Comments on: Worth the fuss?

By: jack johnson

jack johnson — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:40:07 +0000

Brevin Knight (Milwaukee) / 4.2 ppg, 3.4 apg, 20.2 mpg

That’s 11 ppg in 20.2 minutes. Not quite as bad as you make it out to be. Success isn’t necessarily statistical, by the way. If we judged playoff performance by stats, we’d all have as much basketball IQ as GM Isiah Thomas (responsible for post-season studs/contracts Jerome James, Jared Jeffries, and Malik Rose).

By: Vito

Vito — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:18:49 +0000

Bulls suck.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 04:03:31 +0000

Maybe you missed what Mike James and Lindsay Hunter did for the Pistons when they made it to the finals againest the Spurs . They where a HUGE spark off the bench .

By: z3

z3 — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 06:40:15 +0000

I think my biggest issue with this article is how success is defined. Teams that go out and sign mid season players are already playoff bound teams. In that, they are relatively successful, with a core nucleus of players that will take them to the playoffs. So for this reason I do not think it is fair to judge the worth of a mid season player by the amount of points they score or rebounds. Sam Cassel will probably not be a stat stuffer but very few would argue that the Celtics are in need of a back-up point guard. Mid season players bring intangible benefits that help their team. So if we cannot define success by box scores-how do we? I think you have to ask yourself; will the team perform better with the addition of the player (and it doesn’t need to be a huge improvement). I would try this rule to see if a mid level player makes sense to sign
1. Where do you predict the team to finish without signing the player?
2. Predict where the team will finish with the player
3. If the net amount of games added to the playoff schedule and the net revenue that these games produce does not equal or surpass the salary paid to the mid season player then the signing is not worth it.
Factors to consider: By adding this player how will the health of my team improve (decreased minutes for star player in final reg. season games), Chemistry i.e. will a seasoned vet provide leadership needed to guide a young team), Lock down defender for potential opponents star player, all of these small factors can give the team the small edge that will increase their stay in the playoffs and determine if the signing of the player was a success.

By: David

David — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:05:54 +0000

I’ll pick the Pistons vs the Spurs.
You have Kidd playing for the Lakers ..Cuban might have something to say about that since he already pays Finley to play for the Spurs.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:04:39 +0000

Sam and Brent are the ones who matter. We can forget about the others.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:18:30 +0000

The biggest beneficiary BY FAR is the Celtics.

PJ Brown is a guy that would start for most playoff teams. He will ad defense, leadership and great depth the the PF and C position.

Sam Cassell ads leadership but also is still a very effective PG….he would start for a lot of teams. Only question with Cassell is can he shift to be more of a passer….The team has enough offensive players and seems to need passing and defense….His 3PT shooting can always help but if he is someone who wants to focus on bringing offense to the game that is why they want him in a backup role. He will play when one of the big three (Garnett, Pierce, Allen) are on the bench or injured.

It seems clear the most logical teams in the finals are the LAKERS and the CELTICS.
Lakers will get even better when Bynum is back and the team is healthy and Mihm can at least be servicable in small minutes. Bynum and Gasol are going to offensively together average about 64% probably the highest of record for a PF/C combination. This post scoring is going to really open up the perimeter for 3PT shots and mid-range shots by Kobe and Kidd.

Some lists have HOUSTON as the best team in the league EVEN WITHOUT YAO MING. I don’t think this can hold up…They won 12 straight games with him…but wouldn’t do that without him…Mutumbo can MAYBE play 20MPG consistently and is the only big man….Unless Luis Scola can play 35 really really solid minutes per game, Battier can effectively play some PF, and other PF’s can really step up the team is over. Bobby Jacksons addition is great but that is not enough. The Rockets should have tried to lure PJ Brown as starting center or go after someone.

By: Zane

Zane — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:20:06 +0000

I like both of these signings for the Celtics. Both in my mind are no-brainers. There is no gamble here, they haven’t given up anything.

The point is that they needed a backup at the point and at centre and they have filled both needs. Nobody expects Brown or Cassell to put up big numbers, they are there to add further experience to the Celts playoff run. I don’t think Doc Rivers wants to mess with the starting lineup at this point in the season.

Who wants to see the ball in the hands of a rookie if it comes down to Game 7?

By: Rudeboy Defender

Rudeboy Defender — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:31:09 +0000

I can actually see Lue helping the Mavs. He is a terrific 3pt shooter (which the Mavs need), plus decent passer and defender. Mavs otherwise don’t have a backup point - Barea has been in the doghouse and you can even see Devean George (!) playing point. Terry has no court vision and is better suited to firing away and being relieved of all ballhandling duties.

Lue’s presence will also hopefully mean that George and Eddie Jones will stay glued to the bench. They’re horrible! I don’t see a need for them when Lue - Stack - Bass - (hopefully)Magloire are all competent reserves all with some offensive ability.

By: Rashidi

Rashidi — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:08:25 +0000

Jamaal Magloire sucks but at least he can rebound.

Barry was already part of the Spurs so he doesn’t count. Barry was hurt when he was waived and was going to struggle to get more minutes either way with a healthy Parker/Stoudamire, Ginobili/Finley, and Bowen/Udoka.

Guys like Tyronn Lue are non-factors, he’s gonna be getting whatever few PG mins don’t go to Kidd, Terry, or even JJ Barea.