Michael and I talk about this weeks three games, whether Vasquez is at risk to lose his starting gig, and pretty much come up with the list of players who have probably already played themselves out of the rotation.
We then preview the Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns for you and last, engage in some future speculation about players the Hornets may want to pursue.
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16 responses to “In the NO Podcast Episode 89: Preseason Observations and Vasquez starting?”
Vasquez is a great player. The preseason should not be a parameter for large judgments. We can not forget that our team has several players who arrived now. The beginning is never easy for anyone.
My team for the start of the season is:
PG: Vasquez
SG: Rivers
SF: Aminu
PF: Davis
C: Lopez
Eric Gordon? I had even forgotten that he is a Hornets’ player…
I don’t know if I’d call a fringe starter “great” but I understand the sentiment. I agree with your perception about preseason. And to remind you what EJ10 can do:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2Z926V3lq0
It was interesting to read that Lance Thomas thought Vasquez was the most under rated player on the team. He thought Vasquez had great court vision, knows the game well, knows Monty’s system, and executes it.
Vasquez is a great ball handler and has good feel for the game. Understands spacing and has good vision. Unfortunately he is really slow…he has trouble bringing the ball up the court and getting past his man one on one. He needs atleast one screen to get any separation. Defensively he has trouble with smaller/quicker guards. If he plays with Gordon it will really help him out both offensively and defensively. He could guard the other teams two guard and let Gordon guard the quicker one. In the mean time maybe a Roberts/Vasquez back court could be interesting. Get rid of the label pg/sg and let them share the responsibilities.
Lance Thomas should get more minutes at small forward. He is only 6’8 and is quick. He also shoots his free throws really well (.839 percent for his career).
I’m nervous with the starting lineup…Vasquez, rivers, aminu, Davis, Lopez that there isn’t enough offense. I think the second team would be far more potent scoring the ball…Roberts, miller, Thomas, Anderson, smith. They need to find a better combination. Hopefully A healthy Gordon will take care of these concerns.
I have to disagree with the notion that GV can’t get by his man coming up the court. He doesn’t have a problem getting by most of his defenders. In Fact, he is an above average slasher and is able to be creative in his efforts to get to the rim. No one will mistake him as blazing fast but he has average speed for the NBA PG. On top of that, he excels in the transition and always looks up the court for the fast break.
There is a lot of versatility on this team… GV pg/sg EG pg/sg Miller sf/sg Davis pf/c/sf Anderson pf/c Smith pf/c..
Personally i’d like for Smith to get a crack at starting with Davis in the frontcourt.
but that likely wont happen… atleast not right away… but having our two most athletic bigs on the court would pay huge dividends in the transition game and overall team hustle.
Most likely Lineup
GV
EG
AA
AD
RL
Does *anyone* think that Brian Roberts is actively winning the PG competition (as opposed to passively “winning” via GV actively losing it, which some do)?
He isn’t winning the battle at all… Brian Roberts wasn’t even in the league last year. almost 30 yr old… he might turn out to be a decent player but right now GV has a stronghold on the postion due to experience in the league, in the system, and the lack of a true NBA PG to knock him to the bench… Many people forget that this will only be GVs 3rd year in the league.. still some untapped upside there to be had…
the only threat to his job is a bum season from the team or some super progression from baby rivers… but certainly not from a guy who threw together a few ok games in preseason against other benchwarmers…
Grevis Vasquez is 25 years old…Brian Roberts is 26 years old. Playing overseas isn’t what it use to be. Everyone has game. Also high basketball IQ’s. Roberts is quicker and a far better shooter then Vasquez. You damn right he is pushing Vasquez for playing time.
lol thats an awful lot of praise for a guy who has only played a few preseason games… time will tell… but i remember when everyone was calling for cardell johnson to get more PT…
Johnson is out of the league less than a year later
I’m glad there wasn’t an overblown opinion of Brian Roberts here. I’d be upset to see him come close to averaging the same MPG as Rivers. Our future doesn’t hinge on Roberts’ performance good or bad, it will on Rivers’.
Thanks for the accurate portrayal of the Suns this upcoming season. I’ll be sure to cite some arguments here for the homers I live around.
I would be surprised to see Josh Smith choose another small market but the prospect is exciting.
Oh, and posting it way too early but welcome your 2013 NBA Hornets Draft selection:
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Tony-Mitchell-(North-Texas)-6229/
http://insider.espn.go.com/nbadraft/results/players/_/id/19633/tony-mitchell
If his 3’s weren’t an anomaly then this is the exact kind of player that we wanted out of Aminu and Miller and looks to be offensively gifted enough to keep his defender on him.
A few thoughts on possible future players..
What about hometown guy Danny Granger? He’s a decent defender and might fit in that fourth option behind Davis, Anderson, and Gordon well.
Also, what if Kevin Martin is available at a good price (About the 7 million range), do you think he would fit in to a sixth man role well?
I’d love for us to get someone like Granger. I was really hoping we would get Iggy but he went to the Nuggets =/
Without Anthony Davis = loss?
http://brazilianhornet.wordpress.com/2012/10/15/fato-ou-mera-coincidencia/
Have you guys reserved Pelicans247.com yet?
update on Pelicans?
Kevin Love out 2 months with broken hand 🙂
Playoffs!!!