NBA 2014-2015 Season Discussion

[gblews]

It has to be more than just that. When Kobe is on the bench the Lakers give as good as they get, or so the numbers seem to say, but when he's on the court they're terrible.

Might have to do with fact that when Kobe is out, the Lakers' bench is playing against the other team's bench and the Laker's bench includes Nick Young, who would get starter minutes on many teams in the league. Ed Davis' shot blocking with the second unit has also been pretty good.

The first team has had it's problems on defense and that includes Kobe. Also, first teamers, Jeremy Lin and Wesley Johnson's play has ranged from inconsequential to terrible.

 

[gblews]

Ill-advised hero ball threes at the end of ballgames.

"Hero ball", huh? Maybe the Spurs will discover someone to play hero-ball for them and maybe FINALLY get them to their 7th Finals this season.

 

[Borgminister]

Ill-advised hero ball threes at the end of ballgames.

"Hero ball", huh? Maybe the Spurs will discover someone to play hero-ball for them and maybe FINALLY get them to their 7th Finals this season.

Boston's got 17.

Bulls have 6.

Kobe has 5.

Where's Shaq or Pao when ya need 'em, hey? Or Phil?



Go KINGS!

 

[gblews]

Ill-advised hero ball threes at the end of ballgames.

"Hero ball", huh? Maybe the Spurs will discover someone to play hero-ball for them and maybe FINALLY get them to their 7th Finals this season.

Boston's got 17.

Bulls have 6.

Kobe has 5.

Where's Shaq or Pao when ya need 'em, hey? Or Phil?



Go KINGS!

Or Riles, or Kareem, or Magic...or West, Chamberlain, and Baylor...or Mican and Schaus for that matter.

Your math is just a leetle off, not to mention self serving. The Lakers have 16 championships. Kobe played on 5 of those championship teams.

And now that you brng it up, lets see how many championships the Spurs win when Timmie, Pop, Manu, and Parker are gone. For that matter, how many did the Spurs win before those guyys got to SA?

Looking at the state of the west today, there is no clear cut favorite other than the Spurs. So there does not appear to be a western team caable of beating the Spurs in the conf finals. Never has the door looked more wide open for a Spurs repeat (the east is a non-factor this season). If they don't repeat this season, heh, heh, heh, there's going to be some talk -- mainly by me.

You see, how to repeat, is just one of the things Kobe could have taught them.

 

[Borgminister]

I like the Lakers--of old. Magic, Kareem, Worthy... the classic match-ups with Bird, McHale and company.

I even found something to like in the Shaq-Kobe 3 ring era... until Kobe went and changed my mind through his actions thereafter. But that's just subjective, as all fan arguments are.

Also, I don't root for teams because of rings. I just appreciate the brand of basketball the Spurs have played in recent times.

I also enjoyed how the Kings played that helter-skelter, flashy basketball back 10 or so years ago before the Maloofs ceased to care.

I'm sure the Raptors will take out their unexpected loss to LA on Sacto tonight...

 

[gblews]

I like the Lakers--of old. Magic, Kareem, Worthy... the classic match-ups with Bird, McHale and company.

I even found something to like in the Shaq-Kobe 3 ring era... until Kobe went and changed my mind through his actions thereafter.

What was it you liked?

I saw a mini doc on Shaq last night. One of the things they talked about were the early '00's playoff games against the Kings. They showed one of those interviews where Shaq repeatedly referred to the Kings as the "Sacramento Queens". He had no respect for those Sacto teams. I don't think any of the Lakers did. So, I can understand your "disdain" for the purple and gold and for Kobe, since he hurt you guys worse than Shaq did.

Also, I don't root for teams because of rings. I just appreciate the brand of basketball the Spurs have played in recent times.

I also enjoyed how the Kings played that helter-skelter, flashy basketball back 10 or so years ago

Which, lets face it, led to zilch. Style of play, to me has some importance, but winning always takes prcedent over style.

BTW, do you think the Spurs were playing "team ball" a couple of years ago when they went into the playoffs as the No 1 seed and lost in the first round to Phoenix?

My point is that NBA championships are always won by teams playing "team ball". I've never found this to not be true. Teams who aren't playing that way, don't win championships. The Lakers have never won a championship playing "hero ball" as you call it. If your argument is that the '00's Lakers have always played "hero ball", then hero ball is vastly underrated or "team ball", overrated.

 

[Borgminister]

Kings win on a bucket much like the one they got beat on by Memphis--after the shot clock had expired. But shhhhhh--don't say anything!

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Joe Lacob Roasts Mark Jackson

I've never been a fan of scorched Earth tactics. Although I agree that the Warriors made the right call in firing Jackson and replacing him with Kerr, I don't think it was necessary for Lacob to criticize Jackson publicly, even if what he says is true. If Jackson was really that difficult to work with, one would think Lacob would be happy to have him out the way; apparently, it's not enough that he fired Jackson. Now, he has to get dirt on him after the fact, which tells me that Lacob may be as much to blame as Jackson is for any problems between the two of them.

Jackson may not have been the right coach for the Warriors, but he made them a better team. Golden State's organization was a joke when Jackson was hired; were it not for his guiding the Warriors to back-to-back playoff appearances, it's possible the team doesn't appear as attractive to Kerr, and he takes the Knicks job instead.

