The guy showed potential 2 seasons ago, but last year he brought very little, not only in terms of skills but also energy. How this makes sense only Cle knows :-)

eStoniaNBoY

Switzerland439 Posts

July 09 2009 18:44 GMT

#666

People seem to forget that Cavs steamrolled through regular season and playoffs until they met Orlando.

Shaq looks great. Looks like he lost weight last season and got into better shape. If he works out really hard to get his weight even more down to spare his knees and if he is not used like Rockets use Yao then he will be okay and will provide Cavs the extra boost. I don't think it is enough to battle off the Celtics with healthy Garnett, but they will be at the top there.

Cavs = good.

citi.zen

2509 Posts

July 09 2009 19:06 GMT

#667

Agreed CLE is good, but think its all LeBron being amazing. Beyond him, they have many bad contracts from pretty bad players. I don't think Shaq addresses their inability to defend perimeter players / get back quickly on the fast break / defend pick & roll vs. big guys who can shoot. And Vareajo... no way he played a big enough part in anything they achieved during the regular season to warrant that sort of contract IMO.

One more thing: I've always loved Pops and the SA crew, so it saddens me to say I was bitterly dissappointed with Mike Brown (his former assistant in SA) these past playoffs. Game 5 vs. Orl, which CLE won, was awful from a coaching standpoint I thought. The whole series was embarrassing in fact. Their inability to design any plays whatsoever other than to give LeBron the ball and have the other guys stand and watch for an entire half was something I've rarely seen in the NBA.

Hope to be wrong and to see a very competitive CLE, but so far the offseason is less than encouraging.

Hot_Bid

Braavos36390 Posts

July 09 2009 19:39 GMT

#668

On July 10 2009 02:28 citi.zen wrote:
Marion I am not sure of, but Gortat fills an important niche for them.

CLE apparently just gave 50m to Varejao - LOL!>!

6years 50m isn't really that bad for Varejao, he's annoying but he does plenty of stuff on the court that complements Lebron nicely. Rebounding, defense, and energy are all valuable things.

On July 10 2009 02:29 MYM.Testie wrote:
You're kidding right?

You should be happy that your cousin got such a nice contract. He could buy you an SC2 comp.

citi.zen

2509 Posts

July 09 2009 19:43 GMT

#669

On July 10 2009 04:39 Hot_Bid wrote:
6years 50m isn't really that bad for Varejao, he's annoying but he does plenty of stuff on the court that complements Lebron nicely. Rebounding, defense, and energy are all valuable things.

I don't know man... DEN gave 26m for 5 years to Birdman, who has been more effective as a rebounder/energy guy. Half price pretty much...

LOL @ above pictures :-)

eStoniaNBoY

Switzerland439 Posts

July 09 2009 19:46 GMT

#670

Not really that bad offseason. Sometimes doing nothing (or nearly nothing) can be better than messing around.. Look at Dumars' Pistons and Kerr's Suns.

Cavs probably have the best chemistry. While other teams have pulled some stuff on paper we don't know anything about their rotations or how it will work out team wise. What we can say is that healthy Garnett is more important than Sheed and healthy Manu for the Spurs rotation is crucial. All the players added will be X-factors and in order for them to get off and do great things core players must be healthy and ready if they want to compete for title.

So far Orlando has gotten way worse with losing their weapon being Hedo , so Boston is the team to worry about in the East. And there are nothing clear about Garnett's comeback yet so things are looking pretty good for the East part.

tonight

United States11130 Posts

July 09 2009 19:57 GMT

#671

I hate Varejao so much

citi.zen

2509 Posts

July 09 2009 20:55 GMT

#672

On July 10 2009 04:46 eStoniaNBoY wrote:
So far Orlando has gotten way worse with losing their weapon being Hedo , so Boston is the team to worry about in the East.

