Vince and Ruben's Offseason NBA Adventures! (Part 2)

Ruben: Monday, July 13, 2009 10:33am

Hold on. Let me print your e-mail out and read it on the toilet when I take my 11:00 am poop break at work.

[25 minutes later]. Fantastic breakdown on Shaq and Cleveland. I couldn't agree with you more. It'll be fun watching Lebron play with Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman and Blake Griffin next year. While I see what you're getting at with Vinsanity, I'd be in a lot more agreement with you if this were 2003. Vince doesn't attack the rim like he used to, or as much as Hedo (although if he did, he's definitely better). Skills and talent wise, VC is much better than Hedo. However, that's all on paper. Hedo is a bit overrated, but he's a great team player. Out of all the free agents this year, the only one D-Wade called to try and recruit was Hedo, even though the Heat didn't have any cap room. D-Wade said that he loves that guy. My point is that Hedo wanted the ball in crunch time, has a trademark on the awkward stutter and step back three in crunch time, and guys enjoy playing with him. Without him, who takes the big time shots with Orlando?

I love the utterly insane and always enjoyable Ron Artest. Great basketball player. Probably a bit underrated. Definitely an upgrade from Ariza. If he behaves, he makes a fantastic third option. Say they offer Lamar Odom the full midlevel and unlimited Sour Patch kids and he comes back, that's a scary looking team. Fisher-Kobe-Artest-Gasol-Bynum with Odom as the sixth man. I don't know if Bynum wants to be better. I know you claim Bynum handled Doowight Howard well in the Finals, but so did Kendrick Perkins. I think if you put a Max Starks Fathead (much like the one in the bathroom of D's Six Pack) in the paint, Doowight Howard will struggle. As you said, he has no offensive game outside six to eight inches. For the Lakers, old man Fisher is your weak link and he's become their poor-man's Robert Horry come playoff time. Certainly intimidating. However, the Lakers question mark is whether they're still hungry for that title. Kobe got the proverbial monkey off the back, he's cemented his place in NBA history, how much does he still care, does he go into full on coast mode, pad his stats.

Here's the team I love next year: San Antonio. They are ridiculously calculating and methodical. Everyone was about to count them out. I love every move they made. They are like the anti-Cleveland. They have the best coach in the league, Cleveland may have the worst. They have the best front office in the league. Cleveland doesn't have the worst, but they're threatening. They realized that Duncan is getting old and the window is closing. Duncan's lost some steam, but he's still as reliable and as fundamentally sound as ever. He can still take over a series by himself. Parker is a penetrating point guard who can score in bunches and shoots the midrange shot as well as any point guard in the league. Ginobli and his disturbing bald spot is slightly overrated at this point, but still a deadly wing player and stout defender.

I like Richard Jefferson. I think he's perfect for that team. Bruce Bowen was decrepit from eating too many chicken wings at Flannigans. Jefferson can score when needed. He's a long atheltic defender, he has some range. By all accounts he's a solid character guy. He's very similar to Artest. Artest is probably a better defender, but Jefferson might be a little more polished offensively and slightly more athletic. Drafting our boy Dejuan Blair was a coup. He shouldn't have been there and he goes to a team with great leadership and character. They signed Antonio McDyess who may be 63 at this point, but is still somewhat effective. They got Matt Bonner and George Hill.

(Editors Note: Special thanks to The Monk, our quality control consultant who brings up the following: Spurs also took Jack McClinton, the sharpshooter from The U. "GO CANES". Jack has had a rough summer, but because Ginobli and Parker are at their best when driving, and Jack is a three point shooter, he should have plenty of open threes as their "assassin".)

I think the inevitable San Antonio - Lakers matchup in the Western Conference Finals is going to be fantastic. I think the Spurs have the edge because they have better coaching. Coach Phillip has had a great career, but at this point his coaching philosophy is "Hey Kobe, talk to the guys, I'm gonna sit here and look zen."

You agree? You still taking the Lakers? Think my way too early Lebron to the Clippers prediction is asinine? If not, how do the Cavs convince Lebron to stay?


Vince: Monday, July 20, 2009 2:58pm

I intended to respond sooner, and more thoroughly, than what is contained below. Unfortunately, my job took an unexpected turn to "ridiculously busy"--from it's ordinary state of "I am way too busy"--such that I could not responsibly give your comments their appropriate rejoinder.

So I summarize what I would have said:

1 - San Antonio continues its dominance in the department of Shrewd (yet Decadent) Team Management. Blair and Jefferson are both great evidence of their thoughtful planning.

2 - Your Odom commentary may prove irrelevant to the Lakers, but hyper-relevant to the Heat. I'm sure you're boner'd about this.

3 - The Summer League (with standard "it's NOT the NBA!" caveat): lol at the Clippers for sending Eric Gordon (who, incidentally, should have been a more serious ROY candidate, or for second place, at least). Anthony Randolph is 90% limbs, but he manages to make that trait an asset. Blake Griffin has a bad case of Battier-head And Chase Budinger is a lot like Dirk Nowitski, except for his body, demeanor, playing style, national origin, talent level and dancing skills.


4 - Max Starks has a fathead? And a 9 million contract as a backup? Am I questioning a single thing the Steelers do?

Vince: Monday, July 20, 2009 3:51 pm

UPDATE!: Big Baby Bassy to the Clippers! The Clippers pairing Telfair with Boom and maybe even AI? We haven't seen that much dribbling since Dan visited Asia!