Offical 2009-10 NBA Season Thread

[duba169]

EnEyeKayEe wrote:

http://DubA169.u.yuku.com

DubA169

I can't wait to see the tone in your posts change if Bron becomes a Knickerbocker.

Too bad I don't think he's gonna leave anymore (and this has NOTHING to do with #6)...

nah man i would hate on him even more if he was dancing all over the court, taking his pictures, and wearing the names of other states on his sneakers during games. new yorkers would be much more critical of the dumb stuff he does and says. (not saying that's good or bad it just is what it is. i dunno how bron would handle harsh criticism)

he's not aloud to do any silly crap until he wins a title. i hate all the cavs antics. the coach doesn't know how to keep anyone in line. that's just one of the several reasons why they always lose during playoff time.

 

[Los Angeles]

CP3 almost on his way back, hate to see the D.C show come to an end.

 

[black jesus]

CP3 better wait till his knee is 100% and don't rush back

 

[yeeupp]

Any chance they play D.C & CP3 together?

 

[al3xis]

Haywood Workman is an NBA ref now? Makes me feel old.

 

[dlo13]

I thought the same thing.

 

[CP1708]

Originally Posted by DubA169

EnEyeKayEe wrote:

http://duba169.u.yuku.com/

DubA169

I can't wait to see the tone in your posts change if Bron becomes a Knickerbocker.

Too bad I don't think he's gonna leave anymore (and this has NOTHING to do with #6)...

nah man i would hate on him even more if he was dancing all over the court, taking his pictures, and wearing the names of other states on his sneakers during games. new yorkers would be much more critical of the dumb stuff he does and says. (not saying that's good or bad it just is what it is. i dunno how bron would handle harsh criticism)

he's not aloud to do any silly crap until he wins a title. i hate all the cavs antics. the coach doesn't know how to keep anyone in line. that's just one of the several reasons why they always lose during playoff time.


I said all of this same stuff last year and Laker fans didn't believe me.  I can't think of one NBA champion that was a bunch of clowns.  They were all kill you at all costs type winners. 

When the Cavs walked all over the Hawks and Pistons and danced and laughed and took fake photos, everyone thought it was great.  Soon as Orlando showed up and started kicking their @#$, the fake photos stopped, the smiling stopped, they got all serious all of a sudden.  You can't do that imo.  When you are losing and the fun part is taken out of the equation, the whole team gets tight.  You could see it in the way they played.  They weren't scared, they weren't not talented enough, they were simply playing that series different then they had all year, and it seemingly choked them, made them tight.  And for that, they suffered.  Obviously it didn't affect Bron at all.  I don't mean him, but for these other guys, these role fillers like Mo and West and floppy, they needed that comfort level, and it was taken away from them.  When you losin, you can't act out and have fun and all that.  So lose a game at home, and then get all serious, the affect starts to snowball.  

Now clearly, this team is better then last year.  With Jamison, Shaq, Powe, Moon, Parker, etc etc, they should be stronger.  But if they don't get more serious, first sign of trouble could snowball again.  If they manage to stay ahead in every series and the noose doesn't get too tight, then they can play more loose, more relaxed, and maybe they succeed this time.  We'll see. 
  

 

[westcoastsfinest]

Originally Posted by DubA169

EnEyeKayEe wrote:

http://duba169.u.yuku.com/

DubA169

I can't wait to see the tone in your posts change if Bron becomes a Knickerbocker.

Too bad I don't think he's gonna leave anymore (and this has NOTHING to do with #6)...

nah man i would hate on him even more if he was dancing all over the court, taking his pictures, and wearing the names of other states on his sneakers during games. new yorkers would be much more critical of the dumb stuff he does and says. (not saying that's good or bad it just is what it is. i dunno how bron would handle harsh criticism)

he's not aloud to do any silly crap until he wins a title. i hate all the cavs antics. the coach doesn't know how to keep anyone in line. that's just one of the several reasons why they always lose during playoff time.


whatever youd love Lebron once he dons that knick jersey and you know it!

