Official NBA 2012-2013 Season Thread

[jjs07]

In Kevin Durant's 3rd year, the Thunder won 50 games. Their previous high (with him) was 23.

In Wall's 3rd year, the Wizards have won 25 games...the caveat is, they are something like 20-15 with him in the lineup. IF this team was healthy from the jump, there is zero doubt in my mind that they would be in the playoff hunt and would win more than 40 games.

Kevin Durant is a once-in-a-generation type of talent and what they have in OKC is special. I am in no way saying that the Wizards will have a trajectory like the Thunder, but to say that he's wasting away in DC when there has been an OBVIOUS improvement, is a bit silly.

They have something nice building here in DC. They have two key pieces in Beal/Wall, and a great mix of vets who contribute. Next year (assuming there is better health), the team should take a major leap.

Also, Wall didn't have the benefit of having quality teammates around him until about March of 2012. That's the organization's fault. However, up to that point, Wall didn't do himself many favors by the way he was training. He was a product of an AWFUL basketball environment and only as of now, we've seen a change in the entire culture of the organization. John Wall right now is a different player and man. He's only 22, and if his recent play is any indicator as to his future, the Wizards will be in the playoff mix for most years from here on out. As he said, he's playing with the most confidence he's had since he was in AAU. Dude hasn't even scratched the surface of his potential.

*FWIW, I think a coach like Larry Brown would be awful for this team and for Wall.

 

[shoeking2101]

Houston winning 



Jazz Losing 




Lakers losing 

 

[jumpmanfromdabay]

I've always wondered this myself


Like did everybody say this about Wade in 09


Or Durant his first 2-3 years in the league?


Pierce pre-07

**** Pierce, he could've rotted away with Walker for all I care.


Like his game but not really a fan of Durant to care that much but are we really saying the Wiz management are on the road to building a contender? Are we just forgetting the breaks OKC had and the early smart decisions they made to be where they are now? Not to mention the drafts they had?


I wanted Wade to leave several times after his ring with the way that team got blown up. Especially wanted him to leave the summer of LeBron as well but he and friends had a plan clearly which involved the best player in the league and an all star leaving their teams to make the Heat great. Can't really call that an example unless you telling me Kevin Love and James Harden are gonna be Washington Wizards next season.


FTR, I want Kyrie out of Cle asap as well. Give it one more season and I'll be clamoring for Aldridge and Lillard to be set free too.

safe to say you're a fan of them super teams then?

Another reason why NBA fans are the worst.

 

[licensed to ball]

Houston winning 



Jazz Losing 




Lakers losing 

Can't lie, the Borat .gif had me crackin up even though we lost

 

[you big dummy]

John Wall Full Highlights 2013.03.22 at Lakers - 24 Points, 16 Assists, 6 Rebounds, 3 Steals.



washington wizards, trevor ariza, los angeles, come from behind win, nba 18

 

[x Buddha Bless x]

I've always wondered this myself


Like did everybody say this about Wade in 09


Or Durant his first 2-3 years in the league?


Pierce pre-07

**** Pierce, he could've rotted away with Walker for all I care.


Like his game but not really a fan of Durant to care that much but are we really saying the Wiz management are on the road to building a contender? Are we just forgetting the breaks OKC had and the early smart decisions they made to be where they are now? Not to mention the drafts they had?


I wanted Wade to leave several times after his ring with the way that team got blown up. Especially wanted him to leave the summer of LeBron as well but he and friends had a plan clearly which involved the best player in the league and an all star leaving their teams to make the Heat great. Can't really call that an example unless you telling me Kevin Love and James Harden are gonna be Washington Wizards next season.


FTR, I want Kyrie out of Cle asap as well. Give it one more season and I'll be clamoring for Aldridge and Lillard to be set free too.

safe to say you're a fan of them super teams then?

A bit but I'm a fan of what OKC managed to do, I just know that's rarer than players being traded or going to other good teams with contending potential in FA. I just like to see young players and players in their prime maximize that time they have cuz it really is an opportunity for them to be in their best situation possible.

I would've been fine if Wade went to another playoff team or a fringe playoff team that was clearly better than the Heat team he would be leaving.

Alright DoubleJs, I'm a fan of Wall and I know he's had his troubles as well but I just see some of what he can be and want him to be in a better situation. I'll give it another season or two if the Wiz org is really changing.

