The Centers from last free agency...

[TheRedStripes]

It seems most people on this board have been impressed with ZaZa so far, I know I have been, but I thought I would look at how he is doing so far compared to the other free agent centers from last season, I know it's only a few games into the season but im bored, and I find this somewhat interesting, heres the stats and ages of the centers talked about last year, so far this year

ZaZa Pachulia

Age: 21

Points/Rebounds/Blocks: 13/8/1

Sam Dalembert

Age: 24

Points/Rebounds/Blocks: 8/7/2

Tyson Chandler

Age: 23

Points/Rebounds/Blocks: 8/10/1

Kwame Brown

Age: 23

Points/Rebounds/Blocks: 6/5/0

Eddy Curry

Age: 23

Points/Rebounds/Blocks: 14/5/1

I would say So far the Hawks got the best player, and for the money, It was far and away the best signing. Kudos to Billy Knight on that one.

[Traceman]

I'd LOVE to see Zaza at PF with Curry at C at times.

[capstone21]

Dalembert has not played yet. He will be the best one of the lot. However, Zaza has been great pickup at a bargain price.

As for Curry, I am glad we didn't get him. He is a lazy center who does not play defence. He could also drop dead on the court at any time. He has great offensive moves in the post but the fact that he doesn't rebound makes me glad we didn't waste the money and cap space on this kid.

[Nicholasp27]

i'm still pleased we didn't get curry

he is too risky and we didn't need to blow our future on him

jj has always been a healthy player, and even if he doesn't work out at pg, he's still a heck of a sg...

if curry didn't improve his rebounding, he'd be overpaid and if he stayed lazy or got injured, we'd be screwed

[mudderfudder77]

Sorry, but these numbers don't take defense into accounts - Dalembert and Chandler are far and away the best of the lot in that area.

[Traceman]

Curry. Curry has far more natural offensive ability and you can't teach the size/athleticism combo he has. I think Dalembert will always be solid but never a star. Curry can be a star. As far as his rebounding goes, it is hard to tell if he is improving that or not. He has only played 16 minutes in each of of the last 2 games and he got 5 and 3 boards respectively. He got 8 boards in the first game. I'm sure Larry Brwon is trying to motivate him to play the way he wants him to play by cutting his minutes and that is a good thing. That is what a good coach SHOULD do just as Woodson did by benching Smoove.

As for the possibility that he might drop dead, obviously, that is possible for anyone. But Curry has had more tests done on his heart than anyone I know over the last few months and has been cleared to play. Sure getting him would have been a risk but if his heart had not been an issue, I doubt we would have ever had the opportunity to sign him in the first place. Like Isiah told Larry Brown, if Curry was a great rebounder and defender, you wouldn't have him right now. It is your job as coach to get him to be those things.

[emeans]

I agree Traceman.

People keep forgetting that Curry is still a kid too, he came out of high school. He is still learning the game and he has the potential to be a star. Yes there would have been risk, but so was the JJ trade a huge risk too.

Secondly, people have to start being careful about comparing stats and making a point solely off of stats. Stats do not tell the entire story!!!

Let me first say Zsa Zsa is solid, however on a sorry team with no other Center it is almost inevitable that Zsa Zsa will put up very impressive numbers. But to show these stats and to just say well he is better than all of these guys is very misleading.

I say the same thing about Chillz last year. Again let me preface this by saying Chillz is a solid basketball player, however his stats were coming from a sorry team that he had massive playing time that only won 13 games.

Now these stats mean a lot more AFTER I look at the Winning Record of the team. If a team is Winning then stats hold a lot more weight in my eyes. If you are losing team and you are putting up huge numbers I am not so overly impressed with individual stats because they don't tell the entire story. Winning should be the 1st indicator of whether their stats are significantly legitimate.

[exodus]

Curry has always been lazy and that is why his playing time will continue to be limited with Brown as a coach. They play better with Frye in the game.

I am very glad they didn't get Curry. I would have liked Daly but that was a longshot. I was praying they wouldn't get Kwame. Thank you Lakers.

I am hoping they can get Przybilla next year. I think he would be a perfect fit here.

[Traceman]

player that Curry is. Teams actually have to account for Curry when his team has the ball and that is certainly not the case with Pryz. Pryz is a role player at best while Curry is a possible All Star caliber player.

[exodus]

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Curry is a possible All Star caliber player.