...his antics are disrespectful though and yes i do agree the NY media will definitely kill him for that unless he starts winning championships for the knicks
  

 

[big j 33]

I rarely watch 1st and 10 but now that Bruce Bowen is on there's no chance I watch... Especially with him wearing that stupid bow tie

 

[bangdak]

Originally Posted by EnEyeKayEe

Originally Posted by I NaSmatic I

We all know Billy Hoyle is Mateen Cleaves right?

...I asked where the thread starter went a few weeks ago and nobody really answered seriously...

So is this true?



Did he get banned or what?

 

[scott frost]

Does anyone else immediately turn the channel when Cheryl Miller is on NBA Gametime?

 

[westcoastsfinest]

Originally Posted by Big J 33

I rarely watch 1st and 10 but now that Bruce Bowen is on there's no chance I watch... Especially with him wearing that stupid bow tie

  

 word i cant get passed that bow tie

 

[JD617]

I immediately turn the channel when anyone from the Miller family is talking.

 

[N41D]

Can someone post this...

 

[proshares]

[h2]

[h2]Mavs contenders or pretenders?[/h2][h3]PER Diem: March 2, 2010[/h3]

•  

By John Hollinger
ESPN.com
Archive

Glenn James/NBAE/Getty ImagesThe Mavs are rolling after acquiring Caron Butler (4) and Brendan Haywood. But are they title threats?

Behold, everyone, our new Western contender … but you might not want to look too closely.

With their eighth straight win Monday -- a streak that includes seven victories over playoff contenders -- the Dallas Mavericks eased past the Denver Nuggets into the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference. And the streak might not end any time soon. The Mavericks' next seven games look eminently winnable (home against Minnesota, Sacramento, New Jersey, New York and Chicago; at Chicago and Minnesota), which could have them riding a 15-game win streak when Boston visits March 20. Things will get significantly more difficult from there, but if Dallas takes care of business against the doormats, it should hang on to its second seed in the West.

Dallas' recent run coincides with a trade for Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood, leading one to wonder whether the Mavs have recast themselves as legitimate threats to win the conference.

Look a little deeper, however, and the Mavs' résumé isn't nearly as impressive. They have gone 8-1 since their trade with Washington on Feb. 13, but they have outscored their opposition by only 5.3 points per game during that time. In other words, during their best stretch of the season, they still haven't matched the scoring margin of elite teams such as the Cavs (plus-7.3), Lakers (plus-6.4) and Magic (plus-5.

, and they barely exceed the marks of the Celtics, Hawks, Nuggets, Jazz and Spurs.

The Mavs' winning streak has come against some difficult opposition, but some easy matchups -- home games against Indiana and a Dwyane Wade-less Miami team, for instance -- have produced close shaves. In fact, Dallas hasn't won a game by more than 10 points since Jan. 24.

Which takes us to the No. 1 item in my inbox at the moment: How do the Mavericks, who have the second-best record in the West and fourth-best in the league, rank a measly 12th in the Power Rankings?

Let's break down Dallas' body of work. Despite its impressive win-loss record, it has the league's 12th-best scoring margin at plus-2.25 points per game. Normally, a team with that margin would be 36-25; the Mavs are 40-21 thanks to freakishly good fortune in close games. (They're 15-5 in contests decided by five points or fewer.)

Dallas gets a boost in the daily Power Rankings from its schedule, which has been more difficult than league average, and its home-road differential (29 home games, 32 on the road) -- two factors that will even out in a hurry during the next seven games.

However, the other component factoring into the rankings is recent play. And in the most recent 25 percent of their schedule, the Mavs -- even with the win streak -- have an average scoring margin barely above par at plus-0.13.

That stretch includes a 36-point loss to Denver that could be relabeled as a loss to the schedule, as it came on the back end of a ridiculously unfair back-to-back after a game in Golden State. (I often wonder whether the NBA's schedule makers ever travel west of the Mississippi. Did they think that because Colorado was only two states away, it wouldn't be a long flight?)

