Official pre-season countdown thread

[rabbitproof]

Got a chance to chitchat with Roland Beech yesterday. He said he's most excited about EB. Sad to see JET go and sure JET will be back when he's done playing.

Also says lineup stats are overused (didn't say it directly but hinted at it).

[grndmstr_c]

Originally Posted by rabbitproof

Got a chance to chitchat with Roland Beech yesterday. He said he's most excited about EB. Sad to see JET go and sure JET will be back when he's done playing.

Also says lineup stats are overused (didn't say it directly but hinted at it).

Me as well. From my limited and casual reading of the national prognosticators I don't get the impression that his acquisition registered as much more than a blip on most people's radars - and maybe that was the timing of the amnesty claim, or the higher profile moves of the Lakers and the Heat - but I'm expecting him to end up being Dallas' 2nd best player. A lot still depends on one of the young point guards showing they can run the team, and on one of the SGs (preferably Mayo) playing solid two-way ball, but I think that Matrix/Dirk/Brand frontcourt is capable of anchoring a much stronger closing lineup than most people realize.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by grndmstr_c

Me as well. From my limited and casual reading of the national prognosticators I don't get the impression that his acquisition registered as much more than a blip on most people's radars - and maybe that was the timing of the amnesty claim, or the higher profile moves of the Lakers and the Heat - but I'm expecting him to end up being Dallas' 2nd best player. A lot still depends on one of the young point guards showing they can run the team, and on one of the SGs (preferably Mayo) playing solid two-way ball, but I think that Matrix/Dirk/Brand frontcourt is capable of anchoring a much stronger closing lineup than most people realize.

I totally agree and I think Brand will actually be a great and underrated asset at the center position. His PER and net PER at the center position was actually very good last year.

Admittedly, he didn't play against many star centers, but there aren't many this year either. Not many of the lanky centers use their height well and Brand is as strong as anyone guarding power players. He helped keep Howard to only 39% shooting last year (third best of any team), which will be nice because the Lakers are penciled in as one of the teams to beat this year in the West.

Also the second best rebounder in this team as far as rebounding rating

Rebounding rating
Kaman 28.0
Brand 24.9
Marion 24.7
Wright 22.1
Dirk 20.7