

I admit when we got him from the Warriors I was excited because of what I had HEARD about the guy, but I had rarely seen him play in person because I really only watch the Bobcats. But when he played for us, I was always underwhelmed. Sure he's athletic and can make some exciting dunks, but at $13-14M per year, he should have been our go-to-guy and a year and 15 some odd games into J-Rich's career with Charlotte, we still didn't have a go-to-guy. Augustin has been making some clutch shots, so has Felton. J-Rich? I see him miss a lot of clutch shots or pass the ball up. This guy should have been the player who got the ball in the final seconds of a close game and consistently won the game for us. This did not happen. I just didn't get the hype behind this guy for him to be worth what we were paying him. I hope his scoring can be replaced, but a move certainly HAD to be made and I'd much rather it have been J-Rich than Wallace. Am I alone on these feelings towards J-Rich?

[Slam]

9 times out of 10 is was because of Jason Richardson that we were in games to start with.

[Jeff41]

9 times out of 10 is was because of Jason Richardson that we were in games to start with.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on that one, and even if you do feel that way, look at our record. I mean this team IMO has too much young talent to have the record we do. The pieces we had just didn't work together. I'm not sure what we'll be getting out of Bell and Diaw, but I'm certainly not crying over losing J-Rich. If this has been Wallace instead, it'd be a different story.

[Mustachio]

9 times out of 10 is was because of Jason Richardson that we were in games to start with.


3 quarters isnt enough for us to make the playoffs. Not saying this new move will make us a playoff contender, but what we were doind wasnt either.

[dav7z]

Jeff i really liked J Rich and think hes a real nice player. Was he worth his contract i don't know. I agree about him not being the go to piece we was looking for. To me hes more of a 2nd option. But being a second option is still a nice player.
The thing most don't see in this trade is Diew hes like a third or forth option on the Suns coming hear i expect to see him have a larger role resulting in more points . I would not be suprised to see his scoring to go up 7ppg him averageing 16ppg for the Cats.

[Jeff41]

3 quarters isnt enough for us to make the playoffs. Not saying this new move will make us a playoff contender, but what we were doind wasnt either.

Sums up my feelings exactly.

I look for what a player does in the final minutes of a game and I wasn't seeing J-Rich do much of anything.

[Jeff41]

Jeff i really liked J Rich and think hes a real nice player. Was he worth his contract i don't know. I agree about him not being the go to piece we was looking for. To me hes more of a 2nd option. But being a second option is still a nice player.
The thing most don't see in this trade is Diew hes like a third or forth option on the Suns coming hear i expect to see him have a larger role resulting in more points . I would not be suprised to see his scoring to go up 7ppg him averageing 16ppg for the Cats.

He may have been a nice 2nd option, but I don't think you pay $14 mil a year for a 2nd scoring option. Maybe I was thinking too much about that while I have watched him play over the last year and a half but I thought to myself outloud numerous times "shouldn't 14 mil a year get you more than this"?

We desperately need a PF and Diaw looks like he has promise so I'm excited about that. Seeing Jared Dudley and Sean May start at the 4 night in and night out made me vomit. Since that appears this move ends that nightmare, another plus in my book.

[Mustachio]

I do however think its too soon for this thread. Jrich was a great Bobcat and gave us nothing but his best. In a perfect world he would still be here. This isn't the perfect world, and its not the end of it either.

[Felton for Prez]

He was the closest thing to a star we've had. Plus he was a hard worker and all around good guy.

[Jeff41]

I do however think its too soon for this thread. Jrich was a great Bobcat and gave us nothing but his best. In a perfect world he would still be here. This isn't the perfect world, and its not the end of it either.

Yea I appreciate his contributions, but after reading the dramatic "F*** the Bobcats!!!!" "Who will be our go-to-guy now OMG!?!" stuff this morning, I had to make this post.

[Felton for Prez]

He may have been a nice 2nd option

The sad thing about this is that if he's a "nice 2nd option" what does it say about our team that he was our first option? And what does it say about our options right now?

[Jeff41]

[quote=Jeff41;104386]He may have been a nice 2nd option[quote]

The sad thing about this is that if he's a "nice 2nd option" what does it say about our team that he was our first option? And what does it say about our options right now?

It says the obvious that the pieces we have/had on this team simply don't work well together. This team has talent but is poorly put together. I believe that other players will step up and make up for the lost scoring and hopefully this isn't the last deal made.

Don't get me wrong I'm not thrilled or bummed about this deal, I'm just seeing the obvious that it's something that needed to be done to try to get a cohesive team put together.

[spectre]

The sad thing about this is that if he's a "nice 2nd option" what does it say about our team that he was our first option? And what does it say about our options right now?

FFP touched on it. Some are acting like Swish should have been able to take this WOEFULLY coached team last year, overcome the massive stupidity of the Idiot and carried us on his back into the 2nd round of the playoffs.

When you have ONE scoring option and everyone else shoots for shit (and the guy isn't named Kobe or Lebron) how in the hell is he supposed to carry us to the promised land?

Swish should have been the one we KEPT...not the 1st out the door. We had one player who could legitimately start on a contending team and we move it for basically role players. I trust what LB is trying to do and like I said before I'll support it.

