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Post by Celtic17 on Mar 15, 2006 23:57:57 GMT -5
Several posts on this thread made me laugh. Glad the board has a great sense of humor. And I thought we left you behind months ago, RunDitty. ;D
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Mar 16, 2006 9:25:43 GMT -5
I agree RR... on both counts. I have chuckled at a few posts on this thread... C17... you are just too funny!!!
I think Al showed enough promise the first year that everyone expected him to burst out and be dominant this year. But aside from being hampered most of this year with ankle sprains, it is going to take time for him to fully adapt to the pro game... as you said like Oneal. He didn't have any real coaching in HS and coming to the NBA was like a whole new world. He has the natural instincts and potential that makes us salivate but we need to be patient and that patience will pay off possibly next year.
Right now, the whole team needs to work on defense. It has gotten much better since the AS break but we still need to work on it quite a bit more. But I think it is coming along for both Al and the team.
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Post by eja117 on Mar 16, 2006 12:09:41 GMT -5
It is entirely fair to compare Gomes to Al and there are two reasons why.
1. They are both NBA players and one has far more experience at the pro level than the other
2. Who was drafted like 15th and who was drafted 55th? Who did people think would maybe be a star on draft day and who was still available late in the 2nd round? At the beginning of this season who did people think would be the starting pf by the end of the season and who did they think would hardly get playing time? Who was expected to become an All-Star in the next 2-4 seasons and who was going to be lucky to be in the league after 3 years?
This whole "It's not fair cause Gomes played in college" thing is ridiculous and played out. If it was so obvious that Gomes was going to be better than Al (which he is) they would have drafted Ryan in the 1rst rnd (which many people are wishing now) and would have drafted Al in the 2nd. But it was the other way around cause everyone thought Al would be better. Especially after last year. After last year heading into this one nearly everyone thought Al would be the better player. College or not they thought Al would be the better player this year and every year. And that's why it's fair to compare them.
There are still people out there saying Ryan isn't so good.
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Post by esco33 on Mar 16, 2006 12:46:19 GMT -5
I agree eja. Right now, Gomes is the better overall player by far. What people are saying is that although Gomes is the better player RIGHT NOW, they think Al will be better LATER. (The jury is still out)
College players are always more seasoned than high school players, and high school players rarely EVER make impacts in their first or second years, unless their named Amare, Dwight, or Lebron. Garnett, and Kobe did not even make a splash until years later.
For the record, I am not saying Al will be this or Al will be that. I am not deeming him anything, and am not going to pre-order my tickets for the 2020 ceremony of Al's #7 jersey going up into the rafters at the TD Banknorth Garden just yet. It upsets me that people have these expectations for him and he is 2 years removed from high school. He has A LOT to learn.
What I am saying is that the kid still needs more time to improve. I will not give up on him just yet. I will give him another 2 more years. When he is 22, he should be coming into his own by then. If not, by that time I may be able to "Give up on Al".
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2006 15:43:46 GMT -5
Only thing I can say is if Jefferson does not step up, Ainge should go out to find a big man so we can start go in the direction of contention. Too much size will given up if Gomes is our primary big man because teams like Detroit, Indiana, Minny, San Antonio, Mavs, and Memphis will pound the boards on us at will. You need a legitimate star in the front court to be able to compete for a championship and irhgt now this team does not have one.
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Post by eja117 on Mar 16, 2006 15:53:18 GMT -5
Many people thought that Al would be the better player right now and not Gomes. If you asked a lot of people at the beginning of the season who would be the better player right now, they would have said Al. Yet at the beginning of the season everyone knew Al was 20 and Gomes was 22 out of college and yet people still would have said Al would be better right now. So maybe Gomes isn't better cause he's a whole two years older and cause he went to college. I mean Garnett was better than the college boys on his team after two seasons. Amare was better than the college boys on his team after one season. Lebron was better than most players in the league after his sophomore year of high school. And after like 5 years Tyson Chandler, Kwame Brown, Diop, and Ousmine Scise still aren't better than the college boys on their team.
