Knicks-Nets cancelled.

Let's discuss how to create threads with formatting that works.

Let's discuss how to create threads with formatting that works.

yeah, my bad.


and over here, in honor of a new thread and jrue holiday's new contract, here's a link to a video of him trying to sell his own jersey at a sporting goods store. "how about a nice jodie meeks shirt?" "who?"

Our friend Pelton breaks down the Lakers in a free piece at BaskPro:

http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2436

I agree with about 95% of it; it is a clear, common-sense piece. As I said to Hombre in an email, I am not sure how good the Lakers actually are, but I think they are a fairly simple team to run, and Brown is messing it up (although he of course is not the only problem). "Brown needs to keep two stars on the floor at all times" became a Lakerland meme about halfway through the 3rd quarter of the opener, and Pelton makes the point again here, WRT Bryant and Nash, and it also applies in some ways to Howard and Gasol. This seems obvious to everybody except Mike Brown, which is a bad sign for him and for the Lakers.

Pelton was also on the most recent Hang Up And Listen podcast, the best sports podcast there is, imo.

SVG hired by NBC to do college games.

Oh, speaking of Mike Brown... ?@ramonashelburne tweets:

Brown explained need for "system offense" as for seven-game playoff series where, "They'll stop that one thing you're good at."

"We can say Steve, go play and roll. He did that in Phx & they won a lot of games, it was fun to watch, but where were they in May?"

Hm. Who do I trust to run an effective offense more: Mike Brown or Steve Nash?

"We can say LeBron, go pound the ball outside the 3-point line, then crash through the lane. He did that in Cle & they won a lot of games, it was fun to watch, but where were they in May?"

I'm all done trying to defend Brown. He's gotta go.

Hasheem the dream sighting for OKC. First subs!

Ditto on hang up and listen.

Here's the full quote, emphasis mine:

“We could do it now,” Brown said. “We could spread the floor and play pick-and-roll all the time. We can have different types of play calls that are pick-and-roll and Steve said we’ll score. And he said, but, A) It will wear him out and B) It will make him one dimensional so when we play the good teams, they’ll figure out that one thing we’re good at and they’ll take that away. Then when we’re in seven-game playoff series, for sure the later you get in the playoffs, they’ll be able to take us out of our offense because we’ll be so one dimensional. What we’re trying to do is we’re trying to eliminate that and try to be hard to guard because it’s a read-based offense.”

So, they are selling the idea that Nash wants this. My guess is that Nash is going along with it since he is that kind of guy, and, of course, there is no reason not to do both--run the PO and a lot of PnR, using more PO with a Kobe/Pau team and more PnR with a Nash/Howard pair, and doing both when all of them are on the floor.

Even with all the issues, the D has been a bigger problem than the O. They may need to try Earl Clark.

Nash is doubtful for tomorrow night's game against the Clippers.

No one has talked about, but the MEM/LAC game was pretty good, and there seems to be some real dislike between those teams.

Also, it appears Maynor beat out Jackson for the backup PG spot. No shock there. More surprising Brooks waited to announce.

Ended 1Q with Jackson, Maynor, Sefolosha, Martin, Collison. Microball lineup.

My guess is that Nash is going along with it since he is that kind of guy

I got the impression that Nash is being a good company man in his quotes, though I'm not privy, obviously. The D is definitely a bigger concern.

Troy Murphy is about to be a Mav. Not sure who's out - Jones, I'd guess.

Ended 1Q with Jackson, Maynor, Sefolosha, Martin, Collison. Microball lineup.

Whoa! Sefolosha as a notional big.

The reality is that Mike Brown is a company solider. The real problem is that Jim Buss is now running the team and he has no freaking idea what he is doing.

Stephen Jackson's proto-mohawk/headband combo is pretty awesome.

Nash has never been anything other than a good company man. Not once can I recall him lighting up a teammate on the court or ripping him to the press.

D-League draft is tomorrow. If you're a lunatic, copious pre-draft data now available (Renardo Sidney sighting! Glen Rice Jr!). JaJuan Johnson considered the likely #1 pick.

So, uh...@flip_saunders is on twitter and his typing isn't the best, but his tweets have been pretty fun so far.

Wow, just like that, Tony Parker.

Tony Parker, wow. 2 nights in a row.

Not a great first couple of nights for the Harden trade from an OKC perspective (although Sefolosha and Martin more or less did OK, they were a very pedestrian 6/17).

"We can say LeBron, go pound the ball outside the 3-point line, then crash through the lane. He did that in Cle & they won a lot of games, it was fun to watch, but where were they in May?"

Brown gets the blame for all the crap that happened in Cleveland and deserves next to none of it. He was completely undermined by the higherups (read: Gilbert) whose only plan was to placate Lebron, and who then traded for an old Shaq and Jamison, and wondered what happened to the team defense. I haven't seen the Lakers yet this year, so I'm not sure how much is Brown's fault, but #15 sounds about right.

Westbrook on the final play.

I agree with a lot of #23. Brown's run in Cleveland I thought was very good, with the pieces he had. But that doesn't mean he's the right coach for the Lakers.

I have stayed mostly agnostic on Brown; 41-25 and a second-round exit was as good as could be expected last year. He caught some breaks with health and Pythag, but results are results. But there are issues with the guy. He seems, based on stuff he says and on many aspects of how he runs things, to be more cut out to be an assistant than a head guy.

