I agree with this. They are too methodical. I'm not saying they need to be Golden State or Denver, but I don't think they are built like the Celtics for the half court. They have athletes and should force the tempo every now and again.

I like how they are set up, though as I've kept harping on, I really want to see them do it against the upper tier teams. You take away their three destructions of Minnesota and they don't look nearly as good as they do in offensive/defensive efficiency ratio as they do now.

The Nuggets/Blazers Christmas day matchup should be pretty good. Barring injury, I think both teams will have records in the 22-8 range. (60 win pace)

definitely. Plus, they are both sort of at their best on positions where the other team has "weaknesses" , especially the Nuggets with Melo (who is going to defend him with that small lineups Portland plays regarding the 1-3 spots ?) and Billups (on Blake), although i expect a lot of PT for Miller against a PG like Billups.
The Blazers with Roy at the 2 and Aldridge at the 4, although afflalo and Martin are admittedly good defenders (still, production wise that´s where Portland needs to excel).

So, Iverson is gonna retire. Good riddance. He's worthless now as a player, and he's having trouble coming to terms with a league that's blown past him. He's never gonna be remembered as a great one. He'll be known as a very good one, but not a great one. We've got LeBron, Kobe, Wade, and Melo now. Sorry, dude. You're going to be remembered on Rick Barry level, not the MJ level. He's been completely forgotten by the fans and the league before he even retired, and he can't fucking believe it. The cruel hands of time turned on Iverson.

The Blazers and Clippers are similar in that regard, in that they really need to be playing at a faster tempo to take advantage of the rosters they have. I think the main problem for both overcoming that would be Oden and Kaman, respectively, but Oden is young and can run, from everything I have seen. And I have already opined how Kaman--contrary to what people who haven't seen him play might think--is actually a fairly fluid athlete who is more adept playing with agility and in space than strength on the low block; he would be fine in a faster tempo offense.

I guess I can understand Karl's hating on Iverson, and I'm not going to sit here and say AI was the perfect player or the perfect person. He certainly was not. And there was a time when he represented to me exactly what was wrong with the NBA in the late 90s and early 2000s; when there seemed to be a lot more "me" players, and a lot more nods to the thug mentality. I couldn't stand him at that point.

Since then, since the 2001 Finals and his trade to Denver, I have come more to appreciate just how hard Iverson played on the floor at all times, and how much he wanted to win, and, really, how incredibly brave he was. He was a terrific player who was fun to watch and gave it his all out there. Sure, he needed to be brave because ke kept putting himself in harms way with bad decisions, and his teams were always limited in what success they could have because his bad shot decisions would often keep other teams in the game or let them pull away.

But I can always respect effort and courage and talent, and he did have all of that. It's a shame he has to go out like this, and I will actually missing having him somewhere in the league.

Ben Gordon is now out with an ankle injury. It's a blessing in disguise truthfully. Now Bynum can play the 1, and Stuckey can take the 2 and see how it goes.

This team is bad enough as it is, now we could go into a full fledged tailspin before anyone gets back. I hope that does happen and we can ship away Rip and/or Tay then get a top 10 pick and try getting what could be an elite front line player.

Oh well, one can hope.

Sums it up for me. Even with his flaws he's a player I enjoyed watching and definitely one I'll always remember.

my main issue with AI is his blatant refusal to adapt as a veteran, can´t swallow that at all ...

You may think this is crazy, but I think the Blazers match up better with the Lakers than the Nuggets. If I'm a coach and I'm game planning how to beat the Blazers, here is what I do:

1) I make sure Aldridge is a 15 foot jump shooter all night and turn him into the smallest 6'10" player in the history of the league. (and a lot of times, he'll help out) I do this by being physical as hell with him.

2) I make sure Roy has a difficult time getting all of his points. I throw multiple guys at him. Make sure he never has a tired body on him.

3) Now that those two guys are taken care of without double teams, I double hard on Oden with whoever is on the SF/PG.

Can Blake hit an occasional 3? Sure he can. But he's rarely going to do it all night. Can Miller hurt my PG with post ups? Possibly, but again, he isn't doing it all night.

So what does Denver have? Well, Afflalo is a solid defensive player who can make Roy work. JR is actually a pretty solid man to man defender. Kenyon Martin can thug it up Bruce Bowen style on Aldridge. Billups wil nip any Miller post ups in the bud.

On the other end, the Blazers match up horribly with Denver. Nene is quick and will get Oden in foul trouble. Aldridge has a difficult time dealing with Kenyon's slashing. Even if Kenyon can't get open, that doesn't really impact the Nuggets in anyway. Slowing down Melo? Good luck with that. Batum? If you remember last year Batum played Melo in one meaningful game (I know the Blazers have their co divisional title banner up and all, but Denver didn't give a damn about the final game last year, they already WON the division and just screwed around that entire Blazers final game). Melo went 16-26 and scored 38 points in a Denver romp in the one that counted.

On the other hand, I love the way the Blazers match up wtih the Lakers. Plenty of size to throw and Gasol and Bynum. Roy will make Kobe work on both ends. Dre can abuse Fisher. Gasol isn't going to get as physical with Aldridge. I think the Blazers have a punchers chance.

