User Comments, Suggestions, or Complaints | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Advertising
|
Demarini, Easton and TPX Baseball Bats
|
AllianceTickets.com has cheap MLB Tickets. Get all your Colorado Rockies Tickets, Seattle Mariners Tickets, San Francisco Giants Tickets and all your favorite baseball tickets here. We also carry cheap Denver Broncos Tickets, Seattle Seahawks Tickets and Denver Nuggets Tickets. |
For wholesale prices on baseball gifts and equipment, check these stores out! |
Page rendered in 0.7025 seconds
54 querie(s) executed
Reader Comments and Retorts
Go to end of page
Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.
i guess this is kind of an "i watch the games" type of thing. i think both jrue and elton work much better within the framework of the offense than iguodala does, and i think they're both much more effective at that end of the floor.
and i know that iguodala is kind of all-world as a shutdown wing, but elton and jrue are pretty damn good in their own right. now (as opposed to 3 years ago*) i fully appreciate all of the things iguodala does to help the team win, but he's no longer the team's best player, and he no longer deserves to have the ball in his hands at the end of the game with the game on the line.
*3 years ago, iguodala was surrounded by the likes of reggie evans, willie green, sam dalembert, and andre miller. at the time, he was the goto player of a team that was consistently mediocre and he was the face of that mediocrity. during that period, we kept hearing about how great iguodala would be when he was traded to a team that had the kind of talent that would allow him to take on a role more suited to his talent.
that trade never came, but the team he was waiting for is here now. i'm very excited to see how this all comes together.
there's about 45 minutes till tip off. very excited for this.
Yes, VDN is a big negative. Hollinger said something like "not even Del Negro will be able to slow down this offense in crunch time."
The front court depth is another problem. Neither Blake nor Jordan is a great one-on-one post defender right now, there is no one to slide in if a serious injury occurs, and they don't really have a capable stopgap for the certainty that these guys will be in occasional foul trouble. Still, I think that problem is so obvious that they can't help but address it.
Finally, who guards scoring perimeter guys in crunch time? I know the league has a shortage of shooting guards, but between Kobe, Wade, Westbrook/Harden, Terry, Ginobili, Ellis/Curry, etc, there are enough guys that they could swing some crucial games. While Paul is a solid defender, he is smaller and better suited to guard 1's. Butler and Billups no longer have the lateral quickness to stay in front of any of those guys. Williams has both problems. Foye might be the best of the bunch, but then you're playing Randy Foye. I think they need to address this issue, too.
if you want to see the best in the world, i believe the game is being broadcast on NBATV.
If you have Paul and Billups, maybe you don't need an offensively aware coach
For the regular season, maybe. I think coaching is more important in the playoffs though.
That was the point Arnovitz was making at the end, with the "late spring" thing.
Pelton has the Clippers #2 in the conference and has Memphis fighting to get in. SCHOENE missed on some teams pretty badly last year, though.
that was an ugly game. the bullets came to play, and the sixers struggled to match up to their intensity. jrue holiday was out of control for most of the game, and he was really reckless with the ball in transition.
noticeably different from past seasons were the 3 pt and FT discrepancies. the sixers were 7/16 from beyond the arc and they held(?) WAS to 2/18. but the game was won at the FT line. holiday (7/8), turner (7/8), and lou williams (8/8) were particular standouts, and their ability to hit key late game FTs is something the team had desperately been without during the entirety of the iguodala era.
and i think it's worth pointing out that jrue holiday scored 11 points (and added an assist) in the last 2:13 of the 4th quarter. he really took the game over, and if it's a sign of things to come, the team really will be as good as i've been saying they are.
anyway, for as seamlessly as the team ran the offense in game 1, they were equally and oppositely poor at it this game. brand and hawes never really got into the game on offense, and there was just no continuity when they were running the offense in the halfcourt.
still, they won, and that's better than the alternative. i guess i'll take it.
The Clippers last year had the 23rd best offensive efficiency and the 19th best defensive efficiency.
They lost Gordon and Kaman and improved greatly at PG. I don't see how the defense got better.
