NBA Chat With Anthony Macri 10/24/11

Coach Anthony Macri is Director of Business Development and a Player Development Consultant for the Pro Training Center. Anthony works closely with NBA trainer David Thorpe, and writes the weekly Coach’s Notebook column for HOOPSWORLD. Coach Macri gets started at 3pm EST every Monday.

  1. Carlos A

    Who says no bulls trade asik and deng + the charlotte pick too memphis for mayo and gay?
    Noah
    Boozer
    Gay
    Mayo
    Rose
    Would that be ay championships team!? Thanks

    • Anthony Macri

      Happy Monday everybody. Been a busy few days – getting ready for the college season to get going with games soon, but hopeful that they’ll figure out a solution in the NBA soon. Plenty of room in the queue for Qs, so send them on in.

      While I think that is a star-studded lineup for sure, I’m not sure it’s a great team. I don’t know that Mayo and Gay are consistent enough spot-shooters to complement Rose, and they definitely don’t get better defensively giving away Deng or with regard to frontcourt depth (I like Asik). I would have to investigate the numbers of it a little more but those are my first impressions.

  2. Brice

    Should the HEAT offer Wade, Joel & Pittman for Dwight & Redick?– Could Bosh & Howard coexist w/ LeBron? Seems like a good fit b/c of their polar opposite games.

    • Anthony Macri

      No, they shouldn’t. I don’t like any of those combinations when it comes to building championships, and I can’t imagine Orlando giving Dwight up to almost any team in a 1000 mile radius. Howard takes up too much space near the rim to really be a good partner with LeBron. Also – does Wade make the Magic better if they are also giving away Dwight Howard?

  3. RonnieFields

    Asik (and Destroy) for Batum. Batum may have more value but the Bulls are going Big for Small and Portland is hurting for frontcourt help.

    • Anthony Macri

      I’m not against this in a vacuum, but is Batum more than a backup player for Chicago? If that’s the case, why trade Asik, who gives them good depth in the frontcourt already? Sounds like a decent move for Portland, but not sure Chicago benefits.

  4. Jesse

    Hi Coach, do you think Aaron Aflalo or OJ Mayo would be a better fit for the Bulls?

    • Anthony Macri

      I’ve made this point before – I think either Courtney Lee or Aaron Aflalo are the perfect fit next to Derrick Rose as they can shoot the ball well in different spots, are both good defenders, and both are able to play on the ball allowing Rose to move off it at certain times in the game (just to take pressure off him, at the very least). I think Mayo is too inconsistent a shooter, defender, and ball-handler to be next to Rose as a complementary player.

  5. Tbadfw

    Could the Jazz be players for Paul if/when he gets traded? They could put together a great package with some type of combo of Jefferson, Harris, Millsap, the GS 2012 pick and not lose any of their young pieces.

    • Anthony Macri

      Seems possible – I think there are more players for CP3 than there are for Dwight Howard. Howard is so unique and good that Orlando needs to feel they are getting justly compensated. Chris Paul is amazing – but he isn’t quite the impact player that Dwight is.

  6. john

    5 fantasy sleepers/busts?

    • Anthony Macri

      I am not a fantasy basketball expert at all. I am crushing the two fantasy football leagues I play in, though.

  7. 1mike1matt

    Coach in Bills chat he called a suggestd trade of Deng,Asik, and Bobs#1 for Mayo/Gay. 1 sided in Bulls favor. Do u agree? Asik has skills/size and athletic ability that maybe 5 other centers in the nba and Deng is very close to Gay in all #s and is a better 1 on 1 defender than Gay. Also the bobs pick will be unprotected in 2 years. Mayo has be a dispointment…so what does Bill mean?

    • Anthony Macri

      I think from a pure ‘hey, look at the talent here’ standpoint, it does look one-sided, cause only one player in that deal (Gay) has a chance to be an All Star every year. However, I don’t think it’s one-sided from a team construction standpoint, because quite honestly, I don’t think it makes the Bulls all that much better.

  8. Brian

    I am begining to think that the reason for the lockout is for the small market owners to get more money from the bigs,the ones with the most to loose. If they get the players salaries down, the bigs would be more likely to give the smalls more money. Competitiveness is a smokescreen. What do you think?