 

[big j 33]

The most overlooked part of the OKC plan isn't nailing your key draft picks but still being that bad to get high ones. Got KD, still bad enough to get Russ. THEN they still stunk enough to get Harden. That usually doesn't happen.

 

[Deleted member 38182]

I've always wondered this myself


Like did everybody say this about Wade in 09


Or Durant his first 2-3 years in the league?


Pierce pre-07

**** Pierce, he could've rotted away with Walker for all I care.


Like his game but not really a fan of Durant to care that much but are we really saying the Wiz management are on the road to building a contender? Are we just forgetting the breaks OKC had and the early smart decisions they made to be where they are now? Not to mention the drafts they had?


I wanted Wade to leave several times after his ring with the way that team got blown up. Especially wanted him to leave the summer of LeBron as well but he and friends had a plan clearly which involved the best player in the league and an all star leaving their teams to make the Heat great. Can't really call that an example unless you telling me Kevin Love and James Harden are gonna be Washington Wizards next season.


FTR, I want Kyrie out of Cle asap as well. Give it one more season and I'll be clamoring for Aldridge and Lillard to be set free too.

safe to say you're a fan of them super teams then?

A bit but I'm a fan of what OKC managed to do, I just know that's rarer than players being traded or going to other good teams with contending potential in FA. I just like to see young players and players in their prime maximize that time they have cuz it really is an opportunity for them to be in their best situation possible.

I'm really not trying argue with you.... but these two points completely contradict each other 

 

[Deleted member 38182]

The most overlooked part of the OKC plan isn't nailing your key draft picks but still being that bad to get high ones. Got KD, still bad enough to get Russ. THEN they still stunk enough to get Harden. That usually doesn't happen.

They pulled that off just by being bad?? 

 

[big j 33]

What? Unless those three were via picks they traded for and I'm mistaken, the point is the "OKC" model needs you to not only nail your picks, but still be bad enough to get top picks. Case in point, Cleveland improved after they got Lebron, OKC got worse.

Cleveland didn't have as high of a pick to add to Lebron, OKC did... Twice.

 

[jsindaa]

Call me crazy but a potential rivalry brewing in the east is the Cavs and wiz. They both have bright futures

 

[Deleted member 38182]

Ya that's what I was wondering if Harden and Russy came via trade picks..... I'm pretty sure they were OKC's tho

 

[shox23]

I remember everyone saying they reached for westbrook and harden

They also hit on jackson, ibaka, green, maynor was good before the acl

to hit on that many draft picks is amazing, they have done their homework but they also been incredibly lucky

 

[datznasty]

It's not uncommon to be in the lottery 3 yrs in a row at all. It's just uncommon to get it right 3 yrs in a row. Fwiw, everyone said we should have taken Evans instead of Harden, who looked kind of mediocre until the Jeff Green trade and Ibaka was raw as hell and not seeing time either until that same point because he was foul prone. The Thunder were very close to taking Lopez instead of Westbrook, but being a team that relied a lot on advanced analytics, they realized that though it would take a lot of lumps along the way, "converting" Russ to a pg was possible. It's also worth noting Ibaka, Harden, Westbrook, Green, all live basketball and have the drive to improve yearly. Some might even say the "small market" aspect contributes to that. For example during the lockout year, the Thunder team was holding mini camps on their own to stay sharp, spending like a week at Perkins house in TX, then I believe a week of working out up in Kentucky with Nazr, and I think up in DC, while many other NBA players had taken for granted there wouldn't be a season and were getting out of shape.

It should also be noted we drafted Cole Aldrich though and that we drafted Bledsoe then traded him because we wanted to sign Royal Ivey instead, so nobody's perfect. He was good for us at the time, but you could argue Jeff Green over Joakihm Noah in hindsight was a mistake,. Don't know who you blame this on, but we also traded for Tyson Chandler for peanuts, then sent him back saying he had a bad toe. Oh, and we traded James Harden and gave Brooks a 4yr extension. And we gave Perkins 36 mil his 2nd day here fresh off an acl injury and wasn't even able to run yet post ACL. So nobody's perfect either.

 

[solarius49]

Arron Afflalo or OJ Mayo?

 

[lawdog1]

Arron Afflalo or OJ Mayo?

I'd take Afflalo. More consistent and a better defender.

