NBA Discussion Thread

[MetSox17]

Aaron Brooks used to play for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Just throwing that out there.... lol.

[M.O.T.H.]

Originally Posted by slightlyabroncosfan

More than CBA constraints, Orlando needs to be looking at their financial situation for the future. The Shard contract realllllllllly straps them for cash in the future.

Rashard, Dwight, and Nelson are all under contract for a very long time. They did a fine job in locking those guys up. Re-signing Hedo is certainly possible and even would fit under the luxury tax, just as long as he doesnt go asking for some insane amount. Hedo and the team were not that far apart on the figures just a few months ago. Given the current economic state...Hedo's price tag should be lessened a bit. It may be doable and Otis Smith is actively tying to get it done.

[D-Unit]

Originally Posted by M.O.T.H.

A couple of teams have some decent funds...Hedo will give them more than any guy getting the MLE. It's going to be interesting to see what happens. I think we'll be fine regardless but, we're in better shape with Hedo Turkoglu next season. Again, the main reason Orlando is so dangerous is because, of the matchup problems with Dwight and our giant athletic forwards. They may not be nearly as good with a true type PF or Battie starting in that position. This team is best when they're running...not running a half court slow tempo game through Dwight. Dwight should obviously be the focal point but, by changing the entire dynamic of the team you may really hurt yourself. The Pistons sure as hell fell apart after messing with a good thing.

I think you mistake what I keep saying. I think you are constantly assuming that I think Shard should not be playing the 4 spot. That's not true. Never was true. I keep saying over and over that they could use a different dimension. Dimension meaning "another look". Versatility. Right now, they have their sexy shooting forwards, but when the shots aren't falling, they have nothing else to resort to. We don't need Turk. Not having Turk doesn't mean moving Shard to the 3. We can keep the same thing because Pietrus can easily be in the starting line up at the 3 replacing Turk and getting us better D at the same time. We don't lose anything by losing Turk. So why spend 11M a year to keep him? For that much, we can add a guy like Boozer who is an UFA. That imo, is a much stronger team. I don't think we'll get him, but just sayin'....

Our priority FA signing is keeping Alston. Not Turk.

[D-Unit]

Originally Posted by M.O.T.H.

Rashard, Dwight, and Nelson are all under contract for a very long time. They did a fine job in locking those guys up. Re-signing Hedo is certainly possible and even would fit under the luxury tax, just as long as he doesnt go asking for some insane amount. Hedo and the team were not that far apart on the figures just a few months ago. Given the current economic state...Hedo's price tag should be lessened a bit. It may be doable and Otis Smith is actively tying to get it done.

The economic situation did nothing to the NFL. I don't expect it to have an effect on this summer's FA spending. Let's be real. Sports teams are immune to FA splurges.

Hedo wants a lot. I don't know what you're thinking there either.

[M.O.T.H.]

Originally Posted by D-Unit

I think you mistake what I keep saying. I think you are constantly assuming that I think Shard should not be playing the 4 spot. That's not true. Never was true. I keep saying over and over that they could use a different dimension. Dimension meaning "another look". Versatility. Right now, they have their sexy shooting forwards, but when the shots aren't falling, they have nothing else to resort to. We don't need Turk. Not having Turk doesn't mean moving Shard to the 3. We can keep the same thing because Pietrus can easily be in the starting line up at the 3 replacing Turk and getting us better D at the same time. We don't lose anything by losing Turk. So why spend 11M a year to keep him? For that much, we can add a guy like Boozer who is an UFA. That imo, is a much stronger team. I don't think we'll get him, but just sayin'....

Our priority FA signing is keeping Alston. Not Turk.

That's not how FA works in the NBA. We would have that money to re-sign Hedo (our player) but we dont actually have available money to sign outside FAs to an $11 million type deal. I have no problem with Pietrus taking over Hedo's spot but, yes you are losing something. Hedo plays point forward, Pietrus cant dribble to save his life. Hedo is a much better offensive threat, Pietrus' runs very hot and cold...and as for passing, it's not even close. Pietrus does not pose the same offensive mismatches Hedo does. He just doesnt. I dont think losing Hedo would kill us at all but, i dont see how we are better without him at all. You also have to factor in depth...right now Pietrus is one of our better bench players and replacing his current role becomes a bit of a problem as well.

and Alston isn't a free agent.

[M.O.T.H.]

Originally Posted by D-Unit

The economic situation did nothing to the NFL. I don't expect it to have an effect on this summer's FA spending. Let's be real. Sports teams are immune to FA splurges.

Hedo wants a lot. I don't know what you're thinking there either.

Basketball teams are having a hard time to even sell out playoff games. The NBA is not the NFL.

[D-Unit]

Originally Posted by M.O.T.H.

That's not how FA works in the NBA. We would have that money to re-sign Hedo (our player) but we dont actually have available money to sign outside FAs to an $11 million type deal. I have no problem with Pietrus taking over Hedo's spot but, yes you are losing something. Hedo plays point forward, Pietrus cant dribble to save his life. Hedo is a much better offensive threat, Pietrus' runs very hot and cold...and as for passing, it's not even close. Pietrus does not pose the same offensive mismatches Hedo does. He just doesnt. I dont think losing Hedo would kill us at all but, i dont see how we are better without him at all. You also have to factor in depth...right now Pietrus is one of our better bench players and replacing his current role becomes a bit of a problem as well.

and Alston isn't a free agent.

