2009-10 NBA General Discussion Thread

[Drew]

^ That has been addressed in the flame thread, where it should have been all along. Back to the NBA...

What does everyone think of this Iverson situation? First his retirement...the talks of him coming back to play for the 6ers?


Personally I really hope he comes back. I think the town would love it if he was back, if for nothing else just a homecoming and a way to send off one of the best players in that franchise's history (if he retires at the end of the season..or whenver). It'll give that community another reason to buy tickets, put some fans in the stands....but I'm most excited/happy for Iverson...who really did a lot for the NBA. It would have been (could still be) sad to see one of the more polarizing figures in recent NBA history just retire after a failed attempt to join the Grizzles.

What say yall?

[AYHJA]

I say, I saw AI get crossed over so bad he layed on the floor with his hands clapsed across his chest like a damn mummy last night..!

I'll wait and see if he gets his legs under him and gets back in shape, but I think he knows he's at the end...This whole deal about him being 95% scorer and not understanding he should be able to extend his career by coming off the bench and lighting it up is just a mystery to me...He seems to struggle with the idea, as if coming off the bench is beneath him...It's made me certainly not really care about his story one way or the other...Especially when he was all ''God'' wanted me to play in Memphis and all this, dragging the Lord into your ego...Wow...

I wish I had a poster of the shot Kobe hit over D Wade the other night to put in the bathroom wall so I can see it when I take a crap...The metaphorical meaning of it all would elevate my experience for sure...

Also, I know this is old, but I remember us having a distinct conversation about LeBron and Carmelo, and how I said I think LeBron plays too damn hard, and doesn't have as good a game as him...

Now do you see what I mean..? Do you see how fucking hard LeBron has to play to be good..? He's going 100 MPH all game...He doesn't have any polish to his game, he's all physical...Now, when the media talks about scorers, there is only one person that they mention consistently besides Kobe... :)

[Drew]

Lakers are still looking great :)

Cavs are looking shitty :)

Not to belabor the point, but the Celtics are looking pretty good, unfortunately their fan base has already counted them out....

Spurs don't appear to be worthy of that "big 5" talk at the beginning of the year.....which in case you missed the talk shows said that this year only five teams really have a chance to win it all, the rest either suck miserably or don't really have the power to match up with the five (spurs, lakers, celtics, magic, cavs)

I think the Nuggets look better than both the celtics and the spurs...due in part to Melo's great season thus far. I think it's his MVP year.

Some more NBA talk: If the Lakers stay healthy....I think only they can beat themselves...that's a scary team. I'll do some in-season math to try and predict how things should all shake out. First place HAS to get 10, and the ratings follow afterwards (can be no ties)

PF/C I'd argue that the Lakers have the best front court of any team in the league (Bynum and Gasol) with KG and Sheed (or Perkins) just behind them, Duncan and Mcdyess a little ways after them. Dwight and Lewis following them (only because Lewis doesn't really play down low, so most of their inside burden falls on Dwight's massive shoulders. Nene and K-mart come next, with Shaq/Ver. coming in last.

Lakers - 10
Celtics - 9.5
Spurs - 8
Magic - 7
Nuggets - 6.5
Cavs - 6

SF Peronsally I think Artest is better than RJ out in SA, but when it counts Pierce > Melo > LBJ and they're all better than Artest. This is mainly talking about the playoffs....where Pierce seems to take his game to another level every time (outdueling both LBJ and Kobe during their championship run). And even tho I think Melo is better than LBJ, I'd be killed to not assign him more points for this...mainly just the value he gives to his team. Pietrus is last, just last without question.

Celtics - 10
Cavs - 9.5
Nuggets- 9
Lakers - 8
Spurs - 7.5
Magic - 6

SG On that same note...if you consider those other guys SFs then the Lakers without question have the best SG by far in Kobe (Allen is good, though...and is the only moderately behind Kobe...it really depends on which Ray shows up during the playoffs and/or finals) VC is playing really well right now...but it won't be long until he turns back into a jump shooter. West, Mason, Smith follow.

