Smith/Horford situation..

[Cwell]

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He is playing against some of the best players in Europe and around the world and while that's not the NBA there are plenty of NBA talented players over there. Do you think Manu came to the NBA battle tested or like a rookie? That's exactly the same situation that Andersen will be coming from.

Manu still came up like a rookie.

[Cwell]

not as much as u wanna think

[Admin]

and because he was battle tested he was a HUGE part of them winning the title his rookie season.

[AtLaS]

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and because he was battle tested he was a HUGE part of them winning the title his rookie season.

That's not true. He shot 38% during the entire playoffs and only averaged 9 ppg in 29 minutes, that's terrible.

[thefloydian]

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anyone who can make a jumper would be a very welcome addition.

Exactly. The fact that he's 7 feet and could occupy another team's big man is just a bonus.

[Cwell]

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and because he was battle tested he was a HUGE part of them winning the title his rookie season.

That's not true. He shot 38% during the entire playoffs and only averaged 9 ppg in 29 minutes, that's terrible. I only remember Manu trying to steal every thing.The big part was having Duncan on of the best of all time with Stephen Jackson not being able to miss from 3.oh he also had David Robinson.He wasn't that great,he improved like all rookies.

[pound4pound]

It actually has everything to do with the Horford / Smith situation. Anyone who watched the Boston series knows that we simply have too many problems against teams with a legit center. Unless we find a way to bring those big bodies away from the paint with a seven footer that can be an outside threat, then we are going to continue to be uncompetitive in the paint. The only way we can move Smith to the three is to have a shooter at the 5. This issue has to be resolved.

Anderson hasn't played one game in the NBA - but he has what we need to keep Horford and Smith on the floor at the same time. He also has a lot better shot at competing at the next level due to the success of other Euro players that seasoned oversees like Jorge Garbajosa.

It has to work to solve the Smith / Horford situation. The only other options are to break up the team somehow to keep from getting pushed around inside.

[Admin]

He shot almost 40% from 3 and almost 2 steals per game. There is a lot more to basketball than just scoring. His defense was huge.

[thefloydian]

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I honestly don't get all the hype with that David Andersen guy.

The "hype" is the "promise" of the a dude that is

1. A big

2. A big that isn't Zaza

3. A big that can shoot which this team desperately needs

4. A big that is battle tested

5. A big that compliments Al and JS perfectly. Al has to work on a more refined post game. JS has to develop his handle better. Particularly his right, more so than his jump shot IMO.

He could be our best big since Deke or even Joel Pryzbilla. The latter may not say much but we just need big bodies regardless.

I'm assuming the Euro 3 is more than 20 feet and he shot extremely well from there. Centers will have to respect his jumpshot and that should open up things better for the playmakers.

I think the Euro 3 is about 3 feet shorter than the NBA three.

[Admin]

It's slightly more than the college 3 so that should give you a good idea of how that might translate when you compare how college 3pt shooters translate to the NBA.

[AtLaS]

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He shot almost 40% from 3 and almost 2 steals per game. There is a lot more to basketball than just scoring. His defense was huge.

That is true, and I'm not saying he didn't contribute, but he wasn't a key player in winning that championship at all. He was just another guy who got minutes.

[Admin]

Certainly not like he has been but definitely more than typical rookies will be.

[Kimsey]

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anyone who can make a jumper would be a very welcome addition.

Exactly. The fact that he's 7 feet and could occupy another team's big man is just a bonus.

Ding! Ding!! Ding!!!

Opponents will have to respect his shot according to his scouting report. Nobody says he will come in like Yao and just dominant. Just need about 15-20 minutes from him.

Via DraftExpress

CSKA Moscow vs. Tau Vitoria

This one looked like a much slower, more thought out game than the up and down pace of the previous game. Tau Vitoria jumped ahead to a surprising 39-33 lead in the first 20 minutes, mainly behind the inside presence of Tiago Splitter (10 points, and 6 missed free throws), and the surprisingly aggressive play of Zoran Planinic. Ramunas Siskauskas carried CSKA early, making shots and creating opportunities for Matjaz Smodis, but foul trouble limited his play, as well as Langdon’s—with 3 fouls each. Tau’s defense did a great job early on of forcing CSKA into taking bad shots, and the Russians clearly lacked a spark off the bench from their once great playmaker, Theo Papaloukas. He’s been fairly invisible so far, not trying to initiate anything, and clearly lacking the athleticism to get by anyone or finish when he did. This was not a pretty game in the first half, and the atmosphere clearly fell off a bit once Maccabi’s fans exited the building to begin the celebrations. CSKA is relying too heavily on JR Holden to carry them offensively, which is making them a bit predictable.