If I could write up a script for the Nuggets in the playoffs this year, it'd be the Nuggets getting to the conference finals again and playing a team that knocked off the Lakers. (I know people talk about how sweet it is to go through the team you can't beat. . . I'm a Nuggets fan who has never seen a finals game with my team in it, give me the best draw possible) :)

Well said. Iverson almost single-handedly carried his team to a Finals appearance. He was a great player in my eyes, even with his flaws.

Courage and talent? Check. Admire both of those things? Check.

The problem is if Iverson was on the team you cheered for. I watched him singlehandedly cost Denver a playoff series against the Spurs. (Melo torching Bowen and shooting near 50% in doing it, Nene driving TD nuts and shooting 60%. . . so it was really smart of AI and his 30% shooting to take more shots a game than both of em, right?)

There will be a lot of people who love AI and will look back on him fondly. That's fine. My counter point will be this:

What other hall of fame player with something left in the tank would clear waivers with a one year, 3 million dollar contract? The great teams don't want any part of him because they know he'll throw a fit coming off the bench, the bad teams don't want him because he'll be a horrible influence on the kids.

How many other hall of famers will leave with that as their dying breath in the NBA?

People will debate Chauncey Billups for the hall of fame. My guess is he comes up short. yet the people in Denver will tell you CB is 15x the player AI was with us. Not just a better fit, a better player.

I'll love watching the AI highlight reels. I'll also always remember how his imaturaty, even as an older vet, imploded any chance he had of winning a title.

I'm very excited. Oklahoma City is hosting their first national televised game of the season. It's amazing how much better this team is after last year's horrible start.

Agreed. He's got to be among the top small guards to ever play the game. He was never that efficient in doing so, but he was one of the best scorers we'll see.

The Knicks came out firing tonight. The Nuggets actually didn't play poor defense, the Knicks seemed to hit every contested three they took. Not that it mattered. They had exactly zero answers for stopping Melo. 50 points on 28 shots.

Blazers drop one to the Grizzlies at home.

12 games tonight, road teams win 7 of them. . . one of which in not the Cavs beating the Bobcats. Stunning.

Nets looking good in preseason.

That was by the far the best the Knicks have played all season. It is only fitting that they would lose that way.

want to touch on 2 international rookies that are impressing in a way, both were supposedly a year or 2 away from playing much.

Omri Casspi : The Kings are 8-8 without Garcia and largely without Martin, Casspi has been one of the reasons behind that. Averages 10 PPG on 52% FG and 42% from 3 (weirdly enough he´s 17-36 from the FT line over the first 14 games) . After a weaker stretch has now scored 17, 15, 11 and 18 over his last 4.
Really fluid athlete who at 6´8/6´9 can play the 2/3 spots.
Averaging above his Euroleague averages btw. Also shoots more 3s at a better clip depsite the 3 pt line being farther away, allways good to see such immediate development.

Serge Ibaka : Don´t look at the numbers, try to catch a thunder game. The guy has the potential to be a game changer defensively, incredible athlete with good understanding of rotations who can do it all from Post defense, to weakside blocking and defending on switches. Just cracked the rotation , in part due to Collison´s injury but he also leaped past Etan Thomas on the depth chart.
Thunder are 9-7 btw ! They are a really capable defensive unit as well.

December 23rd-Wolves at Nets-both teams can't wait for this game, possibly the last game either team will win this season.

NM - wrong thread

Good to see Orlando recovering from that tough Miami loss with road wins in Atlanta (after a great second half, outscoring them by 29 in the second half) and Milawkee (down 9 at the half, winning by 2). If Orlando gets their main four guys healthy and they play a number of games together before the playoffs the only team I wouldn't feel good about their playoff chances against is the Lakers.

ESPN reporting Frank is out in NJ. Not at all surprised. I know Harris was hurt but no reason they should be on the verge of 0-17. Whats funny is they lost the first game of the season on a buzzer beater. No word on who replaces him.

no surprise, but that nets team is brutally unbalanced. Harris or no harris ...
Suns-Raptors a good game as usual, nash is awesome ... :) Bargnani is a terrific talent, hope he develops as he did so far.

Stoudemire is like one of the worst players against double teams, he´s just terrible as a go to option in the half court ...

There´s not much more exciting in this league than the Suns starting one of their patented runs. There´s not a team running hte break harder then them as well. Nor just to finish, but a 37 year old hill just ran ahead of everyone 3 times to be in a position to set someone else up.

Phoenix wins and improves to 14-3.
Bosh and Bargnani really impressive in stretches but the Raptors couldn´t hit anything from outside going 1-20 from 3. Part of it was the Suns though who again played good 4th quarter defense and closed out very well on the Raptors shooters.
Phoenix on the other hand right at their season average percentage wise, shooting 13-30 from long range, Nash gets 20/16.

Barbosa rolled his ankle pretty bad though, hope he´s going to be fine ...

Detroit wins against the Hawks, Ben Wallace with 11 offensive boards (had 10 the game before) and Jerebko from sweden with a double double and great D at the end after scoring 22 the night before.

Memphis just displayed how not to play with a lead in the 4th ... Clippers 33-7 in the 4th, 22-0 run to end it ...
Gasol hits 13-18 but gets blatantly ignored in the 4th...
After this game Marc Gasol has now hit 60 of his last 76 attempts from the field over an 8 game stretch .

