Hughes .. All NBA Defensive Team

[Taj79]

Congrats to Larry but don't you find it funny that you have one of the top five defenders on your team and still Dwayne Wade is dropping 40 points on you almost every night? Also, in the Chicago series, I heard one commentator (Walton, I believe) talk about how the Wiz doesn't play defense.

I have to believe that Larry is there because of his steals totals and that is about it. He certainly wasn't a "lock down " defender as not only Wade attests but so too does the powerhouse in Chicago known as Kirk Hinrich.

Once again .. the NBA ... who really cares?

[billiken_roy]

taj, did you watch the games? larry did all he could but got zero help from the bigs on wade's drives. shaq or mourning would set a granite like pick that a mack truck couldnt get through let alone skinny larry, and instead of stepping out to impede wade's progress and turning him back to larry, wade had a highway to the basket.

no doubt wade's stock went way up last week. even with me as i too now admit he is better than our legend, but the box score doesnt really tell the whole story. basically it would be hughes playing defense and that is about it. if arenas was scoring at the time, he put in an effort, but if he was on one of his cold streaks gil wasnt too concerned with stopping anyone either.

the two comebacks in the last two games larry actually had a few steals that were highlight like stuff. where you think "where the hell did he come from".

hughes imo, should at least test the waters this summer. he is going to be second fiddle to arenas forever (nothing wrong with that if arenas was truly better, but other than his self confidence level, i dont think he is better than hughes), and other than tweener jamison (is he a pf or a wing?) the rest of the team just isnt good enough. i'd sure play it out and see if he cant find a team with an inside player that actually has some skills that are in the same league as his. minnesota is damn cold during the basketball season though.

[slufanskip]

Taj ... have you watched Larry. He may be the best defensive guard in the NBA. During the Miami series Larry was consistently picked off Wade. Dwayne could not beat him off the dribble. During the final game near the end two plays come to mind. 1st one a Heat player comes up behind Larry to pick him just past the top of the key to his left. Wade drives to the left of the screener, Larry anticipates the pick and rolls right to cut off Wade. The screener rolls left and cuts off Larry like a pulling guard moving next to Wade as a screen. No Help, Wade goes all the way to the hole unchecked. Of course this pulling guard moving screen is ok in the NBA. Next closer to the end Wade again has the ball in between the top of the key and the half way line Larry reaches in and pokes the ball away and is clear for a layup. Wade reaches out with 2 hands and pushes Larry, deliberatly and blatantly knocking Larry off the path to the ball Dwayne then recovers the ball ... this happens right in front of a ref ... No call. That is the reason I don't watch the NBA ... 2 sets of rules, one for stars ... one for everyone else. Wade is a media darling on Shaq's team. The favoritism he gets from ref's is just going to get worse.

This is not a knock on Wade ... he doesn't make the calls ... he just plays the game, and I think he is an incredible player.

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[Taj79]

.... but not all. I doubt that even adding up what I saw in the Chicago series and the Miami series totaled even one full game. I just find it very hard to watch and get nothing out of it. Guys yell and scream when dunking the ball, when getting knocked down, when getting phantom touched. The only reason to watch was because it was Hughes and that was not enough to carry the load for me. I found myself out on my deck birdwatching and enjoying puffs on a couple of magnificent Rosa Cuba Ortiz la Boys.

Okay maybe Shaq and 'Zo set mack truck picks to free Wade up. But there wer emany times when Wade just blew on by and that was that. Again, it does not answer how one makes the All Defensive NBA team. given these recent performances, my take on it is "so what." And that goes for Garnett, Wallace, Duncan and Bowen as well.

If I do agree on the picks issue then how do you explain Hinrich and Janero Pargo the series before? There weren't any mack truck picks being set there. And the Wiz essentially were playing three guards back at them with Hughes, Arena and Dixon.

I guess its this ... a big "atta-boy" for Larry's accomplishment. But it don't mean much in the long run.

As for Larry testing the waters .... we'll see. I do see some stuff in the local area here where DC seems to like Larry as much as one can like these professional mercenaries nowadays. I an expecting this to be Larry's imitation of Jack Clark and Darryl Porter .... have the year of your life right before contract time. Let's see what next year brings. I'm all for the Spencer Haywood suggestion on the NBA ..... everybody makes $200 grand .... and the balance of a game is thrown in a bag with the winner taking it all. Play for real money...... no win, no bling.

[willie]

I'don't agree that Larry should test the water except to maybe drive up his price tag. I think this is a pretty good team for him to play on. He has a lot of freedom. Gets to handle the ball a lot as Arenas is not your typical point guard. They need to acquire a big man to replace K Brown and they should be an upper division team. If Larry can continue to improve his outside shot there is no reason he can't be an all star. I think the Wiz are very close. They just need an inside player. I do agree that Larry's defense was good but the bigs couldn't stop the pick and roll.

[Taj79]

.. I did see both plays you mention, live, as they were going down. You do justice in your descriptions ..... in the moving screen move as well as the push off Wade laid on Hughes. And maybe Larry ain't on him for the whole game so complaining aobut the 40 might not be right on ......