Even if the offense improves quite a bit, let's say to an offensive efficiency of what the Lakers did last year (7th best in the league at 107.9), they'd have to markedly improve their defense to be serious contenders. The Houston Rockets had an offensive efficiency of 108 last year and the 18th ranked defensive efficiency.
For you to say the Clippers are a high seed, you have to think that Chris Paul turned a below average offense into the peak Phoenix Suns offense or that he is going to have a huge defensive impact as well.
Lakers at 34-32, 7th seed.
I don't think that's so hard to believe when you look at the difference between Chris Paul in his prime and an out of shape, defensively-indifferent Baron Davis who shot 152 3's at 29% for the Clips last year.
I think he will have some impact defensively- and the TOs are a big deal- but I think another big upgrade defensively will be Griffin. He has all the tools to be a great defensive player and young players tend to improve their D substantially in their early years. I could see him, the Paul upgrade, and the general improvement in perimeter depth (and assuming they add another big) giving them a huge boost on the D side.
Remember, a lot of the Clippers last year is Baron Davis, a gimpy Kaman, lots of minutes for rookies, and well....the Clippers. All of that- knock on wood- is gone. Don't sell my team short.;)
EDIT- I also agree with ItV, this Clipper offense could be devastating.
B. Diddy still had a 16.3 PER last year.
I just don't see it.
New Orleans last year was the 19th ranked team in Offensive Efficiency. If we were talking about NO, and they had just traded David West and Emeka Okafor for Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, would anyone be talking about that as the 4th best offense in the league?
Edit:
Sure. The Rockets were really good, but they were better defensively and drastically better offensively. I don't think it's realistic to suggest that one player, as good as he is can do that (especially when subtracting guys like Gordon and Kaman). The 2011 Miami Heat added LeBron and Chris Bosh and improved 4.8 points in offensive efficiency. The Rockets were 6.2 points better in offensive efficiency than the Clippers.
And Chauncey Billups and Mo Williams for Ariza? Sure.
1) These teams suck
2) Steph Curry sprained his ankle -- same one he's had problems with. Didn't look that bad to me but he couldn't put any weight on it and limped off
3) I forgot Mark Jackson was the Warriors' coach, heh, good luck with that
You're massively underrating Michael Beasley :)
It also called Pape Sy "a poor man's Quinton Ross", which is worth the purchase price right there.
How does GSW have so little depth?
Heh, andrew...
29 minutes, 2-9 FG, 2-7 FT, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 fouls, 9 TO
Gotta give him some allowance for the fearful Golden State defense I guess.
To be fair, he did have a critical block late, and 3 steals. But I know who I'm taking in Hacking Mass if it exists.
I wouldn't dismiss him so prematurely. Sure his on-air persona was a bit cartoonish with his reliance on catch phrases and he wasn't all that articulate in between catch phrases but nothing I've seen from his first two games tells me that he's overmatched. One thing I've really liked is that he really attacks a mismatch. With a lot of coaches, it can get frustrating to see them not demand their team exploit them but that's not going to be a problem with Jackson. Another thing I liked is that he seems to have a nurturing bent. Klay Thompson had a horrible night but Jackson still designed the final shot for him like he wanted to instill confidence in him. This was after Thompson had badly airballed a three on the previous possession. I like that Jackson used a meaningless preseason game to try to pick Thompson up.
and the sixers once again had 6 players score in double figures--holiday had 24, iguodala, turner, and young had 13, meeks had 11, and lou williams had 10. considering that brand and hawes scored in double figures in game 1, that's everyone in the sixers top 8 that did it within the 2 game preseason.
and one last note on last night's game, evan turner had 13 points on 3/5 shooting and added in 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
He was one of my favorite players when he was with Indiana. As a point guard, he was an inventive passer, good rebounder, and played a lot of post up. Slower than molasses though.
I just can't take it anymore. I mean, I just can't. I can no longer respond, it's just too much. That's my problem, of course, and I'll try to deal with it to myself.
