Author Topic: The NBA thread (Read 1519489 times)

Mandark · « **Reply #4320 on:** March 09, 2012, 01:14:10 AM »

Lulz, I remember that conversation, and if you want to open this round of Rehash the Internet Arguments with the classic Disingenuous Summary gambit, I'm game. Or we can just dig up the actual quotes and I'm pretty sure both Cormac and said explicitly that he wasn't in the same class as LeBron and Wade, but was a really good player. At which point you said you didn't even disagree with us.

But seriously. Tons of fans seem to follow sports mostly so they can kvetch about players who are playing at a level that's literally impossible to achieve for all except a few dozen people on the entire planet. Where's the fun in that? Well, schadenfreude, okay. But I've got politics for that. Sports are meant to be fun.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Or maddeningly tribal. But again, politics.

[close]

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #4321 on:** March 09, 2012, 01:18:03 AM »

I admit I've got a bias against ball hogs even though I was once a huge Iverson fan. Kobe and Melo are 1 and 2 on my most overrated list.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4322 on:** March 09, 2012, 01:27:14 AM »

I don't have a real rooting interest in the NBA, so I find a lot of the hate laughable.

DJ Tet - I'd say a reasonable way to phrase it is 'Built around his strengths AND weaknesses'. Not that the Magic are the smartest men in the room or anything, but they've done a fair job of recognizing both aspects of Howard's game.

DJ_Tet · « **Reply #4323 on:** March 09, 2012, 01:51:52 AM »

I think you take this stuff too personally. It's not like I just came in here to rag on Dwight.

I actually went to an NBA game and shared what I saw. He basically got owned by a rookie.

Had I gone to the Bulls game tonight, I would have had a slightly different take. But I'm hardly the first to say this stuff about Dwight. I do think the Magic have done a good job of building around his skills, which makes it kind of funny that he's still so eager to leave.

Like I said, what's it going to be like if he goes to a team that doesn't have a ton of shooters? Will be a lot easier to double him then and when he's doubled it will probably be easier to keep him off the offensive glass.

Bobcats didn't double him and he had 17 boards. So, you pick your poison. I don't know how many times I can say he's the best center in the league, that is obvious to anyone who watches the game. I just wish his game had expanded over the years.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4324 on:** March 09, 2012, 01:55:17 AM »

This is how the internet works, I'm afraid. I agree with most of what you said, but saying that would be boring so the only thing we actually end up talking about is what I disagreed with. I'm certainly not taking anything personally!

DJ_Tet · « **Reply #4325 on:** March 09, 2012, 01:59:26 AM »

That's good to know

I would have spouted my opinion anywhere. In fact I spouted it several times at the game probably to the consternation of Magic fans sitting around me.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4326 on:** March 09, 2012, 02:02:57 AM »

He's very far from my favorite player...these days that is Blake Griffin, Rondo and LeBron in some order. And I certainly wouldn't hold any of them as being above reproach...ragging on players is all part of the game. As long as we have Mandark around to keep us honest, there's no real harm in it I suppose

DJ_Tet · « **Reply #4327 on:** March 09, 2012, 02:04:29 AM »

Yeah I'm not sure where I came up with that nugget. Must have transposed your Blake love for Dwight love.

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #4328 on:** March 09, 2012, 02:06:22 AM »

Is it possible that Rondo is a poor shooter because of his abnormally long arms? I heard that from a former NCAA player.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4329 on:** March 09, 2012, 02:10:43 AM »

I think it's because he barely shoots.

I believe this to be true: Last year, Rondo was the best 3pt shooter in the league, because any time he was open for a 3, he'd just throw the lob to KG or Shaq and it worked about 80% of the time. Why would he ever ACTUALLY shoot it?

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4330 on:** March 09, 2012, 03:45:03 AM »

Why on earth is Phoenix not prepared to trade Nash? It's insane. He's dragging them to the playoffs when they should be trading him for value and a trip to the lottery.

