NBA Thread

[thethe]

Again, haven't said that....you two are making rim protection the end all be all....thethe says "in this day and age you need it" sure you need to have a rim protector but you know what? Having Bron/KD/RW/Harden/Dwight/Curry/Melo/TD/TP/KL/Paul George/etc are way more important. You aren't winning without 1 or 2 of those guys, you have 1 of those guys and you can go find a guy that can play 17 minutes a night like Anderson to protect the win.

Passing on Okafor because you don't think he's a rim protector after he turned 19 two months ago.....is soooooooooooooo dumb.

Did you notice what all those players (sans Howard who is clearly not as important to the Rockets as people think and Duncan) have in common?

Name the last team that didn't have Lebron or Jordan that didn't win without a top defensive big...

[chop2chip]

Again, haven't said that....you two are making rim protection the end all be all....thethe says "in this day and age you need it" sure you need to have a rim protector but you know what? Having Bron/KD/RW/Harden/Dwight/Curry/Melo/TD/TP/KL/Paul George/etc are way more important. You aren't winning without 1 or 2 of those guys, you have 1 of those guys and you can go find a guy that can play 17 minutes a night like Anderson to protect the win.

Passing on Okafor because you don't think he's a rim protector after he turned 19 two months ago.....is soooooooooooooo dumb.

You aren't passing on Okafor for nothing. You are getting Towns.

Rim protection isn't the end all to winning but it's a critical part of the equation. You better have a damn good team surrounded by your center if he can't protect the rim otherwise it's going to be hard. Good luck protecting the pick and roll against the guys you noted above.

[gilesfan]

Exaclty my point, there is more than 1 style to win in the NbA. The best coach with the best talent wins.

ZBo isnt a good defender. Even if Okafor isnt a good defender, there are 4 other players on the floor.

[BRule]

Did you notice what all those players (sans Howard who is clearly not as important to the Rockets as people think and Duncan) have in common?

Name the last team that didn't have Lebron or Jordan that didn't win without a top defensive big...

This is the NBA, the same team has won a ring the last 20 years......it's not like there are 10 different NBA champions, then your point would have more weight. Kobe/Bron/Spurs have dominated the last 15 years in he NBA.

[thethe]

Exaclty my point, there is more than 1 style to win in the NbA. The best coach with the best talent wins.

ZBo isnt a good defender. Even if Okafor isnt a good defender, there are 4 other players on the floor.

And unless you have Ibaka or Davis there will be a free ride to the rim essentially. Good luck having a defense with that formula.

[gilesfan]

You aren't passing on Okafor for nothing. You are getting Towns.

Rim protection isn't the end all to winning but it's a critical part of the equation. You better have a damn good team surrounded by your center if he can't protect the rim otherwise it's going to be hard. Good luck protecting the pick and roll against the guys you noted above.

having a legit scoring big man goes a long way towards having good surrounding talent.

Im not anti-Towns, hes just risky. The hope is he becomes a good offensive player. Okafor is far more of a sure thing and young enough to improve.

[thethe]

This is the NBA, the same team has won a ring the last 20 years......it's not like there are 10 different NBA champions, then your point would have more weight. Kobe/Bron/Spurs have dominated the last 15 years in he NBA.

But again, all those teams had great defensive bigs. The point still stands. You build a team to have elite wing players who shoulder the scoring load and have them chase players off the 3 point line. At that point your bigs are the last line of hte defense. This is how defense is played in the NBA now.

[thethe]

having a legit scoring big man goes a long way towards having good surrounding talent.

Im not anti-Towns, hes just risky. The hope is he becomes a good offensive player. Okafor is far more of a sure thing and young enough to improve.

And on the flip side Towns is projected to be a top defensive big and young enough / athletic enough (while showing signs in college) of becoming a factor on offense.

[BRule]

You aren't passing on Okafor for nothing. You are getting Towns.

Rim protection isn't the end all to winning but it's a critical part of the equation. You better have a damn good team surrounded by your center if he can't protect the rim otherwise it's going to be hard. Good luck protecting the pick and roll against the guys you noted above.

Ok, so you're passing on Okafor who has the skills of Duncan on O but needs to work on D and you're taking Towns who is getting comps to Andrew Bogut? Because he's a rim protector? that's stupid.....you take the best talent and you build your team around Okafor and Melo.

