Here's to a big season- the NBA smack thread 2010/11

[Sluffy]

11 years in a row with 50+ wins a season, a failed Miami Heat series that left fans and players in shock alike. I'd say the mavs deserve their own three-peat and i hope this is year one!

it will definitely be Mavs verse celts or heat in the final i think.

[Danno]

If the C's lose, I'll be happy with any of the West teams taking it. But in the West I suppose I should root for the Mavs because a) they deserve it more and b) they have the best chance to beat the Heat if the C's don't make it out (yes, I think it's C's or Heat in the East).

[Tuckerman]

Anyone have a good stream for tonights Celts game? Its on TNT.

[BigDaddy]

Suck it Phil Jackson, you smug, smarmy, arrogant, douchebag best coach of all time.

Why all the sugarcoating?

Seriously... I doubt he'll be back. I just can't imagine it being worth dealing with all the egos.

That said, very happy to see Kobe get cooked...


Tuckerman... don't they have any bars in NH?

[Arty50]

Seriously... I doubt he'll be back. I just can't imagine it being worth dealing with all the egos.

Phil won't be back. His body is falling apart as evidenced by the multiple surgeries he's had in the past few years. I just can't see him being able to put up with the rigors of travelling anymore.

[esseff]

And, what seems like some crazy shit going on within the team, behind closed doors.

According to ghetto times (aka, la times):

He (Gasol) was referring to the report that he stopped talking to Bryant during the postseason because Bryant's wife, Vanessa, had contributed to the breakup of Gasol and his longtime girlfriend. Lakers fans will remember that Karl Malone once publicly accused Vanessa of interfering with his personal life in a similar fashion.

Blame it on the wife! No wonder Kobe was out sodomizing that white girl in Colorado a few years back. Probably can't afford to dump her. Could try an OJ?

[geomorph]

Wait, I thought the standard playoffs flame-out excuse was that a teammate was bangin' the star's mom?

In other news, what are the odds of Shaq getting a flagrant 2 against Wade in his 8 minutes of play tonight?

[54-46]

As a long suffering Warriors fan, I was happy to see the Lakers fail and finger point. I wasn't happy to see Bynum pull that crap on a guy 15 inches shorter and 150 pounds lighter. Total BS.

At this point, I guess I'm pulling for the Grizz. I mean, if the Grizz can win, then all the other sad sack no-star teams can't be that far off. Keep hope alive!...

[esseff]

As a long suffering Warriors fan, I was happy to see the Lakers fail and finger point. I wasn't happy to see Bynum pull that crap on a guy 15 inches shorter and 150 pounds lighter. Total BS.

At this point, I guess I'm pulling for the Grizz. I mean, if the Grizz can win, then all the other sad sack no-star teams can't be that far off. Keep hope alive!...

Warriors could use Bynum! Instant playoff team.

[Mazderati]

The Mavs look good but I look for Memphis to give them a run for their money.

I really wish the C's kept Tony Allen. Gucci Mane.

[strawjack]

Ainge - thanks for killing our season.

[AKbruin]

I can't believe the sports media is still slamming Westbrook after last night's game. Westbrook hasn't had the best playoffs and sometimes goes into shoot-only mode when he should be creating. (Game 4 vs. the Nuggets comes to mind.) No doubt, he deserves some of the flack and needs to become a better facilitator.

But a lot of dipshits in the media want to make him into a selfish, Marbury type just be looking at his numbers. But there are several reasons why KD isn't taking as many shots beyond the tired but well-used storyline of Westbrook being a ball hog: (1) KD is double-covered a lot of the time; (2) KD needs to go the Reggie Miller/Ray Allen school of using screens and getting open because he too often spends way too much time flat-footed 3' outside the 3-pt line; (3) in crunch time, Scott Brooks only calls plays for KD and Westbrook, and most of those plays involve low-precentage isolation shots in which the other 3 Thunder players stand there doing nothing*; and (4) Westbrook needs to play with Harden more (who should be starting instead of Thabo Sefolosha).

