2004-2005 NBA Season Topic

[jonnycomelately]

Baron Davis is only around long enough to beat the Knicks and then he gets hurt again...

It's a fucking conspiracy I tell you.

Also the Atlantic Division is the worst in all of professional sports. A team is going to get a #3 seed in the playoffs with a record under .500. Mark my words.

What can I say about the rest of the league though. It's all playing out pretty well.

I think Phoenix will be OK with Barbosa at PG. They have enough weapons to win without Nash, but they won't win as much.

The No-D gene has been passed from Dallas to Houston. San Antonio gets innoculated, because you're next.

Who would have thought that Vince Carter will actually be playing going into the All-Star Game that he unfairly will start in?

Fuckin' Nuggets...all you do is ruin my fantasy team.

Minnesota: Note to Kevin McHale, MICHAEL OLOWOKANDI SUCKS. MARK MADSEN SUCKS. ERVIN JOHNSON SUCKS. Get a center, really or you will be left behind in the West.

My new favorite player is Ira Newble. Way to stick out that foot buddy. Keep up the good work.

And this has been annoying me for a while but I heard it three times in 30 seconds on NBAtv the other day and I just need to vent.

If you suck at offense, that does not immediately make you "a defensive stopper" or an "energy guy." Maybe you just suck, maybe you just can't do anything productive on the basketball court and you are only around for your "veteran leadership." This furthers the NBA mafia. Once you are in, you can never leave. EVER. (See Kevin Willis and Tom Gugliotta)

[Malenko]

Suns starting point guard is now Leonardhiro Barabosa. [sounds like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle to me...]

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Edited January 19, 2005 by Malenko

[Guest BacknBlackHoez]

Oakland Tribune: "Clifford Robinson has heard trade rumors before. He insists they've never bothered him. The veteran has seen gossip turn into reality twice — going from Phoenix to Detroit in 2001 and on to Golden State two years later. So now that he's being mentioned in a possible deal with the New Jersey Nets, Robinson is handling himself just as you would expect."

[Malenko]

Half Time in the wizards - mavericks game.

73-40 to the mavericks. Dallas allready have 3 players on double figures, plus two other players one point short...

Everyone from Dallas who's been on the field has scored.

What's the record of points for the season?

EDIT: 5 players, but loads of turnovers in the 3rd, 101 - 78...

EDIT 2: 137 - 120 in the end. Very nice game.. If only Dallas hadn't missed those 6 shots in a row halfway through the 4th period...

4 players with 25+ points in the same team, percentages of 58 for 2, 65 for 3 and 88 on FT's. Another great offensive performance from the mavericks.

Edited January 19, 2005 by Malenko

[Blitz]

They stopped playing. If they would have been playing all game they would have scored 140-150 points.

[Malenko]

They stopped playing.  If they would have been playing all game they would have scored 140-150 points.

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[naiwf]

Is it sad that I completely forgot Darko Milicic existed until they just mentioned him on ATH? If I had to guess whether he's going to be a huge bust, or if he'll develop once he ends up walking away from Detroit after next season when his contract expires, I'd say he's got a chance to be a Shawn Bradley type who hangs around the league forever due to his size but nothing more. I still wonder though if Larry Brown would have sat Carmelo for a season if he'd been selected # 2 instead of Darko.

[Guest BacknBlackHoez]

Damn, right behind Emeka i would put Josh Smith as ROY, even over my boy Dwight Howard. Josh is a helluva shot blocker, and a helluva dunker, he just need to become a consistant shooter, even though he is shotting 50% from the field, most are dunks.

Now, damnit what is Josh Childress doing?

[Karizma]

Ben Gordon goes ahead of Smith, if Smith could score consistantly, I'd agree, but Gordon is a monster in the 4th.

Kings with Mobley are gonna get more wins than with Christie.I dunno why, I just have that feeling...Magic are gonna win more with Christie though, too, even though I thought the trade was fucked to begin with.

Why have the Magic only realised now that Turkoglu is worth playing?

Larry Hughes (despite his injury), Arenas and Jamison should all be All-Stars, especially ahead of fucking Vince Carter....seriously, how the fuck is he leading the votes?

Same goes for T-Mac (Although his is a bit more acceptable) and Yao.They play like shit and still get leading votes.Amare should start Center anyway, even though he's down as Forward.

Heh, Baron Davis is gonna be stuck with the Hornets until his contracts up at this rate...And I laugh as the Suns are forced to play Joe Johnson at the point, if both Barbosa and Nash are out.

Darko's got a decent offensive game and could score well (Like all the Serbs) but his defence is terrible, I wouldn't call him a bust yet though, he's 19 and he's learning off The Wallaces, Campbell, Coleman, McDyess, all great players (in their prime atleast) Darko's gonna be a force some day.

And I want a Spalding Jersey ball, for some reason.

[Guest BacknBlackHoez]

did anybody see Dime magazine from last month, they had some jerseys, that had the player name & number on the back, but had some type of grafitti(sp?) on it, and a player picture, shit was hard. But i cant find them anywehere else.