[chop2chip]

Exaclty my point, there is more than 1 style to win in the NbA. The best coach with the best talent wins.

ZBo isnt a good defender. Even if Okafor isnt a good defender, there are 4 other players on the floor.

This is true. No disagreements.

But the issue is (and this is the basic assumption) if Okafor is a zero on defense and plays center then you have to find a stretch 4 that can defend the pick and roll (like a Draymond Green) or have some stellar perimeter defenders like what Memphis has. Even still you will never have the defensive ceiling as a team with a true rim protector.

Or you could try to out score everyone 130-120.

There are different ways to build your team, but some ways are better and realistic than others.

[BRule]

But again, all those teams had great defensive bigs. The point still stands. You build a team to have elite wing players who shoulder the scoring load and have them chase players off the 3 point line. At that point your bigs are the last line of hte defense. This is how defense is played in the NBA now.

Miami won 2 rings because of Bron/Bosh/Wade not because of Chris ****ing Anderson. How are you not understanding this? You take Okafor and pair him with Melo and have elite scoring talent at SF and C and then you build around that with a pass first PG and a defensive PF. You don't need an elite defensive C to win a NBA title, you need stars.

[thethe]

Miami won 2 rings because of Bron/Bosh/Wade not because of Chris ****ing Anderson. How are you not understanding this? You take Okafor and pair him with Melo and have elite scoring talent at SF and C and then you build around that with a pass first PG and a defensive PF. You don't need an elite defensive C to win a NBA title, you need stars.

Miami won because they had the second best player of all time in his prime. Have fun building a team with that.

[chop2chip]

Ok, so you're passing on Okafor who has the skills of Duncan on O but needs to work on D and you're taking Towns who is getting comps to Andrew Bogut? Because he's a rim protector? that's stupid.....you take the best talent and you build your team around Okafor and Melo.

Yeah. A lot of people share that sentiment. I've also qualified my statement 100 times by saying I have no clue how bad Okafor is on defense because I don't watch college basketball. But if he's a zero on defense then I'll take Towns.

[thethe]

Yeah. A lot of people share that sentiment. I've also qualified my statement 100 times by saying I have no clue how bad Okafor is on defense because I don't watch college basketball. But if he's a zero on defense then I'll take Towns.

And this worry has been echoed by many experts that watch college basketball and know more about the game than any of us do on this site.

[chop2chip]

having a legit scoring big man goes a long way towards having good surrounding talent.

Im not anti-Towns, hes just risky. The hope is he becomes a good offensive player. Okafor is far more of a sure thing and young enough to improve.

It's an asset. I definitely agree. But if you are asking whether I want to settle for an Al Jefferson at center then I'll probably pass.

I don't watch Towns either so I don't know about him either. I'm talking more in generalities of the value of rim protectors.

[BRule]

Miami won because they had the second best player of all time in his prime. Have fun building a team with that.

Please, say this a couple of more times.......

If you have an all-time great on your team, you're going to win a title, defensive center or not. Pairing Melo with a defensive big that can't score when you have nothing else on your roster is stupid. He has 3-4 years left, you don't blow the #1 pick on a guy that can't score that might have an offensive game in 2019.

[chop2chip]

Miami won 2 rings because of Bron/Bosh/Wade not because of Chris ****ing Anderson. How are you not understanding this? You take Okafor and pair him with Melo and have elite scoring talent at SF and C and then you build around that with a pass first PG and a defensive PF. You don't need an elite defensive C to win a NBA title, you need stars.

That Knicks team would give up 12 million points a game unless your PF is Zeus.

[thethe]

Please, say this a couple of more times.......

If you have an all-time great on your team, you're going to win a title, defensive center or not. Pairing Melo with a defensive big that can't score when you have nothing else on your roster is stupid. He has 3-4 years left, you don't blow the #1 pick on a guy that can't score that might have an offensive game in 2019.

So where would you play Melo if you drafted Okafor? At the PF?

[thethe]

That Knicks team would give up 12 million points a game unless your PF is Zeus.

Imagine trying to defend the PnR? It would be an absolute joke. Teams would score 60 points in the paint every night against them.

[BRule]

That Knicks team would give up 12 million points a game unless your PF is Zeus.

Good thing they have 40 mil to build a team.