Let's talk basketball!

@i_stay_puft: I've always wondered if Bargnani would have fit in somebody's system (well, I don't want him...we've already got Niko Mirotic.)

@gaspower: But Niko Mirotic can actually rebound!

YES YES YES.

And he apes Dirk Nowitzki so much that I can picture him being the 1st or 2nd option down the line plus he has great chemistry with Doug McDermott, too (I've seen him make some sweet backdoor passes to Doug on a few occasions during garbage time.) Despite D Rose's injury dampening the mood, I'm actually pretty excited for the future.

I like basketball, but I am not very tall to play it!

Anyone else watching this OKC@Phoenix game? I hate it when the late games are so close. I'm on EST and need to go to bed!

Also Russell Westbrook is an insane player.

Rudy got robbed.. That second dunk was AT LEAST a 45... SMH.... Sure he wasn't THE best in the first round, but that contest was terrible and he was definitely second best of the first round...

@hobosunday: Yep, super close game where Westbrook almost got the win for OKC. I was Impressed with Bledsoe D against Westbrook early on but with any great player Bledsoe could only contain Westbrook for so long before he gets his numbers. Everyone's writing off the Suns but they still have the Morris twins out there, huge game for Markieff with a line of 29 pts and 11 reb.

@hobosunday: Westbrook is killing it. I'd really like him to get on top of that MVP race, especially after all the injuries he's had to deal with.

And with Durant in and out, he's keeping OKC alive. The most valuable to a team right now.

D. Rose injury update: Meniscectomy was successful and lasted for about 20 minutes. Leg was able to tolerate full weight bearing and was able to walk out of the hospital after the procedure was done. Timeline for rehab is 4-6 weeks so he can return before the regular season ends.

Other injuries:

Taj Gibson went out with an ankle injury during the game against the T-Wolves.

Kyrie Irving is out with a shoulder strain and they are going to have an MRI on the shoulder. No news yet so far.

Lebron's resting tonight's game against Indiana with back soreness. I guess that's going to be a trend now going forward with him.

Lastly, Westbrook should have tried to go for a straight layup instead of going reverse. He was still a beast though and it was about time Phoenix won an OT game after losing a lot of close games this season.

Glad to see the Pacers win tonight. There offense is....well its a thing. I don't know what that thing is though.

Oh and fucking hell are the raptors doing? Have some self respect or something.

I was shocked to see the Raptors score earlier.

Might have to stay up for Portland and OKC tonight.

@csl316: I hope you stayed up. It was a great game.

Let's have a look at the current state of the Washington Wizards:

...yep.

Raptors and Wizards both look like a joke now.

I don't see anyone challenging the Cavs in the East as long as they're healthy.

Happy with the Celtics! Isiah Thomas is a pefect fit and he has really been playing well with Bradley. Both have basically been scoring 20 ppg since Thomas got here. The spacing is great and fits what Brad Stevens wants to do perfectly.

@artisanbreads: Is Boston glad Rondo is out of there? Seems after Pierce left, he was gonna take the reigns.

It's always been a split since the big three left, whether you believed in Rondo or not. He's always had critics. He is reportedly difficult, he has glaring weaknesses unusual for a PG, and he's older on a rebuilding team. I can tell you a few of my friends had an "you should have traded him years ago when he had more value" reaction to Rondo getting traded.

I always did really like him. But with the caveat that he really does need a team around him to be effective. There was a season or two where it seemed like he could impose his will and dominate games regardless, but after the injury that wasn't the case.

Now that he's gone... I think I was defending him a bit too much. I think he's the leagues best passer but now seeing our system without him.... is that top level of passing worth his weaknesses? I think it could be if the team around him can all shoot and all is offensively skilled. Without that, I don't think so. The Celtics look so much better now with Thomas, who is a lesser passer but a willing one and is a way better shooter from three and the FT line. It just keeps defenses honest. Spacing is so important now a days. Without it, you are giving these defenses a weakness that makes it pretty hard on yourself.

I love Rondo as a competitor and all. He's going to have to take a lesser role and pay I think though and find a good fit because you can't really build around him I don't think. It's sad to say because I'm a big fan of his and I love his passing. But hard to deny these things when they're staring you in the face.

My worry is he goes to the Lakers next season. I hate them (of course) and that's what they're reporting. The fit makes sense as I guess Scott hates three pointers and Kobe loves him.

