NBA Chat With Lang Greene 10/18/11

1. Dong of Dayton

   Hey Lang,

   Who do you think will have a better season (stats wise) Kyle Lowry or Ty Lawson? Who do you like more?

   • Lang Greene

     Respect to Kyle Lowry on an outstanding year. Aaron Brooks was hampered early by injury and Kyle took advantage of his opportunity. He rose to the occasion. Respect.

     A major shout to Ty Lawson who also made the most of his opportunity by assuming the starting point guard job on a playoff team while stepping in for a veteran leader (Chauncey Billups) and eventually convincing management to trade away another starting caliber guard in Raymond Felton.

     You guys know what I say; putting up numbers on a winning team with the pressure of lofty expectations will always trump putting up gaudy stats on a squad that most aren’t expecting much out of.

     Rolling with Ty.

2. Brian

   In there prime, rank these teams if there was a 4 team tournament:

   1. Stockton-MJ-Pippen-Malone-Hakeem
   2. Nash-Kobe-Dirk-Duncan-Shaq
   3. Magic-Dr. J-Bird-Dominique-Kareem
   4. CP3-Wade-Durant-LeBron-Dwight

   • Lang Greene

     Damn Brian … I thought this would be an easy one when I first looked at it … but you did a good job stacking the squads.

     1. Stockton, MJ, Pippen, Malone, Hakeem
     This squad wins out because of the defense. MJ, Pippen and Hakeem could all defend. Plus Stockton to Malone. The dream shake. Jordan is GOAT. Pip is the ultimate Robin.

     2. Magic, Dr. J, Bird, Nique and Kareem
     In their absolute primes … Kareem is an all-time beast. Magic is the greatest point guard to ever live. Larry Bird snatches anyone’s snacks in his prime … Nique and Dr. J are two of the best scorers … ever to put on a pair of high tops

     3. Nash, Kobe, Dirk, Duncan, Shaq
     4. CP3, Wade, Durant, LeBron, Dwight

3. Barry

   If Orlando decides to trade Dwight, should the HEAT swoop in & offer Wade, Haslem, Joel and Cole? That’s a better deal then Noah/Deng or Pau/Bynum right?

   • Lang Greene

     Do you trade D-Wade with all he’s given to the organization over the years? Man where is the loyalty lol …

     But I don’t think Orlando would be interested in the deal. D-Wade is quickly nearing the point when the skills will start to erode and he’s owed a boatload of money.

4. Raphael

   I have seen a lot of polls on the internet asking who was to blame in this lock out, owners or players. I’ve been trying to figure this out for the past 4 months, reading every available piece of information on the subject. But in the end I’ve never been able to come up with a clear answer.
   To me the more the longer this lock out lasts the more it seems clear that this is nothing more than a millionaire/billionaire dispute. Owners: Basketball has never been their prime source of revenue, why would they be in a hurry to come up with a non profitable deal. Players: The minimum wage is 500k a season, how much is the average American worker wage? They sure can hold longer than most of their fans.
   In the end all these self-centered NBA’ers should take a look to the real world and start to consider that they are going to loose a lot more than a couple millions. In trouble times in the world I am not sure the average fan will stick with what used to be their daily dose of amazing and what is turning to be another example rich wanting to be richer. And yet nothing is being mentioned about them in the discussions.
   My question is then very simple, how can the fan base of this sport can make their voices heard so that both party start to think of something else than their own person?

   • Lang Greene

     You answer your own question my friend. If both sides are only all about the money in your eyes … then not dishing out your hard earned bread to them is the first step to taking a stance.

     But I just can’t get down with your thinking that the players should just take whatever the owners want to give them because the “average man” makes far less. That’s a ridiculous statement. Let me ask you … should an Assistant Manager at McDonald’s take a huge pay cut because the Assistant Manager of the very small Lang’s Crab Shack makes far less money? Of course not.

     This is my personal opinion and doesn’t reflect the views of HOOPSWORLD. I just don’t trust billionaires who cry broke. Especially since these franchises aren’t their only source of income. I mean these guys (owners) are still making big dough even if the season is cancelled. Even if the next four seasons are cancelled … the overwhelming majority of them wouldn’t blink.

     Another thing, the CEO of a fortune 500 company making $5m per year makes 250x’s more than the mail room worker pushing in at $25k. But there will never be a public outcry about this disparity of income … the reason … people … even the poorest of people … always gravitate toward the wealthy, even though most of us are just worker bees. When “wealthy” guys cry broke people side with them … all the time … just check most of the headline titles from today which are calling for the players to cave.

