The NBA thread

[WrongIslander]

where posting happens ...

 

I did a search and couldn't find a thread for this so here it is.

 

I'm a New York Knicks fan and have to say I am thrilled with how the rebuild is going thus fa.

 

Just when I thought things couldn't get any better I hear NY have pulled out of the Melo-drama.

 

Beautiful. Either we arn't going to overpay for him mortgaging our future and we will come back in when the time is right towards the end of the season, we get him in FA when he let's his contract run down or he goes elsewhere and we've set a precedent that we won't be bullied.

 

For too long the Knicks have been naieve when it has come to negotiation, too much of a "nice guy" willing to overpay constantly to get risky players with talent who've flopped big time. It seems to me that the pain of missing out on LeBron in such a humiliating way has seen us "man up".

 

Whatever happens in the Melo deal now, I think we've played a blinder.

 

Oh yeah and before I go just the small matter of the 93-88 win over the heat where Shawne Williams locked down to a degree LeBron and where Landry Fields proved once again that he is the steal of the draft and second best rookie out there. What could be better than beating the Heat? Beating the Heat when your two "go to" men have off nights (Amar'e and Felton) and you uncharacteristically win the game as a squad with everyone else stepping up and winning the game overall on D!

 

That's got to be a good sign for our run at the playoffs.

[deacon]

Love the NBA. Not sure about the Knicks though. When Felton's your second best player, that's a worry! The top 4 in the East will tuck up any of the rest, as much as I've love to see the Heat make a first round exit.

 

I'd love to see the Spurs win it again this year. Got to love Tim Duncan. When you have had Carmello, Bosh and Lebron disrespect their teams and fans, courting public attention, acting like mugs, it's great to see such an all time great act with humility and show respect.

[Malarkey]

Hawks let me down for £250 the other night when they played Milwaukee.

 

I had the Rockets, Nets and Hawks all to win. And the Hawks sponk a 14 point lead at one point.

 

The worse thing is I had them in a Spurs Hawks double, too.

 

[WrongIslander]

Love the NBA. Not sure about the Knicks though. When Felton's your second best player, that's a worry! The top 4 in the East will tuck up any of the rest, as much as I've love to see the Heat make a first round exit.

 

I'd love to see the Spurs win it again this year. Got to love Tim Duncan. When you have had Carmello, Bosh and Lebron disrespect their teams and fans, courting public attention, acting like mugs, it's great to see such an all time great act with humility and show respect.

 

Felton is hardly a superstar but his pick and roll with Amar'e is as deadly a weapon as any this year and his all round play has been good. PG isn't our problem, hell SF isn't, it's C. We need that dominant rebounding C but he has to be intelligent and able to put a few shots up as well. Not the long term answer but I wonder what Orkut is doing thesedays ...

 

Couldn't agree more about Duncan though.

[RJ Fan club]

I haven't been able to hold an interest in the NBA since the Supersonics moved and I saw March Madness in the NCAA.

 

I ain't bad mouthing it, just can't get back into it. Much prefer the College game. Blue Devils as a passing fad for me.

[Haan'sThunderbolt]

Never really been able to get into it. However, I have ESPN as one of my main websites, and so I'm semi-aware of what's going on. Miami Heat @ the Knicks was on ESPN before, so decided to watch it. Thoroughly enjoyed it - will be watching more from now on - don't have a team yet, though I used to go either the Bulls or Rockets on NBA on the old Megadrive game.

[WrongIslander]

Please welcome at 6"8 from Syracuse, starting forward, Car-Melo Annnnnnthony!

 

[YOUTUBE]U-s8d7rDyJQ&NR=1[/YOUTUBE]

 

[YOUTUBE]K5g0JZ7dFT4[/YOUTUBE]

 

kJoiJ7wacuA

 

(that spin move on LeBron gave me a hard on)

 

I don't care about anything else that happened in the NBA, as a Syracuse fan and therefore HUGE fan of Carmelo Anthony, this was like a dream come true!

[Sheeks]

Pretty pleased with this myself (I am also a Knicks Fan) although alot of people seem to think a partnership with stoudemire won't work, Billups seems to be the Key in this.

 

On a side note went to a game at msg a few years ago where they got spanked by the wizards! Still a great night though, arenas was amazing for them.

[WrongIslander]

I keep hearing it won't work but I don't get it. Like you said Billups is key in his distribution but the idea that because Melo and Amar'e both want the ball and need it to score (who doesn't?) that it's doomed is nonsense. Amar'e works the high post and Melo works the low post and they both have mutual respect and admiration for each other and their talents. Add to this the heart of Fields and the experience of Billups and we are one player away from having the best starting 5 in the NBA.

