NBA Off Topic

[madjax]

Re: NBA Off Topic

Knicks are a mess right now. I have Melo on my fantasy team and now that is injured he is putting up better numbers than we he is playing how sad is that?

I do understand that teams are playing a whole lot of games in a short time, but last i checked there are 12/13 players on a team. Why not coach the team better and distribute the minutes

[GOBLUE_08]

Knicks are a mess right now. I have Melo on my fantasy team and now that is injured he is putting up better numbers than we he is playing how sad is that?

I do understand that teams are playing a whole lot of games in a short time, but last i checked there are 12/13 players on a team. Why not coach the team better and distribute the minutes

D'antonti is not capable of that. he will run 8 guys ragged for the entire season then wonder why they fall apart come playoff time.

They are gonna have to make a move anyway. Melo and stoudamire arent gonna do anything for the knicks together. Melo is a black hole and stoudamire has to have touches to even stay interested in the game. I know melo is trying to be more of a team player this year but still to many wtf shots bein put up. They had an excuse last year, with the whole team chemistry, we arent used to playing together thing. But this year, no excuse. I know they needed the cap space or whatever, but chauncy was the one who brought any cohesion to this squad last year. When they got out of control, he was the one who slowed them down and forced them to run the play. That is something that is definitely missing this season.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: NBA Off Topic

From Silver Screen and Roll, what's everyone's thoughts on the bolded:

The problem is obvious, and very, very hard to fix.
It amazes me that no one on this board talks about this much, but here it is:

Anyone can see that these guys do not like each other. They don’t hate each other, but they have zero chemistry and you can see that for each of them except Kobe, whose work ethic borders on the psychotic, they are just professional men showing up for work every day, doing the job, and going home. They exhibit no joy in the game, or even much passion while playing it. They’re not a team.

Though it’s supposed to be "his team"—and he won’t allow it to be any other way—Kobe is so cold and unlikeable that although teammates may respond somewhat to his criticism and demands, he is not by any reasonable definition a leader. Being badgered and found lacking constantly is not leadership, it’s ultimately demoralizing…particularly when the supposed leader makes an exception to the "be a member of a team" thing whenever he feels like it and jacks 30 shots even if he misses the first 10 of them.

The Los Angeles Lakers are in big, big trouble, and it is not something that can be fixed with a locker room pep talk or a change in approach to coaching. They’re loaded with talent, so they’ll win quite a few games, but there’s no reason to believe they won’t collapse into mutual bickering and finger-pointing when the pressure of the playoffs rolls around, just as they did last year. There isn’t trust on this team, and damned little mutual affection.

And there is good reason for that: the requirements of the Lakers’ superstar severely limit the team’s ability to shape itself to be most effective, and now that he is getting older, he can’t make up the difference. One glaring example: why haven’t the Lakers had a potent point guard for more than a decade? Because the whole offense goes through Kobe, that’s why…and Kobe hogs the ball, so who needs a distributor?

Frankly, I think Lakers fans should be glad the Chris Paul deal didn’t go through, because those two guys would NOT have played well together.

The Lakers can blow up the team and bring in a bunch of new pieces to fit around Kobe, but the same dynamic will apply: whoever is on the Lakers will have to defer to the Iceman, who gets to follow a different set of rules. They’re going to resent that. If it turns out that it is a star like Dwight Howard, he’s going to wonder why the hell Kobe gets free rein to do whatever he likes when he’s the most dominant center in the game, and arguably a better overall player than Kobe at this point in his career.

If I were Howard, I wouldn’t want to play alongside Kobe. And I certainly wouldn’t want to play with Kobe and the dregs that would be left after Kobe’s and Howard’s salaries had sucked up every nickel under the cap.

At the end of the day, teams win championships. Even the 90s Bulls, dominated as they were by MJ, had a leader who could lead and who was willing to pass that final shot to someone else, even though he had a far higher rate of success in shooting game-winners than does Kobe Bryant. The combination of Kobe’s personality, the very odd mix of characters on the team and—I’ll say it—some of the too-slick-too-cool focus on looking good and hobnobbing with celebrities that being in LA brings has stirred up a brew that isn’t going to get better, honestly, until Kobe retires.

by Horkus on Jan 29, 2012 3:41 AM PST reply actions

[Drewski]

Eh alot of trash and fingerpointing by these supposed Laker heads. It's become a farce reading columns from these blogs.

One season where they are clearly in transition and suddenly Kobes demands are sucking the life out of Pau and Drew, while Drew is having a career year and Pau clearly is playing inconsistent. Can blame Kobe for taking too many shots, but everyone else on that team is tentative or simply can't score. Fisher, Barnes, Artest, McRoberts, PG fill in, Ebanks, Murphy. Guys who just... Don't score. Barnes and McRoberts will get a few cutting buckets but they can't shoot to save their lives. Fisher hits an open three or two a game. Artest can barely dribble the ball and they seem reluctant to post him.