---
Chris Sheridan: Rip Hamilton had 6 assists and ran like a gazelle in his Bulls debut. His transition will be easy, says @silvawriter: http://bit.ly/rv0nQQ about 43 minutes ago
I am pissed that I missed the game - preseason, I know. But the Bulls/Pacers are developing quite a "rivalry" - although it's not really a rivalry if one team wins 95% of the time (like that brewing Miami/Philly rivalry - ####, here I go again). I was in the middle of a programming dispute with Dish Network, who for some reason decided to add Comcast SportsNet Chicago to a special tier without any notice or warning and so I couldn't watch the game. And it took over a half hour for them to figure out why I wasn't getting it. Special group of people over there.
---
Evans will help the Clips. K-Hump gets another year to prove last year wasn't a fluke.
---
Bulls are announcing Rose's extension today - 5 yr, $94mil, thanks to the Derrick Rose rule. I wish I can find that stupid article from ESPN last year that said Bulls fans were stupid for assuming that Rose wouldn't leave Chicago like LeBron left Cleveland.
I watched the game. It was a typically sloppy pre-season game without normal rotations, so Philly did look better when they got down to their 9th and 10th guys, because they truly do have depth. Also, Jrue and Turner stood out as solid players. Holiday already was one and Turner seems to be improving.
On the other hand, they were losing in the last three minutes, at home, against one of the 4 worst teams in the league.
Does Reggie Evans wait until he's been on the court for 30+ minutes before he becomes the greatest rebounder in history? Or are per-36-minute stats too sophisticated for Twitter?
I'm surprised the Bulls got as good as they did as quickly as they did, but they looked really promising last year ... that was why I got into it with Moses about how they should be, they looked to be on the cusp of something special (it helped that Rose blew past my expectations of him).
There have been many reasons to take shots at the Knicks over the past few years (or decade), but Hollinger seems to relish doing so more than most. My sense is that if he can find a reason to ding the Knicks, he will. A significant part of the rationale for his prediction that the Knicks will finish 7th in the East rests on the notion that the grueling schedule for this season will be particularly unkind to the Knicks. While I think that's a valid point, I'm not sure how you acknowledge the schedule as a concern for older/brittle teams and then come to the conclusion that the Celtics will be 8 games better than the Knicks over a 66 game season.
With Fields, it's fair to wonder how fluky last year was - with the 2nd half drop off, lack of pedigree and the high fg% percentages at the rim. Do you remember Adrian Griffin's first year?
Anyway, I'm leaning toward believing in Fields, but as a nice bench piece. (Better than Griffin, at any rate.*)
As for Shumpert ... he's not, barring massive gains over the offseason (speaking as a pessimistic GT fan). He's kind of like Corey Brewer (not what people thought Brewer was, but what he actually was) - if Brewer could put the ball on the floor (and was more guard like / explosive in general), and had less sense offensively. The tools are there and he's a well rounded guy (which I like), but he needs to learn how and when to shoot. (Plus he's *not* a PG, but I don't think you're going to try that too often.) Could be a stud defender, if everything works out.
* to be clear, fields was better last year than griffin ever was - and landry didn't have to come out of the minor league ranks. but, they're somewhat similar players...
I don't have a problem with dinging Shumpert (as I sew my custom-made Shump Shump jersey) but I just think it's...peculiar...that Shumpert isn't ready to be a Top 7 player in the same article where Norris Cole, without caveat, should be able to soak up minutes when these two were ranked 19th and 20th by Hollinger going into the draft. I suppose maybe he thinks long-term Shumpert will close some of that gap?
With Fields, it's fair to wonder how fluky last year was - with the 2nd half drop off, lack of pedigree and the high fg% percentages at the rim. Do you remember Adrian Griffin's first year?
Anyway, I'm leaning toward believing in Fields, but as a nice bench piece. (Better than Griffin, at any rate.)
I think last year is as good as Fields will/could ever be and he makes me very uneasy, but, again, I don't see how you can be so confident in the performance of a relatively unheralded rookie in comparison to a guy who did put up a fairly solid rookie campaign at the NBA level.
Maybe I shouldn't say the teams can't count on them - they most definitely can - but I'm sure it's hard to project them to make that much of an impact based on college numbers. I can't speak to why Hollinger loves Cole so much - there's plenty of good news coming out of the Heat camp on him, but just as much if not more on Shumpert. If it's another way of saying the Heat's top line talent is better than the Knicks's, that's one thing. So I guess I agree with you NJ, but in the sense that also means I don't expect Fields or Shump to be that good this year.
