Topic: NBA 2011

[dmaximus]

guess we all agree that the lakers,heat,celtics and magic are the favourites this season.

what about the proverbial darkhorse?

OKC,anyone?

im always scared of the san antonio spurs. Dallas?

[adyocampo]

Its a long shot but i hope the bucks can go the distance this time. Fear the dear 

Jennings
Salmons
Maggette
Gooden
Bogut (if he's ok to play)

For the west i hope portland or sacrament can also go the distance 

[pao9307]

im always scared of the san antonio spurs. Dallas?

spurs are always a team to respect come the playoffs.

dallas?overpaid underachievers imho.

[pao9307]

Its a long shot but i hope the bucks can go the distance this time. Fear the dear 

Jennings
Salmons
Maggette
Gooden
Bogut (if he's ok to play)

For the west i hope portland or sacrament can also go the distance 

ako naman sir sa east e NY fan pa ren ako ever since the Ewing days   

sa west?okc. 

[adyocampo]

ako naman sir sa east e NY fan pa ren ako ever since the Ewing days   

sa west?okc. 

Sana bumalik as playoffs contenders ang knicks  yeah one thing i noticed about NY fans, SOLID. i have a friend meron pang Knicks tattoo sa paa

[pao9307]

melo and parker (or cp3?) to NY in
2011! 

[iggi_08]

Speaking of the Knicks... 

He's baaack! 

Knicks re-hire former coach Thomas as prospect consultant

[DVD_Freak]

I still think LA willwin the champ not because Im a fan. They also address PG defensive weakness.

Did they?  On the defensive end, I think Farmar was the better defender than Blake.

[Cirque de Soleil]

Speaking of the Knicks... 

He's baaack! 

Knicks re-hire former coach Thomas as prospect consultant

oh no they didnt.. tsk2, they're heading to the road of self  destruction again.

[Battousai]

The Celtics came within 6 minutes of winning the championship this year, and that was without Perkins in game 7, whose size they severely lacked which showed when the Lakers dominated the boards. Bynum was not 100%, but so was KG. The Lakers were just too big for Boston, and now Danny Ainge has addressed that problem by adding Shaq and JO. No longer will you see Pau and Bynum getting as many offensive rebounds as they did in the finals this year. You can count on that.  

Celtics had 7 games to win 4  in the Finals, the better team just won in the end. They just got beat in their own game - defense - in game 7.


I watched Shaq from Orlando to Cleveland. Right now, he's really a diesel. You have to get him warmed up and maybe toss in a few Krispy Kremes on the rim to entice him to jump. LOL He's a space filler nowadays (effective in the long run and unproven as a subordinate), but other than Perkins and KG, not a lot of active rebounders on the Cs. If Bynum is healthy, he'll really make Perkins work and I just don't see Perkins that good a defender to match up with Bynum. Jermaine isn't an as effective anymore and I doubt he can muscle his way for a rebound against heftier players like Bynum and Pau.

Adding a thug like Barnes further adds defensive moxie to the LAkers and Blake's a far better point guard than Farmar was, but we've yet to see how he adapts to the triangle. Theo Ratliff, well, space filler, but an upgrade from Mbenga and Powell if only coz he's actually a big man who can still be a defensive presence. And Shannon Brown's back as well, giving LA athleticism and instant offense off the bench.

I still think Dallas is gonna surprise people with their suddenly gigantic line up. If Chandler stays healthy, he'll make them go deep in the playoffs.

[DVD_Freak]

If Bynum is healthy, he'll really make Perkins work and I just don't see Perkins that good a defender to match up with Bynum.

Blake's a far better point guard than Farmar was, but we've yet to see how he adapts to the triangle

Perkins has had great success against Dwight Howard the number one center in the NBA.  Is Bynum really better than Dwight?

Blake seems perfect for the triangle....but is slow a foot versus speedy point guards.  He'll make Fisher look like The Flash.  

[Battousai]

Yup, Perkins did a great job on Howard, but that's not enough against a better team like LA in the recent playoffs. Bynum can go finesse and brute force down low when he's mobile. Dwight's still a little stiff with his low post moves. All power pa rin but hey, the jump hook's getting better. Add the fact that Bynum's not forced to be the main focus on offense and it makes things harder for Perkins to match up with him. Perkins will have to worry about helping out on team defense as well. Against Orlando, body up on Dwight and let the others worry about boxing out and going for the board. An injury-free Andrew Bynum, I believe, has the potential to be better than Dwight IMHO.

LA has won back-to-back with a "slow" Fish, so it's really not big a deal with Blake. He's faster than Fish and a better passer. LA has had trouble in the PG position for the longest time, but they always manage to overcome it.

[Wiggum]

Just reviewed the early list of marquee games released by the NBA for the upcoming season: how come the schedule for at least one of the two LA-Boston games next season was not announced in advance?  Those should be eagerly-awaited games too, especially now with Shaq making the "The Defection".  I can understand the interest in the Christmas Day match-up pitting Kobe, Pau and the defending champions against Miami as the prohibitive favorites in the East.  But after last year's 7-game Finals and the roster changes made by LA and Boston in the off-season, I'm sure a lot of fans would prefer to see this rematch as early as possible.  

He'll make Fisher look like The Flash.

Don't think Steve Blake is that slow.  Obviously, he wasn't recruited for his speed and defense.  Guys like Kobe, Matt Barnes will help in defending quicker, more athletic guards.

    

        

[mzepol]

Celtics had 7 games to win 4  in the Finals, the better team just won in the end. They just got beat in their own game - defense - in game 7.

