The prospect of having the 2nd shortest front line

[Guest Walter]

Wait, make that the NBA's SHORTEST FRONT LINE, given Pheonix attempted to rectify their situation with a major trade, however injuries have kept Amare and Kurt Thomas off the court. THE SHORTEST FRONT LINE is what many of you are proposing. Hopefully draft a Pf/C hybric like Aldridge, although he likely will be off the board, then pairing him with Josh Smith and MW. Never mind that such a lineup is smaller than our already 35 lbs lighter and 1" shorter existing front line of ZaZa and Harrington. Let's compare said prospected Pf and C lineup to the front line of non-losing teams using NBA.com for NBA and ESPN for college players:

NJ

Nenad 7', 240

Robinson 6'10", 240

Det

Ben Wallace 6'9" 240

Rasheed Wallace 7' 230

Clev

Big Z 7'3" 260

Marshall 6'9" 230

Miami

Shaq 7'1" 325

Walker 6'9" 245

Washington

Heywood 7' 263

Jamison 6'9" 235

Denver

Camby 6'11" 230

Martin 6'9" 240

Utah

Okur 6'11" 249

Boozer 6'9" 258

Pheonix (Anticipated starting roster should be Stoudamire and Thomas)

Thomas 6'9" 235

Diaw 6'8 215

LAC

Kaman 7' 265

Brand 6'8" 254

Lakers

Mihm 7', 265

Odom 6'10" 230

SAC

Brad Miller 7' 261

Thomas 6'7" 245

SA

Duncan 6'11" 260

Rasho 7' 255

Dallas

Damp 6'11" 265

Dirk 7' 245

Memphis

Wright 6' 11" 240

Gasol 7' 240

An average of 249 Lbs & 6'10 3/5" per interior player.

The anticipated Hawks' Pf and C combo would be AT BEST assuming Aldridge was available...6'10" 237 and 6'9" 225 for an average of 6'9 1/2" and 231 lbs.

We would then AVERAGE 18 Lbs lighter and 1 & 1/10" shorter at EACH interior position. Overall we would be on average 36 lbs lighter and 2 1/5" shorter.

This of course is just the non-losing teams, not the larger, actually contending teams.

This is NOT how you build a team. First, Aldridge is predicted higher than our selection and second, even if you get him he's a questionable player with a serious injury history and a lack of heart against LSU, thirdly, with he and Josh Smith as our front court, we are the shortest, smallest front court in the NBA, one whose Pf lacks a single post move and shows no interest in them.

Anybody care to defend this position? Title it, "Why building the smallest frontcourt in the NBA a good thing".

W

[Lascar78]

Aldridge will bulk up. Smith is so much bigger than when he got here it's ridiculous.

I notice you left out Camby's weight. Smith-Aldridge would be pretty much a defensive clone of the KMart-Camby frontline, which more than handles its own on D, particularly on the inside (although obviously both have been injured).

If you think that a team's prowess is measured by height and weight, how about the fact that our backcourt is big and we should be able to take advantage of that in due time?

The bottom line is that height and weight don't determine how good you are, otherwise Al Harrington would do more on D than get out of the way.

[DJlaysitup]

Well whadaya expect Walter...we're a mid-major. We can't compete with the big conference teams for the biggest and best players....

...Oh, wait a minute, that's in college...nevermind.

[Guest Walter]

I agree that of the bigs, Aldridge is the ONLY one available that begins to make this nugget sized frontline feasible, but what if we don't get him? What then? Perhaps worse, what if he's injury prone or gets punked like against LSU? Even then we're still giving up 40 lbs on the inside and 2+" in EVERY GAME WE PLAY against non-losing teams. So many things have to go right for us to even end up with a considerably handicapped frontline. Not good planning.

W

[Guest Walter]

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Well whadaya expect Walter...we're a mid-major. We can't compete with the big conference teams for the biggest and best players....

...Oh, wait a minute, that's in college...nevermind.

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The crowd chanting "we want nuggets" if if our nugget-sized frontline short a real chicken strip holds the opposing team to 50 or fewer points in the paint.

W

[dalamchops]

Smith is at least 235 if not 240

[Lascar78]

If not Aldridge, their might be Noah. If not Noah we might get Bargnani. He doesn't play like a real center, but neither do a lot of the guys you listed, and he's 7 feet. If a buyout can be done, there's Splitter, perhaps the best fit for us in the entire draft, a 7 foot banger.

