2009-2010 NBA Thread

[Snatch Catch]

I know it's horribly cliched and all that, but if you could choose one player to build your franchise around - right now - Durant is my 2nd choice behind LeBron and it's closer than you think.

I think it's closer than you think in the production and playing - in fact I'd call it almost equal.

My only concern with Durant is durability and any injury that may crop up. He's "strangely" built if you will, and I'm curious about how his body will handle all of the abuse and exertion now that he's settling into the meat of his career as an alpha dog.

Lebron is a freaking freight train, and barring the unforseen catastrophic injury, he's as close to indestructable as the NBA has seen. That's a huge factor for me in the question of whom to build around.

Of course he'll probably blow his knee out now, but my point still stands.

[Joba-Walkee]

If you can guarantee health for the rest of their careers, I would definitely have to think about Oden vs. Durant. Oden's an absolute monster defensively, which is extremely impressive for someone his age.

[Joba-Walkee]

I know it's horribly cliched and all that, but if you could choose one player to build your franchise around - right now - Durant is my 2nd choice behind LeBron and it's closer than you think.

That's ridiculous. Durant hasn't showed that he can make plays for others, while LeBron's the best creator in the game.

[dabomb2045]

That's ridiculous. Durant hasn't showed that he can make plays for others, while LeBron's the best creator in the game.

Durant plays a different role on that team. He doesnt necessarily have to create all the offense on his own....Westbrook fills alot of that role.

[Joba-Walkee]

Durant plays a different role on that team. He doesnt necessarily have to create all the offense on his own....Westbrook fills alot of that role.

Do you think the difference in roles makes up for LeBron's obvious advantage in that department? I say no.

[djhitman01]

Do you think the difference in roles makes up for LeBron's obvious advantage in that department? I say no.

totally agree, what seperates Lebron and Durant is that Lebron is a dam point guard too! And he's shown he can do it well. I mean the guy just had 13 assists the other night and is almost averaging 9 assist! That's sick!

[dabomb2045]

Do you think the difference in roles makes up for LeBron's obvious advantage in that department? I say no.

I think Durant could average more assists a game if he was asked to create more for others. Am I saying he is on James's level in terms of passing and being a creator? No. I dont think anyone in the league is.

[djhitman01]

I think Durant could average more assists a game if he was asked to create more for others. Am I saying he is on James's level in terms of passing and being a creator? No. I dont think anyone in the league is.

I think if Durant focused on assist his other numbers might suffer. That's what makes Lebron so special.

[Joba-Walkee]

I think Durant could average more assists a game if he was asked to create more for others. Am I saying he is on James's level in terms of passing and being a creator? No. I dont think anyone in the league is.

I think that'd be like asking Jason Kidd to score 20 points in his prime. Is it possible? Sure. Is it a good idea? No, not really.

[dabomb2045]

I think that'd be like asking Jason Kidd to score 20 points in his prime. Is it possible? Sure. Is it a good idea? No, not really.

My original point was that Durant doesnt need to create for others alot, cuz he has Westbrook to do that and he's awesome at it. LeBron is great at it....plus he needs to do anyways. Who else on his team is going to?

[chanman7483]

No idea what this means or its significance, but I was checking out some LBJ game logs and noticed he commits a very small number of fouls... under 2 a game. He's only got 96 on the season.

Kobe, Durant, Wade, etc... all of the top wing guys have around 130-140 for the season, and some of them have missed a good handful of games on top of it. Greg Oden has 84 for the season and hasn't played in how long?

Does this mean LBJ is 'hidden/saved' on defense and doesn't guard the top guy on the other team a lot? Maybe this also is helping him play all the minutes and can extend his career (on top of him being a physical beast). He's obviously great at playing the passing lanes and coming off the weakside for swats, but has he ever D'd a guy up for 48 minutes and shut him down? Can't think of a situation off the top of my head..

[dabomb2045]

No idea what this means or its significance, but I was checking out some LBJ game logs and noticed he commits a very small number of fouls... under 2 a game. He's only got 96 on the season.

Kobe, Durant, Wade, etc... all of the top wing guys have around 130-140 for the season, and some of them have missed a good handful of games on top of it. Greg Oden has 84 for the season and hasn't played in how long?