The Lakers simply don't get easy buckets, and Kobe is having one of the best passing seasons of his career. Currently in total assists he has 116 good for 16th in the league, and is averaging 5.8 per game.

They have alot of problems, but it seems more to do with personnel than personal. This is basketball not days of our lives.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: NBA Off Topic

The Lakers don't get easy buckets or they don't look for easy buckets? There's is difference and from what I've seen in the few times I've watched them, I'd point more towards the latter.

[Drewski]

Re: NBA Off Topic

The Lakers don't get easy buckets or they don't look for easy buckets? There's is difference and from what I've seen in the few times I've watched them, I'd point more towards the latter.

Well, in my opinion, I'd say they don't get easy buckets as they really don't have anyone who can make a play for them outside of Kobe. Only guys Kobe can really make a play for are Drew and Pau. Outside of Kobe, no one else makes plays on that team, ever.

No one besides Kobe penetrates the paint forcing the defense to collapse or leave their assignment. The problem with that is, his two best players are post players, so it only drives defenses into them. Even worse, defenders can really key in on the painted area because LA doesn't have anyone who can consistently hit a jump shot, or an open three (as of now). So they can sag off a bit, read what Kobe is doing when he has the ball in his hands, and react accordingly without worrying too much about their man.

I've watched every game so far this season and there's nothing on that team that makes me believe they can score with ease, ever. Sure, Kobe takes alot of shots, and we can look at that as a problem, but they have no one else to force the issue or alleviate that.

They have been forcing it down low to Drew. Teams have quickly figured this out, and negate him by doubling him almost EVERY time he touches the ball in the post. Just put two defenders with their arms up around Drew, and he'll fumble. Drew, having no where NEAR enough time or experience in these spots, turns it over (just checked the stats on that as well, he's averaging a career worse 2.3 turn overs per game). Travels. Bobbles it. Misses a pass. Steps out of bounds. Things of that nature which I -believe- can be solved with more experience being put in a decisive position (something that Dwight is very good at, despite not having a great deal of "post moves" he can pull).

Gasol seems lost at times out there. Some games good, some games great, some games I don't realize he's in the game. No matter what though, the constant is he isn't posting up nearly enough. Whether by design or by his own fault, I'm unsure. He's a good face up player, but he hasn't been aggressive in face up situations. Every now and then he'll take his guy to the rim, using his lengthy arms to pretty much negate a defender when he gets in a scoring zone, but more times than not he is taking mid range jumpers. He's a good mid range player, but he needs to get down to the paint more frequently.

Gasol is currently shooting at a 50.6% clip, the lowest since he became a Laker. Making matters even worse he's average a career worse 3.4 free throws a game. His career average FTA is 6.1. He's also averaging 16 points a game, a career low. Can't blame him not getting shot opportunities, either, as he's taking 13.2 per game, and that's around the average of what he's always taken with the Lakers.

I'm not scapegoating Pau, there are a ton of problems, but when your "elite" second fiddle to Kobe, on a team with sparse scoring talent as it's currently constructed besides three players, is playing arguably his career worse numbers, that's a big problem.

EDIT:

And another thing I think is ridiculous from that quote is the notion that CP3 would not have addressed issues on that team. Kobe is NOT Melo, and does NOT need the ball in his hands to do damage. He's more cerebral than that, and having someone who can handle the ball while he works off the ball would have done wonders and opened things up for him, and Bynum. Kobe works best off PnR in the mid range, in the post, and off of plays that run his defender through a screen. He doesn't need to drive and have the ball in his hands in order to be effective.

One glaring example: why haven’t the Lakers had a potent point guard for more than a decade? Because the whole offense goes through Kobe, that’s why…and Kobe hogs the ball, so who needs a distributor?

The Lakers have been built around the TRIANGLE for the last what? Ten years, sans the non-PJ between the three peat and the three straight finals/sweep period. They went all in on BIG MEN (Gasol and Bynum) and obviously Kobe. Those three alone tie up $59 million. With the salary "cap" (the point where they can only offer exceptions in trades aka MLE, Vets Mins, etc) at $58 million, I'm curious as to what POTENT point guard they haven't picked up with their mid level exception. Or when, at any point, they had a crack at a PG. The only time they would have really gone after a PG was once the Triangle was chunked by Jim Buss' obsession to make the Lakers HIS franchise by removing all things Phil, and guess what? They went straight after Chris Paul.