As to #15, Brown is Buss' guy, and Buss does have a lot of input into personnel. But I don't think it was Buss who wanted the PO and I don't think it was Buss who put Kobe, Howard and Gasol back in after the Portland game was gone, and I don't think Buss has set up the the unstable and unproductive rotations that we have seen in the first two games and also saw last year. In fairness, Nash missed most of the second game, but as Pelton pointed out, Brown is making some strange decisions about player usage that are already visible even to casual obervers. The Lakers have a lousy bench, so Brown doesn't have much to work with there, but I think he could do better by stabilizing some roles and mixing and matching more simply.

Brown is a "preparation" guy; that was one theme form his awesome interview. He seems to do well at things when he can put in a lot of work, but he seems less comfortable in-game, preocessing stuff in real time.

D-League draft is tomorrow. If you're a lunatic, copious pre-draft data now available (Renardo Sidney sighting! Glen Rice Jr!). JaJuan Johnson considered the likely #1 pick.

What is the eligibility for this? I saw that Henry Sims and Oscar Bellfield were assigned to a team because they were in Knicks camp, but other players who were in camps are in the draft pool.

Teams can claim up to three players who were cut from their affiliate's camps (as Sims and Bellfield were) - with the caveat that, if the guy played in the D-League the year before, the old team gets first dibs. If not claimed, into the pool with you.
(The Canton Charge recently put out a nice .pdf detailing how these and related processes work).

JaJuan Johnson considered the likely #1 pick.

Woohoo!

I've been having a discussion with a few of my friends and they think JJ should go to Europe right now. I think he should stay in the D-League, at least for this season. He's still drawing off his rookie contract, so the money isn't an issue right now. And I think the exposure and closeness to the NBA teams, not to mention not being locked into a contract, make it much more likely he gets back to the NBA. I do think if he doesn't get back this year, he should get that money in Europe.

I agree with your reasoning. Also, it doesn't hurt that he'll play in Ft. Wayne.

May go easy on my Wade hatred at least for a little bit:

"I just felt that (there were) bigger things to be concerned about than us being here to play a basketball game," Wade said after the Heat's shootaround Friday at Madison Square Garden. "Obviously, sports ... takes people's minds away from things, but I think there are bigger things that need to be done here in this city."...Wade plans to make a donation to Sandy's relief efforts, according to ESPN's Rachel Nichols. USA Today reports that Wade will donate his check from Friday's game. Per game, he makes $209,536.59.

I have no illusions about the double standards for major athletes, and I think it is dumb when we treat them like heroes just because they are good at sports. Even so, NJ's excerpt is not the first time Lebron and Wade have done really impressive things, and they seem to be more engaged than MJ (republicans buy sneakers too) ever was. I do not care about them supporting political candidates- in fact, I'm glad they do not-, but the emphasis Lebron has put on giving kids opportunities and encouraging kids to take advantage of them, the support for Trayvon when the wore those hoodies last year, and this incident all indicate that they are socially aware and they care. Even if it's just better PR and image management, it sends a good message and I appreciate it.

Eric Gordon is now saying he'll be back in 4-6 weeks. At least one doctor that he's visited has recommended microfracture surgery. Gordon's been against it, and is doing other treatments from other doctors.

Good thing Stern made the Hornets take the "better" deal of Gordon and the 10th pick in the draft.

Milwaukee has some interesting pieces.

Jennings and Ellis in the back court.
Gooden looked surprisingly non-toasty last year, and Ilyasova played well. Dalembert I think fits a need well.
Dunleavy had a really good year last year. They have some interesting young 3/4 players in Harris, Henson, and Udoh.

I think Skiles is a good coach, too. I think this team can win 45 games.

Jason Terry, your jock is on the floor.

Marquis Daniels sucks. I'm sure Boston already knew that.

I don't think those Bucks pieces fit together. And also don't fit on a Skiles team or system.


Bulls are spanking the Cavs. Up 21 early in 2nd quarter.

Holy crap. Magic up huge at the half over the Nugs.

Bucks are up 42-24 late in the 2nd quarter. Bucks are playing inspired defense.

According to the Bucks announcers, the Celtics are a "big post-up team. Big."

Holy crap. Magic up huge at the half over the Nugs.

denver's closed the gap a bit in the 3rd quarter, but this seems like more fuel for the "nuggets are not very good" fire.

I don't think those Bucks pieces fit together. And also don't fit on a Skiles team or system.


I dunno, they have a ton of length and depth 3-5. That fits very well in making up for their lack of backcourt height. We'll see though.

denver's closed the gap a bit in the 3rd quarter, but this seems like more fuel for the "nuggets are not very good" fire.


Maybe. But the Celtics are down 16 at the half to Milwaukee in their home opener. Miami is down 16 to the Knicks.

Maybe. But the Celtics are down 16 at the half to Milwaukee in their home opener. Miami is down 16 to the Knicks.

more fuel for the "celtics are not very good" and the "heat don't care about the regular season" fires.

The officials are strongly in Boston's corner, and they're still getting their ass whipped.

The only Celtics who has any interest in playing in the paint consistently is Sullinger. I realize their shooting has been cold, but this is a really embarrassing performance.

Anthony Davis is being tested for a concussion and is out for the rest of the game against the Jazz.

Tobias Harris is playing a big time game for the Bucks.

I need to get myself a Larry Sanders jersey. This dude is awesome. Larry Sanders stats from last year:

Stats per 36 minutes: 3.5 OREB, 1.8 STL, 4.3 BLK

Those are like prime David Robinson numbers. Nevermind the fact it was in like 600 minutes.

Is Steve Novak 37 or something? He looks old.