Bobcats with Wallace look pretty good.

[coachx]

I was praying the Mavericks would come hard at Wallace and bring him to the out West.

With the reports of the Bobcats signing Wallace their roster looks deep and talented at every position except PG. For a moment we all thought the loss of Wallace and addition of Richardson was simply a lateral move. Now that Wallace is reportedly resigning they have quite a talented roster with several interchangeable pieces.

Felton

Richardson / Wallace / Carrol

Wallace / Morrison / Dudley

Okefor / May / Hermann

Brezec / Okefor / Voskuhl / O. Harrington

They have a really good looking roster and plenty of depth. Granted their low post guys are all injury prone, their depth is deep and will let them survive injuries to the likes of May & Brezec as long as Okefor gives them 70 games.

If healthy, I'm sure they run May and Okefor together alot (like we will do with Hoford and Smoove).

Their wings are stocked with slashers (Richardson / Wallace) and shooters (Carrol / Morrison). Plus a rookie with tons of scoring potential in Dudley.

Felton will have ample playing time to show his maturity.

We better watch out for this team.

Never thought I would say it. MJ is doing a pretty good job. Entering the season the team needed a go to scorer and Richardson has that ability (when healthy).

Stephen A. Smith and all the haters of that Richardson / Wright trade beter watch out b/c it looks like MJ may have the last laugh.

[coachx]

1. Miami - with Wade healthy they are still the best (especially if they add Mo Williams)

2. Chicago - a low post scorer is the only missing piece

3. Cleveland - Lebron needs help

4. Toronto - still need an atheltic, versatile wing to relieve Bosh on offense and let him uses more energy on D.

5. Washington - A healthy Arenas is all they were missing last year.

6. New Jersey - the return of Kristic and the high risk high reward of Williams could pay off. Moore , Kristic , Williams could give them the low post play and depth they have been searching for. Kidd and Carter will age soon, will it be in 2008 or 2009 ? Will Jefferson be 100% ?

The top 6 teams seem like locks to me for the playoffs (barring a major injury)

The last 2 spots will be a major fight:

7. Detroit -team seemed to have major issues. Billups seemed to have something wrong him in the playoffs. Wallace is really slowing down. Prince and Hamilton have reached their peak. I see them regressing to a 41 to 45 win team.

8. Orlando - Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis should get them here, even without any help.

9. Charlotte - deep and talented (if Wallace resigns)

9. Boston - Pierce and Allen are veteran allstars. Will the puppys ever grow up at center and PG ?

9. Knicks - loaded with talent on paper but not sure if it works out in reality.

9. Atlanta - plenty of talent but is there enough (healthy)veteran leadership that knows how to close out games.

13. Philly - talented but not ready. Looking to trim salary to make run at FA's in 2008.

14. Bucks - some talent but if Mo Williams leaves they will be the worst team in the league with Indiana.

15. Indiana - torn apart for a rebuild with anticipated O'Niel deal.

To me there is really a 4 way tie for #9. The race will be close. Any small move we make may be enough to get us in the playoffs but it will take a long grinding fight to get the 8th seed.

There will be at least one injury to one of the top 8 teams that will let some one else squeak in. The Heat could lose Shaq, Kidd could finaly fall apart knocking the Nets out, or if the injury prone TJ Ford gets hurt the Raptors may be done. Never want injuries to happen but Kidd and Shaq have some major wear and tear on their bodies. TJ Ford is alwasye a fall away from ending his career due to his spinal issues. It may taken an injury to let the Hawks squeak in.

[ncthompson11]

With may, morrison, herrmann, and carrol coming off the bench you know your going to win some games. There problem may be with brezec at center, but id play okafor there and put may at center. Also if felton goes down there in trouble.

[AnakinJoe]

Sorry, I'm not impressed. They have spent big money and/or lottery picks on their SG/SF positions. Is Carroll really a 3rd string player with a 5 (or is it 6) year deal? Can Gerald Wallace thrive next to J-Rich (and earn over $10M/season)? Have they given up on Morrison by trading for J-Rich and resigning Wallace to the franchise's biggest contract ever? Okafor looks like the next Camby, a really good big man during those 50-60 games he plays each season.

I'm not hating, I like Bickerstaff and I enjoyed watching a team with little talent hustle and fight hard virtually every game. But I won't lose any sleep thinking about this team.

