Basketball Super Thread - Evil Empire

I'm reading crazy things about this Celtics/Warriors game right now, are we gonna break the streak?

@dinosaurcanada: Double OT, but maaaaaannnn... Would've given Boston a ton of confidence going forward. Still, they almost got it done.

What a win by the Warriors. That was a great game. The Celts are legit. They might be the 2nd best team out East.

Also the Pels won. They played absolutely infuriating, but that's the norm now unfortunately. There a moments of smart defense and offense, and you think of man they grasped the new schemes!! Then.... Tyreke pounds the ball for 20 seconds or Cole on a 1v1 fast break settles for a contested midrange shot instead of attack! Or getting the ball with 35 seconds on your side of the court but somehow don't get a 2 for 1. This team is just so frustrating. They have moments of brilliance then just absolutely confusing dumb stretches that make you question if they know how to play basketball. Either be good or bad Pelicans I can't handle this flip flopping.

Ugh the Wizards are collapsing in a heap and like 1/3 of the team is rotating through an MRI tube at any time over the past 3 weeks for various reasons, to the point where they had to play Jared Dudley at center and ask Otto Porter to crash the boards against nearly 7-foot opponents. Also the Wizards are taking (and missing) a lot of shots from beyond the arc, regardless of whether they're wide open or have a defender in their face. Maybe they need to focus more on aiming their shots and less on the layup lanes during pregame warmups? Hope they figure it out soon.

So the Warriors' amazing streak finally ended last night. You could kinda guess it was coming after that double OT game in Boston just the night before. It was one of the most impressive stretches period, then for sure the best to start off the season. They came out to show they weren't "lucky" or any other b.s. reason someone could think up last year. It'll be exciting to see what they do the rest of the year. Will they try and go for the single season wins record or will they cool off and focus on rest? The Spurs are the only team I could see fighting the Warriors for the top seed in the West, but still the Warriors already have a pretty sizable lead and the Spurs are going to rest too.

@dochaus: After the Wizards' playoff run a couple years ago, they became my team out East to watch mostly (though I don't follow too closely). After watching that Pels/Wiz game I think they played better than you're giving them credit for. They kept Jared Dudley in on AD because AD doesn't have a post game to punish smaller players yet, and the team seemed to be knocking down a good amount of their threes. All in all the Wiz deserved to win that game. Though if you're still feeling down and think they should make a change might I suggest a trade? How about John Wall for literally anyone not named Anthony Davis? Haha yeah pipe dream there. A Pels writer asked on Twitter if people would trade all three of our guards (Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon, and Tyreke Evans) for John Wall, and it was a resounding yes. Unfortunately for the Pels and their fans I imagine that that yes wouldn't be echoed from the Wiz side of the equation. Hopefully the Wiz can turn it around though, because it looks like the Pels sure aren't figuring it out. I mean 15 4th quarter points to Aaron Brooks, he had two before that! IT'S AARON BROOKS!!

@mattadord: Yes, the Wiz could use a big guy right now, but the price to get one would be too high, and there aren't any great 5s or stretch-4s just hiding out in D-League or the free agent pool that haven't been taken by other teams. Heck, the best Big Guy we could find was a journeyman named Ryan Hollins after Martell Webster was confirmed out for the season, and we found out quickly why he was still available. Now Randy would rather play DeJuan-freaking-Blair over him. As for Wall and Beal (when he stops getting injured), I imagine they'll eventually shake out of their funk, but it's the short term that's painful to watch.

@dochaus: What if we throw in Ryan Anderson in that trade? haha I remember seeing some of the signings y'all made this offseason and thought they would work out. Not so much it seems. What's up with Beal? He always seems to be injured lately. I remember I went to the Rookie/Sophomore game the year All-Star Weekend was in New Orleans with my dad, and told him I would trade anyone on our team, except AD, to get Beal. Am I hyping him up too much in my mind or is he for real but just can't stay on the court?

