the lonely, quiet basketball thread.

[fred flintstone]

^he might be more of clippers fan, just a guess

[zeusbheld]

^he might be more of clippers fan, just a guess

i'm a fan of whoever's playing the Fakers.

[fred flintstone]

http://www.cbssports.com/

Duke and Coach K may be big trouble with this.

[neildokes]

I love to watch playoff's and that too often on TV because that would not create such an excitement in me that the live match on the stadium would create..Last match i saw on the stadium last year was Knicks v/s Lakers..Oh..!! Man..What an atmosphere..!!!..The crowd was amazing as always....!!!!

[Beavis]

Speaking of the Lakers, Shaq says Dwight Howard isn't the best center in the NBA because he is a pick and roll player with no back to the basket game. He says Bynum and Robin Lopez are better. Shaq meant to say Brook Lopez, who just signed a big contract with the new-look Nets and is supposed to quite good and an exceptional passer, though I wouldn't know as I can't say I've seen him play. His brother Robin averages 5 pts a game for the Hornets...seems the Diesel misspoke...but he makes an interesting point I suppose. Howard's exceptional defense sets him apart from most centers, however. My top 5 centers are Howard, Bynum, Marc Gasol, Tyson Chandler and I guess this Lopez character (he has averaged 17 a game in his career).

[zeusbheld]

^
and Big Phil diplomatically endorsed Shaqsquatch. love it.

on paper, the Fakers are impressive. on paper. in reality, THEY ARE F*CKIN' OLD. it'll be interesting to see how this turns out, but this year ought to be a good one for Faker-haters. next year, on the other hand, i'm not so sure about. that said, by year 3 Steve Nash will break a hip, wet his Depends, or something.

ps hard to see Howard as much of an upgrade on Bynum, in the unlikely event they're both healthy. Sixers, Nugs won that mega-trade IMO, regardless of whether the Fake get jewelry.

[kingdomcome]

NBA is off and running. A couple of pleasant surprises. Nice to see the Knicks pound the crap out of the Heat, and for the first time in 34 years, the Lakers start the season 0-3. Clippers, meanwhile, are 2-0. Could there finally be a changing of the guard in L.A.?

[Beavis]

45 points career high for James Harden...Rockets 2-0.

Letting Lin go was always going to seem crazy, but maybe the Knicks actually had a plan. The D'antoni project was never gonna work in NYC without a Steve Nash type; and with a half-court offensive player like Melo. The new plan seems to be tenacious defense carried over from when this Woodson guy took over last season. They have the pieces to play that style it would seem, with Chandler in the paint and a real commitment to defense from Melo, along with a host of savvy veterans. Offensively, the gameplan would have to revolve around getting Melo the ball in a position to score. He's possibly the purest and most efficient scorer in the game. Felton and Kidd seem to be pass first PGs that will protect the ball and accomplish that task. The rest of the offense will be shooters to spread the floor and bangers to crash the boards. Whether it's a formula for success...who knows? One win against the Heat doesn't mean anything, but I suppose it's a reason to be optimistic.

Even though the Celtics lost the opener to the Heat, I liked what I saw from the new acquisitions Lee and Barbosa. If Pierce and KG have enough left in the tank, this team can contend...Rondo just has to be the best PG in the league, because nobody else in the squad is capable of creating enough offense on their own. He'll have to do all the creating. The Heat looked even scarier though, the additions of Allen and Lewis just seem unfair.

[fred flintstone]

the Lakers start the season 0-3. Clippers, meanwhile, are 2-0.

i hope the whole season goes like this.

[Beavis]

Clips lost at home to the Warriors. Jamal Crawford has been carrying the scoring load. That won't continue...he's more likely to shoot you out of games in the long run than keep you in them. And Blake Griffin is overrated and a bad defender. I'm not expecting anything special out of the Clips.

[kingdomcome]

^ Chris Paul vs the Lakers on Friday, 16 points, 15 assists, and 1 turnover.

[zeusbheld]

loved watching the Fakers drop to 1-5. now worried, since they fired the architect of their current form, and may hire Phil back. hope they get D'Antoni instead. can't see him winning anything.

[purplesmoker]

the Celtics played really badly against the bucks and 76ers, they are talking about getting a ring, they're dreaming. The Knicks look good even without Amare i like their chances this year (top 4) my mavs are doing great without Dirk and now Marion, the new offense which is run, run and run seems to work for now and Collison seems to be a really great acquisition. Screw the Lakers; and firing the coach after 5 games is just stupid.

[Beavis]

^The Celtics started off poorly last year and took the Heat to 7 games...were up 3-2 before Lebron's monster game 6. The Celtics are as much of a contender in the East as anybody else (though any team that really thinks they can beat the Heat is delusional).

Also, the West is too deep and competitive for the Mavs to contend.

[zeusbheld]

The Knicks look good even without Amare i like their chances this year

problem with the Knucks is that they're better without Amar'e at the moment. Melo is more useful as a 4 than a 3. it'll be interesting to see how the old guys all hold up, (although unlike the Fakers, the Knucks' core is in their prime at least). Radish Wallace is looking sprightly and (dare i say) somewhat like a grown-up when a call goes against him. i'm cautiously optimistic but i still think if the Meat stay healthy through the playoffs, beating the Meat will be a big ask...