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I think they prefer to be called "African Americans" these days.
It's impossible to trust anything with Dolan in charge and with Isiah permanently lurking. Dolan's a nutjob nonpareil.
I really enjoy that Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose can be so similar in terms of physical tools and statistical output and yet, stylistically, they couldn’t be more different. Rose uses his abilities go over, under, around defenders in this graceful fashion and rarely shows emotion while Westbrook is going through the defense and looks as though he’s got a chip on his shoulder. (The refs let Westbrook get away with a ton of elbows/assorted dirty space clearing maneuvers last night, it was really bizarre)
- Both Buckets (AKA Marcus Thornton - 27 pts on 9-13, 4-7 3PT) and DeMarcus Cousins (12 pts, 11 reb, and only 2 TOs and 4 fouls!) did well against the Lakers last night
- Portland took 97 shots yesterday, which (given the changes they made in the off-season) hopefully means Nate McMillan is willing to let these dudes run up & down the court
- the idea of Stephen Jackson being coached by Scott Skiles brings a smile to my face (& possibly some ulcers to Skiles' belly)
- Sebastian Telfair's on the Suns!
with the kind of defense they're capable of playing, i think they're at the top of the list of dangerous teams in the west. camby, aldridge, thomas, and wallace are just fearsome on the frontlines.
I mean, any team that can beat the Sixers has to be considered a championship contender, that's for sure.
Yeah, the hook when they were first pitched was that he couldn't afford fancy player-endorsed shoes when he was a kid, so he wanted his brand to be affordable for everybody.
Fesenko to GSW
Does that make sense to anyone? Not me. If anything, having them together on the Bulls, one of the league's signature franchises, seems like a great outcome for Adidas. And that anonymous quote is the closest thing to "evidence" Woj provides. The Business Insider post just rehashes the Woj piece and adds nothing else. (I should maybe add that I am unimpressed with Woj as journalist, and that probably makes me further inclined to discount this sans compelling evidence that goes beyond one anonymous quote.)
But not all that much marginally larger than having the reigning MVP already pitching Adidas in Chicago.
Seems to me that Howard playing for a great team in a large market would be better for Adidas than him playing for a pretty good (possibly, but not definitely, very good) team in Brooklyn, say, even if they already have that particular market cornered, thanks to Rose -- because the visibility and the cachet would make for a great platform from which they could market him worldwide.
I bought the Starbury's for something like $15 and they were ripped within two weeks. I guess you get what you pay for.
Fesenko deal was for 1.07m, I think.
LeBron throwing the lob to Wade, then getting in for the tip after was pretty silly.
Reports have said that Davis and Howard are friends, and therefore maybe trading for him was a way to placate Dwight as a last-ditch effort to get him to want to stay. That's all anyone has been able to come up with that makes any sense.
Sounds like a BBTF-run baseball team.
On an unrelated note, Cole seems a fitting addition to the Vinegar Trio. I'll have no problem rooting against him.
Kanter looks like a good rebounder and very physical/strong, but he's had two good looks right under the basket and failed to convert either time.
This is the beauty of Metta World Peace. You can be annoyed at Ron Artest, but how can you hate World Peace? I just want World B. Free to come out of retirement and play a charity game with MWP.
Imagine if Charlie Ward were still playing . . . "Ward stops World Peace!"
I'll be at the home opener Friday against Detroit.
Well, sure, a little. Maybe they win that Knicks game, maybe the Heat game is closer. It's a huge upgrade from Pavlovic to Pierce, obviously - Sasha is not a good NBA player right now. I suppose I'm not letting two games affect too much what I think of the team. I still think they will either win the Atlantic or come close (I like the Knicks more since the Davis signing and Green heart surgery than I did at the time of my original predictions), and be a tough out for someone in the 2nd round (if mostly healthy). Basically, I haven't seen anything that has shocked me, good or bad, about the Celtics so far.