But if you take the Denver debacle off the Mavericks' résumé, it still doesn't improve much. Dallas would have the league's 11th-best scoring margin on the season instead of the 12th, and its margin of victory in the past quarter of its schedule would be a still-unimpressive plus-2.13. Overall, the Mavs would be just 10th in the Power Rankings and still well behind the top nine teams. And, of course, this would be after giving them a major benefit of the doubt: They're not the only team to be victimized by unfortunate schedule arrangements.

Dig deeper, and still, nothing about the Mavs screams "contender." They rank 10th in offensive efficiency and 12th in defensive efficiency. Their offense is predicated on the lowest-percentage shot in the game, the long 2, and three Mavs (Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry and Butler) are among the league's leading practitioners of the shot. Sure, that trio converts from midrange more often than most, but it's still a difficult way to build a high-powered offense.

Thus, if the Mavs are to be legit, they will have to improve on defense. That's where the additions of Haywood and, to a lesser extent, DeShawn Stevenson, could help. But even if those two vault the Mavs all the way into the league's top five in defensive efficiency -- an unlikely occurrence -- they still would be on an even footing with only the West's other second-tier teams.

As a result, we're left to deal with one of the season's great paradoxes. With 40 wins in the bank and a favorable remaining schedule, Dallas is likely to attain the second seed in the West. Yet it has the statistical profile of a much lower contender, and even its post-trade win streak hasn't changed that outlook significantly.

I don't want to completely dismiss the Mavs' prospects because they could land home-court advantage for two playoff rounds, and I'd like to see them play a few more games with their new acquisitions. But despite the recent win streak, my outlook on Dallas really hasn't changed much. Until further notice, it's a pretty good team … but one that's unlikely to topple any of the three fantastic ones it may have to get past in the Western Conference playoffs.

[/h2]

 

[i nasmatic i]

Can anyone post the article on SFs with Melo and KD?

 

[ce0 mal]

Can anyone post the article on SFs with Melo and KD?

 

[billy hoyle]

Originally Posted by BangDak

Originally Posted by EnEyeKayEe

Originally Posted by I NaSmatic I

We all know Billy Hoyle is Mateen Cleaves right?

...I asked where the thread starter went a few weeks ago and nobody really answered seriously...

So is this true?



Did he get banned or what?

uh no, im not mateen cleaves. people also thought i was a different billy hoyle.


im just ME, Billy Hoyle

 

[proshares]

[h2]

[h2]Melo vs. Durant: Who's better?[/h2]
By David Thorpe
Scouts Inc.
Archive

Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE/Getty ImagesIn terms of full-time NBA small forwards, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant are the best in the biz.

Look at the top three scorers in the NBA. Right behind LeBron James, the league's best player, are two special guys with some common threads running between them. Both are small forwards on playoff-bound teams. Both had historic one-and-done runs in college: Carmelo Anthony led Syracuse to an incredible national title run, and Kevin Durant dominated college hoops as few freshmen ever have. And both learned hoops in famously tough and talented basketball hotbeds: Melo in Baltimore and Durant a short ride away in Washington. With LeBron, the reigning MVP, known more for his point forward skills and power forward physique, Melo and KD are the two best pure 3s in the game.

Durant and Melo have one more thing in common: Neither had made much of a splash in the NBA other than as a prolific scorer -- until this season, when each has expanded his game.

So as they face off Wednesday night, we have to ask: Who's better overall? Who has what it takes to stand astride the Western Conference for the next decade?

We're rating them in seven categories on a scale of 0 to 10. A 10 means world-class level, with a 5 representing a league-average score. (Note: We used this scoring system instead of the 10-point must system used in the Kobe-LeBron breakdown so that we could more accurately represent Anthony's and Durant's weaknesses.)
[h3]Category No. 1: Shooting[/h3]
Despite Anthony's reputation as more of a power scorer, and Durant's being known for his silky smooth shot, these players are very similar as shooters.