First I want to give a shout out to Gordon Hayward for throwing a cross court pass into the 10th row at the end of regulation. Actually like the dude as a player, but OKC needed that to get to OT tonight and win.

It's still early enough to climb on board the Ben Simmons hype-train right? The main reason I watch any college basketball is to look at future NBA guys, and today I finally watched a full game of his for the first time. WOW! I can't remember seeing a player at that level so willing and hungry to keep the ball moving and feed his teammates. He somehow only came away with 5 assists, it felt like he had 15. Is he typically more assertive in getting his own shots, or is he just a pass first, point-forward type?

Whatever the case, as thrilled as I am about how exciting this NBA has started out, I really hope whoever ends up with him next year has a solid enough talent and coaching base to let him actually compete from year 1. He has special written all over him.

@mattadord: In my (biased) opinion, Beal is the Real Deal, but he has a bad habit of getting injured in the first quarter of every season, and now he's going to be out 'til early-mid January with an ankle problem. I imagine this is going to put a dent in his case to get a max extension come contract negotiations, regardless of how this season ends. Especially considering that most of the contracts on this Wizards roster are revolving around the hope that #KD2DC happens next year (which I doubted even before this season began). I hope that Grunfeld has a Plan B if Durant decides to stay in OKC or go elsewhere, but I wouldn't be surprised if he does not.

@ronmexico: I just hope Simmons doesn't get stuck playing for the Sixers. Other than that, agreed.

@dochaus: Well that's great to hear that he is the real deal. If only we could get someone like that to put alongside AD. The Wiz always seemed to prosper in spite of their management and coaching as of late it seemed to me so I understand your timidness about having a back up plan.

The NBA trade season is upon us. The big names that have been making the rounds are Markieff Morris (Suns), one of the many Bulls F/C's, and Ryan Anderson (Pels). It was nice to see that the Pels weren't openly shopping Anderson, but just listening to offers. I think that is the best move until the trade deadline. Then the team needs to decide if it is in the playoff push or should just get what they can for him.

A lot of Pels people are calling the blow up the team and start over. I'm not quite ready to say that, but I'm definitely willing to hear out trade offers for our guys. Tyreke Evans and Omer Asik are the players most needed to be moved. Evans there might have a chance of being traded, but I don't know for what or to whom. Asik.... well not so much. Evans just doesn't fit the system. He pounds the ball, and doesn't get us into our sets till it's too late in the shot clock (other players are to blame on that last part too though). Anderson is probably the most likely to be moved with Eric Gordon being second, but I'm not sure what we will get for either of them.

So what are some trades you think will happen or you want to see your team make? Let the trading commence!

@gaspower: Thanks for that.

Hey, Kobe with 31 points!

KOBE!

The Ryan Hollins experiment has ended in Washington, what with a playoff rotation being instituted due to 1/3 of the roster rotating through an MRI tube at any point over the past month. In his place, they signed a Spurs player who already won his league's 3-point contest. Okay, the D-League's Austin Spurs, but it still counts.

Maybe the Wiz could take a flyer on Markieff Morris? Not sure who the Suns would want in return though.

Man, a month ago I was high on this Bulls team. On paper, we were all healthy and it looked like this could be the year.

Now I'm almost ready for them to blow it up. There are trade talks being floated around and I'm not even stressing about losing some of our bigs. In the preseason I couldn't bear to see anyone go.

New coaches and systems take some transition, but this is starting to feel like the players just have no chemistry.

Almost time for Christmas basketball!!! I can't wait for the games. I hope the Pels keep the good play going! TakeFlight!!

I love ABC's presentation, so looking forward to their pregame stuff tomorrow.

The Sixers won a basketball and the Warriors didn't! On the same night! The damned reckoning is upon us!

So David Blatt. Did anyone see that coming this early in the season? I know his time was numbered, but I saw the headline and went "whaattt????"

Well in the middle of the season...I guess I was super surprised that it happened the day before they were gonna have a big prime time game but with any kind of big change like that I guess there really isn't a good time for it.