 

I'm not even worried about us getting that rebounding defensive C either. When the time comes in 2012 we will get him, whomever he may be, until then we'll have to deal with JJ and Turiaf it seems. I like Turiaf off the bench and JJ isn't as bad as people make out but it's hardly ideal.

 

I look around the NBA now and I see new beginings and fading giants. The Lakers and Celtics are getting old but are still the ones to catch but Miami and New York are going in the right direction, I'm not sleeping on OKC or Chi either.

 

Exciting times.

[Lee909]

Anyone been watching The last dance documentary on YouTube. Mostly about Michael Jordan and the bulls during his rise and them winning the 2 3peat championships. 

 

 

[3 Stacks]

26 minutes ago, Lee909 said:

Anyone been watching The last dance documentary on YouTube. Mostly about Michael Jordan and the bulls during his rise and them winning the 2 3peat championships. 

 

 

Yeah, I like it. Great behind the scenes stuff and we'll see even more of that when they finish the background stuff and just focus on the 97-98 season.

 

The Carmen Electra/Rodman story was great. Imagine Michael Jordan coming to get you in Vegas after a bender in the middle of a season. Absurd stuff. 

[Lee909]

The Americans do make good sporting documentaries and behind closed doors in season documentaries I have to say. 

 

Get a good insight to Jordan in this and you see where Kobe got that same mindset from. Must be a bloody nightmare as a teammate some times but you see how the weed out the wrong players from the teams. 

 

Don't watch NBA anymore though might start again but doesn't feel the same as when I watch it. Seems very soft from the 80/90s basketball. See players like Harden and as talented as he is the man's on his arse as much as his feet crying for fouls. 

[3 Stacks]

The toughness in those days is overrated. There's just different rules now, there's stuff you can't do anymore in terms of fouling. 

 

The big difference is in style of play. The analytics now say you need to shoot threes and score inside, that's it. Back in the 80's/90's, all the way up to about 2005, the midrange game was huge. Almost every team exclusively played 18 feet in and had a big man with a low post game. That's almost all gone now because it's not as efficient.

 

So if you liked the old style, the game now might not be for you. It is a bit annoying that the game has swung so far in the direction it is in currently. It's not for everyone, although the general skill level of the players has gone up. 

[Bjornebye]

Scottie Pippen was amazing. 

 

I watch the odd Celtics game. 

[Lee909]

33 minutes ago, 3 Stacks said:

The toughness in those days is overrated. There's just different rules now, there's stuff you can't do anymore in terms of fouling. 

 

The big difference is in style of play. The analytics now say you need to shoot threes and score inside, that's it. Back in the 80's/90's, all the way up to about 2005, the midrange game was huge. Almost every team exclusively played 18 feet in and had a big man with a low post game. That's almost all gone now because it's not as efficient.

 

So if you liked the old style, the game now might not be for you. It is a bit annoying that the game has swung so far in the direction it is in currently. It's not for everyone, although the general skill level of the players has gone up. 

Not saying they couldn't play then at all. No doubt the likes of LeBron etc would still be top players. I don't don't like the ott play acting to fouls, but it's the same in football. 

 

Similar changes to the NFL, but with CTE issues becoming public knowledge I guess it has to change. But yeah you don't see teams being all in on a old fashioned C/PF like the old days. 

 

I always wonder though if a team played old school football or basketball how the league would react. 

 

See it in the NFL and wonder with LB being smaller could a team just run 3ypp with a 240lb RB and churn the clock. 

[Bjornebye]

2 minutes ago, Lee909 said:

Not saying they couldn't play then at all. No doubt the likes of LeBron etc would still be top players. I don't don't like the ott play acting to fouls, but it's the same in football. 

 

Similar changes to the NFL, but with CTE issues becoming public knowledge I guess it has to change. But yeah you don't see teams being all in on a old fashioned C/PF like the old days. 

 

I always wonder though if a team played old school football or basketball how the league would react. 

 

See it in the NFL and wonder with LB being smaller could a team just run 3ypp with a 240lb RB and churn the clock. 

Deduct them points and fine them for getting all 11 men sent off in the first half. 

[3 Stacks]

6 minutes ago, Lee909 said:

Not saying they couldn't play then at all. No doubt the likes of LeBron etc would still be top players. I don't don't like the ott play acting to fouls, but it's the same in football. 

