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Larry had fun today

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Jigo_oi said:
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You rank right up there with Larry Hughes in terms of biggest scumbags around.

:thumbup:
 
_amon _ones said:
In essence, everything that he gave this team can be replaced except the tough perimeter D...but the fact that he is being replaced by team players who are capable, but just need to learn MB's system makes what was lost easily overshadowed by what was gained by his leaving.
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We'll see. I think we'll find there are going to be times we need someone else to step up when LeBron is off for one reason or another.

We've seen Larry step-in and basically assume the #1 scoring role on the Bulls in just a matter of days.

The question for the new-look Cavs is ... who's going to do it for us now?

Will better PG play and some offensive ball movement pick up the slack without a need for a 2nd go-to-guy option?

That'd be nice, but I'm not banking on it.
 
JonFromVA said:
We'll see. I think we'll find there are going to be times we need someone else to step up when LeBron is off for one reason or another.

We've seen Larry step-in and basically assume the #1 scoring role on the Bulls in just a matter of days.

The question for the new-look Cavs is ... who's going to do it for us now?

Will better PG play and some offensive ball movement pick up the slack without a need for a 2nd go-to-guy option?

That'd be nice, but I'm not banking on it.
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I don't see why Szczerbiak couldn't fill in that role, if all you're looking for is someone to replace Hughes. They're career PPG is roughly the same, but with Szczerbiak shooting a much higher percentage. He looks to be a decent overall scorer, not just a shooter, from what I've seen of him so far. He can post up a bit and occasionally can put the ball on the floor and head to the basket. I think he can function as our number two option for now.
 
I dont know if this has been said already.... But the thing that really irks me about these statements is that they come AFTER we sign this clown and AFTER he leaves Cleveland.

Its almost like he was afraid to speak his mind until he was out of Cleveland. Id be willing to bet the farm that his tune was 180degrees different before he signed for that 46 million.

That leads me to believe that it was 100% about the money and that no one else was offering Larry anything close to what we were. Ferry gets a BIG :thumbdown on that one.

Im not even shocked by the comments because his shot selection, body language and his whole tired ass act has been screaming these things for 2 years. We may actually miss his defense on Chauncey, but the improvements in other areas. Our team took a huge step toward becoming a cohesive unit with a single-minded goal of winning a championship.

Getting rid of dumb and dumberer was definitely addition by subtraction. I think the real dividends of this trade show with Z and Gibson healthy.
 
tedginnjr said:
I don't see why Szczerbiak couldn't fill in that role, if all you're looking for is someone to replace Hughes. They're career PPG is roughly the same, but with Szczerbiak shooting a much higher percentage. He looks to be a decent overall scorer, not just a shooter, from what I've seen of him so far. He can post up a bit and occasionally can put the ball on the floor and head to the basket. I think he can function as our number two option for now.
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I don't get the impression Wally is going to just take his man off the dribble and score and/or set up others, and his defense may relegate him to a back-up/situational role.

But if someone else could actually run some plays and free him up and if we could cover up any defensive deficiencies with our front court, it's conceivable.

Either way, if it happens it'd be clear evidence that any average NBA scrub can replace Larry's production - because neither Wally nor West have any reputation or background of carrying a pro team anywhere.

I don't have my hopes up. Mostly I think moving Hughes opens up a hole at PG or SG that we'll look to fill this off-season or next season and try to bring in someone who can do more than set up behind the 3pt line and fire.
 
bigtyme said:
Its almost like he was afraid to speak his mind until he was out of Cleveland. Id be willing to bet the farm that his tune was 180degrees different before he signed for that 46 million.
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Larry spoke up at times as a Cav and expressed that he wanted the offense to change and wanted more touches. Mike Brown's compromise was to let them run more early offense if they'd push the ball, and he'd get Larry more touches by playing point. Kind of clever really. Larry gets the ball in his hands more, but his primary responsibility is to give it up. He was handling the ball enough as PG that if his devious plan was to hoist 30 shots a game, he could have.

Anyway

Mike Wilbon spoke about Hughes tonight on PTI, at least about his comments from the other day, and he's certainly even more familiar with Hughes than I am. His point was that in spite of what Hughes was saying and how most people would take it, that Larry was not a selfish player and that at worst he was only voicing what most NBA players simply leave unsaid.

They all want more touches. They all want the ball in their hands. They all think they should start. They all think the offense should run threw them.