Maybe Gomes is better cause he's better. I guess we'l see.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2006 16:10:09 GMT -5
Gomes is a better player right now because - He's in shape. (SF Built)
- Has an Outside shot
- Block his man out of the paint
- Better Passer
- Better one on one defender
But with all that said, Gomes cannot post up on players who are taller than i.e. look at the memphis game. Nor is he remotely a defensive threat. You won't see him blocking shots anytime soon (don't think he has recorded 1 block all year). Al Jefferson has the potential to be a talented player but - He isn't in shape (265lbs, Most centers weigh this much)
- No jumper whats so ever, can easily guess what shot he takes
- Lost on defense rotations
- Easily Fatigue which results early foul trouble
What Al Jefferson has going for is his array of post moves, his uncanny movement to get rebounds w/o blocking out, can definitely be a shotblocking threat, and can go up against taller players. Right now, GO with Gomes as the starter and then wait for next season to see if Jefferson will step into his own. *Note: Perkins didn't make a huge impact until his third season in the NBA. I think Jefferson should get that 3rd season before we go into "Trade Jefferson" bandwagon.
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Post by ferbo on Mar 16, 2006 17:31:56 GMT -5
Folks, have you EVER been to Seminary, Mississppi?
Al not only is a HS kid; he is from a SMALL HS in a state not renowned for the quality of its HS basketball.
I live about 45 miles south of there in one of gthe larger towns in Miss:---50,000 people!
His background is nothing like Perk's.
And I won't even get into the implications of him being black in that environment.
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Post by esco33 on Mar 16, 2006 21:29:53 GMT -5
Many people thought that Al would be the better player right now and not Gomes. If you asked a lot of people at the beginning of the season who would be the better player right now, they would have said Al. Yet at the beginning of the season everyone knew Al was 20 and Gomes was 22 out of college and yet people still would have said Al would be better right now. I didn't necessarily think that Al would be better than Gomes this year. I always knew Ryan had game. I just didn't think Ryan would be as good as he is now. Having said that, the reason I say Gomes is better now is not only because of his age. There are lots of players in the league that are younger and better than older players. Actually, most of the elite players in the game today are young and not old anymore like in the 80's and 90's. The point that I was making was that Gomes was better because he has more experience playing "competitive basketball". He KNOWS how to play the game. Where to go on the floor, where to be at what times, how to set screens, how to get open, get easy looks, find others, etc. A lot of times you can never teach that. Maybe Al will never have that natural instinct. Who knows? But we shouldn't all just write him off because he is not playing up to "our expectations". I see his inexperience and lack of knowledge of the game. That is something that I hopefully he will improve upon in time. You are right, time will tell.
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Post by eja117 on Mar 17, 2006 15:38:02 GMT -5
The idea that Al only played against midgets in a third world country without electricity and never had a coach and had to deal with every racist the south could muster against him and that everyone around him drove orange cars with Confederate flags on them and spoke in some strange hick language is a fallacy. As Sebastian Telfair's show is showing us the moment you are recognised as a potential pro player these days you get quite a lot of positive attention immediately. I strongly suspect that Al was on all the AAU type travel teams and played at some of those ABCD Adidas camps against top competition yadda yadda.
Also I'm not saying he can't be an all-star in the next 4 years. All I am saying is that he is behind where I thought he'd be by now, Gomes is currently better, and Gomes might always be better. Actually I'm more annoyed with the current Gomes detractors than the Al supporters, as it wouldn't surprise me much if Al becomes better next year or so.
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Post by eja117 on Mar 17, 2006 16:35:43 GMT -5
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Post by BCHISTORIAN on Mar 18, 2006 5:11:01 GMT -5
The idea that Al only played against midgets in a third world country without electricity and never had a coach and had to deal with every racist the south could muster against him and that everyone around him drove orange cars with Confederate flags on them and spoke in some strange hick language is a fallacy. this is second to none ;D ;D ;D
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