The NBA thread

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Kid has court knowledge... You can't teach that.

:phew indeed

[T-Short]

1:22 

probably missed the shot though (because of the cut) but quite nice

[Stoney Mason]

Heat trying to maneuver to get the poor man's Lebron James.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12070708/miami-heat-make-move-eye-landing-josh-smith

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Heat trying to maneuver to get the poor man's Lebron James.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12070708/miami-heat-make-move-eye-landing-josh-smith

More like an absolutely broke dude's Lebron James.

Draymond Green currently owns the poor man's Lebron James moniker.

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/6589/draymond-green

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Vince!

[Brehvolution]

Vince is still playing? I thought he'd be on medicare by now.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Vince is still playing? I thought he'd be on medicare by now.

Last 5 games

13.6 points 2.8 rebounds 1.4 assists 1.2 steals in 25 minutes a game.

[Brehvolution]

I remember when Vince was in college. 

[Am_I_Anonymous]

I remember when Vince was in college. 

I was IN COLLEGE when Vince was in college

[Cheddahz]

Going to the Hornets game and actually watching them destroy the Nuggets was amazing last night (the racist dude behind me wasn't though and I was about to sock him)

[Stoney Mason]

Kobe sits.

Lakers beat Warriors.

 

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Breaking news....Anderson Varejao is hurt...again....out for season again.

[Stoney Mason]

Kobe sits.

Lakers beat Warriors.

 

Knew this would be your post before I even entered the thread. Laugh it up, figgurt.

 

[benjipwns]

As usual, Lakers guard Nick Young, who scored 15 points, was the most outspoken.

“Some guys just played like ‘Django Unchained' -- they were free tonight,” he said.

And what would Young tell Bryant?

“Pretty much going to have to tell Kobe to pass me the ball, pass us the ball,” Young said. “Tell him to take the backseat for a little bit. He can be ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ and I can be Miss Daisy and drive.”

oh my god

[T-Short]

[Phoenix Dark]

Been hanging around Iggy too much.

[Stoney Mason]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12076383/anderson-varejao-cleveland-cavaliers-torn-achilles

Official now after the tests.

That hurts a lot.

Also

Vincent Goodwill
‏@vgoodwill
Josh Smith to Houston per source

[Your Stalker]

https://gfycat.com/FatTalkativeGalah

[Stoney Mason]

This is the second time during the game Mark Jackson has said. "Don't get it twisted".


 

[Stoney Mason]

Westbrook was awesome today.

[ToxicAdam]

Watching Kevin Love continually not box out and get man-handled down low was a bit disconcerting.



Cavs feels like a team built to go on 22-4 runs. But not much else.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Watching Kevin Love continually not box out and get man-handled down low was a bit disconcerting.



Cavs feels like a team built to go on 22-4 runs. But not much else.

Agree, his effort on defense and even offense lately is pretty terrible.

I hate to believe the rumor that he was a stat stuffer on a terrible team but at this point I've got to say I'm starting to consider it.

It's easy to grab a ton of boards and shoot open threes against 3rd team bench warmers when your team is already down by 20 in the third quarter.

[Stoney Mason]

Watching Kevin Love continually not box out and get man-handled down low was a bit disconcerting.



Cavs feels like a team built to go on 22-4 runs. But not much else.

His defense is far worse than I imagined. And they don't really use him correctly still on offense. That being said inconsistent defense is a hall mark of this team from pretty much everybody. Even Lebron only locks in on that side of the ball in the 4th quarter. They have problems. They have the potential to maybe get out of the east if they get hot but not good enough to match the best of the West currently.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Watching Kevin Love continually not box out and get man-handled down low was a bit disconcerting.



Cavs feels like a team built to go on 22-4 runs. But not much else.

His defense is far worse than I imagined. That being said inconsistent defense is a hall mark of this team from pretty much everybody. Even Lebron only locks in on that side of the ball late in the 4th quarter. They have problems. They seem good to maybe get out of the east if they get hot but not good enough to match the best of the West.

At this point we would struggle in a best of 7 against Chicago or Atlanta in my opinion, we have no answer for their bigs. Hell currently I'm a little scared of a healthy Toronto and even Washington too.



If we don't find some help inside and perhaps another perimeter defender I have a feeling we'll be bounced at the conference finals tops.

[Stoney Mason]

Watching Kevin Love continually not box out and get man-handled down low was a bit disconcerting.



Cavs feels like a team built to go on 22-4 runs. But not much else.

His defense is far worse than I imagined. That being said inconsistent defense is a hall mark of this team from pretty much everybody. Even Lebron only locks in on that side of the ball late in the 4th quarter. They have problems. They seem good to maybe get out of the east if they get hot but not good enough to match the best of the West.

