Understand, nobody can check Shaq and our goal of pulling Shaq out on the perimeter doesn't work. Check with Sacrementio. We need to dominate other teams at spots 1 - 4. So far we have Steve and Cat who can hold their own against any 1 and 2 including the great Kobe. However, our 3 and 4 spots need major upgrading because we are getting killed. The only way to dethrone the Lakers, Spurs, or Sacremento is to compete very aggresively at spots 1 - 4. I would trade Ming to the Clippers for Lamar Odom, #8 and #12 and would allow us to upgrade at the 3 spot and backup point guard. (Moochie is not the answer - longterm)
I don't think we can declare the strategy of pulling Shaq away from the basket a failure because one team lost a controversial and very close seven game series.
Building your team to compete against another team is a big mistake. The Rockets should be building their team in their own image, not to dethrone the Lakers. The Rockets weakness was at the 3, 4, AND 5 spot! The reason the 3 and 4 spots were weak were because of injuries and youth. Griffin is considered a franchise PF. He can run, jump, shoot, defend, rebound, score and block shots. The PF position is set. Mo Taylor can score, is a decent rebounder, and has a wide body, he fills our PF need. Rice is a great scorer that was slowed by an injured foot last year. An injured foot kills a shooter. Now that he is apparently healthy there's our SF. Our only need is at center. We have that staring us in the face with Yao Ming. Build a team in your own image, not another team's image.
Actually, the Kings strategy worked. Sacramento had many chances to win that series. The Lakers were fortunate to escape. Having a center who can shoot and a Point Guard that can create scoring opportunities is a perfect combination to beat the Lakers.
I could not disagree more. Our biggest problems deal with interior defense and rebounding. These problems could be addressed by drafting a center that could do these things. The most important position in the NBA is the center position followed by the point guard position. We do not need the best players at each position. We need the team that plays the best together. Cato takes entirely too many plays off and for that matter, days off.(weeks off...) We drafted a power forward last year, we need to give him the time to develop. As for small forward, with the punch that we already have at the other positions and the interior defense that we will have with Ming, Rice could be used along with hopefully Nachbar more than effectively. This team will be something special when we draft Ming and we allow the team to gel as a unit!