I'm surprised the Bulls got as good as they did as quickly as they did, but they looked really promising last year ... that was why I got into it with Moses about how they should be, they looked to be on the cusp of something special (it helped that Rose blew past my expectations of him).
And I still don't disagree that some of your specific suggestions would have fit better, but they did do something right and they still have plenty of flexibility to keep making moves (not that they will).
BTW, I meant to comment on this earlier:
It shows Heisley wants to win and will spend a little extra money to do so. Worth something, I think.
#### you, Reinsdorf. (until he proves me wrong...)
Hollinger had the 76ers at 37-29.
He still has plenty of time to do that after this contract.
Yeah, Hollinger definitely likes to go counter-consensus... and the big-market teams have the most fans.
I actually agree w/ this and the rest of your post -- Jackson seemed pretty good last night, good demeanor, settled the team, drew up some fine plays. I guess it's probably true that insight about basketball commentator-style may not necessarily have that much to do with being a coach -- which is, fundamentally, a manager's job. Especially with a team like GS that has the personnel (and history) of a run and gun team. I thought Smart was a pretty good coach though, so I'm not sure this is a huge upgrade. Their problems were/are w/ poor roster design mostly and they could use a bit more talent, not on-court.
I think Reggie Evans, cherry-picked numbers or not, is a fantastic pickup for the Clips, especially since they're not paying him anything. If it weren't for VDN and Sterling and the Clipper Curse I would feel a lot better about this team.
Rose extension: I guess there's not really too much to say here. Obviously a good move for the Bulls, not a surprising one, etc.. Rose naturally said all the right things about it (money is great, but winning is what's important here, will continue to try to get better, etc.). He's an easy guy to root for when it comes down to it, personality- and play-wise both -- naturally drawing moral conclusions about athletes we generally only see one side of is difficult, but he really does seem like a great guy.
NJ: Why Sacramento? They seem like a pretty meh team to me.
If I get League Pass, I will definitely get LAC, OKC, MIN, then probably CHI and SAS.
Not really, and I don't think we're going to learn much from the last preseason game either (Rubio and possibly Barea are resting). They basically used last year's starting lineup in game one, but I seriously doubt that the situation is static. Love did get some minutes as the nominal 5, and I think if that continues, whatever the rest of the lineup is will be pretty entertaining.
And now that I've read Hollinger's piece, I feel this misrepresents his point. One, it doesn't appear he's considering him one of the top 7 guys for the Heat - he just says him and Chalmers should replace Bibby/Arroyo/House minutes, which should be an upgrade - or do you dispute those were 3 of the worst players in the NBA last season? He mentions the Heat only have 3 guys with above average PER projections, but they have multiple other useful parts (mostly veterans who know roles more than a couple of young guys would). I'd say it sounds like he's rosier on Cole than Fields or Shumpert even if he's not, but it's really the Heat aren't relying on Cole nearly as much as the Knicks have to on Fields or Shump. YMMV, of course.
---
I think it's a fair point that Thibs relied heavily on Rose and Deng last year, and that they just won't be able to play as many effective minutes as last season. But I still think the Bulls depth is still much better than the Heat (and remember they have the 2nd easiest schedule based on last year's winning %) that I expect the Bulls to have a better regular season record than Miami even if I agree Miami is a better team and better bet to win the title.
It would be solely for Jimmer. It's definitely last out of that group of 4 for me though.
indiana looks terrible, too. WAS could be interesting, but they look like a team that's full of dogs. they have talent, but i got the feeling that if there's any chance for them to be terrible, they're going to be terrible. blatche, lewis, crawford, young, even wall, they're all lacking in focus/intensity/mental faculties/testicular fortitude; they'll give up 15 points in the last 2 minutes of a close game to blow a lead like they did last night; they'll give up runs of 17-2 in the third quarter and turn an 8 point deficit into a 20 point deficit. they're just a team that's built to come up small when the game is on the line.
if you're committed to those first 4, i think golden state, chicago, and minnesota would be the best of the rest, at least as far as entertainment value is concerned. actually, phoenix should probably be in the conversation, too, just because of nash. oh, and there's memphis.
of those, i think i'd go for minnesota, almost solely because of the potential variance in the performance of so many of their players. what kind of player will rubio be? or derrick williams? or beasley? or randolph? how will barea fit into their lineup? what will the defense look like if they play love at the 5 for extended periods of. time? there's just a lot of potential reasons to watch
Though, I guess if he were gay, maybe this would come out in the lawsuit.