But this guy got all Defensive NBA ... and while anyone might bust out and throw a 40 down on any given night, Wade did it almost at will, and without the added influence of Shaq for two of those games. Just doesn't seem to work for me but that's me .. I wouldn't waste a dime on the NBA at any given moment. I wouldn't even use free tickets because they ain't free ... I still have to drive there, park there, and refresh myself there and I won't give them that money. The upper last row of the Phone Booth (the MCI Center here in DC) goes for $40 a night on game nights. Its higher for the playoffs. I don't see how resepctable people can do it. Seems to me that there's a whole lot of ill-gotten booty paying for those seats. Or Spike Lee is picking up the tab.

I also don't share the affinity that I know broy does for the Legend. He's played a year and a half in Philly. Two and a half years in Golden State. And now three in DC. Notice the pattern here ... he's actually expanded his staying power going 1 year at SLU, then 1 1/2, then 2/ 1/2 andnow 3. Maybe he'll sign a four year contract next. In that regard, why would we expect him to hold any affinity for our place .. he was here the least. Contributing to an arena .... yeah, right.

Despite all my bellyaching, the NBA is still so bad that Larry is the only reason I'd watch .... for as little as a watch nonetheless.

[billiken_roy]

pargo had the best 2 minutes of his life in the one bulls game where he was totally unconscious. hughes was in his face for a lot of that. most of the success that heinrich had came when jordan had the wizards in a 3-2 zone, which due to his very weak bench, he does a lot to be able to keep hughes and arenas in the game as much as possible.

i admit i dont watch much nba. probably saw more in the last two weeks watching hughes than i watched the last two years combined! and as of sunday, i now put it away until maybe game 3 of the championship round. to me, my enjoyment of the nba begins and ends with hughes.

[kshoe]

***** and moan about the NBA and claim to have no interest in it yet you seem to watch it a bunch and have a ton of negative opinions. For someone that says he doesn't care too much you sure do care alot.

The NBA is not as good as college in my opinion but I'd sure rather have it then no basketball at all.

Player awards are given based on the regular season and obviously Larry leading the league in steals played heavily on his selection but its pretty short-sighted to judge him (rightly or wrongly) on 10 post-season games.

[Mobile-iken]

You guys that are "avoiding" the NBA are missing some pretty good basketball. Today's NBA isn't what it was 5 years ago, they actually play defense...It isn't the isolation game it used to be, and there is actual strategy in the coaches decisions. I do still despise the continuation rule though.

Watch a little bit of the Mavs/Suns game tomorrow night, if you don't enjoy that you simply don't enjoy basketball.

[courtside]

The bottom link was an interesting read...

Okay...reverse order...BigMac....The NBA still consists of the grab and hold league. If I want to see hockey, would have headed to Austria for the Worlds. The West...and Wade are where it's at? 67% of ESPN's audience is on East Coast time, and frankly East Coast ball in the NBA stinks. I prefer college but enjoyed the 80's NBA. There are some nice moments in the West.

Skip I don't judge players on individual games or series....but I will disagree with what you said, and I saw...Wade can and did take Hughes off the dribble. Wade had a bad first quarter in one of the games with to's.....and credit also goes to the other team...but I think it is extraordinary what he is doing at the point in only his second year of ever playing it in his life.

Roy, look up the Heat's record without Shaq....and take a look at the Heat roster last year and this year....Damon Jones? c'mon...Besides the Diesel, just a bunch of interchangeable guys at best in the league. He makes those guys better.

Hughes to me is JD Drew in many ways.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2005/dailydime

[slufanskip]

I watched almost the entire series and we will have to disagree ... while I am not ready to grant Larry all world status and have argued in the past that I would like to see more than 1 season before I even call him a top 10 guard ... but Wade rarely if at all took him off the dribble ... he got consistent picks up top and used them ... more times than 1 when Larry anticipated the pick moved with Dwayne.

With that said ... given the choice ... I take Dwayne Wade over Larry all day ... though I would like to see what Larry can do on a decent team with a respectable big man ... What I would love to see is Larry go to Dallas ... but it won't happen.

The refs turn me off to the NBA ... a foul is a foul to everyone. call the moving screen ( ever watched Yao, he has NEVER EVER set a still pick but the NBA wants the Chineese market so a star he will become ) call the walk, no holding ... etc.

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[MrJ2333]

> He may be the best

>defensive guard in the NBA.

Laughable. Bruce Bowen is about ten times the defender the great One Year Bill is. I mean Larry put up a great defensive effort on a must win game, giving up 42 points, not to mention shooting a very mediocre 4-17. Wade probably averaged...just a rough estimate...30 ppg this series. Dont give me the "oh the refs are unfair" excuse. Thats just a cop out. Refs even up the calls over the course of the game. They aren't part time lawyers or butchers like the NFL. These guys are the best of the best. If it wasn't 11 pm I'd name about 25 guards in the NBA id take than Big LH.

> That is the reason I don't watch the NBA

>... 2 sets of rules, one for stars ... one for everyone

>else. Wade is a media darling on Shaq's team. The favoritism

>he gets from ref's is just going to get worse.

