NBA Thread

[laxfish76]

Thought I would start this after a nice read.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090415

Pretty funny, too.

So, who's your team?

I had the Raptors, but they suck ****. Seriously, if Marion leaves, we need a good SG and SF. Marion is not even that good. Bosh is not great either. He is overrated. Bargnani is sick. Calderon will do, if he is injury free, he is good.

//Lax

[Eleazar]

Pacers WOOOOOO!!!!!!!


446. Jamaal Tinsley
As far as I can tell, the first player with a non-expiring contract who was paid by his team to stay the hell away for an entire NBA season. That should have shown up in every Pacers box score: "Jamaal Tinsley: DNP (Paid to stay the hell away)."

lol


399. Zach Randolph
The recent DUI was a nice touch. You stay classy, Zach Randolph. Not nearly enough was made of Mike Dunleavy willingly taking Randolph's 2011 figure ($17.3 million) off New York's books without getting a future pick from them. This conversation definitely happened last December in Donnie Walsh's office:

Mike D'Antoni: We have to get Randolph off our 2011 books, Donnie.

Walsh: Come on, nobody's taking that contract. You saw the November attendance figures. We're headed for D-Day. The only guy dumb enough to take Randolph is Mike Dunleavy, and even he wouldn't do it.

(A few seconds of silence pass. Walsh and D'Antoni make eye contact. They jump from their chairs.)

Walsh: You call his home number, I'll call his cell!

(Note: I might have used that joke during the Isiah Error. I honestly can't remember. I'm old. Speaking of Isiah...)

We in Indiana are glad he left Indiana, we wish he would have left sooner, but high school lasts until you are 18(approximitly).


159. Greg Oden
A Human Foul Machine the likes of which we haven't seen in nearly two decades. He's averaging 21.6 minutes and 4.0 fouls, which prorates to 8.8 fouls per 48 minutes. (I'm almost positive nine fouls gets you disqualified from any NBA game.) I asked Jeff Bennett's ESPN research crew to find the last player who averaged 20-plus minutes and topped that 8.9 number. The answer? Stanley Roberts with 9.5 in 1992. Wait, it gets worse. Here are Oden's rookie comps compared to Roberts' rookie season in '92:

Oden: 21.3 mpg, 8.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.1 bpg, 56.3 FG percent, 63.3 FT percent
Roberts: 20.3 mpg, 10.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.5 bpg, 52.8 FG percent, 51.5 FT percent

(Chilling when you remember that Roberts' nickname was "Fat Stanley." How long do we have to keep pretending Portland didn't massively and totally screw up the 2007 draft? I feel like we're trapped in a bad marriage where we have to pretend everything's good for the sake of the kids. Again, STANLEY ROBERTS!!!!)

Most big men have foul troubles their rookie season, it isn't until they overcome, if they overcome, the foul trouble do we really know how good they are.


62. Troy Murphy
The winner of the Truck Robinson Award for "Random Great Statistical Season." Would you believe me if I told you Murph averaged a 14-12 with 45 percent 3-point shooting and cracked the top-four in rebounds (second) and 3-point shooting (fourth)? I'd have him ranked higher, but unfortunately, I've seen him on the defensive end.

So true that it isn't even funny, well at least for Pacer fans.


Why no Danny Granger in the top 20? He is arguably the second best SF in the league, and probably the only reason the Pacers had 30+ wins.


Spurs will win the championship. Why you ask. I will tell you way.
1999, 2003, 2005, 2007
2009 fits the pattern of only winning on odd years, and winning every other season.
The Pacers have beaten every division winner except for the Spurs.

[Maawdawg]

Bill Simmons is awesome. I read all his stuff and listen to most of his podcasts. I have always been a Celtics guy, being that all my teams are the Boston teams. I am not liking their chances at a repeat right now with a gimpy KG though.

[Sw0ll_MC25]

Bump!

09-10 season is upon us.

I want to see the cavs do well this year. Hopefully shaq and james on the same team will bring a title to Cleveland.

I want to see the lakers fail, but they look to sharp, Boston looks good as well after beating the cavs in their opener.

[batosai]

Epic Charm of Necrotization - 5% proc rate Sw0ll just proc'd it! :p

[Maawdawg]

I want to see the cavs do well this year. Hopefully shaq and james on the same team will bring a title to Cleveland.

I want to see the lakers fail, but they look to sharp, Boston looks good as well after beating the cavs in their opener.

I watched that game last night and Mke Brown has to figure out some kind of offense besides "everyone stand still and let Lebron or Shaq try to do something" or this team is going to have a drop off from last season. They have no flow right now. Having Lebron gives you 50 wins if you surround him with trained circus animals but they need some kind of organized offense or teams that can bang down low will give them problems (Orlando, Boston, and maybe Toronto).

I was pleasantly surprised by Rasheed Wallace last night. he may end up being a really good bench piece for Boston.