Lakers - 10
Celtics - 8.5
Magic - 8
Nuggets - 7
Cavs - 6.5
Spurs - 5.5

PG Tony Parker, to me, is the consummate PG in today's game. Or...maybe a couple years ago when his legs had a little more spring, but either way he's still tops for me. Rondo is very close second. Billups is a close third. Mo Williams, Nelson, and Fisher follow (I wish they'd just give the reigns to Shannon Brown already)

Spurs - 10
Celtics - 9.5
Nuggets - 8.5
Cavs - 7.5
Magic - 6.5
Lakers - 5.5

Sixth Man This is a little subjective as to who people think is the actual sixth man in some cases, so I'll say my picks. Lakers- Odom Spurs- Ginobili Magic- Gortat Cavs- Big Z Celtics- Sheed Nuggets - Birdman

Spurs - 10
Lakers - 9.5
Celtics - 9
Nuggets - 8 (based on what he does for the team, not his individual skill)
Cavs- 7
Magic- 6.5

Overall Bench Depth Again, almost entirely subjective here.

Magic - 10
Cavs - 9
Celtics - 8.5
Lakers - 8
Nuggets - 7.5
Spurs - 7

Coach Coaching is important, forget what you've heard.

Lakers - 10
Spurs - 9.5
Celtics - 8.5
Magic - 7.5
Nuggets - 7
Cavs - 4

Totals
Celtics - 63.5
Lakers - 61
Spurs - 57.5
Nuggets- 53.5
Magic - 51.5
Cavs - 49 .5 (man their shitty coach really hurts them)

How I actually see it playing out? Lakers>Celtics>Magic>Nuggets>Cavs>Spurs

[Habib]

So you put Birdman over J.R. Smith as a 6th man for the Nuggets? Hmm.

[Drew]

In my mind he's a starter..... is he not starting for them anymore?

C Bill, JR, Melo, K-Mart, NeNe.... ain't that it? from my memory that was.

[Habib]

No that is not it. Not since I have been watching the Nuggets play basketball lol (which was the last playoffs).

Their rotation is: PG = Billups, SG = Arron Afflalo (used to be Dahntay Jones)....etc

[Drew]

He starts in the video games lol.


I think Birdman does more for the team than what JR Smith does just in terms of what the other players on the team don't do. Yeah he can shoot and score pretty easily, but so can Melo. They don't really have someone who constantly attacks the glass and comes up with garbage points and blocks. So if I was to sub in JR for the chart, I think it'd hurt their score.

[Habib]

Lmao at the video games, haha I have not touched that thing since I was 17 or so. J.R. Smith is their offensive power off the bench. He is the only one that I think can average 15 - 20 points on the second unit.

[Drew]

lol well you sir are missing out!

You're right, he does provide a spark offensively from the bench, but I think Birdman really gets the crowd into it and sort of hypes the team up. Either way, I don't think JR is better than Odom, Manu, or Sheed... But I do think the Nuggets are the only legit threat to the Lakers.


As a side note. I went to see the Lakers play the Bulls two nights ago, and it was just a joy to be in attendance when Kobe went for 40...he's got such grace and control over his game its something you have to see. Not to mention he's doing it with a broken right index finger?! And he made the game winning shot tonight in overtime? If I broke my right index finger (which, like Kobe, is my shooting hand) I don't even consider playing for a few weeks until it heals...and this dude just keeps trucking along, burying teams in his wake regardless of it. Amazing.

[Habib]

That is the second game winner he has made this season already, the one against Miami being the first.

But yo...Rasheed Wallace has become strictly a jump shooter these days and he is not posting up anymore and therefore being as productive off the bench as expected. I mean, the guy is shooting way too many 3's. He is not Eddie House, he needs to fucking post up!!!