NBA 2013-2014 Season Thread

[Plubby]

Aw man, didn't wake up, completely missed game six of the ECF.

Since when do you play for the Pacers?!

[gunnar hendershow]

Indiana never developed a bench. They never did, Vogel was forced to drive his starters into the ground, and this is the end result. They were the best starting 5 in the league the last 2-2.5 seasons with no one else to help shoulder the load. The Pacers reminded me of the Spurs who won 3 out of 5 except they had nobody coming off the bench who drove fear into the opposing team or at all changed the flow of the game in 5 minute spurts (the Spurs, of course, had Ginobili in his prime). They made some stupid trades and signings that helped hurt their depth even more, and the starting five developed issues of hero ball between George and Stephenson.

The big question is what to do with Stephenson. I don't think you want to open the money truck for him when George and Hibbert should be enough to build around. Use either that money or draft picks to bring in a starting PG and stock up on depth.Evan Turner was horrific for them, Luis Scola didn't do what everyone expected he would for them, and they of course blew it by not bringing back Augustin, trading Granger, and some other moves down the depth chart.

[MyKILLv2.0]

I am anything but a Pacer's fan. In fact, the chesty bravado of the team (who has never accomplished anything) has caused me to dislike them to a certain degree.

With that said, I wouldn't bury the Pacers just yet. Paul George is still developing as a player (and he is already a top ten player). Yes, they are far from perfect but they do have a very good,young core moving foward. Plus, the East is horrific. If Toronto could finish third and Chicago fifth(?) with Noah as their centerpiece... I think the Pacers could easily contend for at the very least a spot in the Eastern Finals over the next few years.

Plus, what happened to the OKC Thunder theory of a young team has to "suffer" before breaking the ceiling? To be completely honest, this year was the first the Pacers were considered an elite team. Maybe they had to go through a season like this to learn how to play with pressure?

....or was that theory just ESPN fodder for "don't blame Kevin Durant for failing, so here is an excuse for why he failed".

I don't know. Like I said, I am not a big Pacers fan but I wouldn't bury them just yet.

[LL!]

Aw man, didn't wake up, completely missed game six of the ECF.

You didn't miss anything man.

Don't lie to him.

Ben, you missed a glorious onslaught.

[Benjamin]

Indiana never developed a bench. They never did, Vogel was forced to drive his starters into the ground, and this is the end result. They were the best starting 5 in the league the last 2-2.5 seasons with no one else to help shoulder the load. The Pacers reminded me of the Spurs who won 3 out of 5 except they had nobody coming off the bench who drove fear into the opposing team or at all changed the flow of the game in 5 minute spurts (the Spurs, of course, had Ginobili in his prime). They made some stupid trades and signings that helped hurt their depth even more, and the starting five developed issues of hero ball between George and Stephenson.

The big question is what to do with Stephenson. I don't think you want to open the money truck for him when George and Hibbert should be enough to build around. Use either that money or draft picks to bring in a starting PG and stock up on depth.Evan Turner was horrific for them, Luis Scola didn't do what everyone expected he would for them, and they of course blew it by not bringing back Augustin, trading Granger, and some other moves down the depth chart.

I'm still amazed they traded Granger. If I was the Pacers, I wouldn't have traded him even if they were threatening to kill my mother.

[livid]

Problem is, as a smaller market team, you need to do everything in your power to make sure you don't let a player of his talent walk away for nothing. Unfortunately by doing that, they tweaked the team a bit too much and altered their chemistry.

[Benjamin]

This has been an abysmal game. Everyone seems to be missing everything, except Jackson, KD and Kawhi.

[Tyrone]

What's Danny Green's issue with away games, anyway? Is it a psychological thing? The guy is lights out at home, one of the best 3-point shooters I've ever seen and so far from it on the road.

[Benjamin]

HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AWESOME.

[Tyrone]

I was going for OKC (along with the Pacers) early on, and enjoyed them during their first and second rounds, but the Spurs have won me over with their beautiful plays and pretty great bench. So much effort from guys like Diaw, Joseph and Patty Mills. Color me interested in Heat/Spurs II.

[Benjamin]

But they're the same teams all the time, Tyrone! Don't you know that?! It's boring!

[HC]

But they're the same teams all the time, Tyrone! Don't you know that?! It's boring!

It really is.

[Benjamin]

[Plubby]

Get off your knees, ref, you're blowing the game!

[gunnar hendershow]

Hopefully I can pick up some of those invisible KDs when Nike puts them on sale.

Also the Pacers problems started before they traded Granger. I'm not counting them out yet since that starting five is fantastic but teams built around elite starting fives instead of superstars seldom make it more than 3 seasons. The question is what level of star George is. Is he the lights out, one of the 10 best in the league we saw in 2013 or the not-that-great guy we saw for almost all of 2014?

[Tyrone]

First rematch in the NBA Finals since the Bulls and Jazz in 1997-1998. Should be good. Thankfully this should be the end of Pitbull and his song Will this be the year that Tim Duncan wins ring #5 and potentially goes out in a blaze of glory or will Greg Oden become an NBA Champion? Tune in to ABC.

[HC]

First rematch in the NBA Finals since the Bulls and Jazz in 1997-1998. Should be good. Thankfully this should be the end of Pitbull and his song Will this be the year that Tim Duncan wins ring #5 and potentially goes out in a blaze of glory or will Greg Oden become an NBA Champion? Tune in to ABC.

Greg Oden getting a ring before Kevin Durant would be so hilarious.

[gunnar hendershow]

First rematch in the NBA Finals since the Bulls and Jazz in 1997-1998. Should be good. Thankfully this should be the end of Pitbull and his song Will this be the year that Tim Duncan wins ring #5 and potentially goes out in a blaze of glory or will Greg Oden become an NBA Champion? Tune in to ABC.

Greg Oden getting a ring before Kevin Durant would be so hilarious.

I remember predicting that Oden would get his ring before Durant back in 07.

[HC]

First rematch in the NBA Finals since the Bulls and Jazz in 1997-1998. Should be good. Thankfully this should be the end of Pitbull and his song Will this be the year that Tim Duncan wins ring #5 and potentially goes out in a blaze of glory or will Greg Oden become an NBA Champion? Tune in to ABC.

Greg Oden getting a ring before Kevin Durant would be so hilarious.

I remember predicting that Oden would get his ring before Durant back in 07.

I was so mad the Grizzlies didn't get him that year. They had the best odds. Naturally we end up third and miss out on Durant and Oden. Conley has been really good for the franchise, though.

I was also mad when the Grizzlies missed out on Blake Griffin by one pick and ended up with Hasheem Thabeet, although that was just piss-poor drafting given Steph Curry, James Harden, Tyreke Evans were all available. And we burned the fucking pick and a guy I knew was going to be a bust watching at home at the age of 13. Yet the people running the fucking franchise couldn't figure that out.

Oh, and of course the 2003 draft, well known for its depth, in which the Grizzlies were one pick away from Lebron only to lose the 2nd pick per an old, shitty trade condition. (If the pick weren't number one overall, they had to give it away) That pick could've been Carmelo or Bosh, but probably would've been Darko or some shit.

I'm through venting. I just had to go on a tirade on just how close Memphis has been to getting a true superstar on so many occasions, only to miss out. Life ain't fair. *exhales*

OH AND I FORGOT TRADING KEVIN LOVE FOR OJ FREAKIN' MAYO. How could I forget that?

[gunnar hendershow]

Yes Otis Thorpe for the 2nd pick in the 03 draft was almost legendary for a ton of reasons but the pick wound up being Darko.