Just Some Melo / Barnes Rumors

[ThinkAboutIt]

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[ThinkAboutIt]

No they brought in Iggy because between Curry, Thompson and Barnes you had one of the worst peremeriter defending teams in league. None of them can stop dribble penetration to save their lives or 1on 1 defense. So they brought in Iggy to help with that. Plus Iggy can run a offense. Which let GS run their offense thru him giving Curry and Thompson a chance to run thru screen and set up for quick 3's on fast breaks.

Barnes has never been known as a good ball handler or facilitator. Bringing IGgy was a good idea. It just didn't work in the execution. It should work out better this year.

Barnes was still getting good minutes and shouldn't have fell on his face.

Iguodala was considered an all-purpose, complete player, who yes, could defend well, but Barnes was constantly being praised for his defense after his rookie season, so to suggest that that is the reason Iguodala was brought in is ridiculous. 

 

He was brought in because he was a 2012 Olympic gold medalist and NBA All-Star. They thought he would help them win "now," after they got close, and they were wrong.

 

Wing defense wasn't why they lost. Neither was the SF position. Barnes outperformed his regular season in the 2013 Playoffs, while Klay Thompson fell off in his production. They lost because you will have a tough time winning an NBA title with a backcourt like Curry and Thompson that has to make shots to win (like Stockton and Hornacek) if those two guys are considered go to players on your team. You need to "out-athlete" other teams at that point (most recent champs), or overwhelm them with bodies (Dallas and San Antonio). Replacing Barnes with Iguodala wasn't the solution. Had they replaced Thompson in the starting lineup with Iguodala and developed that over the course of the season, they would've had a more legitimate wing rotation come playoff time, but they weren't going to do that because Klay has "earned" his minutes. It failed because no matter how good Curry and Thompson are as individual players, you're not winning it all if your team is built around a PG/SG combo like that.

 

I repeat (because people are hard of understanding): You can win it all with a PG/SG combo like that, but not if your team is built around it. Shooters can't be your go to players unless they have other assets, like a "Dirk" who is a mismatch problem. 

 

Barnes wasn't the problem. Building your team around two shooters who aren't regarded as superior athletes was their problem (even though Thompson is a respectable athlete), along with trying to depend on brittle big men like Lee and Bogut. That's why Golden State didn't know what they were doing, and it's exactly why Wojnarowski is right (audio) when he says Barnes was misused last year.

[ThinkAboutIt]

You guys are undervaluing the 9th pick

 

The players projected around #9 this year are overvalued, but I agree. 

[SuperJTheGreat]

Report: Bulls in talks to trade for Arron Afflalo from Orlando