[Kobalt]

Re: NBA Off Topic

Something tells me JR doesn't like China.

http://deadspin.com/5880362/please-get-jr-smith-out-of-china-before-his-family-starts-world-war-iii/gallery/1

Spoiler

[Altimus]

Re: NBA Off Topic

That is a whole lot of tats on his GF. Damn!

[King_B_Mack]

Re: NBA Off Topic

That is a whole lot of tats on his GF. Damn!

Looking at JR are we surprised though? Still...WTF? That's not even sexy at all. Like...how do you even look at that and say 'damn I gotta get her number.' It looks like her chest is COMPLETELY covered in tats. I can't even begin to fathom what the rest of her body looks like under those clothes.

[l3ulvl]

Re: NBA Off Topic

I think she's kinda cute

[TheMatrix31]

Re: NBA Off Topic

That is so JR Smith.

[RedSceptile]

Re: NBA Off Topic

That is so JR Smith.

He's such a model citizen and outstanding gentleman.

[OSUFan_88]

Re: NBA Off Topic

But seriously, get him out of China before he starts a war.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: NBA Off Topic

Karl Malone Interview(here's the link in case you want to hear it yourself: http://www.975thezonefm.com/audio.php

It was one of the greatest interviews of my life.
I was co-hosting on "The Gordon Monson Show" last Friday on 1280-The Zone, and Karl Malone was the guest. As the four-hour interview began, Malone kicked off his shoes. Literally. He was in his stocking feet. Then he leaned back and told us to ask any questions we wanted.
Because I couldn't take many notes while we were doing the show, I'll have to rely on memory and a few partially scratched quotes. But among the things he said:


* Jerry Sloan quit because he didn't get the support of Jazz management, last year. Malone claimed that he had it on good authority that Deron Williams' insubordination had persisted and finally boiled over that night last season against Chicago in the Jazz locker room. Williams had broken several plays during the game and the coach and player argued heatedly afterward.
According to Malone, Jazz CEO Greg Miller and general manager Kevin O'Connor failed to back up Sloan's wishes to suspend Williams, so he quit. Still, the hole in the story is that if Williams was more valuable than Sloan, why trade him a week after Sloan quit?
• Jimmer Fredette shouldn't worry about defense in the NBA. "If I shoot like that, you play defense."
* Malone said he could see himself, John Stockton and Jeff Hornacek one day coaching together. One idea he has is to move the Jazz franchise to New Orleans. Then move the Hornets to Utah, which would mesh nicely with the symbolic honeybee in Utah culture.


* Dick Bavetta, the NBA ref who Jazz fans believe misjudged two calls in the closing moments of Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, later apologized to Malone and Stockton.
The Mailman said when he and Stockton saw Bavetta at an exhibition game the following fall, the longtime referee said he had suffered "the worst summer I've had in my life" after waving off Howard Eisley's 3-pointer in Game 6. He added, "I tell you, that happened, and it came from Dick Bavetta. Now, if somebody say it didn't happen, they lyin'."
* I asked Malone who would have been a better player if he and Stockton hadn't been teammates. Malone said, "I'm not gonna answer that."
*Asked about the night he bloodied Isiah Thomas' eye (Thomas claimed he could have been blinded), Malone said, "First of all, he's lying about being blinded."
* Malone came to Utah for the Phoenix game last year, right after Sloan quit. He said he actually made inquiries through the Jazz for tickets but was told none were available. He ended up buying tickets from a scalper.
* Malone said when he left Utah for the Lakers, "without a doubt they (the Jazz) didn't want me." Malone said the main person who wanted to move forward without the Mailman was Jazz G.M. Kevin O'Connor.
* Malone said Utah will have a tough time acquiring superstars, saying the only way to get one to stay here is to draft him and develop him here. But keeping one here? He doubts it.

"If a superstar comes here, I don't see it," he said. But he added, "Even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in awhile."
* When I asked him if Michael Jordan pushed off Bryon Russell to get his famous shot in Game 6, 1998, Malone said: "You're insulting my intelligence."
Of course MJ pushed off.
* Asked what player he most hated, Malone said: "Derrick Coleman."
"Who else?" I said.
"Derrick Coleman."
"Who feared you, feared seeing you come in the building?"
"Derrick Coleman."
* Malone said he expects to one day move back to Utah and added that he'd love to coach the Jazz "in the right situation."
* On Charles Barkley: "I don't golf and I'm better than Charles. What's he doing, chopping wood?"

http://www.deseretnews.com/blog/41/10012922/Rockmonster-unplugged-Mailman-sounds-off-on-Jazz-MJ-Isiah.html?pg=3

[TheMatrix31]

Re: NBA Off Topic

But seriously, get him out of China before he starts a war.

Hopefully Cheng Zhi abducts him forever.