This is Our Best Team Yet. (And Observations of My First Game Watched This Year)

[Proudiddy]

This is our best team yet, simple as that. That being said, I'd like to point out why, with our strengths.

*Felton and Augustin have to be among the top PG duos in the league, if not the best. They both look great.

*The SF position looks REAL good. We all know what GDub brings to the table... IMO, probably the most underrated and under appreciated player in the league, yet still one of the best night in and night out. The real surprise here is Stephen Graham. The recent articles about him on the Observer, I chalked up to just being fluff.

The guy is good. I figured he would be the intensity, energy, come-off-the-bench, defensive specialist guy. Well, he is. And more! The guy can play offensively. He has range, and is athletic. He can drive and get to the basket. And best of all, he's smart about his shots, they're taken within the offense, yet he seems to recognize when to push the issue and create his own shot. I don't see a lot of drop-off at all from Gerald to Stephen.

*I am shining up my knife and fork right now... Getting my salt and pepper out... And preparing to eat my crow. Why? Lexy may be a legitimate NBA player. I thought he was a bum when we drafted him and it was a wasted pick. I thought when LB came out and trashed him to the media, that was the final straw. Well, LB is a smart guy... And that apparently was more to challenge Lexy than anything else.

Lexy looked like a legitimate big last night. He has stepped it up. When I saw him play last year, he looked like exactly what I thought he would be on draft night - nothing. Watching him last night, he looked great. Despite his slight frame, the few times I focused on him in the post defensively, he was holding his own. He was fronting DJ Mbenga without losing position consistently. He was beating Mbenga for position.

Another positive to his game, is the guy has a stroke. I saw a few ill advised shots, but that just comes with experience. If he's ever in the game late, he will definitely be an asset in terms of the free throw line. He caught an awesome alley-oop from Ray on one play last night, and just seemed to be in good position for rebounds. All around, other than Boris, he looked like our best big on the roster.

*Our rookies. Didn't see Derrick Brown at all last night, so, I don't know what that was about... I've heard all the great things about him and was eager to see him in action. I don't know if LB was just giving him a rest or what, but I didn't see him at all last night. Hendo had a few bad plays offensively with turnovers. But, there are flashes of hope. He made a couple shots. And he's gonna get to the free throw line, bank on that.

I even saw several times where he was dribbling and the lane came wide open, yet he stepped back outside and passed it. I think it's a rookie complex thing and he doesn't want to step on anyone's toes still. He'll get out of that, and he'll be dunking on opponents in no time.

*Vlad looks better. Defensively, he has really stepped it up and his offense is expanding as well.

Now, the negatives:

*Nazr has improved since last year. Why is this a negative? Because he's still horrible. And I mean HORRIBLE. Generally, if a big isn't good offensively, then they specialize in defense, or vice versa. Nazr is the special case of not being good at either. His footwork looks horrible. He is constantly out of position. And he misses shots that, as a big, he should make consistently.

He looks slower than almost any other big in the league. Just sloppy. In the words of my best friend, when asked for his scouting report on Nazr after watching a game: "Umm, well... He's got a good barber. Goatee looked fresh."

*Sadly, as bad as Nazr looks, there is someone who looks far worse than he... His name? You got it. Sagana Diop. Horrible. I can't seem to conjure up enough visual images from my memory bank from a few years back to justify why I ever thought he was good. But, for some reason, I did think he was a solid role player for the Mavs. What happened?

This guy might be the worst player in the NBA. When you factor in the salary, no question, he is the worst... No bang for the buck. He looks lost. No defensive presence, which I used to admire when he was with Dallas... No offensive skill. Out of position for rebounds. No hustle. Just horrible. Yuck. I say we see if we can trade him for some extra basketballs or a toaster oven for the locker room. There is no hope for him. If we can get rid of him, we NEED to, regardless of what we got back.

Is it possible to do a straight up trade with a NBDL team? We may need to be the first to attempt it.

*Raja is still great defensively. But, he is going through a serious funk offensively. If he keeps it up, I don't know that Hendo or Graham might end up starting some games in his place this year. I really hope he gets it together. Make no mistake, his defense is unmatched. But, he's got to get it together offensively.

*With Nazr and Diop's showing, we have got to find a legitimate "know your role" center. Lexy is more suited for the 4 and looks like he will contribute this year, in possibly a big way. But, that doesn't solve our problems at center once Tyson takes a breather. So hopefully, he's prepared to play 48 mins a night, lol. We have got to get a guy that can backup Tyson, and do it well.

That's it...

[BETCATS]

you make some intresting points, but i take issue with you saying Nazr sucks. Nazr just needs minutes to warm up, but once he gets started he can score the ball rather well. If you remember when we first got him/gave him playtime he was scoring 10-20 points a game. He is still capible of doing that. His problem throughout his entire career is that he hasnt got enough playtime.

Their are only 2 places where he did get significant burn 1 was here under the one known as ham biscuit, the other was in San Antonio. He started with Tim Duncan next to him at Power Forward, the Spurs won a championship that year.

[Proudiddy]

I see what your saying, but I think there's a reason he doesn't get much time. It's not just the areas of the game that you can track statistically with him... It's the intricacies. Like I said, his positioning and footwork were horird. There was a couple plays he looked good on. Offensively, he'll make a few plays for you, he can make some shots. But, he just seems so awkward defensively and such a liability that it's not worth it on the offensive end.

We've got to find a solution behind Tyson.

[Ghost Kat]

Nazr sucks....

[KT#20]

Did Chandler take a physical?

