NBA Chat With Lang Greene 11/15/11

1. Alec

   3 qs for you Lang. How much value does big baby have around the league? Is he going to resign with the Cs or is he looking to depart? “IF” the sign and trade survives, Big baby for Carl Landry seems like a win win. Your opinion?

   • Lang Greene

     Alec, my man … thanks for the ques

     1. I think Glen Davis has solid value around the league. But teams need to be careful with how much stock they put in him. He isn’t going to ever be an All-Star performer and in my opinion at his best he’s a 12-13 point 6-7 rebound a game guy. A team already possessing solid pieces looking to get over the hump wouldn’t be doing themselves a disservice looking into his game. He’s shown the ability to play well in the playoffs and that always is a premium benefit. However on the flip side, teams far away from contention like Toronto, Minny, Washington, etc. should resist from tying up massive amounts of their precious cap space on him.

     2. Tough to say with Glen. On more than one occasion he’s spoke about his hot/cold relationship with Doc Rivers. Then he says he has no problems w/ the Celtics a week later. Here are my onions … I think he follows the money. Davis wants to get paid. He wants to be more involved in a team’s offense. He wants to start. This is based on my conversations with him, his interview with others and what his former teammates are saying.

     3. If the Hornets can’t retain David West they must keep Landry in the fold. Davis wouldn’t be an upgrade (or even lateral replacement) to Landry in my opinion. CP3 likes to push tempo, I feel Landry would do a better job from an athletic standpoint hanging with CP3. With me?

2. Gil

   Hello,
   was wondering if an amnesty clause could somehow encourage players to underperform on purpose, hoping to get released and get payed for doing nothing?

   • Lang Greene

     Anybody who knows me knows that I’m always down for a little conspiracy theory … but even this is a little farfetched. For the most part NBA guys are highly competitive, but more importantly most of them truly respect the game. Do guys coast at times? Sure, that can be found in any sport … but deliberately under-performing? I can’t see it my man.

3. mykel switzerland

   hey lang s’ up, besides Bron Melo nd KD, which SF in your opinion has the best arsenal of moves? The Truth or DG? Deng? Paul Pierce is killin it again and again when i watch him play, he’s not flashy anymore but really special

   • Lang Greene

     Hey Mykel … You talking about arsenal of moves? Give me Paul Pierce over Loul Deng all day every day and twice on Tuesdays.

     Pierce isn’t the most athletic and doesn’t possess the best physique but it never seems to matter. The guy is a certifiable truth machine and averages 20+ per night in any era during his absolute prime. He has that old man at the ‘Y” game where you know his spot, do your best to keep him off it then he gives you a slight nudge or feint which gets you out of position … before you know it he has dropped 20 on you and he hasn’t even started sweating yet. A guy like PP can play until he’s 40.

4. Scrappy

   If you think you can play Basketball,The NBA Wants you. Why hasn’t the NBA gotten replacement players? There is a lot of people that would like a need job.

   • Lang Greene

     You can’t be serious man … no offense to cops, teachers, receptionists and florists worldwide but basically anyone can pursue a career in those professions. NBA players are highly specialized. It’s the reason fans helped the league generate $4 billion dollars in revenue last year to shoot a ball through a hoop. People spending their money (assets) to watch professional athletes dates back to the earliest civilizations. Replacement players would be a joke. You see how that worked out for the NFL in the 80s …

5. dyrese

   2 free agents the knicks should sign is dahntay jones and chris anderson if im rite toney douglas will get traded(fields will have to focus more on offense) and birdman can spell amare and shawne williams he may even motivate stat to play better d because hes so hype your thoughts

   • Lang Greene

     Neither Dahntay Jones or Chris Anderson will be free agents once the season resumes. Both guys have time remaining on their current deals. However both could possibly become amnesty (if included in CBA) victims but that remains to be seen.

     I somewhat disagree with your Birdman making Amar’e play better defense theory. I watched the Hawks’ Josh Smith, who is a phenomenal defensive talent, fail to make Jamal Crawford and Mike Bibby any better defensive players individually over two seasons. Some guys have it defensively and some guys just don’t. A guy like Birdman will help mask some the team’s defensive weaknesses and might improve it a little overall but he’s not turning guys into all-league defensive candidates based on his presence alone.

6. sump

   What do you think Andrea Bargnani could net as a trade chip? Would it be enough to move Bargnani for let’s say Granger? Paul George is the next Granger as per Larry Bird and the need for a scoring PF in Indiana is a necessity going forward. Deal seems fair for both sides as both sides get to fill their needs and basically exchange top scorers who don’t do much else.

   • Lang Greene

     This isn’t a knock against Bargnani, but trying to land Danny Granger for him in a trade right now is a serious stretch. One that might get you laughed at before the phone hangs up in your ear. Bargs will eventually be a Robin to someone’s batman … or play the third man like Toni Kukoc did with the Bulls … but a team isn’t dealing away their franchise player for him … right now at least.

     But he’s a good player … just not a franchise player.

7. Aristotle

   Oh Langy, what do we do now…? *sigh*
   Ok but here is the big Q.
   If the whole issue is players wanting freedom of movement, what’s so hard about allowing that? NBA teams know there’s only 12 spots, so obviously I’m sure players realise they won’t all make it to a big market city, and will still play to get paid. Also, a player can have the freedom to move, but a GM doesn’t need to sign anyone for the sake of it. It seems like owners are scared to admit their past mistakes, so they’re hiding behind this deal. Your thoughts Langy?