Iverson in talks to come back to the 76ers.

Lebron is a great player and fantastic teammate however some of things he says lately make me just shake my head.

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index....s_coach_1.html


Im really not sure how BIG Z breaking the record for games played by a Cavs player is bigger than the game itself.

If the Cavs had won by 3 points or something I'd think LeBron was just talking out and being stupid, but they won by 16 and big Z gets a DNP-CD? I agree with LeBron, that's in pretty poor taste.

Yeah, I'm with LeBron on this one. Unless they scored 16 points in the final minute, it's ridiculous for Brown to say he didn't have a chance to put Big Z in the game.

Shaking my head is not because of Z not playing and bron thinking it was wrong. Its his statement this record being bigger than the game.

He probably didnt mean it the way it sounded, but it sounded kind of outrageous kind of like the Jordan statement a few weeks back.

If you read the rest of his comments, he pointed out that all they had to do (and it would have made sense actually) was let him start & either wait for a timeout or even call him, remove him, and let the fans have their moment with Z.

I took it the "one game" thing more as an awkward/messed up way of trying to say something to the effect of "having him on the floor for 30 seconds was not going to be a difference maker, not even in this one game"

Uh Kobe?

Wow

One-legged fall-away 3 pointer off the glass for the one-point win.

Insane.

I've been watching the last couple of Raptors' games and their offense is exciting. I just hope they somehow learn to play defense better. The past two games have been promising, but it'd be nice to see consistency (and no more giving up 145 points). DeRozan has looked good the last couple of games as well, and is really taking it to the hoop.

Greg Oden goes down, he's likely done for the year. Just terribly sad.

Carmelo Anthony goes nuts in the second half against the Spurs. He went 10-15 with 22 points in the second half. 34 overall. Ty Lawson continues to be a beast. Just a sensational player.

Bad night for a lot of Western Conference teams. Blazers lose Oden, Mavericks and Spurs lose big home games, Jazz lose in Minnesota. . . only Denver and the Suns are going to leave the night 100% happy.

Oden's got to be about out of chances hmm? another massive injury...

Looks like the Bulls got tired of playing defense after the first few weeks. They may make the playoffs but it's disappointing to see the direction the team is going. Rose isn't developing like he should and the team has a group of young guys who just don't want to play defense.

I know that the goal is a free agent next year, but I'd like them to step into a better team.

Well Oden is one of those dudes where you just expected that, but didn't hope it would happen. But...I dunno, that always seemed like a tough situation. At least they didn't give up the chance to draft Michael Jordan to get him.

Oden was having a incredible year on a per minute basis (7th best in the NBA heading into the week). Remove that per minute qualifier and he was still probably a top 30 player.

Kevin Pelton actually wrote about his quiet breakthrough year Monday.

http://www.basketballprospectus.com/...?articleid=800

Nice article. Thanks for sharing that.

Actually, Clips are probably decently happy about their win. They didn't lose anyone, Gordon came back and played fine and they got the win when they didn't play their best.

All that said, damn, what an ugly game.

Really sad about Oden. The guy is snakebit. Seems like a guy who really wants to be there, too, and is as frustrated as his teammates and the fans with what has happened.

Really sucks for Portland. It's one of the coolest cities I've ever been to and from what I've read some of the most loyal fans in league. Oden seems like a good guy too who was finally figuring things out. I guess the injury isn't one that has long-term effects and is something you can return 100% from.

Hell of a game-winner tonight by Roy though.

regarding Oden : Hate the world right now, fuck ...

Man, Oden's injury has really got me down for some reason. I really want him to suceed.

Ok, did the Bulls really let him tie his shoe? What in the hell?

LMAO

Evidently Deng didn't think to walk forward and snatch the ball away.

really don´t get the hooplah on that play by the bulls. Isn´t it basic sportsmanship ? :confused:

I finally saw another Pistons game yesterday (love the early sunday games :) ) and was very impressed by the Rookies Jerebko and Daye. Jerebko will be a stud glue-guy that is allready impressing without scoring.
They guy just knows how to play defense, has a great attitude on that end (doesn´t back down even when he´s getting scored on), has amazing footwork and lateral mobility. We are talking about a 6´9/6´10 guy doing a pretty good job on the other teams best perimeter scorers in his rookie year coming over from Europe.
Really kind of comparable to Tay Prince in that regard, only that he can also legitimately defend quite a few PFs but is much less of a ballhandler.

And Austin Daye impressed the heck out of me as well, playing key minutes in the 4th quarter as the 2 guard (at 6´11 !) and looking great doing so.
Looks like he can legitimately play at the 3 spot in the long run at least, good foot speed and preimeter skills.

Heck, i´d love for the Pistons to try to pull out a 4 forward lineup later in the year with 4 of Wallace/Maxiell/Villanueva/Jerebko/Daye/Prince.
They do have some serious defensive potential when healthy, all they need is some good creative scheming to make it work.