Rondo has been the silver lining to the 0-2 start. Well, him and Bass, but seeing Rondo average 26/7/13 over his first two is very encouraging. He's been a lot more aggressive in both taking the ball to the basket (11.5 FT/game) as well as shooting his jumper, however flawed, in rhythm. If Rondo can fashion himself into a bit more of a scorer, it makes the Celtics a little more dangerous, in that it could help limit those periods when their offense is struggling.
He looked really good last night. They can play up the fact that he played in college 4 years all they want, but the obvious counter to that is both he wasn't good enough to leave early and he was only at Cleve St, so it's not like he has a ton of relevant* experience. Like all rookies, he'll go through spells that will make it obvious he's a rookie. And it's to be seen how he'll handle the pressure of expectations or the playoffs or the extreme schedule (I wonder about the rookie wall in a shortened, but compressed season). Is it me though, or does he have a really low release on his jump shot? I bet he struggles to get that off against tighter defense - the C's did play off him a bit (also, double teaming).
*He didn't play against many guys that he'll see again in the NBA, IOW the level of competition argument to counter the argument about playing lots of games.
EDIT: And I didn't see anything last night that would make me dislike him.
I saw a tweet about how efficient LeBron has been - 63pts on only 33 shots. I'm noticing he did take over 100 fewer 3pt attempts last season than his last season in the Cleve - at a similar percentage - which was the 2nd fewest of any year in his career (he only took fewer in his rookie season). I do wonder how many of those were bailout shots at the end of the shot clock, or attempts at the hero shot in close games; shots that he doesn't need to take as many of now. Or he just may have realized it's not the best shot for him to take.
Part of the site updates happening, will be fixed soon.
The announcers mentioned this in the game last night. IMO, its a huge improvement in the Miami offense. They'll shoot 3's at some point, but I like the avoidance of them to see what their offense looks like without it.
I checked and this is the first time since LeBron's rookie year that he's gone consecutive games without taking a 3. His rookie year he had one 3 game stretch and a 2 game stretch.
EDIT: This includes playoffs
Otis Smith. Who knows why he does what he does
I'm rooting for a revelation that Howard has been de facto GM all along and a Comic Sans Gilbert-style rant from Otis Smith when he leaves.
Alternate joke: we shouldn't let ex-players run teams due to their limited intellectual capital.
Hey, it worked for Steve Kerr, Geoff Petrie, John Paxson, Danny Ferry, Pat Riley, Mitch Kupchak, and Danny Ainge! Wait, there's probably some unintended subtext here. Can't put my finger on it.
I have Williams, Love and Rubio on my fantasy team so I will be following this situation carefully. Hopefully they are trying to "showcase" B-Easy for a trade...
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I couldn't watch the GS/CHI game but looking at the brutal box score for Rose (1-8 on 3s), I'm thinking he needs to stop thinking "outside in" and start attacking the basket. I'm sure Rose knows what he has to do, in fact he has said as much already -- looking to be more efficient.
Someone on the Bulls Internets brought up the stat that Chicago is 52-53 when Rose scores under 20 points and something like 80-40 when he scores over 20. Derrick might be trying to be more of a facilitator, but the fact is he's not a Chris Paul like creator and Chicago doesn't have that great of scoring outside of Rose. They need him to score by attacking the basket.
In general, it's been a #### start for the Bulls. It looks like last year all over again, where it took them 10 games or so to hit their stride. Joakim Noah annoys me with is off season conditioning. He's never in top shape to start the year and his entire game is based on working hard. Boozer, for whatever his problems, is in great shape. The spacing with Noah and Boozer has been absolute horse ####. I'm beginning to wonder if Thibs needs to shake up his staff and bring in someone a bit more creative offensively.
