NBA discussion thread

Damn i wish i could have had a better Laker performance my first game watching them this season. Full credit to the Sixers defense though, they sent double and triple teams at Kobe every time he got in the lane. The rest of the team failed to step up when Kobe went cold and the Sixers had a nice rhythm offensively down the stretch.
The Lakers were pretty much what i expected, a work in progress. Mihm gave me some reasons to be hopeful about our front line in places but Kwame was ineffective when he got the ball. Hopefully both of them being coached by Kareem will help us in the long run. Odom i have one thing to say to you, when you are being guarded by Korver - POST HIM UP!
If the Sixers play D like that every night DanZ they should make the playoffs without too much trouble. Once Dalembert is back they will have some serious shot blocking at the center spot.

Anyone think the Bucks may do good this year?

Originally posted by koolruningz
Damn i wish i could have had a better Laker performance my first game watching them this season. Full credit to the Sixers defense though, they sent double and triple teams at Kobe every time he got in the lane. The rest of the team failed to step up when Kobe went cold and the Sixers had a nice rhythm offensively down the stretch.
The Lakers were pretty much what i expected, a work in progress. Mihm gave me some reasons to be hopeful about our front line in places but Kwame was ineffective when he got the ball. Hopefully both of them being coached by Kareem will help us in the long run. Odom i have one thing to say to you, when you are being guarded by Korver - POST HIM UP!
If the Sixers play D like that every night DanZ they should make the playoffs without too much trouble. Once Dalembert is back they will have some serious shot blocking at the center spot.

Yeah, Dalembert will help us a lot. Salmons did really good off the bench last night, and Iguodola was great defensivley, but he always is.

And about the Bucks, i think they be pretty good. The Sixers should have beat them that one time though.

And, man, the Blazers almost beat the Pistons. I love it when an OK or worse team beats a really good team. Espicially since the Blazers are really young. But they were a little to hesistant. Telfair had an open 3 at near the end of the game and he passed it up, and then Randolph had an open 3, pump faked, and then shot the ball and hand to go over Rasheed i think.

Oh, and the Wizards, i dont even know how to word it. Its a blowout, times 2. It was 137 to 96!! Thats crazy.

Originally posted by DanZeke25
And about the Bucks, i think they be pretty good. The Sixers should have beat them that one time though.

I agree, they actually have some potential this year. But I think Desmond Mason was a definite loss, he was an asset to the team and may have been a vital point in the squad this season.

Lakers/Sixers - I already liked Iguadala, but I have even more respect for him now. I only saw highlights but there was an interview prior to the game where he talked about him studying tapes of Kobe's game to figure out how to guard him. The highlights showed like 2 strips and a block (or something like that) all specifically on Kobe by Andre. Kobe shot an awful 7 for 27.

Bucks - I thought they'd be good, and then I got a little skeptical for a bit because of the "professional" analysists, but now I'm back to believing that they could make playoffs. Ford has been a pleasant surprise while Redd is good as expected but maybe even slightly better himself.

Blazers - I thought the Blazer blew a tremendous opportunity against the Pistons and I'm not simply talking about the win. I'm proud of how they did overall but the ending was unexcusable and pointless. I honestly think the ball should have been in the hands of Martell Webster and of course least of all in the hands of Zach Randolf. Zach is in no way a 3-point shooter and taking the shot with 7 seconds left is ridiculous for somebody with his lack of 3-point skills. As for putting the ball in Websters hands, do I think that the game will have ended differently? No, but there was much better of a chance than Zach hitting it. The real point was not for winning the game. What I'm getting at is: isn't this a season of development? Why not put the ball in the hands of the Blazer's "shooter of the future" and give him some experience. Force him into pressure situations now so he adapts and understands that it is ok to take the final shot and miss, you just have to get the will to take that shot.

I didnt see the Blazer game Myth but that sounds like a sensible solution.
The Bucks have a very balanced team and should make the playoffs. Yes Mason is a quality player but if you get the chance to get a solid big man like Magloire you have to take it, mainly because there is a lack of big men with the skills Magloire has. There are many SF in the league that are comparable to Mason.
I also read the article about Iggy preparing for Kobe by watching tapes of him, thats the way it should be. Not enough players take the time to prepare themselves like that anymore so props to Iggy. The main problem for the Lakers when Kobe isnt on is that they dont put themselves in a position to capitalise on Kobe being doubled and tripled. I lost count on the amount of times when Kobe drove and met a wall of defenders and the rest of the team was just watching him instead of making cuts or getting open for a outside shot. I guess its just a learning process but once they start doing that then they will become a much more dangerous team, i believe this season Kobe has matured enough to look for his teammates more often but they have to put themselves in a position to score.

big charlie v with 26 points and 12 rebounds against the sonics!!!! gotta love that.

Holy shit! Raef LaFrentz's career high is 32 points. He has 29 with 8 minutes remaining in the 3rd while Boston is beating Houston. He's 7 for 7 3s (he's 6'11" btw) and 11 for 13 overall. Crazy.

Just for the sake of starting up a debate, who is doing better this year? Wade or Lebron? Wade's stats are up and Lebron's are down from last year so I thought this could be an interesting subject.