We don't need Turk. We both agree his loss won't kill us.

You're right... Alston shouldn't be a FA. I dunno why RealGM has him listed as such. They threw me off, I just got off the site looking at FAs.

I don't think the we'll see any fall in FA spending this year. There are too many good players out there.

[jayceheathman]

Originally Posted by HawkeyeFan

How the heck, are the damn Lakers losing?

This is really irritating me.

Thats because the Lakers are OVERRATED! GO ROCKETS!!!!

[yourfavestoner]

Originally Posted by jayceheathman

Thats because the Lakers are OVERRATED! GO ROCKETS!!!!

Meh...we outplayed the Rockets in just about every facet of the game except three point shooting and at the free throw line. Congrats to Houston, but the Lakers really just beat themselves with an absolute horrible shooting performance.

[MichaelJordanEberle (sabf)]

Yeah Lakers will rebound from it. They won't shoot that bad for 3 more games. But they now need to win at least once in Houston, so we'll see if they can(they probably can).

[jayceheathman]

Originally Posted by yourfavestoner

Meh...we outplayed the Rockets in just about every facet of the game except three point shooting and at the free throw line. Congrats to Houston, but the Lakers really just beat themselves with an absolute horrible shooting performance.

We beat you guys without T-Mac as well and you guys got burned by a 2nd year PG. If you guys want to win then you should teach Kobe to pass the ball every once in awhile because Artest and Battier are not going to give him good shots. Not to mention that the Rockets have not lost on their home floor this postseason. Your defense was also pretty horrible to go along with the offense. The Rockets are not a great offensive team and they put up 100 points.

[thetedginnshow]

Originally Posted by yourfavestoner

Meh...we outplayed the Rockets in just about every facet of the game except three point shooting and at the free throw line. Congrats to Houston, but the Lakers really just beat themselves with an absolute horrible shooting performance.

You think so? I think Houston outplayed them in just about every way. They played better on offense, defense, hustled more... I'm not sure I can think of something they did play better than Houston in. Rebounding maybe?

[sbh15]

Originally Posted by jayceheathman

We beat you guys without T-Mac as well and you guys got burned by a 2nd year PG. If you guys want to win then you should teach Kobe to pass the ball every once in awhile because Artest and Battier are not going to give him good shots. Not to mention that the Rockets have not lost on their home floor this postseason. Your defense was also pretty horrible to go along with the offense. The Rockets are not a great offensive team and they put up 100 points.

A fellow Rockets fan? Let's goooooooo

[M.O.T.H.]

Houston is a scary team. I hate how people are saying the losses yesterday were shockers. Please, it's the playoffs. The finals are not set in stone yet.

[MichaelJordanEberle (sabf)]

Obviously the Lakers loss was an upset. But I don't understand how the Magic aren't big favourites. No KG, no Powe, hell their first big off the bench is BRIAN SCALABRINE, yes, BRIAN SCALABRINE, and their entire big man rotation is incredibly unathletic. They can do a good job banging with Dwight down low but you want Big Baby or Scal out on Shard? Please. I understand Lee is out, but the Magic still have such a massive, massive advantage in the front court it shouldn't matter.

[soybean]

Originally Posted by jayceheathman

We beat you guys without T-Mac as well and you guys got burned by a 2nd year PG. If you guys want to win then you should teach Kobe to pass the ball every once in awhile because Artest and Battier are not going to give him good shots. Not to mention that the Rockets have not lost on their home floor this postseason. Your defense was also pretty horrible to go along with the offense. The Rockets are not a great offensive team and they put up 100 points.

first of all, i think you guys are a MUCH better team without T-MAC. the game flows better with laundry, artest, battier, wafer.

second, the only reason it seemed as if kobe ball hogged was because they were playing catch up. this isn't the same ball-hogging kobe that everyone was use to 3 years ago.

and yes, artest and battier are great defenders but you can't tell me that most of kobe's shots were due to good defense as opposed to poor shooting.

also, props to adelman for not abandoning the inside game. Yao is their biggest strength and if they play more inside out rather than let brooks and artest run wild, a lot of other teams as well as the lakers will be in a run for their money.

[soybean]

Originally Posted by slightlyabroncosfan

Obviously the Lakers loss was an upset. But I don't understand how the Magic aren't big favourites. No KG, no Powe, hell their first big off the bench is BRIAN SCALABRINE, yes, BRIAN SCALABRINE, and their entire big man rotation is incredibly unathletic. They can do a good job banging with Dwight down low but you want Big Baby or Scal out on Shard? Please. I understand Lee is out, but the Magic still have such a massive, massive advantage in the front court it shouldn't matter.

i joke that the celtics are the "blackest" team in the nba.