If Hughes was that good, shouldnt he get the calls too? This comes not only from the fact that he isn't that great, but he plays on an unlikable team. Arenas is a punk/moron ballhog, shoot-first, me-first type player that will never win. Jamison has no idea what position he plays. Kwame Brown is just nuts overall. Brendan Haywood has the IQ of a gorilla. If Larry wants to win, he'd go to a team that could use a taller scoring guard. Somewhere he wouldn't have to make any big decisions.

[billiken_roy]

bowen is a ron artest wannabe. imo a thug. if thuggery is good defense. then so be it.

[slufanskip]

Ok ... you have a clue.

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[slufanskip]

The calls don't even out ... they are horrible, and why should they have to even out. Make the right call in the first place. They even out in the end is a stupid statement ... it's ok to make a lot of bad calls and not call the game according to the rules ... just do it equally so it evens out by the end of the game. Yes thats a good idea. Also a foul is not a foul ... 2 quick fouls on a player early and youv'e taken him out of the game ... so evening them up later isn't really even.

The NBA tries to invent superstars Duncan gets away with murder, Yao ... Sean Bradley with calls. Lets not mention Shaq. Go back to Michael who was great ... but he invented the 3rd step. Why wasn't he just called for walking ... because the NBA had to fill the void left by Bird and Majic ...

The call I mentioned earlier on the push by Wade happenned 5 feet in front of a ref ... it was incredibly obvious and blatant, a 2 handed push. ... why wasn't it called, there is no way the ref missed it.

Bowen is a thug ...

You might not think Larry is an all NBA defender ... but lets hear your 25 guards you take before Larry ... don't wuss out out start listing.

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[billiken_roy]

no argument from me about hughes' supporting cast at washington. artest is a great talent, but about as selfish as they come imo. the rest are at least a step behind the typical nba player.

i continue to chuckle at courtside's contention that wade makes all his teamates so much better as compared to hughes. if only hughes had a center and backup center that were both destined for the hall of fame.

[billiken_roy]

other than arenas and hughes, i would take damon jones over any other guards that the wizards have. and please tell me who on the wizards even is close to the BACKUP center for the wizards let alone shaq. and we havent even touched eddie jones yet.

sure we saw hughes get beat on the dribble occasionally. however, hughes also beat wade on the dribble with an unbelieveable crossover a number of times. the difference was the heat had either shaq or mourning waiting for him. the wizards had brenda haywood watching wade go by and michael ruffin as the safety valve. micheal ruffin?

[thetorch]

Hughes should be getting an extrememly rich contract. The Wiz already pay Jamison the max and Arenas will probably want that to. That doesn't leave much for any other players. I don't see the Wiz as much more than playoff fodder for Detroit, Indiana, and Miami with or without Larry.If there was an oppurtunity where he could hook up with a real proven superstar, say Garnett for instance, I would have him take it.

[Taj79]

... is another guy's bitching and moaning. That's the way it goes. I am only opining about the lack of defense in the NBA. And I am doing that by taking to task the naming of our Untouchable Billiken One Year Wonder to the All-NBA Defensive team for what appears to be his ability to step in front of an errant pass or two twice or so a game. Sure, maybe he did pick pockets and make legitimate one-on-one defensive steals but I doubt that to be the overall case. A part of it but still not the same.

Same as what? Same as what I remember being defensive .... DJ shutting someone down as an opponent against the Celtics. Bobby Jones coming off the bench for the Sixers in the late 70's/early 80's. Rodman (who I detest for the caraciture of a human being that he now is) turning the screws on someone both defensively and keeping him off the boards. Walt Frazier. Bill Bradley. Wes Unseld. The Chief. You can't argue any other way than Larry's steal numbers because if he were at least partially defensive, I'd say we are looking at a game 5 back in Miami AND with a 2-2 series.

Based on my location, I have direct access to the Wiz for every game. I still believe, but its anecdotal and not scientific, that my total amount of watching all NBA games this year amounts to a total time of one game ..... 48 clock minutes. I know its probably more but I will bet the house that it woulnd't be much more than maybe two or even three total games.

I like basketball. I like it the way the world champions play it. You know those guys .... the ones from Argentina. Or is it Lithuania? Or maybe its Croatia? Was it Greece? In any case, its nobody in this country.

[courtside]

Well boys...I guess we will have to disagree.

We can agree that the NBA isn't fun or watchable most of the time. If it becomes more of a team game and less one on one...and officials attend to simple rules like traveling...etc...I would be more interested.

I can watch some West teams and the Heat play....that is about it...

I would like to see Hughes dramatically increase his assists per game, and create more for others...in turn getting more for himself too. up until this year, he was a stat filler on bad teams, decent numbers, nice pay...It has been seven years....and I expected more up until this point. Hopefully he can turn the corner after signing a nice contract. Many don't do it....many....so it is up to him.

[slufanskip]

He will have to make the decission to go to a better team ... even if the dollars aren't as nice. Like I said, I would love to see him in Dallas. He has never been on a good team or a team with a chance to be good ... except his beginning in Philly where he never had a real chance.

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