*NBA THREAD* Abe will be missed (4 Viewers)

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Melo 5 of 24. Knicks lose at home to the Raptors.Melo ball or bust. Not much has changed in New York.

And that is why they are not a serious contender.

It gave him a "dead arm" but didn't stop him from shooting.

Of course not.And a prime example of why the Knicks aren't a serious contender.

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

The Zach Lowe interview with Dirk that is up on Grantland right now is fantastic. I don't know if they just appreciate the type of questions he asks or what but he seems to get great answers from people. How much do you think a guy like that typically gets paid? Whatever it is I feel like it should be double.

Zach Lowe is one of the best things to happen to NBA fans in the last couple years. If he started his own pay website I'd cough up a pretty decent chunk of change for access.

Great read.Cuban is never going to live down the whole Deron Williams/Shark Tank fiasco.

Bill Simmons goofed on him relentlessly, and now Cuban's star player is giving it to him.

 

[PlasmaDogPlasma]

Rough break for Nerlens Noel. The NBA's age-limit is a crock of ####.

Awful. At least he's insured, and ACL surgery's come a long ways. But the NCAA is fundamentally crooked.

Yep. I hope Clowney sits out and sues them.

Yes, Clowney should sue the NBA for their age limit.

 

[Abraham]

The Zach Lowe interview with Dirk that is up on Grantland right now is fantastic. I don't know if they just appreciate the type of questions he asks or what but he seems to get great answers from people. How much do you think a guy like that typically gets paid? Whatever it is I feel like it should be double.

Zach Lowe is one of the best things to happen to NBA fans in the last couple years. If he started his own pay website I'd cough up a pretty decent chunk of change for access.

Great read.Cuban is never going to live down the whole Deron Williams/Shark Tank fiasco.

Bill Simmons goofed on him relentlessly, and now Cuban's star player is giving it to him.

Not having Williams locked up to Max deal is a blessing right now.

 

[Captain Quinoa]

Rough break for Nerlens Noel. The NBA's age-limit is a crock of ####.

Awful. At least he's insured, and ACL surgery's come a long ways. But the NCAA is fundamentally crooked.

Yep. I hope Clowney sits out and sues them.

Because it worked so well for Maurice Clarett and Mike Williams?

 

[Cliff Clavin]

The Zach Lowe interview with Dirk that is up on Grantland right now is fantastic. I don't know if they just appreciate the type of questions he asks or what but he seems to get great answers from people. How much do you think a guy like that typically gets paid? Whatever it is I feel like it should be double.

Zach Lowe is one of the best things to happen to NBA fans in the last couple years. If he started his own pay website I'd cough up a pretty decent chunk of change for access.

Great read.Cuban is never going to live down the whole Deron Williams/Shark Tank fiasco.

Bill Simmons goofed on him relentlessly, and now Cuban's star player is giving it to him.

Cliffs?

 

[Abraham]

Cuban wasn't there at midnight on 7/1 to kiss up to Williams because he was in la filming shark tank. Seriously, is say it worked out okay.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Cuban wasn't there at midnight on 7/1 to kiss up to Williams because he was in la filming shark tank. Seriously, is say it worked out okay.

Ah. Thought he made some wild pitch on the show or something. Yeah, Deron has certainly dropped of recently.

 

[Premier]

He's still a top-5 pick, IMO. Probably takes him out of running for #1, but the draft is 4.5 months away. As a Magic fan I'd love to have him.

But doesn't he play the same position as Vazquez?

Bad draft picks from 8 years ago aren't really timely anymore, Leno.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Yeah, Deron has certainly dropped of recently.

Good PG whose play has dropped off dramatically, but awful that 2 franchises completely catered to him. Williams was a very good shooter, but he's shooting 40% in his 2+ seasons with the Nets and his assists, rookie year aside, have been career low levels the past 2 years.Instead of Lillard or Barnes or Drummond, they're stuck with Gerald Wallace and his contract. One of the worst trades I can ever remember by a team in a completely lost season.

 

[the moops]

Ben Gordon sounds like a swell guy.

As Dunlap led the Bobcats in a morning shootaround on Monday before a victory over the Celtics, Gordon refused Dunlap's request to stop bouncing a ball as the coach spoke, sources said. Before long, Gordon began baiting Dunlap, telling him that he needed to "humble himself," sources said. Gordan refused to give the ball to Dunlap, and eventually tossed it toward a ball rack, sources said. Bobcats general manager Rod Higgins was in the practice session and ultimately intervened, sources said. "Beyond disrespectful," was how one league source described the scene. Yahoo! Sports

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Got to love the leadership those veteran players show.Nets sound about right for a landing spot for Gordon (due $13.2 mil next season). Lord knows they need more overpaid veterans on the down side.