Durant's shot shows a great follow-through and good balance most of the time. He also does an excellent job of keeping his right hand under the ball while faking and jabbing. This allows for a quicker release because it keeps his right wrist cocked and ready to fire, and it's one of the most difficult concepts to learn.

The majority of his jump shots come from the midrange area, where he's connecting on about 40 percent this season. It's a good showing, but not great. In comparison, Dirk Nowitzki makes about 48 percent of his midrange shots and Kobe Bryant has surged to 46 percent (ahead of James, who's also at 40 percent). Still, Durant uses his size and length perfectly here, usually keeping the ball high throughout the shot to make it extremely difficult for defenders to make a play on the ball.

From the 3-point line, he's shooting 38.2 percent on about four attempts per game. Surprisingly, he's at his best from the wings and top of the key (over 42 percent) and weakest from the corners (under 20 percent). To his credit, though, he rarely takes the corner shots, given those struggles.

Anthony, meanwhile, has a great-looking, compact delivery with a quick release and good follow-through. Like Durant, he's been making about 40 percent of his midrange shots. But unlike Durant, he often sweeps the ball well below his knees before driving or shooting -- this technique makes it more difficult to shoot correctly. If he kept the ball closer to his core, he might improve significantly as a midrange shooter.

Melo doesn't take as many 3s as Durant or shoot as high a percentage (34 percent) -- he often struggles to complete his shooting form from this distance.

This category is closer than I expected, but Durant's 3-point edge gives him the round.
[h2]Durant 8, Anthony 7[/h2]

---

[h3]Category No. 2: Scoring[/h3]
This is actually where their games are the most divergent. Melo is blessed with the rare combination of power and quickness that LeBron shares and Shaquille O'Neal had when he was the most dominant player in basketball. And Anthony incorporates great timing into his attacks, making it hard for defenders to anticipate his moves.

He can make enough perimeter shots to beat you, and he has a great first step off the triple-threat position, enabling him to get into the paint frequently, as well as to the foul line. He earns about 10 free throw attempts a game and is shooting 82.9 percent from the stripe this season.

Melo has a well-crafted post game, too, and he uses it like a hammer. He loves to seal smaller players inside after screens or cuts, and most other small forwards are too weak or small to handle it.

Thanks to that lethal combination of posting and slashing, and his two offensive rebounds per game, Melo takes the majority of his shots from the paint, even though a large percentage of his possessions begin on the perimeter -- and he makes about 58 percent of his paint shots. This could be better, but Melo doesn't explode to the rim quite as often as he used to.

Durant might not have Melo's physical presence, but he's lethal nonetheless. He's brilliantly crafty at using his length to draw fouls, a skill that gets him to the free throw line just as often as Melo. And Durant is a slightly better free throw shooter, at 88.3 percent.

Because he's often pressed on the perimeter by aggressive defenders -- or by guys who are hotly closing out on him -- he gets ample opportunities to drive, and he does so frequently. Although he doesn't get into the deep part of the paint as often as Melo, Durant has, surprisingly, been finishing better inside: He's making 62 percent of his paint shots. Durant also uses a strong pull-up game from just inside the free throw line.

Ultimately, KD's unique combination of size, length, agility, skills and feel makes him practically unguardable for most defenders.

Still, no NBA player has a better offensive mix of weapons than Anthony. Driving, shooting, posting, cutting, racing the floor, crashing the boards and drawing fouls -- Melo uses the whole array of options, which is why he often has his best games against the league's best defenses and scores proficiently in late-game situations.

As their stats and skills tell us, these two are elite scorers.
[h2]Durant 10, Anthony 10[/h2]

---

[h3]Category No. 3: Making teammates better[/h3]
In my previous player versus player breakdown, I compared James and Bryant, and this is one category in which you can see what sets those two apart from Anthony and Durant. Kobe is a great scorer who is also a gifted passer, and LeBron could go down as the best wing passer/scorer ever. Anthony and Durant, in contrast, are not at that level when it comes to helping teammates.

Neither Melo nor KD is especially good at seeing angles for teammates and anticipating movements by the defense, except as it relates to finding an opening for his own bucket-getting. That's not to say these two are ball hogs, because they're not, but their scoring talents are far ahead of their passing skills.