We all thought Boozer was happy with the Cavs and his role. We didn't find out the truth until after he was gone. With Hughes... at least we knew.
 
Here's another hatchet-job you guys might enjoy (thanks to the Bulls forum over at RealGM):

You Hughes, you lose: Revised Bulls miss out
It can't be good if winning doesn't matter to your star
Linky: http://www.suntimes.com/sports/slezak/8...04.article

March 4, 2008
BY CAROL SLEZAK Sun-Times Columnist
It was just about this time last year that the Bulls began playing like a pretty good team. They were a selfless group, and they seemed to have a bright future. And now? Just when you thought the season couldn't get any worse, the Bulls hit have hit a new low. As if the weekend losses to the Wizards and Cavaliers weren't bad enough, newcomer Larry Hughes decided to elaborate on his time in Cleveland. I wish he hadn't.

When the Bulls visited Cleveland on Sunday, Hughes told reporters that playing for the Cavs had not been an enjoyable experience.

''They wanted me to sacrifice things so we could win,'' he said.

It seems that not even a trip to the NBA Finals last season could put a smile on Hughes' face.

''We had 50-plus wins, made the Finals and I learned from it,'' he said. ''I was unhappy, though, and wasn't myself. I'd rather enjoy the game than all that.''

Say what you will about Ben Wallace, whose contract essentially was swapped for Hughes' contract, but at least the big guy cared about winning. At least he was proud of his championship ring. In Hughes, the Bulls have a $12 million-a-year player who couldn't care less about winning. In fact, winning made Hughes unhappy. We can only assume he is deliriously happy now, having joined a Bulls team that might not even win 30 games, is unlikely to glimpse the postseason this year and at its current rebuilding pace will not make it back to the NBA Finals in Hughes' lifetime.

Not leadership material
I wish we could write this off to Hughes misspeaking. But we can't because he expressed similar sentiments when he was traded to the Bulls last month. This time he was more specific.

How ironic that Bulls general manager John Paxson had been methodically building a team that was the opposite of the me-first mentality Hughes has espoused. The Bulls were winning with hard work. The Bulls were winning with teamwork. The Bulls were winning without a star player. That's all irrelevant. That team mysteriously changed its personality, and Paxson had no choice but to begin its dismantling. So it was bye-bye, Ben; hello, Hughes.

The worst thing about Hughes' proclamation is that he is the Bulls' best player. You don't want your best player talking like that -- or thinking like that. True, he's the best player on a lousy team. He's a streaky shooter. He's injury-prone. But he is a proven scorer and can play defense when he feels like it. Too bad he's not a winner. It's a shame he couldn't handle playing on the same team with LeBron James, one of the top five players in the game. It's too bad he couldn't appreciate being an extremely highly paid player on a very good team.

I guess he's found his level. Blowing a big lead to the Wizards at home? Not being able to finish? Unable to hit a clutch shot or make a key defensive stop? The Bulls' roster is filled with guys who lack a killer instinct and inner fire. Welcome to your new home, Larry Hughes. Looks like you'll fit in just fine here.

Hughes told reporters the Bulls' system suits him because ''there is more movement and draw-and-kicks.'' The fact that the Bulls are battling the Bucks for last place in the division? I guess that only adds to his fun.

Not much better
Paxson was cheered for finding a taker for Wallace at the trade deadline. The thinking was that no team would want Wallace's big contract, aging legs and coach-killing attitude. But in the end, the Bulls still are saddled with a big contract and a puzzling player. What's the difference?

It's not that I have a problem with Hughes wanting the ball more. I've often wished that Luol Deng wanted the ball more. And nobody wants the ball more than Kobe Bryant, the best player in the game.

But what separates Bryant from everyone else is his competitiveness. As he proved again during the Lakers' overtime win Sunday, Bryant doesn't want to lose. He won't let his team lose. Winning motivates Bryant.

Hughes, who is owed $26.4 million over the next two seasons, clearly is not motivated by winning. Which means that when Paxson, who has stockpiled more mediocre combo guards than any general manager in the league, kicks the Bulls' umpteenth rebuilding program into high gear this summer, he might have trouble finding a taker for Hughes. If that's the case, then Hughes will be sticking around. And the best fans can do is hope his attitude isn't contagious.
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Man, it just feels like people are trying to make excuses for Hughes and trying to put a good spin on something that Larry clearly feels. He has twice talked about taking bad shots and not caring about winning or doing the things it takes to win. He isn't trying to hide it. He didn't misspeak or phrase it poorly. He just didn't care about winning and he actively did what he wanted instead of trying win with the team plan.