 

[TobiasFunke]

Anyone got any Podcast recommendations? Just subscribed to The Basketball Jones, looking to maybe add one or two more.

Will Leitch mentioned this in a column today and it reminded me to bump this. I agree with him; TBJ podcast is tremendous. If you're a podcast guy, I can't recommend it enough.

 

[thecatch]

Anyone got any Podcast recommendations? Just subscribed to The Basketball Jones, looking to maybe add one or two more.

Will Leitch mentioned this in a column today and it reminded me to bump this. I agree with him; TBJ podcast is tremendous. If you're a podcast guy, I can't recommend it enough.

I love TBJ. Can believe I suffered through espn's awful NBA today pod the last few years when TBJ was available.

 

[Moe.]

Anyone got any Podcast recommendations? Just subscribed to The Basketball Jones, looking to maybe add one or two more.

Will Leitch mentioned this in a column today and it reminded me to bump this. I agree with him; TBJ podcast is tremendous. If you're a podcast guy, I can't recommend it enough.

Agree with Leitch that TBJ is "the best sports podcast on earth" and for me it is the best podcast period. Melas and Skeets are perfect co-hosts and Ellis is hilarious. Looking forward to what they come up with for this weekend. "The BLANK Jones" episodes that they do over the offseason are excellent too.

 

[the moops]

:(

Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss is dying of cancer and is currently surrounded by family and friends at his hospital bedside,RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.The businessman and billionaire is at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and a source close to the situation tellsRadarOnline.com that Lakers players have been calling with well-wishes and even stopping by to see him in what they expect to be his final days.“Jerry isn’t doing well and it’s quite sad, but he’s surrounded by loved ones,” the insider told RadarOnline.com.“The cancer is just too much and it looks like this is the end for him.”

 

[Abraham]

Wow.

 

[SoCalBroncoFan]

:(

Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss is dying of cancer and is currently surrounded by family and friends at his hospital bedside,RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.The businessman and billionaire is at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and a source close to the situation tellsRadarOnline.com that Lakers players have been calling with well-wishes and even stopping by to see him in what they expect to be his final days.“Jerry isn’t doing well and it’s quite sad, but he’s surrounded by loved ones,” the insider told RadarOnline.com.“The cancer is just too much and it looks like this is the end for him.”

Sad. I am a Laker hater, but he is/was a great owner. L.A. was lucky to have him.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

This is nuts. Lebron with 33 and hovering around 60%. He probably will finish below that tonight, but still. Heat and lebron just destroy when they feel like it.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Heat are simply in sync right now, playing excellent basketball, and let's face it Lebron James has elevated his game to another level we haven't seen except in spurts. His smoothness and calmness right now on the floor is the best it has been. Heat need to go 24-8 after the All Star break to win 60.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

This is just silly. Heat destroying the Thunder in their place.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Damn. Lob to lebron off inbounds? Who lets that happen? Why is Westbrook guarding him?

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Durant going down swinging...40

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Kobe would never have taken that shot clock deep 3 to break a streak like lebron had going.

 

[tommyGunZ]

Kobe would never have taken that shot clock deep 3 to break a streak like lebron had going.

No one has shot more deep 3's at the end of the shot clock than Kobe Bryant.

 

[SoCalBroncoFan]

Nice start by the Lakers....

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

This is nuts. Lebron with 33 and hovering around 60%. He probably will finish below that tonight, but still. Heat and lebron just destroy when they feel like it.

He's on an unreal run right now. For the month of Feb: Averaging 31 PPG....on 66% shooting ...on 16 shots per game.For perspective on how efficient Lebron's been this month, the last time Kobe's scored 30 or more points on 16 shots or less in a SINGLE GAME: December 28, 2008 vs. GSW.

 

[the moops]

Clippers sure are a fun team to watch. Chris Paul is such an amazing player

 

[the moops]

Does Howard get to wear that short sleeve shirt because of his injury?

 

[Cliff Clavin]

This is nuts. Lebron with 33 and hovering around 60%. He probably will finish below that tonight, but still. Heat and lebron just destroy when they feel like it.

He's on an unreal run right now. For the month of Feb: Averaging 31 PPG....on 66% shooting ...on 16 shots per game.For perspective on how efficient Lebron's been this month, the last time Kobe's scored 30 or more points on 16 shots or less in a SINGLE GAME: December 28, 2008 vs. GSW.

It really isn't fair.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Kobe would never have taken that shot clock deep 3 to break a streak like lebron had going.

No one has shot more deep 3's at the end of the shot clock than Kobe Bryant.

I know. I'm saying he would have cared about the record/streak more than that possession. Lebron ended up with 39 on 58% instead of 62% based on that shot.