    • Anthony Macri

      Didn’t the owners just agree to a more equitable revenue sharing agreement?

      Competitiveness is a smokescreen in the sense that it is not an underlying reason for what the owners or doing, though it is a hopeful byproduct of major changes in the system. The owners are attempting to foolproof the system so they aren’t losing money, which does make sense if you think about it – it’s all about dollars and cents (sense?).

  9. tony

    I’m from Boston and I want to see bos vs okc just because of Perkins return ..which is on January 15 …should I buy tickets now or wait till the lockout ends ?

    • Anthony Macri

      My guess is you will be able to get those tickets day of the game – depending on where you want to sit – for not too much money. But I don’t know how the market is in Boston. By the way, I do hope we have basketball by January.

  10. AK

    Hey, I think Miami doesn’t need a PG, they should develop Chalmers much like Boston did with Rondo when the big 3 came there. I mean Rondo wasn’t that popular then. I think Heat need to beleive in Chalmers, and he’ll grow in to a good solid pg.
    Also, who is the next Star in Laker land? Any ideas?

    • Anthony Macri

      Chalmers is an OK player but he is not Rajon Rondo. Rondo has a ton of things going for him. Chalmers is a good back-up guard and I’d look to groom him in that role. I like putting LeBron in a position as playmaker and getting more shooters on the floor to unlock it a little bit – both in the halfcourt and in transition.

      Not sure who the ‘next star’ is in Los Angeles – after Kobe fades, it may be a 3-4 year rebuilding process there unless they can swing a big deal between now and then (Dwight Howard, looking in your direction…).

  11. Nick

    Can sacramento make the playoff’s this year?

    • Anthony Macri

      Playoffs of what? In other words, I think it’s highly doubtful. 22+ game improvements don’t happen very often, and I don’t see how it can happen for Sacramento this coming year. They are 2-3 years away at this point.

  12. RonnieFields

    Batum would start at the 2

    • Anthony Macri

      If you could guarantee me he’d shoot over 40% from three for the season, as he did in his second year in the league, I might be willing to consider that notion. Otherwise I don’t know if it really works. I did an article on Batum a few months ago, and in it I talked about the lack of refinement in his perimeter game and tendency to float – that is not a recipe for success for Chicago unless Batum has changed his game.

  13. RonnieFields

    If you roll out

    Rose
    Batum
    Deng
    Boozer
    Noah

    That team would be sick defensively.Batum will get better he’s only 23 and he’s stuck behind CRASH. And hey, he’s better than Bogans.

    • Anthony Macri

      I don’t think they are any closer to a championship with that group than they were last year, and if they give up their frontcourt depth to get there, I think they hurt their long-term prospects as well.

  14. RonnieFields

    Both Rose and Asik are up for extensions and who knows if Reinsdorf will pay to keep them both. I think the money would be better spent on a starter than a big you may lose.Asik’s value goes down the more money he makes.

    • Anthony Macri

      Your statement is only true if Batum is actually a starter at the two, of which I’m not really convinced. Beyond that, part of the question may be answered by the new CBA and how it treats mid-level exceptions, etc. I think packaging multiple players for a more certain option than Batum is much better than settling on him.

  15. Ghandi

    Do you think college programs have their players do enough film study of higher levels or do you think their focus should strictly be on studying their own play on the level they’re at?

    • Anthony Macri

      I think a lot of that depends on the college program. The reality is that it is not the college coach’s job to get that player to the next level of his basketball career: it is the college coach’s job to win games for the university. Some of them have realized that the better job they do at helping players get to the next level means they can get even better players – and therefore more of a chance to win games in any given year. I think in the offseason there is a lot of chances for college programs to focus on player development through film study and breakdown, and my general impression is that many do not spend the time for that purpose. In many cases, it is simply easier to outsource their player development because of the restrictions put on offseason on-court time. I’d like to think smart coaches are taking every opportunity to force feed players ways to get better, but I’m not sure they aren’t spending the offseason recruiting the next guy instead of developing the ones they have.

      -Alright folks, I have reached the end of my time today. The next article in my series on player evaluation will be out on Thursday – looking at skills, talents, and physical gifts this time around. Check it out, and I’ll be back next Monday at 3p for my weekly chat. See you next time!