2012-13 NBA Regular Season Thread, Feel the Heat

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

If not for the Pelicans having to play the woeful Rivers minutes based on his draft position, Roberts would have had a bigger chance to shine. Dude has played well all season in limited minutes. Looks like a steal for New Orleans.

Very happy for him, saw him up close for 3 years playing for my favourite (and adopted hometown) team here in Germany and he was pretty fun to watch.

[korme]

Too bad.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Saw this on one of the ESPN guy's Twitter feed

"To put in perspective just how long this Heat streak had lasted, it began on Super Bowl Sunday"

[Groundhog]

Hinrich played well, but man, he had 3 blocks on him in that 4th Q that were all absolutely spectacular.

Bulls had to play just about perfect to win that one.

[RainMaker]

Place was rocking tonight. Team doesn't have that much talent (especially with Rose on paid vacation), but they play hard every night.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by whomario

Very happy for him, saw him up close for 3 years playing for my favourite (and adopted hometown) team here in Germany and he was pretty fun to watch.

Brian Roberts, former Dayton Flyer!

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by LloydLungs

The Hornets/Pelicans just obliterated the 15-game winning streak of a damn good team while starting and using Brian Roberts and Darius Miller for a combined 66 minutes.

We play the Heat Friday. We are coming for your winning streak, Miami. WE HAVE BRIAN ROBERTS AND WE ARE NOT AFRAID TO USE HIM. A LOT.

Love it

SI

[stevew]

Man, the lakers need to get their act together. Utah and Dallas are right on their heels.

[Danny]

I know Kobe takes a lot of grief for being a supposed selfish player or off the court stuff, but I think he has to be the toughest guy in the NBA

[whomario]

Big win for Dallas against Chicago after a stinker against Indiana the other night. Nowitzki with 35 on 14-17 shooting and what turned out to be the game winning 3 with 3 seconds left, about 20 PPG on near 55% shooting in march.
Without that knee surgery he´d have definitely dragged this sorry-ass team to 50 wins this year. He´s just now getting healthy and back to taking his usual shots, really. And if they make the Playoffs they aren´t likely to beat anybody 4 times, but i´d bet quite a bit on another 25/10 series and a clutch performance or two from Nowitzki.

Mavs and Lakers play each other on Tuesday and if the Mavs win they´ll have the tiebreaker for some pretty complicated reasons from what i´ve read. (not discounting Utah here, but obviously Mavs/Lakers is the intriguing teams here )

Mavs need to beat the Lakers and then win 2 out of 3 from @Den, @Sac and @ Por, then they have a shot with 4 home games and a lone road game @ New Orleans in their last 5.

[korme]

I know it's four days over now, but it's worth mentioning that LeBron shot 58% from the field during that streak. 58%! That's ridiculous.

[kingfc22]

Will Stern fine Miami for sitting James, Wade and Chalmers tonight?

[Ajaxab]

I'm thinking that if there aren't any fines that you'll see Duncan, Parker and Leonard listed with mysterious injuries for Thursday night's game against OKC. It will be the fourth in five nights and the second of a back to back for the Spurs. OKC will come into that game having not played since last night against Milwaukee. Yes, the NBA schedule makes a lot of sense.

[Ajaxab]

dola

Looks like resting your stars is a good strategy. Miami's defense was very impressive tonight.

[miami_fan]

For efficiency purposes, the NBA should just wait until the end of the season and fine ALL the teams for not playing star X or Star Y for games 74-82.

[stevew]

I'm rooting for the Lakers as much/more than any of their fans due to draft pick ramifications*, but this video...holy shit.




*The cavs can swap miami's #1 for the lakers #1 if the lakers make the playoffs. Miami's #1 then goes to Phx. If the Lakers wind up in the lottery, then the Suns get it(unprotected)

[JonInMiddleGA]

If anybody thinks the NBA isn't rigged in various & sundry ways, well, I just don't know what to say.

[stevew]

NBA conspiracy theories are by far my favorite sports related controversy thing.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by stevew

NBA conspiracy theories are by far my favorite sports related controversy thing.

NBA, NASCAR, WWE.

[molson]

Originally Posted by stevew

NBA conspiracy theories are by far my favorite sports related controversy thing.

It's so dumb. Whatever millions you'd have to pay refs to ensure the secrecy of this scheme isn't going to be recouped by having the Lakers win a game. The NBA doesn't get billions of extra dollars when the Lakers win.

