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Those are all terrible comparisons, except maybe Bird and McHale, for obvious reasons.
As stated, they aren't comparisons. They are examples. Rarely if ever does any team win without a strong paint presence.
The obvious outlier is the Bulls, however, Jordan got all his points by slashing or posting up. They always did good in the paint, and obviously had serviceable players that played in the paint. (Grant was an all-star, wasn't he?)
Besides being a poor-man's Bird, who does Dirk really compare to? Ever in NBA history?
There is one thing that Dallas has lacked every single year of the past decade when they have been a playoff team. That is a player that can grind out the tough points in the paint. Year after year, they have been frustrated in the playoffs when the refs let more things go and they revert to jump shooting and it kills them.
Maybe Cuban thinks he can trade Chandler before the deadline.
Maybe Cuban knows (not maybe, he does) more about the lockout and the future restrictions.
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So you want a 6-10 player to protect the paint?
It is a hell of a lot better than what Dallas has had every single year of their entire existence.
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I'm sure Bynum/Gasol, Duncan, Aldridge/Oden, Yao, and the rest of the big men in the league would be really scared of that lineup.
What is harder to guard? Jefferson/Dirk or Chandler/Dirk? Haywood/Dirk?
You can let Haywood or Chandler alone to double away. Or you can play zone to keep Dallas from hurting your with their 12 SFs. But you have to man up on Jefferson.
No one is worried about 6/6 Chandler or 9/9 Haywood, but you can believe people are planning around a 20/11 Jefferson kicking out to Dirk or to a slashing Kidd, Terry or Butler.
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This trade isn't as bad as it's being made out to be. It's just not that great. It's not the home run we had hoped for.
It isn't bad. Chandler has some upside. Maybe Kidd can find him for a few oops. But you passed on a homerun for a sacrifice.
You save a little cash now and make yourself more flexible in the future.
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Height isn't everything. There's a reason the Chuckwagon is a C and listed at 6'6"
Bingo. Or that Barkley led the league in rebounds at 6.5ish.
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However, Jefferson is short for a center and is not a strong defender.
6'10 isn't really all that short for the position. He also has a 7'3" wingspan and a standing reach of 9'2. Same standing reach as TheMarcus.
DeJuan Blair is 6'5 and plays post. Chuck Wagon holds his own.
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Is it ideal? No. He's not a great defender. But the threat of Dirk's midrange game and Al's post play would certainly make Bynum/Gasol, Aldridge/Oden, Yao, et al spend quite a bit of energy defensively. And then Haywood comes fresh off the bench as a defensive presence.
Exactly. You have to make them work.
When Kobe played the Spurs, he always worked on offense, and sat and relaxed on D, because Bowen sat in the corner.
Same thing with Hakeem in 95. Robinson had to work on offense through the double teams, then had to single-cover Hakeem on defense. No one could have done that. Hakeem let Chucky Brown take the D and relaxed on Rodman, then brought the double team if it came to his side.
If you make those other posts work on both ends of the court, you can wear them out.
I don't see how this isn't plainly obvious to everyone.
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This. A Mavs fan that seems to get it. The problem with the Mavs has continued to be that they are a jump shooting team. Works in the regular season well, but not in the playoffs where the games are more of a grind. Just having a presence down low to grind away at the opposing low post defense would do wonders for the Mavs.
That and the fact that the refs don't respect jump shooting and wont give you the same calls for it in the post season as they do in the regular season. They reward posting up and driving the lane. Two things Dallas hasn't done exceptionally well. Especially when things get tough.
You need to be able to draw fouls and get hard baskets. It will never happen when you rely on your midrange game and your threes.
This isn't a bad move by any means. It just isn't near the hit that Al Jefferson would be. He filled a long-standing need of the Mavs, but they didn't do it because they wanted to save the cap space.
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I agree, but if you are paying that much money, you would like to get a low post presence on both sides of the ball.
So instead of upgrading, you make a lateral move? I agree, it would be nice if he was a great defender. But it isn't like this Mavs team is really built for defense. There is no stopper on here. You have Kidd, Dirk and Terry who are all various forms of weak at defense.
This is a move designed to prop the window open while they try to make another deal next year or land a big name FA. Guess what? You aren't getting Parker or Melo.