I guess it sorta helped the Bulls though since they won that game following Blatt's firing.

One thing to consider is that David Blatt wasn't hired to coach that team. He was hired to coach Kyrie Irving, Andrew Wiggins, and a bunch of so-so players. Then, LeBron decides to come back to Ohio and that gets the ball rolling. They trade Wiggins for Kevin Love to get into "win now mode" and all the sudden it's a very different team than when they hired Blatt. Honestly, I think he was a little in over his head and they needed a head coach that has a little more respect around the league. From the outside looking in it seemed like LeBron and company didn't really respect Blatt as a head coach. Their record was good but many feel it was in spite of Blatt, not because of him.

@hippie_genocide: Perfect oppurtunity for Blatt to do what he actually was gonna do and coach Wiggins and co. in Minnesota. That team is a wreck even though it is filled with tons of young talen.

@hippie_genocide: Yeah, I was very well aware of that fact that he was hired before the organization knew that James was going back, just the timing of the firing and all that.

@i_stay_puft: Yeah I was about to say that Minnesota should try getting him as the HC. With the organization in transition with Saunders passing though I don't know if a coaching hire will happen this season.

In other news, I wonder if the Nets are really going to go after Thibs.

Right, originally meant to be sort of like the Brett Brown role in Philadelphia as they build up (ok, except several tiers up). But Lebron changes expectations for a five year plan to NOW. All of a sudden, though, media's got a lot of speculation to write about and make James seem like a villain. Regardless, I kind of agree with Stan Van Gundy's reaction to this whole thing.

Being an NBA coach must feel like a thankless job at times. I don't know a whole lot about the behind-the-scenes of the Cavs organization, but I do remember when Luol Deng went over there and was shocked how different it was from a steadier organization like the Bulls (though that's been a mess lately, but that's another story for another time).

First it's the coach's fault, now they are just out of shape....

No you just can't beat the warriors, or the bulls for that matter. Cleveland is such a garbage organization bending over backwards for one player, especially for a dude who left them in the first place. smh.

Anyway

Go bulls! As inconsistent as they are and however unlikely it is for them to make it past the second round this year, still gotta ride with my team.

Just thought I'd share this amazingly hilarious quote from good ol' Pop. I assume this was taken after their game with the Warriors.

My god, Steph Curry might have the greatest shooting touch ever. As a Sonic fan I've seen a few dudes who can shoot such as Ricky Pierce, Dale Ellis, Hershey Hawkins and Ray Allen but my god was Steph Curry taking some of those 3's from nearly half court and draining them.

It's just weird because the guy is such a likable dude you don't want to really go at the guy but if this was the 80's or 90's a guy like that would more or less get bodied for a bit to ensure he doesn't drive the lane, aka send a message. It just helps isolate him to just his outside shot which more or less isn't even a guarantee winner cause the guy is a monster.

To add a bit to the coaching discussion after Blatt's firing. I see a ton of people calling for the Pels to fire Gentry even though we haven't even finished the season yet! I mean give the dude a season at least, and then don't judge him based on this one it has been so injury riddled that it is hard to judge properly. The coach always gets blamed even when it isn't there fault. Gentry does deserve some blame, he said he found it hard to get Evans and Holiday in the game together (Dude Gordon is hurt just put Holiday in the starting lineup. There I fixed the problem for you!), but to say that we should fire him or he is the worst coach in the NBA (from Bill Simmons) is a bit much this early, especially after this turn around in January.

So just when things were looking up for the Pels it looks like we are going to lose both Evans and Davis for awhile. Evans is again having knee problems, and to pile on top of Evans' horrible game last night he concussed Davis. I hope these injuries either don't last long so we can still push for the playoffs or push out of the playoff hunt so we can start trading our pieces for some picks or some promising young players. Though Jrue Holiday has looked amazing in January. He had a +32 in the game against the Bucks!

Blake Griffin broke his hand throwing a punch at one of his besties. Same old Clips.