--Sran

 

[gblews]

Joe Lacob Roasts Mark Jackson

I've never been a fan of scorched Earth tactics. Although I agree that the Warriors made the right call in firing Jackson and replacing him with Kerr, I don't think it was necessary for Lacob to criticize Jackson publicly, even if what he says is true. If Jackson was really that difficult to work with, one would think Lacob would be happy to have him out the way; apparently, it's not enough that he fired Jackson. Now, he has to get dirt on him after the fact, which tells me that Lacob may be as much to blame as Jackson is for any problems between the two of them.

Jackson may not have been the right coach for the Warriors, but he made them a better team. Golden State's organization was a joke when Jackson was hired; were it not for his guiding the Warriors to back-to-back playoff appearances, it's possible the team doesn't appear as attractive to Kerr, and he takes the Knicks job instead.

--Sran

Well said. I agree. Lacob's apparent inability to stop himself from gloating in the faces of his critics was low class and possibly premature.

We are only 20 or so games into the regular season with a lifetime of basketball left to be played. There is no telling what might happen between now and June. Last season, the Warriors went into the playoffs without Bogut and at least one other key player. If that han't happened, there is no telling how much longer they might have played. Bogut, who tends to be injury prone, might just get hurt again late in the season. As for their start this season, who's to say that the team Jackson helped mold, with another year of experience under it's belt, might have the same record right now if he hadn't been fired?

This kind of gloating at this point of the season can turn out be really embarrassing.

BTW, was Lacob one of the geniuses in the Warriors' FO who wanted to trade Clay Thompson for Kevin Love this past summer?

 

[Borgminister]

I kind of thought Jackson got the shaft, really. The jury was still out on how far he still could've taken the Warriors given the circumstances. As for the "right people", isn't that something coach should have input on? Interesting. Still like the Dubs though... and Jackson is as entertaining as always especially when paired with Jeff van Gundy!

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

^Well, the Warriors won again (now 18-2) but lost Bogut after two minutes.

--Sran

 

[gblews]

^Well, the Warriors won again (now 18-2) but lost Bogut after two minutes.

--Sran

As long as he is healthy in May and June, the Warriors have a legit shot at the conf finals, at least. The biggest problem they'll face there is inexperience if they are in there against the Thunder or Spurs. But if it's the Grizz, they could make the Finals.

 

[Borgminister]

Man does Phil have a job in front of him in NY.

 

[Borgminister]

I would rather the Kings get blown out than shit their pants like they did the last two games--that's truly embarrassing.

 

[gblews]

I would rather the Kings get blown out than shit their pants like they did the last two games--that's truly embarrassing.

I don't know which game you're specifically referring to here, but from the little I've seen of the Kings this year (pretty much nothing except their game against the Lakers), they don't know how to close out a game. I watched their first half agains the Lakers and got disgusted and quit watching because as well as they were playing, I just knew the Kings would let the Lakers back into the game, and sure enough, they did. This pissed me off because I am all about the Lakers losing, these days.

The Kings are a good example of why tanking alone is never enough. They have had high lottery picks for several years now, long enough to have fielded at least one contender, yet they are still a doormat. Philly should take note.

 

[Captrek]

In fairness, the Kings are without their best player.

 

[gblews]

In fairness, the Kings are without their best player.

Yeah, that's true, I forgot about that. Kings still would have problems finishing games espesically on the road. Wish Cousins had played against my boys the other night. Kings might have held that lead.

 

[Borgminister]

Nah... they managed 20 plus point leads with Cuz only to see them evaporate... Their bench is thin, and their coach not battle-tested.

Can't figure out why Gay plays hero-ball at the end when he's never been a closer. Let Collison assist to McLemore, who was hot all game. That's a coaching error to me.

Ah well. Bah.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Since there's usually no point in talking about the Sixers likely to be historic season, I thought I'd post this moment of Basketball from them. It's an interesting article on NBA.com from Scott Howard-Cooper:
Mr. Do-It-All McDaniels could join elite group of rookies

His name was Woody Sauldsberry. Woodrow Sauldsberry, Jr. to be exact, and he joined the NBA long enough ago to have played for three teams no longer in existence. The Philadelphia Warriors, St. Louis Hawks and Chicago Zephyrs are all gone, a half-century later remnants on the family tree of current operations in Golden State, Atlanta and Washington.

Sauldsberry is the record holder, the latest Draft pick to ever win Rookie of the Year, his 1957-58 accomplishment of going from the No. 60 choice by the Warriors, in the eighth round, to being named the top newcomer. Next-lowest was Mark Jackson, No. 18 before taking the award for 1987-88, and only five have won after being drafted in double digits: Michael Carter-Williams in 2013-14 (11th), Jackson, Jamaal Wilkes in 1974-75 (11th), Sauldsberry and Don Meineke as the inaugural winner in 1952-53 (12th).

Which brings us to K.J. McDaniels.

The entire list has become print-and-save relevant as the season reaches the quarter pole with McDaniels up to No. 2 on the Rookie Ladder about 6 ½ months after lasting until the 32nd pick. Playing for the 76ers provided the opportunity, but this isn't putting up big numbers on a bad team because McDaniels isn't putting up big numbers. He's putting up a lot of numbers.

I think part of it is, for being a supposedly epic draft class, it hasn't lived up to the hype so far (although to be fair, they do have a lot of hype to live up to, which isn't really fair for rookies). But it's still cool to see KJ McDaniels so high on the list. It also does a rank of all of them for those who agree or disagree.

 

[Borgminister]

Damned Spurs--making it an annoying trend to lose to sub-500 teams. Although yesterday wasn't all too kind to the Western Conference powers.

Swaggy P--Kobe's heir apparent? He keeps shooting like that y'never know.