The 2006-07 NBA Regular Season Thread
 

3 mins till tip off (if I've got my timezones correct) of the season!

The Bulls are heading to Miami to kick off the season. Tough start to the season for the Bulls. Heat by 8.

We gave Miami a tougher challenge than anyone outside maybe Dallas last year in the Playoffs.

Bulls squeak this one out by 4.

Go Bulls!

Time to get the rings BABY!

Unfortunately I think the emotion of the night may help the Bulls more than it does the Heat.

I really like the Bulls roster this year. I've been a huge fan of Hinrich since his Kansas days, but Ben Gordon, Ben Wallace, Chris Duhon and P.J. Brown are all players I really like as well. I wasn't sold on Tyrus Thomas prior to the draft, but he did better than I expected in pre-season.

Bulls and Bucks (because of Bogut) will be the other 2 teams outside of Cleveland that I'll enjoy watching the most this year. It's just a shame they are all in the Central division!

Yeah the Central Division is absolutely loaded.

And from what I have seen, I am loving Tyrus. He's got so much potential and is as athletic of a player as there in the league. He reminds me of a Shawn Kemp circa '96.

Please don't jinx Tyrus! What did he ever do to you?
:p

What is the deal with Bogut's injury? First he is out 6-8 weeks then he is going to start opening night? I hope they are not rushing him back

He's starting on opening night? I wasn't aware of that. I read a few ago that he was recovering much quicker than expected, but wow. I don't think they'd risk rushing him back as Gadzuric is a serviceable replacement, perhaps his injury wasn't as bad as was first thought?

Wade with 6 points in 3 minutes. Not too shabby.

2 quick fouls for Shaq, and in comes Zo. The Heat were statistically more effective with Zo on the floor last year, interestingly.

MILWAUKEE -- Bucks center Andrew Bogut is expected to start Milwaukee's season opener at Detroit on Wednesday night after rejoining practice over the weekend.

Bogut, the top pick in the 2005 NBA draft, was diagnosed with a lower left leg sprain after he banged his leg into teammate Steve Blake's knee during a scrimmage Oct. 7. The injury originally was expected to sideline him six to eight weeks.

But Bogut returned to the court last week to shoot and do some individual drills, then practiced over the weekend.

After taking part in a full practice Monday, Bogut said he should be ready for the season opener.

"About Wednesday I did a fitness test and passed it," Bogut said. "I did a full session Saturday and a full session today, and I'm feeling fine."

He said his goal since the injury was to return in time for the opener.

"It was more of a challenge to try to get back quicker," he said. "Three weeks is good enough for me."



Coach Terry Stotts said he expected to use Bogut in the starting lineup, with Brian Skinner and Dan Gadzuric as reserves.



The rest of the starting lineup is expected to include guards Michael Redd and Mo Williams and forwards Ruben Patterson and Charlie Villanueva.



Forward Bobby Simmons has been sidelined with a heel injury.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press

Interesting...

Sounds like it's all good to go though, and not that they are rushing him back.

I can't wait for my Lakers to start. Been a fan of Lakers since Magic Johnson's rookie season.

Wow, that zero tolerance technical rule is ridiculous.

Like I said

Not a bad start. Hopefully our young team can stay focused and not let the game get close in the fourth, because we know that is DWade time.

Nice to see Ernie back as host for TNT.

Yikes. Come back from my lunch break and the Heat are getting stomped. Looking at their bench, they are really quite a shallow squad, aren't they?

Zo is good, Posey is OK, but it really drops off after that with a score of inexperienced players. I know that Williams is out injured, but is Doleac injured too?

I wonder what the record is for worst loss to start the season by the previous season's NBA champion? 42 points would have to be close...

They said the 1982 Lakers lost 132-115 to the Warriors was the worst before.

Wow, so the Heat (or should that be Bulls) absolutely destroyed that record.

Wow, Bynum starting for the Lakers? Was that expected? Both Brown and Mihm injured?

yes both out with injuries

Suns aiming for 100 before half time...

Lakers also doing really well on the boards, scooping up every single Suns miss - a whole 2 misses from 14 shots.

Damn the Suns.

Too bad Kobe is hurt too. I don't think it would of made a difference. Phoenix is shooting lights out.

With the exception of Lamar Odom the Lakers have an absolutely horrendous starting 5 tonight. Unless the Suns turn cold as ice in the second half this is going to be a massive blow out.

At least Jordan Farmar will get some court time.

Yep

Most of the Lakers players are role players for Kobe. Without Kobe it doesn't work out well. Kobe helps them by setting them up for a shot or gets attention from the defense.

I really like the young guys like Bynum, Farmer and Walton, Cook, Turiaf and Kwayme Brown. The future looks bright. They need to play with each and get experience.

I wish I had known all these guys were hurt before I took the over 208 total on tonight's game.

:(

You might still

Phoenix on pace to get 160 points..

So that means Lakers only need 49 points. :)

I like most of those guys (excluding perhaps Brown) too, but yeah like you say, they are young and strictly bit players at this point in time. The problem is that outside of Kobe and Odom, bit players describes most of their roster.

Mihm is OK, Smush Parker and Radmanovic are mediocre, the rest are just bit players who see too much court time, even with a healthy Kobe.

Nice run by the Lakers in the 2nd quarter. Now the score is 46-40 Phoenix.

Heh. DWade Got DStroyed

I almost bought a pair of the new DWade shoes for basketball yesterday too. Glad I went with the trusty Jordans instead. :)

Suns are learning that you can't let any team - even a Kobe-less Lakers - shoot 58% from the floor and expect to win. Horrendous game for them, while Odom, Bynum and Evans are all playing really well.

