Gee Wiz...what's Alonzo's ceiling???

[WhoWeAre]

You have a very odd way of saying "It took Z a long time to become a serviceable role player." You in fact implied that it took a long time to "acquire" Z. So yeah...uh...sorry for msunderstanding you I guess....

If you ask me, drafting is acquiring. I still don't get your point. Why is everyone so nit picky?

Again, my original argument with Triumph is legitimate -- good role players are not easy to acquire. Jesus Christ.

 

[KI4MVP]

Why are we talking about z as if he wasn't quality player beside lebron from day 1? He was an all star the year before we drafted lebron.

 

[Kouki]

If you ask me, drafting is acquiring. I still don't get your point. Why is everyone so nit picky?

Again, my original argument with Triumph is legitimate -- good role players are not easy to acquire. Jesus Christ.

I was just trying to make a funny. You said "How long did it take to acquire Z?" which is a statement that makes very little sense to me.

Anyways, this is stupid. I'm waiting for some 4G reception at the Q.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Dude you used "LeBron played with former all-stars" as one of your arguments. Really? All the ex-all-stars we had were over the hill.

And yet over-the-hill Shaq dominated Bynum while over-the-hill Z bothered Gasol whenever we played LA that year. Go back and watch the Christmas 2009 game vs. the Lakers to see what Shaq and Z were still capable of at that point in time. Then Shaq, even at age 37, was still able to cover Howard one on one and get him in foul trouble whenever we played Orlando, freeing up the rest of the team to guard all of their shooters. Shaq had singlehandedly solved our biggest problem from the season before. Just because players are no longer in their prime does not mean they are not still effective. Ben Wallace was still a dominant defender in 08-09 until that leg injury. And Mo, being another of those all-stars, was one of the best three point shooters in the league while he was here.

I'll give you Jamison though. :chuckles: (nothing personal against the guy but yeah, he was way past his prime by the time we got him)

If you want to focus on being critical, you could say the same things about the Mavs last year. They had their one superstar Dirk, plus an "over-the-hill" Kidd and Peja. A "washed up" Marion. Chandler was still in his prime and always a good defender, but was only a few years removed from being considered just another draft bust and an offensive liability. Deshawn Stevenson, a guy who had done absolutely nothing the previous few seasons. And so on. But the main difference between the 10-11 Mavs and the 09-10 Cavs? Dirk didn't throw in the towel. If you put the 2007 LeBron on the 2010 Cavs, we win it all. End of story.

 

[Glen Infante]

For some reason Alonzo Gee's game reminds me of Bobby Phills...

 

[Wine and Gold]

For some reason Alonzo Gee's game reminds me of Bobby Phills...

Yes, he reminds me ,as well, of Bobby Phills when we got him and began developing him, and also Ty Corbin when he came to the Cavs and we began developing him as well. All came to the Cavs with similar strengths and weaknesses, that weren't 1st round picks ..but had to work at their weaknesses. And all have, and had the ability within them, to grow and develop and become strong players in the league. Many examples exist of players coming into the league with little expectations but through hard work and determination have made it...becoming key starters on championship teams and all stars as well. Not saying he will, but not saying he can't, either.

 

[Jon]

Something else people are missing is that a lot of what you guys would probably call "role players" or "bench players" are actually starters on contending teams, some because the team has nobody better that's healthy and some because that's how their team works.

The Lakers started Matt Barnes and Derek Fisher in their last game. The Heat started Joel Anthony and Mario Chalmers. The Thunder started Serge Ibaka and Thabo Sefolosha.

If you play terrific D and can either shoot some 3's or get some boards & blocks you can be a starter on a contender if you just happen to play the right position.

 

[RikSmits]

Something else people are missing is that a lot of what you guys would probably call "role players" or "bench players" are actually starters on contending teams, some because the team has nobody better that's healthy and some because that's how their team works.

The Lakers started Matt Barnes and Derek Fisher in their last game. The Heat started Joel Anthony and Mario Chalmers. The Thunder started Serge Ibaka and Thabo Sefolosha.

If you play terrific D and can either shoot some 3's or get some boards & blocks you can be a starter on a contender if you just happen to play the right position.

And the Celtics started Greg Stiemsma, so yeah, good point.
This season, a lot of role players could see extended minutes.

 

[Man Called X]

And the Celtics started Greg Stiemsma, so yeah, good point.
This season, a lot of role players could see extended minutes.

Greg Stiemsma also had 6 blocks in one of his first 4 games of the season. So...

 

[Pavlovic3Ball]

Why are we talking about z as if he wasn't quality player beside lebron from day 1? He was an all star the year before we drafted lebron.

he wasn't a bad player by any means. I just think he gets more credit than he deserves for the Cavs being a perennial playoff. I think Varejao alone deserves more credit than Big Z for us being in the playoffs every season. Z was solid but he was slow, close to worthless if he wasn't hitting his jumper, and an absolute non-factor in most 4th quarters. Plus he still gets way too much of a pass for the 09 ECF where he got brutally raped by Dwight Howard. Again, I'm not giving Lebron all the credit. But aside from him and the criminially underrated Varejao, everyone else was replaceable.

 

[jasonxxx102]

I think that Gee could be, at best, a 6th man on a deep roster. If he can develop some slashing ability and improve his mid-range jumpshot he'd be a pretty damn good player. Hell, he could even consistently throw up 15/game with another off season like this one.

 

[Housh]

Revisionist history.

The role players were garbage aside from Shaq for a few games. Lebron deserves blame for that series, but I love how his shitty teammates always get free passes. If the 2010 Cavs won the finals they would have been pushing the 03 Spurs, 94 Rockets, and Rick Barry's Warriors for least talented championship teams ever. In any playoff series Cleveland had the best player and the other team would have next 4 best players. If you wanna blame Lebron, fine. Blame him for not being a miracle worker that couldn't carry that awful supporting cast to a championship.

Iv watched alot of NBA champs and looked at what they had. The only thing we lacked when Bron was here was a number 2 that also played good D. We got him decent offensive second options his whole time here but none of them played D. Also we simply choked in the playoffs. The only guys that wouldn't choke were Delonte and Lebron.

Iv had the convos many times and stand by my opinion that we had enough to win and Lebron wasn't working miracles.....we just choked too damn hard in the playoffs

 

[Taiter]

Back in the Kemp years, Z was a heckuva player who would've started on most teams. He had some athleticism for his size too, but the surgeries robbed him of that.

 

[Karma]

johnhollinger John Hollinger
BTW, Alonzo Gee is vastly improved.

 

[WhoWeAre]

Wow...Gee's dunks were just incredible. How long until he's on scouting reports since he certainly isn't right now...