Flannel Boy · « **Reply #4331 on:** March 09, 2012, 04:46:13 PM »

NBA MVP Candidates
SportsNation Rankings

1. Kevin Durant: 232,978 (points), 3,570 (first place votes)

2. LeBron James: 221,458, 7,272

3. Kobe Bryant: 215,853, 5,878

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #4332 on:** March 09, 2012, 07:08:32 PM »

If the Knicks don't win tonight, they got issues. It's actually a playoff type game since I think the bucks are the only team that could challenge for that 8th playoff spot.

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #4333 on:** March 09, 2012, 07:11:00 PM »

Many of the Kobe fanboys pick KD as the MVP because they know Kobe has no chance to win it. They just don't want Lebron to win another one.

Flannel Boy · « **Reply #4334 on:** March 09, 2012, 08:52:43 PM »

Quote from: Stoney Mason on March 09, 2012, 07:08:32 PM

If the Knicks don't win tonight, they got issues. It's actually a playoff type game since I think the bucks are the only team that could challenge for that 8th playoff spot.

The Knicks will continue to have issues as long as they're built around two second-tier stars in their late 20s who can't play D making $20 million each.

Beezy · « **Reply #4335 on:** March 09, 2012, 09:19:59 PM »

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #4336 on:** March 09, 2012, 09:25:07 PM »

What a shame a group of greedy thugs are ruining Lin's chances at the playoffs. He plays the right way

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #4337 on:** March 09, 2012, 10:34:00 PM »

Poor Mike Brown.

Quote

On second glance, Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike Brown said that it wasn't poor shot selection from Kobe Bryant or anyone else that cost the Lakers in their epic collapse against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.

"I thought we had three or four guys that took bad shots that led to run outs and we didn't," Brown said after the team's Friday morning shootaround in Minneapolis. "I thought we took great shots. We missed shots in the second half, but we took great shots."

So his postgame criticism of Bryant's 9-for-31 shooting performance was off-base?

More on the Lakers

For more news, notes and analysis of the Lakers, check out the Land O' Lakers blog from the Kamenetzky Brothers. Blog

"I thought Kobe, as well as three other guys, I said to all of those guys in the film session: 'I was wrong, your shot selection was fine,'" Brown said.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/7668210/mike-brown-backtracks-says-los-angeles-lakers-shot-selection-not-problem

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #4338 on:** March 09, 2012, 10:40:11 PM »

Carmelo having another shit shooting night. He's just been awful this season.

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #4339 on:** March 10, 2012, 12:19:15 AM »

Kobe also had another shit game again. Luckily for him, the refs bailed him out. Calling a block that didn't do much to impede his progress was BS for such a tightly contested game.

TakingBackSunday · « **Reply #4340 on:** March 10, 2012, 12:52:53 AM »

Meanwhile, the Cavs beat the Thunder in OKC. Cleveland was playing great defense and Durant couldn't get anything going. Irving was clutch at the end.

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #4341 on:** March 10, 2012, 01:51:40 AM »

Flannel Boy · « **Reply #4342 on:** March 10, 2012, 01:59:39 AM »

Swab DNA test.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4343 on:** March 10, 2012, 05:23:33 AM »

Irving has now clinched 4 games, which is like 10% of the NBA games he has PLAYED and he is still 19. Bow down everybody

DJ_Tet · « **Reply #4344 on:** March 10, 2012, 05:58:45 AM »

Can't believe he only played 8 games at dook :'(

Could tell he was special right away.

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #4345 on:** March 10, 2012, 10:40:11 AM »

Surprised people aren't talking about the fact that Rubio might be done for the season depending on how the MRI comes back.

Flannel Boy · « **Reply #4346 on:** March 10, 2012, 11:57:00 AM »

Quote from: Stoney Mason on March 10, 2012, 10:40:11 AM

Surprised people aren't talking about the fact that Rubio might be done for the season depending on how the MRI comes back.

Two words: mini soda

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #4347 on:** March 10, 2012, 04:45:14 PM »

Quote

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio suffered a torn ACL Friday night and is out for the season, a team source told ESPN.com's TrueHoop.

Rubio, who had 15 points, 10 assists and four rebounds in Friday's 105-102 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, had to be helped off the floor in the final 16 seconds after his left knee buckled as he tried to help out on defense against Kobe Bryant.

