NBA Chat With Anthony Macri 12/27/11

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 his new time of 11am EST every Tuesday.

  1. B-Man

    will jameer nelson ever get his A-game back? whose orlando’s best perimeter defender now? larry hughes? earl clark? how much trade value does j-rich carry nowadays?

    • Anthony Macri

      Happy Tuesday morning everybody! Time for me to get right to work – plenty of questions in the queue and since the NBA is back, I’m sure many of you have seen your team once or twice. Let’s get to it… drop off your Qs now.

      I think Orlando is just all mixed up right now. Hard to think anyone will have their “A” game while the Dwight situation is in flux. In fact, his situation impacts the value of every other player on that roster, and makes some guys inherently harder to trade. I think Earl Clark is probably their best perimeter defender when he puts himself out there to accomplish the task: he was locking people up a few years back whenever he took on the challenge.

  2. B-Man

    is it just me or did the look like they needed the refs’ help to get the win over the celtics last night? seems like they stern wants them to be a darling team, but the team honestly looks like a play-off team, but a true pretender.

    even when they built their lead, it dint look like because they were so good, but rather that celtics were so bad for a stretch. they won the game due to melo taking making difficult shots, but at no point did things look smooth for them. it seemed like they were the luckier team rather than the better one.

    do you agree?

    • Anthony Macri

      Nah, I don’t think anyone cheated to help the Knicks win. If someone was going to bother doing that, they would have found a way to get the Knicks Chris Paul or something instead of fixing individual games. I would agree that the Celtics looking poor may have had more to do with it than the Knicks being good, and I don’t think the win by NY is all that significant in the grand scheme of things.

      Just to be clear, I think luck plays a part in every NBA season.

  3. Jiggy

    Do you agree that Davis for Bass for a bad trade for orlando because it wont significantly impact D12 championship chances and Bass was more familiar with the system?

    • Anthony Macri

      I tend to think it was a fine move for Orlando in the sense that Davis will hit more spot up jump shots than Bass, and I think Bass is good from a toughness standpoint in Boston. For the most part, it was a wash.

  4. B-Man

    anyways, if you were steve nash next year as a free agent, would you rather sign with the knicks on the minimum or resign with phoenix for 5 mill or less? any chances that kg and ray allen will resign for minimum deals next season?

    • Anthony Macri

      The veteran’s minimum will still be a pretty good chunk of change. I tend to want to be in a great situation where I can contend for a championship, but that’s me. Other guys have different priorities, and that’s ok. No clue on either KG or Ray Allen – tend to think they may be ready to move on as well, but that’s just guessing.

  5. Marc

    Not gonna lie.. I’m a nets fan.. Obviously with brook going down it doesn’t improve our chances but d. Will averaged 45 wins by himself in Utah in the west .. With a young cast in nj .. Can’t you say on the least they will be a 7 or 8 seed in east?

    • Anthony Macri

      I don’t think they have any chance of being a playoff team. I think 10th in the East is a top-end prediction unless they can pry Dwight Howard out of Orlando sooner rather than later.

  6. Alec

    Hey Coach, when Dirk first entered the league were people bashing on him as much as they are doing with Andrea B? 7 footer who doesn’t play back to the basket but instead takes a 3? I just see two very unique players with identical skills with the exception that Dirk is a better rebounder. Thoughts?

    • Anthony Macri

      I don’t remember anyone going after Dirk the way they do with Bargnani. Remember that Dirk had a point guard named Steve Nash to help him along at first, however. Remember, Dirk was averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game by his third season. Not really fair to compare the two. In addition, I don’t think Bargnani has the same level of ball skills that Dirk had at the same time – while they are both big with the ability to shoot, Dirk’s ball skills are pretty special.

  7. Eddie

    What are your expectations for Paul George this year? Can he average 14 ppg, 6 rpg, and 2 spg?

    • Anthony Macri

      Seems possible though I want to see how David West impacts the scoring dynamics before I say for sure. I need to watch them play a bit first.

  8. matt

    My raptors beat the Cavs yesterday. Please send Casey a letter telling him to play Ed Davis more. In less than 18 mins, he put up 14 pts (7/7 from the field) and 7 rebounds. In 30 mins Bargs put up 13 and 6.

    • Anthony Macri

      I don’t think I need to send any notes – their performance will dictate their future opportunities. If the same disparity exists in a week or two, message me back.

  9. Zach L.

    How much will teams miss those extra pre-season games?

  10. Dennis

    Which team has surprised you more coming out the gate: the Sacramento Kings beating the LA Lakers or the T-Wolves giving OKC Thunder all they could handle.

    • Anthony Macri

      Surprised me more would definitely be the Kings beating the Lakers. I thought the T-Wolves might be pretty good this year – I love Adelman and I think they have some very cool pieces.

  11. matt

    My raps yesterday had even scoring. Nice to see them play like a team, 35 assists in total. Jose was on fire. Amir Johnson absolutely shocked me with a great performance.

    • Anthony Macri

      I have good feelings about Dwane Casey. I have to see them play this year still.

  12. matt

    My top 10 players of all time, in no specific order: Kobe,Magic,Jordan,Bird,Duncan,Shaq,Hakeem,Kareem,Russell,Chamberlain.Pippern,BigO,West,Baylor are close.

    • Anthony Macri

      Off the top of my head, Malone would be in mine. LeBron will be.

  13. Seth

    Fantasy wise: rgay or mbeasely?

    • Anthony Macri

      Depends on the way they will score the fantasy team. Beasley looked awfully good last night at times last night, but both teams will have inconsistent productions out of those players because of the other pieces that will take up possessions.

  14. massey

    JUST how good are the Celtics? Without pierce they lose by two to the new look knicks. Do you see them going after another big men or playing small

    • Anthony Macri

      I would expect them to look for an additional piece however I don’t know that they should pick one up just for fun. Celtics are around 3rd or 4th best in the East, and NY is around 3rd or 4th best in the East as well.

  15. Derek C

    I know March is a long time from now…. But I am very intrigued by the NBA players in China. Are their any ideal fits for those players… Particularly J.R. Smith

    • Anthony Macri

      My guess is any of 5-6 teams would be a great fit for JR Smith as they are making a playoff push from around the middle of the pack. Milwaukee might be a good fit – just off the top of my head.

  16. Tasos

    Hello Anthony from Greece,
    Why Knicks didn’t sign Boykins or Nate Robinson?They are better from Jeremy Lin.And can Kelenna Azubuike play again in NBA?

    • Anthony Macri

      I like Lin as a stopgap. Don’t need guys that can score, just facilitate and hit the occasional open shot.

  17. jake

    Do you think the Knicks got the best shot at the title along with the thunder?

    • Anthony Macri

      First impression is that the Finals will likely be OKC vs. Miami for all the marbles. I like both teams, enjoy watching them play, and they match up interestingly against one another.

      Alright folks, time for me to head on out of here. Next Coach’s Notebook should be out this Thursday! Be on the lookout and see you next week…