2010/2011 NBA Thread

[Lowerdeck]

I'm pretty sure he's most alarmed about the Nets potentially selling their future for 3 months of Melo. Also, something a friend floated out in front of me, the Nets could just be doing this to force everyone else to increase their offer with the understanding that Melo is going to New York in free agency no matter what.

I really hope that our Russian mob boss owner is just doing this to fuck with the Knicks. I really hope so. It makes no sense to sell the future when that's pretty much all you have to look for as a Nets fan. Fuck Melo, seriously. I hope he goes to the Knicks, becomes nothing there.

Oh, and the Nets won't get get rid of Travis Outlaw.

[naiwf]

We know Prokhorov enjoys tweaking the Knicks after that whole billboard thing. Apparently Dolan and him had a meeting earlier today and Dolan wanted to know what the hell Prokhorov was angling for by jacking up the Nuggets deal. His reponse,

[DMN in the House]

See, I understand what you guys are saying, and this will get me accused of being a Chase level homer, but being a Lakers fan is much like being a fan of the Yankees. It's not a matter of IF we'll when another title, it's a matter of WHEN.

So, they fall to the Spurs. That's a series that could go either way. Oh well, we've been to the Finals the last three years, and won two. Every other team in the league would KILL for that kind of run. Only for LAL is that a disappointment.

Then what happens? They ship Bynum off for someone, and wait for the next big free agent. I'll tell you this, the pipedream of STAT, 'Melo, and CP3/D-Will is just that, a dream. With the new CBA, that isn't happening. Maybe D-Will comes to LA. Hell, maybe Dwight Howard follows in Shaq's shoes. Who knows? Something will happen, though, because they're the Los Angeles Lakers, and they're the best run organization in professional sports.

That's why I'm not worried. This team will continue to be good. We've been spoiled already, and with the owner and upper management they have, it will continue. I see no reason it won't.

So, basically, only in LA is NOT three-peating seen as failure.

[naiwf]

I don't think you're a homer for thinking the Lakers are the best run organization in the major sports. The Yankees win their rings with money. The Lakers win theirs by straight up hustling other teams. After the Riley/Magic/Kareem glory days they got Shaq as a free agent, gave up almost nothing for Kobe in the grand scheme of things and put up 3 titles and 4 Finals appearances. Shaq left and then they swindled Memphis for Pau and turned that into 2 titles and 3 Finals appearances to date.

Stealing Shaq from Orlando, swapping Kobe Bryant for Vlade Divac and Pau for for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the rights to Marc Gasol and 2008 and 2010 first round draft picks are quite possibly the three best personnel moves of the last 15 years.

There is no need however to take unnecessary cheapshots at my team. Let a Knicks fan dream, it's all we have!

[DMN in the House]

Sorry, just trying to temper expectations. I actually like the Knicks. I think they'd be fine with STAT/Melo/Felton, though.

That would be the main difference between the Yankees and the Lakers, yeah. I have full faith that they'll do something in the very near future to set themselves up for the future, because that's what they've always done. Whether that's flipping Bynum for something, trading Lamar, whatever, I'm sure it'll get done.

This current team is not a force right now. They look old, and the bigs aren't really a presence inside. That should change the more Bynum gets to play, and the more comfortable they get. I'm not trying to be a homer when I say that I'm not going to be worried until the playoffs, because that's the Lakers M.O. Yes, San Antonio is good, but the only team that really worries me in a seven game series is the same team that has worried me the last three years. Boston.

I do admit, though, that being a Lakers fan has kinda ruined the NBA for me. I don't really pay attention until the playoffs. It wasn't always like that, I used to watch a lot more, but I was a bigger fan of the old NBA, before a lot of the rule changes. Unlike the NFL, the NBA hasn't been able to hold my attention, and a lot of that is because the Lakers are so good that the regular season isn't really meaningful. Maybe I should watch Clippers games.

[gunnar hendershow]

For the first time in history there's actually something to pay attention to during Clippers games, so you certainly should check Blake and his sidekicks out.

No disputing the success of the Lakers, they always make the big acquisitions so smoothly. Nothing tops getting Shaq and Kobe in 96, 5 titles and 7 Finals appearances later that summer basically speaks for itself. The only teams in that time span who have demonstrated anywhere close to the organizational success of the Lakers are San Antonio and Boston (who didn't get turned around until Danny Ainge came on board). And you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone not picking one of those three to win the title this year.

And LA fans do get a bad rap as the finest example of fair-weather fans, but it's basically as you put it DMN. You know they're going to the playoffs, you know they'll be somewhere between the 1 and 3 seed. There's one year in every 7 or 8 where this doesn't seem to be the case. Their two low periods in franchise history (the mid-90s and the late-70s) were simply average for them. It's hard to even think the regular season matters when, quite frankly, it doesn't.

[DMN in the House]

Staples sells out, but a big problem is there's not enough 'average' fans in the building. If Staples was filled with the people I see out in the streets, the people I talk to every day, instead of movie stars (although Jack is a die hard, never let anyone tell you different) and executives, it'd be the loudest arena in the NBA.

LA as a whole gets a bad rap. Of course you're not going to sell out a 100,000 seat stadium, no pro team is going to do that. However, the Lakers, Dodgers, Kings, even the soccer clubs, have GREAT support (I'm not sure if the Kings sell out, but they're one of the few 'sun belt' type teams that you never hear about moving or anything like that. The Clippers struggle, but the reasons are obvious, I don't blame fans for not supporting an owner that doesn't care about winning. The Angels and Ducks are a different case, because they're not really LA teams, and their fanbases are very small, comparatively.