Right now the Celtics are making waves with the fans and they're loving Thomas and the spacing and shooting. I think Boston fans like team first guys and guys without obvious flaws more than anything so they seem happier in general. Helps that the team is winning a few games now too. Personally I'm the guy there watching every game no matter what but I do like the way things are trending quite a bit. We don't even have a couple of our better young players playing right now (Sullinger, Olynyk) and still are playing well.

I think he would fit on many teams systems he just would need to get paid a reasonable salary. I have always liked him for what he is but he gets paid as if he has potential to become a better player and I have never seen it.

Given how many teams use stretch 4's or 5's though, there's no reason he can't do that. Wont' be surprised if he ends up on better teams in a lesser role later in his career and has success, ala a guy like Diaw.

Since we're talking about the Knicks^^

RIP Anthony Mason.

I am a Knicks hater but always liked Mason. One of those guys you want on your team but hate on the other types.

RIP Anthony Mason.

@artisanbreads: To be fair to Diaw, even though he is part of a San Antonio team that thrives on role players who do their job, he did play a bigger role than he's ever had in his career especially during the Spurs' championship run. He was the Swiss Army knife of their offense. He can box out, grab rebounds, make solid screens, he can post up but he can also shoot threes, make passes (sometimes really crafty ones), and Popovich loves him. Weirdly enough he became a much better player when he gained that weight and he was forced to adapt to a new role but at the same time retained the skills he had as a guard back in his Phoenix Suns days. I don't see Bargnani ever being that guy though unless he ends up in a team like San Antonio who do take the time to develop their players (and coaches). I don't even know if San Antonio would ever consider picking him up down the line with the players they already have...but they did pick up Stephen Jackson of all people so I guess anything is possible.

http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/2015/en/group?groupID=643753

made the group. pw is metalgearscanlon. Join! Join! Join!

@jiggajoe14: I think I joined, I'm Papa Han.

Ho boy who's watching that Rockets vs. Cavaliers game? That game feels like a playoff game and it's only mid-February.

James Harden nut shot on Lebron! It's getting real.

@i_stay_puft: Pretty great game but disappointing from my Cleveland fan standpoint. Just one of those games for James at the line and it cost them. Also too much iso stuff with LeBron; fadeaway threes and 20-footers best left in 2008 where they belong.

I wanted that Celtics win! Came within open shots falling of beating the Warriors. Up 26 in the first half. :(

I hate moral victories.

@i_stay_puft: Didn't know there was so much hostility. One of those heightened games that make the regular season worth watching.

That was probably one of the funnest games I've seen this year. I'll be honest while the NBA popularity has never been higher I really miss the days where teams really hated each other and there was less of this bromance feeling among the NBA's elite stars. The funniest part of this was Kevin McHale kinda smirking at the pitty pat stuff the players today were doing to each other.

@artisanbreads: Fo'real RIP Mason. Had one of the weirdest yet effective free throw shots I can remember.

RIP Mason

Bulls season once again being hampered by injuries. Despite the loss on Sunday, I was glad with what I saw out of Mirotic though since the guy is a proven scorer when given the minutes. What's really worrying though is that the Bulls still have had no real answer for the high screen and roll the entire season and a lot of that has to do with the personnel. Gasol and Noah on the floor together just isn't working that well defensively but Jo and Taj or Pau and Taj were both combinations that worked well. This does remind me of the first season Boozer and Jo worked together so its all part of the process.

@i_stay_puft: I missed out on the days when Doug Collins could get someone in a headlock and end up getting punched in the face. For a technical.

I came to America in 1990, so I only saw the back end of the Bad Boy Pistons. From what I read, they openly pounded on Jordan and it was just part of the rivalry.

Hello people!

Thunder fan. Not the best season, but I think we've made great moves. I hope KD is alright to go for the rest of the season and this isn't a reoccurring thing. Westbrook will be fine with his face fracture; dude's a warrior. Insane month of February. nearly averaged a goddamn triple-double

This is probably going to be another ugly loss to the Wizards tomorrow for the Bulls with Jimmy being out for 3-4 weeks. Unless we sign a big guy (McGee seems like a possibility but I worry about his fit) there's no way we can stop the Wizards front court (with Jo still getting into form and Pau still recovering from his illness) and a lot of people saying that we should sign Nate again but I doubt that with his size he can stop either Beal or Wall.

Fun little quiz, got 39/47.

http://www.sporcle.com/games/g/nbadraft

@darthmaul: I like OKC and always root for them to get to the Western conference finals at the very least. KD is an incredible player, and Westbrook is having an amazing year keeping them going (my hope for MVP).