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My (not exactly unique) fantasy strategy of overloading on PGs and PFs seems to be working. Plus, I've managed to grab Landry and Camby off the waiver wire. I dodged a real bullet with that Steph Curry ankle injury and my $16 draft bid for Marcus Thornton looks to be a stroke of genius. My Rubio/Williams experiment has gotten mixed results (see above). Most weeks I should have Steals, FT%, Assists, 3s and A/T ratio wrapped up. If I can compete in points and rebounds, look out league.
Yeah, it's 2 games after an extremely short camp under a new coach. I think it is a combination of trying for some form of continuity until the team can gel a little, showcasing both for possible trades, and deferring to the vets until Adelman breaks the guys down and builds them back up in his own system. I will start to be frustrated if the usage isn't changing 35 games into the season (we'll see if my patience actually lasts that long).
I wrote a bit about it at the bottom of the last page. The 1 for 8 isn't good, but I think most of those attempts were in the 4th - or at least after the Warriors had pulled away and the Bulls were trying to come back. That doesn't excuse him for not playing inside or forcing the action more - he also didn't have his first FTA on the year until the 2nd half (none in the LAL game). You're right, he's already said he needs to be more aggressive and I expect him to do that tomorrow in Sacramento.
John Wall is looking more like a bust however.
The Grizzlies offense has been raggedy as hell so far this year. Didn't go inside to Randolph enough and just looked generally out of sync. Started slow against OKC tonight but have closed out the first quarter a bit stronger. Hopefully they get back into the swing of it quicker than they did last year.
I agree in theory, but Rubio should be playing 30+ every night. He's not some raw rookie but a guy with oodles of big time international experience. As for Williams, I would again agree if the guy in front of him wasn't a complete bum.
So, after 2 games, Irving's a top 10 pg, and after a season where he averaged 16ppg and two games this season, Wall's a bust? Aren't both of these premature judgments?
New to the Internet? Snark aside, Most of my posts are stream of consciousness type stuff, occasionally I'll do an analysis style post, but mostly it's my thoughts during the games. I'm not claiming to be an expert. I watch a lot of NBA, a hell of a lot more than MLB, where I just follow the White Sox. Thus, I often make snap judgements -- if not here, where?
Still no 3's.
favorite things so far:
andre iguodala looks as good as he ever has. 12 points, 5 assists, 4 steals for the half. and best of all (or at least most surprising) he's 6/10 from beyond the arc so far this season, and he's actually looked pretty good in doing it.
vucevic actually looked like an NBA player his first time on the floor. 4 points, 3 rebounds in 8 minutes.
steve nash: 4 points, 0 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 turnovers, and 3 fouls on 2/7 shooting in 11 minutes.
oh, and when the suns went into the zone to try to change the pace of the game, meeks and iguodala nailed 3's on consecutive possessions to blow the lead out to 15.
Early prediction: leads the league in scoring, runaway MVP.
Optimistic prediction: he holds a Jordan-esque vendetta against Rose and Durant for being pretenders to his MVP award.
Yea, what a massacre. I was in PHX for xmas and was listening in on their home opening broadcast. There was a bunch of excitement re their new defensive mindset. Haha.
Also, Tyler Hansbrough and Tim Tebow has never been in the same room.
Westbrook was ####### terrible. He went 0-13 from the field and just got completely outplayed by Jeremy Pargo.
After getting forced into starter's minutes with Conley's ankle injury, Pargo finished 6-13 with 15 pts and 7 asts Edit: Oh and only 1 turnover. Not bad really. Qualitatively, he seemed to do a very good job of getting into the paint and either looking for a shot or dishing it off and making things happen. I'm impressed with him thus far.
From what I've seen so far, the Thunder are definitely the class of the West.
Even when Jefferson is good, he's awful. The next time he challenges a shot at the basket will be the first.
If any team wants Bell please just let him go. He doesn't shoot anymore, isn't a good defender, and is just taking up developmental minutes from Burks and maybe even Hayward.
