2013-14 NBA Season Thread

[stevew]

100% sold on Dellevedova as a rotation guy too. Aussie b-ball looking strong. Totally outplaying Jarrett Jack. Jack can't even execute a 2 for 1 correctly as a year 7-8 vet.

"2 Shitty shots ALWAYS trump 1 great shot".

[Groundhog]

Yah as I've said on fb, Dellavedova is a total surprise even to me. I knew he was good, but I had him figured as a strong Euroleague guy rather than NBA. Needs to get better defensively, but hey, so does everyone not named Deng.

Looking more and more like Jack was just in the perfect situation last year in Golden State.

[korme]

This Denver/GSW game has been wildly entertaining. The contrasting styles of undersized PGs (Curry, Lawson/Nate) is awesome to watch as they go back-and-forth.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Crazy to me that they stopped going to Robinson for a while there. He was white hot.

[mckerney]

I'm starting to think the Timberwolves might not be very good.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Good god what an ugly end for the Warriors. Great quarter and they just died at the end.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by mckerney

I'm starting to think the Timberwolves might not be very good.

Adelman is lost right now. He cant figure out how to get his rotation effective. Most good teams leave at least 1 starter on the court at all times.

Tonight he had the starters sitting 8 minutes in the 2nd quarter which allowed Sac-town a lead they never lost.

Kevin Martin and Rubio got benched for almost the entire 2nd half. Another thing that happens with poor teams. Once coaches lose control of their rotation it is usually a sign that coaches days are numbered.

Of course when Rubio isnt in the game Love doesnt dominate so at the end of the game it was Barea and Shved taking most of the shots.

I think Martin would be more effective coming off of the bench. Maybe he should consider starting Budinger moving Brewer to the #2 and give Martin 26-30 minutes per game off the bench.

[RainMaker]

I want Kevin Love in Chicago!

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I want Kevin Love in Chicago!

Free Agent after next year I believe. I am guessing the Lakers are targeting him.

Doubtful he will have any desire to stay in Minnesota after they didnt even give him the max deal last time up. He seems frustrated with the organization.

[Logan]

Nick Young Only Threw Punches at the European Players on the Phoenix Suns | The Big Lead

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Logan

Nick Young Only Threw Punches at the European Players on the Phoenix Suns | The Big Lead

How very Kevin Garnett of him.

[Chief Rum]

Most would have missed it late, but the Clips-Mavs game was something else. The Clips came back from being down 17 with four and a half minutes to play, and won 129-127. That's with no overtime.

[Desnudo]

Sullinger with 25-20. I'm looking forward to a Rondo/Bradley/Sully + hopefully Top 5 pick next year.

[korme]

The horrendous t-shirts have made their way to the ASG, with equally horrendous designs and colors:

[sterlingice]

The Nordiques are playing the Whalers?

SI

[nol]

If the goal is to look like some random youth league jersey you'd find at a Goodwill, these are the best uniforms ever.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

Sullinger with 25-20. I'm looking forward to a Rondo/Bradley/Sully + hopefully Top 5 pick next year.

Not a huge Humphries fan but I am happy to see him getting some deserved PT as well. The guy seems to always produce yet no team wants to stick with him. I can think of many worse options at PF that are starting right now.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

Sullinger with 25-20. I'm looking forward to a Rondo/Bradley/Sully + hopefully Top 5 pick next year.

I like them too, but let's be honest - there's a good chance Ainge is trading at least 1 of the young assets for a semi-established star. Ps, you know who had the last 25/20 game for the Celtics? Mark Blount during that 3 month 2004 contract run. (Btw, now in addition to rooting for Atlanta and Brooklyn to lose games we get to root for Philly to barely make the playoffs this year or next.)

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Not a huge Humphries fan but I am happy to see him getting some deserved PT as well. The guy seems to always produce yet no team wants to stick with him. I can think of many worse options at PF that are starting right now.

He's a case where you could actually argue the reality show has hurt him. He doesn't have a special skillset, but he's clearly a competent NBA 4 who rebounds and defends pretty well. Again though, his increase in playing time is more about showcasing him for a potential trade (has an expiring contract) than any real desire on our part to have him on the team in 2015.

[Groundhog]

Those All-Star jerseys... yuck.

[stevew]

I'd at least think about getting one of those, there's no way I'd get a sleeveless jersey. I bet a lot of people feel this way, this sleeve trend is all about moving merch to non-athletes.

[DaddyTorgo]

I'm under no illusions that Jordan Crawford is anything more than a complimentary player, but really what do you even potentially get with Joel Anthony, a 2nd round pick, and a protected 1st round pick? That's basically the basketball equivalent of "a bucket of balls."

With Rondo coming back that kind of move isn't going to help make your team worse to counteract that (then again IMO they should have shut Rondo down for the whole year anyways).

[JonInMiddleGA]

These monstrosities are to jerseys what bowling shoes are to fine footwear.

[cartman]

Rockets scored 73 in the first half tonight but only managed to score 19 in the second half, and lose to OKC 104-92.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

These monstrosities are to jerseys what bowling shoes are to fine footwear.

Pfft. My bowling shoes are quite stylish.

But yes. These t-shirt jerseys are the worst.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by cartman

Rockets scored 73 in the first half tonight but only managed to score 19 in the second half, and lose to OKC 104-92.

From the Rockets official Twitter

"First half = Godfather 1 & 2. Second half = Godfather 3."

edit to add:

From Elias: The Rockets scored a season-high 73 points in the 1st half, and a season-low 19 points in the 2nd half. That 54-point disparity is the largest by a team in a game in NBA history.