[ncthompson11]

"But I won't lose any sleep thinking about this team."

They did have a better record than us and have gotten better with richardson coming. They also beat us 3 out of 4 so this isnt a team were just going to walk right over this year.

[BusBoyIsBack]

Quote:

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"But I won't lose any sleep thinking about this team."

They did have a better record than us and have gotten better with richardson coming. They also beat us 3 out of 4 so this isnt a team were just going to walk right over this year.

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We also had a team that missed an absurd amount of games due to injury

We also had a team with Zaza Pachulia and Tyron Lue starting who both have no business being in a starting 5.

Sure adding Wallace is impressive, but they still have a hole in their roster with Brezec

We could potentially have ZERO holes in our starting 5

[ncthompson11]

I know okafaor and morrison missed a couple of weeks and may played less for us than speedy. It should be a good series with charlotte this year.

[AHF]

Quote:

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I know okafaor and morrison missed a couple of weeks and may played less for us than speedy. It should be a good series with charlotte this year.

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"Us" being the Bobcats?

Seriously, I think that as much as we regret passing on Roy that the Bobcat have to be kicking themselves twice as much for passing on both Roy and Aldridge (who presumably could have been acquired via trade with Chicago for Thomas like Portland did).

I would take our core over Charlotte's but I think it is close and both teams should be very competitive the next few years.

[coachx]

Quote:

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I'm not hating, I like Bickerstaff and I enjoyed watching a team with little talent hustle and fight hard virtually every game. But I won't lose any sleep thinking about this team.

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Exactly, they were without a go to scorer last year and still won more games then us on hustle and defense alone. (Hopefully Horford is our Okefor and Law is our Felton to a degree). Richardson gives them the go to scorer they were lacking. Both Wallace and Richardson are adequate shooters (believe it or not). Richardson can creat on his own and score in the clutch. Baron Davis kept Richardson from being the 25 PPG scorer that he can be with a pass first PG. Carrol and Morrison are pure shooters to compliment them. Their depth will let them play high energy for 48 minutes.

They are our geographical rival. Their city really gets behind them unlike here in ATL. It could be a fight between us and them for the # 8 seed.

Of course the Celtics and Knicks are paper giants but can't believe it transaltes to wins in reality. I see major chemistry problems there. Both their fans will boo them out of the building of they don't produce immediatly.

The Hawks and Bobcats are built the right way (chemistry wise) and will only get better with age. (Unklike Celtics and Knicks).

Felton > Law / Speedy

Richardson

Wallace / Morrison > Marvin / Chills

Okefor / May = Hoford / Smoove

Brizec = ZaZa

Some really good matchups. I see Chills playing vs. Wallace alot. Marvin is too slow to handle him defensivly (like many good SFs).

The Okefor © May(PF) vs. Hoford© Smoove(PF) matchups will happen alot with all 4 being on the court. We have the advantage if we can get out and run. (thing is their wings and PG can really run too. They may have the afdvantage in the 1/2 court. (Unless Smoove realy learned for the Hakeem the dream.)

This is a big time seriers this year in the Southern Division !!!!

[Packfill]

I agree, Roy would have been perfect for Charlotte.

I think the success of both Charlotte and Atlanta will be largely dependent on the development of each teams young point guard. Felton still needs alot of work and Law is a rookie, so only time will tell.

I also think it is hard to tell how good these teams will be if they can't keep their players healthy. Both franchises and horrible health last year.

[BusBoyIsBack]

The difference will be whether or not we start Al Horford

If we start Horford the quality of talent in our starting 5 is from top to bottom

If Zaza plays then it doesn't look so good because we can't even necessarily beat out Brezec

He's easily beaten if Smoove and Horford are both on the floor.

Also it allows Marvin to stay on the floor and don't be surprised if Marvin matches the offensive firepower of Gerald Wallace this year

[Traceman]

The problem for them is keeping everyone healthy. If Okafor and May can stay healthy, they will be one tough, bruising, hardnosed team. Wallace and Richardson will form one of the most athletic and physical SG/SF combos in the league.

They beat us 3 out of 4 last year because they were simply too physical for us. Hopefully, adding Horford to the mix, Shelden getting that shoulder healthy, Smoove getting help on his post game from Olajuwon and Marvin coming back stronger after his hand injury will allow us to compete with them in the trenches.