 

[drummer]

This is nuts. Lebron with 33 and hovering around 60%. He probably will finish below that tonight, but still. Heat and lebron just destroy when they feel like it.

He's on an unreal run right now. For the month of Feb: Averaging 31 PPG....on 66% shooting ...on 16 shots per game.For perspective on how efficient Lebron's been this month, the last time Kobe's scored 30 or more points on 16 shots or less in a SINGLE GAME: December 28, 2008 vs. GSW.

It really isn't fair.

 

[Shrugs]

This is nuts. Lebron with 33 and hovering around 60%. He probably will finish below that tonight, but still. Heat and lebron just destroy when they feel like it.

He's on an unreal run right now. For the month of Feb: Averaging 31 PPG....on 66% shooting ...on 16 shots per game.For perspective on how efficient Lebron's been this month, the last time Kobe's scored 30 or more points on 16 shots or less in a SINGLE GAME: December 28, 2008 vs. GSW.

But how many times has he scored 30 points on his first 16 shots and then kept going?

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Clippers clown Lakers on national TV.Kobe -35 for the game. And did a terrific job on D against Chauncey Billups.

 

[drummer]

Clippers clown Lakers on national TV.Kobe -35 for the game. And did a terrific job on D against Chauncey Billups.

 

[drummer]

Kobe would never have taken that shot clock deep 3 to break a streak like lebron had going.

No one has shot more deep 3's at the end of the shot clock than Kobe Bryant.

I know. I'm saying he would have cared about the record/streak more than that possession. Lebron ended up with 39 on 58% instead of 62% based on that shot.

Based on?

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Kobe would never have taken that shot clock deep 3 to break a streak like lebron had going.

No one has shot more deep 3's at the end of the shot clock than Kobe Bryant.

I know. I'm saying he would have cared about the record/streak more than that possession. Lebron ended up with 39 on 58% instead of 62% based on that shot.

Based on?

His ego.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Where did all the Melo haters go? Are they on timeout?

I don't think I qualify as a Melo hater, but he did seem to do an awful lot of ball hogging today, while the Clips seemed to share and distribute much better. I tried for a second to look up his stats briefly to see how that might look in the box score, but nba.com is impossible for me. If my company was responsible for that website I would be telling them to turn it off until they get it right.

When you put Carmelo Anthony in the search box on nba.com, Fab Melo is the first result. I wish I was kidding.Their mobile app is terrible too.

I get so ####### mad when I go to their site. Like abnormally, outrageously mad.Went just now to watch highlights of a few games. They have ####### yesterday's scores on the front page. On the ####### front page. Jesus ####### Christ

Basketball’s statistical revolution — a movement begun in board rooms and on blogs and independent Web sites — has, at long last, reached its logical destination: the N.B.A.’s home page. The league on Friday is unveiling a redesigned, fully sortable engine that will contain just about every statistic in N.B.A. history. And the database, at NBA.com/stats, is free to the public.

 

[the moops]

I wish they were unveiling a complete redesign of their whole site

 

[tommyGunZ]

Kobe would never have taken that shot clock deep 3 to break a streak like lebron had going.

No one has shot more deep 3's at the end of the shot clock than Kobe Bryant.

I know. I'm saying he would have cared about the record/streak more than that possession. Lebron ended up with 39 on 58% instead of 62% based on that shot.

Based on?

His ego.

Great point. B/c we all know LeBron doesn't have an ego.

 

[Joe Summer]

Hall Of Fame finalists announced:

Gary Payton

Bernard King

Maurice Cheeks

Tim Hardaway

Mitch Richmond

Spencer Haywood

Jerry Tarkanian (coach)

Rick Pitino (coach)

Tommy Heinsohn (coach)

Guy Lewis (coach)

Payton is a lock, Haywood and King should be in as well. Hardaway, Cheeks and Richmond are in the "good but not great" category.

 

[the moops]

Hall Of Fame finalists announced:

Gary Payton

Bernard King

Maurice Cheeks

Tim Hardaway

Mitch Richmond

Spencer Haywood

Jerry Tarkanian (coach)

Rick Pitino (coach)

Tommy Heinsohn (coach)

Guy Lewis (coach)

Payton is a lock, Haywood and King should be in as well. Hardaway, Cheeks and Richmond are in the "good but not great" category.

Nice collection of coaching candidates this year

 

[saintfool]

Hall Of Fame finalists announced:

Gary Payton

Bernard King

Maurice Cheeks

Tim Hardaway

Mitch Richmond

Spencer Haywood

Jerry Tarkanian (coach)

Rick Pitino (coach)

Tommy Heinsohn (coach)

Guy Lewis (coach)

Payton is a lock, Haywood and King should be in as well. Hardaway, Cheeks and Richmond are in the "good but not great" category.

