NBA Thread 2011-12

[Trey]

Derrick Rose looked fantastic last night against CP3 and the rest of Lob City. Anyone who isn't sure what Hamilton brings to this team just needs to watch the first quarter, when the offense is stalled instead of falling into a hole early like last year Rip hit a coue shots and kept the Bulls close.

[DYSI]

Only bright spot on the Nets so far is MarShon Brooks. Lovin this guy, hopefully they get smart and start him sooner than later.

[Maxx]

They'll probably trade him.

[VerbalPuke]

God I hate the Pistons. I mean I don't really hate them, but this team is just so fucking poorly constructed. Why did we bring back Stuckey and Prince? Why isn't Brandon Knight starting at the point? Why is Jason Maxiell still logging significant minutes (why we he re-signed in the first place?). We still have too many guards, no size.

Any good will Dumars had from the championship year is long gone, he's possibly been the worst GM in all of Basketball since the Chauncey Billups trade. We're not even a fun bad team, we're just an awful team.

[gunnar hendershow]

At least with the Wizards playing horribly I can go "just wait a couple years for the team to built around Wall!". Pistons are in that sort of purgatory where the rebuilding "effort" actually made them worse and it'll be another generation before they can right the ship. Unfortunately because Detroit fans are great and deserve a winner.

[naiwf]

Wall will end up in LA, Boston or Dallas in a few years

The Pistons are going through the same thing the Knicks did for a decade, and it's ironic that the Darko throwaway pick is the thing that crippled them somewhat.

[Maxx]

Utah is just garbage this year. For some reason their games keep airing on NBA TV, they're almost always down by 20 points, if not more.

[Trey]

Bynum looked excellent last night, if Orlando can get him instead of Lopez I think they have to pull the trigger, the potential is just so much higher.

[Maxx]

Yeah, but he's too injury prone and in Orlando he'd be too mercurial to ever reach that potential.

[Trey]

Before Lopez hurt his foot I would've said the same thing but foot injuries on big guys scare me to death. The problem with Lopez is he's serviceable but on that Orlando team he isn't the missing piece and the Magic will probably float around .500 the next few years instead of adding a potential star.

[gunnar hendershow]

Utah is just garbage this year. For some reason their games keep airing on NBA TV, they're almost always down by 20 points, if not more.

Deron Williams murdered that franchise and he's likely going to do the same to Brooklyn.

[DYSI]

Before Lopez hurt his foot I would've said the same thing but foot injuries on big guys scare me to death. The problem with Lopez is he's serviceable but on that Orlando team he isn't the missing piece and the Magic will probably float around .500 the next few years instead of adding a potential star.

Considering Lopez was never injured before this and Bynum was injured about 17 times a year, I'd still go with Brook. Not that I'm a Nets fan or anything...

[naiwf]

Before Lopez hurt his foot I would've said the same thing but foot injuries on big guys scare me to death. The problem with Lopez is he's serviceable but on that Orlando team he isn't the missing piece and the Magic will probably float around .500 the next few years instead of adding a potential star.

Considering Lopez was never injured before this and Bynum was injured about 17 times a year, I'd still go with Brook. Not that I'm a Nets fan or anything...

That's true, but repetitive stress fractures pretty much ended Yao's career. I'm not saying the same thing would happen to Brook Lopez or that he's anything like Bynum or Oden in terms of having the potential to miss large chunks/all of a season regularly. The issue is that he's just not much of a "big man". He's a finesse guy who can be more easily approximated than a guy like Bynum who does some of the same things Howard does in terms of being a rebounder and shot blocker, just at a lesser rate. At the end of the day, the Nets are going to end up with Lopez and a bunch of lost draft picks since Williams and Howard will be playing elsewhere.

[gunnar hendershow]

Lopez would be a GREAT guy number 2 guy inside. If you could pair him with a defensive beast inside, and have good play from the guards, you'd have a dominant team. Instead he's going to be the centerpiece of a Brooklyn team that will never win a thing when Dwight and Deron are in Dallas.

[Quom]

Holy fuck, fantasy basketball makes it so much better as a fan. I'm sat here getting excited every time Terry or Kidd make a mistake. I don't really have a favourite team so have always enjoyed basketball as a fan, but now I want people to do well and others not so well the whole thing is a shit load more exciting. Although I did always want Kidd to fuck up. I have no idea why but I've always hated him, same as Duncan.

[bruiser]

Ricky Rubio is awesome.

[phatman]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Sacramento Kings and DeMarcus Cousins abruptly began to sever ties Sunday after the team said the promising young center demanded a trade.

Kings coach Paul Westphal released a statement before Sacramento hosted the New Orleans Hornets, criticizing Cousins' commitment to the franchise and excusing him from the team's game. He also confirmed that Cousins asked for a trade.

Cousins

"Whenever a new season begins, in any sport, there is great hope that everything will progress in only a steady, upward direction," Westphal said. "As we all know, it seldom happens like that in this life! As coaches, we can only ask that our players do everything they can to improve themselves as individuals and teammates. If they do this with all their hearts, we live with the results.

"Everything that happens on a team does not become known to the public," Westphal continued. "This is how it should be. However, when a player continually, aggressively, lets it be known that he is unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team, it cannot be ignored indefinitely.

"DeMarcus Cousins has demanded to be traded. In the best interest of our team as we go forward, he has been directed by me, with the support of management, to stay home from the New Orleans game tonight."

When reached by phone, Cousins' agent, John Greig, said he wasn't informed of the Kings' decision until Westphal's announcement. He declined comment when asked if Cousins requested a trade.

"I have no idea what the Kings are doing," Greig said. "The fact that I'm just finding out about this announcement now speaks volumes about them."

The Kings had been expecting big things from Cousins this season.

They had been optimistic that he would show improved maturity after a strong rookie campaign that also had its share of temper tantrums and blow-ups. While the comical Cousins off the court never disappeared, the team expected its up-and-coming big man would learn to control his emotions.

Sacramento drafted Cousins with the fifth overall pick in 2010 after he spent one season at Kentucky. The 21-year-old Cousins was averaging 13 points and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes per game this season.

Cousins' behavior has been well documented going back to high school and his one season at Kentucky, mixing in dramatic and astonishing plays with outbursts against players, coaches, trainers and referees. His conditioning has been questioned and so has his work ethic, however, he showed up for training camp in prime condition and appeared ready for a breakout season.

Teamed with 2009-10 Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans, Cousins was expected to anchor the frontline for a young and emerging roster in the deep Western Conference. Sacramento finished 24-58 last season and missed the playoffs for the fifth straight year, although a late-season surge behind a healthy Evans provided hope that maybe the Kings aren't that far off from making the postseason again.

Definitely be interesting to see which teams try and make a deal for him... I think he'll always be a head case and most teams will stay away from him but he could definitely help some franchises...

[thuganomic]

As expected, Houston, in its tireless search for a star, is already in the mix. Having both Cousins and Terrence Williams in the same locker room's really going to test Kevin McHale's patience.

[Quom]

What a dick. Sac had a good young team. I wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole unless I was a team like the Celts where the older guys can beat him up until his ego falls off.

[gunnar hendershow]

He's a guy who would only work on a team with some serious veteran leadership.