[AHF]

Quote:

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I agree, Roy would have been perfect for Charlotte.

I think the success of both Charlotte and Atlanta will be largely dependent on the development of each teams young point guard. Felton still needs alot of work and Law is a rookie, so only time will tell.

I also think it is hard to tell how good these teams will be if they can't keep their players healthy. Both franchises and horrible health last year.

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I might even like them better with the Richardson trade and a frontline of Okafor/Aldridge.

With drafting Roy, they probably end up keeping their pick and taking Noah or B. Wright. Also nice.

[jaywalker72]

I agree, Trace....Charlotte is looking good because of the draft investment that was made in the frontcourt (Okafor, May) and at the point (Felton). It's amazing what having quality youth in the pivot and at the point can make your team look like. Now they have burned a pick for Richardson to try and round out the team.

It's like the Hawks are doing what the Bobcats are doing, except in reverse, getting the established player (JoJo) before trying to acquire the frontcourt pieces (Shelden, Horford) and the point (Law). The Hawks paid more for Johnson (an extra pick and Diaw), but Joe was a RFA and you have to pay more for those than a guy who is under contract already (Richardson).

We'll see if the Hawks investments look as good after this year. Should be interesting.

[Diesel]

However, when you turn the page:

Okafor, May and Brezec stay on the IL.

They should have kept Knight??

Signing both Wallace and Carroll may be to their undoing.

But I really like the fact, that they still have Hermann. I suppose that means that Wallace plays Some Pf and Okafor Center.

[thesheedera]

I think Felton wil surprise some people this season. While Paul and Deron have gotten a huge majority of the (much deserved) attention among these three PGs, Felton's situation playing behind an established vet and being forced to play at the 2 for long stretches can only help to round out his game.

Now it's his team to run, and he won't be spending any more time playing SG against the likes of Kobe, Tracey, Vince, etc. That was just plain silly.

He has some flaws in his game, he's a little reckless (so is Paul) and his shot's streaky (so are many PGs), but his drive to succeed and track record as a winner in HS and college more than make up for his few shortcomings. Both Paul and Deron have so far exceeded my expectations, Raymond's been about on par with what I thought we'd see from him. But his ceiling is pretty high up there and it'll be fun to see him unchained running his own show in Charlotte.

It was time for Brevin to move along, no reason to hold Raymond back any longer.

[DJ_Money]

As far as I'm concerned, Charlotte still has the same questions marks that we do: PG and C.

Unless your name is Jason Kidd, you can't shoot 39% and be a quality starting PG in the NBA.

[coachx]

Quote:

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Also it allows Marvin to stay on the floor and don't be surprised if Marvin matches the offensive firepower of Gerald Wallace this year

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I hope Marvin can throw dowm 18 a game. If he can't we are fine as long as he forces Wallace to guard him. Wallace is a heck of a defensive player. If we can force him to guard Marvin it helps JJ all the more.

Marvin's slow feet will be a problem vs. quick SF's. Marvin will have to catch and shoot or take smaller Sf's to the post b/c he is to slow to take Wallace off the dribble.

Your right, our best line up should be Horford at center and Smoove at PF.

I hope the trio of Horford, Smoove, and Marvin play 25 to 30 minutes together a game.

Hoford must prove he can play center first. With ZaZa being Hoford's major competition at Center for minutes that should be a for gone conclusion.

[BusBoyIsBack]

Quote:

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Hoford must prove he can play center first. With ZaZa being Hoford's major competition at Center for minutes that should be a for gone conclusion.

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Horford SHOULD beat out Zaza, but we're talking about Mike Woodson here.

Hell Solomon Jones could have beaten out Zaza Pachulia but when you're in the Woodson doghouse for no apparent reason, there is also no apparent time when you're getting out.

Of course Woody could have a little more sense with his job on the line.

BTW, I think Marvin is quick enough to take players off the dribble, he just didn't have the tendency to do so because we made him into a spot shooter. (Once again thanks alot Woody)

Nonetheless, he could have a breakout season.

[Johnnybravo4]

We need to go get Artest.. someone is going to have to defend all of these dynamic wings that are coming to the East.