PF could be stronger but still in good shape

[Marc Acres 3:16 418]

quote:

Originally posted by ATL_MagicFan:

I totally agree with you Mark. I'm hoping when teams run their bigs at us that Battie and Gortat will be able to contribute. Don't get me wrong, I do want a big strong PF. However,I don't think its as big a whole as people are making it out to be.

We managed last year and Darko didn't give us that much at PF. I just think unless Jameer steps up PG will be a bigger issue than PF.

 

It's true that Darko wasn't huge for us but his post D was underrated. He may have gotten lost on help D at times but he more than held his own one on one. We just need that guy that plays tough D, puts a body on his man so he isn't grabbing boards from Dwight and can hit an occasional jumper to open things up, we won't need an all-star at the 4.

 

When Duncan was coming into his own Robinson was avging about 15pts and 8boards, not exactly huge numbers.

 

I agree about Jameer also, he needs to pay close attention to how things went last year and learn from it because he stunk it up.

[30Assists 342]

quote:

He's not a top flight player but he will push Rashard around at the 4.

Completely agree with this assessment: 'Shard may be 6'10, but he's not a bulky 6'10 by any stretch.

 

He has a huge advantage against SF because of his height, but against PF, even bad ones, he's going to get banged around. Now if we're playing against someone like the Suns, where they play constant small ball, I'm on-board for your plan.

 

Otherwise? Might be better to run him at his natural position.

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

quote:

Originally posted by Drain-O:

First of all Drunk I would like to say I have agreed with just about every post you have made the last week or so.

 

Thanks Draino. It's good to hear something like that, especially from a poster who's been around for about as long as I have.

 

It's pretty frustrating to be where I am on this issue, because I'm not at either extreme(Rashard suxors! or Rashard will destroy all other teams!), and therefore I'm finding myself constantly having to defend myself against both sides.

[Murphy13 185]

quote:

Originally posted by ATL_MagicFan:

I totally agree with you Mark. I'm hoping when teams run their bigs at us that Battie and Gortat will be able to contribute. Don't get me wrong, I do want a big strong PF. However,I don't think its as big a whole as people are making it out to be.

We managed last year and Darko didn't give us that much at PF. I just think unless Jameer steps up PG will be a bigger issue than PF.

 

darko was underrated last year. a lot of bigs are because their worthiness doesnt necessarily show up on the stat sheet. when darko was in, he was an effective pf. especially at the end of the season.

 

the bottom line is, rashard is not a PF. could he play there temporarily(5-15 mpg)? yes. but it will tire him out. he is not used to defending bigs. hell, he wasnt even that great of a perimeter defender either(source: league pass). this is why rashard will not average more points next year than he already is. you will see...we need a sean may, or chris wilcox type player on this team. preferably one with a higher bball IQ. haslem would be ideal. but riley wont give him to us.

 

something to keep in mind, the nba season is long. sometimes, players bodies wear down by the end of the season. the time the sonics made the playoffs, they lost shard due to injury. will this happen again?

[JJZ 0]

quote:

Originally posted by ATL_MagicFan:

I totally agree with you Mark. I'm hoping when teams run their bigs at us that Battie and Gortat will be able to contribute. Don't get me wrong, I do want a big strong PF. However,I don't think its as big a whole as people are making it out to be.

We managed last year and Darko didn't give us that much at PF. I just think unless Jameer steps up PG will be a bigger issue than PF.

 

So it's either "small ball" or Battie and Gortat and Augustine.

 

That's why I have no optimism at all for the coming season.

[Tank Vogel 191]

quote:

Originally posted by ATL_MagicFan:

For the record, I'm not trying to step on anyones toes in this forum. I just think alot of teams have finesse players at PF and Rashard can guard them.

 

Dirk-finesse

Oberto-garbage

AK47-finesse

Randolph-beast

Durant-finesse

Oden-finesse

Jamison-finesse

Deng-tweener

Gooden/AV-finesse

Rasheed-beast

Harrington-finesse

Brand-beast

May-beast

Mikki Moore-finesse

 

Did you mean Lamar Odom from the Lakers are are you calling Greg Oden a finesse player?

[MilitaryMagic 0]

quote:

Originally posted by Drunk on Mystery:

quote:

Originally posted by ATL_MagicFan:

I see very few teams that will kill us at the power forward positon. I would really like to know who everyone is so scared of at PF. When we play the Bosh's, Dirk's, and Jamison's of the world, Rashard will check them since they like to play on the perimeter. They will score but so will Rashard. NY, Detroit, Clippers, and one or two others will give us trouble with their strong PF. I don't really see any other teams killing us at that position. Think about all the teams with questionable PF:

 

NJ?

SA?

Lakers?

Houston?

Miami? relax, Haslem won't score 50 on us

NO?

Minn? Dwight will check KG

Suns? Dwight will check Amare

Cavs? Gooden/AV not worried

Atl? Rookie

Memphis? dwight is foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog waiting to play against Darko.

Utah? AK47 will be contained, Dwight will play Boozer

 

 

First of all, you need to wipe the condescension towards everyone you don't agree with out of your posts. You've been posting for less than a week, and it's already old.

 

And second, the issue with Rashard at the 4 is that he doesn't have the body size to play it, and he'll get hurt. Darko had that size, and was still soft. Rashard will get pushed around by every true power forward in the league. Yes, it'll create mismatches on offense, but it'll only net us a few more points a game than we'll typically be giving up, and we run the constant risk of Rashard getting seriously hurt the first time he has to guard a physical PF like Randolph or, well, pretty much anytime we play a western conference team.

 

Dude, Darko doesn't have the size of a PF, the dude is a freakin' center.

 

Anyhow, the OP has a point. The ONLY teams that I accept we'll have more trouble with on defense than we'll cause them on offense are teams that have big, powerful starters at both the 4 AND the 5, and that also average 15ppg or better.

 

Please, someone name the teams that have starters at PF and C that are both bigger than Rashard and both score 15ppg. I dare someone to name more than 5 teams!

 

Also, seriously, how the heck is Rashard going to get hurt guarding dudes like Rasho and Oberto. Cmon now, get real! There's only one New York Knicks, lol.