The Atlanta Braves Thread VII

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#7,601
#7,601
zjcvols said:
He might have ruined any chance of playing in the NBA during that stretch (because Pearl was going to give him some PG duties and he couldn't) but the fact that he did that and still played at a really good level was incredible.
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He got a decent enough look from the NBA that he would probably have made it if he could have done anything else at all at an NBA level. He was short, slow, couldn't jump, couldn't play defense, couldn't create his own shot, etc.

He would get a much longer look from NBA teams if he were coming out now, simply because the league has changed and values the three-pointer much more. I'm no expert, but I feel like Lofton could have done most of what Steph Curry does now. But back then no team would have considered it.
 
#7,602
#7,602
Vercingetorix said:
He got a decent enough look from the NBA that he would probably have made it if he could have done anything else at all at an NBA level. He was short, slow, couldn't jump, couldn't play defense, couldn't create his own shot, etc.

He would get a much longer look from NBA teams if he were coming out now, simply because the league has changed and values the three-pointer much more. I'm no expert, but I feel like Lofton could have done most of what Steph Curry does now. But back then no team would have considered it.
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Curry has PG skills and his 6'3. Lofton never had PG skills and his 6'0. If Lofton was 6'4 (like Redick) he would have Redick's career. Although I still think Lofton could get his shot off in the NBA.

Also, Josh Smith just got a "substantial" four year offer from the Detroit Pistons and they would start him at the 3 spot. Excuse me while I throw up.
 
#7,603
#7,603
Regulator said:
The beginning of the end of UT's national prominence and the Fulmer era. We've mostly been wandering the wilderness ever since.
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To me, the line of demarcation was Maryland 30, UT 3 in the Peach Bowl. That's when I turned to Mrs Verc and told her the Phil Fulmer era was over, but it would probably take a couple years to play all the way out. He held on a few years longer than I thought he would.
 
#7,604
#7,604
Regulator said:
The beginning of the end of UT's national prominence and the Fulmer era. We've mostly been wandering the wilderness ever since.
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My freshman year was the one after the National Championship. The weeks between the UF game and the SECCG that year were absolutely awesome. After the CG, not so much.
 
#7,605
#7,605
Vercingetorix said:
To me, the line of demarcation was Maryland 30, UT 3 in the Peach Bowl. That's when I turned to Mrs Verc and told her the Phil Fulmer era was over, but it would probably take a couple years to play all the way out. He held on a few years longer than I thought he would.
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Not firing Fulmer after 2005 was the beginning of the end. The program has been paying for it ever since.
 
#7,606
#7,606
Wait, why will Kobe Bryant be part of Dwight Howard's pitch on Tuesday when it was obvious on the court Dwight hated Kobe?
 
#7,607
#7,607
zjcvols said:
Curry has PG skills and his 6'3. Lofton never had PG skills and his 6'0. If Lofton was 6'4 (like Redick) he would have Redick's career. Although I still think Lofton could get his shot off in the NBA.

Also, Josh Smith just got a "substantial" four year offer from the Detroit Pistons and they would start him at the 3 spot. Excuse me while I throw up.
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I can't agree about Curry's PG skills. Turnover turnover turnover turnover: I definitely feel like Lofton could turn the ball over at a similar rate in the NBA. Didn't realize he's that much taller than Lofton though. That makes a big difference.

There is no way that in today's game Lofton wouldn't find a spot at the end of somebody's bench to come in and bomb threes in a small-ball lineup. Seems funny to be talking about "today's game" when Lofton only left five (?) years ago, but things are different now.
 
#7,608
#7,608
Vercingetorix said:
I can't agree about Curry's PG skills. Turnover turnover turnover turnover: I definitely feel like Lofton could turn the ball over at a similar rate in the NBA. Didn't realize he's that much taller than Lofton though. That makes a big difference.

There is no way that in today's game Lofton wouldn't find a spot at the end of somebody's bench to come in and bomb threes in a small-ball lineup. Seems funny to be talking about "today's game" when Lofton only left five (?) years ago, but things are different now.
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Curry has a 2/1 AST:TO ratio. That's not great, but I'm confident that'd be better than Lofton's. Just my opinion though.

I agree, especially if someone had a taller PG (like Golden State) where you can bring him in for ten minutes.
 
#7,609
#7,609
zjcvols said:
Curry has PG skills and his 6'3. Lofton never had PG skills and his 6'0. If Lofton was 6'4 (like Redick) he would have Redick's career. Although I still think Lofton could get his shot off in the NBA.

Also, Josh Smith just got a "substantial" four year offer from the Detroit Pistons and they would start him at the 3 spot. Excuse me while I throw up.
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Smith is seductive as hell. Great talent; stuffs the box score everywhere. I still think eventually he's going to play with or for someone who helps him figure out that literally the one thing he has to do is stop shooting from the perimeter and he'll immediately become one of the top players in the game. A lot of teams are going to look at him and think they can be the one who convinces him of it.
 
#7,610
#7,610
Vercingetorix said:
Smith is seductive as hell. Great talent; stuffs the box score everywhere. I still think eventually he's going to play with or for someone who helps him figure out that literally the one thing he has to do is stop shooting from the perimeter and he'll immediately become one of the top players in the game. A lot of teams are going to look at him and think they can be the one who convinces him of it.
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I'm not denying that, but the problem is Detroit has a great PF/C combo in Monroe and Drummond that play the 4/5 and in this situation Smith will play the 3. Which won't do anything but encourage Josh to shoot more perimeter shots.
 
#7,611
#7,611
How many max-contract-ish NBA players are there for whom the one glaring fatal flaw in the their game is something they simply need to decide to stop doing? Any coach worth anything has got to think that he's the one who can fix Josh Smith, right?
 