Sorry, but I can't agree with this. The Lakers didn't beat the Celtics in game 7 because of their defense - they beat them because they outrebounded the Celtics on the offensive glass (23-8), and somehow got to the line more times in the 4th quarter than the Celtics did the whole game (19-6 disparity in attempted FTs in the 4th quarter, 37-17 difference the whole game).

It's the Celtics who played excellent defense until the 4th quarter, holding the Lakers to 32.5% FG shooting and 20% from beyond the arc the whole game. Unfortunately for the Celtics, the one thing you cannot defend is free throws. 

[T33K0Y]

^ totally agree.

[daigoro]

I think this is the main reason why Gasol and Kobe get along so well is both of them are cerebral jocks. Kobe has an IQ of 117 while Gasol was a med student who is still interested in medicine.

Article on Gasol's other passion http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=friend_tom&page=drgasol-100806

[Onkyo606]

An injury-free Andrew Bynum, I believe, has the potential to be better than Dwight IMHO.

this is the problem, i havent seen bynum complete a season without getting injured

[daigoro]

this is the problem, i havent seen bynum complete a season without getting injured

I agree. I don't think Bynum is working hard enough on his conditioning to minimize his injuries. His legs are like twigs. Weird, Gasol is almost the same height and even plays longer and over many years, never gets the same type of injuries.

[DaSilva]

Knock on wood!

I think a big reason why Kobe and Pau get along well is that Gasol is happy being out of the spotlight and being known as a supporting player - even though he often is the team’s real MVP.

[Munskie]

Sorry, but I can't agree with this. The Lakers didn't beat the Celtics in game 7 because of their defense - they beat them because they outrebounded the Celtics on the offensive glass (23-8), and somehow got to the line more times in the 4th quarter than the Celtics did the whole game (19-6 disparity in attempted FTs in the 4th quarter, 37-17 difference the whole game).

It's the Celtics who played excellent defense until the 4th quarter, holding the Lakers to 32.5% FG shooting and 20% from beyond the arc the whole game. Unfortunately for the Celtics, the one thing you cannot defend is free throws.  

Game 7 was won in the last quarter.   And LA played the better defense in that quarter.  How many times I have watched that quarter, and amazed at how the Lakers were truly aggressive in trapping the ball carrier in their pick and roll defense.


In the 4th, Boston shot 36%.  LA shot  46%.  

Huge part of playing good defense is securing possession through defensive rebounds/preventing opponents off offensive rebounds.    LA did that, (allowing only 8 offensive boards)......Boston gave up 23.

Insinuation that LA got the better end of the calls....oh well thats always the side that is arguable.

Boston fans will always feel screwed by the Refs on that game 7.

LA fans will have it that the Lakers were the more aggressive team.

Maybe, blame could go the Ray Allen, who shot worse than the 6-24 Kobe chucked up....going 3-14, 21%, and to Kevin Garnett who only grabbed 3 boards in 38minutes.   I feel KG isnt the same player after the knee injury he suffered in 2009 season.  

_________________________

[Battousai]

Sorry, but I can't agree with this. The Lakers didn't beat the Celtics in game 7 because of their defense - they beat them because they outrebounded the Celtics on the offensive glass (23-8), and somehow got to the line more times in the 4th quarter than the Celtics did the whole game (19-6 disparity in attempted FTs in the 4th quarter, 37-17 difference the whole game).

It's the Celtics who played excellent defense until the 4th quarter, holding the Lakers to 32.5% FG shooting and 20% from beyond the arc the whole game. Unfortunately for the Celtics, the one thing you cannot defend is free throws. 

To sum it up: Boston choked. 

[dmaximus]

Ahaha are we still in the nba finals thread?  Watched the game 7 a hundred times. The celts played bad defense thus the fouls. A lot of controversial calls during the entire series but in the end the best team will always win. Thats 7 games. 7 chances to win.

Goin back to our topic... Bulls anyone?  Boozer is a big boost.

[kimpOy]

Speaking of the Knicks... 

He's baaack! 

Knicks re-hire former coach Thomas as prospect consultant

prospect consultant lang naman, di naman sya executive, isaiah has a keen knack of drafting gems in the draft eg. trcy mcgrady, david lee

[Dirk_Diggler]

Ahaha are we still in the nba finals thread?  Watched the game 7 a hundred times. The celts played bad defense thus the fouls. A lot of controversial calls during the entire series but in the end the best team will always win. Thats 7 games. 7 chances to win.

Goin back to our topic... Bulls anyone?  Boozer is a big boost.

Boozer is a big boost on regular season, choke machine come playoff time. 

[DVD_Freak]

To sum it up: Boston choked. 

.....along w/ Kobe!     Pau, Artest & Fisher were really the difference in Game 7.

[T33K0Y]

^ Agree 

[Munskie]

.....along w/ Kobe!     Pau, Artest & Fisher were really the difference in Game 7.

Bad shooting night.......but his 15 rebounds made up for that.   Instrumental in giving LA huge rebounding advantage.  Its good he has great support.

And they won. Which is what really matters.   

[T33K0Y]

^ Nah... t'was actually a bad shooting Finals for Kobe..

Hopefully, they face again next year... for sure it'll be more exciting specially now that the former Laker is now the Celtics' "Jolly-Green-Giant".

[DVD_Freak]

^ Nah... t'was actually a bad shooting Finals for Kobe..

I think it was a 39% FG for the entire series?   

[Battousai]

.....along w/ Kobe!     Pau, Artest & Fisher were really the difference in Game 7.

Yeah, but it's all good. Choking as a player and choking as a team usually has different results. I guess Celtics players know that now.