Bynum played really well in his first start. Odom look very aggressive. He has to keep that up even when Kobe comes back.

Nice win for the Lakers.

Well that was a beatdown! I hope the Heat does not decide to rest on their laurels. I knew the Bulls would be a lot better but they looked scary good last night. The Heat are only seven deep right now. Time to see what Pat Riley's ratings as far as evaluating young talent. The two that draw the most interest for me are Dorrell Wright and Wayne Simien.

Not really. I hope they tech like crazy so the guys get in line.

I just caught the end of the ESPN's pregame. Is Steven A Smith not a part of the show this year?

Nocioni raised his hands up, said nothing as he was walking back and got called for a technical.

Anybody who plays basketball knows it's an emotional game. Yes there are players in the league who over do it but to make them all robots out there is just silly.

This new Cleveland Cavalier court is really really not appeasing to the eyes.

Recently waived Rose will sign with Suns

Andrew Bogut last season: 9.4ppg 7.0rpg .533 fg%

Andrew Bogut over three games this season: 18.3ppg 8.0rpg .688 fg%

Only 3 games, but pretty impressive anyhow. Looks like moving Magloire for a more versatile forward like Villa and playing Bogut at his natural position is paying off.

Rookie Rankings thus far, according to NBA.com:

1. Brandon Roy, G, Portland - 18.3ppg, 4.3rpg, 5.0ppg
2. Rudy Gay, F, Memphis - 11.0ppg, 5.7rpg, 0.0apg
3. Adam Morrison, F, Charlotte - 16.0ppg, 1.7rpg, 2.0apg
4. Craig Smith, F, Minnesota - 11.0ppg, 3.0rpg, 0.0apg
5. Thabo Sefolosha, G, Chicago - 8.0ppg, 3.0rpg, 1.3apg
6. Rajon Rondo, G, Boston - 5.7ppg, 3.7rpg, 3.0apg
7. Jordan Farmar, G, L.A. Lakers - 7.8ppg, 1.5rpg, 1.5apg
8. Marcus Williams, G, New Jersey - 5.5ppg, 5.5rpg, 2.5apg
9. Tyrus Thomas, F, Chicago - 3.0ppg, 3.0rpg, 1.0apg
10. Jorge Garbajosa, F, Toronto - 4.7ppg, 3.3rpg, 1.3apg

Looks like Minnesota got a steal with Craig Smith, though they should have kept Roy rather than Foye and even without the power of foresight that was clear from day one. Roy should be a lock for Rookie of the Year if he can come close to mainting his current pace. Morrison needs to do something other than shoot the ball if he wants to challenge, but Rudy Gay probably has a legit crack at it as well.

I wanted Farmar or Douby for the Cavs in the draft while hoping to steer clear of Rondo, and thus far Farmar has impressed, Douby hasn't played, and Rondo has been pretty good.

Marcus Williams hasn't shot the ball well, but it was always clear that he was a gigantic steal that low. I really don't know what teams were thinking by letting him slip down to the Nets. It might have been a case like the Paul Pierce year, where teams didn't figure he'd be around where they were picking so they didn't even consider him. I would have taken him over any other PG in this draft, even Roy, who has been handling the ball a lot in Portland.

Shelden Williams has started for Atlanta thanks to Marvin Williams's injury, but has been about as good as he was in preseason (ie. not very good) and missed his first 9 shots over 3 games before finally scoring his first NBA field goal.

Andrea Bargnani should have been in the top 10 over Tyrus Thomas, who probably made the list thanks solely to his tip-slam over Shaq. Bargnani meanwhile has hit some shots and looks to have carried his preseason form over to the regular season, and has scored 2, 4, and 8 points over three games, meaning he is up for a 16 point game next. :)

Kyle Lowry is the other rookie of note, and has struggled with his shooting (1-7 so far), but pulled down 10 boards against the Knicks, which is pretty impressive for a 6-0 PG.

Let's Go Jazz!!

Oh, and Lakers too. :)

I love it when my teams are kicking ass.

Some early surprises:

Jazz, 4-0. I don't think anyone expected this good a start, but they have played 3 home games.
Sixers, 3-0. Korver has been on fire, but it can't last.
Atlanta, 2-1. Over .500??
Miami, 1-2. Everyone knows that the Heat don't show up till the postseason, and injuries haven't helped.
Suns, 1-3. Suns looking great in the preseason.
Dallas, 0-3. Ouch.

Still early days, but a lot of sucky teams are doing OK, while the three main contenders (Suns, Mavs, Heat) are starting slow. Of course, it's not how you start, but how you finish.

Lowery and Gay are going to be big moves for Memphis down the line.

Thebo is going to be a stud for the Bulls.

The Wizards had a nice heated battle for starting center this preseason (and this season, evidently) with Etan Thomas emerging as the winner.

He put up monster numbers last night against ORL (15 boards and 6 blocks). If they can get their perimeter defense straight, this could be the kind of breakthrough that gets them deeper into the playoffs...

I was just about to post this too. I think it's funny. Haywood seems to think the starting spot is his by birthright or something, despite the fact that he only shows up once every five games. Thomas, meanwhile, has just been amazing so far so it's not a good time for Haywood to get too fired up about it.

Cavs fall to 2-2 with losses to the BobCraps and the Hawks. Man, someone needs to get this team a fucking PG and a real head coach.