Al vs Shareef

[Iman]

This year's free agent class is weak so Al just may get a near max offer. I dont think he fits our team or is worth big money but we do have to be careful to get maximal value from our assets. This may force us to resign Al and look to move him later.

The funny thing is if you stuck Al in last year's free agent class I doesnt appear he would have been offered so much. Shareef struggled to get what he got. Both Al and Reef are similar in most areas including both seem to have bodies that are starting to fail them. I personally would much rather have Reef. Al's inconsistency is very annoying whereas Reef is solid as a rock, he always gets his numbers. Reef also seems to be able to get his numbers without dominating the ball as much. Reef rebounds very good for his size, much better than Al, and is better defensively than Al but that's not saying much. Maybe we shoulda just made a move to pick up Reef last year if we seriously want to keep Al. I know that sounds ridiculous given all the forwards we have but so is the idea of giving Al a contract any larger than the one Reef received.

[GoDawgs21]

Your sooo right they are almost the same AL is all of 25 and shoots over 45% from 3. Reef is on the other side of 30 and doesnt have range at all. How did we miss the comparison. I repeat what i wrote on another post.

That was my point, its not the players is the franchise that Knight took over. When you have an orginazation drafting John Konkack over Karl Malone. Now nobody has a cyrstal ball, but we havent drafted an All-Star since Pistol Pete. (Nique came from Utah). So how do you expect to turn a franchise around over night. You can't blame AL for not getting a PG in the draft to get the ball to everyone that can finish. Smoove and Chill can finish they just cant create their own shot. So lets just trade the best player on the team, and not to mention a guy who has come out time and time again saying he wants to be here and build something for a rental like Artest or Francis. You know neither will stay when their contracts are up up. Yes AL will ask a lot this off season and he deserves it, but dont go offering him to any team for reasons out of his control. Everyone knocks his turnovers, well how many of those come when he gets the ball with 3 seconds left on the shot clock because we cant get in our offensive set. So he is forced to go into the double team and try and create or it will be a shot clock violation. How many turnovers because Chill and Smoove are young and stand there and dont cut, causing the defense to collapse and giving Al no outlet. Everyone points at the negative, but nobody points out he is one of the best SF in the game, is only 25, and wants to be here. Give him a PG and watch how he and JJ will take off.

[AHF]

Again we have drafted an all-star - Kevin Willis. Correct your cut and paste paragraph!

[AHF]

And I agree with the general sentiment that Al is a good player and we don't need to trade him just to get rid of him. He is a real asset and young just like the rest of this team. I am fine resigning him at a good price or trading him for valuable assets (picks or players).

[Nicholasp27]

the problem is that he WON'T resign for less than 9+mil/year...which is TOO MUCH for what he gives us and our team makeup

[AHF]

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the problem is that he WON'T resign for less than 9+mil/year...which is TOO MUCH for what he gives us and our team makeup

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If a team is willing to give him 8 figures per year to sign they will be willing to give up a significant asset to acquire him.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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Your sooo right they are almost the same AL is all of 25 and shoots over 45% from 3. Reef is on the other side of 30 and doesnt have range at all. How did we miss the comparison. I repeat what i wrote on another post.

That was my point, its not the players is the franchise that Knight took over. When you have an orginazation drafting John Konkack over Karl Malone. Now nobody has a cyrstal ball, but we havent drafted an All-Star since Pistol Pete. (Nique came from Utah). So how do you expect to turn a franchise around over night. You can't blame AL for not getting a PG in the draft to get the ball to everyone that can finish. Smoove and Chill can finish they just cant create their own shot. So lets just trade the best player on the team, and not to mention a guy who has come out time and time again saying he wants to be here and build something for a rental like Artest or Francis. You know neither will stay when their contracts are up up. Yes AL will ask a lot this off season and he deserves it, but dont go offering him to any team for reasons out of his control. Everyone knocks his turnovers, well how many of those come when he gets the ball with 3 seconds left on the shot clock because we cant get in our offensive set. So he is forced to go into the double team and try and create or it will be a shot clock violation. How many turnovers because Chill and Smoove are young and stand there and dont cut, causing the defense to collapse and giving Al no outlet. Everyone points at the negative, but nobody points out he is one of the best SF in the game, is only 25, and wants to be here. Give him a PG and watch how he and JJ will take off.

