West vs. Landry

It definitely hurts. West is an all star player. Landry is a suitable replacement for the short term, but when it comes down to it we are just too thin in the frontcourt after the injury where as before West went down, the frontcourt was starting to look like a strength with the mixing and matching options that Monty had at his disposal.

One thing is certain. Landry is a tough son of a bitch.

and not a very good rebounder, but a great backup 4...

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keeping West

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I think so, with the exception of OKC, every playoff team has a tall PF with a midrange game.

Lakers - Gasol
Spurs - Duncan
Mavs - Dirk
Nuggets - Martin
Blazers - Aldridge
Grizzlies - Randolph
Rockets - Scola

I know Landry can do other things and I'm certainly not ripping him as a player, I'd love to keep him around as a backup, I just don't think he fits what we need at starting PF. Look at the list above, it's pretty obvious the type of PF you need to compete in the West. Landry is just a little too small. Demps was talking about Landry on the radio before the game and one of the positives he mentioned about him was that he was able to guard perimeter players on pick and roll switches. Maybe he can work on his 3 this offseason and be the backup 3 and 4.

Another possible twist to this story are West's comments while he did a guest spot on CST Wednesday in the 2nd quarter. Bob and Gil asked him to talk up Landry and West mentioned his "good size" about 3 or 4 times as the main compliment. Was he trying to send a message to Demps that Landry isn't an adequate replacement?

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I don't think West is the difference maker against any team in the playoff.They all have power forwars superior to West and Landry is certainly not a long term solution.

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Well I certainly don't think West can be your best option and you be a legit NBA title contender. And we certainly are a much smaller team compared to the other powers in the West. As evidenced by that play when Bynum just backed down Okafor like 8 feet for a dunk.

But I think West can be a co number 1 option on a championship level team. In That 07-08 year Peja was getting like 17 a game and shooting 45% from 3. Then Paul was the closer and wasn't shooting that high of a percentage but still getting like 22 a game and finishing opponents. That team was a Non bad back for David West from making the WC finals.

One thing I am disappointed about with the franchise is the way they tried to build the image of the team.

Okafor may be the better overall player than Tyson but that trade should have never been made. Yes, I know that there many question marks regarding TC and his foot at that time. But that trade was made to save George Shinn money. And that's whats frustrating.

The Hornets had all the pieces of being built into a team like the early 90's Detroit Pistons. Tyson was a rebounding machine much like Rodman, Marcus brought a bulldog mentality to the court and although couldn't play the defense like Joe Dumars did, still could have been a terrific contributer on the offensive end like he was. And what's frustrating about him, it seems like the organization kind of labeled him as a bad egg, as a guy who was a detriment to the franchise because of his attitude. Instead of doing what Phil and Kobe do with Artest and put an arm around the guy, we kind of shoved him off to the side and said we are better without you.

I dont know Marcus personally but I know people who graduated with him at Tara and they say he is very much a competitor but also one of the nicest guys that you'll meet off the floor.
Hindsight is always 20/20 and I understand why every move was made, but I can't help think of the way this team would look if it hadn't traded away TC and Marcus.

Obviously we didn't, but I don't disagree since we had turd at the wings that year besides Peja hitting the 3 ball. Of course that was with a Chandler that was better than Oak (whom I still like) and a version of Paul that wasn't as big of a pussy. But 07-08 CP/West + Oak + 2 solid wings can contend, I think. West has never been an athletic player, so if CP finds his way, I think better wings could make the Hornets a team that can make some noise.

ETA: I'm 3/4 drunk, though

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did we even make the WCF that year?

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like i said, if DWest doesnt hurt his back we most certainly do imo. Remember he scored 38 in game 5.

im not going to say it was a cheap shot by horry because i believe in hard fouls and hard play, but there was definitely intention on Horry's part knowing DWest was already experiencing back problems.

we gotta remember finances play a role in this, possibly more than on-court performance

landry will almost assuredly be cheaper than west (esp long-term). that is going to matter with our front office