Basketball

[socialistjustin]

The NBA season is starting soon and teams can speak to free agents starting today. Does anybody watch the NBA or perhaps the Euroleague? If so who is your favorite team and how do you expect the season to go?

Been a Lakers fan since I was a kid. Looks like we could get Howard, but I would rather keep Bynum and go after Deron Williams. If we get a PG, we win a title.

[His Dudeness]

I like Oklahoma City Thunder and Chicago Bulls a lot. But it's hard for me to watch the games live because I live in Holland, so I have to stay awake really late at night to watch a game.

I think the Bulls will kick the ass of every opponent this year and gain the title.

[Dumb]

I'm a Kings fan, and am eagerly anticipating some floor time together for 'Reke, DMC, Jimmer, Thornton, and whoever we sign in free agency. All I know is, this is going to be a truly chaotic 3+ weeks...the Kings have more than $25 million in cap space, though, so we ought to be able to land a decent piece (I'm thinking Marc Gasol - the Grizzlies are a bit tied down with Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph signed to max deals).

[socialistjustin]

I remember the Kings rivalry. I still watch the Horry shot on YouTube.


Jimmer is going to be good coming off the bench. I watch UNLV Basketball so I got to watch some BYU and Jimmer can obviously shoot, but can't really play defense. I also doubt he is allowed to spot up from wherever like he did in College.

Marc Gasol would be a great piece to add. Should be cheap too.

The big news is that the Celtics want Paul and would trade Rondo to get him. Another mistake if that happened and Paul wouldn't to play for an aging Celtics team.

[Black_Rose]

I remember the Kings rivalry. I still watch the Horry shot on YouTube.



Do you think that game was a farce, as Tim Donaghy alleges to protract the playoff series and increase the chances of a large-market team winning the Championship in 2002?

[Dumb]

Do you think that game was a farce, as Tim Donaghy alleges to protract the playoff series and increase the chances of a large-market team winning the Championship in 2002?

There were a couple prominent miscalls in that game (especially Samaki Walker's three-pointer at the half-time buzzer that was released too late), but by and large I would not call game 4 of that series a farce.

As for the officiating in game 6, I'll only say this: my mother and I went to watch game 6 on the jumbotron at ARCO Arena that night, and upon coming back home, our neighbor - an avid Lakers fan for over thirty years at that point - come out to tell us that he was ashamed of that game, and that he'd be rooting for the Kings to win game 7.

That being said, the 2000 first-round series and the Lakers sweep in 2001 were completely legit. :mad:

[Dumb]

I remember the Kings rivalry. I still watch the Horry shot on YouTube.

I still watch that shot in my nightmares.


Jimmer is going to be good coming off the bench. I watch UNLV Basketball so I got to watch some BYU and Jimmer can obviously shoot, but can't really play defense. I also doubt he is allowed to spot up from wherever like he did in College.

I don't buy into the Jimmer hype, but I suspect his defense will be better than his reputation suggests. Because of how dependent his team was on his shooting in college, the coach specifically ordered him not to play defense so that he could stay out of foul trouble. Yeah, it cost the team some buckets on defense, but no Jimmer on the floor in the last two minutes spelled certain doom.

Granted, maybe Fredette's reputation as a poor defender might pan out, but his NBA circumstances are going to be so different from his college circumstances that there's really no way to say yet.

[socialistjustin]

I can't even remember game 6 to tell if it was a farce or not. I don't believe game 4 was, but game 6 is out of my memory for whatever reason. The thing I remember most about the series was Kobe going off in game 7.

I know that big teams are treated better than small teams though so the refs probably missed calls on purpose. I think we were the better team anyway, but yeah the Kings probably got screwed because they were from a small town. That's the way the NBA works. Even stars get preferential treatment. It sucks because James and Rose always get calls while others don't get them.

[socialistjustin]

The Lakers traded for Chris Paul today only for the league office to say no to Paul's wishes. The league owns the Hornets and apparently a bunch of small market owners got pissed that the Lakers were going to get better so Stern blocked the deal. Yeah, let's keep this guy where he doesn't want to be all because a team happens to be a big market team.

I am pissed as a Lakers fan and am pissed for the players. How the fuck do you think Gasol and Odom, part of the trade, feel right now? Not good. Why should a human being be kept from choosing where he wants to work like Paul is right now? Let's be honest, a player can get injured and most of the time that player is released so why should a player have to be loyal? Why should Paul be forced to play somewhere so the small market owners can pound their chest and say "yeah we won a battle!"?


The players have once again been fucked by the owners. You got one set of guys, Odom and Gasol, in a horrible situation and Paul being forced to do what he doesn't want to do. If this is going to be how the league operates from now on, then they can go fuck themselves.