Omri Casspi also with yet another nice game, still shooting 50+% from the field and long range (and still 50% FTs :confused: )

And Gallinari´s stroke is just awesome, phenomenal shooter. Still 3rd in makes per game (and first in total made 3s) on 45%. He´s not just taking open shots either and the Knicks aren´t a good team at creating open looks (next best are robinson and Douglas at 35%) with no Postgame and a decent-at-best creator at PG whose case isn´t helped by his ridiculously bad shooting this year ... Why even bother to close out on him or guard him tightly ?
If Gallinari had half of jerebko´s footspeed he could be an absolute superstar, the way it is i see him getting to borderline allstar level with some serious protection needed defensively. Best Case scenario is Peja Stojakovic with better passing/shot creating although that again is hurt by his footspeed. He really is damn slow footed. Nor bad footwork offensively when he has a plan, but his lateral quickness just isn´t good enough to guard perimeter guys while guarding PFs is out of the question as well from a physichal standpoint.

Nate Robinson out of the rotation for the knicks btw, supposedly because of his antics on the court and lack of teamplay.

How inefficient has Duhon been shooting this year ? He has more shots (174) than Points (164), shooting 31% from the field and 26% from 3. Yikes ...

Brook Lopez is huge btw,to go with his skill set he´s really impressive. Terrible at recognizing double teams though, that needs a ton of work.
Devin Harris is NOT a Point Guard...

whomario: No, I don't think it's basic sportsmanship. If it's a dead ball, that's fine. If the ball is live, there's nothing wrong with the defender taking the ball. The only time I've seen that is in practice, and even then, I would be surprised unless it was a walkthrough.

whomario,

That's not sportsmanship. It's a live ball, you better play hard.

Duhon is horrible this year. Not defending nearly as well as he used to either.

I just don't like Detroit's makeup right now. They don't do anything really well (outside of offensive rebounding)

They cant' shoot (25th in the league in true shooting%), They aren't efficient at either end (22 in offense, 21 in defense), their 3pt and FT shooting are abysmal. They don't pass well, they don't steal passes, block shots or force turnovers. . . really, it's stunning to me this team has 8 wins right now.

That's actually a good thing. They are winning games because they work their asses off game in, game out. The problem? They may play their way right into permanent mediocrity if this keeps up. You aren't getting John Wall by sneaking into the 8th spot in the East. Your cap number next year prohibits them from being a player in the FA market (unless they get a miracle sign and trade)

I'll see them for a full game the first time on Thursday (Nuggets in Detroit to finish their 4 game road trip) I'm interested to see how Daye looks.

to be fair though they have missed 2 starters all season long.

IMO with those 2 guys heathly they are the 5th best team in the East (Orl, Bos, Atl, Cle are better). Not championship material obviously but how many teams win some 45-50 games within 3,4 seasons after seriously "tanking" ?
Plus there last run they were a solid team for a couple years before making a big jump as well.

I agree that they need to find an identity and start doing sth well, but that´s hard to judge until Hamilton and Prince come back and all those other guys can get back to playing their role.

I´d trade Stuckey though, don´t see the apeal at all. What´s the incentive of having a PG with below-average playmaking ability and no 3 point shot that needs the ball to score ? Especially when :
-your best scorer needs the ball as well (but has a great jump shot and simply better)
-your 2nd best scorer relies on getting open via ball screens
-you have a couple more decent scorers (Villanueva and Prince) that need a healthy amount of catch and shoot oportunities
-you have a copy cat coming off the bench (Will Bynum)
-your front court people are basically only able to score in Pick and Roll Situations or from point blank range (Wallace, Brown, Wilcox, Maxiell to an extent)

seriously, i´d sell as long as the value is high.

That's nice. They've missed two starters. I understand that. Yet how does everyone fit when those starters come back? They look like a square peg, round hole type of team. NBA teams are puzzles. Doesn't mean every team has to be built the same way, but there has to be some sort of a plan there.

Two teams who made some free agent noise are having problems now. A big reason is because they didn't try to build a puzzle, they tried to create assets. Detroit is one of those teams. Portland is the other. (a team that was struggling even before Oden went down for the count, something that I'm still sick over by the way)

Assuming they are healthy, I think they are in a race for the 6th best team in the east. (I think Miami is clearly a better team)

Who are they competing with for #6, 7 and 8? Chicago, Milwaukee, Charlotte, New York. . . look, it's brutal. I wouldn't exactly be proud of 41-44 wins. Hell, IMHO, all those two starters do is put them deeper into mediocrity. Not good enough to win, not bad enough to get a high pick. You just analyzed the team above. The puzzle pieces fit together horribly. I agree by the way, I'd start with Stuckey. The more of him I see, the less I like.

AI made his return. Some thoughts on the game:

AI was two steps slow. He may be better when he gets some conditioning.
Melo had his worst game of the year. Horrible on defense, offense. . . just an ugly game from him.
Ty Lawson is a stud. I know I've said it about ten times in this thread, but the guy is all that, a bag of chips and more. When Chauncey leaves, he's going to slide right in and start.
Speaking of Chauncey, he had a great game. Led Denver in the second half.
Someone really, really needs to teach Iggy how to deal with a double team.
Elton Brand looks horrible.
Philly bench 1-15 from the floor. 2 points, 5 boards, 1 assist
Denver bench - 10-22, 29 points, 15 boards, 5 assists.
That pretty much sums it up I think.

The Cavs are playing good. About time it came together.

