Human Victory Cigar

Courtesy of mikhail1973 @ www.pistonsforum.com

Season 2006/2007

Record 33-49

The team didn’t have a single player who would’ve played in at least 80 games. Sean May can’t get any luck with injuries at all. But injuries are a part of NBA long grueling season, and Charlotte will have to deal with them. From the individual players perspective it was a mixed bag. Okafor and Wallace had good seasons and played solid defensively (11th and 7th during the vote for the defensive player of the year). During the final third of the season Walter Herrmann finally showed why he is in the league. However, the development of Raymond Felton lags somewhat behind Chris Paul and Deron Williams so far. When the three were drafted analysts opinions on their potential varied a lot. At the same time Paul started out like rocket, Williams joined him in his second season, but Felton is now falling behind. Also, looks like Morrison is grasping the concept that NBA is not a college playground and that you have to perform at the high level all the time to earn minutes. Hopefully, he understand that the college theatrics will not get him anywhere and that NBA already has plenty of that. He needs to consistently produce if he wants to remain in the rotation.

Offseason

Draft

Team drafted Brandan Wright, who was shipped to Golden State in Jason Richardson trade.

Key Trades

Jason Richardson from Golden State joined the team in a trade. He is strong, gifted, and entertaining (if not always consistent) swingman. He will definitely make the team stronger; Bobcats never had a player of his caliber. He is very diverse on offense. He can take the defender off the dribble, can take it to the hole and finish, and he loves the turnaround jumpers, which are virtually impossible to defend. Sometimes he falls in love with those jumpers too much and when they don’t fall he seems to struggle. He is also one of the better fast break finishers in the NBA. Richardson and Wallace are going to create many mismatches running on the opposite side of the court. Team also took on Richarson’s hefty salary which could make it difficult for the team to go after the free agents in the future.

Free agent Brevin Knight, who played for the team, signed with LA Clippers. His loss may be significant since the Bobcats are a very young team and Knight was an experienced leader and so-called floor general.

Offseason grade: B

Season 2007/2008

Team has a new coach and a new player who, I assume, is going to try to fill a role of a leader. Therefore the game that team is playing should change. How will it change? I think they are going to be more entertaining, and they will run more. But other than that it is hard to assertain since Sam Vincent is a new figure in the NBA and a virtual unknown as a coach.

The team is very young. They have no adequate backup for Felton. And he’s still too inconsistent (38% field goal percentage and averages about 3 turnovers per game along with 7 assists).

Richardson-Wallace-Okafor should be one of the best rebounding trios in the NBA and they should be good defensively.

Even with Richardson trade and emergence of Wallace, this team is still built around Okafor. He’s still one of the best rebounders and shot-blockers in the NBA. He doesn’t turn the ball over much and is very effective in the paint and around the basket. If he can remain injury-free, he could probably compete with likes of Dwight Howard for the title of the best young forward/center in the NBA.

The team has a very interesting bench with three different but effective swingmen – Morrison, Carroll, and Anderson. Anderson is more experienced, Morrison is more passionate. Herrmann and May are great around the basket. Either one could become a starter which will move Okafor to center.

Player to watch: Walter Herrmann

Looked awesome at the finish of the regular season. According to 82games.com Herrmann-Felton was the most effective duo on the team. Their games complement each other’s – one is playing under the basket, while the other attacks from the mid- to long-range.

Bottom Line

40+ wins if the team can remain healthy (which is a big question mark given their injury history).

Playoffs – maybe
Championship - no

Courtesy of mikhail1973 @ www.pistonsforum.com

Season 2006/2007

Record 44-36

2006/2007 was a difficult one for Heat. The year began and ended with a loss to the Bulls team. And if the season opening loss to Chicago was categorized as somewhat of a sensation, the final four losses, a sweep in the first round of the playoffs, didn’t surprise many. Throughout the season many teams stopped being afraid of the champions. There were quite a few reasons for that. O’Neal struggled finishing 30-minute games, Wade couldn’t get healthy, even Riley spent some time at the hospital. However, the defining event for the team wasn’t necessarily that season. The offseason really put things in perspective. If previously players wanted to join O’Neal’s team and often agreed to lower salaries in order to compete for the championships, this time they are jumping like rats from the sinking ship.

Offseason

Draft

Jason Smith and Stanko Barac

Barac is tall (7’1”), young, and very raw center. In his Adriatic league he averaged 13 pts and 7 rbs in 27 minutes per game. He has a consistent jumper and a decent for his size range. But he is not physically ready to battle NBA players. He could have joined the Heat at some point later in his career, but was traded to the Pacers and signed a 3-year deal with the European club.

Key Trades

Left: Jason Kappono, Eddie Jones, and James Posey
Signed: Smush Parker and Anfernee Hardaway

Parker is one of the weaker point guards in the league. And although he’s very athletic, he is nowhere the shooter that Kappono was and can’t read the game as well. He won’t have much to bring to the table.
Chances are slim that we’ll see anything reminding us about the 90’s from Penny. Although I have to admit that he is very cerebral player (seeing the court, intuition, and outside-the-box thinking) and maybe he has something left. Hopefully Riles can put his skills to good use. It would be disappointing if Penny will retire without showing a spark at the end. Maybe he and Shaq can recreate some of the early magic.