At this point they would struggle in a best of 7 against Chicago or Atlanta in my opinion, they have no answer for their bigs. Hell currently I'm a little scared of a healthy Toronto and even Washington too.

Agreed. They need a center now that Varejão has gone down. Brendan Haywood ain't gonna cut it.

[Stoney Mason]

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Watching Kevin Love continually not box out and get man-handled down low was a bit disconcerting.



Cavs feels like a team built to go on 22-4 runs. But not much else.

His defense is far worse than I imagined. That being said inconsistent defense is a hall mark of this team from pretty much everybody. Even Lebron only locks in on that side of the ball late in the 4th quarter. They have problems. They seem good to maybe get out of the east if they get hot but not good enough to match the best of the West.

At this point they would struggle in a best of 7 against Chicago or Atlanta in my opinion, they have no answer for their bigs. Hell currently I'm a little scared of a healthy Toronto and even Washington too.

Agreed. They need a center now that Varejão has gone down. Brendan Haywood ain't gonna cut it.

Locally the rumor is we're attempting to trade our first from another team (can't remember whom) and waiters/heywood expiring to the Celtics for Green and Branden Wright.

I'd be okay with that and ainge gets waiters and a lot of money/a pick.


***we can't trade our own #1 to the celtics fyi.

[Stoney Mason]

I know Waiters drives them crazy because of his inconsistency and how he makes bonehead plays sometimes but I honestly kind of like him at least for his role. But that may be the price the Cavs have to pay to get enough balance for that team.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

I know Waiters drives them crazy because of his inconsistency and how he makes bonehead plays sometimes but I honestly kind of like him at least for his role. But that may be the price the Cavs have to pay to get enough balance for that team.

I'm iffy on waiters...some days he looks great and some days he doesn't. I pretty much chalk that up to the Lebron effect. Green effectively replaces waiters and is a better defender and Wright would be awesome for 20 minutes a game, tops I believe.

But as this is Cleveland what I am doing today is awaiting the result of the Kyrie injury last night with fingers crossed.

[Phoenix Dark]

Really starting to think Bron won't win a ring anytime soon. That team just isn't built right.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Really starting to think Bron won't win a ring anytime soon. That team just isn't built right.

And he built it. Makes me wonder how much he needed Pat.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Really starting to think Bron won't win a ring anytime soon. That team just isn't built right.

Two is enough. Isiah retired with two. Hakeem retired with two.

Enough for what? To be HoF? Sure. To be considered the best player ever? Get right the fuck out with that.

Unless you're going to tell me Isiah or Hakeem were better players then Bird, Johnson, MJ, or Bill? And if that is the case the GAF NBA thread is  this way ----------->


(both are better than kobe though)

[Phoenix Dark]

Honestly Hakeem would make Bill Russell and just about any big man look silly imo.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Honestly Hakeem would make Bill Russell and just about any big man look silly imo.

No doubt but he'll never be considered the best player ever.

Best 6'9" center of all time though.

And it's pretty unfair to compare him to Russell. Two vastly different eras bro. That's like saying Bo Jackson would fuck up Dick Butkus.

Prime Shaq eats Akeem for dinner tho

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Enough for Bron.

2x NBA Champion is perfect for him.

I have a distinct feeling that's exactly what it's gonna be too. Unless he jumps on some championship contender the last few years of his career. Because as built now, Cav's ain't winning shit and he clearly has started the decline.

But to decline to 25  7 and 5 though? Damn.

[Phoenix Dark]

I'd imagine the Cavs will have another coach in the next year or two. Letting LeBron hire Mark Jackson would probably be a disaster; I like him but some of the stuff he says is just distinguished mentally-challenged, and I'm not sure he's a great coach or the coach the Cavs need.

This team just plays wrong, and I'm not sure anyone is there to challenge them. The Heat had three superstars, and while they coasted quite a bit there was Pat Riley in the front office more than willing to tell them what he expected. At the start of the season LeBron was playing very lazy - lots of turnovers, not getting back on defense if a call didn't go his way, etc. I'm going to assume his coach didn't say shit to him. Likewise with Love not playing hard, I just don't believe he's being challenged. LeBron might get in his face but honestly Love could probably say "what about your defense?" There just isn't any urgency or grit when compared to a team like Chicago.

Seems like LeBron planned everything perfect expect the actual basketball stuff. He can own Cleveland, he's probably above criticism...but the team just doesn't look good out there. Pat Riley is probably somewhere laughing.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

I'd imagine the Cavs will have another coach in the next year or two. Letting LeBron hire Mark Jackson would probably be a disaster; I like him but some of the stuff he says is just distinguished mentally-challenged, and I'm not sure he's a great coach or the coach the Cavs need.

