NBA discussion thread

Man i hope those hornets do well this season. Considering no home game is really home for them in Oklahoma City. but is kind of unfortunate that they lost to the spurs with there terrible preseason performance. But previously stated by $TONYYAYO$ "its true the preseason games don't mean jack." but I've only recently become a fan of the hornets ive always had a thing for the under dog but the real reason it because of last years draft pick out of high school JR Smith despite his lack of defensive effort i think he can do some damage in the long run.
😄 😄

If you think about it, what team will boo New Orleans? So in a way that could work in their advantage while Oak City will treat them as their own during their stay. Highly doubt it will help enough though. 😄

fans will boo them. i know it was terrible what happened buyt this is still competitive sports, not a charity match each time the horns step out. i hope they do well too, but i cant see it happening.

Blazers finally won one last night, but recently the Blazers have played so bad, I'm worried. Usually its ok to do bad in the preseason. This is because you don't play your stars much and work with the developing players. The Blazers don't have any stars that they've been saving, which means they are playing with their actual season line-up and still getting wasted by horrible teams. This could be a scary season.

I think pre season is all about building chemistry, most teams have had alot of new personnel come in with rookies, free agents and trades. It takes them a while to gel and learn the system and where they are supposed to be on the court. Hopefully a few months into the season you'll see a marked improvement Myth and the Blazers will start to play as a team. Thats kinda what im telling myself about my Lakers to, they havent had a bad pre season but they have looked pretty out of sorts with the exception of Kobe and George (who have played the triangle offence for years).

The thing that scares me is that with the Blazers it doesn't seem to be just a chemistry problem, because that is more expected. But the problem is that they are playing like crap as a team AND as individuals.

well the blazers are pretty young.... this may be a bad season for them, but give them a couple of years and they'll be fine if they can add to the existing promising talent.

Oh agreed. And I expect improvement throughout the season. Its just going to start out absolutely horrible and work itself up to just really bad this season.

Also, Bucks got Maglore from the Hornets for D. Mason, cash, and a pick for next year. I guess the Bucks don't plan on starting Bogut, that is unless they move him down to PF to start over Joe Smith. Bogut will at least eventually work his way into the line up whether its for Smith or trades need to be made at C.

spounds like a good trade for the bucks.... but if they want bogut to develop they'll have to either give magloire less minutes or as you say, move him to pf. unless they have other plans for him???? you never know.

Thats a real solid trade for the Bucks. I guess it was Maglore's contract year and the Hornets wanted to unload him, he is a quality player though. Its hard to imagine a player of his caliber coming off the bench, so i would guess that they are gonna put Bogut at PF and go big. I wouldnt have thought they would bench the #1 pick, he has to get minutes to improve. I guess either one could switch to PF but i would say they will both start.

About a month ago the Bucks mentioned the possibility of starting Bogut off the bench at the beginning of the season. However, either way he will start before the season is over.

Thats interesting. I always say the best way to let rookies get a taste of NBA life is to throw them in there straight away especially one who looks as ready as Bogut. But he'll probably play alot of minutes anyway, even if he comes off the bench.

or theres a trade in the future.... if bogut becomes a good player then maybe magloire will be shipped off... cant say i'd wanna get rid of him though.

There's nothing wrong in starting your number 1 draft pick off the bench.
Sure, he needs minutes, but you can get serious minutes being an substitute.
I always have felt that teams should take thier time with their number 1 rookies.
Sure, they're is always rookies who will perform out the gate, but they're is alot of rookie who dont and seriously do major damage to themselves.

draft picks off the bench..... ben gordon? probably the best recent example

Yeah Ben Gordon is a great 6th man but he wasnt the #1 pick like Bogut. Most #1 picks go into the starting line up and i would have though he would be ready, why else would he go #1?

well its milwaukees call.... darko was the third pick right? hes been benched for almost 2 years. hopefully hes ready now.

Darko is a strange situation. Larry Brown obviously hadnt seen anything of merit in the Pistons practices and thats why he was a bench warmer. He was rarely even used in garbage time in the Pistons games i saw.

Darko was 2nd pick actually (above Melo). Anyway, the #1 pick usually starts because he is usually going to be better than most on that team since the reason they got #1 was because they sucked the year before. That is one reason Darko never played. Pistons didn't get him because they sucked, they got him through trades and actually had better people to start over him. Plus, you give rookies more playing time than they deserve because it helps build for the team future, but Pistons had a chance for championships now so it would be dumb for them to ignore the present.

i spose.... but you'd still want them to develop. whats the point in taking a number 2 pick if you dont let him play? why pay a guy for playing if he dont play??? obviously... they can afford it. i just hope hes given a chance to play more minutes. i wanna see what hes capable of, and if not, trade him to another team for a future frist round pick so when current players retire or leave etc, you have someone waiting in the wings.