 

Similar changes to the NFL, but with CTE issues becoming public knowledge I guess it has to change. But yeah you don't see teams being all in on a old fashioned C/PF like the old days. 

 

I always wonder though if a team played old school football or basketball how the league would react. 

 

See it in the NFL and wonder with LB being smaller could a team just run 3ypp with a 240lb RB and churn the clock. 

It's a good question, but I think the analytics have shown that for example, even if you took advantage of matchups in the NBA with an old school big man or with a bruising running back in the NFL, the numbers still show that the three pointer is just too valuable a shot to focus on other ways of scoring and passing is still a way more efficient way of moving the football down the field than running. Like, you might beat the KC Chiefs in an off game by running the ball and controlling the clock, you might beat Golden State by pounding it inside, but in general those teams will still win the title because they score points more efficiently. 

 

It's a maths and probabilities thing. That's what team sport is now, in general.  

[Lee909]

I think with the NFL it's more defense play that would stop it working. You could happily eat the clock and gain a few yards, the issue is that you can't fall behind, especially in a league that wants to call PI or penalise hits to the QB if a fraction late

 

 

Also that Billy Bean twat needs a good kick in the balls for starting this analytics crap

[3 Stacks]

9 minutes ago, Lee909 said:

I think with the NFL it's more defense play that would stop it working. You could happily eat the clock and gain a few yards, the issue is that you can't fall behind, especially in a league that wants to call PI or penalise hits to the QB if a fraction late

 

 

Also that Billy Bean twat needs a good kick in the balls for starting this analytics crap

Yeah, I'll be honest, analytics may have led to teams finding "better" ways to play their sports, but it's made lots of these leagues and teams homogeneous and more boring. It's rare you see teams with unique and interesting styles, especially in the NBA. Every team shoots 30 threes a game now.

 

Although, I think some teams in the NFL have done a nice job of finding creative ways to win that go against some of the general tenets of analytics in football. For example, The Ravens, who ironically are one of the first examples people point to as a team that embraces analytics, have a very heavy running game. 

[Lee909]

Yeah same with 49ers

Short passes, multiple RBs and winning the line of scrimmage on defense. 

 

I said to somebody a two or three years ago its more about creating turnovers than giving up yards now. 

 

 

[Kevin D]

2 hours ago, Lee909 said:

The Americans do make good sporting documentaries and behind closed doors in season documentaries I have to say. 

 

Get a good insight to Jordan in this and you see where Kobe got that same mindset from. Must be a bloody nightmare as a teammate some times but you see how the weed out the wrong players from the teams. 

 

Don't watch NBA anymore though might start again but doesn't feel the same as when I watch it. Seems very soft from the 80/90s basketball. See players like Harden and as talented as he is the man's on his arse as much as his feet crying for fouls. 

 

I've found Jordan really fascinating in it. Usually someone so famous would be guarded and pretending to be humble - "just lucky to be here", "do it for the fans" etc, but he's just not like that at all. Fairly upfront about how great he thinks he is and openly demanding that other people reach his level. Any other line of work and this is actually a documentary about bullying in the workplace. 

 

I wonder what it must have been like to support the Bulls with the team so dependent and wrapped up in a player who is actually a bigger star than your entire team.

[Lee909]

Yeah, no doubt he must ha e been a arse hole to be around alot of the time, unless you where one of his boys. As I say, very similar to how it was in LA with Kobe later on. Fit in, play hard or I'll make your life hell and get you traded. It's all good while you are still the best player and Jordan walked away at the top, but imho it cost LA a few years and a few FA who had the skill but not the mentality to deal with it

[Lario]

That Jordan chap is handy.

 

Apparently episodes 5-8 have been leaked online, and are available on certain torrent sites.

 

Obviously report such things if you come across them.

[Carradona]

17 hours ago, 3 Stacks said:

Yeah, I like it. Great behind the scenes stuff and we'll see even more of that when they finish the background stuff and just focus on the 97-98 season.

 

The Carmen Electra/Rodman story was great. Imagine Michael Jordan coming to get you in Vegas after a bender in the middle of a season. Absurd stuff. 

That Rodman/Electra story wasn't told  very well in the documentary. Jordan didnt go to Vegas and get Rodman...Rodman and Electra had already returned by that time and Jordan went to Rodman's apartment to get him. Rodman showed up to practice in his pyjama bottoms.

[Bjornebye]

He keeps decent company that Rodman fella