 

[dman14]

I remember everyone saying they reached for westbrook and harden

They also hit on jackson, ibaka, green, maynor was good before the acl

to hit on that many draft picks is amazing, they have done their homework but they also been incredibly lucky

maynor was a utah pick

 

[Deleted member 38182]

It's not uncommon to be in the lottery 3 yrs in a row at all. It's just uncommon to get it right 3 yrs in a row. Fwiw, everyone said we should have taken Evans instead of Harden

I swore on my life the Kings were going to take Harden that year.... and if he was somehow swooped on in the first 3 picks, we'd take Rubio.

I was wrong 

 

[shoeking2101]

Arron Afflalo or OJ Mayo?

Afflalo. And I'm an OJ fan. If this was a month or two ago, I would have said OJ easily. OJ is just on a downward spiral right now man. He's a guy who doesn't force the action, and as a result it looks like he's having a hard time figuring out the balance between passing and looking for his offense. No reason for a guy who was doing what he was doing from a shot attempt perspective earlier in the season, to do what he is doing now. Forget whether or not he's making them. His consistency (or lack thereof) is flat out frustrating |I his lack of aggression on the offensive end is flat out puzzling considering what he's shown at times. Meanwhile, Afflalo is very consistent. You know what you're going to get out of him and he stays aggressive. Really like how's he's been professional all season long with the Magic and has brought it for the post part, every night. He's a starting 2 in this league. Crazy because he was considered just a defensive guy when he first hit the L.

Another thing about OJ which is pretty surprising is his wavering confidence. Wouldn't think someone like OJ Mayo would have issues with confidence.

It's very close. Statistically, they're pretty close. But it has taken OJ being pretty bad offensively over the last month or two for them to be this close. Yet and still OJ is probably the better playmaker, and rebounder though.

 

[datznasty]

It's not uncommon to be in the lottery 3 yrs in a row at all. It's just uncommon to get it right 3 yrs in a row. Fwiw, everyone said we should have taken Evans instead of Harden

I swore on my life the Kings were going to take Harden that year.... and if he was somehow swooped on in the first 3 picks, we'd take Rubio.


I was wrong 

In hindsight, now that we know what a "Presti guy" is, there was no chance we were taking Evans even if he was presumed better than Harden at the time

 

[x Buddha Bless x]

I've always wondered this myself



Like did everybody say this about Wade in 09



Or Durant his first 2-3 years in the league?



Pierce pre-07

**** Pierce, he could've rotted away with Walker for all I care.



Like his game but not really a fan of Durant to care that much but are we really saying the Wiz management are on the road to building a contender? Are we just forgetting the breaks OKC had and the early smart decisions they made to be where they are now? Not to mention the drafts they had?



I wanted Wade to leave several times after his ring with the way that team got blown up. Especially wanted him to leave the summer of LeBron as well but he and friends had a plan clearly which involved the best player in the league and an all star leaving their teams to make the Heat great. Can't really call that an example unless you telling me Kevin Love and James Harden are gonna be Washington Wizards next season.



FTR, I want Kyrie out of Cle asap as well. Give it one more season and I'll be clamoring for Aldridge and Lillard to be set free too.

safe to say you're a fan of them super teams then?

A bit but I'm a fan of what OKC managed to do, I just know that's rarer than players being traded or going to other good teams with contending potential in FA. I just like to see young players and players in their prime maximize that time they have cuz it really is an opportunity for them to be in their best situation possible.

I'm really not trying argue with you.... but these two points completely contradict each other 

No they don't. When I say young players I'm not saying all rookies, I'm talking at least 2 years in on a team going nowhere. So right there that'd only apply to KD and KD the very next year got teamed up with Russ. It wasn't like he was some great player rookie year right out the box on the Seattle Supersonics. Plus I already said I'm not a big fan of KD so I wouldn't care if the team he was on sucked for another 5 years. Now I would've cared if it was Harden but that didn't happen for him.

I can be a fan of the rare thing OKC did and still want young and prime players to be in the best situation possible.

 

[markangelo]

This dude Wall bout to show the world he's on Chris Paul's level 

 

[big j 33]

Let's pace ourselves.

 

[va757va]

Let's pace ourselves.

dudes in this very thread were saying kyrie took derons spot after a nice all star weekend...lol.

its the nature of the NT beast...live in the moment and never admit when your wrong...

fwiw i never wavered in my confidence of wall...dude is becoming one of my favs

 

[scotthallwithapick]

Let's pace ourselves.

Took the words out of my mouth