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A guy his size who gets outrebounded by point guards isn't an All-Star.

[mudderfudder77]

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Curry is a possible All Star caliber player.

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A guy his size who gets outrebounded by point guards isn't an All-Star.

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Agreed. Curry will never be able to play enough minutes to accumulate the kind of stats needed to be an All-Star. His conditioning is and always has been (even last year when he slimmed down)atrocious. 20/5/1 with 4 to's/game isn't going to cut it...

[Lascar78]

his conditioning last year was unbelievable. People who claim he was out of shape still go off of his criticism from his first year and a half. He was in great shape last year, and that's not debatable

[mudderfudder77]

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his conditioning last year was unbelievable. People who claim he was out of shape still go off of his criticism from his first year and a half. He was in great shape last year, and that's not debatable

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Yes it is, I'm a Chicago fan and watched roughly 60 games last year. He was in good physical shape, but was still unable to put long stretches together. Just because a guy looks good doesn't mean he has stamina. His defense wasn't the only reason Skiles left him on the bench in the fourth. If he played significant minutes in the first half, he was toast by the fourth. He was in the best shape of his life, but for Curry thats not saying much... And now that he's got the big contract, I wouldn't expect to see a slimmed down Curry anytime soon.

[Packfill]

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player that Curry is. Teams actually have to account for Curry when his team has the ball and that is certainly not the case with Pryz. Pryz is a role player at best while Curry is a possible All Star caliber player.

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The problem is Curry gives up as many points as he scores. Show me the last team to win an NBA title without solid interior defense?

SA - Duncan (and Robinson)

Det - Wallace and Wallace

LAL - Shaq

Chicago - Grant then Rodman

Houston - Hakeem

LAL - Kareem

Boston - Parrish and McHale

Detroit - Salley, Lambier, Mahorn and Rodman

[Traceman]

get better? I didn't say he will be an All Star this year. I said that he is a potential All Star caliber player. It may take a season or two with Larry Brown for him to get there but I think he will get there.

[Traceman]

better last year than ever before. Does that not speak to improvement? I think there is a HECK of a lot better chance of him getting into tip top shape than there is that Dalembert or Chandler will EVER be the low post threat that he is.

[Traceman]

good enough, particularly when paired with a tough defender/rebounder at PF. It is a heck of a lot easier to find a Center who can rebound and defend than it is to find a Center who commands a double team in the low post. Heck, we could trade for a Jeff Foster type and play him alongside Curry. Curry certainly can't be any worse on D than Luc Longley was in Chicago.

[mudderfudder77]

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better last year than ever before. Does that not speak to improvement? I think there is a HECK of a lot better chance of him getting into tip top shape than there is that Dalembert or Chandler will EVER be the low post threat that he is.

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And Curry will always give up as many points as he scores. Sure he improved his conditioning, but it was also a contract year - coincidence? Now that he's got his contract he's out of shape, curious. Give me a Ben Wallace/ Tyson Chandler type over Curry any day of the week.

[Packfill]

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good enough, particularly when paired with a tough defender/rebounder at PF. It is a heck of a lot easier to find a Center who can rebound and defend than it is to find a Center who commands a double team in the low post. Heck, we could trade for a Jeff Foster type and play him alongside Curry. Curry certainly can't be any worse on D than Luc Longley was in Chicago.

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Well, if you haven't noticed, the reason the Hawks need a defensive oriented center is because they have a power forward that is more offensive oriented and lacks an interior defensive presence. Al is a good player, he will be even better with a good defender watching his back (oh, and a point guard that can stop penetration). Good low post moves alone do not make someone a great player. Moreover, just because Curry has some size and athleticism does not mean he will become a good defender (see Olowakandi, M.; Benjamin, B.; Dare, Y.; James, J.; Roberts, S.; etc.).

Also, Luc Longley is a bad example because he played on a team with two of the best perimeter defenders of all time (Pippen and Jordan), one of whom happened to be the greatest player of all time, and a defensive oriented power forward (Grant and Rodman). Longley was 6 fouls on that team, nothing more.

[Traceman]

he was dealing with? How can a man who is naturally that big slim down when he can't do any cardiovascular exercise? I am willing to bet that you will see Curry's physical conditioning drastically improve over the next few months as he continues to work on it.

As for Chandler, I like him too but we were not going to get him (just as we were not going to get Dalembert). I still think Curry has the potential to be better than him though. I guess time will tell.