Bradley Beal was back for a few games from another injury only to get hit literally in the face by the Celtics and now he's out again with a concussion and a broken nose. What I wouldn't give to see an uninjured Beal right now, as Temp is coming back down to Earth and we don't have anyone else (maybe Jarrell Eddie?) behind him.

And speaking of fisticuffs, Byron Scott is ready to throw down.

Anyone else been listening to The Vertical Podcast with Wojanowski? He's had a pretty good mix of guests so far, from Silver to players to coaches and GM's.

I just listened to the most recent Lowe Post podcast. They talked a bit about the firing of Blatt and everything. They talked about how Blatt was pretty much hated by everyone in the Cavs organization. He just gave up on calling time outs and gave the responsibility to Lue and Lebron. Then they both talked about how they would give Blatt kinda easy "give me" type questions and he would just answer them so seriously. Example Lowe said he asked a question along the lines of last season was so crazy with Lebron coming back and injuries, but still you almost won the championship. Lowe said he just wanted a quote about the craziness of NBA life or whatever. Instead Blatt answered "I've won many championships before". He also apparently said after getting the game ball after his first win that he had already won 700 games this wasn't his first win. When I first heard about the firing I just figured Lebron and the Cavs just didn't like him trying to control them and all. After hearing all this it just sounds like Blatt is kinda a dick. I don't think being a dick should get you fired, but still it is crazy how he essentially alienated himself in only a year with the entire organization.

@mattadord: Honestly it doesn't sound like the guy was a dick but it sounds more like he didn't understand the ritual and fraternity that the NBA is and how milestone such as "first win" are important. He admitted at some point that he came in over his head the first season and he mentioned that the pressure was off because he understood the differentiation between the NBA and European basketball. The reason why Blatt regulated time outs to Lue and Lebron was because he did not have a good understanding of mandatory tv timeouts. He seems like a very no-nonsense coach who lacks the people skill to deal with established superstars I could definitely see this guy maybe going to a college and succeeding or wouldn't mind him serving as an assistant for a couple of years to see how others do it. Blatt is a very excellent x's and o's coach but he found it very hard to push his princeton style offense when Lebron wants to push the ball and call iso's for himself whenever he wants.

Also who the fuck cares what Lebron thinks, if you have not won a championship before he arrived he won't respect you as a coach. That seems pretty plain and simple. If you have won a championship (Pat Riley) he will respect the words but then try and make it on his own and Riley wasn't even coaching him! The living dilemma which is Lebron, he is starting to understand the mortality of The King now that he is starting to lose some of his hops.

I've got nothing to add. I just enjoyed this post.

The thing is I love when players get involved with coach and gm duties, it shows they care. For some reason though it feels like LeBron went a bit too far with it. He went to Cleveland, basically told Griffin to trade away an incredible player (granted we didn't know at the time) for a player they can't even play for the finals, and now wanted a coach fired mid season to replace with another coach with literally the exact same ideas as the previous one (taking that info from Lowe post)

It just feels too much like LeBron's friend circle and not enough like a basketball team. Granted they are number 1 in the east, but it feels like everyone has given up on them and are paying more attention to the Warriors, Spurs, and even the Thunder.

Kobe is such a gentlemen, instead of forcing the old lady to move he instead told one of the rookies to sit on the floor while he takes the seat.

Nah just playing, Kobe is a dick.

@i_stay_puft: Yeah true maybe calling him a dick is much. He just had no chill or awareness at the difference between international basketball and the NBA. They mentioned the timeout stuff on the podcast too so I knew that.

Yeah Lebron seems to be such a weird player to coach. He seems to care about the type of coach his team has and everything, but he just devolves into doing what he wants or thinks is best for the team on the court.

The best coach for Lebron is Lebron himself. Too bad the players union I think has banned any though of a player playing and coaching at the same time. Has to do something with contact and pay.