Anyhow, in a triple overtime game, Westbrook went 51 minutes for 40 points (45.5% FGP), 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, had only 3 TOs and carried the Thunder for many parts of the game when KD was downright mediocre. He rarely forced the ball and seemed to be looking to pass at the end of the game and in most of the OT. In short, he had a pretty damn good game.

If it were Derrick Rose, the sports media would be talking about it being an MVP performance in which Rose scored when needed and otherwise led his team with heart and non-stop effort. But, Westbrook being a ball-hog and taking shots away from KD fits the convenient narrative the sports media has created, and it's easier to continue a on-going theme than it is to, you know, actually analyze the game.


*This has happened all season. Usually the ball is inbounded to Westbrook, who burns most of the clock before getting the ball to Durant with 3-5 seconds left, who then dribbles twice before shooting an off-balance distant fade away. In the many Thunder games I watched, this worked only once (when KD hit an amazing game-winner against the Knicks).

[El Chupacabra]

I like the Thunder, but they aren't looking quite ready to win a championship yet. Westbrook burns too much time dribbling, then sees the shot clock under 10 seconds, then charges wildly into 2 or 3 defenders and throws up a wild shot -- which, surprisingly, seems to actually work a fair amount of the time, leading to a bucket and/or foul shot(s).

Just not seeing strong, consistent, team offense or defense from the Thunder, at least not to the level I'd like to see.

I watched all of that 3OT game last night, and I think it could easily have gone either way. It looked like the Grizzlies simply ran out of energy in 2OT/3OT, and that (plus players fouling out on both teams) did them in.

Durant has amazing skills, but he needs to get bigger/stronger to play as an effective power forward. Right now, he reminds me of a physically weaker Nowitzki or Pau Gasol, but not afraid of contact -- just not able to sustain it. Somebody like Garnett, or even Lebron, could back him down in the post pretty easily.

[AKbruin]

I like the Thunder, but they aren't looking quite ready to win a championship yet. Westbrook burns too much time dribbling, then sees the shot clock under 10 seconds, then charges wildly into 2 or 3 defenders and throws up a wild shot -- which, surprisingly, seems to actually work a fair amount of the time, leading to a bucket and/or foul shot(s).

Just not seeing strong, consistent, team offense or defense from the Thunder, at least not to the level I'd like to see.

I watched all of that 3OT game last night, and I think it could easily have gone either way. It looked like the Grizzlies simply ran out of energy in 2OT/3OT, and that (plus players fouling out on both teams) did them in.

Durant has amazing skills, but he needs to get bigger/stronger to play as an effective power forward. Right now, he reminds me of a physically weaker Nowitzki or Pau Gasol, but not afraid of contact -- just not able to sustain it. Somebody like Garnett, or even Lebron, could back him down in the post pretty easily.

I like the Grizz, but they had a bit of luck in staying alive last night: (1) Perk's horribly unclutch free-throw misses; (2) Conley making a distant 3-pointer when he was previously 0-5 from beyond the arc at the end of regulation; and (3) Vasquez making that stupid off-balance, one-handed 3-pointer with Westbrook's hand in his face in the first OT.

As for Durant, I don't think he needs to get bigger. That would only slow him down and, let's face it, he simply doesn't have that kind of body frame. He just needs, like I said, to learn the Reggie Miller/Ray Allen crafty tricks of getting open. I have no doubt that he will in time.

In fact, all of the Thunder need to learn this. I've never seen a team with less movement off the ball on offensive possessions, at least with the first team. Part of that is Westbrook's fault, but I also blame Brooks. Part of the reason Westbrook takes a number of bad shots is, like you said, that he seems to end up with the ball in his hands with little on the shot clock. But Brooks doesn't set up offensive plays that involve much ball movement. His playbook seems to be this: (1) RW passes to Durant if he's even the slightest bit open, Durant tries to score in isolation; (2) if Durant isn't open, RW tries to beat his man off the dribble and score in isolation.