Missed on: Mikael Pietrus, Steve Francis, Charlie Bell, Moe Williams, and others

Offseason grade: F

Season 2007/2008

D-Wade and Shaq are still able to keep the team respectable. Thanks to this duo, the team won’t become the laughing stock of the NBA. They will probably struggle during the long road trips where the leaders will be absent due to health issues or fouls. Heat will pay dearly for all of their inability to bring help in the offseason. Team needs to have some depth behind D-Wade and Shaq. They need a shooter, and D-Wade needs an adequate backup to spell him during the games in order to keep him fresher and off the DL. Team has nothing of this nature to offer at this point.

There is a positive. Heat is one of the few (Spurs and Pistons) teams in the NBA that play smart offense. This is going to be the biggest advantage of this team – team play and ball control. It was all made possible mainly by Shaq. Energetic Haslem and Wade are usually adequate on defense.

Teams main issues are Shaq’s age (science has no way of helping at this point), Wade’s injury (medicine is a lot closer to the solution on this one) and their bench.

Note of importance

Dorell Wright. Is he another high-flyer or a future superstar? Besides being gifted athletically he showed outstanding behavior on the court. He consistently gets better and doesn’t hold the ball too long.

Bottom Line

3rd-6th seed in the conference. Could miss the playoffs completely if any health issues arise for Shaq or Wade

Playoffs – yes (see above)
Championship - no

Courtesy of mikhail1973 @ www.pistonsforum.com

Season 2006/2007

Record 30-52

The team fought injuries and a weak offensive game throughout the season. As a result the team finished 26th in assists, 28th in field goal percentage, dead last in 3-point shooting percentage. There were a couple of disappointing performances by the players. Speedy Claxton had the worst season of his career and Shelden Williams couldn’t find his game. The team ended the season last in their division.

Offseason

Draft

Team that was overloaded with swingmen needed to strengthen Center and Point Guard positions in the worst way possible.

Al Horford
With their first pick Hawks selected a strong PF/C from Florida. Big, with solid half-hook shot, Horford came from the Florida team that played a game based on two principles – defense and team basketball (4 players averaged 10-13 points per game). Players from those teams usually take one of the two routes with their new teams. Some get more playing time, more opportunities and their careers take off. The others get lost in the shuffle. By the looks of it Horford should go up.

Verdict: poor man’s Dwight Howard

Acie Law
This playmaker created a name playing for Texas. In 4 years he spent there he managed to improve his shot, and stood out with his team thinking and floor vision. For a rookie he is dependable and very stable, and most of the time very solid defensively. Could he become a Hawks starting PG his first year? Possibly, but most likely not. However, it looks like that in a year or two the Hawks will have a full-fledged point guard whose name won’t be Ty Lue.

Verdict: solid pick at the 11th spot

Key Trades

Esteban Batista’s example will give a clear understanding of why Atlanta has been a bottom-feeder since 1999 and haven’t won even half of its games in any season during this time. South American forward was a bench warmer for the team (13 games 1.5 points per game) and hadn’t had many chances to crack the rotation. However, as soon as he showed his game playing for the national team, many NBA teams jumped at the opportunity to sign him. In the end he signed with Boston. During these moments all you can do is to think back to Boris Diaw, a player whom the team didn’t see as a viable option. It is really difficult not to notice a guy who being 6’8” tall has better ball handling and decision-making skills than half of the NBA’s point guards.

Offseason Grade: B

Season 2007/2008

Atlanta has two offensive aces – Josh Smith and Joe Johnson. Smith is a slasher who won’t shy contact when things matter the most, and relies on his physical strength around the basket. Johnson relies more on his jump shot.

Contact basketball is prevalent among the Hawks youngsters. Extra efforts quite often turns into additional fouls on defense and turnovers on offense for Mike Woodson’s team. However, this is the style and the character of this team. As long as the likes of Gasol and Stojakovic are in the league, the difference in skills can be successfully minimized by playing aggressively throughout the game.

What does Atlanta lack? An intelligent leader. A point guard on the offense. They are decent defending one-on-one but lack team defense. And, with all the youngsters, they need experience.

Under the rim the Hawks have Zaza Pachulia who averages 12 rebounds per 48 minutes. He is playing a much bigger role for the Atlanta team after not getting regular playing time in Milwaukee. He needs to be more effective offensively and more careful defensively and he could move up on the list of the NBA centers to the “above average” level.

Team’s management has said many nice things about Joe Johnson. But the question remains – can he make the team competitive and can Atlanta be molded into a TEAM with Joe on board. Individually, his career as a player could be peaking or close to it. Now he needs to get the others involved more, and take over the games in the 4th quarter. He needs to become the team leader.

Note of importance

Josh Smith is one of the noticeable players in the NBA. He has really long arms and well-developed defensive instinct along the lines of Kirilenko and Artest. His thunderous dunks can get the fans on their feet. On the weak side, he only shoots 43% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc. He also turns the ball over quite often. His relationship with Woodson could use improvement as well. During the summer time he worked on improving his post up and back to the basket game. He had a great teacher – Hakeem Olajuwon. How it will play out during the season remains to be seen.

Bottom Line

35-40 wins is probably the ceiling for this team.

Playoffs – no
Championship - no