My evaluation (stats don't include tonight):

Minutes per game:
Lebron 34.8
Wade 38.3

PPG:
Lebron 26.8
Wade 24.4

RPG:
Lebron 4.2
Wade 7.9

APG:
Lebron 3.8
Wade 7.3

SPG:
Lebron 1.33
Wade 2

BPG:
Lebron .83
Wade

TO:
Lebron 2.67
Wade 4.57 (#1 in league)

FG %
Lebron .505
Wade .462

3%
Lebron .417
Wade .100

FT%
Lebron .878
Wade .755

Team records (includes tonight)
Cavs 6-2
Heat 4-3

I'm actually kind of indecisive but leaning towards Lebron (can't tell how much of that is my bias). Wade is destroying Lebron in the rebounds/assists catagories but is also getting a lot of turnovers. Lebron is doing much better in all the % catagories as well. I think what my deciding factor as of now is that Lebron is doing more with less. What do you guys think?

Btw: Lebron is the youngest player ever as of tonight to score 4000 points (beats Kobe by almost a year).

^^Wow, I can't believe it, he did it. He tied his career high with 32 pts. and 7 0f 9 from 3 pt. land. Man if the Celtics play like they did tonight, they could be really hard to be in the East, I mean they were all over the Rockets but I doubt Lafrentz is gonna have another night like this for awhile, must've been a full moon out or somethin. Meh,I bet next game he'll have like 8 pts.

And about Lebron, he's definitely the future man, been sayin it ever since he came out. Youngest player to score 4000pts and that's just the beginning, I think before it's all said and done people won't be talkin about MJ anymore they'll only be talkin about Lebron and how he changed the game.

comparing lebron and wade? well... remember, wades numbers wouldnt be so high if shaq was on the team. rebounding would go down, assists about the same, but sccoring would go down also. i do htink his turnovers would go down... when you got a shaq in the post it gives you more confidence! its only the start though, lets talk about this again after 12 months of play.

well done lafrentz, just keep doing it boy.

Yeah, but the comparison really is how they are doing this year. Its not what would be happening in "if" situations, such as "if" Shaq were playing.

I think what the stats show if anything is that LeBron is getting alot more help from his teammates, where Wade is having to take alot of the burden (TO's would be a telling stat here). What has really impressed me about LeBron is the FT shooting, if you are gonna get to the line alot like Kobe, LeBron, Wade, T-Mac and AI you better be able to hit most of them. LeBron obviously understands this and has worked on his FT's in the off season. I believe he is a better 3pt shooter this year but that opening night performance was more a case of being in the zone.

All agreed. Wade's TOs are only slightly higher than last seasons though.

Really? That i didnt know. I think once Wade develops a consistent outside shot then his TO's will go down. At the moment everyone who goes up against him is playing him for the drive and sheparding him to the help, this is more than likely where the TO's are happening. The only Heat game i've seen this season was against the Pacers and that was the case there most of the time.

Well I like Wade better by a lot(I like Lebron a lot too, but i like Wade more) so its kinda hard for me to choose Lebron because i like Wade so much. Wade is killing him in rebounds and assists. I don't know. I'm just gonna go with Wade because I like him better. And about Wade's numbers wouldnt be so high is Shaq wasn't on the team, well Shaq's hurt, and he has still been doing that. Against the Pacers he had 30 points i think, 11 rebounds(crazy) and like 7 assists. He also should have got the shot at the end but they gave it to Walker.

I know Lebron has a lot less to work with, but his team did get better this year. And that works two ways also. Since he doesn't have a lot to work with, he is forced to shoot alot and take things into his own hands. If he had a better team with more people to pass to and more people that can score, would his stats be this high still? His assist would be higher, but his PPG would probaly go down.

all i'm saying is wait until a couple of months when we can analyise this more... its a little too early yet. lebrons assists may well go up, he possibly needs more time to trust his team mates. and when shaq DOES get back, (where you got the 'if' from i dont know) wades stats will also a little, rebounds especially. assists may go up with the big man in side to pass too.

Yikes! The Lakers got gang raped by Memphis last night, the score was alot more flattering to the Lakers than it should have been. I guess they could blame it on being at the end of a long road trip or Kobe's hand injury but the fact is we stunk it up big time. I dont have the chance to see every Laker game but i do listen to the broadcast online and by all accounts the Lakers were awful. Hopefully being back home will bring a change of fortune.

Originally posted by DanZeke25
And about Wade's numbers wouldnt be so high is Shaq wasn't on the team, well Shaq's hurt, and he has still been doing that.

They said that his numbers are higher because Shaq is injured, not that Shaq makes his stats better (although I do believe Shaq played a big part last season in helping Wade develop).

Royke - I got the "if" thing from when you said, "wades numbers wouldnt be so high if shaq was on the team." I was trying to keep the speculation to what has happened so far, not would have happened if there were some other factors. And I understand that analyzing won't be as accurate as it will be a couple months from now. But if I wait, I'll get bored. Nothing says we can compare what we've seen so far.

i see what u mean myth... but the if was meant as a when shaq is on the team... i'll be careful to word my posts in the future.

more impotantly....

charlie villanueva... 27pts on 12/17? add 13 rebounds? i see no-ones giving him any respect... in spite of the fact most people slagged the raps off for taking him. proud hes answered the critics.yeha u can argue that only the last two games hes really done anything like this... but only these two last games has been given 30+ minutes.