It's a weird year for them, as getting the 8th seed with a healthy playoff team would make them the scariest 8th seed in recent memory.

Having your first round opponent be Oklahoma City after working the entire season to get the best record in the Western Conference was probably the last thing Golden State wanted to happen.

OKC is probably the most dangerous 8th seed I've seen in recent memory. I can't remember the last time an 8th seed was this scary.

Brian Shaw is out in Denver and all I got to say is what a cluster fuck it is out over there.

Why are people always trying to choke out Stevie Franchise? First it was Stephen Jackson now it's just some random dude.

@i_stay_puft: You know what this means? He's gonna get hired by the Knicks as Derek Fisher's assistant. Ty Lawson is probably gonna end up in Sacramento.

Also man...what is happening with Steve Francis?

@gaspower: Lawson and Boogie is a volatile mix but would be a good pickup for them.

Steve Francis might just be the saddest unknown stories of basketball. I like to dog the dude but man he was a heck of a player back in the day. Looking back on his career he was just a guy of unfulfilled potential who was given alot of leash back in the day cause he was star, but if you read some stuff on his on the court antics he got into a lot of altercations with people on his own team and other players.

There's rumors out there that he got into some hard drugs who knows it might just be that father time has gotten the best of The Franchise quickly.

:(

@i_stay_puft: When you said that it was rumored he was using hard drugs and looking at how much his face has drastically changed, I wouldn't be surprised if he did.

I can't possibly imagine the mental toll I would take if I went from NBA superstar to nothing as fast as Francis or some other unfortunate players. I think about that sometimes, trying to put myself in their shoes. Different circumstances for different players but yeah, whichever way I'm not sure how I'd handle it.

The Shaw firing doesn't surprise me. This is the same organization that fired the reigning Coach of the Year. I just don't know what the organization expected when they hired him. That team was winning under Karl by running and running more. They replaced him with a guy who coached under Phil Jackson (not exactly a go go offense) and was last an assistant for the Pacers (they may not even know what a fast break is).

He made the mistake of trying to fit his players into his system rather than building a system for the players. I remember when his name was linked to every coaching job and he was a can't miss coaching hire. I still think he can be successful but he needs a team that can play his style as he has shown he isn't to willing to adapt.

Also on the topic of Stevie Francis I seem to remember a pic floating around of him in the stands at a game wearing his own jersey.

He should've went the Marbury route. He's probably the most successful ex-NBA player who made the transition overseas but like you said its a different case with different players.

@meteora3255: What do you think of the possibility of him being back with Jackson but working as Fisher's assistant for the Knicks? I guess the dilemma would be still the same though, which is getting players that would fit and is more likely to be convinced to play within their system.

Speaking of coaches, I actually don't get why people are talking about Tyronne Lue as being the next big assistant-to-head coach. Does anybody know why that is the case?

I like coaches with a system but this is always a red flag to me about a coach. You need to adjust to your personnel.

I think the issues go past losing. It seems like he lost the team big time. As a Celtics fan, I think about what Stevens has done with bad teams, and how they always play hard, how actually we are in a fair amount of games even if we do lose, and how he makes adjustments to his personnel (playing major small ball right now, for example). I think if you are a good coach that can be seen even on a bad team. Admittedly I'm no expert on the Nuggets this year but what I know and saw of them didn't sound good.

As far as late career yeah. I think Whiteside right now for MIA (as long as he keeps playing well) is a really big one for a younger developing player going overseas.

But Marbury seems to be much happier. I've done some reading and stuff about his career. The weight of the situations he was put into and his real abilities and some of this distractions like his shoe line. I think just getting away and purely playing basketball was huge for him to turn it around.

Oh no doubt if you are consider ex-nba superstars, He has literally built back up his Starbury brand over there and he's a national hero over in Beijing. I was actually pretty happy for Marbury cause after that vaseline video leaked on the internet I generally thought he was finished. If you also watch alot of interviews and documentaries he has done over the past few years since he made the move to the CBA he has humbled himself immensely.

@i_stay_puft: sorry for the late response but yep you are in the group.

I may make another thread just for the tourney & the group to get it a little more filled up lol

As a Heat fan, I was spoiled the past 4 years. Now, its back to the pre-LeBron days. One good thing, though. is seeing the rise of Hassan Whiteside. If he was like this with the teams of the past 4 years, it would have been ridiculous to watch.

As a pacers fan, I cannot describe our offense with anything else but "a thing" :D

Although, getting george hill back has really helped us gain some structure back. He has really stepped up as captain this year, his leadership has become way more effective.