I also said I'd probably bitch about it...and so here we are.

Swish brought excitement. He brought drive and determination. He was the only player we had that has not been a huge frigging disappointment that could be considered a core piece.

And as far as his contract? Good luck getting someone in on the cheap that'll actually stay here for less money. Swish embraced us and made Charlotte his home.

I love the guy and now I feel like my dog just died. I'll get over it, but I think it'll be a long while before we have the talent that is equal to Jason Richardson on this team.

[Dead_Real]

[quote=Jeff41;104386]He may have been a nice 2nd option[quote]

The sad thing about this is that if he's a "nice 2nd option" what does it say about our team that he was our first option? And what does it say about our options right now?
We took a huge step back like I've been saying all day unless we can get a Boozer or Odom I don't see much improvement happening I pray to God I'm wrong

We were close to making the playoffs last year with this team an a idiot for a coach. Add a HOF coach and a very good back up PG all good additions. Recently our play on both sides of the ball has seemed to be improving but the L's still are piling up because we don't have that 1 missing piece. Which is a big man (preferably a true PF) that can command a double team. Now we shop our best offensive player and worst of all don't use him to get that 1 missing piece that would make us competitive. IMO we didn't need to blow up our core if you do so atleast get back equal value.

[playoffs...PLAYOFFS?]

let's be seriuos, we have a better chance of having a decent record with a balanced team of average players than an unbalanced team with one player averaging 18 pts

think about the teams that have had moderate success when they initially only had a super star player...Lakers with Kobe...Bulls with Jordan...and Cavs with Lebro.

These teams were good with their superstars..and became even better once the whole team was balanced

The Bobcats wouldn't have improved without a PF...we were scrapping the bottom of the barrell by signing dwayne jones, nazr...

Larry brown won a championship at Detroit... I don't know how many trades he engineered when he was there..but there wasn't a "superstar" in that team and they got it done.

We are not yet at the caliber of that Detroit team...but let's wait and see what happens

[playoffs...PLAYOFFS?]

We were close to making the playoffs last year with this team an a idiot for a coach. Add a HOF coach and a very good back up PG all good additions. Recently our play on both sides of the ball has seemed to be improving but the L's still are piling up because we don't have that 1 missing piece. Which is a big man (preferably a true PF) that can command a double team. Now we shop our best offensive player and worst of all don't use him to get that 1 missing piece that would make us competitive. IMO we didn't need to blow up our core if you do so atleast get back equal value.


We were only close to making it to the playoffs last year because all you needed was a better losing record than the #8 seed

The eastern conference is much stronger this year...if were in the western conference this year, i think we would be competing for the #8 seed..instead we are the third or fourth worst team right now

[spectre]

We probably will be better because we're more balanced, but both these guys wanted out of Phoenix....hell, Raja publically bitched.

Did it really take our best player to get these guys as well as Dudley?

As someone said on another board we got screwed, but making us add in Duds and a 2nd was like getting screwed without the KY Jelly.

[dav7z]

Guys , I would love for us to pull off somthing like Felton and Wallace for Boozer,
1 Augustin, Singeltery
2 Bell , Carroll, Brown
3 Diew, Morrison
4 Boozer, Howard,Alexas
5 Mek , Nazz , Hollins
Jazz might do this because of Boozers contract,
Lock down defencive team , Great rebounding team , And guys who could score
This bunch would make noise in the east.

[Mustachio]

Guys , I would love for us to pull off somthing like Felton and Wallace for Boozer,
1 Augustin, Singeltery
2 Bell , Carroll, Brown
3 Diew, Morrison
4 Boozer, Howard,Alexas
5 Mek , Nazz , Hollins
Jazz might do this because of Boozers contract,
Lock down defencive team , Great rebounding team , And guys who could score
This bunch would make noise in the east.


I wouldnt mind that but... I dont think Utah would be interested in losing their best PF and only gaining players that would play exactly like their current core starters AK47 and Deron Williams.

[Dead_Real]

We were only close to making it to the playoffs last year because all you needed was a better losing record than the #8 seed

The eastern conference is much stronger this year...if were in the western conference this year, i think we would be competing for the #8 seed..instead we are the third or fourth worst team right now
The East is better as I expected it to be but my hopes were with those 2 good additions that I previously mentioned would help us be competitive and still fight for that 7th/8th spot in the postseason. The season is still young and anything can happen but deals like this suggest otherwise and hurt an already struggling offense.

The thing that irks me the most is how much I've heard how Bell looks over the hill so far this year and seeing how good Diaw could be if he was always motivated ala 06 season to many question marks on our side.

[Slam]

I wouldnt mind that but... I dont think Utah would be interested in losing their best PF and only gaining players that would play exactly like their current core starters AK47 and Deron Williams.
Yet we are ok with trading our best SG for bit players?

[TheBeagle]

I liked him because he is/was a classy human being who could make some unbelievable shots and dunks. Granted, they were rarely if ever CLUTCH shots, but he still was the best pure scorer this franchise has ever had. Was he ever going to lead this team anywhere near .500? No. Do I like the trade? We'll see, but I'm definitely okay with it. But I was a big JRich fan while he was here (and will still pull for him and JD)!