   • Lang Greene

     Aristotle … my man … here are my opinions …

     The NBA model is likely broken. I use the term “likely” because I haven’t seen or been privy to any official financial documents which truly supports the league’s case that teams are bleeding money to the amounts publicized. In fact, I keep mentioning it but the nationally respected Forbes magazine poked serious holes in the league’s accounting methods used to calculate their losses at the beginning of the lockout. And once again in the past week Forbes released another column reiterating that they still don’t buy the owners’ claims.

     I remind you that it is extremely probable that ALL NBA owners are regular subscribers of Forbes magazine in comparison to a very small percentage of players getting the publication. It is not an independent blog siding with the players, it is a long standing business publication that a lot of wealthy businessmen and women respect. For the league and respected journalists to shrug off its report like it was nonsense is / was simply ludicrous. How and why the Forbes stuff keeps getting swept under the rug nationally is beyond me. How no other investigative journalists are piggy backing off this story is wild.

     I can guarantee you if Forbes findings ruled against the players it would lead ALL reporting on every site and news publication worldwide.

     But no one seems to notice. No one seems to care.

     I think players willing to miss $1m paychecks every other week truly shows how bad the owners’ offer is … but in the media the “spin” is / has been that the players are “highly competitive” and just “don’t want to lose to Stern at the negotiating table” … Please tell me I’m lying. Please tell me this isn’t a silly line of thought.

     I want you to consider one last thing … keep in mind the motives of the national talking head “NBA” experts who are blasting the players for not taking the deal … ask yourself what they may have to lose without a season … not everyone’s analysis or beliefs are driven by the right reasons.

     Read the latest Forbes report here …

8. tony

   Lang I love your chats. But if you defend what the players did yesterday i will have to disagree. It is the middle of november not july. Chances are they could do this and end up with the same deal or worse later. So I had to vent I am mad frustrated beyond words by this disgraceful egotistic greedy pile of blah. What is your take?

   • Lang Greene

     I’m not here to defend the players or the owners my brother. Since I’m not looking at it like a fan I can understand that its a collective bargaining agreement negotiation and there will be bumps, bruises, delays, media posturing, etc. along the way. Yeah, the players waited until November to pull this as you say … but you can also look at it in terms that they were truly trying to negotiate in good faith. Just depends on what side of the equation you’re on and who you’re willing to give the benefit of the doubt.

     I’m on no one’s side.

     Now, this has been on the radar for years with both sides saying they were prepared to lose a full season if it meant getting what they wanted. Not sure why so many people ignored those statements.

     Quick story … I worked in the corporate office of the former # 1 textile company in the US … but the writing on the wall became clear jobs were in jeopardy as Brazil offered cheaper labor blah blah blah. So what did I do … I jumped ship and prepared myself. Scored another solid gig in a different state. Some of my former colleagues stayed there, lost their jobs and haven’t been able to recover financially since … my message … please don’t ever ignore the signs. This lockout was always going to be a long fight.

     Now, I don’t believe either side is being “greedy” … just taking a hard-line stance to protect their own interests. Business 101. I can understand it. Don’t agree, but fully understand.

     I seriously doubt the deal gets worse even with all of the doomsday rhetoric floating around.If anything the deal stays the same. It’s like the car salesman offering you a FINAL offer for a car at a $10 grand price tag. You turn it down to do a little more research and return to the car lot the next weekend with $10 grand in your pocket to close the deal. The car is still there … is the Salesman going to take that deal or is he going to ramp it back up to $11 grand just because he can … knowing you could walk away again? Exactly, he’ll take the money. Common sense. If the owners “truly” believe 50/50 gets them to where they need to be … no need to make the players “kiss the ring” as my man Tommy Beer said last week.

9. Dong of Dayton

   Hello Lang,

   I’m just starting to get into college hoops since the NBA hasn’t started yet. Who is the most exciting player to watch in college right now?

   • Lang Greene

     The Drummond kid at UCONN. I want to see if he truly has the goodies.

     Harrison Barnes at UNC has a pro game. Perry Jones at Baylor is very athletic.

     All of the Kentucky underclassmen.

     I like watching Hardaway Jr rock at Michigan … and Austin Rivers (Doc’s son) gets plenty of hype at Duke.

10. CJ

    TOR gets d.milicic and wes johnson
    PHO gets barbosa and a.johnson
    MIN gets childress, pietrus, and lopez

    • Lang Greene

      A lot of movement here for a bunch of lateral movement in my opinion. Not sure Phoenix would jump at another wiry big man in Amir Johnson. They already have Channing Frye and Hakim Warrick at the PF spot. Also not sure Phoenix goes after Barbosa again already having Nash and presumably Aaron Brooks in the fold.

11. Rad

    Would Nic Batum be content just coming off the bench, even though I hear he’s torching whatever league he’s in right now, or do the Blazers look to move Gerald Wallace? I’d actually like to see Crash land in that Clipper 3 spot somehow. Either that, or running with Deron in eventually BK. What do you think?

    • Lang Greene

      Obviously the future at SF in Portland is Batum’s to lose. Crash is a very solid pro but he’s been injury prone and is approaching that age when a lot of guys that play with reckless abandon like he does start to decline rapidly.

      I can see the Blazers moving Wallace during his last year in 2013 for some pieces. However, I think the Clippers are looking to go a little younger than Crash to fill their small forward void.

12. Yoichi

    Pang following u up on the defense quetion above. How many players are capable of turning other non defesensive players into defensive players? I.E. KG did it to PP and Ray Allen when he was traded to celtics. Kobe did to Gasol.

    • Lang Greene

      Yoichi!

      KG is an excellent example.

      In his prime Dennis Rodman was a beast defensively. So was Ben Wallace. It seems every team those guys played for became strong defensive squads. Can’t forget about GP in his prime.

      A level below are guys like Ron Artest and Bruce Bowen.