Time to take a risk

[exodus]

Swift's name has come up a few times so i will use him as an example although i doesn't have to be him necesarily. But assuming Zaza and Bibby do sign (and Marvin gets resigned) that pretty much sets the rotation.

However we need another big. I have had enough of Solo. I think this is the perfect time to take a risk on a guy like Swift who has the potential pay off well but it won't be a big loss if he doesn't. It could also be that big Russian some of us were talking about as a possible second rounder.

I don't think playing it safe is going to gain any ground on the teams ahead of us.

[MaceCase]

I would absolutely have to say it's time to give up on Swift. He's still playing in summer league and he's not even putting up average numbers against that sort of competition, I think I put up his stats in a thread yesterday. His teammate Nick Fazekas, though seems to be the real deal in terms of scoring and rebounding the ball but obviously is not as tall. He could be looked at as a David Andersen lite without the 3ball that guys here have been wanting.

[coachx]

I would be happy with a big bruiser like Aaron Gay for about $2 mill a year.

It would be nice to have him "thug out "on Kobe and Bron for a hard foul each time we play them.......since they get all the calls we may as well let them know what a real foul feels like once or twice a game.

We need to get nastier. The only way a team like us gets to the next level without a star is to get nasty.............like the Pistons were in Ben Wallace's hey day and when Rasheed Wallace was not too lazy to play defense. I would love to see Horford bulk up even more (expecially in the lower body).

Blue collar and nasty ! That is what we need.

Jamall MaGlore would work for that role too. Just 7 minutes a night of nasty to get under a guys skin ! I hate guys like MaGlore when they play against the Hawks but I would love to have a guy like him on our side.

Edited July 10, 2009 by coachx

[Traceman]

Swift's name has come up a few times so i will use him as an example although i doesn't have to be him necesarily. But assuming Zaza and Bibby do sign (and Marvin gets resigned) that pretty much sets the rotation.

However we need another big. I have had enough of Solo. I think this is the perfect time to take a risk on a guy like Swift who has the potential pay off well but it won't be a big loss if he doesn't. It could also be that big Russian some of us were talking about as a possible second rounder.

I don't think playing it safe is going to gain any ground on the teams ahead of us.

I don't have a problem with the team signing a project big to the one of the remaining slots on the roster but I certainly wouldn't count on that player being a part of the rotation. Having Swift (or somebody like him such as our very own Randolph Morris) is fine but I'm not paying him above the minimum for that potential.

[Final_quest]

I had an idea that we could take a flyer on Leon Powe. I know he's not a center, but he could be a productive backup PF for many years. He may sign with us rather than be out of the league altogether until he recovers. This is a bit of a calculated risk.

[exodus]

I don't have a problem with the team signing a project big to the one of the remaining slots on the roster but I certainly wouldn't count on that player being a part of the rotation. Having Swift (or somebody like him such as our very own Randolph Morris) is fine but I'm not paying him above the minimum for that potential.

I am not talking about a guy like Morris. He wasn't drafted at all because he just sucks. I am talking about guys who actually have talent but just haven't produced yet.

Dallas took a risk on Diop and wound up with a guy who could effectively guard Shaq and Duncan which they badly needed and they nearly won a title.

[BigDirty]

Well exodus you always liked D.J. Mbenga right? So what about Timofey Mozgov (7'1, 22 years old), Draft Express calls him the russian D.J. Mbenga: (article from March 2009)

We discussed Mozgov last year already in some depth, talking about an incredibly raw 7-footer with a WWF wrester’s body and intriguing athleticism for a player his size. No NBA team heeded the call, and despite being draft-eligible, Mozgov’s name was not called at Madison Square Garden theater, making him a free agent for all 30 NBA teams now.

It’s not hard to see what makes Mozgov unique on first glance. He is a true 7-footer who is built like a house, with long arms, and outstanding strength and athleticism. Imagine a bulkier Andris Biedrins, or a Russian version of D.J. Mbenga.

Mozgov is an extremely limited offensive player, who is mostly relegated to catching and finishing around the basket, and making his presence felt on the offensive glass. He is an absolute force as an offensive rebounder in fact, leading the EuroCup in that category per-minute. He loves to set bruising screens and then roll to the basket for an empathic alley-oop lob, and does a great job throwing his weight around in the paint and moving opposing centers around. His toughness and activity level are both top-notch, and help make up for some of the many shortcomings that he suffers from at this point.

