Basketball Thread

[theeboredone]

Lakers should just tank for Wiggins/LBJ or whatever. Chances are, Gasol and Nash are gonna get hurt anyways.

Howard is gonna do work, but I'm curious to see if Houston remains their trigger happy 3 point selves. It'll be Orlando all over.

 

[Jane]

i think things are really gonna go well for him in houston. also lol at the endless lakernation trolls that havent let up on his social media accounts since the trade was announced.

 

[theeboredone]

If Houston lands J-Smith to play alongside him, that's gonna be a deadly combo. Granted, J-Smith is inconsistent with his J, but he's not a true low post player to bother Howard like Gasol did.

Sad to see Asik go. Despite his offensive limitations, dude is one hell of a defensive player.

 

[Jane]

apparently smith just signed a 4 year deal with the pistons, so there goes that. and yeah, always loved watching asik play. dudes got hustle.

 

[choknater]

just chiming in to say i absolutely enjoyed the finals this year

go heats! LOL

 

[Wumbo105]

Clips looking scary as hell next year. Landing Darren Collison is pretty big. CP3 had a legit backup, and now they can deal Bledsoe in a big trade without worry.

 

[Suspect]

How is landing Collison big? Did you watch ANY of his games last season? lol

 

[Wumbo105]

I sure did, did you? He's a pretty good pg. Not among the elites, but solid. Why wouldn't that be big?

 

[theeboredone]

Solid backup, just not starter worthy. Also struggles finishing games...hence his backup status.

 

[Wumbo105]

Well everyone's a frickn backup when you got cp3 lol. But considering how hot of a commodity Bledsoe is right now, now they don't have to worry about cp3 not having a backup if they trade him.

 

[Jane]

cleveland on the comeup tho

 

[theeboredone]

The Heat amnestied Mike Miller today. I know he was pretty much their 11th man for most of the season, but holy crap did he come up big in the playoffs/beginning of Finals. They certainly would not have won it all last year without him. It'll be interesting to see if they have that "Boy, I wish I had Mike Miller" moment next year in the playoffs.

 

[127crazie]

The Heat amnestied Mike Miller today. I know he was pretty much their 11th man for most of the season, but holy crap did he come up big in the playoffs/beginning of Finals. They certainly would not have won it all last year without him. It'll be interesting to see if they have that "Boy, I wish I had Mike Miller" moment next year in the playoffs.

I feel the same way. Even if it's only one or two games (Game 5 of 2012 Finals), or even one or two plays (the shoeless 3-pointer this year) Mike's going to have his moment. Wonder what his future in the league is now... at 33 and rapidly breaking down, is anyone actually interested?

I'm unsure what to think of the Timberwolves' signings... they did overpay Kevin Martin, and while his offense will be serviceable, his defense is pretty dang bad. Corey Brewer won't save them defensively like Kirilenko did last year. I'm hoping for the playoffs, but history has told me to be pessimistic, and even if they made it I have a hunch it would merely be sneaking in as an 8th seed.

Also, Pistons! I've always liked them, and I wish them all the best with their new signings. Best-case scenario, Billups gives them a veteran presence and clutch performances and J-Smoove provides a defensive backbone while toning down the bad shots. However... I don't know. The Pistons have been so unreliable the last few years, they're almost like the Kings... would you really trust a player like Josh Smith to transform their culture when it's so toxic to begin with? Here's hoping not.

 

[theeboredone]

Reggie Jackson of OKC has potential to be a really good player, but he's a PG like WB. So unless OKC plans to go super small in the 4th, it's kinda sad to see KD and WB starting to see management fail them after they had come so far.

Kevin Martin was never a good fit, but man did they miss Harden.

 

[nat pagle]

Lakers should just tank for Wiggins/LBJ or whatever. Chances are, Gasol and Nash are gonna get hurt anyways.

Howard is gonna do work, but I'm curious to see if Houston remains their trigger happy 3 point selves. It'll be Orlando all over.

Kobe would murder everyone if they even brought up a plan like that. Wiggins is good, but the Lakers aren't going to tank with Kobe, it's just not happening. My theory is they'll just say, "Hey, we're the Lakers! Come to us!" to eventually get another star player.

And I'm pretty excited to see Howard playing with Harden, it's going to be an interesting year especially if he actually takes what he learns from Hakeem Olajuwon and uses it on the court.

 

[mcpon]

And besides this is Kobe's last or second-to-last year so he isn't going to end his career when he's just one shy of Jordan by tanking that season.

 

[The Real Gamer]

Riley strikes again! Heat signed Greg Oden for the cheap on a 2 year deal (player option in his 2nd year). Very nice low risk/high reward move but I think there's still a spot or two open on the roster so it'll be interesting to see who else they can pick up. Seems as though everyone wants Mo Williams?

 

[prisonchild]

bold prediction: Jennings is an all star this year and 'leads' the pistons to a first round upset.

 

[SharkAttack]

bold prediction: Jennings is an all star this year and 'leads' the pistons to a first round upset.

That would be awesome! I predict the Pistons have the potential to snag a 7th or 8th seed in the 2014 NBA Playoffs, but that's about it. There is no way Detroit could defeat Miami in a playoff series. Not only that, but I don't see them defeating a team like Indiana, Chicago or Brooklyn. I like the steps Detroit is taking to get back to relevancy, but it is a long road ahead.