Gambling refs, on the other hand, is always a potential issue. Maybe from a ref perspective its best to try to rig Lakers games because the tin foil hats will only suspect the the NBA.

I think in reality though, it's just hard to call the modern NBA game. The speed, the contact, the subjective nature of foul calls. It's a mess. I don't know how many decisions an NBA ref has to make in the course of a game in terms of calls/non calls - I'm sure its in the several hundreds. A 95% success rate would mean quite a few bad calls. And for a good number of those calls, there's not even a clear "right call" after you watch the play a dozen times.

[RainMaker]

I don't know, that Lakers-Kings series was fixed. And there is a lot to gain from future television deals by bringing in better ratings. You're looking at hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Ultimately I don't think it's a "make sure the Lakers win" type deal with a cash envelope as it's "make sure you protect such and such superstar" or "make sure you call the Kings on those moving screens they like to do" type deal. While those don't constitute the league being rigged, they do qualify as the league as not being played on level ground.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Former NBA'er Javaris Crittenton indicted for murder in Atlanta. Indictment alleges he was a member of the Crips & that the shootings were gang-related. Interesting to note that the indictment alleges that he joined the Crips in LA after being drafted by the Lakers.

Ex-Tech star Crittenton indicted for murder | www.ajc.com

[stevew]

That perhaps brings new life to the whole Arenas thing.

[Groundhog]

Arenas was clearly acting in self defense

[stevew]

the Los Angeles Clippers just set a new franchise record for wins with.....50

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by stevew

the Los Angeles Clippers just set a new franchise record for wins with.....50

And this shocks you?

[whomario]

Terrible injury for Gallinari last night, assumed to be a torn ACL and the way it bent there could be all sorts of secondary tears

[Neon_Chaos]

LeBron james sitting games is wreaking havoc on the Yahoo sports league I am in.

[korme]

I finished second in my league in the regular season and got bounced in the first round of the playoffs, and I solely blame Erik Spoelstra

[miami_fan]

The Knicks are killing the Thunder on the offensive boards.

[mckerney]

Was surprised to see the Knicks won their 12th straight and have the 2nd best record in the East. Hadn't realized it had been that long since they got rid of Isiah Thomas.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by stevew

I'm rooting for the Lakers as much/more than any of their fans due to draft pick ramifications*, but this video...holy shit.




*The cavs can swap miami's #1 for the lakers #1 if the lakers make the playoffs. Miami's #1 then goes to Phx. If the Lakers wind up in the lottery, then the Suns get it(unprotected)

Rockets fans all know they have to have the playoffs all locked up by next week. If it somehow comes down to their game at LA the final game of the season, there's no way they make the playoffs.

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by molson

It's so dumb. Whatever millions you'd have to pay refs to ensure the secrecy of this scheme isn't going to be recouped by having the Lakers win a game. The NBA doesn't get billions of extra dollars when the Lakers win.

Gambling refs, on the other hand, is always a potential issue. Maybe from a ref perspective its best to try to rig Lakers games because the tin foil hats will only suspect the the NBA.

I think in reality though, it's just hard to call the modern NBA game. The speed, the contact, the subjective nature of foul calls. It's a mess. I don't know how many decisions an NBA ref has to make in the course of a game in terms of calls/non calls - I'm sure its in the several hundreds. A 95% success rate would mean quite a few bad calls. And for a good number of those calls, there's not even a clear "right call" after you watch the play a dozen times.

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I don't know, that Lakers-Kings series was fixed. And there is a lot to gain from future television deals by bringing in better ratings. You're looking at hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Ultimately I don't think it's a "make sure the Lakers win" type deal with a cash envelope as it's "make sure you protect such and such superstar" or "make sure you call the Kings on those moving screens they like to do" type deal. While those don't constitute the league being rigged, they do qualify as the league as not being played on level ground.

1) It's happened before. And recently. It's not like we're talking in the shady past. And they didn't do anything to clean it up.

2) It doesn't require an army to pull this off. Remember the details about the Donaghy scandal: you didn't have to have every ref in on it. Heck, you didn't even need any refs in on it if you wanted to. Just make sure you had a couple of "company men". Heck, it only needs to be the guy in charge of official assignments. If I wanted to look at/collect data on who calls more or less fouls, I could change the outcome of a lot of games. One team is finesse and the other more physical- pick the refs that better suit the game you want. The refs don't even have to be cheating- they would be just be acting as normal, rational (blind) agents.