Despite being a tremendous finisher around the basket, Mozgov possesses little in the ways of touch, post-moves, dribbling ability, footwork or any of the other skill-based attributes that most big men need in order to be effective at the highest level of competition. He’s not terribly coordinated, often looking like a bull in a china shop trying to execute advanced moves, thus being fairly turnover prone. While he gets to the free throw line at a solid rate, he only converts around 50% of his attempts, and is obviously incredibly limited when asked to do anything offensively outside of the paint. No one is going to confuse his passing ability or basketball IQ with that of Arvydas Sabonis anytime soon.

Defensively, Mozgov is a major presence, as he’s extremely difficult to post up on the block and has all the size, length and athleticism needed to swallow up opposing centers whole, and then grab the ensuing rebound for good measure. He blocks one shot for every 9 minutes he’s on the floor, and grabs a rebound every 3 minutes, which obviously makes him one of the more productive players you’ll find at his position in Europe. He brings very good intensity to this end of the floor, and has the added bonus of being agile enough to step out and hedge screens, showing very nice agility in the process. Mozgov still has a ways to go in terms of improving his fundamentals and all-around court awareness—he still makes too many rookie mistakes to be trusted by most top-level coaches. He’s also fairly foul prone and has a tendency to bite on pump-fakes, being a bit naïve as you might expect from a player with little experience.

All in all, Mozgov looks like a very interesting prospect that teams would do well to keep tabs on, as you just don’t find many players with his combination of size, strength, athleticism and intensity. Considering how much he’s improved over the past year, and the fact that he’s only 22 years old, there is no telling where he’ll be in a few years, as he’s obviously a late-bloomer who is only getting better by the day.

He played ~16 minutes per game for the second best russian team last season and was one of the league's top shot blockers. I haven't seen him play, so I can't judge if he is any good or if he has any potential.

EDIT:

The Eurobasket staff voted him in the russian league all-defensive team AND the EuroCup all-defensive team.

Seems like he actually leaves the ground when he dunks. ;)

Edited July 10, 2009 by BigDirty

[exodus]

Well exodus you always liked D.J. Mbenga right? So what about Timofey Mozgov (7'1, 22 years old), Draft Express calls him the russian D.J. Mbenga: (article from March 2009)

He played ~16 minutes per game for the second best russian team last season and was one of the league's top shot blockers. I haven't seen him play, so I can't judge if he is any good or if he has any potential.

EDIT:

The Eurobasket staff voted him in the russian league all-defensive team.

Seems like he actually leaves the ground when he dunks. ;)

We could definitely use a guy like that going up against Shaq and Howard. That is exactly what i am talking about.

[Traceman]

I am not talking about a guy like Morris. He wasn't drafted at all because he just sucks. I am talking about guys who actually have talent but just haven't produced yet.

Dallas took a risk on Diop and wound up with a guy who could effectively guard Shaq and Duncan which they badly needed and they nearly won a title.

I could be wrong but I think Swift pretty much sucks every bit as bad as Morris. I don't think Swift will EVER be able to effectively guard Howard (who is the equivalent now of what Shaq and Duncan were then). Maybe its the 30 pts, 19 rbs and 10 blks that Dwight put on him and his teammates last season. He did manage to get 3pts, 7 rbs and 1 blk in 18 minutes.

Swift did a little better against Shaq. He held Shaq to 28/12/2 while getting 6/6/1 of his own in 21 minutes.

He held Kaman to 25/14/6/4 while getting 2/5/0 in 21 minutes.

He held Randolph to 29/19 (while he was starting at C for the Knicks) while getting 4/13 of his own in 27 minutes.

He held Yao to 19/12/3 while getting 6/8/2 of his own in 25 minutes.

He held Nene to 27/14/4 while getting 3/1/3 of his own in 24 minutes.

Those were the only games he played 20 minutes or more last season and I'm sure he was played so much specifically to deal with the other team's big just as Diop was back in the day. Unfortunately, the results for Swift are pretty terrible to say the least. He basically sucks.

[capstone21]

Swift's name has come up a few times so i will use him as an example although i doesn't have to be him necesarily. But assuming Zaza and Bibby do sign (and Marvin gets resigned) that pretty much sets the rotation.

However we need another big. I have had enough of Solo. I think this is the perfect time to take a risk on a guy like Swift who has the potential pay off well but it won't be a big loss if he doesn't. It could also be that big Russian some of us were talking about as a possible second rounder.

I don't think playing it safe is going to gain any ground on the teams ahead of us.

No we need a bench big who can contribute not a chance on another big who might not. We already have a non contributing big with Morris.

[Gray Mule]

He may be no good at all.

But, Timofey Mozgov sounds like exactly the type of player I have been asking

for.

If, and that's a big if, he is as we read here, get him for the end of the bench.

