NBA Draft - Trades - Free Agents

Deus Irae said:

Westbrook doesn't make Miami better than Philly. It might not even make that team a second tier squad.

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Does Westbrook make a team better than said team without Westbrook? It’s a small margin. Rare to see a player whose stats translate so little to winning games.

Deus Irae said:

The NBA is about winning. Because a bunch of pencil pushing geeks posited a theory about the 3 point shot, and perhaps the greatest deep shooting backcourt in NBA history was able to implement that theory with championship results, the league has temporarily changed away from playing actual basketball and gone more towards a really crappy version of horse combined with 2-on-2 halfcourt. But, the league will likely eventually find that you don't win by abandoning the middle and post, and shooting from outside all game, unless you've got all-time type shooters.

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I am curious about what BS can do with someone like Tacko. He seems intelligent so presumably he's coach-able. He's tall but not "stick figure" thin. With strength training and coaching, he could develop into an asset. I'm just concerned that in an actual game, if he's switched off into defending a Chris Paul, he's going to get owned.

YOUGOTMOSSED said:

I am curious about what BS can do with someone like Tacko. He seems intelligent so presumably he's coach-able. He's tall but not "stick figure" thin. With strength training and coaching, he could develop into an asset. I'm just concerned that in an actual game, if he's switched off into defending a Chris Paul, he's going to get owned.

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I'm more worried about whether or not he can be coaxed to play with more aggression. If you get a center stuck at the top of the key against a PG or SG, it's advantage to the guard, regardless of the center. Tacko's probably got length enough to recover some as needed on the pick and roll, in order to be at least as effective as your average (to below average) center, as long as they can keep helping him with his footwork, because he's a bit mechanical in his motion, but not necessarily unathletic, from what I've seen.

And I'm absolutely down with the idea of getting him some intense strength training. They could maybe add in some yoga classes and ballet lessons, too, in order to work on flexibility and footwork, as well. The team can certainly afford to pick up the check for that.

But Tacko plays a very passive game, and I really think that needs changing.

borg said:

Top of NBA backboard is 13’0”

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The article linked to said 12'3" was top. Wiki says you are correct.

Not needing to jump is actually advantageous....he reaches 12'3" with a 7'6" body...and an estimated vertical leap of 22"-24". You couldn't head fake him without following with a World B. Free high arcing attempt.

Intriguing player even if he's up in Maine.....*




*Disclaimer: I also got excited about "Dancing Bear"...

Too bad Yabu's game didn't grow proportionally to the size of his ***...

IcyPatriot said:

2 way is the way to go but Ainge already used those unless he moves waters to the 15.
I don't think Tacko on the 15 is what's best for him - regular Red Claws center is better.
Poirier needs the minutes behind Kanter more than Tacko right now.

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I would agree Poirier is farther along but that isn't fun.

Deus Irae said:

I'm watching the games. I'm re-watching the games. I'm focusing on the two centers, Fall and Williams, more than any other players, as that's the weakest position on the roster.

My post stands.

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In your opinion

Deus Irae said:

But Tacko plays a very passive game, and I really think that needs changing.

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Neighbors had a giant Great Dane and 2 yippie little dogs. The little dogs dominated the self conscious giant who never once exhibiting any display of his physical superiority.

Can Taco’s “alpha” switch be turned on?

Difficult for me to believe passive Golly Gee Brad possesses tough love skills to heat up the Taco

Maybe hire Bill Parcells for this job.
And maybe install an NBA version of the Oklahoma Drill
Or hire Dewie

lets look at how 'weak' the C's are at the 5 at least as it pertains to the Eastern Conference"

Atlanta - Len/4.5M
Boston - Kanter/5M
Chicago - Carter/5M
Detroit - Drummond/27M
Toronto - Gasol/26M
NYK - Robinson/2M
Brooklyn - Jordan/10M
Phila - Embiid/27M
Wash - Bryant/8.3M
Charlotte - Zeller/14.5M
Orlando - Vucevic/25M
Miami - Adebayo/3.5M
Cleve - Thompson/18M
Ind - Turner/18M
Milw - Lopez/13M

there might be 3-4 guys I would rather have but if you consider money, only 2.......our 5 is not a weakness in the eastern conference.....for that fact, it's not a weakness in the entire nba

Deus Irae said:

I'm more worried about whether or not he can be coaxed to play with more aggression. If you get a center stuck at the top of the key against a PG or SG, it's advantage to the guard, regardless of the center. Tacko's probably got length enough to recover some as needed on the pick and roll, in order to be at least as effective as your average (to below average) center, as long as they can keep helping him with his footwork, because he's a bit mechanical in his motion, but not necessarily unathletic, from what I've seen.

And I'm absolutely down with the idea of getting him some intense strength training. They could maybe add in some yoga classes and ballet lessons, too, in order to work on flexibility and footwork, as well. The team can certainly afford to pick up the check for that.