You can say he is a good person, you can say he isn't selfish, you can say...whatever positives about him, he still had a shitty attitude about basketball. Seems like most Cleveland fans and now Chicago fans hate it. You can't win with a guy like this playing any kind of major role on your team, and why do we play the game? I don't care about him as a person or his personality...that doesn't matter for what is being talked about. His attitude about basketball (all I am talking about is basketball) sucked.
 
JonFromVA said:
You're missing the "to get going" part. As a volume shooter, he needs to find his rhythm and then once he does ... the shots often start falling. When the shots start falling, then the driving lanes open up.
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I dont mind a guy getting some shots up in order to "get going"... But Larrys always seemed to be the ball stopping, momentum killing, rhythm breaking, just overall bad shot variety. Couldnt he get his shots up in the flow of the offense? Even if he didnt like the O, Lebron got him plenty of wide open shots in space that he seemed to routinely brick.


JonFromVA said:
With our current team who other than LeBron is going to take and make a tough shot when everyone is covered well and the driving lanes are cut off? Everyone can't defer. Hopefully we'll figure out how to run a play and get a decent shot for someone else.
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I remember arguing at the beginning of the season that Damon Jones should start and that Larry Hughes should look to get to his sweet spots to draw the defense and defer his shots to Gibson on the weak side of the defense opposite Lebron. Nothing that Ive seen in Larrys career... Cle, Phi or Was, convinces me that I want him taking more shots than DGibson when theyre on the floor together with Lebron.

Now we all know the reason he did not defer those shots. Not that anyone couldnt have figured drew/larry's tired acts anyhow. Good Riddance
 
JonFromVA said:
Either way, if it happens it'd be clear evidence that any average NBA scrub can replace Larry's production - because neither Wally nor West have any reputation or background of carrying a pro team anywhere.
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What is there to replace exactly? It's not like Hughes was consistant at being anything but inconsistant.

14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 39%-40% from the field, 33%-34% from threes are Hughes's rough averages from his 2.5 year career as a Cavalier.

Lord knows those 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal ALWAYS made up for those 4-17 FG, 3 TO nights.
 
I realize it's a small sample size, but Delonte West barely knows the plays he is supposed to be running out there and he is already averaging more rebounds, more assists, fewer turnovers and is shooting a higher percentage from the floor every night then Larry Hughes averaged over his entire Cavalier career.
 
CBBI said:
I realize it's a small sample size, but Delonte West barely knows the plays he is supposed to be running out there and he is already averaging more rebounds, more assists, fewer turnovers and is shooting a higher percentage from the floor every night then Larry Hughes averaged over his entire Cavalier career.
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And Wally will be averaging more points, and shooting higher percentages as soon as he is up to speed.

P.S. How the HELL do the Bulls figure that Larry is their best player??? Did they WATCH this guy? Hinrich and Gordon are both better.
 
CBBI said:
What is there to replace exactly? It's not like Hughes was consistant at being anything but inconsistant.
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Defense and ability to create a shot for usually himself but sometimes others.

Stat wise it's not just about replacing what Larry provided the past two years while he played dinged up and injured, it's also about replacing what he would have provided - and that all depends whether he stays healthy or continues to be plagued by broken fingers, bruised knees, bad feet, etc.

In other words, are Larry's February numbers just the start of him returning to a higher level of play? Or just a blip ... an aberration? He had 15 double digit scoring games in a row up until this last game against Memphis. That's a lot of consistency for a Cav not named LeBron.

So yes, Damon, Gibson, Wally, etc, are all preferable to Larry when it comes to shooting a wide-open 3. The problems start when a team actually manages to cover them. Perhaps we'll be forced to find ways to free them up for shots? Perhaps with a guy like Ben Wallace who knows how to set a decent pick we can?

West may be able to pickup much of the slack, but I want to see how well he pairs up with others. Larry gave us a lot of flexibility since he was able to cover either SGs, PGs, and even some SFs.

Lots of possibilities, but until they happen, they're all still question marks.
 
Jim Rome just said he's going to address this Larry Hughes doesn't play to win stuff today on his show.
 
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