[davcbow]

This is our best team yet, simple as that. That being said, I'd like to point out why, with our strengths.

*Felton and Augustin have to be among the top PG duos in the league, if not the best. They both look great.

*The SF position looks REAL good. We all know what GDub brings to the table... IMO, probably the most underrated and under appreciated player in the league, yet still one of the best night in and night out. The real surprise here is Stephen Graham. The recent articles about him on the Observer, I chalked up to just being fluff.

The guy is good. I figured he would be the intensity, energy, come-off-the-bench, defensive specialist guy. Well, he is. And more! The guy can play offensively. He has range, and is athletic. He can drive and get to the basket. And best of all, he's smart about his shots, they're taken within the offense, yet he seems to recognize when to push the issue and create his own shot. I don't see a lot of drop-off at all from Gerald to Stephen.

*I am shining up my knife and fork right now... Getting my salt and pepper out... And preparing to eat my crow. Why? Lexy may be a legitimate NBA player. I thought he was a bum when we drafted him and it was a wasted pick. I thought when LB came out and trashed him to the media, that was the final straw. Well, LB is a smart guy... And that apparently was more to challenge Lexy than anything else.

Lexy looked like a legitimate big last night. He has stepped it up. When I saw him play last year, he looked like exactly what I thought he would be on draft night - nothing. Watching him last night, he looked great. Despite his slight frame, the few times I focused on him in the post defensively, he was holding his own. He was fronting DJ Mbenga without losing position consistently. He was beating Mbenga for position.

Another positive to his game, is the guy has a stroke. I saw a few ill advised shots, but that just comes with experience. If he's ever in the game late, he will definitely be an asset in terms of the free throw line. He caught an awesome alley-oop from Ray on one play last night, and just seemed to be in good position for rebounds. All around, other than Boris, he looked like our best big on the roster.

*Our rookies. Didn't see Derrick Brown at all last night, so, I don't know what that was about... I've heard all the great things about him and was eager to see him in action. I don't know if LB was just giving him a rest or what, but I didn't see him at all last night. Hendo had a few bad plays offensively with turnovers. But, there are flashes of hope. He made a couple shots. And he's gonna get to the free throw line, bank on that.

I even saw several times where he was dribbling and the lane came wide open, yet he stepped back outside and passed it. I think it's a rookie complex thing and he doesn't want to step on anyone's toes still. He'll get out of that, and he'll be dunking on opponents in no time.

*Vlad looks better. Defensively, he has really stepped it up and his offense is expanding as well.

Now, the negatives:

*Nazr has improved since last year. Why is this a negative? Because he's still horrible. And I mean HORRIBLE. Generally, if a big isn't good offensively, then they specialize in defense, or vice versa. Nazr is the special case of not being good at either. His footwork looks horrible. He is constantly out of position. And he misses shots that, as a big, he should make consistently.

He looks slower than almost any other big in the league. Just sloppy. In the words of my best friend, when asked for his scouting report on Nazr after watching a game: "Umm, well... He's got a good barber. Goatee looked fresh."

*Sadly, as bad as Nazr looks, there is someone who looks far worse than he... His name? You got it. Sagana Diop. Horrible. I can't seem to conjure up enough visual images from my memory bank from a few years back to justify why I ever thought he was good. But, for some reason, I did think he was a solid role player for the Mavs. What happened?

This guy might be the worst player in the NBA. When you factor in the salary, no question, he is the worst... No bang for the buck. He looks lost. No defensive presence, which I used to admire when he was with Dallas... No offensive skill. Out of position for rebounds. No hustle. Just horrible. Yuck. I say we see if we can trade him for some extra basketballs or a toaster oven for the locker room. There is no hope for him. If we can get rid of him, we NEED to, regardless of what we got back.

Is it possible to do a straight up trade with a NBDL team? We may need to be the first to attempt it.

*Raja is still great defensively. But, he is going through a serious funk offensively. If he keeps it up, I don't know that Hendo or Graham might end up starting some games in his place this year. I really hope he gets it together. Make no mistake, his defense is unmatched. But, he's got to get it together offensively.

*With Nazr and Diop's showing, we have got to find a legitimate "know your role" center. Lexy is more suited for the 4 and looks like he will contribute this year, in possibly a big way. But, that doesn't solve our problems at center once Tyson takes a breather. So hopefully, he's prepared to play 48 mins a night, lol. We have got to get a guy that can backup Tyson, and do it well.

That's it...

I liked everything you said up to where you trash Nazr he has been the best big on our team this year so far, he has played his butt off and he has looked good too... You seem to be too harsh on our bigs.... ILBIT I trusted LB in the Lexy pick and I trust him concerning Nazy. I do a grading scale on every player we have and Nazy is the 7th best so far during preseason and not sure why but DJ has been slipping in the last 2 games, Raja has looked bad all preseason but he did much better last night on both ends of the ball. I have watched every game this season except the Atlanta game of which I listened to the audio broadcast..

[BigE]

Nazr sucks....

Ajinca sucks...

[docend24]

There is no Ajinca. And no, Ajinça doesn't suck.

[davcbow]

What is wrong with you guys Lexy is ranked 3rd on the team this preseason...

[Ghost Kat]

ILBIT I trusted LB in the Lexy pick and I trust him concerning Nazy.

So what about when LB sat him on the bench all last year? He'll most likely sit there again this year. Plus saying Nazr has been our best big so far says alot about the bigs we have playing then doesn't it? Nazr had one good game in PRESEASON and some people are starting up the Nazr is back Bandwagon. He hasn't been good for yrs now and that includes when Sam Vincent signed him for that over priced contract.