Real Deal

Gasol doesn't get into position enough to capitalize on his touches. There are too many times where he's at a guard position in the triangle offense (where Bryant or Fish need to be), or he takes the high post in a second triangle variation, which disallows his low post presence. Warning: my court sucks. I'm in a hurry creating the images, sorry. One variation of the triangle that takes our two bigs into the post (when both are in the game, and Kobe isn't showing post with just Drew or Gasol in)... http://i55.tinypic.com/20kc3dl.jpg The spots show where they start (Gasol gets up the court faster than Drew, Kobe and Ron are interchangeable and Fisher has already dished the ball off at this point). In fact, both guards and Ron can be interchangeable, you can ignore their positioning as long as you establish Kobe getting the ball. Fisher to Ron, and then Ron passes to Bryant and cuts to and through the corner. Drew slides down to the post, Gasol over to his post, Fisher at the top of the key. http://i54.tinypic.com/zl6elg.jpg Notice the two triangles formed, and the spacing. Kobe now has many options, and this places him as the facilitator. He can make the post entry pass to Gasol. He can also drive to the rim, then kick out to Ron. He can take the shot himself. While this is happening, Fisher has the option to create more space between him and Bryant, if he feels Bryant will drive and create. The more space Fisher creates, the bigger chance his man loses him and closes in on a post or Kobe. Of course, Gasol and Drew can change out, depending on the match-ups. In a reset, the triangle can be re-formed on the same side, opposite side, Gasol can take the high post, or it can be ditched altogether and become a two-man P&R between Kobe and a big, Ron and Fish take the corners and spot up for threes in a penetration situation. --------- Now, to my point. Gasol has never attempted 15 FGA per game in a season. Not even with Memphis, as a primary option. The reason is because he has trouble positioning himself on the court. He is a high IQ player that is very indecisive. He holds the ball too long when down low OR up high, waits for shooters to move when the offense isn't set up that way, and he doesn't wait for the double to actually stick to him long enough to matter, and it's hurting both his FGA and his aggressiveness and effectiveness during games, forcing others to take shots late in the clock and making it much easier for opposing defenses to defend five players on the court. This has been a problem for years, guys. It was a huge problem when Odom needed to become a post player pre-Gasol, and we had to rely on Kwame and Mihm, who were terrible at keeping space because they both wanted shot opportunities and didn't accept their roles correctly, to the point where Phil was starting Walton and hoping to post him up. It's not about lack of touches, it's about lack of effective positioning. You can see it every game. Unfortunately, when Gasol does get that position, he's not as aggressive as Bynum is, and that's why more and more are starting to value Drew's presence down low...because he's playing the role he's asked to, and he's more physical and willing to put the ball in the hoop. I shouldn't have to create images and explain the triangle, though. We've been watching the same offense since Shaq was here. Difference is, we never had that post presence that Shaq gave us, not even with Drew (because he's not a willing passer, although he's improving on it slowly), and if we were looking at Gasol to be that low post presence, we were sadly mistaken, and all we needed to do was look back on his play in Memphis to confirm that.

You'd think that he actually cares, but if you look at his face and the way he talks about it, you can tell he really doesn't.

I flip-flopped after seeing him play in the WC's, if I recall correctly. I can't remember what I said though, lol. But, the main thing was consistent, and stayed that way: he should've never, ever been compared to Pistol Pete.

Kobe wanted this game as much as he wants every game.

We did it last year, but all in one topic (decided to say this before someone else did). But, with that said, I probably wouldn't have done it if you hadn't messaged me about it.

Season's end is right around the corner, and while some of us will sit here and disagree with the MVP choice until we're blue in the face, there's nothing stopping us from having our own award voting. So, in the Basketball Discussion category, you'll find a new forum (below General NBA Discussion) called The OTR Awards. http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/forum/149-the-otr-awards No need to explain...you guys know what to do.

Vote in the poll above, and then state your answer and reason(s) in the topic.