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What you're missing, is that even with Al's stellar play, he has cost us more games than he has won . . strictly because of his defense down the stretch of games. Even his offense down the stretch of games is less than to be desired.

And it's not like Al is the difference in us becoming a playoff team right now. In fact, who's to say that if you increase JJ's shots by 4 - 6 a game, that he couldn't average 23 - 25 ppg, with the rest of the guys picking up the slack?

I mean, Big Dog was doing the same things that Al does now, in the first year Dog was here. The numbers are similar . . and the defense is too.

It's one thing if we didn't have a choice but to keep Al, but we do have choices now. Even Lue, Chill, and Smoove played well last year when Al wasn't even in the lineup. They took on the scoring and rebounding roles and thrived in them. Chill was around 15 points and 8 rebounds last year, while Smoove was at 13 and 9.

Al is definitely expendible on a team that he doesn't necessarily make a better team overall.

[Traceman]

You guys are hilarious! Al is not a great defender by any stretch but he is certainly better than Dog. His D is actually not TERRIBLE, it's just not good. If we had a big time defender at Center, I think Al's D is adequate.

People talk about Smoove like he is a terrific defender already but that is FAR from being the case. Smoove is a good shotblocker and a decent help defender but his post D is still a work in progress. A good example of that was on display for those who watched the Houston game. Did you see Smove trying to guard Juwan Howard in the post? Howard posted him and Smoove tried to fight around and front him. Problem was, he fought around Howard on the BOTTOM and the passer then had an easy pass to Howard right to the front of the rim which he converted of course. That was about as bad a display of the proper way to play post D as you will ever see. Right now, Smoove is actually better at defending most SFs than he is defending most PFs. That might change but it hasn't yet.

[exodus]

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Did you see Smove trying to guard Juwan Howard in the post? Howard posted him and Smoove tried to fight around and front him. Problem was, he fought around Howard on the BOTTOM and the passer then had an easy pass to Howard right to the front of the rim which he converted of course. That was about as bad a display of the proper way to play post D as you will ever see.

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I saw that play Trace, and I also saw how he didn't score squat after that after lighting up Al in the first half.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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You guys are hilarious! Al is not a great defender by any stretch but he is certainly better than Dog. His D is actually not TERRIBLE, it's just not good. If we had a big time defender at Center, I think Al's D is adequate.

People talk about Smoove like he is a terrific defender already but that is FAR from being the case. Smoove is a good shotblocker and a decent help defender but his post D is still a work in progress. A good example of that was on display for those who watched the Houston game. Did you see Smove trying to guard Juwan Howard in the post? Howard posted him and Smoove tried to fight around and front him. Problem was, he fought around Howard on the BOTTOM and the passer then had an easy pass to Howard right to the front of the rim which he converted of course. That was about as bad a display of the proper way to play post D as you will ever see. Right now, Smoove is actually better at defending most SFs than he is defending most PFs. That might change but it hasn't yet.

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Trace, what's happening down the stretch of games, are teams are attacking two areas . . PG and PF. Those are the positions that Lue and Al play most of the time when the game is on the line. And those are the two guys that teams go right after. And it's usually with the pick and roll.

No, Al's defense is not as bad as Big Dog's, but the effect of his defense may as well be the same in these tight games.

As far as Smoove goes, his post D needs work as well . . just not as much as Al's. And at least Smoove gives you the "threat" of a shot being blocked, instead of what Al gives . . the "look at you while you drive to the basket" threat.

Smoove's D has changed a few games this year. I can't say the same about Al.

[SouthernBred]

^^^So true, Al also gives you the "the thought being held/getting grabbed" threat or the threat "of swatting at the ball."

[Nicholasp27]

al doesn't have much choice but to just stand there and watch the players since his d is so bad

he's our top fouler at over 4 per game...if he didn't just stand there and watch, he'd foul out each game