Does this mean LBJ is 'hidden/saved' on defense and doesn't guard the top guy on the other team a lot? Maybe this also is helping him play all the minutes and can extend his career (on top of him being a physical beast). He's obviously great at playing the passing lanes and coming off the weakside for swats, but has he ever D'd a guy up for 48 minutes and shut him down? Can't think of a situation off the top of my head..

He doesnt guard the best guy usually until later in the game. Jordan was the same way though really....and still in most cases if it was Pippen guarding the best offensive player.

[cyhughes22]

He doesnt guard the best guy usually until later in the game. Jordan was the same way though really....and still in most cases if it was Pippen guarding the best offensive player.

It's smarter to do it that way because he expends more energy due to his style of play than Michael ever had to. Lebron is the kind of guy who plays good defense simply because of his athleticism and because he has such good stamina to begin with and only really has to focus on the offensive end of the ball early he's that much tougher as a defender late in games. A guy like Kobe is more of a cerebral defender which is why he could stop someone for the duration of a game even as he gets into his 30's. In the same sense Michael and Scottie were like a combo of both freakish athleticism and tremendous intelligence which is really the difference between those guys and the players of today.

[Joba-Walkee]

No idea what this means or its significance, but I was checking out some LBJ game logs and noticed he commits a very small number of fouls... under 2 a game. He's only got 96 on the season.

Kobe, Durant, Wade, etc... all of the top wing guys have around 130-140 for the season, and some of them have missed a good handful of games on top of it. Greg Oden has 84 for the season and hasn't played in how long?

Does this mean LBJ is 'hidden/saved' on defense and doesn't guard the top guy on the other team a lot? Maybe this also is helping him play all the minutes and can extend his career (on top of him being a physical beast). He's obviously great at playing the passing lanes and coming off the weakside for swats, but has he ever D'd a guy up for 48 minutes and shut him down? Can't think of a situation off the top of my head..

The Cavs defense is ridiculously good. No reason to have James expend energy when he doesn't need to.

[Joba-Walkee]

It's smarter to do it that way because he expends more energy due to his style of play than Michael ever had to. Lebron is the kind of guy who plays good defense simply because of his athleticism and because he has such good stamina to begin with and only really has to focus on the offensive end of the ball early he's that much tougher as a defender late in games. A guy like Kobe is more of a cerebral defender which is why he could stop someone for the duration of a game even as he gets into his 30's. In the same sense Michael and Scottie were like a combo of both freakish athleticism and tremendous intelligence which is really the difference between those guys and the players of today.

Eh. Kobe stopped defending the opponent's best offensive player a while ago too.


Only offensive superstar that I can think of that guards the other team's best is Iggy.

[chanman7483]

Huge CP3 fan here, but just wanted to share this article that questions his awesome-ness: http://dimemag.com/2010/02/is-chris-...em/#more-34660

My opinion - The Hornets just happen to have 2 awesome PGs. The Hornets aren't exactly the most talented bunch but these guys are still throwing up numbers.

[cyhughes22]

Huge CP3 fan here, but just wanted to share this article that questions his awesome-ness: http://dimemag.com/2010/02/is-chris-...em/#more-34660

My opinion - The Hornets just happen to have 2 awesome PGs. The Hornets aren't exactly the most talented bunch but these guys are still throwing up numbers.

I guess you could say that to an extent. For instance if you put Duhon in any system other than the Knicks system he would suck even more than he does for us. Now this is somewhat different because Chris Paul has significantly more talent, he's a very very good basketball player but I don't know if his numbers would change somewhere else. On the one hand you could argue that because he's surrounded by garbage and the kid backing him up is still able to put up numbers that yes he could be at least partially a product of the system. But then you have to ask yourself how much better he would look if he actually had someone to pass the ball to who could play worth a lick. I think it's a tough question and I think you'd have to see how he did in another system with some talent around him to try to make that determination. For the record though, and people have laughed at me for this, I've always liked Deron Williams better as a player but maybe that's just me.

[cyhughes22]

Eh. Kobe stopped defending the opponent's best offensive player a while ago too.


Only offensive superstar that I can think of that guards the other team's best is Iggy.

True but to his credit he was guarding the best player on the other team for the duration when he was Lebron's age.