SI

[BishopMVP]

Question for someone who's seen the Knicks play the last month - is it worth the Celtics trying to pass one of ATL/CHI for 6th? I know JR Smith lights us up, but I still feel like the Pacers are a worse match-up or us. (Maybe that's just me not wanting to watch a Celtics-Pacers series that probably wouldn't see either team top 90 points.)

[Desnudo]

They would likely have to play the Knicks in rnd2 anyway.

[Groundhog]

The Cavaliers did a fantastic job of tanking the 4th Q tonight.

[Atocep]

I love how Jay-Z deciding to sell his 3 shares of the Nets is such a big deal.

[larrymcg421]

I'm not sure what's funnier, the accusations about future cheating (i.e. Stern will never let ______) that have a hilariously low success rate, or the accusations about past cheating that makes no sense (apparently the league did not want a game 7 in the first Mavs-Heat series).

I also think it's amusing to look at cases where the NBA didn't cheat. Despite all these benefits for superstars, Stern can't get LeBron to more than one finals appearance (where he got swept) in his first 7 seasons, he let Portland/Seattle get the 1/2 draft picks in a year when everyone wanted Oden/Durant. And the best is that in 2002 when Stern is obviously fixing things to make sure the Lakers make the finals, he somehow simultaneously ensures that the Celtics lose their conference finals matchup because he wants to avoid a finals matchup featuring the biggest rivalry in league history which would've undoubtedly been far more lucrative than a Lakers-Nets series.

Also, for this company man scenario, how much do you think this guy is getting paid? I can only imagine how much such a person would be able to extract for his silence. The risk just doesn't make sense for Stern, especially when he only does it in random situations that don't necessarily benefit him and avoids it in other situations where it clearly would've helped.

[Atocep]

Haberstroh has an article up on ESPN that puts the season Lebron's had into perspective. Here's a couple of quotes:

Take James' worst 10 games of the season by Game Score (a PER-like metric developed by John Hollinger to evaluate single-game performances) and you'll find that he averaged 19.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists in those duds. (Blake) Griffin this season? 18.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

Looking at recent history, Shaquille O'Neal and Amar'e Stoudemire are the only players who have shot better than James from the floor on at least 15 attempts per game since 1996-97 (when the StatsCube database began tracking shot distance data). When Shaq shot 57.4 percent in his 1999-00 MVP campaign, his average shot distance was 4.4 feet, or less than half the average distance of James' attempts (11.2 feet to be exact). When Stoudemire shot 59 percent in 2007-08, his average shot distance was 7.0 feet. So, if you lay Stoudemire and Shaq's average shot distance end-to-end, that's roughly the distance you're getting with James.

[whomario]

random WTF stat of the day: Reggie Evans averages 15 RPG in 28 mpg since the all star break, comes out at 19+ per 36 ...

[korme]

That's almost not a random WTF stat, though. His Per 36 throughout his career and particularly the second half of his career has always indicated that he's pretty much the best rebounder in the game, almost Rodman 2.0 without the defense.

[molson]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

1) It's happened before. And recently.

No, the NBA has not been caught rigging games before, let alone recently.

I've never heard anything close to a reasonable explanation about how any of this makes sense from a risk/reward analysis. The risks are everything, the rewards are almost nothing. Sports are huge business in America. Everybody does well. The NBA doesn't need the Lakers to get to another round, let alone win some random regular season game, or even get to the playoffs. Plenty of fans have more interest in the game when there's hot teams in different markets. That grows the league's fanbase as well. This is why the MLB has tried so hard to restore competitive balance (and they've had some success in doing so despite a ton of resistance from the player's union). I'd argue that the Yankees are far more iconic to baseball than the Lakers are to the NBA, and MLB has been desperately trying to reel in NY as a dominate franchise forever, and they've finally succeeded to some degree with the luxury tax. I could make an edited video with all the bad calls in any game, for either team, put it on youtube and have thousands of people buying the conspiracy theory. You can make a conspiracy theory case as to why any team should win the draft lottery (I think someone actually did that once), or why any team should win almost any given game.

[molson]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

I'm not sure what's funnier, the accusations about future cheating (i.e. Stern will never let ______) that have a hilariously low success rate, or the accusations about past cheating that makes no sense (apparently the league did not want a game 7 in the first Mavs-Heat series).

I also think it's amusing to look at cases where the NBA didn't cheat. Despite all these benefits for superstars, Stern can't get LeBron to more than one finals appearance (where he got swept) in his first 7 seasons, he let Portland/Seattle get the 1/2 draft picks in a year when everyone wanted Oden/Durant. And the best is that in 2002 when Stern is obviously fixing things to make sure the Lakers make the finals, he somehow simultaneously ensures that the Celtics lose their conference finals matchup because he wants to avoid a finals matchup featuring the biggest rivalry in league history which would've undoubtedly been far more lucrative than a Lakers-Nets series.