He'll play through it and will be fine. It's just what he does.
that's...not good.
CHI-MIA
NYK
IND
ORL-BOS
ATL
PHI
I don't think best player and guy taking the last shot necessarily need to go together. Nene is quite easily the best player on the Nuggets this year, but I don't think they are going to focus on running isolation plays for him at the end of games when they have guys like Gallonari or Lawson who are better at breaking down a defense. Philly should work in a similar way, Iguodala is their best player because his excellent all around game, but not necessarily their best shot creator.
Saying a team's best player is their best scorer is like saying a baseball team's best player is their best homerun/rbi guy. Often it is true, but it is not always the case.
Right after calling him Philly's best player in the team essay of their new annual I referred to upthread, BaskPro noted:
i think that's fair, but he has to be given the opportunity. the ball needs to be in his hands in the 4th quarter.
Amnesty guys can't be traded until the offseason.
That wasn't an actual trade suggestion.
---
So does another team get him nice and cheap now?
---
DeShawn Stevenson to Nets for 1yr, $2.5mil. That's a good deal, even if I'm not a huge fan of his.
Not if he gets a better deal somewhere else
That wasn't an actual trade suggestion.
Sorry. I was just skimming the page since I didn't read yesterday
Last year, Luther Head signed a 2 year deal with the Hornets that was voided because he failed his physical. His agent called BS and said they'd explore their options of fighting. This is the only detailed article I found (on a quick google search). He ended up signing a 1 yr deal in Sacramento for less money, and I never heard anything more about it. Now, $20mil is a lot more than $2.3mil, so maybe there's more to this claim. But I'm guessing since that deal was never officially finalized, he'll up signing a 1 year deal for really cheap (unless a team with space gives him a better offer, but there aren't many out that besides Sac*) and he'll go back on the market next year.
*The tweets about the Stevenson signing in NJ say they still have $9.5mil in cap space left, but after signing KHump they might not want another backup big and probably aren't interested in a long term deal since they're trying to save space to sign Howard or trade for him during the season. I bet Hayes would help them though. Houston just signed Dalembert yesterday, maybe they would have taken him back.
The problem in the Hayes situation, I would think, is that no team is going to want to put him on the court because the liability, should something bad happen, could be substantial. If his situation is such that he really can continue to play without concern, a team would want to get any potential liability concerns waived up front before putting him on the court- and all that has to run through the NBAPA and will require a ton of different doctor visits.
I would think there is some procedure in place for this because guys have had some serious condition before- Turiaf comes to mind- so if there's really no legitimate medical concern, he probably gets a deal close to what Sac was going to offer him.
It’s possible, but not certain, that Holiday will be able to push Iguodala down a notch.
Krzyzewski got him to take that role with excellent results for Team USA, but it is probably easier for him to defer to someone like Kevin Durant than a less proven player like Holiday, Williams or Turner, hopefully on one of those guys will be able to establish themselves as consistent option, but so far I don't think they have. If a team builds a roster where Iguodala is the go to scorer that is more of a failure of the team than Iguodala.
How are they going to fit all the crutches on the float?
Do the nets have this year's pick? If they somehow lose Brooke for enough of this year to get a top 5 pick in a good lotto then keep d will and add Howard (plus Brooks, Morrow, hump), things could turnaround quickly.
Can also imagine the Heat interested in a guy like him.
He can't play until his team in China's season is over, so maybe not until March. Same for the other guys there - Brooks, Chandler, Smith (and honestly, they all could help the Knicks and I'd probably say Martin would help them the least, assuming no STAT injury). I wonder if they'll sign for the minimum or there's some out there than can offer them more*. Chandler is a RFA, I believe, so odds are he'll end up in Denver. And if they sign for the minimum, what teams would appeal to them most - the most PT so they can earn a big deal or the chance at a ring?
