Z not retiring next season?

[Wine and Gold]

He's tall and has a great shooting touch out to the 3pt. line. As long as he can shoot, he'll have a place in this league. He could go on doing what he's doing right now for a number of years.

I wasn't sure if after adopting his two boys whether basketball was going to continue to play a part in his life after this season. But, as the seson has progressed he's been becoming more and more convinced that he will look to continue playing.

Wlouldn't be surprised to see him just go year to year from here on out just evaluating whether he wants to continue playing after each season ends.

This is good to know now, though. Because it can help us in formulating our roster planning for next year, into our trade possiblities this season. That's as far as I can go with that.

 

[Chardon]

If Z wants to return next year, he would only return if LeBron was returning, that means LeBron is coming back?

 

[CleveRocks]

Z will still be better than Lorenzen Wright two years from today..

 

[Spencer Hawes]

Z is being modest. He's basically saying we're winning it all this year so I'm returning to build a dynasty.

 

[2 For The Brew]

Earlier this year it looked like Z had declined sharply. His shooting was awful and he wasn't doing much else to justify minutes. When he had his first DNP-CD on THAT night, it looked bad for Z.

In the past few weeks it looks like he has made the adjustment to come off the bench and once again he is an asset to our team (interesting that this happened after the DNP-CD). As a backup 5 he rules. Against some teams (i.e. Lakers) he and Shaq can play a few minutes together and present serious matchup problems. Z has always been a great guy for team chemistry as well.

His two main assets (7-3 and shooting touch) are not in decline. Obviously he is literally slowing down with age, but a 7-3 shooter can be a role player in this league into at least the late 30's.

 

[MoFlo]

If Z wants to return next year, he would only return if LeBron was returning, that means LeBron is coming back?

I really don't think it matters to Z. His loyalty is to the organization, not LeBron James.

 

[Houston RZ34]

Man, I think moving Z to the Bench might have extended his career a bit.

 

[jlegg21]

Anyone who watched this Denver game tonight might have a little different take on it.

Before I explode, tonight was Mike Brown's fault for putting him out there the whole 4th quarter, and the whole team took a dump for all 4 quarters, but Z cant guard anyone who doesnt have 2 left feet. Once Shaq went out with foul trouble, the flood gates opened up.

Nene, Birdman, and K-Mart with his duct-taped knees went around him like he was a folding chair. He's worse v the pick n roll than Shaq. There I said it. At least Shaq plays physical and punishes people at the rim.

Lee and whoever else is in the "let's keep Z until he needs a wheelchair to get to the scorer's table" need to quit acting like we'd miss his D. He can guard one kind of player, the big, slow bums like Dan Gadzuric who have 8 foot range. Against athletic teams like Atlanta, Denver, Orlando, and LA (screw Xmas day), he's borderline useless.

The guy is done and if we really, truly can get Antawn Jamison for his decaying corpse and a sack of marbles, you MAKE...THAT...TRADE. Period...

 

[Randolphkeys]

Anyone who watched this Denver game tonight might have a little different take on it.

Before I explode, tonight was Mike Brown's fault for putting him out there the whole 4th quarter, and the whole team took a dump for all 4 quarters, but Z cant guard anyone who doesnt have 2 left feet. Once Shaq went out with foul trouble, the flood gates opened up.

Nene, Birdman, and K-Mart with his duct-taped knees went around him like he was a folding chair. He's worse v the pick n roll than Shaq. There I said it. At least Shaq plays physical and punishes people at the rim.

Lee and whoever else is in the "let's keep Z until he needs a wheelchair to get to the scorer's table" need to quit acting like we'd miss his D. He can guard one kind of player, the big, slow bums like Dan Gadzuric who have 8 foot range. Against athletic teams like Atlanta, Denver, Orlando, and LA (screw Xmas day), he's borderline useless.

The guy is done and if we really, truly can get Antawn Jamison for his decaying corpse and a sack of marbles, you MAKE...THAT...TRADE. Period...

I believe Mike Brown didn't put Shaq back in the game because of the way the game was being called by the refs. Every time Shaq used his physicality, they were quick with the whistle. He was never allowed to play his game.

 

[Gunther]

Anyone who watched this Denver game tonight might have a little different take on it.

Before I explode, tonight was Mike Brown's fault for putting him out there the whole 4th quarter, and the whole team took a dump for all 4 quarters, but Z cant guard anyone who doesnt have 2 left feet. Once Shaq went out with foul trouble, the flood gates opened up.

Nene, Birdman, and K-Mart with his duct-taped knees went around him like he was a folding chair. He's worse v the pick n roll than Shaq. There I said it. At least Shaq plays physical and punishes people at the rim.

Lee and whoever else is in the "let's keep Z until he needs a wheelchair to get to the scorer's table" need to quit acting like we'd miss his D. He can guard one kind of player, the big, slow bums like Dan Gadzuric who have 8 foot range. Against athletic teams like Atlanta, Denver, Orlando, and LA (screw Xmas day), he's borderline useless.