Also, for this company man scenario, how much do you think this guy is getting paid? I can only imagine how much such a person would be able to extract for his silence. The risk just doesn't make sense for Stern, especially when he only does it in random situations that don't necessarily benefit him and avoids it in other situations where it clearly would've helped.

That's why conspiracy theories are convenient generally, they only have to include stuff that fits the narrative. All of the stuff that doesn't fit the narrative is just discarded. The Lakers could win half their games this year, but the fact that they won that half is proof of the conspiracy. Why not get them a few more players and a few more calls and put them at the top of the West if that's so damn important? If it's so important that they get to the playoffs, why are they only 1/2 game up at the moment? That's cutting it a bit close. They should have rigged a few more games to get them up comfortable to #6 or so and away from a first round matchup with one of the top two teams. But the reality is, the Lakers in the first round doesn't generate any more revenue for the league. They're stale. The NBA got a ton of positive press and interest over the emergence of Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City. That was good for them. They won a lot of new fans. Leagues want parity. Business-wise, it's not all about LA, and it'd be insane to risk decades in prison for them just to win some more games.

[sterlingice]

BTW: End of Rockets-Suns last night: hilarious. And both fan bases seem happy as the Suns want to tank but not make it so blindingly obvious while the Rockets want any wins they can.

SI

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

BTW: End of Rockets-Suns last night: hilarious. And both fan bases seem happy as the Suns want to tank but not make it so blindingly obvious while the Rockets want any wins they can.

SI

I have read a lot about what a stupid play it was by O'neal, but I'm not so sure you can really blame him. With how high the ball bounced off of the back of the rim, I think it was hard to judge where it was going to come down.

[sterlingice]

I think it was inadvertent but it makes a better story if it's intentional

SI

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I think it was inadvertent but it makes a better story if it's intentional

SI

I can't remember where I first saw the story this morning, but the headline read like he did it on purpose.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by korme

That's almost not a random WTF stat, though. His Per 36 throughout his career and particularly the second half of his career has always indicated that he's pretty much the best rebounder in the game, almost Rodman 2.0 without the defense.

Most of that is talent, but a solid portion (at least on offensive boards) is due to him never being covered, and thus no one there to box him out.

[Young Drachma]

Maloof family gives Sacramento investors Friday deadline, report - ESPN

The Maloof family has set a Friday deadline for Sacramento investors seeking to buy the Kings, the Sacramento Bee reported Wednesday.

According to the report, the Maloofs have given investors until 5 p.m. PT Friday to submit a written, binding "back-up" offer that matches the deal the family has in place to sell the franchise to a group in Seattle, sources close to the deal told the newspaper.

Sacramento is trying to block a bid from a group that has a deal with the Maloof family to buy the Kings and move the franchise to Seattle next season. NBA owners are vetting both offers.

The source told the newspaper that if the Maloofs receive a matching offer by Friday, they will consider it as a serious back-up proposal should the NBA veto their tentative deal with the Seattle group.

The Friday deadline may be a last-gasp effort to keep the Kings in Sacramento. If the offer doesn't arrive or match the Seattle bid, the Maloofs have said they would end talks with the Sacramento group, the newspaper reported.

The source also described Sacramento's initial offer to buy the Kings a few weeks ago as 'not even close' to the reported bid from Seattle of $341 million made in January.

But after presentations from both sides in New York last week, NBA commissioner David Stern said the difference between the two offers no longer is an issue.

On Tuesday, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson announced a new investor to help fill the role vacated by billionaire Ron Burkle in the city's bid to keep the Kings.

Johnson said Sacramento developer Mark Friedman joined the group. The announcement came a day after Burkle backed out because of a conflict of interest stemming from his ownership stake in Relativity Sports, which manages some NBA players' careers.

Friedman said he will help build the planned arena in downtown Sacramento. He also said he had been in contact with the mayor since January and the timing of Burkle's decision had nothing to with his emergence.

Looks like the Sacramento backup bid is running out of air. Always seemed a bit too good to be true anyway.

[MrBug708]

Portland is in cahoots with the league to help the Lakers make the postseason. Their starting lineup:
lillard (rookie)
barton (rookie)
claver (rookie)
aldridge
leonard (rookie)