Also, from ESPN ... The Rockets shot 19.4% in the 2nd half (7-36)... It's their lowest FG pct in a half in at least the past 18 seasons (since the start of the 1996-97 season, as far back as we have play-by-play data from the NBA).

[Alf]

I guess the all star game is played in New-Orleans then

[BishopMVP]

Kevin Durant is ridiculous. 54 points on 28 field goal attempts. Steph Curry with a casual 37 and 10 in the losing effort (still can't understand why Mark Jackson kept him on the bench so long). The Western Conference is so much better and more fun to watch.

[nol]

Durant has expanded his game so much over the last couple years. He played excellent defense down the stretch last night matched up against Harden, and he still managed to get 6 assists tonight. It wouldn't surprise me if he's 2nd behind LeBron among all SFs for assists.

[whomario]

3rd, Batum is between them with 5.7.

But yeah, Durant has improved a ton in that area. Turnovers down as well.

[Karlifornia]

Durant went beastmode on my warriors tonight. Okc fans should be grateful. Amazing player

[stevew]

Dwyane Wade just turned 32. Kobe is 35. Both of these guys appear to be breaking down.

LeBron just turned 29. I wonder if he'll ever break down. IMO the over/under on all-nba seasons he'll have remaining after this year has gotta be like, 7-8, right?

[Desnudo]

Depends on how much HGH he injects into his injuries

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by nol

If the goal is to look like some random youth league jersey you'd find at a Goodwill, these are the best uniforms ever.

From 1975

[whomario]

Holy shit

the Nuggets need to start Mozgov and play him 30+ minutes btw. It´s laughable that they continue to play Hickson over him.

[ColtCrazy]

Originally Posted by stevew

I'd at least think about getting one of those, there's no way I'd get a sleeveless jersey. I bet a lot of people feel this way, this sleeve trend is all about moving merch to non-athletes.

I agree with this. You don't see many non-athletes willing to wear the usual jersey. But while I'm up for wearing soccer jerseys, there's no way I'm wearing anything the NBA has put out so far.

[Sublime 2]

Originally Posted by whomario

Holy shit

the Nuggets need to start Mozgov and play him 30+ minutes btw. It´s laughable that they continue to play Hickson over him.

lol Love the shot of the Cavs bench!

[nol]

Ever since seeing that old footage of Bill Russell going coast to coast and jumping from almost the free throw line for a layup, I think Russell in today's game would be like Kenneth Faried physically with the passing of Kevin Love and the defensive intensity and basketball IQ of, well, Bill Russell.

[korme]

Great Pacers game against the Clips to attend last night. That team is the real deal.

[Groundhog]

What about Paul George's dunk vs Clips. Wow.

[whomario]

Kevin Durant is ridiculous, basically 40 ppg on 60% shooting over his last 8 games.

[stevew]

I love that Thibs is like 7-2 since his GM traded away his best dude. Easily the 2nd best coach in the league.

Mike Brown on the other hand...holy fuck. I'm about to declare fan free agency. Maybe I'll just start investing myself in the WNBA.

[nol]

Phoenix is playing nearly perfectly tonight and is up 20 early in the 4th on Indiana.

[whomario]

big win for the Suns, especially without Bledsoe. Goran Dragic is playing on All Star Level, really fun to watch as well.

[Young Drachma]

Carmelo Anthony breaks MSG scoring record putting up 62 tonight against Bobcathornets

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

Carmelo Anthony breaks MSG scoring record putting up 62 tonight against Bobcathornets

Can anyone who watched explain why MKG only played 18 minutes? Even if he was getting torched, pulling him still means you've got to have like Gerald Henderson or Josh McRoberts try to cover Carmelo - somehow I don't think that's gonna work (and no surprise, it didn't.) Btw, I don't think that it's a good thing my first reaction upon looking at the box score was to be impressed that Carmelo took "only" 35 shots to get there. The 0 assists were no surprise.

Celtics figured out the key to stopping Durant - suck so much he feels comfortable taking the night off. I do think it's ridiculous that Stern fines Popovich for sitting players, and some of the blame has to go to the unnecessarily long schedule, but I would be pissed if I had tickets to that game. There's only so many times you can witness greatness like that in person.

[stevew]

I think this LOLCats coach might be good so I'm not sure what happened there with MKG.

[Groundhog]

Melo played like someone's MyPlayer in NBA 2K14. 62 points 12 rebounds 0 assists 0 steals 0 blocks.

[nol]

No turnovers either!

This has been a really exciting night with a lot of down to the wire games. In the last one, the Kings (minus Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins) somehow got a huge lead against the Pacers and are in the process of blowing it. Paul George sent the game into OT on a 4-point play with 15 seconds left (questionable foul call), and now the Pacers have things under control.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Melo played like someone's MyPlayer in NBA 2K14. 62 points 12 rebounds 0 assists 0 steals 0 blocks.

He was also playing into the 4th quarter in a 35 point game after playing the majority of the 1st half. I understand records are cool and all of that good stuff but Carmelo has played so many minutes this year and could have gotten a much needed "easy" game but nope he has to stay out there to get Benard Kings record.

I dont think many coaches, if any, would have left him out there.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by stevew

I think this LOLCats coach might be good so I'm not sure what happened there with MKG.

Yeah, I tend to like him, and he can coach defense. I'm assuming it was an injury to MKG, because ugly as it is, this is a battle between teams fighting for that 8th playoff spot, so it'd be a weird game to send a message with a benching.

Btw, don't look now, but the hottest team in the league at 9-1 in their last 10 is the Brooklyn Nets. Apparently they just needed more Andray Blatche and Mirza Teletovic all along.