Gerald Wallace is king of the United States

[CBAreject]

(nm)

[Wretch]

Gerald Wallace was given a bag of Lays chips and was told that he couldn't eat just one. He then went on to eat every chip in the bag, the bag itself, and the person that gave him the chips.

[Diesel]

Seriously. They both started off as the same player... Athletic/Can't shoot.

Wallace still can't shoot, but he does one thing that I wish Smoove developed... He drives the lane.

Since Smoove has been doing much better at hitting the midrange and outside shot, that's what he does. I guess he goes by the theory that 2 points is 2 points..

However, it will crush defenses once Smoove shows that he can be a threat to drive or to hit the midrange shot. I think that's where he should be offensively. Wallace does it well. Even without the alley opps, Wallace showed no fear to take it through the lane last night.

Also, Wallace is a very good theif.

Honestly.. You have to admire what Charlotte has put together in 2 years..

When they come back next year, they will have:

Knight - leads the league in steals.

Wallace - 2nd in steals and top ten in Blocks.

Okafor - Will be a defensive stand out.

May - was looking pretty good before he got hurt.

I suppose they go into this draft looking for a 2 guard.

I wouldn't be surprised to see them end up with a trade down or just picking Morrison and trying to make him a SG..

[Traceman]

I think Felton takes over at PG next year. He has been playing GREAT lately and in fact, his numbers are better than Paul's over the last 10:

Felton - 32.5 mpg, 46% fg, 44% 3pfg, 17.4 ppg, 6.1 apg

Paul - 36.5 mpg, 41% fg, 30% 3pfg, 14.8 ppg, 7.4 apg

Over the last 5, there is an ever bigger difference:

Felton - 32.8 mpg, 49% fg, 46% 3pfg, 19.4 ppg, 7.2 apg

Paul - 35.0 mpg, 44% fg, 27% 3pfg, 15.0 ppg, 6.4 apg

I think Felton is clearly ready to take off at PG. If I'm Bickerstaff, I'd look HARD at Morrison, Gay or Brandon Roy. All 3 brings something that they need. Morrsion would give them scoring (which they lack), Gay would give them athleticism (which they lack) and Roy would give them both. The jury is still out on Okafor and may but if they can stay healthy, Charlotte should be pretty good next year.

[Diesel]

I don't know about that.

Bickerstaff uses Felton as an OG...

I know that Felton can find finishers on the break and Wallace on Alley opps.. But running the offense... is still a big question mark.. remember, Knight is having the best year of his career and he's up to 9 appg.

[thesheedera]

This is the problem with judging someone's future by looking only at how they begin their career off the bat. Felton had one of the league leaders in assists ahead of him, Paul didn't. Reverse how they were picked, and there's a good chance that Felton is the media darling and the hands down favorite for rookie of the year.

Raymond, Deron and Paul have been competing for several years now, their careers will always be compared and contrasted, they've played each other numerous times and will do so for a long time. So far Raymond has his HS championships and a college championship. It will be interesting to see who, if any of them, gets the NBA championship first.

My money's on Felton - a true warrior - just not sure if it'll happen with the Bobcats.

[Diesel]

Come on Sheeda.

Felton is not on Paul's level. You said it.. Felton has Knight... Knight run the offense for him. Felton is a JT like OG. If the roles were reversed, I don't think Felton could run the team that way Paul has. Hell, look at how Wake turned out without Paul...

Paul makes those around him Better.. .I don't think the same is easily said about Felton.

[thesheedera]

Quote:

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UNC Tarhell talking

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damn straight! You certainly know how to hit a nerve, don't you???

Now the Marvin issue is more difficult because so much of it depends on the perspective of the guy watching him. If you like him, you like what you see. If you dislike him, you hate what you see.

With Felton, its black and white. He is on Paul's level and he always has been. Yeah, I'll take your bait on this one, because if you have followed his college and NBA career, you know fully well that you can't be serious by saying he's anything but a complete player at the 1.

He does make the players around him better, that's what made him a high lottery pick and what's earning him time at the OG even though he's a natural PG. It's what won him the award for college's best PG last season.

He's much more effective as a PG, but has learned to be an OG through a lot of hard work this season. Paul has always been a scoring PG that can run an offense. Wake needed him to score, and he did.

Felton was a scorer in highschool, but in college he had to focus 100% on being the distributor and his offense suffered early on. By his junior season he had complete balance as a dangerous offensive player and a sensational floor general. He was a complete point guard who could score at will and run the team.

The Heels were a fast breaking team, so I admit that he's needed some time to get comfortable in the half court offense this season and to basically calm himself down. He's been back and forth as PG and OG all season, depending on whether Brevin's healthy or not, and if he's on the bench or in the game. He's being asked to be a combo guard again, but one that has to be a true PG when Brevin's not on the court, and to be an undersized SG when Brevin is. And he's doing great.

When Brevin is out of the game, he is obviously THE PG on the team. Its easiest to look at how Raymond's played when Brevin doesn't even suit up, and Raymond gets the keys to charlotte's Pinto. I make sure I get to see these games especially.

Here are his lines every game that Brevin didn't play:

11/16 - 35 min. 6-13 FG (.462) 3-4 3PFG (.750) 3-5 FT(.600) 5 stl. 1 blk. 4 TO 2 PF 5 reb. 10 ast. 18 pts.

12/19 - 39 min. 6-14 FG (.429) 0-1 3FG (.000) 2-4 FT (.500) 4 stl. 0 blk. 4 TO 1 PF 6 reb. 9 ast. 14 pts.