TroyF, I know you're a big Nuggets fan and had a question for you since you probably watch most of their games. I've been watching a few of their games lately and they seem like a much better team with Lawson on the court over Billups. It seems like he comes in and they go on a big run. Are people in Denver seeing that too or are my eyes deceiving me?

The game is built much more for speedy point guards and he seems like he really plays well with the other starters.

P.S. The Lawson pick was a great one and I think a lot of teams should kick themselves in the ass for passing on him. Even if he never is a full-time NBA starter, he's a guy off the bench with a ton of speed who can give teams a nice run at the end of quarters when starters are wearing down after long stretches. With the rules as they are, I don't know why teams wouldn't want a super fast PG with a high basketball IQ.

Your eyes aren't deceiving you and those of us in Denver notice the same thing. When Ty comes on the court, everything changes. We pay faster, force other teams into stupid mistakes and get about 3 WOW plays a game. That said, CB is coming around. Huge game last night to help Denver get the win.

I'd argue that Denver has the best 4 G rotation in basketball:

Billups - Wily old vet. Can hit the three and takes care of the ball 3-1 a/to ratio. Money fro the line.
Lawson - Electric, fast, solid defense.
Afflalo - Solid on defense. Shooting 49% from three. Hard worker.
JR Smith - The mad hatter. When he gets on, he can carry the Nuggets for stretches.

The Nuggets mix and match the four (even playing Billups and Lawson together a lot down the stretch last night) It can give the Nuggets a ton of looks based on what other teams throw at them.

One last thing: I think Lawson will be a full time starter. I think he'd be the full time starter on multiple teams right now. He'll be a reserve next year, then I think Chauncey signs a new deal to be the backup to Ty.

Here's a number to back up what you're seeing with Lawson.

Denver averages 113 points per 100 possessions overall. With Lawson in the game they're averaging 125 per 100.

Yep, some people in Denver are using those numbers to suggest Ty should start. I think it's off base for a couple of reasons:

1) Ty changes the game against tired legs or backups right now. Put him with "fresh" guys to start a game and he'll still be one hell of a PG, but there is no question those points per possession numbers drop.

2) CB is still a very good PG against the standard NBA defense. He knows where to go with the ball and knows when to pick his spots. Ty will learn that, but he doesn't need to be thrown into the fire now.

3) Keep Ty fresh for the postseason. No need to play him 35 minutes a night now and wear him down. As much as that would help my fantasy team, it would not help the Nuggets.

I agree with Troy.

I said during the draft that I couldn't believe so many teams were passing on him and I kept hoping the C's would grab him.

I guess the issue I'd see is it's Game 7 in the playoffs, who do you have on the floor in the 4th quarter?

Bulls about to lose to the 1-19 Nets. At home.

I think if they lose tonight to the Nets, Vinny will be fired.

Salmons isnt good for anyone keeping their job. Cant believe he actually starts.

Fuck this team. Can't wait to go Saturday night and see the Celtics beat us by 40.

Check your PM Neuqua.

Nets would have to be one of the better "terrible" teams IMO. Fair amount of young talent with Lopez, CDR, and Lee, and Devin Harris is only 26 even though I'm far from sold on him as a PG.

They just need an entire new bench and a big upgrade at PF to be a competitive team.

They need a new coach. Rose is not developing at all under him. This is the first time I'm starting to have my doubts that Rose will ever develop into a superstar. Just doesn't seem to have that killer instinct or leadership skills. Probably helps they have a fucking clueless coach.

I really thought Rose was taking over at the end of the 4th quarter, but then coming out of a timeout, John Salmons took an ill advised 3pter, I couldn't believe it. Lost all our momentum there.

I guess the crappiest part about the Bulls is they can't do much in terms of change. They need the cap space for next year. They also don't want to bring in a big name coach until they know who the free agents would want. I'd imagine they'd let Wade or Lebron pick whoever they want as a coach if they chose to do so.

I kind of knew this was a wasted year, but I had hoped we'd see Rose develop and become a real leader. He has his moments but just seems to lack that killer instinct. He should have been the one with the ball at the end and driving to make plays. I don't know if that's Rose being timid or Vinny drawing up dumb plays.

Bulls lose again tonight by 35. They are about at that Timberwolves/Nets level of crappiness.

Woohoo Rockets!

This answer all depends on two main questions:

1) How is JR Smith playing?

Is he hot? Is he taking stupid shots? Is he breaking down the defense or breaking down the Nuggets?

2) How has Chauncey Billups looked during the series?

Is his three point shooting on? Has he worn down?

3) Who is the opposing SG/PG combo?

I say combo because if it's not a tall unit, you could easily put CB on the SG. Let's say it's the Spurs or Lakers. With them, you can't play Chauncey and Ty together. neither of them could match up on Kobe.


Right now, I think the Nuggets best overall lineup is one they haven't used much this season, but should use more:

C - Nene
PF - Martin
SF - Melo
SG - JR Smith
PG - Ty Lawson

All things being equal, that's the fourth quarter unit I'd want on the floor in the final 5 minutes of a game 7. They haven't played together a lot yet, but I expect by the end of the year they will play that unit more. Those variables listed above mean a lot, however, and it's why I like the Nuggets. They have plenty of options and one of those guys going cold won't kill them.

Still, barring injury, I don't think anyone beats the Lakers.