 

[Coolwhip]

Bold prediction: Chicago beats Miami LBJ in eastern finals & goes on to win NBA championship

 

[Landry]

Do any of you guys do any writing about the NBA? A friend and I are starting up an NBA blog so I'm curious if you guys have any tips for writing about basketball. What kind of articles do you like to read?

Here's a link to the first article we've posted. I still haven't really found my voice for blogging yet (too used to writing academic papers, haha) but let me know what you think.
http://pickandlol.wordpress.com/201...a-closer-look-at-the-career-of-allen-iverson/

 

[Frame Perfect]

jordan himself cursed kwame brown

 

[Hot_ArmS]

The only sporting blogs I read is grantland

 

[The Real Gamer]

Who's hyped for this season?

I'm hyped for this season.

 

[SharkAttack]

Who's hyped for this season?

I'm hyped for this season.

I'm stoked for the 2013-2014 NBA season. There are soo many intriguing questions, such as:

Can the Miami Heat 3-peat?
How well will Rose perform for the Chicago Bulls?
Will Kobe be ready and lead the Lakers once again?
How will the new look Nets work together as a team?
What teams will be a surprise and which players will come out of nowhere to be rising stars?

These are just a few questions out of several. I didn't even ask about Dwight Howard and the Rockets, or if the Spurs will bounce back from that grueling championship loss. This should be a fun season.

On a self-bias note: I hope the Detroit Pistons can actually make the playoffs this season. I've got hope they can, but I don't think they will get anything better than a 6th/7th seed at best. After that, I forsee a 1st round exit, but at least it's some improvement.

 

[Coolwhip]

Rose scored 22 points in 22 minutes. I think he's back, better then ever.

 

[The Real Gamer]

Preseason my dude... I think he'll be fine this season though. Will be interesting if he'll be able to return to his "MVP" form.

I'm mostly interested in watching the Nets. On paper that team looks unstoppable (like the Lakers did last season) but age might get the better of them.

 

[Masmasher@]

lets see prediction
cavs yes go cavs i hope lol

heat will be in the finals again

houston overrated already by many harden really struggled at the end of the year is their point guard good enough

lakers are trying to tank, kobe will try to stop that not realizing that he is playing on a really bad team lol and that while hes a winner he has trouble making players better he in his 18th season hasnt realized that fact ether. and his achilles injury ( which i had and im 24) is harder to comeback from then he thinks.
his lift will suffer for a while affecting his power in his shot and while chasing kareems record he will have have his lowest shot making percentage in recent memory/history until the end of the year which it wont matter casue they are more in likely missing the playoffs

spurs can they return to the finals and yeah...dont know what else to say except ginobli you need to show up this time and yall can win and tim duncan stay healthy!

warriors only question is health for bogut and curry
they will miss jarret jack but i think they can get to the WCF

thunder
went from a year away from competing for a title to just another good team
i said westbrook was the spark when they won games him and kevin always shared the shine but when they lost it was
"oh westbrook takes too many shots" kevin needs westbrook he gets them going when kevin struggles.


chicago has rose but is he a improved point guard athletically hes good but can he orchestrate and run a offense and pick his spots instead of ram charging every gamee

 

[127crazie]

Can somebody rate my fantasy basketball team? It's a 10-person league.

PG Chris Paul, Lac PG
SG Monta Ellis, Dal PG, SG
SF Thaddeus Young, Phi SF
PF LaMarcus Aldridge, Por PF, C
C Dwight Howard, Hou C
G Evan Turner, Phi SG
F Pau Gasol, LAL PF, C

UTIL Andre Drummond, Det C, PF
UTIL Tobias Harris, Orl PF, SF
UTIL Eric Gordon, Nor SG

Bench Jamal Crawford, LAC SG, PG
Bench Anderson Varejao, Cle C
Bench Shawn Marion

 

[Alexo30]

Da Memphis Grizzlies children. Western Conference Finals. Im already layin down a few bets. We are armed and dangerous this year. Look out San Antonio. Rudy Gay sucks... still. Never liked him, never will.

 

[Landry]

Can't wait for this season to start. So many interesting plot lines. I'm excited to see some of these players returning from injuries.

 

[The Real Gamer]

Wish I could help 127crazie but I don't have any substantial experience with fantasy basketball.

But holy **** Greg Oden is back!!

 

[Big Rig Randy]

I'm a fair-weather Heat fan, deal with it.

 

[Alexo30]

I'm a fair-weather Heat fan, deal with it.

Shame on you.

 

[Big Rig Randy]

Shame on you.

To my credit, it wasn't because of LeBron. I became a Heat fan back in 05 when the Shaq Daddy came to town.

 

[The Real Gamer]

Not sure how that qualifies as being a fairweather fan... You've been a fan of the Heat for 8 years now, and the Heat sucked between their '06 championship all the way up to "The Decision."

Hell I didn't become a Heat fan until '06 when I saw D Wade work his magic.

 

[Linguini]

Heat fan since I went to a game in 01 when zo was in his heydey. good times!

yo we are looking too beast this year. plus we have the beeeeez

 

[Alexo30]

To my credit, it wasn't because of LeBron. I became a Heat fan back in 05 when the Shaq Daddy came to town.

Thats acceptable. As long as youre not on the "because they are good" bandwagon, I despise these people.

 

[theeboredone]

Lakers fan since Shaq left...worst time to become a fan LOL.

 

[Coolwhip]

Bulls vs. Heat tonight.