But Tacko plays a very passive game, and I really think that needs changing.

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If he could get more aggressive, and gain a little bit of muscle, you’ve got a very good 5 on your hands who could be dominant in today’s undersized NBA.

IllegalContact said:

lets look at how 'weak' the C's are at the 5 at least as it pertains to the Eastern Conference"

Atlanta - Len/4.5M
Boston - Kanter/5M
Chicago - Carter/5M
Detroit - Drummond/27M
Toronto - Gasol/26M
NYK - Robinson/2M
Brooklyn - Jordan/10M
Phila - Embiid/27M
Wash - Bryant/8.3M
Charlotte - Zeller/14.5M
Orlando - Vucevic/25M
Miami - Adebayo/3.5M
Cleve - Thompson/18M
Ind - Turner/18M
Milw - Lopez/13M

there might be 3-4 guys I would rather have but if you consider money, only 2.......our 5 is not a weakness in the eastern conference.....for that fact, it's not a weakness in the entire nba

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Embiid wins handily with Turner Second best....Kanter is as good as the overpriced and one dimensional rest. I think Robert Williams III makes marked improvements in year two he could be a Defensive Force!

Jackson 2 said:

Too bad Yabu's game didn't grow proportionally to the size of his ***...

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Even in his Rookie year that was the first thing that stood out to me about him. You could tell Yabu was going to have problems with that Rump it would be alright if he was the other Gender.

IcyPatriot said:

2 way is the way to go but Ainge already used those unless he moves waters to the 15.
I don't think Tacko on the 15 is what's best for him - regular Red Claws center is better.
Poirier needs the minutes behind Kanter more than Tacko right now.

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Vincent Poirier's highlights filled with put backs and dunks shows how bad the Euro League is Defensively. I remember Daniel Thies highlights looking very similar his game did not translate very well. The point is you can't Dunk on every play in the NBA which these Europeans find out soon enough.

IllegalContact said:

lets look at how 'weak' the C's are at the 5 at least as it pertains to the Eastern Conference"

Atlanta - Len/4.5M
Boston - Kanter/5M
Chicago - Carter/5M
Detroit - Drummond/27M
Toronto - Gasol/26M
NYK - Robinson/2M
Brooklyn - Jordan/10M
Phila - Embiid/27M
Wash - Bryant/8.3M
Charlotte - Zeller/14.5M
Orlando - Vucevic/25M
Miami - Adebayo/3.5M
Cleve - Thompson/18M
Ind - Turner/18M
Milw - Lopez/13M

there might be 3-4 guys I would rather have but if you consider money, only 2.......our 5 is not a weakness in the eastern conference.....for that fact, it's not a weakness in the entire nba

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A very informative post and you make a good point. Perhaps all is not lost, and I completely agree that Kanter is an outstanding value for only $5M per year.

However, as a counterpoint, many of these teams actually have platoons of talented bigs either at the 4 and 5, and it may be difficult for Boston to match up with them. The most obvious example is Phila, in addition to Embiid they also have Horford now. Similarly, in addition to Len Atlanta has the promising 6'10" John Collins; in addition to Gasol Toronto has Ibaka and Siakam; the Bulls have 7' Markkanen in addition to Carter; the Pacers have 6'11" Sabonis in addition to Turner; and the Bucks have both B. and R. Lopez plus the Greek freak.

Perhaps the Celtics can small ball teams with 6'8" Tatum at the 4, but certainly it would give the Celtics more flexibility if one of the youngster bigs emerged this year.

IcyPatriot said:

2 way is the way to go but Ainge already used those unless he moves waters to the 15.
I don't think Tacko on the 15 is what's best for him - regular Red Claws center is better.
Poirier needs the minutes behind Kanter more than Tacko right now.

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Apparently, the can easily switch Waters to a regular contract freeing up a 2-way to use with Tacko.

PatsFan2 said:

Vincent Poirier's highlights filled with put backs and dunks shows how bad the Euro League is Defensively. I remember Daniel Thies highlights looking very similar his game did not translate very well. The point is you can't Dunk on every play in the NBA which these Europeans find out soon enough.

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Theis' game translated quite well the first year when he wasn't playing hurt the entire season.

Deus Irae said:

I'm more worried about whether or not he can be coaxed to play with more aggression. If you get a center stuck at the top of the key against a PG or SG, it's advantage to the guard, regardless of the center. Tacko's probably got length enough to recover some as needed on the pick and roll, in order to be at least as effective as your average (to below average) center, as long as they can keep helping him with his footwork, because he's a bit mechanical in his motion, but not necessarily unathletic, from what I've seen.

And I'm absolutely down with the idea of getting him some intense strength training. They could maybe add in some yoga classes and ballet lessons, too, in order to work on flexibility and footwork, as well. The team can certainly afford to pick up the check for that.

But Tacko plays a very passive game, and I really think that needs changing.

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Keep in mind he only started playing at age 16.