Is it just me or has Greg Popovich suddenly turned into the Ferris Buehler / Stone Cold Steve Austin of the NBA. He's such an anti-authoritative figure to the NBA higher ups and is ready to thwart or make a dig at anything they throw at him. Hey you're gonna fine me for resting my superstars? Hey you want me to do these ridiculous interviews? Gotta love Pop's, since the Sonics left the NBA I've build a huge respect for the guy now that I don't have a team that plays the Spurs 4 times a year.

@i_stay_puft: Oh Pop has been doing that for awhile. It is just recently that he has gotten a bunch of attention for it. I love Pop even though the Spurs are in the same division as my Pels. I'm happy that we get to play them so much. I recognize that they will most likely be losses, but the Spurs are just so fun to watch and Pop is the best in interviews and all. On top of being the best coach in the NBA right now, and one of the best ever, he just does whatever he wants to do and doesn't really do the generic quotes that other coaches give out. Also as a fan that totally hates those interviews in between quarters I love how he just totally dismisses them.

I keep thinking of Popovich as this dude that's ready to retire and just does and says whatever the hell he wants. But apparently he wants to finish up his contract so I guess retirement's got nothing to do with it.

The O/U on the Wizards/Dubs match tonight is 10.5. I find that an optimistic margin. Various Wizards fans on twitter are making bets on crazy shit they'll do if the team miraculously wins this one.

@dochaus: Who knows, they almost lost to the Sixers so anything is possibllllleeeeee.

@csl316: Well, the Wiz gave it their best shot and John Wall put up 41 points in what might be his best game of the season. Unfortunately the perfect b-ball cyborg known as Steph Curry put up 51 on his own, damn near everything he threw up in the first half swished through the net, no matter if he was guarded or open. It was only when Curry sat on the bench that the Wizards were able to come within 2 points of the Dubs. I felt oddly satisfied watching this game compared to other Wizards losses, not just because of the great shooting on both sides, but because at least the Wizards kept trying instead of just giving up in the 3rd quarter like they've been doing.

Yeah, the Wizards have been a weird team this year. With their roster it feels like they should be a contender for a top 4 spot in the east at the very minimum. They've got a top 5 point guard in the league and with guys like Beal and Gortat as a supporting cast it definitely seems like they should be better than they have been. I'm a Celtics fan and it's been crazy to see the Wizards put up such little resistance against the C's this year (except the one where Wall missed a layup to force overtime at the buzzer).

Still, they're nowhere near out of the playoff hunt, and I could see them being a scary low seed team to face in the first round if they get their act together down the stretch.

How do you fix the Sacramento Kings? Trade Ranjon Rondo to a team for assets and trade Cousins for as many assets as possible.

Though I'm bias cause I love George Karl to death.

@i_stay_puft: Nah, get rid of Karl, and get Boogie some people willing to put up with his shit, preferably a wing who can defend and shoot the occasional baseline jumper to take some pressure off the inside. The Kings don't have enough going for them to get rid of DMC or Rondo yet.

6 years into the Boogie era and still nothing to show for it. No Playoffs and certainly not a +500 record. Sometimes less is more in the case George Karl's final year in Denver when they got rid of Carmelo and was able to win the Northwest Division with a balanced scoring attack. Also why the hell is Boogie shooting 3's in the first place, I understand he can knock a few every now and then but that should never be part of his game. The last thing you want to see is Boogie as a stretch 5 sitting outside the paint.

@i_stay_puft: Maybe, but who else would go to the Kings right now before the next draft? Not a lot of big free agents on the market right now, and the management is such a mess I don't know what they'll do when the market opens up after this year.

Also, I have no idea why DMC is shooting 3's. That is not at all what he should be doing.

@dochaus: obviously you won't get anybody who is equal value for boogie but dangle him in front of The Celtics for their 3 first round picks next year, David Lee expiring contract and either Avery Bradley or Marcus smart.

Trade rajon rondo to a team looking for a point guard. Maybe trade him to the rockets for ariza and to Lawson. Maybe Lawson can revitalize his career teaming up with Karl again. You would not only get your stretch 3 but the only guy on the rockets who wants to play d.