Big Ben Comparison!

There is so much more to basketball than height. Otherwise, Ben Wallace wouldn't play Yao Ming so well.

Quickness, athleticism, range, hustle, strength.

I've seen a lot of big stiffs (get your minds out of the gutter), guys who were tall enough by the "gotta be tall" paradigm to have been superstars, but in real life were only capable of collecting splinters and paychecks.

The one thing I love in an athlete, above all other attributes is heart. I just can't get enthused about a great shooter or dunker as much as a guy who gives everything he has on the court, in the face of overwhelming odds.

I would say that at this point... and probably for the forseeable future, Dwight Howard would crush Oden head to head.

I disagree with this on so many levels.
1. the team is not below mediocre. ONE piece in a weak pool can be considered to be so. I don't even think thats the case. I think the drop off between good and the rest is huge. Take out the Naz-hatred and would it REALLY by an upgrade for....Zaza Pachulia? Eddie Griffin? Pryzbilla? What I am accepting is that this team is good but it has a weakness. The biggest weakness is the coaching IMO. More talent won't make them play harder.

2. solutions aren't found. you don't just click on realgm's trade checker and bam! its fixed! other teams gotta want what you got. Who in the blue hell (saw the Rock's new movie preview) would give up a mediocre center for our sub mediocre center. solutions are made. it takes two sides to agree to a deal. Is Joe too shrewd? There are yes and no answers to that one. But who is to say that he hasn't tried many times only the other guys don't want to deal.

3. I forget what 3 was for.

4. the issue has been the non stop complaining and the lateral (at best) solutions. Unless we move hunter AND flip we'll miss out on Adonal Foyle! trade for brendan Haywood. does denver want our cast offs for camby? ok camby is a huge upgrade but no way does Denver deal that. Not now. most people here have run scenarios to change things up nothing looks helpful or realistic. There probably is no solution at this point but who is to say what can happen up until the trade deadline.

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I can't call Haywood lateral consideration, when he can put us one year closer to relieving ourselves of a burdensome contract. The only thing I find more dissappointing that NazMo's play is realizing how much longer I may be forced to watch it.

Regarding the issue of other teams not wanting what we got in Nazmo.

We wanted him when we got him, right? Did he really play worse for us than he did for SA? The greater fool theory. If Joe D was the greater fool, then surely there is another GM out there more foolish than him.

What I'm getting at is that if we really want to get value for a player, be it Flip Murray, Nazr, Darko, etc., then we have to make them look good before we enter into trade talks. Benching a guy and calling him out on his desire, or whatever that players' particular shortcoming is, will only show weakness.

Maybe the first half of this coming season, Flip Saunders and Joe D can implement a strategy that makes Nazr and or Murray look like a valuable piece of the team. Give them playing time. Drop a few quotes to the press about how they are "living in the weight room" this year and "mentoring the rookies." Showcase them a little.

The current strategy seems to do accomplish the following:

• Makes other teams realize the players suck
• Makes other teams realize that we are desperate to trade them
• Angers the players and makes them more likely to demand a trade suddenly, which further kills negotiating power.

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"Will was rolling, wasn't he? I roll with the guy that's hot." MC

I think we wanted Pryzbilla first.

Excellent ideas...but none can be implemented in the off-season. While we can build up our guys, it may shake out that a particular team dynamic will have a decent big buried or pushed aside for a emerging player. Other teams will want to make financial moves. Our team dynamic might make naz look better or cover his weaknesses.

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Also, don't forget that all of us can do our part by posting at other internet forums and praising Nazr's athletic skills. I'll give a sample scripted post here but feel free to create your own. I use Celtics as an example here but you can substitute it for any team's name.


Like I said you can reword it to make it fit your own style.

I wonder if organizations do have people on the payroll whose job is to generate buzz about players in an effort to boost perceived trade value.

Right now, I just don't see how we can go far with the center position as it is. We will have to go through Shaq and Z (who did far too much damage to us last year for a not-so-dominant center), Howard and Curry maybe in the earliest rounds.

In the playoffs, teams exploit weaknesses to the hilt. It is not the regular season that I worry about. It is the playoffs and this team is getting older. The future is now. The fact is that we lost Ben and got Nazi. And that is where we stand.

Sheed can play center but he will pick up fouls. We can't afford that. Maxiel is way too short. Amir not bulky enough and with little experience. Dyss cannot bring it game after game especially at center where he is overmatched size-wise. Dyss has not been able to fill that position effectively before.

That leaves us with Nazi. Nazi is better than he showed but probably not enough better to give us the presence that we need.

We need a big body down there some of the time. A not so skilled player is ok but we need a banger who can body up and take the fouls. This problem won't go away and will loom large when it counts--in the playoffs.

I don't have a problem with people complaining. Unless Nazr gets better (anyone can improve if they put the work in) fans might want a new center. Yes their are not many centers better than Nazr, but their are a few.

People can complain if Joe D. is not trying to improve the Center position, or if Nazr isn't working hard to become a better player.

If Nazr is working his butt off and if Joe D. is trying hard to still improve this team than maybe people should stop complaining. No one knows what is happening though, and chances are that Nazr is not improving much or Joe is not trying to move Nazr so people have the right to complain.

Yes their will be very few ways to get Nazr traded for a good C without trading a top Piston, but it's Joe's job to find that deal. No matter how hard it is.

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"That's the end, man." Rasheed Wallace