This team just plays wrong, and I'm not sure anyone is there to challenge them. The Heat had three superstars, and while they coasted quite a bit there was Pat Riley in the front office more than willing to tell them what he expected. At the start of the season LeBron was playing very lazy - lots of turnovers, not getting back on defense if a call didn't go his way, etc. I'm going to assume his coach didn't say shit to him. Likewise with Love not playing hard, I just don't believe he's being challenged. LeBron might get in his face but honestly Love could probably say "what about your defense?" There just isn't any urgency or grit when compared to a team like Chicago.

Seems like LeBron planned everything perfect expect the actual basketball stuff. He can own Cleveland, he's probably above criticism...but the team just doesn't look good out there. Pat Riley is probably somewhere laughing.

Excellent post PD.

I honestly believe Lebron thought he COULD coast before the season started. I think he swung and missed on Kevin Love after Bosh clearly told him "I'm not leaving Miami." I believe if he had be able to bring Bosh here we would be doing much better than we are now. Perhaps +5 wins (if he is healthy)

Regardless, if we don't fix what's wrong we are going to be this generations version of Run TMC. Win 50 regular season games 110-101 and be fun as hell to watch and then get bounced in the playoffs by the first physical team we run into.

Meh, I hope this team needs what Jordan did. A good ass kicking in the playoffs to change the focus. Hiring a rookie coach was a terrible idea BTW.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

And for the record I firmly believe Love is fucking pissed about his stats. He seems like that type of guy from his interviews/looks on the floor.

[Stoney Mason]

ORLANDO, Fla. -- LeBron James took over when the Cleveland Cavaliers needed a lift in the fourth quarter.

James had 29 points, eight assists and five rebounds, and Cleveland rallied to beat the Orlando Magic 98-89 on Friday night.

Kevin Love scored 22 points in three quarters and reserve Dion Waiters added 17 for Cleveland, which bounced back from a 101-91 loss at Miami on Christmas. Tristan Thompson grabbed 13 rebounds.

The Cavaliers played without point guard Kyrie Irving, who was sidelined by a bruised knee. Center Anderson Varejao also had surgery Friday to repair a torn left Achilles tendon and will miss the rest of the season.

Then coach David Blatt kept Love on the bench in the final period after he struggled to defend Magic center Nikola Vucevic.

"LeBron is the best player in the world. He does what he does and obviously we needed it," Blatt said. "What he did tonight was significant. It lifted us."

 

[Stoney Mason]

Also Josh Smith's first game with the Rockets tonight.

32 minutes. 9-21 (most field goal attempts on the team. 8 rebounds.

I think this will work out well for the Rockets honestly. To get Josh Smith at a bargain price is a good deal.

[Great Rumbler]

The fear is real.

[Phoenix Dark]

http://www.thecoli.com/threads/when-michael-jordan-was-36-he-was-unquestionably-the-best-player-in-the-nba-while-kobe-at-36.278854/

[Great Rumbler]

LeBron is probably a better human being than either Jordan or Kobe.

[Stoney Mason]

Cleveland down by 15....


to Detroit.


 

Lebron 4 of 17.  4 turnovers.

[Stoney Mason]

And this has to be the low point. They were missing Kyrie but to lose at home to the Pistons by 23. They also gave up a 15 point lead.

Lebron 5 of 19. 7 turnovers.

Team shoots 38% from the field.


They barely beat the magic the last game. Team seems to be fundamentally struggling on offense and defense at the moment.

The Cavaliers are now 18-12. Since comparison is always made, '10-11 Heat lost 12th game on Jan. 15, 2011. That dropped them to 30-12.

[TakingBackSunday]

Cavs suck

[Phoenix Dark]

https://vine.co/v/OH9qpxT1nIK

 

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Cavs are getting hammered by local radio.

To summarize:

Lebron isn't giving enough effort on defense
Love is about as able to protect a rim as a revolving door
Blatt lost the team already
Kyrie is the only one giving max effort
Waiters needs to be traded


Ugh.

I swear Windy is all butthurt because Lebron dumped him in Miami and now he has no "insider viewpoints" (he took a major L on Lebrons coming home)  and is now going to make a career out of starting shit on a daily basis.

[benjipwns]

A slam dunk: https://vine.co/v/OwOjjYi0KJb

[Phoenix Dark]

I simply refuse to believe that LeBron is threatening to leave if things don't go his way, that's just stupid. There was too much money and long term shit invested in him "coming home." To leave again would permanently kill his reputation.

The team needs a defensive minded coach and better big men. LeBron needs to play defense, Love needs to at least try.

[Stoney Mason]

I don't believe anything that is currently being written. It's all just an attempt to capitalize off the under performance. You are even seeing a return to the stupid articles questioning people's heart/desires. Whenever sports writing reaches that level, you know its the bottom of the barrel.