Don´t see it that way really. How can you proclaim they are having problems and base it on the Free Agent signing when they haven´t been able to play with their full roster at all yet and thus there´s no way of knowing hot Villanueva/Gordon impact that team as a whole ?

IMO they can be a good team allready this season and easily reach the playoffs. Both Gordon and Villanueva could then come off the bench giving the Pistons a lot of options and imo a good mixture of defensive minded player, offensive weapons and hustle players, also a good mixture of young, proven and veteran players.

I´m not even a Detroit Fan or anything, that´s just how i see it as a neutral.

Fast becoming a huge fan of Jerebko though (even more than my normal "he´s a euro" fandom ;) ), would have never assumed that he´d adjust that fast.
Had a weaker game last night despite ok raw numbers of 12/8. The Pistons still won behind Stuckey and Villanueva. Daye looked solid out there despite low numbers and Ben Wallace was pretty good on the boards and defensively.


btw :

Kings-Wizards game to feature 'Dollar Beer Night' at ARCO - Ball Don't Lie - NBA Blog - Yahoo! Sports

:D

and another thing only semi-related to the NBA per se, Improv everywhere (check them out, especially awesome was frozen grand central : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo ) does a "lost fan" prank at MSG and gets a bunch of people to play along without knowing :

Where’s Rob? « Improv Everywhere

hilarious :D

No, the Pistons won behind Denver playing like garbage, the refs treating Stuckey like Dwayne Wade (15 FT attempts while Melo had 8 and took the ball to the hole every bit as much) and George Karl deciding to give the F'n ball to Chauncey Billups at the end of the game rather than the best player on the damned team. It was nice watching Carmelo Anthony stand 28 feet from the basket while Chauncey ran an ISO at the end of the game. I have never been so mad as Nugget fan. Ever.

I think Detroit can get as healthy as they want. . . I still think they are constructed incredibly poorly. I hope they get healthy so we can find out if I'm right or wrong.

Daye looks good. I'm not sure about Jerebko. Looked decent last night, I'd need to see more.

Not even when they traded for AI?

No, not even then. Hell, I was OK with the AI trade. They needed to do something at the time.

Last night just topped the cake.

On one hand you have a guy who is 6-15, struggling from the floor and you know there will be no foul call on a drive.

On the other, you have a guy who is 16-28 from the floor, has 40 points and the Pistons haven't had an answer for him all night.


So you intentionally set up an inbounds play to the 6-15 guy, leave the 40 point guy on the wing two feet beyond the three point line and run an ISO.

Gee, Detroit didn't leave the 40 point guy open, I'm shocked. And the guy shooting under 40% for the year couldn't hit the shot.

That play MUST be run through Carmelo Anthony. I'm not saying he has to take the shot. He doesn't. Detroit probably comes with a hard double right away. Two passes and someone gets an open shot to tie or win the game. Instead, Melo isn't even a decoy. He's not cutting through the lane, tying up defenders. . . no, he's out by the three point land.

That was one of the single worst play calls I've seen in recent memory for any team. I'm still angry about it this morning. How can you even THINK that's the right call? Unbelievable GK, just unbelievable.

I was just reading an article the other day about Denver potentially giving Karl an extension. What's the feeling in Denver about this? To be honest, Denver is probably the team that worries me the most as a Laker fan, but I've always felt as long as they have Karl, he'll find a way to screw things up.

Re: The Pistons

1. The Pistons are a vastly better team when Stuckey is our 2 and doesn't have to handle the ball all game. It's not even a comparison.

2. Jerebko right now is Joe D's best pick since Memo Okur. Very early but the kid can play. He's very active on both ends of the floor, has a nice J, and can really do anything out there. I am not going to say he'll be a superstar but I like his potential a lot.

3. Austin Daye is meh to me still so far. Good for the role he has but he likes a 2D character out there. Christ he is thin.

4. This team is going to suffer when Rip and Tay are back. It will make the bench stronger, but it means Stuckey moves back to PG and just watch that nightmare ensue.

5. For this team to have any hope in the future, Rip and Tay both somehow need to be dealt, a real PG must be had and another big man who can play is also a must. All of that cannot happen this year, or next year most likely, so it's a 3 year process which is absurd when you just spent 90 mil on two bench players.

6. Joe D is an awful GM who has no idea how to construct a team any. 2004/05 proved to be flukes.

don´t get that at all. Then why not just trade Stuckey ? :confused: But again, i see maybe 5 games a year and certainly am no expert regarding the Pistons.

anyway, the Rockets beat the Sixers. Iverson looked ok, but had very little impact on the game. The Rockets certainly didn´t went out of their way even when he got a couple scores.
Landry should get serious 6th man consideration. 16/6 in 26 minutes off the bench. Shooting 56%, 88% on 5 attempts from the line, 16.3 points on 10.6 shots.
Houston 13-9 now.
Oklahoma 12-9 btw, nice.

Suns finally beat another good team in orlando.
Nash 20 points and 18 assists, SToudemire 28/10. Howard with an absurd stat. 1/1 FGs. Yeah, he got to the line 17 times (and only hit 8 ...) but still that´s ridiculous against a team like Phoenix ...

