All Things NBA

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

Curses aren't real. Ask any Clipper fan. Amazing the amount of bad luck this team has. Blake Griffin hasn't even played a real game for them yet and is already out 6-8 weeks.

Season starts tonight. I'm looking forward to this one more than any season ever. The moves by the top teams are going to make this one very competitive. Assuming good health by everyone, the Lakers should win the West again but not in a runaway like last year. I think their toughest competition will come from Dallas and not San Antonio like most people think. Dallas was better than SA last year and I think Marion and that French rookie will make them even better. Of course SA will be tough but I'm not looking for teams like Denver and Portland to be as good as most people think. With a healthy Bynum, the Lakers kill Denver. Portland reminds me of their early 90's teams with a lot of talent but not the right fits and not a lot of discipline.

In the East, I think it's a two team race with Boston and Cleveland. Boston was better than Orlando last year but were missing their best player so they couldn't get it done. Now they have him back and with Rondo having more experience and having added Wallace, they have enough to get it done. Cleveland collapsed bad against the Magic but I think that experience is going to make LeBron hungrier and no matter what they get from Shaq, they still will be the biggest threat to Boston. I think these are the two best teams in the league.

James wins his second MVP award. Griffin wins the ROY award even though he's going to miss 6-8 weeks at the start. Wade will probably win another scoring title if he can stay healthy, which I think is only 50/50 to happen. Bynum makes the West all-star team.

(1)Lakers, (8)Clippers, Suns, Warriors, Kings
(3)Nuggets, (5)Blazers, (6)Jazz, Thunder, Wolves
(2)Mavs, (4)Spurs, (7)Hornets, Rockets, Grizzlies

(2)Celtics, (8)Sixers, Knicks, Raptors, Nets
(1)Cavs, (5)Pistons, (6)Bulls, Bucks, Pacers
(3)Magic, (4)Wizards, (7)Heat, Hawks, Bobcats

The only thing I really disagree with you about is that the Mavs will be better than the Spurs. The Spurs are fully healthy for the first time in years and I think they're gonna absolutely steamroll the SW division.

I watched the Mavs last Friday in the final pre-season game and of course Dirk is going to do his thing, the perimeter guys are solid but I can't figure out where Shawn Marion's going to fit, especially if Josh Howard gets healthy. I think they'll battle a bit and ultimately finish fourth or fifth in the west.

I totally agree on Denver coming back to earth. Bill Simmons' list of how George Karl teams did after good seasons was very telling.

NT

[dalakhani]

NTAMM-

You have to understand that KG is the biggest closet Mavs fan on any internet board. It pained him to have to rank them behind the Lakers. Every fiber of his being wants to believe that the addition of Shawn Maridone will propel this team past all of the other better teams in the west. Forget that:

-Jason Kidd is now at the age and speed where he can no longer effectively guard...ANYONE.

-Marion is past the point where he was amongst the most versatile defenders in the league and is now merely average to maybe above average.

-Dirk could never guard anyone anyway.

-Dampier is soft and weak and as always the mavs have no post defense.

-Jason Terry is a walking matchup problem that is now a one dimensional spot up shooter for all intents.

-Josh Howard is the only real player that they have thats still in his prime and he is busy getting stoned more often than not.

- they have no bench.

- they have no coach.


If you forget all of those things, they are the number 2 seed in the western conference.

[SniperSB23]

Yeah, I'm going to have to go with the Mavs as the one glaring problem with those predictions. They might play in the 2-7 game, just not with home court advantage.

[SniperSB23]

First Game:

DeJaun Blair - 14 points, 11 rebounds
Ty Lawson - 17 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds

What is wrong with NBA GMs? These were the two non lottery guys in our draft discussions that virtually everyone agreed were going to be effective pros. Yet Lawson went 18th and Blair went 37th and teams allowed contenders to snatch them up. When are NBA GMs going to realize how valuable the sure thing is and stop reaching on these guys with tremendous upside potential? There is a reason the gap keeps widening between the have and have nots.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

First Game:

DeJaun Blair - 14 points, 11 rebounds
Ty Lawson - 17 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds

What is wrong with NBA GMs? These were the two non lottery guys in our draft discussions that virtually everyone agreed were going to be effective pros. Yet Lawson went 18th and Blair went 37th and teams allowed contenders to snatch them up. When are NBA GMs going to realize how valuable the sure thing is and stop reaching on these guys with tremendous upside potential? There is a reason the gap keeps widening between the have and have nots.

It might be a little early to declare these guys stars. On the teams they are on they are role players. On bad teams they may have been counted on to do more than they are capable of.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

It might be a little early to declare these guys stars. On the teams they are on they are role players. On bad teams they may have been counted on to do more than they are capable of.

I'm not declaring these guys stars, what I'm saying is what everyone thought going in, that they would both be effective pros. Many of the guys taken above them will not be. We already know how good those two are from college though and NBA teams would much rather take guys with "upside potential" that have never displayed it like BJ Mullens than guys that are a known quantity like Blair.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

I'm not declaring these guys stars, what I'm saying is what everyone thought going in, that they would both be effective pros. Many of the guys taken above them will not be. We already know how good those two are from college though and NBA teams would much rather take guys with "upside potential" that have never displayed it like BJ Mullens than guys that are a known quantity like Blair.

I think you are generalizing too much. While I think Blair can be a NBA player, he is probably limited to being a role player. Same with Lawson. He is a great change of pace guy with young legs playing with a team that fits his style. Put him on a different situation where he is forced to play 32 min a game for a bad team and he probably shoots 38% from the field and has 5 turnovers a game. If a guy has a ceiling and you know it you cant take him too early and overpay him. I understand the counter is that you may wind up paying an unkown but a lot of these guys do make it. There are a hell of a lot of really good NBA players that played for less than primetime programs yet were drafted high ( not literally). Not to mention that a lot of GM's draft to need because they dont have a lot of time to get good.

Though there are some horrific organizations in the NBA that never seem to make the right move.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

First Game:

DeJaun Blair - 14 points, 11 rebounds
Ty Lawson - 17 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds

What is wrong with NBA GMs? These were the two non lottery guys in our draft discussions that virtually everyone agreed were going to be effective pros. Yet Lawson went 18th and Blair went 37th and teams allowed contenders to snatch them up. When are NBA GMs going to realize how valuable the sure thing is and stop reaching on these guys with tremendous upside potential? There is a reason the gap keeps widening between the have and have nots.

Brandon Jennings, one of those "potential" guys who went 8 spots before Lawson and 27 spots before Blair, is averaging 22 ppg 5 assists and 4 rebounds while shooting 48% from the field and 50% from 3.