We know they can find teammates -- each has recorded eight assists in a game this season -- but it is not a strength of either guy yet. They miss too many opportunities to get teammates the ball in great spots.

Of course, there are other ways they help their teammates: Both create scoring opportunities for others simply by working hard on offense and drawing the attention of the defense, as well as by not forcing the action when double-teamed, but rather kicking the ball back out and letting their teammates play 4-on-3.

But overall, Melo and KD are pretty ordinary in this facet of the game.
[h2]Anthony 6, Durant 5[/h2]

---

[h3]Category No. 4: On-the-ball defense[/h3]
Anthony is a more willing defender than he used to be. In the past, I rarely saw the same level of intensity on defense that I saw on offense. Now he seems more willing to stick his whole head and body into a play to break it up, and to close out on a shooter who isn't his primary responsibility. He also is making more of an effort to be disruptive to ball handlers and shooters by swiping and pawing at the ball while moving his feet. He has had two or more steals in a game 17 times this season and has a chance to set a career high in takeaways.

Still, he has some bad habits to break on defense. He rarely gets his hand up early to contest the shot on closeouts. Perhaps even worse, he often is caught watching the ball, forcing him to turn and try to catch up with his man.

He also struggles to slide in his defensive stance, especially to his left, and he stands up in his stance almost all the time rather than getting low. And he gets stuck on screens more than he should, considering how strong and nimble he is.

Like Anthony, Durant has improved on defense, and the improvement has come quickly, thanks to both mental adjustments and his great length for his position. He's likely to set a personal best in steals this season, and maybe blocks, too. On most plays, he contests shots with an outstretched hand, and relative to Anthony, who takes plays off at times, Durant rests on fewer defensive possessions.

But he is not close to being a strong on-ball defender yet. He needs to be able to continue sliding when he is guarding a hard dribble drive. And like Melo, he too often gets caught with his back to his man when he's helping instead of staying sideways to make recovery easier.
[h2]Durant 7, Anthony 6[/h2]

---

[h3]Category No. 5: Secondary defender[/h3]
Good defense begins with what we call "starting position." It's vital to begin a possession in the right place, based on where the offensive players are and where the ball is. A defense is doomed by poor starting position.

Melo and Durant have been doing a great job in this area this season, which is half the battle as secondary defenders. They typically move off their man and toward the ball at the onset of a play. Melo might be a bit better at showing on the ball side as the play begins, making Denver's defense look more formidable by crowding the side of the floor where the ball is.

But things go downhill for both players after that. Neither is alert in help defense, and they spend more time standing or floating around than trying to stop the other team from scoring.

This is pretty typical for monster scorers who exert lots of energy on offense and want to avoid fouls. Anthony and Durant do the latter by frequently not jamming cutters, pinching drivers or doubling post threats. Fortunately, they have coaches and teammates who are aware of their roles and do whatever they can to make up for Anthony and Durant on defense.
[h2]Durant 5, Anthony 5[/h2]

---

[h3]Category No. 6: Rebounding[/h3]
Durant is pretty locked in as a defensive rebounder. That's needed because the Thunder don't get a lot of rebounding from the bigs and are below-average as a defensive rebounding team. Only three small forwards -- James, Gerald Wallace and Matt Barnes -- have a better defensive rebound rate than Durant. He isn't as physical or dominant as James or Wallace, doesn't box out especially well and still rebounds mostly in his own area, but he is willing. With his length and great hands, that's enough.



The same can't be said for Durant's efforts on the offensive glass, though that's by design. The Thunder's starting guards, Russell Westbrook and Thabo Sefolosha, crash the glass and are two of the best offensive rebounders at their respective positions, meaning Durant has to get back on defense. So although his offensive rebound rate is very low for a small forward, that's OK within the team's scheme, and Durant is able to preserve energy and fouls by not going hard after offensive boards.