He immediately clutched his knee and had to be carried off the court by teammates Martell Webster and Derrick Williams.

Rubio had an MRI on Saturday that revealed the torn ligament, sucking the wind out of a team that had been brimming with confidence thanks in part to his flashy passing that energized a club that lost 132 games over the previous two seasons.

In his first season after coming from Spain, the 21-year-old was averaging 10.6 points and 8.2 assists, but his impact has been so much greater than his numbers.

The floppy-haired, irrepressible young point guard changed the dynamic of a rebuilding team almost from the moment he set foot in Minnesota. His unselfish play galvanized his teammates, and his fun-loving nature has been an immediate draw at the box office, where the Timberwolves have already sold out seven games this season, their most since 2006-07.

Flannel Boy · « **Reply #4348 on:** March 10, 2012, 05:30:33 PM »

That sucks.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4349 on:** March 10, 2012, 07:22:11 PM »

fuck.

DJ_Tet · « **Reply #4350 on:** March 10, 2012, 08:39:54 PM »

Terrible news. I was really looking forward to seeing Minn in the playoffs. Love is one of my favorite players but without League Pass I never get to see them play.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4351 on:** March 10, 2012, 08:44:55 PM »

And by the way, fuck this guy in the ass:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/holes-jeremy-lin-game-plain-ny-knicks-linsanity-hit-skids-article-1.1036741

benjipwns · « **Reply #4352 on:** March 10, 2012, 08:56:55 PM »

Joe Molotov · « **Reply #4353 on:** March 10, 2012, 09:10:30 PM »

lol wtf?

etiolate · « **Reply #4354 on:** March 10, 2012, 10:41:25 PM »

Wolves drop to the Hornets at home. Adelman normally handles injuries extremely well, but Rubio was the engine that kept that team from self-destructing out of habit.

benjipwns · « **Reply #4355 on:** March 10, 2012, 11:15:53 PM »

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #4356 on:** March 11, 2012, 12:28:09 AM »

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4357 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:55:33 AM »

haha, if LeBron had passed on THAT shot, the haters would have had something to hate on

Flannel Boy · « **Reply #4358 on:** March 11, 2012, 06:52:28 AM »

Odom is worse than Jay Cutler.

That is all.

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #4359 on:** March 11, 2012, 09:14:53 PM »

Lin is struggling big time recently. 5 of 18 today. 6 turnovers. His season FG% is down to 46%. Which is decent for a PG but still.

Flannel Boy · « **Reply #4360 on:** March 11, 2012, 09:42:53 PM »

Amare did his part: 9 points, 5 rebounds, 0 assists.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4361 on:** March 12, 2012, 12:28:16 AM »

ANYBODY WANT SOME MAGIC JOHNSON

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #4362 on:** March 12, 2012, 12:38:55 AM »

Probably the most fun player to ever watch play the game. I'm so glad I grew up on 80's basketball.

The funny bit is that I hated him and the lakers as a kid. My older brother grew up as Celtics fan so I adopted that team in the 80's. We were probably the only two black kids in America that liked the Celtics instead of the Lakers.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4363 on:** March 12, 2012, 12:48:23 AM »

Wish I had. When I first heard Mother's Milk (in 89), I had no idea who this Magic Johnson was. Had never seen a second of the Lakers playing. I missed his whole career other than that last All Star Game he played in :'(

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #4364 on:** March 12, 2012, 12:51:55 AM »

The Celtics Lakers rivalry was amazing. The best sporting thing of my life. When they played each other during the regular reason it was like a finals game the quality of play was so good.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4365 on:** March 12, 2012, 02:03:41 AM »

Jealous. I've seen a few of those Finals games of course but not the same without the build-up.

DJ_Tet · « **Reply #4366 on:** March 12, 2012, 02:41:20 AM »

Watching the Magic Johnson documentary tonight just reminded me how bad ass the NBA was in the 80s and early 90s. It's just not the same anymore, really sad :'(

T-Short · « **Reply #4367 on:** March 12, 2012, 10:02:27 AM »

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4368 on:** March 12, 2012, 08:42:11 PM »

Knicks looking a bit sharper today but the Bulls are not the kind of team you want to face on the road on a 5 game losing streak.