Vote in the poll above, and then state your answer and reason(s) in the topic.

Vote in the poll above, and then state your answer and reason(s) in the topic.

Vote in the poll above, and then state your answer and reason(s) in the topic.

Vote in the poll above, and then state your answer and reason(s) in the topic.

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[b]ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM[/b] C - F - F - G - G - [b]ALL-NBA SECOND TEAM[/b] C - F - F - G - G - [b]ALL-NBA THIRD TEAM[/b] C - F - F - G - G -

[b]ALL-DEFENSIVE FIRST TEAM[/b] C - F - F - G - G - [b]ALL-DEFENSIVE SECOND TEAM[/b] C - F - F - G - G -

[b]EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS:[/b] [b]WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS:[/b] [b]NBA FINALS:[/b] [b]NBA CHAMPION:[/b]

The point is, Kemba is as good as he may get now (as said), but also, with rumors that fewer are going to enter the draft, he has a chance to get selected even earlier. Regardless of a lockout or not, earlier selection means more money, and a bigger opportunity to be a franchise player. If he goes to, say, the Pacers...he's going to be sharing the ball with Granger, Collison, a surging Hansbrough, and Hibbert (of course, I don't see him falling that far, but it's just an example of where he COULD go if he waits). If he goes to someone like Cleveland, he's the man, and he'll have the bigger rookie contract.

I'm not going to give that great of an argument because I don't agree with some of the players being in the Hall in the first place. I'm really on the fence, to be honest. Ask me tomorrow, and I'll probably say no.

That's fine, because I remember you saying that he didn't deserve those MVP's. If you're going to argue against Carter, you can't just sit there and tell me his lack of defense takes him out of the discussion. Barkley has zero rings and one MVP, no defense. If we're going to start sticking guys into the Hall because they win MVP awards, I guess we'll be declaring Derrick Rose a HOF'er after this season.

Aaron Pullen a first-rounder? Seriously, there's no way all of them are going to stay. If so, this draft class will be terrible. EDIT: For those who won't get the joke...it's Jacob Pullen, but I won't explain why I put Aaron.

If you're just handing over an argument based on Vince's defense, you're going to have a hard time arguing against a two-time MVP out in Phoenix.

Yes, but not because of the numbers, but the overall play and impact. There are a lot of players who are either in, or going into, the HOF and have had at least one or two controversial roadblocks throughout their careers. Vince isn't going to win a ring as a first or second option anywhere. That boat has sailed away. However, I feel like the amount of rings is irrelevant, or else someone has to speak for Malone, Barkley, Stockton, and many others who are deserving HOF'ers.

Adrian Dantley? :o Don't spam.

This game reminded me why I absolutely love the seven-game series of the NBA playoffs. These two teams weren't the best in the country, and this was, without a doubt, the worst NCAA championship game I've ever watched. Defense? It was pathetic offense, from careless passes and bad dribbling and ball control, few plays ran, high school basketball screen and pass. I decided to flip back and forth between this game, and wrestling. I've never, ever done that before, with any NBA or NCAA game I decided to watch. UConn was my second favorite team in this tourney, had them beating KU in one of my main brackets for the ESPN Challenge (if it wasn't going to be the Jayhawks, it would be the Huskies for me), but this was disappointing, and I knew it a week ago.

I really wanted to code something that sent all of this into a database, logged and configured to keep track of the scores, but I never find the time to. You guys would go to a page on OTR, see the games for the week and select a winner, whatever else, and we'd be good for that week. At the end of the week, I'd go in and select the winners myself, and it would tally up the scores and give me less work. I have to put things like the home page and the team websites over this, though. Those things have been my biggest projects since months before the hack.

Not enough activity. We only had about eight guys playing after a while, so I figured I'd drop a couple of weeks and wait for the playoffs. I'll probably add a couple more, though, to end the season. Can't really have a playoff race, though...kinda sucks.