5. Arne

   Greetings from cloudy Berlin! Right now it seems as if the BRI will most likely be split evenly. So, in other words, the players are giving up 7%. If they agree to that, what will keep the owners from demanding another 7% whenever the next CBA runs out? Meaning: why give up so much of within one round of negotiations?

   • Lang Greene

     If the players drop to 50/50 … they’ll never get the “A” side of a deal again. Ever. Why would the owners ever give them back a bigger split of the pie in the future?

     Mark my words … in 2030 if I’m blessed to live that long, I’ll be writing about the players accepting a 60/40 split favoring the owners because “the economy is bad”, “the system is broken”, “owners need to be protected from themselves”, “the average player salary is so much higher than the average worker” and on and on and on.

     I never understood why both sides with all of this business savvy never negotiated a sliding scale deal. As in a 52/48 BRI split for the players if revenues are $3-$4 billion, but if the league makes for instance $5 billion in revenues it goes to 54/46 for the players. Likewise if the league suffers and comes in under $3 billion then the owners get 52/48. I know its simplistic, but incentive deals like this are made in corporate America daily.

6. tony

   Lang your chats are simply awesome. Hey any chance of a deal this week? Considering all the reports of secret 82 game schedules and such it seems the nba really wants to make a deal eh? Thanks

   • Lang Greene

     Thank Tony. I truly appreciate you and all of the Hoop Freaks checking me out every week. Without you guys (and gals) there is no chat …
     I don’t think there will be a deal this week. But the introduction of a mediator into the mix doesn’t hurt things. A fresh perspective, especially an unbiased one is always welcome in a stalemate.

     I wouldn’t be too shocked if I was you that there were “contingency” schedules discovered. The NBA wants a season and when the chips eventually fall in line everyone MUST be ready to go, so I fully expect the people behind the scenes to keep plugging away with that kind of stuff.

     Could you imagine if the players and owners got a deal and we had to wait another week while they figured out how to handle the schedules?

     Trust me, even here at HOOPSWORLD we have content already planned just in case the news breaks that the lockout is truly over. Smart business. Always stay prepared.

7. Zac

   Hey Lang. every writer seems to think that Marvin Williams is the best amnesty canidate on the Hawks, but i think he may have more value being traded then being paid to go away. Do you think the Hawks could go after Leandro Barbosa (Jammaal Crawford numbers off the bench) or try to package Williams and someone else for Varejo?

   • Lang Greene

     Listen, Marvin gets a lot of flack but he’s seriously what the Hawks need at small forward. Here’s a guy who doesn’t complain about shots, guards the other teams best wing player, is a lock to average double figures each year despite of a lack of offense called for him and has sacrificed his game for the betterment of the team in the midst of the current playoff run.

     Yes, he’s overpaid … I’ll admit that … but he’s sort of their glue guy. Not to mention … the Hawks have no one else capable of playing solid minutes at the three full-time.

     For the Hawks to take the next step, Josh Smith probably has to be dealt to bring in the pieces needed.

8. steveS

   Hey Lang, love your chats. I’m an ATL native, have watched Jeff Teague a lot. I know he’s had his moments (not a lot, maybe, but some), but I just don’t see him as THE long-term answer at pg for the hawks. Just don’t. Your thoughts?

   • Lang Greene

     Thanks Steve! ATL in the building …

     I can’t say he’s not the long term answer at this point. The Hawks have never took the training wheels off of Teague. It’s known he plays much better when he’s not looking over his shoulder. Look at how he took it to the league MVP in the playoffs last season. Remember, Kirk Hinrich was hurt so Teague knew he was playing 40+ minutes each game. The result … he played relaxed and put up decent numbers.

9. steveS

   Do you think either Evan Turner or Jodie Meeks of Philly have star potential? Who has the higher ceiling? Who’s higher-ceilinged, one of them or Jordan Crawford?

   • Lang Greene

     I don’t believe Evan Turner or Jodie Meeks are ever going to make the jump to superstar status. I just can’t see their names next to Kevin Durant, LeBron, CP3, Dwight Howard, Melo, etc … Can you?

     Now, I’m not bashing because I do think both guys will have long productive careers. But that isn’t the question you asked me so I had to speak the truth. Superstar is a rare breed of player and far too often overused by people following the game. Kobe Bryant = superstar. Joe Johnson = All-Pro. Difference.