1/13 - 37 min. 8-16 FG (.500) 3-7 3FG (.429) 0-3 FT (.000), 1 stl. 1 blk. 4 TO 1 PF 8 reb. 6 ast. 19 pts.

1/28 - 43 min. 7-16 FG (.438) 1-3 3FG (.333) 3-3 FT (1.000) 3 stl. 0 blk. 1 TO 4 PF 4 reb. 13 ast. 18 pts.

2/10 - DNP - I think this was about the time of his car accident. Oh yeah, he's played through injuries suffered in a car accident. Can you tell how much I love this guy???

2/11 - 30 min. 5-10 FG (.500) 2-4 3 FG (.500) 2-3 FT (.667) 1 stl. 0 blk. 5 TO 3 PF 6 reb. 8 ast. 14 pts.

3/21 - 38 min. 4-14 FG (.286) 3-7 3 FG (.429) 5-6 FT (.833) 1 stl. 0 blk. 2 TO 2 PF 7 reb. 13 ast. 16 pts.

3/22 - 46 min. 12-21 FG (.571) 1-4 3 FG (.250) 5-8 FT (.625) 5 st. 0 blk. 4 TO 3 PF 7 reb. 10 ast. 30 pts.

And those are just the games that Brevin's out, on an injury depleted team. He also plays great WITH Brevin and when Brevin goes to the bench.

[thesheedera]

And BTW, he has always, and will always, make a bit(h out of Deron Williams.

[Traceman]

I think Felton is right there when it comes to comparisons with Paul and Williams.

In addition, Diesel talks about Felton having success playing alongside Knight well most of Paul's success has come playing alongside Speedy Claxton.

[exodus]

People are definitely sleeping on Felton this year because of Paul's early success. However Felton is much quicker and stronger than Paul and I think that will definitely show over time.

I was hoping the Hawks would trade down with Charlotte and get the 5 & 13 picks and take Felton. Last night was a reminder of how nice that deal would have been.

[AHF]

I'll come out and say that both Felton and Paul have exceeded my expectations. I will be interested to see how Felton's playmaking skills develop because I was never impressed with them at UNC.

[thesheedera]

Quote:

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I was never impressed with them at UNC.

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spoken like a true blue (wrong shade) blood kentucky fan

he was always good his junior year, but after the error at the end of the game against dook, he turned it on and was unstoppable. Overshadowed because of the other guys on the team, but Raymond was the most consistent and dependable player on the team throught his 3 years in school, and he never quits. He needs to polish some things for sure, but he's a fighter.

ex, I agree, getting Felton at #5 and a PF or C at #13 would have been a perfect draft in my mind.

[Diesel]

Stats may say one thing... And it's true that Speedy has played well at OG in N.O.

But watching Charlotte... Like Last night, most of the time, Felton defers the running of the offense to BK.

DO you think BK has 9+ apg by just sitting back and relaxing. BK this year has proved that he is one of the best floor generals in the game. That's not withstanding Felton's efforts..

[AHF]

My impression of him at UNC was that he was more of a scoring guard playing with some other outstanding scorers rather than a playmaking PG. I may be remembering wrong but I don't recall his A/TO ratio being all that great in college. Anyway, he has looked good in the limited minutes I've seen him this year. He had a couple excellent passes last night to set people up.

[thesheedera]

Quote:

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BK this year has proved that he is one of the best floor generals in the game.

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He did that last year too, Brevin is damn good, and we should consider him next season if we could get him away from Charlotte.

When they are both on the floor, BK is the PG, Felton is the OG. My point is that for several games and at points during every game Felton is out there by himself. During those times he IS the Bobcats PG, and he has done a great job when he gets the opportunity. Lots of people (many who are UNC fans who also like the Bobcats) feel that the offense is already better with Felton running the show.

Added to this are claims that Brevin doesn't get the ball to Felton as much as he should, as he is fighting to keep his job. I don't buy that much.

Its a testament to both of them that they aren't causing a stink about the situation. I think Felton knows its his job, just a matter of time, and Brevin knows he needs to put up or ship out, as he won't be needed much longer.

[thesheedera]

Re: Assist/To, Roy always made note that in his offense there would be a lot of tunrovers due to the pace. He pushes his PG to run as fast as he can 100% of the time. This year's players couldn't go nearly as fast as Ray could, but Ray was always pushing the ball. More possessions, more TOs.

his assist/to was 2.09 as a soph and 1.93 as a junior

[thesheedera]

...and...

Quote:

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My impression of him at UNC was that he was more of a scoring guard playing with some other outstanding scorers rather than a playmaking PG.

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I think Sean May & co. would have something to say about this. Raymond was every bit as good the playmaker as Ed Cota, but h had the added advantage of having the ability to take over a game scoring by himself when the rest of the team was flat.

I'm out for the day, enjoyed wasting my time with y'all.

[Diesel]

In Roy's offense, the PG does run 100% of the time to not get trapped into a halfcourt game. Roy wants a transition offense and the perceieved reason is because his PGs are not so good at running an offense in the halfcourt set.

Remember when Roy was at Kansas with Hinrich, that team had a very strong halfcourt game.. When they would break down and play halfcourt sets with Hinrich and Collison.

[tmac13]

We would be alot better team with Felton, Paul or Williams. At least all 3 can hit a wide open shot and all three attempt to play defense..You sure can't say that about our points.