4-team trade sends Collison and Posey to Indiana! Troy Murphy gone

[InspiredLebowski]

Originally Posted by Nastradamus

People, before you get too excited, don't forget JO'B's offense is not friendly to dribble drive PGs like Collison in the way that NO's was. He has killed guys like this before.

This is true, he's never had a PG average over 6 assists (around there). I think anyone who's expecting him to put up 18/9 or whatever he did in place of Paul's going to be disappointed. I'm thinking more along the lines of 14/7 (he'll be the first!), which'd be fine. Thankfully JOB's gone after the season.

I also don't think this move gets us much closer the playoffs than we already were. If it'd been Ford, Dunleavy, any of the expirers BUT Murphy, I'd probably say not making the postseason would be a disappointment. Much as I dislike the way the team used Murphy so much we just lost a consistent double double (even if you want to argue how he got the boards) and are pretty unproven upfront. One of the rookies is going to have to come out really strong from day one, like almost ROY type strong, or Hans/McBob have to make some pretty huge leaps. I like both players, but neither is a starter on a very good team.

That's not to say I think this was a dumb trade or anything, I'm still jumping for joy over it. It's put us in a much better situation going forward, it's just not an immediate "we're a lock for the playoffs" move. If I were a betting man I wouldn't put money on it. We'll see if Legend can work some more magic on the frontcourt though.

[ihatetimthomas]

Do you think JOB is even going to last the season? I think its clear to everyone and the players that he is a lame duck and they lost faith in him over a year ago. Granted the team makeup is a factor in his struggles as a coach, but he has absolutely nothing in his tenure and I would expect him to be bounced earlier than next off season

[InspiredLebowski]

If it weren't for the recent coaching changes, I'd say no, he's gone mid-season. But we just brought in two JOB guys in Walter McCarty and Vitaly Potapenko (yes, THAT Waltah McCarty and THAT Vitaly Potapenko) as assistants. Frank Vogel's another assistant that's been on O'Briens staff at all three of his NBA stops. Jay DeFruscio I know little about other than this is his first year in the NBA after a long D3 career, so that's not a legit replacement.

That only leaves Dan Burke and the assumption that if JOB's fired the majority of the staff goes with him. The franchise couldn't afford to not promote from within. It's too bad Lester Conner got out while he could in the offseason.