NBA 2014-15 Thread

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Fri Mar 13, 2015 7:19 pm

Wilkins was a great player. But he should probably be credited with some of Bird's baskets. He was a master of the ole defense.

EdRomero · Post by **EdRomero** » Fri Mar 13, 2015 7:39 pm

DC47 wrote:Wilkins was a great player. But he should probably be credited with some of Bird's baskets. He was a master of the ole defense.

When Wilkins, known as the Human Highlight Film during his prime, was recently honored with a 13 ½-foot tall, 18,500-pound statue outside of the Hawks’ home, Philips Arena, Bird quipped, ‘I’m pretty sure it’s not made in a defensive stance.’

And I just love watching this dunk

https://vine.co/v/O9Ma6nuTqVW

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 7:31 am

If the playoffs started today, the Cavs would play the heat in round 1.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 2:37 pm

When Wilkins, known as the Human Highlight Film during his prime, was recently honored with a 13 ½-foot tall, 18,500-pound statue outside of the Hawks’ home, Philips Arena, Bird quipped, ‘I’m pretty sure it’s not made in a defensive stance.’

Good line. But it might depict Dominique dunking over Bird, as above, since this was a pretty common occurrence. They never met in the finals of anything, as did Bird and Magic. But what a great battle they had over the years! Wilkins was a worthy opponent. He never had half of the rep of Dr. J, but I thought he was the better player.

L-Jam3 · Post by **L-Jam3** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 3:15 pm

Where the fuck does Larry Bird get off talking about anybody's poor defense?

Rams Fanny · Post by **Rams Fanny** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 3:31 pm

AB_skin_test wrote:If the playoffs started today, the Cavs would play the heat in round 1.

If the playoffs started today, it would be a welcome change to the schedule.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 4:05 pm

L-Jam3 wrote:Where the fuck does Larry Bird get off talking about anybody's poor defense?

White players are known to be great at team defense, and especially positioning, preventing the entry pass, not being faked off their feet, taking the charge, funneling to big-man help, knowing the game, reading the offensive player, and helping out. Did I mention hustle and grit? Also, flopping.

Bird was actually good at these things, plus he had quick hands, a larcenous mind, and excellent defenders who could cover for him. But still Dominique Wilkins regularly burned him like bread in a toaster with a broken timer that was hit by lightning as it fell into a volcano.

Carbon.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 9:06 pm

Bill Simmons put up a pretty interesting podcast with Brian Windhorst today that was all about the Cavs. For a team that is favored to make the NBA Finals, the Cavs sound absurdly dysfunctional. Windhorst said that the players routinely tune Blatt out, and coaching duties are largely shared between LeBron and Tyronn Lue. Windhorst also said that in addition to the issues with Love, LeBron and Kyrie were feuding pretty hard earlier in the year. (He did say that they've since reached an understanding, and figured out how to play with each other.)

Windhorst's theory on Love is that he has a pretty significant back injury, and pointed out that there's a strong positive correlation between his shooting stats and the amount of rest between games: he's got great stats in games coming after 2+ days rest, but is subpar on 1 day's rest and terrible on 0 days' rest. He also claims that before the trade was agreed to last summer, Love's agent met with the Cavs' owner and GM and immediately after that meeting, the Cavs changed course and agreed to include Wiggins in the trade package. Obviously, any type of "agreement" from that meeting would be completely unenforceable, but that adds some intrigue to the question of where Love goes this upcoming summer.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:09 am

I assume everyone saw the unholy thing Curry did to CP3 last night?

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:16 am

Joe K wrote:Bill Simmons put up a pretty interesting podcast with Brian Windhorst today that was all about the Cavs. For a team that is favored to make the NBA Finals, the Cavs sound absurdly dysfunctional. Windhorst said that the players routinely tune Blatt out, and coaching duties are largely shared between LeBron and Tyronn Lue. Windhorst also said that in addition to the issues with Love, LeBron and Kyrie were feuding pretty hard earlier in the year. (He did say that they've since reached an understanding, and figured out how to play with each other.)

Windhorst's theory on Love is that he has a pretty significant back injury, and pointed out that there's a strong positive correlation between his shooting stats and the amount of rest between games: he's got great stats in games coming after 2+ days rest, but is subpar on 1 day's rest and terrible on 0 days' rest. He also claims that before the trade was agreed to last summer, Love's agent met with the Cavs' owner and GM and immediately after that meeting, the Cavs changed course and agreed to include Wiggins in the trade package. Obviously, any type of "agreement" from that meeting would be completely unenforceable, but that adds some intrigue to the question of where Love goes this upcoming summer.

I think Love will play one more year in Cleveland unless some team is willing to give him a one year deal, which is pretty unlikely. A trade isn't out of the question. But to be honest, the Cavs aren't going to get a better piece and if he truly is just hurt then why would you get shed of him? He has definitely been inconsistent but I hadn't noticed the layoff splits. His defense, which still isn't great, is improved just due to effort I think. Playing with an Aplha dog will do that, so long as the alpha dog values defense.

Post by **Shirley** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:17 am

tennbengal wrote:I assume everyone saw the unholy thing Curry did to CP3 last night?

You know, this site allows links and even embedded videos!