[mattlanta]

I can't see how Solo has developed under Woodson. But I haven't watched too many games. But in the games that I have watched, Solo hasn't been developed much and hasn't been played much at all. A big I'd like to look at, if still available, is Siler if we're talking about projects. I still think Solomon has a higher ceiling than what he's showing right now, but under Woodson, I can't see him being more than what he is right now.

[TheDude]

Swift's name has come up a few times so i will use him as an example although i doesn't have to be him necesarily. But assuming Zaza and Bibby do sign (and Marvin gets resigned) that pretty much sets the rotation.

However we need another big. I have had enough of Solo. I think this is the perfect time to take a risk on a guy like Swift who has the potential pay off well but it won't be a big loss if he doesn't. It could also be that big Russian some of us were talking about as a possible second rounder.

I don't think playing it safe is going to gain any ground on the teams ahead of us.

agree 100% ESPECIALLY the last sentence...those teams in front of us got better. and then there's chitown.

[TheDude]

Well exodus you always liked D.J. Mbenga right? So what about Timofey Mozgov (7'1, 22 years old), Draft Express calls him the russian D.J. Mbenga: (article from March 2009)

He played ~16 minutes per game for the second best russian team last season and was one of the league's top shot blockers. I haven't seen him play, so I can't judge if he is any good or if he has any potential.

EDIT:

The Eurobasket staff voted him in the russian league all-defensive team AND the EuroCup all-defensive team.

Seems like he actually leaves the ground when he dunks. ;)

after what happened between Russia and Georgia not long ago, that would be an interesting relationship between ZaZa and him

[mrhonline]

I wonder what percentage of "project bigs" actually ever pan out...

[jy23]

I could be wrong but I think Swift pretty much sucks every bit as bad as Morris. I don't think Swift will EVER be able to effectively guard Howard (who is the equivalent now of what Shaq and Duncan were then). Maybe its the 30 pts, 19 rbs and 10 blks that Dwight put on him and his teammates last season. He did manage to get 3pts, 7 rbs and 1 blk in 18 minutes.

Swift did a little better against Shaq. He held Shaq to 28/12/2 while getting 6/6/1 of his own in 21 minutes.

He held Kaman to 25/14/6/4 while getting 2/5/0 in 21 minutes.

He held Randolph to 29/19 (while he was starting at C for the Knicks) while getting 4/13 of his own in 27 minutes.

He held Yao to 19/12/3 while getting 6/8/2 of his own in 25 minutes.

He held Nene to 27/14/4 while getting 3/1/3 of his own in 24 minutes.

Those were the only games he played 20 minutes or more last season and I'm sure he was played so much specifically to deal with the other team's big just as Diop was back in the day. Unfortunately, the results for Swift are pretty terrible to say the least. He basically sucks.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! I thought I was the only one thinking that this guy just strait SUCKS!!!! Now I would take Magloire anyday, we need someone physical like that. Swift just strait SUCKS!!!!!!!

[mrhonline]

I wonder what percentage of "project bigs" actually ever pan out...

That sentence is a grammatical nightmare. I'll own up to it.

[exodus]

That sentence is a grammatical nightmare. I'll own up to it.

Currently there is Bynum, Biedrins, Diop, Gortat, Daly and Prz off the top of my head. Bynum wasn't even very good in HS. Biedrins still can't shoot foul shots or a 10 footer. The Magic took a flier on Gortat in the 2nd round (drafting genius BK picked Salim). Diop and Prz were busts for the teams that drafted them. some would say Daly is still a project.

I am sure there are plenty of others.

[Final_quest]

Currently there is Bynum, Biedrins, Diop, Gortat, Daly and Prz off the top of my head. Bynum wasn't even very good in HS. Biedrins still can't shoot foul shots or a 10 footer. The Magic took a flier on Gortat in the 2nd round (drafting genius BK picked Salim). Diop and Prz were busts for the teams that drafted them. some would say Daly is still a project.

I am sure there are plenty of others.

I guess it depends on what you mean by a project big. Earlier in the thread we were talking about an undrafted free agent. Most of the players on your list were lottery picks. Currently we had two project bigs on our roster in Solo and Morris. I really think we need a solid-6-fouls-for-Shaq vet in addition to a project, someone like Nesterovic.

[exodus]

I guess it depends on what you mean by a project big. Earlier in the thread we were talking about an undrafted free agent. Most of the players on your list were lottery picks. Currently we had two project bigs on our roster in Solo and Morris. I really think we need a solid-6-fouls-for-Shaq vet in addition to a project, someone like Nesterovic.

Swift and Sene were lottery picks too. Being a project hasn't stopped bigs from being drafted in the lottery. Kwame and Darko weren't exactly polished players when they were drafted.