The second half was an all-out war, as both teams pounded on each other incessantly inside, on every drive, post-up and box-out for rebound, while there were only so many fouls that the ref could have called. David Andersen was excellent for CSKA, scoring 12 points in the half (16 total) on a series of mid-range jumpers, being particularly clutch in the closing minutes when his team took the lead and held onto it until the very end. He played nearly the entire second half, and did not miss a shot inside the arc the entire game, going 8-8 from the field. His last basket might have been his biggest, a huge put-back dunk off an offensive rebound to put CSKA up by 7 with just over a minute to go. We wondered if the Hawks would be here, and indeed the man responsible for drafting him seven years back, Mark Crow, was in attendance and looked quite pleased with the way he played, as he should have been. Theodoros Papaloukas woke up in the second half, reeling off 8 points to finish with 10, and stringing together two huge transition baskets in the fourth quarter that were extremely important to his team’s win. Ramunas Siskauskas finished with a “quiet” 16 points, always within the flow of his offense, slaloming in between defenders and finishing either hand, knocking down shots, drawing plenty of fouls and knocking down 7 of his 8 shots from the line, including two huge ones at the very end to seal the game.

The final score was 83-79 CSKA. The Russians are going to the Euroleague final for the third straight year in a row. This is their sixth straight appearance in the Final Four. They had five players finish with double digit scoring. Tiago Splitter had 17 points for Tau on 5-7 shooting from the field. He was terrific with his back to the basket inside, commanding double teams and finding the open man, using nice pivot moves and even hitting a pretty swooping hook shot in the lane. Maybe the 7-14 he shot from the free throw line will convince him to work on getting rid of the ugly hitch he has in his mechanics from the line, but regardless, there is no question that the San Antonio Spurs got a huge stud—a player worthy of a top 10 pick fall to them at the end of the first round. Zoran Planinic was solid with 17 points, and Igor Rakocevic had 19.

Who is the hell is Mark Crow? I thought Babcock drafted this dude.

[Admin]

Very nice! I'm glad that we had our guy in attendance and it's great to hear how well he shot, especially in the clutch. I don't expect him to be an Al Horford type of impact player for us but he should definitely help us in areas where we are weak.

[AtLaS]

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Anyone who watched the Boston series knows that we simply have too many problems against teams with a legit center.

Of course, because we can't shoot so we HAVE to take it to the basket. So teams pack the lane. If we could shoot, the lane would be much wider open and there would be plenty of room to work with, and when players help down, that would open up kickouts and floaters.

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Unless we find a way to bring those big bodies away from the paint with a seven footer that can be an outside threat, then we are going to continue to be uncompetitive in the paint.

What? We are one of the top teams in the entire NBA in the paint. Not to mention most teams starting centers are not shooters and they do fine. The fact is that Smith must play PF and Horford must play C if we keep both of them. We can play Smith at the 3 sometimes, and Horford at the 4 sometimes, but both will have to spend the majority at 4 and 5.

[AtLaS]

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Exactly. The fact that he's 7 feet and could occupy another team's big man is just a bonus.

Where did this idea that he's 7' come from? From everything I've heard in the past 6 years he's much closer to 6'9 than anything.

[thefloydian]

Wikipedia says he's 6'11. That's what I was going by.

NBA.com says 7: http://www.nba.com/draft2002/profiles/david_andersen.html

[dig]

This is a good thread and I think we all realized we'd have to deal with the Al vs. Josh dilemma eventually... Al is a prototypical PF, and while Smith could be a SF in the right system are we willing to give him near-max money based on that gamble? I think yes considering he's now a Hawks icon and many of our newfound fans would be pissed if we let him walk....

I think first and foremost we need to find a head coach and see if Al can play the 5 or Josh the 3 in his system... if you want Woody back than we already know the answer is a resounding "no." I could see a guy like D'Antoni (long shot) making it work, especially if we picked up a defensive center to sub in if we have to go big. With a half-court game like the Czar, Avery Johnson, whoever, it's not as likely, although the David Andersen idea intrigues me to emulate the Jazz...

Also, re: Andersen.... yes he is tested --- playing at a high-level with CSKA & for the national team. The reason you draft foreigners in the second round (Spurs: Ginobli, Scola, Umberto) is so they develop on someone else's dime and come in right away to contribute...

[AtLaS]

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Wikipedia says he's 6'11. That's what I was going by.

NBA.com says 7:

http://www.nba.com/draft2002/profiles/david_andersen.html

Damn, I hope he is 7' but this is the first time I've seen it. I've been hearing he was about 6'9" ever since we drafted him. Hopefully he is 7'.

[thefloydian]

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Wikipedia says he's 6'11. That's what I was going by.

NBA.com says 7:

http://www.nba.com/draft2002/profiles/david_andersen.html

Damn, I hope he is 7' but this is the first time I've seen it. I've been hearing he was about 6'9" ever since we drafted him. Hopefully he is 7'.

Both his personal site and his team page list him at 212 cm, which is 6'11 according to the online conversion thing I used.

It's hard to know how tall people actually are though. They lie on the player pages all the time in the NBA. Half the guys listed as 7 feet in the nba probably aren't.