I loved the roar that rose from The Clippers' crowd even before the shot went in.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:22 am

Holy fuck

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:32 am

Thanks dave. Was posting from phone. And, yes, holy fuck.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:59 am

Paul was in trouble already, but when his right foot landed on Curry's as he was moving it to step back, well, then things got embarrassing.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 10:14 am

Could not have happened to a bigger asshole.

howard · Post by **howard** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 12:29 pm

Half the guys on the W's bench broke their ankles just watching that.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 2:15 pm

When I see a move like that I wonder if he has ever done it even once, messing around after a practice. It's like Charlie Parker playing sax at the end of the night. What the heck, I'll just try this and this and this, all together like. Hey, cool.

Post by **Shirley** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:51 pm

If Paul hadn't stepped on Curry's foot, he wouldn't have fallen down. So while the move was nice and all, I think it's being a bit overblown.

L-Jam3 · Post by **L-Jam3** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 9:50 am

The San Antonio Spurs wrote:Hey, remember us?

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Tue Apr 07, 2015 7:54 pm

The April awakening of the Spurs is the true tradition unlike any other.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 3:44 am

Rex wrote:The April awakening of the Spurs is the true tradition unlike any other.

Is there any better run organization in all of sports?

Patriots would be in the discussion - and that team has similarly benefitted from having a healthy hall of famer for over a dozen years...

One of the good things about having insomnia is that it gives me time to do meaningful research like the following...

The Spurs have missed the the playoffs once in 26 years!

I looked up the former perennial powerhouse Montreal Canadiens who once had a run where they missed the playoffs three times in 32 years... but that was in a league with six teams.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 7:07 am

I hate them. I hate them so much.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 7:20 am

Holy shit!

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/4/8/83 ... -sefolosha" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 7:22 am

Wow. that's, um, odd.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 7:55 pm

Derrick Rose back in the lineup for the Bulls tonight. If the Bulls can have him for the postseason, it makes the East playoffs a lot more interesting. Cleveland will probably be hoping Toronto edges out Chicago for the #3 seed, so that the Hawks have to deal with the Bulls in the second round.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:55 pm

Cavs and Hawks can both withstand watching rose be carted off in game 2 I think.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 8:23 am

Fucking Spurs.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 8:36 am

Giff wrote:Fucking Spurs.

Great tweet last night from someone about the regular season thusfar having been like an awesome house party with the parents away but then the Spurs get home in their Volvo and put an end to things.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 8:37 am

Spurs won't make the finals. #hottake

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 8:44 am

It's crazy that if the Spurs beat the Rockets tomorrow, they're probably going to get the #2 seed in the West. That seemed impossible 20 games ago. AB's hot take aside, I don't see anyone other than the Warriors having a chance against the Spurs in a playoff series right now.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 8:45 am

Joe K wrote:It's crazy that if the Spurs beat the Rockets tomorrow, they're probably going to get the #2 seed in the West. That seemed impossible 20 games ago. AB's hot take aside, I don't see anyone other than the Warriors having a chance against the Spurs in a playoff series right now.

And it's not just that they are winning games. They are completely ruining the souls of really good teams while beating them down. Hasn't been remotely competitive.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 8:48 am

Since March 22, they have:

Beat the Warriors by 15
Beat the Thunder by 25
Beat the Grizzlies by 14
Beat the Mavs by 18
Beat the Thunder by 39
Beat the Hawks by 19
Beat the Rockets by 12

That's fuckin' insane.

Since their inexplicable loss to the Knicks about a month ago, they have lost only once since then - 7 points to the Mavs - which they rectified with the beatdown of the Mavs at next opportunity.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 8:59 am

tennbengal wrote:
Joe K wrote:It's crazy that if the Spurs beat the Rockets tomorrow, they're probably going to get the #2 seed in the West. That seemed impossible 20 games ago. AB's hot take aside, I don't see anyone other than the Warriors having a chance against the Spurs in a playoff series right now.
And it's not just that they are winning games. They are completely ruining the souls of really good teams while beating them down. Hasn't been remotely competitive.

I really thought the Rockets had a chance last night, but they just came out and destroyed us in the second half. Tomorrow night's game is going to be insane.

It's unbelievable that the #2 seed is still a chance for the Rockets given the number of injuries to key guys.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 4:03 pm

Rex wrote:Holy shit!

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/4/8/83 ... -sefolosha" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thabo out for the season with injuries sustained while resisting arrest. More of this story has got to come to light now, right?

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 7:59 pm

He figured they'd shoot him if he ran away from them.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Sun Apr 12, 2015 6:18 pm

There's a virtual elimination game going on in the NBA right now, and a leading MVP candidate has 29 points in halftime of it, and nobody knows about it. That's the problem Mark Cuban should be thinking about addressing.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:51 pm

11 straight wins for the Spurs now, with 10 of those 11 wins coming by double digits. The Grizzlies-Warriors game tomorrow night is huge for Western Conference seeding as, barring an upset loss by the Grizzlies or the Clippers, that game will determine whether the Spurs get the #2 seed or the #5 seed. Even though the Warriors have home-court advantage sewn up, I think they'd much rather see the Spurs as the #2 seed so that they can't face them before the West Finals.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 9:40 pm

The Knicks may cause people to die if they win on Wednesday night.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 10:07 pm

Rex wrote:The Knicks may cause people to die if they win on Wednesday night.

Seriously. The only silver lining to winning the last two is how good Justise Winslow looked in the tournament. If getting him at #5 is the worst-case scenario, that's not so bad. But if they lose tomorrow and end up slotting behind the Sixers, then things could get ugly.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 10:35 pm

Klay Thompson has 37 points at the half tonight. Not as impressive as his 37-point quarter earlier this season, but still pretty ridiculous.