Personally, I'm not a huge NBA fan. I love the Lakers, but its rare for me to sit down and watch an entire non-playoff game. Even if they were fighting for a playoff spot, or whatever, I doubt that would change. The only sports I sit and watch entire games of, on TV, are football (both college and NFL), and the Kings (though I can't because I don't have cable right now). I follow the NBA closely, I'd consider myself knowledgeable, I'm just not a big enough fan to sit through a meaningless game against, say, Minnesota. Maybe the season is just too long, or the game has changed, because when I was younger, I did watch entire games.

*shrug*

[bill_da_bill]

Obviously the Nuggets are holding out hoping they can get this Nets deal done, but its not going to happen.

The Knicks are offering a pretty good package. Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Gallinari, Eddy Curry's expiring contract and a 1st is pretty good haul for a guy who is leaving regardless.

[naiwf]

It absolutely amazes me how the Knicks fanbase is full of people who cite D'Antoni's system for making stars when it suits their needs and then don't want to part with "system stars" when it doesn't. Has there been anyone who made their name while playing for D'Antoni that got better once they/he left the team? Would it surprise anyone if Felton, Chandler or Gallo's numbers dropped noticeably in Denver? Shawne Williams wasn't in the league last year and at one point this year he was # 1 in 3PFG% (he's # 2 now at 47.5%). Landry Fields was drafted 39th and will be a 1st team Rookie this year. Role players are easy to find. 25+ PPG scorers in their prime and willing to play in NYC are not. I don't get these people.

[bill_da_bill]

I agree it's definitely a great deal for the Knicks too, I actually think Chauncey will probably thrive in the system as well and I wouldn't be suprised if Toney Douglas and Shawne Williams stepped up into a bigger role pretty smoothly.

Obviously the team as it is won't get out of the first round. With Carmelo they stand a chance to do that or at least makes things a bit more interesting.

On a different note, I'm more excited for the 3-Point contest and Dunk contest than I have been in a long time.

[Maxx]

Cause everyone should see it.

[naiwf]

I'm going waaaaaay off the board with a prediction for tonight. Either McGee or Griffin will attempt to dunk three balls at once. I'm going with them doing the standard double dip and trying to fit in a 3rd off the bounce from their teammate.

Other predictions: Team Texas for that shooting thing, CP3 over Wall in the skills, Ray Allen over Wright in the 3 pt. shootout and whoever lands the triple dunk first or Blake Griffin as long as someone else doesn't end up doing something superhuman.

[livid]

I'm predicting an "upset" with DeRozen coming away with the Dunk title.

[naiwf]

I was wrong about everything else, but calling the triple dunk makes me happy

EDIT: If Blake Griffin dies here, at least there's a choir to sing at his funeral.

So now dunks don't count even when they go in? I don't see how McGee got another chance to do that one.

Edited February 20, 2011 by naiwf

[bill_da_bill]

I actually thought Derozan should have been in the finals over Griffin. Nothing Griffing did blew me away, I think his first dunk was his best of the night.

But all in all it was an awesome contest still. The first round especially had a lot of sick dunks. And McGee's first dunk in the finals was sweet.

[Blaze09]

If Griffin actually hits his dunks on the first try, it's no contest, Blake wins running away.

Everyone was robbed one way or the other.

[naiwf]

I agree with the "everyone wuz robbed" at some point stance.

Ibaka's free throw line dunk wasn't scored properly. Dude took off behind the line and got 9's. His other dunk wasn't nearly as difficult and got the same score.

DeRozan missed his first dunk about 6 or 7 times and scored better than Ibaka. You know that once he posted a 94 total, Blake was getting the 95. The judges always seem to end up with the 1 point differential in favor of the favorite.

McGee used his best dunks too early and got "Iguodala'd" by the favorite.

Blake's dunks looked "easy" because the guy is a genetic freak.

IMO, the best dunks of the night were

1) The Honey Dip Redux by Griffin

2) McGee's Double Backboard Double Dunk (if he makes that on his 1st try it's the best dunk ever in the history of NBA dunk contests)

3) Ibaka's FT line jam

4) McGee's Triple Dunk (again, if he makes it on his 1st try it's a much better result)

5) DeRozan's 2nd dunk

The car dunk was perhaps Blake's worst, but as long as he dunked all 4 times he was winning this thing.

Edited February 20, 2011 by naiwf

[sahyder1]

I didn't think anyone but Griffin (as long as he hit his dunks) had a shot at winning this but glad we got a great show. Easily the best Slam Dunk contest since 2000 in my opinion. After VC stole the show in Oakland we had a lot of relatively boring contests. Dwight Howard definitely revived it but collectively I think today's 4 collectively were great.

The fact that these guys have 2 minutes to hit a dunk has definitely added to the creativity over the years. Can you imagine what VC might have pulled off if he had 2 minutes to get a dunk? If I remember correctly he hit all but one dunk on the first try that year.

Who's going to attempt a four ball dunk next year?

[Powerhart]

Nevermind...

Edited February 20, 2011 by Powerhart

[naiwf]

The Knicks have apparently made their final offer. Chandler, Gallo, Felton, Curry, Randolph for Billups, Carmelo and spare parts. If the Nuggets don't take that offer and the $20 million in relief it will provide, I think they'll get stuck with Carmelo walking for next to nothing and that would be what they'd deserve.