Man, I was just looking at the numbers King put up over his career. Just sick how good he was. Toss him the fact that his game changed because of injury - and he was still pretty damn lethal - it just makes him all the more impressive.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Awful.http://www.freep.com/usatoday/article/1923227?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CDetroit%20Pistons%7Cs

 

[TobiasFunke]

This Simmons Ewing theory stuff with the Celtics is getting a little silly. Here's what they've done since they lost Rondo:

-Beat the Heat at home. Impressive, sure. But the Wizards beat the Heat at home without Wall, and they didn't need overtime to do it.

-Beat the Kings and Magic at home. Are you telling me a team with only two HOFers in the starting lineup was able to find a way to take down those star-studded teams in Boston? Amazing. BTW, those two mighty foes are a combined 11-42 on the road

-Beat the Chris Paul-less Clippers at home. Paul > Rondo, and they were still at home.

-Narrow win at Toronto.

-Another home win over the Lakers.

-Crazy overtime win over the Nuggets. Maybe the only game in this run where they weren't favored.

-Loss on the road to the Bobcats, bringing their Rondo-less road record to 1-1. But hey, when you have to run the Toronto/Charlotte gauntlet, 1-1 is the best you can possibly hope for.

-Two point home win over Chicago (also without their star PG) in the worst NBA game of the season. I think both teams may have left for the ASB at halftime.

Color me unimpressed. I think the Celtics finishes the year under .500.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Color me unimpressed. I think the Celtics finishes the year under .500.

The worst thing that happened to them is that win streak. If you looked ahead at their schedule (after that win streak), you knew this was coming.Next 9 of 10 on the road. They'll be under .500 3 weeks from now.

 

[TobiasFunke]

Color me unimpressed. I think the Celtics finishes the year under .500.

The worst thing that happened to them is that win streak. If you looked ahead at their schedule (after that win streak), you knew this was coming.Next 9 of 10 on the road. They'll be under .500 3 weeks from now.

Worst thing as in you think they should deal someone? Or just worst thing as in a month from now their fans are gonna look silly for having gotten so excited?

 

[the moops]

Color me unimpressed. I think the Celtics finishes the year under .500.

The worst thing that happened to them is that win streak. If you looked ahead at their schedule (after that win streak), you knew this was coming.Next 9 of 10 on the road. They'll be under .500 3 weeks from now.

Worst thing as in you think they should deal someone? Or just worst thing as in a month from now their fans are gonna look silly for having gotten so excited?

Worst thing in that Ainge can't trade Garnett and Pierce now that they are pretty much guaranteed a playoff spot. They will make the playoffs, and most likely put up a decent fight, but they aren't going anywhere. And next year, with those 2 being a year older, they aren't going anywhere either.

 

[Sudoku_in_the_Bathtub]

Sources tell the Chicago Tribune that the Bulls offer of Carlos Boozer for Andrea Bargnani will stand through the deadline.The full deal, that is reportedly "available whenever" the Raptors want it, would be Boozer and Nate Robinson for Bargnani and John Lucas III. It would take the Bulls under the luxury cap threshold, somewhere they might want to be now that Derrick Rose isn't returning to save them anytime soon. It's unclear if the Raptors have any real interest in Boozer, a 31-year-old defensive liability that is owed $15.3 million next season and $16.8 million in 2014/15. Defensive workhorse Amir Johnson might be a better fit playing next to gunners Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan.Related: Carlos Boozer

As Bulls fan, not sure what I'd do. I don't believe they could amnesty Bargnani (since he didn't originally sign with the Bulls). I also don't see another amnesty candidate on their roster outside Boozer.As much as I'd like to see what Bargnani could do here, I just don't know where he fits in with a presumed Deng-Gibson-Noah frontcourt.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Color me unimpressed. I think the Celtics finishes the year under .500.

The worst thing that happened to them is that win streak. If you looked ahead at their schedule (after that win streak), you knew this was coming.Next 9 of 10 on the road. They'll be under .500 3 weeks from now.

Worst thing as in you think they should deal someone? Or just worst thing as in a month from now their fans are gonna look silly for having gotten so excited?

Worst thing in that Ainge can't trade Garnett and Pierce now that they are pretty much guaranteed a playoff spot. They will make the playoffs, and most likely put up a decent fight, but they aren't going anywhere. And next year, with those 2 being a year older, they aren't going anywhere either.

This.When Rondo went down, they were sub .500. Win 7 straight and now they have hope. Deadline is next week. But look ahead at schedule upcoming (after deadline). At worst, they'll be 2 games above .500 at the deadline & they'll more likely be a buyer (a stopgap PG like Ridnour or street free agent like Delonte West)