The guy is done and if we really, truly can get Antawn Jamison for his decaying corpse and a sack of marbles, you MAKE...THAT...TRADE. Period...

Dude. Please. You blame Z for tonight's loss? C'mon, son.

Perimeter D, perimeter D, perimeter D. Overall team effort. Playing down to your opponent. Not playing tough when needed.

We should have dominated that game from start to finish. There are so many people at fault tonight, to just blame Z is short-sighted.

 

[jlegg21]

I said they all sucked, but Z stood out because he played the starter role tonight. If Shaq gets in foul trouble like this in the playoffs and our 'O' sucks like it did tonight, we're doomed.

Last I checked, Shaq only had 5 fouls at the end of this game... didnt play a minute in the 4th quarter. Mike walked him to the scorer's table and then sat him back down. Horrible coaching.

Z meanwhile, reached double figures in only one stat... guys he watched dunk the ball or lay it in the hole.

And ya'll wouldnt trade him for Jamison. This is madness. I'm done being a sentimental fool. If we can get him back in the deal, fine, let him play against the Bobcats and Grizzlies. But if you can get Jamison for him, you do it.

He played 28 mins tonight, starter's minutes, against a team with no player above 6'9, and got 5 stinkin rebounds with zero paint presence on defense. Hideous.

 

[Randolphkeys]

I said they all sucked, but Z stood out because he played the starter role tonight. If Shaq gets in foul trouble like this in the playoffs and our 'O' sucks like it did tonight, we're doomed.

Last I checked, Shaq only had 5 fouls at the end of this game... didnt play a minute in the 4th quarter. Mike walked him to the scorer's table and then sat him back down. Horrible coaching.

Z meanwhile, reached double figures in only one stat... guys he watched dunk the ball or lay it in the hole.

And ya'll wouldnt trade him for Jamison. This is madness. I'm done being a sentimental fool. If we can get him back in the deal, fine, let him play against the Bobcats and Grizzlies. But if you can get Jamison for him, you do it.

He played 28 mins tonight, starter's minutes, against a team with no player above 6'9, and got 5 stinkin rebounds with zero paint presence on defense. Hideous.

The way the game was called, we had no choice but to chuck up fadeaway jump shots. That is right in Z's wheelhouse. BTW: without Z on the team... what exactly do we do in a situation like that?

Luckily, that team of refs don't work meaningful playoff teams.

 

[Gunther]

I said they all sucked, but Z stood out because he played the starter role tonight. If Shaq gets in foul trouble like this in the playoffs and our 'O' sucks like it did tonight, we're doomed.

Last I checked, Shaq only had 5 fouls at the end of this game... didnt play a minute in the 4th quarter. Mike walked him to the scorer's table and then sat him back down. Horrible coaching.

Z meanwhile, reached double figures in only one stat... guys he watched dunk the ball or lay it in the hole.

And ya'll wouldnt trade him for Jamison. This is madness. I'm done being a sentimental fool. If we can get him back in the deal, fine, let him play against the Bobcats and Grizzlies. But if you can get Jamison for him, you do it.

He played 28 mins tonight, starter's minutes, against a team with no player above 6'9, and got 5 stinkin rebounds with zero paint presence on defense. Hideous.

He was also 4-8 shooting. Shaq was 4-5 shooting. That's 13 total shots from the center position tonight, which is pitiful. If you don't get them the ball, it's tough for them to produce to your expectations. But we don't want to look at those stats, do we? We just want to bitch about Z.

Personally, I see this loss as a total team effort, from the coach to LeBron, to Z to Mo to everyone else.

Oh well, the sun will come out again tomorrow and life goes on.

 

[jlegg21]

Keys, we've seen it before, from Z in his better days. Against good teams, he vanishes into thin air, especially if he misses his first pick n pop. Hell, against a tailor-made match-up against the '06 Spurs, who trotted out the vaunted combo of Fabricio Oberto and Francisco Elson, he came up snake eyes.

Now? Against a team like the Hawks in the postseason? He's toast... crispy and charred.

He played 28 minutes tonight and got 5 whole rebounds against a team with no guy taller than 6'9.

Bury your heads in the sand if you like, but if Ferry wants to win a title this year, he does everything he can to get Antawn Jamison, Z included, buyout or no buyout. I'm done being sentimental.

 

[Randolphkeys]

I don't know what to tell you, jlegg. Z is our backup center, and I have it on good authority that the Cavs were trying to acquire another backup center for over a month. We couldn't get one.

When Shaq is in foul trouble, it's Z or nothing, and you are arguing for nothing. Nothing just doesn't work. Do I want a young athletic backup center? Anyone who has read my posts in the last six years knows that answer. I can't wait for one.

BTW: The Cavs rebounded fairly well tonight. We just didn't attack on offense, and on the rare occasion we did, the refs didn't call the game equitably.