[chanman7483]

FWIW, an excerpt from bill simmons on NBA financial woes, specifically overpaid complimentary guys:

This isn't about improving the revenue split between players and owners. It's about Andre Iguodala, Emeka Okafor, Elton Brand, Andrei Kirilenko, Tyson Chandler, Larry Hughes, Michael Redd, Corey Maggette and Luol Deng making eight figures a year but being unable to sell tickets, create local buzz or lead a team to anything better than 35 wins.

This part is pretty amazing to me:

It's about Jermaine O'Neal making more money this season than Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Serge Ibaka, Eric Maynor, Thabo Sefolosha and Jeff Green combined.

And wow, another thing I learned from the article - Jamaal Tinsley gets paid 10.6 mil this season AND next by Indy to not play for them after he was waived over the summer.



Rest of article can be found here: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...simmons/100224

[b_joseph]

CP3 needs to be a Laker...I'm just preparing you for the one sided trade in the future

[Joba-Walkee]

True but to his credit he was guarding the best player on the other team for the duration when he was Lebron's age.

Who else was going to do it?

LeBron's had great defenders around him.

[Joba-Walkee]

FWIW, an excerpt from bill simmons on NBA financial woes, specifically overpaid complimentary guys:



This part is pretty amazing to me:



And wow, another thing I learned from the article - Jamaal Tinsley gets paid 10.6 mil this season AND next by Indy to not play for them after he was waived over the summer.



Rest of article can be found here: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...simmons/100224

Iggy being on that list is ludicrous. Any team in the NBA would happily take on his 13 million a year. He is the ideal 2nd banana.

[S2]

I'm loving post-deadline Ray Allen.

4 games, 37 of 57 from the field (65%), 23.5 ppg. They're gonna need him tonight with no Pierce and maybe no Daniels. Losing to the best team in the conference won't be the end of the world given the health of the team, but a win might be their biggest regular season win since they beat then-East powerhouse Detroit two years ago.

[THEBOSS84]

ESPN the magazine is running a very cool feature in which they take an NBA star and he writes an article about the league anonymously. The article in this week's edition was about how the league blackballs certain former stars for various reasons. I wish could find a link to it.

[Snatch Catch]

ESPN the magazine is running a very cool feature in which they take an NBA star and he writes an article about the league anonymously. The article in this week's edition was about how the league blackballs certain former stars for various reasons. I wish could find a link to it.

It was "Player X."

They just finished about a year's worth with a guy from the NFL.

[THEBOSS84]

It was "Player X."

They just finished about a year's worth with a guy from the NFL.

I get the magazine to my house but I usually let them gather dust unless there is a baseball feature on the cover (this week was Pujols with the fantasy baseball preview).

[Joba-Walkee]

ESPN the magazine is running a very cool feature in which they take an NBA star and he writes an article about the league anonymously. The article in this week's edition was about how the league blackballs certain former stars for various reasons. I wish could find a link to it.

A friend of mine wanted to read the article after I told him about it, but doesn't get the magazine, so I'm scanning it for him. If anyone wants links to the page images, feel free to pm me.

[chanman7483]

You guys think the articles are legit written by NBA guys? I feel like some of the letters written into the some mags like SLAM, when the editors answer their questions, are written by SLAM writers themselves.

[chanman7483]

Does this suprise anyone, other than Grizzlies management?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...yhoo&type=lgns

No. 2 pick Thabeet headed to D-League... averaging 2.5 points in 10.3 minutes over 50 games. He recently lost his place in the Grizzlies’ rotation to second-year center Hamed Haddadi(notes)

Hamed Haddadi. Really?

[Joba-Walkee]

Hamed Haddadi is awesome in my book, solely because of this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/1..._n_367007.html

[Joba-Walkee]

ESPN the magazine is running a very cool feature in which they take an NBA star and he writes an article about the league anonymously. The article in this week's edition was about how the league blackballs certain former stars for various reasons. I wish could find a link to it.

http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/b...r_x&id=4937084

[Philip Hughes Fan]

Anyone else watching the Mavs/Hawks game? Just got crazy and awesome.

[Joba-Walkee]

Jason Kidd is doing his best Jason Kidd impression.

[Philip Hughes Fan]

Jason Kidd is doing his best Jason Kidd impression.

Absolutely insane, loved the stretch with him and Bibby exchanging 3's. Only thing that would have been better was a fight between him and the Hawks' coach.

