Post by DERRENMATTS on Jan 23, 2006 4:45:54 GMT -5
The way things have been shaking up, with more time being given to the young players, the image in the crystal ball that sees into the future is starting to take form. These 5 players are the ones the team should be built around: Delonte, Orien, Tony, Jefferson, Perkins. **I left Gerald Green out because these opinions have been formulated from observing these 5 players over the past few games**
When Orien and Tony Allen are in the game together, the tempo speeds up and good things happen, offensively and defensively. Defensively, these two are very good at swiping balls away, knocking balls loose, intercepting passes, creating turnovers, etc, all because of their quickness, their athleticism, and their quick hands. They are such smooth players and deceptively quick that if there's ever a steal, or a quick rebound after a miss, they are instantly going the other way and pushing the tempo. But that's only half of it--the other half is how basketball smart they are. They aren't just athletes who don't think on their feet--they are very good at knowing what to do with or without the ball. They make plays happen, they create plays for themselves and for others. They are unselfish players, yet, they can score in a variety of ways if they wanted to, thanks to their athleticism, their natural upper body strength, their long bodies, and their quick leaping abilities. These 2 make a deadly combination on the floor together. Orien has exceptional court vision, but what makes him deadlier is his ability to make tight lazer passes in the blink of an eye, often off the dribble without much time to load up. Tony is good at finding weak spots in the defense and getting himself in position to receive passes as he's slashing to the basket.
Delonte is a gamer--a smart player who will do anything to win a game. The game slows down a bit when he's running the show (compared to Orien), but it works because he helps keep our TO's down. But that's why having Delonte play alongside of Orien is a good strategy to incorporate. Orien naturally pushes the tempo more and he's better at attacking (or, he has the ability to do so) and with him handling the PG duties for the most part, we can be sure that we'll be a good uptempo team in the future. If Greene is the Ying, than Delonte is the Yang. Delonte plays more under control, more deliberate, and with him on the floor, you know that there will always be structure, and not just chaos. He brings stability and poise. But more than his PG skills, DW's offensive game will be more pronounced. Delonte's shooting is not being used nearly as much as it should be, and mainly because he's too busy trying to get the ball to the others. But if he splits the ball handling duties with Orien, his opportunities to shoot the open jumpers will increase. Plus with 2 PG's on the court, we'll have an additional guy in the backcourt who can rack up assists.
Here's the dilemma--with 3 guys to fill the 2 backcourt positions (PG and SG), I'm not sure which combination I'd want to set in place. Delonte and Orien, or Orien and Tony Allen? Using Tony Allen at SF will not work because then he'd have to be guarding guys who are like 5" taller than him. As good a defender as he is, this puts him in a big handicap.
Jefferson is a sure thing at PF in the future. When he's comfortable on the floor, and when he's not rushing, he's very effective, even if its only his second year in the league. And I have no doubt that he will develop his game to the point where he'll be considered one of the league's top PF's.
Perkins is definitely improving his game a lot, gaining a whole lot of confidence in himself and in his game because Doc is letting him play more. Perk's agility is miraculously improving and he's no longer lumbering in the paint. I'm still hesitant on naming him our future starting Center (still holding out for Greg Oden in the '06 draft) because there are parts in his game that I don't know if he can really improve upon, but I will admit that I am starting to envision a championship caliber team with him being the other tower opposite of Big Al. This is mainly because he's become more agile now and this allows him to move around quicker to cover more ground and get in position faster. If he keeps improving his overall game, I'll have no other choice but to say that I am confident we can win rings with him in the starting lineup (that's if we don't get Greg Oden).
Building around these 5 guys may pay tremendous dividends, considering that they'll all be young enough to develop their games and build a strong bond with one another since they are mostly starting out together in the NBA at the same time. Who knows about Pierce, Ricky, Raef, and the others (Reed, Banks, Gomes, etc.). But from the encouraging things I've been seeing lately out of these 5 guys, I'd roll the dice on them to be our future core players who can lead us to a couple of championships.
When Orien and Tony Allen are in the game together, the tempo speeds up and good things happen, offensively and defensively. Defensively, these two are very good at swiping balls away, knocking balls loose, intercepting passes, creating turnovers, etc, all because of their quickness, their athleticism, and their quick hands. They are such smooth players and deceptively quick that if there's ever a steal, or a quick rebound after a miss, they are instantly going the other way and pushing the tempo. But that's only half of it--the other half is how basketball smart they are. They aren't just athletes who don't think on their feet--they are very good at knowing what to do with or without the ball. They make plays happen, they create plays for themselves and for others. They are unselfish players, yet, they can score in a variety of ways if they wanted to, thanks to their athleticism, their natural upper body strength, their long bodies, and their quick leaping abilities. These 2 make a deadly combination on the floor together. Orien has exceptional court vision, but what makes him deadlier is his ability to make tight lazer passes in the blink of an eye, often off the dribble without much time to load up. Tony is good at finding weak spots in the defense and getting himself in position to receive passes as he's slashing to the basket.
Delonte is a gamer--a smart player who will do anything to win a game. The game slows down a bit when he's running the show (compared to Orien), but it works because he helps keep our TO's down. But that's why having Delonte play alongside of Orien is a good strategy to incorporate. Orien naturally pushes the tempo more and he's better at attacking (or, he has the ability to do so) and with him handling the PG duties for the most part, we can be sure that we'll be a good uptempo team in the future. If Greene is the Ying, than Delonte is the Yang. Delonte plays more under control, more deliberate, and with him on the floor, you know that there will always be structure, and not just chaos. He brings stability and poise. But more than his PG skills, DW's offensive game will be more pronounced. Delonte's shooting is not being used nearly as much as it should be, and mainly because he's too busy trying to get the ball to the others. But if he splits the ball handling duties with Orien, his opportunities to shoot the open jumpers will increase. Plus with 2 PG's on the court, we'll have an additional guy in the backcourt who can rack up assists.
Here's the dilemma--with 3 guys to fill the 2 backcourt positions (PG and SG), I'm not sure which combination I'd want to set in place. Delonte and Orien, or Orien and Tony Allen? Using Tony Allen at SF will not work because then he'd have to be guarding guys who are like 5" taller than him. As good a defender as he is, this puts him in a big handicap.
Jefferson is a sure thing at PF in the future. When he's comfortable on the floor, and when he's not rushing, he's very effective, even if its only his second year in the league. And I have no doubt that he will develop his game to the point where he'll be considered one of the league's top PF's.
Perkins is definitely improving his game a lot, gaining a whole lot of confidence in himself and in his game because Doc is letting him play more. Perk's agility is miraculously improving and he's no longer lumbering in the paint. I'm still hesitant on naming him our future starting Center (still holding out for Greg Oden in the '06 draft) because there are parts in his game that I don't know if he can really improve upon, but I will admit that I am starting to envision a championship caliber team with him being the other tower opposite of Big Al. This is mainly because he's become more agile now and this allows him to move around quicker to cover more ground and get in position faster. If he keeps improving his overall game, I'll have no other choice but to say that I am confident we can win rings with him in the starting lineup (that's if we don't get Greg Oden).
Building around these 5 guys may pay tremendous dividends, considering that they'll all be young enough to develop their games and build a strong bond with one another since they are mostly starting out together in the NBA at the same time. Who knows about Pierce, Ricky, Raef, and the others (Reed, Banks, Gomes, etc.). But from the encouraging things I've been seeing lately out of these 5 guys, I'd roll the dice on them to be our future core players who can lead us to a couple of championships.