On the season Howard 18/12 (down from 21/14) with only 9 FGA (down from 12) on the same amount of FTs (about 10.5).

kobe breaks a finger on his shooting hand but still plays the 2nd half, Brewer has a ridiculous dunk on and over Fisher. Yeah, only the 6 foot fisher and i´m not a big highlight fan, but that simply looked astonishing.

lakers now 97-21 in the regular season with Gasol in the lineup, thats insane.

Joe loves Stuckey. He said positions are antiquated yet every time Stuckey runs our offense we are usually terrible. When someone else runs it and he can just be a scorer, the team usually plays 100x better.

But Joe won't change anything so it is what it is.

That´s good news for the Lakers, especially since at some point the schedule will get more demanding. Haven´t really checked, but just figuring after 17 home games in the first 21. Not a bad way to start a season ;)
The Suns on the other hand played 15 of their first 23 on the road (are 8-0 at home, 8-7 on the road)

Unless they are in a playoff game against the Warriors Id have Billups out there. Exciting may be look wonderful in the regular season but when it comes down to the 4th quarter of a playoff game you want the 90 percent FT shooter and the guy that can run an offense without turnovers in the game.

Not to mention the fact that most good teams are going to be able to exploit Lawson as a defender.

Carmello has been known to drift at times as well so its nice to have a PG in the game that will keep that from happening.

Lawson plays well with JR Smith in the up tempo game which makes their bench so strong. I dont think you want JR Smith and his bonehead plays in the game late either unless you are down 6-10 points and trying to catch up.

Billups may have a poor shooting percentage but is still a productive scorer because he is so good at drawing fouls. This year he is averaging around 8-9 FT attempts per game.

They have officially brought me back to the NBA after a long absence. Actually, it has been a steady process since the Hornets were here, but this season has really hooked me and I'm watching every Thunder game I can now. It's a fun team to watch, young and talented, and the improvement between last year and this year is quite incredible. I'm VERY excited about the future.

They are a fun bunch. I thought this year was too soon for them but they are making believers out of me. Durant is playing at an unbelievable level. To think there were some people that thought Oden was the slam dunk pick over Durant:)

Ariza took a bad cheapshot tonight and should get a suspension for it. Basically threw an elbow at the back of Derozans head that would have really done some damage if it connected. See it no differently than a punch and I think he should get 5 games although I'd probably be surprised if he even got one.

Got one game ... Should have been more, definitely.

The Rockets HC Adelmann complained about the schedule the upcoming weeks and quite frankly has a point. 4 sets of back-to-backs in a row. And around christmas they play in LA on the 22nd, in Orlando on the 23rd. Then on the 26th they play in New Jersey ...
The NBA should just quit playing 23rd-27th. Maybe put on some local rivalry games with not-so-long distances for the visiting team for national TV (maybe like any Dallas-Houston-San Antonio / Clippers-Lakers / Orlando-Miami) , but not sth as ridiculous as flying across the country basically on the 24th and then head back east on the 26th...

McGrady gave his season debut yesterday night, playing 7 minutes in the first quarter, and will be brought along slowly. Glad he´s made it back, now we´ll have to see how this thing develops.

Portland now is starting Miller again (with Blake coming off the bench) and by now i am starting to question that move as well. He´s terribly underutilized and Roy hasn´t adjusted at all, i´m incredibly disapointed by Roy´s lacking willngness to play off the ball more ...
Bayless has been a bright spot this month.

btw just a stat i find amazing : Gerald Wallace still averages 12 rebounds per game (now 23 games into the year) , his FG percentage picked up as well.

Ty's defense is actually the biggest revelation of the year in my mind. He's not an A+ defender by any stretch, but he's not at all bad either. His on court/off court numbers are almost identical to Billups on D, and his overall defense against opposing PG's is actually better.

Ty has slumped a bit in the past couple of weeks, but that's to be expected, he's a rookie. Not sure what the Carmelo drifting thing is about. He just doesn't drift in the fourth quarter of a close game. Last year he was right on par with Lebron and Kobe in the final 5 of a close game, hit more game winning shots and shot a much higher three point percentage than either of the other two.

The problem with Melo is the fact the team sometimes goes away from him for no apparent reason. This happens with Billups or Lawson on the court. It's also a function of the idiocy of George Karl. (again, look at the example of the final play of the Pistons game, Melo was destroying the PIstons and never touched the ball on a designed play. .. just horrible)

The scheduling of the league has always been bizzare. Rockets have 22 back to backs this year, Nuggets have 21. Lakers have 19.

The Nuggets actually played 4 back to backs with a single game against Memphis sandwiched around them to start the year. In fact, of the Nuggets first 15 games, they had 6 sets of back to backs. By the way, they don't play IN LA on the 22nd, the play the Clippers in Houston before going to Orlando.

The sets of back to backs go like this:

Home vs. Detroit, @Denver

1 day off

@Dallas, home vs. OKC (4th in 5 nights, but at least it's at home for the final tilt and Dallas isn't exactly a long road trip)

2 days off

Home vs. Clippers, @Orlando

3 days off

@NJ, @Cleveland

The problem, and where I agree with Adlemen is to do this around the holidays. If this were a February schedule, you just stay in NJ for a few days. You can't do that with Christmas in the mix and that causes more air travel.

As for the rest of it? It sucks, but that's the league.