I don't see how it's planning. There have been no real centers available to us that we've passed on. We wanted Bogut. We wanted Dwight Howard or even Emeka. We didn't get lucky in the lottery, that's not planning. If we get lucky and get a shot at Oden, we'll have our pick.

You're too busy looking to whine and complain to see what is going right. There are plenty of good options for us in this draft.

On top of that we've cleared a ton of capspace, we'll probably try to sign Nene. Isiah wants Al and Al wants NY, we could possibly get Frye.

What if we draft Aldridge, sign Nene, and SNT Al for Frye?

??/Lue

JJ/Salim

Marvin/Chill

Smith/Aldridge/Zaza

Nene/Frye/Zaza

Is that enough size and depth? It could happen

Will it happen? Probably not, but plenty of good things can because we have good young talent and flexibility.

[Johnnybravo4]

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If not Aldridge, their might be Noah. If not Noah we might get Bargnani. He doesn't play like a real center, but neither do a lot of the guys you listed, and he's 7 feet. If a buyout can be done, there's Splitter, perhaps the best fit for us in the entire draft, a 7 foot banger.

I don't see how it's planning. There have been no real centers available to us that we've passed on. We wanted Bogut. We wanted Dwight Howard or even Emeka. We didn't get lucky in the lottery, that's not planning. If we get lucky and get a shot at Oden, we'll have our pick.

You're too busy looking to whine and complain to see what is going right. There are plenty of good options for us in this draft.

On top of that we've cleared a ton of capspace, we'll probably try to sign Nene. Isiah wants Al and Al wants NY, we could possibly get Frye.

What if we draft Aldridge, sign Nene, and SNT Al for Frye?

??/Lue

JJ/Salim

Marvin/Chill

Smith/Aldridge/Zaza

Nene/Frye/Zaza

Is that enough size and depth? It could happen

Will it happen? Probably not, but plenty of good things can because we have good young talent and flexibility.

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Las of course you know that in that scenerio Mike James is likely our PG.

[Guest Walter]

which if you disagree with, complain to them because there is nothing more legit for this discussion than a player's actual, listed weight. I can't go around weighing every big man with my eyes, adding 10 lbs when I feel like it.

W

[Guest Walter]

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I don't see how it's planning. There have been no real centers available to us that we've passed on. We wanted Bogut. We wanted Dwight Howard or even Emeka. We didn't get lucky in the lottery, that's not planning. If we get lucky and get a shot at Oden, we'll have our pick.

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BK didn't have to draft MW and ourselves into a 2 Sf conundrum. 3 potential All-star Pgs available and we select at Josh Smith's and Josh Childris' best position with a #2 overall pick. That's BAD planning.

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On top of that we've cleared a ton of capspace, we'll probably try to sign Nene. Isiah wants Al and Al wants NY, we could possibly get Frye.

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We could more likely not get anything.

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What if we draft Aldridge, sign Nene, and SNT Al for Frye?

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Nene is not the answer to anything for us. ZaZa's better. I don't mind Aldridge and Frye, but is getting both somehow more likely than getting one? Don't think so. This is a crap shoot. You think with the 4th pick we get Aldridge (mostly projected 1-2) and you think that we not only trade Al for something (50%/50% we do/don't), you think we trade him for Frye? Regardless, that occurs AFTER the draft, meaning if we don't get him and we didn't get what we needed in the draft we are again screwed. Next year no pick. The following year we must resign our young talent AFTER we apologize to them for not building a TEAM they could succeed on. That'll go over well.

W

[Guest Walter]

Shaq must weigh 350 according to my eyes (and reports), but he's listed 325.

W

[Lascar78]

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BK didn't have to draft MW and ourselves into a 2 Sf conundrum. 3 potential All-star Pgs available and we select at Josh Smith's and Josh Childris' best position with a #2 overall pick. That's BAD planning.

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Nice try to change what you were saying, but you were talking about how our lack of big men was a result of bad planning.

Here's your quote:

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I agree that of the bigs, Aldridge is the ONLY one available that begins to make this nugget sized frontline feasible, but what if we don't get him? What then? Perhaps worse, what if he's injury prone or gets punked like against LSU? Even then we're still giving up 40 lbs on the inside and 2+" in EVERY GAME WE PLAY against non-losing teams. So many things have to go right for us to even end up with a considerably handicapped frontline. Not good planning.