[Mofoticon]

Lebron just picked up his first career triple double in the game vs portland tonight, becoming the youngest player ever to get a triple double in the nba

[D-Extreme]

Damn.....he was JUST 15 YEARS OLD when Odom got his?! Now he stole Lamar's record being the youngest guy to get a triple double. damn, not even a deke elbow would stop Lebron's rise to fame.

The only thing I feel sad is that he COULD have gotten it earlier in his career. Like, in his rookie season. But hey, atleast he is now the record holder of youngest guy to get the triple double.

[Green Demon]

He had so many games where he was just a assist or a rebound away but last night he finally was able to come through. It was werid I didnt even realize he was close/had it until they mentioned it since it is basically how he plays every night

[Malenko]

He had so many games where he was just a assist or a rebound away but last night he finally was able to come through.  It was werid I didnt even realize he was close/had it until they mentioned it since it is basically how he plays every night

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[jonnycomelately]

The thing with LeBron is I think a lot of times he tries to rack up assists for no reason when he can just take his man to the hole each and every time down the floor. He concentrates too much on having the well-rounded stats and he could be smoking a guy all night (for example Derek Anderson and Al Harrington) but he will then start trying to make useless passes just to get assists. LeBron is a very good player (I leave the word great for legends) but I think he gets too caught up in his stats sometimes and it jeopardizes the team. Not as much this season than as a rookie last season but it still creeps up every once in a while and it is something he needs to shy away from doing and just let the game flow for him. Honestly I believe if he stopped the whole wanna-be point guard thing he could be averaging close to 30 per game. Instead he gets stuck with a lot of 17-22 games (which is very good don't get me wrong) because he starts trying to make the extra pass when it is unnecessary.

And with the whole Darko thing, he needs to get out of Detroit ASAP. Larry Brown is never going to play him, he has only 110 minutes on the season. LeBron James had that after 3 games. Not saying they are the same players by a long shot but a Top 3 pick should at least be starting by now. He has a terrible shooting percentage (24%) but that is mostly due to the fact that in his 5-6 minutes per game (if that) he only gets one shot, its usually a bad one and he usually clanks it. I think he could be of use somewhere else and not consistently losing minutes to Darvin Ham, Ronald Dupree, and Horace Jenkins.

[VerbalPuke]

Carmelo probably would have rode the bench last year just like Darko did. Carmelo would have had Tayshaun Prince and Corliss Williamson ahead of him on the depth chart. He probably would have seen his minutes increase when the Rasheed Wallace trade was made (freeing up time for him at SG). My guess is by now Carmelo would either be pushing for a starting job, or potentially be our sixth man as of right now.

As for Darko not getting time, the simple fact is he does not deserve it right now. Darko is simply not ready to come in and give us quality minutes in crucial stretches of the game. Every time Darko is given real minutes, he seems to hurt us much more than help us, often times leading to the opposing team cutting our lead in half. This in turn has caused Larry Brown to only give him garbage time, when he can't possibly be detrimental to our lead (or if we're getting blown out already). Darko needs alot more work right now, he's still so raw and unpolished. The reason guys like Darvin Ham, Horace Jenkins, and Ronald Dupree get minutes over Darko is because they are hustlers. They dive for loose balls, they crash the boards, and they play solid defense. Darko clearly needs more time to develop, before he can give us effective minutes.

[naiwf]

But what do you do when the overall # 2 pick in a draft walks after next season? There's no way he's going to crack the rotation while Detroit is in position to make a run at the title this season and next, and there's no way he re-signs with them after getting about 10 games worth of run over 3 seasons. I'd just trade him and get something for him, even if it was just a bucket of new balls for the practice gym

[Karizma]

It's tough for a 19 year old 7-footer to develop without getting game time, though, isn't it?I read stories about the Pistons hyping up how good he is and how good he could be, but they never give the kid a shot, and when they do, it's 2 or 3 minutes.

'Melo would have probably got more of a chance than Darko though, but he'd probably be forced to play 6th man.

[D-Extreme]

I feel sorry for Darko. I mean, he has the height and the potential to be a good player if he was given more minutes by Brown. I think its either Detroit will just pull him out of their bag and trade him before or during the deadline on Feb or just not resign him after this season.

[VerbalPuke]

But what do you do when the overall # 2 pick in a draft walks after next season? There's no way he's going to crack the rotation while Detroit is in position to make a run at the title this season and next, and there's no way he re-signs with them after getting about 10 games worth of run over 3 seasons. I'd just trade him and get something for him, even if it was just a bucket of new balls for the practice gym

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What do we do? We replace him with another useless 7 footer .

To be honest I'm not sure what Detroit should do with Darko. I'd like to see us keep him a few years and hope he'll develop into a star. I'd hate to see this become a situation like Jermaine O'Neal in Portland. Unfortunately it's probably not likely he'll want to stay in Detroit, especially with the Wallace's and a rejuvinated McDyess ahead of him. Although I have faith that Joe Dumars will rectify the situation, wether it's getting something for Darko, or even finding a way to keep him around. Joe Dumars has proven he has a knack for bringing in talented players through trades or free agency.

Edited January 21, 2005 by VerbalPuke