Thursday, September 27, 2007

In Montevideo This Man Is A God


Well, I am pleasantly surprised by the additions of Esteban Batista and Dahntay Jones to the roster. Like we learned with the Posey deal, it appears Wyc is gonna let it all fly. I know these are both minor signings, but I appreciate them nonetheless, especially Batista, who adds always welcomed size, and should definitely make the final roster. I'm not so sure Jones will, but if I were Jackie Manuel or Brandon Wallace I would certainly be concerned right now. It was good also to see Glenn start talking about potential eccentric lineups, if nothing else it's enjoyable for a laugh. As always Glenn's ideas sound good on paper; I'm sure his three guard offense of Ray Allen, Tony Allen and Eddie House will be enlightening.

Today I feel compelled as well to touch back on John Paxson's Bulls, mainly because I have been getting killed by Bulls fans from across the country. Having cooled down from my (appropriately) irate posting about Eastern adequacy, I realize now that I came down too hard on Paxson. The fact that I hate watching the current Chicago team does not mean Paxson is doing a lousy job. It was grossly unfair for me to lump his work on par with Rod Thorn's the past few years. Paxson does have a vision - it's just a painstakingly slow process to watch it play out. If all the pieces fall correctly (resigning Deng and Gordon, having Noah and Thomas develop nicely, no major injuries) the Bulls might be the favorite for the 2010 championship.

But my point in the post was that in no shape or form does Chicago deserve getting to the Finals yet, just like Cleveland did not deserve to go last year. It is an indictment on the Eastern Conference that Chicago is my tentative favorite. In short, Paxson's vision for the future could pay off immediately, and he doesn't deserve that. My calling for Kobe was rather glib, it would take some kind of crazy dubious trade like this, but nonetheless I think Paxson should go hard after a bona fide star. It's just too hard to win a championship without a top five player. I respect his developmental ideas intellectually, but hate seeing the baby steps year after year.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dude I disagree. You're just totally wrong. Go Knicks!

Anonymous said...

I was frightened to hear no mention of Big Baby in Coach Glen's rambling lineup possibilities in your linked Globe article. I hope these other big dudes on the bench don't prevent him from getting any minutes this season. Given the chance I think he could add a lot inside. On the other hand maybe he'll add enough from the bench with some exquisite cursing everytime Pierce or Allen hit a three.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcpgSXmeLrI

Tim Grimes said...

god, i forgot about big baby when he gets amped. awesome. and don't worry, doc is already working on a lineup of batista, big baby, powe, scal and pruitt to play in crunch time.

Sean said...

tim you too clever for you own good homeboy enough with this simmonsian coach-bashing and pop cultural references branch out like me i'm mad ghetto and insecure and when the therapist comes all i want to do is talk ball while he's asking me about daddy

i didn't mean to disrespect your approach, you got skills, it's just transparent what your real goals are. you not a celtics fan as much as you are a tim-the-writer fan but you a damn good writer homey and i'm not even about to disrespect you. i just disrespected you.

i'll never respond to you again and i'll retire from this blog but homey write some creative non-fiction, join a brother in a crusade against these blogs with hack writing and hack themes and good writers.

i'm playing t but i got some questions you should address in your next post

was you mad touched by christopher's death on the sopranos?
yo could perkins mesh with garnett or is there some blood to be shed?
is daniel-day lewis better than de-niro? say no and i'll blog-slap you

I'M NOT AFRAID
I
AM
SO
AFRAID

peace and love t, don't forget about my questions, you the best writer on this website and jack and fox too them dudez is buck

buck wild

~goose

Anonymous said...

The bulls are simply this: The Pistons pre-sheed.


44-52 win team with a conference finals loss ceiling, that is one piece (lowpost big) away. Until they land one that is all theyll be.


The good news?: Post-sheed pistons were the best team in the NBA from the minute they landed Sheed thru the first half of the 05/06 season. And in that time they won a championship and were 1 win (a halfquarter) away from a second championship.


If the wizards land a low-post J Oneal type they can contend. Otherwise their ceiling is a 2nd round loss. Same with the Nets. Same with the Bulls except they could possibly make the 3rd round instead of the 2nd if they get lucky. The cavs are the same as the bulls unless they land a pg like Bibby. And the Heat are the same unless they land a ron artest. All these teams are dead in the water unless they make the move.


The most infuriating is the hawks, who TURNED DOWN Amare Stoudemire for their lotto pick. AMAZING.