[D-Unit]

Originally Posted by slightlyabroncosfan

Obviously the Lakers loss was an upset. But I don't understand how the Magic aren't big favourites. No KG, no Powe, hell their first big off the bench is BRIAN SCALABRINE, yes, BRIAN SCALABRINE, and their entire big man rotation is incredibly unathletic. They can do a good job banging with Dwight down low but you want Big Baby or Scal out on Shard? Please. I understand Lee is out, but the Magic still have such a massive, massive advantage in the front court it shouldn't matter.

The Magic.. no Jameer Nelson, No Courtney Lee, no homecourt advantage (to start off with). As much as Dwight and Shard are an advantage in the frontcourt... They don't outdo Rondo, Allen, Pierce as they severely outmatch Alston, Redick and Hedo. Not to mention they have the team experience of being NBA Champions. I can't ever say the reigning champions are the underdogs.

[MichaelJordanEberle (sabf)]

Originally Posted by D-Unit

The Magic.. no Jameer Nelson, No Courtney Lee, no homecourt advantage (to start off with). As much as Dwight and Shard are an advantage in the frontcourt... They don't outdo Rondo, Allen, Pierce as they severely outmatch Alston, Redick and Hedo. Not to mention they have the team experience of being NBA Champions. I can't ever say the reigning champions are the underdogs.

I would say the defending champions would be absolute underdogs if they beat Orlando. Cleveland is a vastly better team, as is Los Angeles. This is nothing close to the team that won it all last year. Nothing like it. Also you're selling Hedo short again. He's a very good player to have. Not as good as Pierce but not close to the mismatch level of Redick and Alston.

Everything was going perfect for the Magic for the first 2 and a half quarters against Boston. They were taking advantage of Boston's exhaustion and getting good looks from three. That's what it was. Then they all of a sudden decided to stop working for good looks and started jacking up terrible shots. If they had have only gotten up by like 15 in the 3rd instead of 28, I think they keep pushing the pace and this game never even gets close. Magic will win this series. Celtics have zero depth and just finished the longest series ever. Oh, and they're old.


EDIT: Also, you haven't had Jameer in forever. I'm rating the Orlando team that lost Nelson and still continued to be a top 4 team in the NBA.

[D-Unit]

Originally Posted by slightlyabroncosfan

I would say the defending champions would be absolute underdogs if they beat Orlando. Cleveland is a vastly better team, as is Los Angeles. This is nothing close to the team that won it all last year. Nothing like it. Also you're selling Hedo short again. He's a very good player to have. Not as good as Pierce but not close to the mismatch level of Redick and Alston.

Everything was going perfect for the Magic for the first 2 and a half quarters against Boston. They were taking advantage of Boston's exhaustion and getting good looks from three. That's what it was. Then they all of a sudden decided to stop working for good looks and started jacking up terrible shots. If they had have only gotten up by like 15 in the 3rd instead of 28, I think they keep pushing the pace and this game never even gets close. Magic will win this series. Celtics have zero depth and just finished the longest series ever. Oh, and they're old.


EDIT: Also, you haven't had Jameer in forever. I'm rating the Orlando team that lost Nelson and still continued to be a top 4 team in the NBA.

You've confused me. So Boston would be underdogs if they beat Orlando? If they don't, then they are not underdogs? How does CLE and LA fit into the match up between who the underdog is between ORL and BOS?

A lot of people are now saying ORL is the favorite, but this wasn't so not too long ago.

Not saying Hedo isn't a nice player to have. Not saying the difference between Rondo and Alston and Allen and Redick is the same as Peirce and Hedo either. Just saying as a trio, ORL is overmatched moreso than BOS is overmatched in the frontcourt. Yes, Shard's shooting puts BOS's 4s in a mismatch when Shard has the ball, but Shard's defense equally is a mismatch trying to guard those guys in the paint. It goes both ways. People don't often recognize that. Shard is better off trying to guard Pierce than he is trying to guard Big Baby.

...and BOS has been w/out KG for a while, just as ORL has been w/out Nelson. Not exactly the same time, but the effect is the same. Both are accustomed to be playing without key players.

Outside of Allen, BOS is far from OLD. Pierce still has many years in front of him. Rondo, Big Baby and Perkins are young. But the bottomline in this series is that age isn't a factor.

[jayceheathman]

Originally Posted by sbh15

A fellow Rockets fan? Let's goooooooo

I am not alone with all of these Laker fans? Sweet!

[KCJ58]

don't worry about the Lakers we will be just fine, not making a 3 point shot all game wont happene again i can guarantee you that

[thetedginnshow]

The Heat are considering moving Michael Beasley to small forward next season, forming a frontcourt of Beasley, Udonis Haslem and Jermaine O'Neal.
"It's going to be one of the major areas of focus," Spoelstra said of integrating Beasley at SF. Another interesting twist is that Udonis Haslem is considered Miami's most appealing trade bait, with his $7.1 million contract set to expire in 2010.

If this happens, I'm a genius. But if he (Beasley) gets shipped off somewhere, I hope it's somewhere cool. :(

[YAYareaRB]

WAKE UP LAKERS. These aren't the damn Thunder!

[SeanTaylorRIP]

Hawks aren't getting blown out yet!!!