*Like the Knicks and their $2.5mil exception (pro-rated).
I like the article, and am curious to see if it works like imagined (and if it sticks). But man, Haberstoh is just effusive in his praise - and that's not a shot at him calling Bosh a superstar - Chip Kelly, famed coach? Luminary Tom Crean? And using a play where Hedo is guarding LeBron as an example of the offense in action? It's hard to institute this drastic of a change in offensive philosophy in this short camp/pre-season. So it'll be a work in progress all season. As a fan of basketball, I want them to have a fun, exciting, and open offense. As a Bulls fan, I'd prefer they revert to their old ways and would rather see more hero shots. But yes, a lot of us said this last year, so while Spo will get credit if it works we can also say he shouldn't have stuck to his guns as much last year.
BTW, he also talks about Bosh's 3pt shot and increased bulk. Which one - or will either - changes his game or his role in the offense more, or is he really best suited to continue his mid-range game and fill in the gaps as the third guy?
Bosh and STAT seem to have done the same offseason training. I wonder who gets more rebounds and hits more 3s.
Really? That's a tad hyperbolic. I guess they're famed in getting really close to winning it all once.
Somewhat OT, but am I alone in really liking Doron Lamb?
EDIT: I don't mean to imply I think he's a Top 5 pick...though I do think he'll be a better pro than Harrison Barnes.
I was under the impression that the 2.5 mil exception would remain 2.5, regardless of whenever in the season it was used. (I have nothing concrete to base this on so I could be wrong)
Everyone's salaries are pro-rated to the number of games being played. So it's $2.5mil for 82 games, and that would be prorated to how many they're actually signed for. Otherwise, what's the incentive for them to sign before the playoff roster deadline?
That's funny, coming from Avery. Also, the article should really do a better job of identifying all the Williamses on this team.
Heh.
Here they're talking about Shawne Williams. I think most of us would disagree with the bolded part.
Nets fans will like reading that.
It's nice when something that seems obvious to the casual fan is a point of emphasis for the coaches.
Right, but for the players it's more work for less money - or a lower rate. We'd probably see more veteran players wait out the beginning of the year before deciding to play if they got paid for a full year but only had to participate part of the time.
If there are any. . .
EDIT: Also, Shawne Williams is much better as a stretch 4 than a 3.
Grizz supposedly still hoping to sign Haddadi.
So, where does AK go? Stay in Russia (my understanding is that he wants to come back, that he's been donating his CSKA salary as is)?
FWIW, Hollinger/Lowe very high on start to Jazz rebuild. I myself am not so sure, but those guys know more than I do. Jazz has clear plan--almost always a +.
DK,
Lopez and Bynum? I will say that I think Brown system/Odom dump will help Bynum's numbers, with all usual Bynum-related caveats. For one thing, he will be closing games and his MPG will go up from 28 to about 35. He had a big game last night. With Kobe out, he was basically first option, and he gave Jordan a lot of trouble on the blocks. When Bynum is on the floor and on his game, he is a handful.
Always kind of liked Okur's game--but feel like he may be one of those guys whose limited athleticism leads to premature cliff-dive. Hope I'm wrong. Know a Turkish dude, former student, who loves Hedo/Memo.
Agree on premature cliff dive, but - it's the waiver wire, whatchagonnado. My next best bets are Dalembert, Robin Lopez, and DeAndre. Lopez could be a good play while Gortat is out - and Petro is the #2 in NJ, which is why I might take Okur.
Per 32 min: 13.6 pts, 8.5 reb, 2.1 ast, 1.4 stl, 2.0 to, 1.3 blk, 3.4 pf, 60% fg in 10.2 att, 64% ft in 2.3 fta
Even after discounting that some, it's a good start. His PER in the ACB last season was 28, this year 30.4, per draftexpress - not shabby in a very good league.
but unfortunately for them, they have ####-all in the backcourt and on the wings, so they're still miles away from being relevant.
Really? What's the plan? Honestly I'm a bit lost.
Gortat is out? ####.
Flip.
You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.
<< Back to main