#7,612
#7,612
zjcvols said:
I'm not denying that, but the problem is Detroit has a great PF/C combo in Monroe and Drummond that play the 4/5 and in this situation Smith will play the 3. Which won't do anything but encourage Josh to shoot more perimeter shots.
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Everybody wants to get big again after watching this year's Eastern Conference Finals. A hypothetical Josh Smith who doesn't shoot you out of the game gives you a ton of flexibility.

It's been done before. Josh only took 7 three pointers in 81 games in the whole 2009-2010 season. Not coincidentally, he shot over 50 percent for the year. If you can get that guy, he's worth whatever you're allowed to pay him.
 
#7,613
#7,613
Vercingetorix said:
To me, the line of demarcation was Maryland 30, UT 3 in the Peach Bowl. That's when I turned to Mrs Verc and told her the Phil Fulmer era was over, but it would probably take a couple years to play all the way out. He held on a few years longer than I thought he would.
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Looking back at my post, I completely screwed it up. That UT/UF 2001 game was the last peak of the Fulmer era. They blew the SEC CG (and a BCS Title Game bid) the following week and it's been pretty much all downhill since then. In hindsight, that Chick-fil-A Bowl you referred to should have been the cold reality for us all. And to concur with ZJC, Fulmer should have been out after the on and off the field embarrassment the 2005 season turned out to be.
 
#7,614
#7,614
Regulator said:
Looking back at my post, I completely screwed it up. That UT/UF 2001 game was the last peak of the Fulmer era. They blew the SEC CG (and a BCS Title Game bid) the following week and it's been pretty much all downhill since then. In hindsight, that Chick-fil-A Bowl you referred to should have been the cold reality for us all. And to concur with ZJC, Fulmer should have been out after the on and off the field embarrassment the 2005 season turned out to be.
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I spent the 2002 season trying to convince myself that every team has its ups and downs. But the way the team flat out quit in the Peach Bowl convinced me that Fulmer was probably done.

Firing him after 2005 was completely unrealistic. Fulmer had grown incredibly politically powerful. He was personal decades-long friends with all the biggest boosters. We had a relatively new AD, personally handpicked by Fulmer himself. There was just no way he was going to get fired then, in his first losing season, a year removed from an SECCG. I said at the time that I hoped it at least used up his mulligan, and apparently it did.
 
#7,615
#7,615
Vercingetorix said:
I spent the 2002 season trying to convince myself that every team has its ups and downs. But the way the team flat out quit in the Peach Bowl convinced me that Fulmer was probably done.

Firing him after 2005 was completely unrealistic. Fulmer had grown incredibly politically powerful. He was personal decades-long friends with all the biggest boosters. We had a relatively new AD, personally handpicked by Fulmer himself. There was just no way he was going to get fired then, in his first losing season, a year removed from an SECCG. I said at the time that I hoped it at least used up his mulligan, and apparently it did.
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I agree with those points, but all it did was delay the inevitable and the inevitable wound up costing a helluva lot more than if they'd just bit the bullet right then and there.
 
#7,616
#7,616
Regulator said:
I agree with those points, but all it did was delay the inevitable and the inevitable wound up costing a helluva lot more than if they'd just bit the bullet right then and there.
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Believe me, in 2005 I was tearing my clothes about the fact that Fulmer needed to be gone. I just felt like there was no way it was ever going to happen and all these idiots on this VolNation message board I was lurking on who thought there was any chance it was going to happen were crazy. Philip Fulmer was so powerful that he personally twisted arms in the Tennessee legislature and stopped a budget impasse to prevent a government shutdown. There was no chance he was going to get fired after his first losing season.
 
#7,617
#7,617
Vercingetorix said:
Believe me, in 2005 I was tearing my clothes about the fact that Fulmer needed to be gone. I just felt like there was no way it was ever going to happen and all these idiots on this VolNation message board I was lurking on who thought there was any chance it was going to happen were crazy. Philip Fulmer was so powerful that he personally twisted arms in the Tennessee legislature and stopped a budget impasse to prevent a government shutdown. There was no chance he was going to get fired after his first losing season.
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Wait, what?
 
#7,619
#7,619
Scotty's Flat Top said:
Lol. Obviously I was speaking in regards to their attitudes rather than their talents. Ovechkin is great but don't hold your breath on him leading your team to a title.
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Not to be a Debbie downer, but don't hold your breath on anyone leading the predators to a title.
 
#7,620
#7,620
TBrown said:
Not to be a Debbie downer, but don't hold your breath on anyone leading the predators to a title.
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I don't remember implying that anywhere. There is no one on the offensive side anyway. But Pekka Rinne and Shea Weber can absolutely lead a team to a cup. Not happening without any offensive weapons of course.

The Predators have made the playoffs 7 out of the last 9 years and have advanced multiple times now. They will have one of the best goalies and defenses in the game. They are not as far out as you think.
 
#7,621
#7,621
Scotty's Flat Top said:
I don't remember implying that anywhere. There is no one on the offensive side anyway. But Pekka Rinne and Shea Weber can absolutely lead a team to a cup. Not happening without any offensive weapons of course.

The Predators have made the playoffs 7 out of the last 9 years and have advanced multiple times now. They will have one of the best goalies and defenses in the game. They are not as far out as you think.
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I remember Ryan Ellis was hyped up. How is that situation looking?
 
#7,623
#7,623
wU-Tang Vol said:
I remember Ryan Ellis was hyped up. How is that situation looking?
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He will most likely get shipped in exchange for a 1 round pick or an NHL ready forward. He is good player and has put up respectable numbers all things considered in his limited icetime in Nashville. This team is so defensively rich and offensively famished that they have to move him. One of our best trade pieces.
 
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