They really need a dynamic wing though.
hawes (i know. really) and iguodala really filled up the statsheet. 9, 11, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals for hawes and 15, 4, 6 assists, and 4 steals for iguodala.
elton brand played 20 minutes--they just didn't need him to play anything more than that. 6 players in double figures (iguodala and holiday led the team with 15 a piece, though it took holiday 15 shots to get there), plus hawes with 9 and 11 and vucevic with 6 and 6.
jrue holiday with another bad game, but he didn't throw the ball away 4 times in the 1st quarter, so it was a major improvement from monday. he left the game in the 4th quarter after tweaking his knee, though. that could be a devastating injury for the team, since they're only really carrying 3 guards (plus evan turner).
steve nash finished with 4 points, 0 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 turnovers, and 4 fouls on 2/11 shooting in 17 minutes. that's gotta be the worst line he's put up in the last decade.
somehow the suns finished above 40% shooting. to give a more accurate (or at least favorable) representation of their performance in this game, their starting lineup (nash, dudley, hill, frye, gortat) shot a combined 7/35.
Remember when teams were fighting over who signs Raja last season? Utah seems to have won and then immediately lost that fight.
Also, caught some of the Clippers game and I do think that the hype is going to overrate their results. Paul seems to have regressed defensively over the last couple of seasons, Griffin needs to not be such a ball stopper and Chauncey is a big net negative. They really should have played hardball and held out for Bledsoe instead of Gordon in that trade. Clips will make the playoffs but I'm thinking more 6/7 than 4/5 seed.
I'm all for locking Luke Ridnour in a ripped-roof Metrodome during a blizzard, though.
On a personal note, I'm so glad my fantasy team superstars -- Russell Westbrook & Amare Stoudamire -- had completely terrible games yesterday. There, but for the grace of DeMar DeRozan & Z-Bo, goes my autodrafted mess of a squad.
I don't know what it is, but even when he is going well there is something irritating about Ridnour's game. I just flat don't like him.
I remember this feeling well. Good riddance.
The Knicks looked positively putrid.
I remain highly skeptical that builiding your franchise around Carmelo (I Stopped the Ball and the Ball Won) Anthony will ever really work. The Knicks aren't materially better with him than they were without him.
Not having seen Wall play this year and just looking at his numbers, if that's a bust I think it's a bust every team would take. The guy is a little hamstrung, who's his best teammate? Rashard Lewis? Washington is probably the biggest collection of knuckleheads in the league.
I texted a gambling friend that Phi -1.5 was Vegas's way of giving away money. I don't know if he took the advice, but that was an easy one in a sea of toss-ups. Phoenix is not a very talented team, they're far enough away from having a really good coach that the difference is going to start to show up, their best player has to be thinking about other things, and why would they think they can beat anyone?
Whitlock has been calling him Tebowsborough.
He appears to be up in his head right now. Hard to say without talking to him or knowing him, but it wouldn't be surprising if there was some distraction, or perhaps it's just pressure coming down on him (all the postseason complaints and stuff). This would be a good time for Brooks or Cheeks to have a heart to heart with him.
Yes and no. I said the same thing about Paul (plus their dire need for any sort of wing defender) and nobody agreed with me. On the other hand, Billups is learning a new role after a whole career, so he deserves some time, and Griffin is just starting his second season. He needs to adjust to new teammates. Some of the problem is bad coaching, and that will continue to dog them, but they also just lost to a team that won 61 games last year and might be better (dayum do Splitter and Anderson look better!). You say 6/7 rather than 4/5 seed, but that could literally be one or two games in the standings.
He put up half of those numbers playing on a badly sprained ankle and was much better before. Against OKC this year, he was a little out of control. He played much more restrained against Milwaukee, though. Like I said, you aren't going to beat Milwaukee in their building if Jennings and Bogut are making jumpshots. The team is too good defensively. Beasley gets a lot of #### for never passing (from me too), but I think the fact that he gets the ball on the wing on clearouts so much contributes to it. Hopefully we will see less of that as the offense develops.