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #4369 on:** March 12, 2012, 08:51:31 PM »

That block by Lin on Rose was pretty awesome. His athleticism still surprises me even though I've already seen it on display so many times. I guess it's really hard to lose the subconscious racial stereotyping.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4370 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:02:31 PM »

Lin takes issue with that, for sure...he had a nice quote along the lines of 'People call me deceptively athletic or deceptively quick, and I'm not sure what's deceptive'.

He has a point.

And for god's sake, would everyone stop calling Kevin Love unathletic or ground-bound or any of the other shit? He has a 35'' vertical and has finished some major alley-oops this year. He's not Blake Griffin but he's not Steve Kerr either.

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #4371 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:09:49 PM »

Yeah, at Kevin Love's size, it's almost impossible in today's NBA to grab that many rebounds without quite a bit of athleticism.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4372 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:11:55 PM »

I wish I could be that unathletic!

benjipwns · « **Reply #4373 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:18:58 PM »

Quote from: Cormacaroni on March 12, 2012, 09:02:31 PM

And for god's sake, would everyone stop calling Kevin Love unathletic or ground-bound or any of the other shit?

But he's white.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4374 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:21:24 PM »

Ask any T-Wolves observer who they think is more athletic, Love or Beasley, then hit them with the numbers from the combine:

Quote

I'm not advocating anyone taking Kevin Love over Michael Beasley, but take a look at these measurements from the draft combine: Michael Beasley, Kansas State Height: 6'7" (6'8 1/2" in shoes) Wingspan: 7'0 1/4" Standing Reach: 8'11" Body Fat: 7.7% Vertical Jump (no step): 30" Vertical Jump (max): 35" Bench Press: 19 Lane Agility: 11.06 3/4 Court Sprint: 3.24 Kevin Love, UCLA Height: 6'7 3/4" (6'9 1/2") Wingspan: 6'11 1/4" Standing Reach: 8'10" Body Fat: 12.9% Vertical Jump (no step): 29.5" Vertical Jump (max): 35" Bench Press: 18 Lane Agility: 11.17 3/4 Court Sprint: 3.22 Here's what ESPN's Chad Ford had to say about their combine workouts: (Read the rest after the jump.)

http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/michael_beasley_vs_kevin_love_by_the_numbers/274017

benjipwns · « **Reply #4375 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:27:54 PM »

I remember arguing with people on a couple forums about Love before/during that Draft. Nobody had any explanation for why he was supposedly "too slow and unathletic" and "won't be a star, maybe a starter for a few years", etc. All his numbers were great but those evaluations were just repeated endlessly over and over. And if ever backed up they pointed to scouting reports that all said the same thing. I remember one site was saying he'd be a shorter Matt Geiger at best.

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #4376 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:35:17 PM »

Forgot Knicks were playing the bulls. I'll catch the 2nd half.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4377 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:37:57 PM »

Remember all the raving about Joe Alexander's amazing athleticism and range? He went #8 in that draft, 3 spots behind Love; now he's in the D-League.

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #4378 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:38:03 PM »

Quote from: benjipwns on March 12, 2012, 09:27:54 PM

I remember arguing with people on a couple forums about Love before/during that Draft. Nobody had any explanation for why he was supposedly "too slow and unathletic" and "won't be a star, maybe a starter for a few years", etc. All his numbers were great but those evaluations were just repeated endlessly over and over. And if ever backed up they pointed to scouting reports that all said the same thing. I remember one site was saying he'd be a shorter Matt Geiger at best.

It's the white man's burden. All white non-euro players get stereo-typed into not really an nba player until they prove it.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #4379 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:40:20 PM »

Quote from: Stoney Mason on March 12, 2012, 09:35:17 PM

Forgot Knicks were playing the bulls. I'll catch the 2nd half.

I'm watching live now also, hit me with your play-by-play!

News:

Author Topic: The NBA thread (Read 1519489 times)