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But like I said, nice try. The only big BK has arguably passed on is Frye, and no one here was even remotely suggesting that we reach down and take him.

[uga2006]

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Aldridge will bulk up. Smith is so much bigger than when he got here it's ridiculous.

I notice you left out Camby's weight. Smith-Aldridge would be pretty much a defensive clone of the KMart-Camby frontline, which more than handles its own on D, particularly on the inside (although obviously both have been injured).

If you think that a team's prowess is measured by height and weight, how about the fact that our backcourt is big and we should be able to take advantage of that in due time?

The bottom line is that height and weight don't determine how good you are, otherwise Al Harrington would do more on D than get out of the way.

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Aldridge won't be the defensive presence of a Marcus Camby. He just doesn't explode off the ground like Marcus, if anyone outta this draft is like Camby I think Tyrus Thomas may be a good comparison. TT might be 6'9 but his arms make him atleast 7' and thats without a doubt. TT may end up being a monster on the boards and a top shot blocker like Camby. I keep hearing he's 6'9 and we got lot's of 6'9 players but this is a guy who doesn't play like he's 6'9.

[Lascar78]

well he won't be quite the shot blocker that camby is (probably), but his offense is already significantly ahead of Camby's. My point was that a frontcourt the size of Smith-Aldridge can easily work, not so much that he's exactly a camby clone.

[Johnnybravo4]

In reality we have no idea how someone's game will translate to the NBA. Josh Smith wasn't a shotblocker in H.S. but in two years, has become one of the elite shotblockers in the NBA. Chris Paul is the likely ROY despite the fact that he was arguably the 3rd best PG in the ACC behind Jack and Felton. And even if we take a PG, we probably would have taken Deron Williams, who was also the third best guard on his team.

[Diesel]

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Josh Smith wasn't a shotblocker in H.S. but in two years, has become one of the elite shotblockers in the NBA.

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Josh Smith, Oak Hill Academy: Smith is on top for a couple of reasons. First and foremost I’m not all that wild about this season’s SF crop, despite there being some big names and impressive athletes available. For that reason, I’m a little more willing to roll the dice on a player I know little about. Second is I was so impressed the one time I watched Smith play. It was in one of those post-season all-star games. Josh Smith was the most intense player on the court. He was playing furious defense and going hard after every ball. Of course, this could mean Smith is just another Eduardo Najera, Malik Rose or any of a dozen or so manic hustlers in the league. But Smith has the pedigree, being a 1st team HS all-American.

He also put up some good numbers playing on a talent-laden team: 23.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 3.8 apg, 3.0 spg, 5.0 bpg, .600 FG% and .300 3P%.

Projecting high schoolers is a tough thing. There’s a lot of growing to be done and it’s damn near impossible to figure which direction any one person will grow once they’re on their own. Even the best players to come straight out of HS took a few years to become stars and I doubt Josh Smith will be any different. That said, adding together what I’ve seen and read about Josh Smith, I believe he is the best SF available in the 2004 draft for the long term.

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Clickit

I watched the MAAHS game the year that Josh Smith was in it and all he did was block shots..

[Guest Walter]

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My point was that a frontcourt the size of Smith-Aldridge can easily work, not so much that he's exactly a camby clone.

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...of similarly sized front-courts that were contenders. Nearly 40 lbs and 2". Of course, Aldridge is your fantasy front-court. We likely won't be able to consider Aldridge and even if we could we make ourselves the shortest front-court in the NBA. HOW exactly is this good? "Easily working" is very different from contending I might add. Even you must seriously doubt it somehow.

W

[codyatl]

3rd bets pg in the ACC behind Jack and Felton? Are you crazy? Wait, don't answer that.

[Guest Walter]

The "bad planning" was exactly how I described it to you. You can't always get a Shaquille O'Neal, but you can d@mn sure prevent yourself from a 2, Sf, hybrid Pf/C frontcourt. In between there is a vast difference, for example (gasp) a legitimate Pf-sized player with Pf skills (alah Al Jefferson) and at least a hybrid Pf/C. Isn't that novel. A frontline without two adjacent undersized players. GENIUS! Why hasn't the rest of the league thought of that. Oh wait. They have.

W

[Johnnybravo4]

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3rd bets pg in the ACC behind Jack and Felton? Are you crazy? Wait, don't answer that.

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As a Tech fan, I saw Jack dominate Chris Paul everytime they played, and well Felton did win a National Title.