[RYMASTER or Ryan_Yankees]

http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/b...r_x&id=4937084

People pay for Insider still?

[Joba-Walkee]

People pay for Insider still?

I get mine + magazine for a dollar a year.

[RYMASTER or Ryan_Yankees]

I get mine + magazine for a dollar a year.

That's impressive.

[RYMASTER or Ryan_Yankees]

Michael Jordan has reached a deal to buy the Bobcats.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/35615324/ns/sports-nba/

How long until he loses the team in a game of poker?

[chanman7483]

Stephen Curry has really shown a knack for running the point for a talented GS team.. much more than I expected. But in this clip, you can still see that flat out scoring the ball is still the best thing he does.. someone give Chris Anderson a hug.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3pIs...layer_embedded

[YanksFan1992]

Nets: 104
Celtics: 96

Wow.

[Jersey Yankee]

If there's any truth to the rumor that Beantown not only lost to the Nets, but was held under 100 points, then they should all slam back a few Sammy's (meaning they drink a few Sam Adams, fer the unappreciatve), then hide their heads in shame (they can all have a "Red Sox Suck" parade to celebrate).

No soup fer them!!!

[chanman7483]

Hilarious Rasheed Wallace article from the Boston Herald, addressing his post game:

One of the things that infuriates those who aren't big 'Sheed fans is his reluctance to go down low, even though he wears a signature shoe that features a picture of him doing a post move. But for Rasheed, that's all part of the plan:

Wallace spoke of a certain unnamed opponent/friend.

“He was telling me, ‘Oh, I can guard you. All you’re going to do is go to the turnaround,’ ” Sheed recalled. “I said, ‘Dude, I taught you half of your (expletive). The teacher doesn’t show the student all his moves.’

“You know, I don’t show my whole package during the beginning of the season. If you do, then that’s what’s going to be in the scouting report on me. So now, come money time, it’ll say that I’m going to go to the turnaround. Yeah, I’m going to turn around, but I’m going to go by you left, by you right, come with the jump hook. I told my buddy to look at it like a kung fu teacher. I might teach you the lotus and I might teach you the tiger, but I’m not going to teach you the crane, because the crane can beat both of them.”

....

When it was mentioned that Wallace’s inside game is better than expected, the assistant said, “Unstoppable. Unstoppable. He’s got so many moves down on the low block that you can’t stop him.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/b...lt#articleFull

[RYMASTER or Ryan_Yankees]

Allen Iverson is going to sit out the rest of the season. What an odd year he's had.

[chanman7483]

Random NBA findings:

Worst inbound pass I've ever seen: Brian Scalabrine: http://thatnbalotterypick.blogspot.c...calabrine.html

Manute Bol highlight reel, including many of his 11 career 3 pointers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSfBR...layer_embedded

[RYMASTER or Ryan_Yankees]

Random NBA findings:

Worst inbound pass I've ever seen: Brian Scalabrine: http://thatnbalotterypick.blogspot.c...calabrine.html

Manute Bol highlight reel, including many of his 11 career 3 pointers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSfBR...layer_embedded

Bol looks like he weighed 150 lbs.

[chanman7483]

THe block party he had with the Magic in that highlight reel was unreal!

[dabomb2045]

Watching the Pistons-Cavs game.....serious medical situation going on w/Rodney Stuckey. Apparently he went into a seizure on the bench during a timeout--paramedics are now working on him.

[dabomb2045]

They just took him off on a stretcher into an ambulance. He wasnt conscious, they have an oxygen mask on him and a defibrillator out. Wow.

[YanksFan1992]

Very scary situation.

Detroit's Rodney Stuckey was conscious and breathing on his own as he was taken to a hospital after collapsing on the Pistons' bench during a game Friday night.

The Pistons said Stuckey's vital signs were stable at the Cleveland Clinic. He will remain there overnight after being transported there for tests.

Stuckey was wheeled off the court on a stretcher after he collapsed and fell unconscious into strength coach Arnie Kander's arms on the bench. Play was halted for 12 minutes as the medical staff worked on him, placing an oxygen mask on his face and wheeling him into an ambulance.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4970473

[Joba-Walkee]

THe block party he had with the Magic in that highlight reel was unreal!

He averaged 6.4 blocks / 36 minutes for his career . He lead the league in BLK% for 8 years straight.