As for Roy, I don't think he CAN play off the ball. His game is suited for dominating it. the Blazers knew this when they gave him the max, then signed a ball dominating PG to play with him. I didn't get it then and still don't, even if the goal was just to trade Dre.

I'm VERY interested to see how the Blazers play during this next 6 game stretch. Actually the stretch of games I've waited all season for them to have. Phoenix, @Orlando, @Miami, @Dallas, @SA, Denver. The Blazers have 4 wins against +.500 teams this year. 2 vs. Houston (both at home), SA (at home) and @OKC. Now they play 6 straight against +.500 teams, including 4 of the top teams in basketball.

I'm very interested to see how they perform. (FYI, Denver has played an easy ass schedule thus far and has 7 wins against +.500 teams, including the Lakers, Jazz, Blazers, Suns (3 of the 4 at home)

Oh Kobe

I agree on the holiday schedule. I don't have a problem having a few games on Christmas Day for TV, but I hate having other games around then. For instance I have tickets on the 26th of December. I'd rather not go to the game since I'd rather just take the day off from all the holiday crap. I'm sure the players would too.

Setup a couple high profile games on Christmas Day and give the rest of the league off for a few days. If you can't do that, at least only have these teams play one game so they aren't flying around the country during that time.

Saw him live last night and the guys is phenomenal. Bulls did a good job on him in the 2nd half but he hit everything in site in the first quarter. At one point in the first quarter, he scored on like his 6th consecutive possesion and the place just gave him a huge applause. Never seen an opposing player get a hand like that in the United Center (besides Jordan). It was as if he got everyone to start rooting for him just on his play.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is...if I can change...and youz can change... EVERYBODY CAN CHANGE!!!"

Really, Kobe?

The man is phenomenal.

and how about Gasol´s rebounding ?

Last 5 games :

12
20
20
16
22


has anyone seen Mike Dunleavy play this year ? Kind of glad he made it back, really like his game. Yeah, never lived up to the hype but so what ? Hope he gets to play on a contender at some point, could really be a good 6th man on some teams.
Has come back very well from injury, averaging 15 points in only 23 minutes through 10 games.

With Ty's defense as an on the ball defender he is great. I was talking about exploiting him in the post due to his lack of height. They may not have a matchup that makes him exploitable in the post in the playoffs either. It was more of a worst case scenario.

As for Mello I was more so talking when hes not getting the ball where he needs to have his greatest success. Billups will run the offense and make sure he gets it in a post up position or closer to the hoop. I should have been more specific, when Mello settles for the 20 foot jumpers he is doing the defense a favor. Every once in awhile it seems Mello will start settleing for the 20 foot jumper when he is one of the 3 most dangerous players in the NBA taking it to the hoop.

In any case the Nuggets are an exciting group of talent. I hope they can put it together and challenge the Lakers this year.

Billups strained a groin last night, so all of the Nuggets fans wanting a big dose of Lawson are going to get it now.

When watching Melo play, it is usually one of three ways he plays:

1) Attacks the hoop, gets foul calls, keeps attacking the hoop all game.
2) Attacks the hoop, gets no foul calls (sometimes because of good defense, sometimes because the refs have their heads up their asses and let him get beat to hell). . . after which he moves to the 15-18 foot range and fires up jumpers with mixed success.
3) He's "in the zone" and hitting everything. Defender lays off of him, he drains the 15 footer. Defender gets close, he blows past him and gets an and one. Double comes, he hits cutters in the lane for dunks and FT attempts.

When he's in zone three, he's unstoppable. Last night, it was zone one. He attacked all night long. Hit a three point shot, but other than that he was in pure attack mode. He got the calls he deserved (only one superstar call I saw last night) and kept attacking.

His problem when facing the Lakers is that he needs is outside shot to be on, because zone one isn't possible. The Lakers have too much length and the Lakers know the refs aren't calling everything. Melo must have his total package working or he's in trouble against the Lake show.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. The NBA allowing the Pau Gasol trade has turned the Lakers into a dynasty. Nobody in the NBA can match their length, bulk, and Kobe. If they stay healthy, they'll win 65 games and cruise to a title. (apologies Celtics fans)

I wish the Nuggets could sign Alex English to a one year, 20 million dollar contract and trade him and an 18 year old for an all nba forward, but that's not going to happen. (I love the revisionist history now that Marc is playing well, the Grizzlies did it to cut salary, no other reason, Marc Gasol could have been Adam Morrison, they just needed a body to complete the deal)

If it sounds like I'm bitter, I still am. But the Lakers are now a dynasty and will win 3 or 4 more rings in the next 6 years because Stern allowed that farce to go through. Lakers fans will cheer and everyone else will just have to hope for early retirements (I never wish injury)

That trade wasnt even as bad as the Garnett trade to Minnesota. The Griz took the first deal offered. The T-Wolves did it to help the C's

Oh the new burden of expectations. OKC has lost three straight. They were against three of the top teams (Dallas, Denver, Cleveland), but with two of them at home, I hoped they would get at least one. They were definitely in the games against Cleveland and Dallas, leading both late, I think, before making those young mistakes.

Hm. What did the Lakers send that was anywhere near as valuable as Jefferson?

The rumored offers revolved around Odom and Bynum.

What was the actual offer?