One thing I really liked about last night's game was James Harden. He was great in all facets of the game. Without Harden, I think the Thunder would have lost the game.

[El Chupacabra]

As for Durant, I don't think he needs to get bigger. That would only slow him down and, let's face it, he simply doesn't have that kind of body frame. He just needs, like I said, to learn the Reggie Miller/Ray Allen crafty tricks of getting open. I have no doubt that he will in time.

One thing I really liked about last night's game was James Harden. He was great in all facets of the game. Without Harden, I think the Thunder would have lost the game.

Agreed on Durant and Harden, but maybe what the Thunder really need is to find a true power forward, and move Durant to play another position. He's just not strong enough to really play against big PFs. While Durant might turn into a Ray Allen/ Reggie Miller (or even Gary Payton) type defender, none of those guys were power forwards.

[butterscotch]

Chup - I didn't see Durant at the 4 at all last night, and was under the impression that they had settled into Durant at the 3 and Ibaka at the 4 (and before that, they Jeff Green out of position at the 4 spot). So I'm not sure where you're getting that he's been playing as power forward.

Gotta agree on the Thunder's offense. I hated watching it last night. They don't run any plays. It's fucking atrocious.

[El Chupacabra]

Chup - I didn't see Durant at the 4 at all last night, and was under the impression that they had settled into Durant at the 3 and Ibaka at the 4 (and before that, they Jeff Green out of position at the 4 spot). So I'm not sure where you're getting that he's been playing as power forward.

I thought that was his spot -- dunno... I guess I'm totally wrong on that.

[El Chupacabra]

Or maybe I'm not crazy:

At that point, Brooks inserted Kevin Durant as his power forward and played Westbrook, James Harden and Daequan Cook on the perimeter.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playof...thunder-110509

[butterscotch]

Huh. I missed that part of the game. Based on 82games.com, Durant at the 4 was a rare occurence in the regular season: http://www.82games.com/1011/1011OKC2.HTM

[str8line]

Sick breakdown fellas, especially AK. Last nights game was so damn good. LOVED it. I'm going with Dallas to win it all.

[geomorph]

Well, it was a nice run while it lasted. Celts had that game and let it slip away in the 4th. Couple that with the OT loss (following a terrible 4th) in game 4, and this one coulda gone the other way. Too many injuries, both in the postseason with Rondo and in the regular season with West not getting much playing time, not much time with the O'Neals playing. Fuck the Heat, I hope they get crushed by the Bulls. Wade is a little bitch and Lebron will never be someone who can lead a team to greatness. Yeah, he's a beast athletically, but he shoots too many jump shots and threes for someone his size. Goddamnit.

[JoeStrummer]

Wow, Chosen really took out the trash there at the end.

[esseff]

Well, it was a nice run while it lasted. Celts had that game and let it slip away in the 4th. Couple that with the OT loss (following a terrible 4th) in game 4, and this one coulda gone the other way. Too many injuries, both in the postseason with Rondo and in the regular season with West not getting much playing time, not much time with the O'Neals playing. Fuck the Heat, I hope they get crushed by the Bulls. Wade is a little bitch and Lebron will never be someone who can lead a team to greatness. Yeah, he's a beast athletically, but he shoots too many jump shots and threes for someone his size. Goddamnit.

[JoeStrummer]

Too many injuries, both in the postseason with Rondo and in the regular season with West not getting much playing time, not much time with the O'Neals playing.

Really? You are lamenting that you didn't get more minutes out of two guys whose knees are filled with apple cores and old Chinese newspapers? And a flaky shooting guard with a lifetime percentage in the low 40s?

[geomorph]

Nah, just bitter that last year they lost game 7 and couldn't build a better team around Pierce/Allen/Garnet/Rondo and am trying to rationalize what just happened.