Have you seen Sacramento's entire roster of shoot first (and second, and third) guys?
At their worst, no. At their best? For a couple of quarters on xmas, that team could have beaten anybody. They're better.
Get the hose.
But I think the stats are very misleading here. He always outshoots Love. Last year, he averaged 3 more shots per game. In that OKC game, he chucked up 27 shots. The bigger issue isn't the number of shots, it's the number of dumb shots. And the lack of ability to get his teammates involved. One of the things about the NBA is that even on bad teams, someone's going to put up numbers. I think Beasley is that guy - the guy who will put up superficially good numbers but always be on horrible teams. He's just not a smart player.
it's just 2 games, but it's better than them sucking like a celtic.
You're taking this "shortened season" thing waaaaay too far.
The bad games count, too. I'm not seeing any real evidence that they're any better -- or, for that matter, that Denver's any worse. Zach Lowe had Melo at number 20 overall and that's what he is. You don't gut your roster for the 20th best player in the league, and turn the franchise over to him.(**)
Melo/Amare is essentially a Haywood/McAdoo redux (though the swingin' 70s and their temptations made Spencer fall off a cliff that Melo won't).
(**) And in the broader sweep, 2 lost seasons and a bunch of draft picks/players sent out, all to wind up with your top guy being 19th best in the league.
I hear what you're saying. I think there are a lot of externalities beyond what Melo does on the court. Very practically, Chandler (who hasn't fully acclimated yet) and Davis (who we haven't seen in this lineup) would not have come to NY if not to join this somewhat overrated superstar. More ephemerally, the team has a great deal more cultural chache than it did 2 years ago when they were tanking to see if they could get any free agents to take their money. That might not translate into wins and losses, but I think it probably has a noticeable effect on the bottom line in terms of merch, ratings, and even ticket prices. Even if that doesn't matter to the hardcore fan, it probably makes it worth it for ownership to "gut the roster" of less marketable guys like Gallo and Chandler in order to get to that point.
Also, while Gallo is helping Denver right now, that team's success is not predicated so much on gaining him or losing Melo. They are better because Lawson is breaking out as a star, their front office shrewdly nabs undervalued talents who do a few things really well, and George Karl is a good coach who has the kind of dynamic roster that he gets the most out of. Maybe they wouldn't be much better with Melo on board, but I chalk that up mostly to the system and the quality of depth that he left behind.
He might not be totally wrong.
The Celtics are older, the Bulls will regress, the Knicks are the Knicks (not a compliment), Orlando has worse personnel. There's plenty of room for the Pacers to play well.
OTOH, they have beaten the Raptors and the Pistons,and neither game was decided by 20+. I would like to see them at 20-10 or so with a solid win over the Bulls or even the Magic before we start talking about taking on the Heatles. I am not sure anyone on the Pacers is as good as Chris Bosh (Granger might be, I guess).
It's true, in a playoff series, you need someone who is going to wildly flip out and deck an opponent far more valuable than they are, earning a suspension but knocking out one of the opposing team's stars.
I can't believe this guy has a job. He should at the very least be in jail.
The Bulls are the second best team in the East and are going to be fine. Small sample, people, small sample.
After watching last night's game, I think the Heat may want to rethink that offensive strategy.
On the topic of the Pacers, I love that Paul George is now 6'10''
it's not like they struggled to win 30 when he was putting up empty numbers. they won with him. maybe they didn't win enough, but they won a lot.
I, otoh, really dislike Lance Stephenson.
So - how long 'til Celtics fans go crazy for McIlvaine II yet - once they hit .500? (I mean this neither as insult or as small sample size theater - I've long liked Stiemsma a bit more than Jimmy Mac).
Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I think Paul George goes in the "win" column for Hollinger's draft rater.
* no, that's not that often.
2. I think Greg Ostertag ate too many peeps.
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