     As for Jordan Crawford, as Jeff Teague told me last season if you give Jordan 25 shots per night it will be hard to stop him from dropping 20 on you. But look at what I just wrote. Does Crawford get 20 shots with the Mavs, HEAT, Lakers, Bulls or Celtics? Heck no. Because none of those teams were going to allow a rookie to hoist 20 shots on sub 40 percent shooting. That’s usually the difference between the elite teams and non-playoff squads.

10. Ryan

    Hi Lang,
    If there is no season, you think Dwight would seriously consider the Clippers? We have Blake, young and athletic core, the big city market. Blake and Dwight would form a scary front line and complement each other well with offense and defense.

    • Lang Greene

      Hey Ryan — we just don’t how the new CBA will be structured enough to speculate. Ultimately, I’m still not sure Dwight bolts from Orlando. HOOPSWORLD has a pretty good relationship with Dwight and he always maintains his love for the fans there.

      We shall see. But yes, D-Howard and Blake Griffin together would be unfair.

11. aaron

    Ok so ESPN released its player rankings and dirk is shockingly behind two guys who lost in the first round and two guys he embarrassed in the finals. whats the deal with that?

    • Lang Greene

      I don’t understand why you guys get so mad at arbitrary top ten rankings made by someone else. It’s not like they selected Eddy Curry as being better than Dirk.

      Honestly, you can make an argument that Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James are the better players. You can also make a case Dirk is better than all of those guys.

      The thing is the top spot is “mythical” … purely an imaginary “mythical” title without any real value. You’re just not going to get everyone to agree someone is the best (except Babe Ruth in Baseball which I don’t buy). If I was a top player I’d shoot for “arguably” … what I mean by that is Dirk is “arguably” the best player in the game. So is LeBron. So is Chris Paul. Etc.

      You can make serious business cases for those guys. Kobe Bryant ranked seventh on the otherhand is just foolish. Plain foolish.

12. Shawn

    The Hawks and Spurs each need another 5. Realistically who can they get in free agency and who’d be the best fit for each team?

    • Lang Greene

      The Spurs could use some depth on the wing … guys like Shane Battier or Grant Hill.

      The Hawks could use a guy like Samuel Dalembert deciding to take less money (won’t happen) … or Michael Redd to add firepower at SG off the bench since Jamal Crawford is likely gone. I wish the Portland Trail Blazers were completely done with Greg Oden … if I was Atlanta and he was available I’d take a risk on that big man.

13. Christian

    Any news about Miami Heat?
    Who do you they can get esp. at the point position to help LBJ get a ring?

    • Lang Greene

      I don’t have much on the HEAT.

      Big Z retired. Norris Cole trained with LeBron over the summer for a week. Everyone knows the HEAT need help at center and point guard. The PG pickings are slim. Maybe a guy like TJ Ford would be an upgrade over Mike Bibby who is past it physically at this point.

14. Mark

    Hey Lang:
    IF the lockout ends this week, fire a prediction of the first move the Hawks will make for us. Thanks!

    • Lang Greene

      Big man. Acquiring a big man. The frontcourt is totally depleted right now.

      No Etan Thomas, Hilton Armstrong, Jason Collins or Josh Powell inside anymore. Only Zaza Pachulia. The Hawks must go frontcourt … and hit it aggressively.

15. willie dupree

    why owners sign these guys r.lewis,areans,boozer etc… to these crazy deals? cap killing deals,and they say they losing money? something is not rite!

    • Lang Greene

      I’m not sold the owners are losing as much money as they pump into the media. Until they release the financials and let the books be scrutinized then I’ll remain hesitant to join them.

      But I say all that to say the system needs to be tweaked a little. It does. I will admit that.

      But once again no one forces these owners to pay that kind of money and offer all of those years. And I definitely hate the “well if I don’t spend it, then another team would” argument. It’s weak. Draft right. Scout well. Hire good coaches. Pay the true talent. Be smart.

16. Barry

    As for your comment about kobe- ESPN wasn’t puting together a lifetime achievement award. He’s clearly lost a step (or two) yet he still guns like the kobe of old. Give me LBJ, Dwight, Dirk, Wade and Durant over kobe (not talking about one game or one shot b/c there is MUCH more to the game then that) over the course of a season.

    • Lang Greene

      Kobe Bryant is arguably still top five in the league. Right now. My opinion. And I will make the argument.

      The fact he has as you say “lost a step (or two)” and is still busting up guys who were in junior high school while he was playing at the highest level should tell you all you need to know.

      The Black Mamba.