That being said, the Cavs have a number of decent size problems. They are playing the big three too many minutes which is leading to breakdowns. The offense still doesn't flow right. Princeton offense my ass. It's either Lebron running the pg or kyrie going one on one. The defense is the most well known problem and its obvious.

I think Lebron's effort level has been fine since the early part of the season for the most part when he was noticeably not going full early in games. But the team just isn't working well as a unit for lots of different reasons at the moment.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

We're 31 games in, at this point I'm starting to believe the hype, guys.

[Stoney Mason]

We're 31 games in, at this point I'm starting to believe the hype, guys.

They are definitely underperforming. The more interesting questions are why and how do they fix it, if they can.

Or is it just going to be a thing where they hope they get hot in the playoffs and their talent will over-ride.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

We're 31 games in, at this point I'm starting to believe the hype, guys.

They are definitely underperforming. The more interesting questions are why and how do they fix it, if they can.

Or is it just going to be a thing where they hope they get hot in the playoffs and their talent will over-ride.

Two issues

1) We aren't big enough to win in the playoffs, talent or not Tristan Thompson and David Love aren't defending any front courts anytime soon.
Unless we make a move and bolster our 4 and 5 we're probably not getting out of the ECF.

2) I still don't like Waiters on this team and his value is dropping on a daily basis.

[Stoney Mason]

One of my disappointment is how reliant the team is on Lebron running the point and initiating higher percentage scoring opportunities. I thought the whole point of this was that he could go back to being a dynamic wing player doing wing things but instead the offense is almost completely reliant on him setting up stuff. Kyrie can handle the ball and be a dynamic one on one player but he doesn't create scoring opportunities for the rest of the squad in a way I envisioned. The offense looks less dynamic than the Miami offense with the big three currently which I never would have envisioned.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

One of my disappointment is how reliant the team is on Lebron running the point and initiating higher percentage scoring opportunities. I thought the whole point of this was that he could go back to being a dynamic wing player doing wing things but instead the offense is almost completely reliant on him setting up stuff. Kyrie can handle the ball and be a dynamic one one one player but he doesn't create scoring opportunities for the rest of the squad in a way I envisioned. The offense looks less dynamic than the Miami offense with the big three currently which I never would have envisioned.

I have said this before....If Lebron had convinced Bosh to come to Cleveland this time around (I firmly believe he tried) and we had not gotten love we would be 5 or more wins better (if bosh was healthy)

I believe our core problem is Kyrie and Love want to shoot...a lot...and there are only so many balls to go around.

[Stoney Mason]

One of my disappointment is how reliant the team is on Lebron running the point and initiating higher percentage scoring opportunities. I thought the whole point of this was that he could go back to being a dynamic wing player doing wing things but instead the offense is almost completely reliant on him setting up stuff. Kyrie can handle the ball and be a dynamic one one one player but he doesn't create scoring opportunities for the rest of the squad in a way I envisioned. The offense looks less dynamic than the Miami offense with the big three currently which I never would have envisioned.

I have said this before....If Lebron had convinced Bosh to come to Cleveland this time around (I firmly believe he tried) and we had not gotten love we would be 5 or more wins better (if bosh was healthy)

I believe our core problem is Kyrie and Love want to shoot...a lot...and there are only so many balls to go around.

I fully thought that Love was going to be a better fit myself. Not because I thought Love necessarily was going to be so much better statistically than Bosh but because he was a true shooter who could stretch the floor in a way that Bosh wasn't really capable of even when he converted to being that type of player.

I didn't realize A.) How poor love is on defense. B.) And what a hard time they would have integrating him in the offense. In my brain it seems so simple to have Kevin Love out beyond the perimteter punishing teams or rolling to the basket, but its just not working out like I expected. You could tell Lebron and Kyrie felt comfortable playing the pick and roll game with Varejao but don't feel comfortable in the same way with Love yet.

Meh. Enough with Cavs evaluations. I'll wait to the All-Star game to say any more. 

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Yup let's move on.

Draymond Green is most improved player this year. I finally got a chance to watch him play a few days ago. He is going to be a great player for years to come. If you get a chance peep him out.

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/6589/draymond-green

[Stoney Mason]

I need to watch more of the Hawks. I have no idea how they are doing what they are doing outside of generic "Spurs" system talk.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

I need to watch more of the Hawks. I have no idea how they are doing what they are doing outside of generic "Spurs" system talk.

Teague is becoming a top 10 PG
Horford is a decent center but starting to wear down.
Milsap is duncan light...a stat stuffer
Korver is still Korver

Yeah, they are doing well. Gotta watch Horford's health though.