Denver wisely employs a different approach for Melo. He's a beast on the offensive glass, pushing and fighting smaller guys and punishing them with easy buckets this way. He's not always locked in, but when he's on his game, it's a big part of who he is and what makes him an all-time great scorer.

Denver is a poor defensive rebounding team, and Melo is a poor defensive rebounder. It seems likely he could be better if it mattered more to him. As strong a season as the Nuggets are having, improving at rebounding would only help their cause, and getting more than 4.2 defensive rebounds a game from their best player could make a big difference.

Melo's work on the offensive glass has an impact on the game, but Durant's contributions on the defensive boards are stronger, and that's a big reason the Thunder are a better rebounding team than the Nuggets.
[h2]Durant 6, Anthony 5[/h2]

---

[h3]Category No. 7: Intangibles[/h3]
Melo has never been known as someone who inspires teammates. It's just not in his personality: He can shut down or get petulant when he's unhappy. That said, he also can affect his teammates with his performance and his confidence, and they know what to do in many late-game situations: Get Melo the ball. They know he can carry them, and that attribute alone can help the team get on the same page.

Team togetherness in Denver also is helped by the fact that Anthony and Nuggets coach George Karl know each other well and by the fact that Melo has changed in both body and attitude in his time under Karl. So with his superstar buying in, Karl has an easier time getting everyone else to do the same.

Another intangible Melo brings is his ability to affect opponents, specifically the guys who have to guard him. He's one of the toughest covers in the league, physical and often relentless, the kind of player who can really turn it on when he knows he has an opponent who is helpless to defend him.

Durant is more the classic "wolf in sheep's clothing" type of player. He seems to get along with everyone and to be in lockstep with his coaches, and he's not really a fire-breathing leader. But his youthful physique and easygoing persona mask his hunger to dominate. As a scorer, he brings it every night, every possession. He might never be like LeBron or Kobe, two of the strongest personalities in the NBA, but he can be just as effective in his own way.

So even though we recognize and applaud the growth we have seen in Melo over the years, Durant gets the category.
[h2]Durant 7, Anthony 5[/h2]

---

[h3]Conclusion[/h3]
Final tally: Durant 48, Melo 44

When I started breaking down video for these guys, the first thing that jumped out was just how ordinary they both can be when they're not in shooting/scoring mode. These guys are special players, but at this point, Melo and KD are not in the class of LeBron, Kobe or Dwyane Wade as all-around talents.

We constantly hear about "two-way players" or guys who "do it all," but there are very few of those players. Still, both Anthony and Durant can, in the right situation, carry a team through the playoffs and be the best player on a championship team. That puts them in select company.

Melo is more locked in on defense than he's ever been, more willing to give up his body for a stop (he's always been willing to do that for a bucket), and more patient with the ebbs and flows of the game. There is no reason to think he cannot make further progress as a passer, help defender and defensive rebounder.

Durant, of course, is far from his peak. Yet he's already one of the very best 21-year-olds in NBA history and better all-around than Melo, which alone is impressive. And this season, Durant might finish as high as second (to LeBron) in the Most Valuable Player voting and play in a couple of playoff series.

Furthermore, if he can minimize his weaknesses in future seasons while developing his strengths, it's entirely possible he can defeat the King for both the award and the ring.

[/h2]

 

[CP1708]

Wow, Hollinger just burst a few Mavs bubbles that were building. 

And where's Osh?  Dude told me that Ron Artest was some force in the statistical department, but he's 28th at his own position in Hollingers made up stats.  So uh.....? 

 

[JD617]

KD is a top 5 player in the league already. And he's only getting better.

And yes, Durant > Melo IMO.

 

[ce0 mal]

Melo > Durant. I don't care what that article says.

 

[bangdak]

Eh, somewhat decent article. i agree with it for the most part, but i still dont know whose better as of yet.



I give the edge to melo for now. Durant's going to overtake him eventually, hopefully in the playoffs.

 

[westcoastsfinest]

melo is obviously better right now but give durant a couple of years...dude will be top 2 for sure

 

[im not you]

But....

Melo is TOP 5!!!!!!