Oh and btw I may be way off, but whenever i saw wally play defense last year i remember him playing with a lot of effort and energy which can go a long way on the defensive end. I know he is not the best athelete by any means, but i feel like many of us may predispose him as a bad defender because he is a "white boy shooter"

Is he really that bad at defense? or do people overly fault him?

Oct 6, 2008 -- 4:47PM, Brandon wrote:

Im fine with Sasha at the two, but only if he proves that his size and athleticism makes him a better defender of SGs than delonte. With Mo we wont have to see Sasha handle the ball too much, and he actually is a decent spot up 3pt shooter which is nice when mo and lebron penetrate. but in that case wally would seem to be the better choice considering his 3pt% history (not last year).

 

For me it comes down to who is better prepared to guard the opponent's SG, that is what is most important to me. whoever it is, i want our SG to be a defensive stopper

agree...& i just hate to see wally start...he is a SF & he doesn't really fit here & i rather see him gone come deadline....i would hope pav can do what you have stated b/c thats basically all we need when mo & lebron dominates...if pav can't seem to handle that which he is capable of then his a** is grass!

Oct 6, 2008 -- 4:59PM, Brandon wrote:

Oh and btw I may be way off, but whenever i saw wally play defense last year i remember him playing with a lot of effort and energy which can go a long way on the defensive end. I know he is not the best athelete by any means, but i feel like many of us may predispose him as a bad defender because he is a "white boy shooter"

 

Is he really that bad at defense? or do people overly fault him?

You are right, he plays with a LOT of effort.  You can really tell he puts his heart into it and tries his best.  The problem tho, i like you said...not only is he not the best athlete, but he is pretty slow footed compared to most 2-guards, and simply can't keep up.  He will get taken off the dribble easily by any reasonably quick 2-guard in this league every time.  Its got nothing to do with him being white btw.  There have been plenty of strong defensive white players.  Thunder Dan Mahrley comes to mind.  Or AK-47.  PLenty more too.  Wally just is slow and clumsy sorta is all, and wil never be able to guard a smaller faster 2-guard effectively.  I actually still say start him tho, to boost his confidence as a shooter, and just make defensive switchups as needed.

Wally is really a 3/4, so why don't we play Lebron at the 2?  He can play any position.

Other than that, I would say our ideal 2 is a tall, athletic guard, that doesn't demand the ball, is a strong defender, and outside shooter.

Right now that player is Sasha, but I would like to see a player like Bowen or Stephen Jackson here.

Oct 6, 2008 -- 9:02PM, QuadrupleDouble wrote:

Wally is really a 3/4, so why don't we play Lebron at the 2?  He can play any position.

 

Other than that, I would say our ideal 2 is a tall, athletic guard, that doesn't demand the ball, is a strong defender, and outside shooter.

 

Right now that player is Sasha, but I would like to see a player like Bowen or Stephen Jackson here.

You know, you make a good point here. Although I hesitate to have LeBron chsing around the other team's best player for the whole game, it might not be so bad in our team defensive system. Especially if Mo is able to take the pressure off LeBron that we all believe he can. That way LeBron would have more energy to play D, and honestly if he's playing all out he could shut down every 2 guard in the league. I would kinda like to see Wally guard the 3 position because that's what he is anyway. And if we can get him to play defense with effort again things might work out really nicely.

Basically the starting lineup would show Wally at the 2 but he and LeBron would just switch on defense. Also, since LeBron doesn't have good post D, we don't have to worry about him guarding more traditional 3s that have some post up moves. Wally has dealt with that enough in his career and would probably be a better post defender than LeBron. To me, this idea has legs.

All that being said, I would STILL like to see Jax or somebody of that naure on this team!