Orl got a trade exception for the sign and trade with TOR for Hedo apparently. They could sign a big salary player if they chose to, but would be paying heavy luxury tax in the aftermath. And they got Carter to replace Hedo... which is not bad at all! Plus, they got rid of Alston and the tense situation at PG with Nelson coming back from injury... a distraction they did not need. I would say they are in a good spot, with plenty of future flexibility too.

I agree with you though, with a health KG BOS is the team to beat in the east.

Ace

United States16096 Posts

July 10 2009 00:33 GMT

#673

I can't take your posts seriously :/

Orlando is in very bad shape.

SK.Testie

Canada11084 Posts

July 10 2009 04:32 GMT

#674

On July 10 2009 04:39 Hot_Bid wrote:

Show nested quote +

6years 50m isn't really that bad for Varejao, he's annoying but he does plenty of stuff on the court that complements Lebron nicely. Rebounding, defense, and energy are all valuable things.

Show nested quote +

You should be happy that your cousin got such a nice contract. He could buy you an SC2 comp.

You seem to have misunderstood. What I meant was, you are kidding that a man that handsome and talented is only getting 50 million, right? He should be the highest paid player in the NBA for sure.

tenbagger

United States1289 Posts

July 10 2009 04:44 GMT

#675

On July 09 2009 21:21 Judicator wrote:
He's a weaker Derek Fisher, lacks the speed to guard some of the guards in the West but also lacks Fisher's strength, he's a major liability on the Mavs.

Kidd definitely lacks the quickness and foot speed to keep up with quicker guards, but his one strength defensively is that he is bigger and stronger than most point guards. Kidd is definitely stronger than Fish and is a much superior post defender. And while good two guards will torch Kidd, he at least has the size to matchup with some twos while the same cannot be said for Fisher or most smaller PGs.

At this stage in his career, I agree that Kidd is below average defensively but I don't think he's as bad as a lot of people on this forum are making him out to be. In addition to his size, he still has very quick hands as evidenced by his still healthy steal rate. He also has a good understanding of team defense. While his strengths do not completely make up for his lack of foot speed, they still carry considerable value for a team's defense and at least brings his overall defensive value close to league average.

I actually like the moves the Mavs made. They have a very short window left with Dirk and they need to go for it now. Marion is a plus defender at the 3, can rebound the ball well, and does not need to hold the ball or shoot the ball to contribute. Gortat was an excellent signing and makes for a decent 1-2 punch at the center position with Dampier. I have tremendous amount of respect for Carlisle's coaching ability and I think Dallas can be a dark horse in the West next year.

unknown.sam

Philippines2701 Posts

July 10 2009 05:08 GMT

#676

john kuester just named as pistons new coach...

iLoveKT

Philippines3615 Posts

July 10 2009 05:27 GMT

#677

There are rumors that Chicago is gonna sign Jannero Pargo for 1.99M for a year. As a bulls fan, I must say I like this. We got a poor man's Ben Gordon with a little more defense.

http://blogs.bulls.com/chicago_bulls_blog/2009/07/jannero-pargo-to-sign-with-the-bulls.html

unknown.sam

Philippines2701 Posts

July 10 2009 07:14 GMT

#678

jordan crawford talks about the dunk

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Video-Jordan-Crawford-talks-about-dunking-on-Le;_ylt=AiS5yxuFZU5ytG4xUy72vsu8vLYF?urn=ncaab,175669

who wouldn't be geeked about dunking on king james

Servolisk

United States5241 Posts

July 10 2009 18:09 GMT

#679

Saw Rasheed Wallace talking about how he was frustrated by his situation last year and how he's going to embrace the great environment he is in now. T_T With a straight face too. Every year in Detroit except last season he was on a contender, and he came in every season way out of shape. And he put up lazy efforts even in the playoffs. He might have a point if he is referring to teammates not having intensity, but when your in the playoffs and on a contender what excuse can you have for not being motivated? He was like the polar opposite of McDyess, who never gave up in a bad situation. Oh well, now I am kind of curious to see what effort he makes in Boston.