Official NBA 2012-2013 Season Thread

[japanair21]

That's actually a pretty cool shirt.

 

[ill steelo]

 

[warriors510]

yea, those are like 30 bucks. 

I wouldnt pay $70 for it haha thats just how much they are on ebay, it says theyre out of stock on the nike website, just wondering where can I get it. Maybe I'll call and see if they can do phone orders or just wait it out.

 

[Ja's 2¢]

That's actually a pretty cool shirt.

nike's been using that design template for anyone that has a beard or mustache from pacquiao to brian wilson to Cooperstown legends.

 

[dat dude chris]

Yo wtf at that Jae Crowder Brandan Wright video lmaoooooo

 

[japanair21]

Yo wtf at that Jae Crowder Brandan Wright video lmaoooooo

I didn't see that till just now,

That's some freaky good editing by the Dallas crew,

I was watching that live and didn't catch it. wild.

 

[you big dummy]

MVP



LeBron James Full Highlights (March 24, 2013) vs Bobcats - 32 Points, 10 Assists, 8 Rebounds

 

[nycknicks105]

JA maybe you can answer this question: What's Dallas planning on doing with all the cap space they have for next season? Dirk is taking up about $20 mill next year and Marion is going to have 1 year left worth $6 million. The rest of the team seems thin after those two. Carter is owed $3 million while Mayo is owed $4 million (Which is a steal BTW). You guys should def sign him to an extension next year.

Is Dwight still a target? Any other players in the radar for Dallas? If they keep Mayo and get a PG with a nice defensive center, they can get back to playing competitive basketball. I don't Dirk has enough left to carry a team either.

Really interesting to see what they have planned this upcoming offseason.

 

[japanair21]

JA maybe you can answer this question: What's Dallas planning on doing with all the cap space they have for next season? Dirk is taking up about $20 mill next year and Marion is going to have 1 year left worth $6 million. The rest of the team seems thin after those two. Carter is owed $3 million while Mayo is owed $4 million (Which is a steal BTW). You guys should def sign him to an extension next year.

Is Dwight still a target? Any other players in the radar for Dallas? If they keep Mayo and get a PG with a nice defensive center, they can get back to playing competitive basketball. I don't Dirk has enough left to carry a team either.

Really interesting to see what they have planned this upcoming offseason.

That question is a mouth full, first off.

Their initial goal was always Deron Williams and/or Dwight Howard. Say what you will, that's what Cuban and Donnie Nelson were banking on. It didn't happen.

Dallas scrambled, wanted to put out a team that could at least compete at some level, and that's what they did, they got a bunch of really good/serviceable/veteran players, but just like last year, it hasn't really worked because you can't just throw guys together and tell them to be great.

It was really a disservice to OJ Mayo that Dirk started the year injured. First month of the season, OJ was in a hell of a groove. He had the keys to the offense. But when Dirk came back, it seemed like OJ became way too passive, and the shots he was putting up all seemed forced. You can't tell by looking at the numbers, but OJ just seemed much looser before Dirk came back.

As for what OJ will do? He's going to opt out of his player option. There seems to be a lot of mutual respect between Dallas and OJ, and if they want to work out a long-term deal, it may happen, but only after Dallas has an understanding of what this team will be moving forward.

Dirk is actually about as healthy as he's ever been in recent history. He's healthier than he was during the Championship run, and he's doing a lot more work around the basket than he did last year. The frustrating thing with Dirk is that he's just not getting enough touches. That's the inadequacies of Mike James. Darren Collison and even Roddy Beaubois worked great with Dirk, but Mike James is such an ISO-driven player that it's hard for Dirk to get good looks from Mike James, so his shot attempts are down. OJ and Darren are actually pretty good at creating for others when they make the right decision, but they often don't make that decision. Half-court? They're pretty mediocre. In the open-court? Beautiful to watch.

Dirk's having a great month though, about 18/8 with 52% shooting and almost a block/steal per game. He's hustling out there. His first month and a half was stale. He's been much better than what he showed last year.

As fro what the Mavs play to do with their future money? There is absolutely no doubt in my mind they will try and pitch Dwight Howard a deal, because they know that he's just crazy enough to test the FA market. I think he's going to be a Laker, but that's not what Dallas management is hoping happens, and I guess if have that opportunity, you go for it.

I don't see a single guy on this roster outside of Dirk as hands-off. Darren, OJ, and Marion are the pieces that they would like to keep around if they can, but if they can upgrade, they will without a doubt. The problem with this team is, once Dirk's deal is up, he's not going to sign another lucrative deal. He's going to be relatively affordable because of how old he is. I can't see Dirk making 15+ million in 201*****15. I just can't. The issue with that? We need to spend some money on SOMEONE. Whether that's Al Jefferson, Brandon Jennings, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Andre Iguodala, or Josh Smith, it's really hard to say. Each of those guys have been linked to Dallas in one way or another, whether there's mutual interest or not, but they have to spend money on someone.

They have NO young pieces that you sit here and say, "they need to build around them." They were hoping Beaubois would develop into Tony Parker, he didn't. Dallas has took stabs at some promising young guards and forwards, from Dominique JOnes to Jae Crowder. Early indications are that none of the Dallas rookies are gems, so with no young pieces to build around, and with a lack of contracts on the team, they are really in unprecedented waters right now for this team.

If they strike out this year, and don't net at least an All-Star caliber player, then they need to just let go. They should've let go a while ago, or at least let the old guys try to repeat, but they wanted to hunt for big fish. They will hunt again for big fish in 2013 whent hey go after Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. There will be many articles written about those two names and the Dallas Mavericks, because it's obvious that's what would be considered a success, but nothing since they won the Championship has been a success.

I just fear that they strike out again this summer, and then they hold out hope for 2014, which is another year wasted for Dirk Nowitzki.

They could end up wasting money on Brandon Jennings and Josh Smith, and maybe bring OJ Mayo back too, but it's all for naught. Guys like that would tide me over, but I wouldn't be really happy with a movement unless we got a Chris Paul or a Dwight Howard. We need to start getting some young talent in Dallas if we want to stay relevant in the West. Darren and OJ was a nice experiment, and there's been flashes of really good stuff from both of them, but it's just not happening on a nightly basis, so this tandem has probably run it's course.

That said, both guys seem to get along really well, and have pushed each other to keep working throughout the year, and they both are having career years, but the team isn't winning. If the team isn't winning, then it's a waste. I honestly do think that Darren Collison can lead a team, but this group isn't the right fit. Very similar to what a Jeff Teague does.

If there is one veteran FA that I think the Mavs keep this off-season, it's Elton Brand. I know Rick loves him, the coaching staff seems to love him, and it would be irrational for Dirk not to like him because of all the good things he does on defense for the team, but he just needs to be kept at a good price. If not, he will be serviceable for a Contender, and he will be a great asset for them.

Chris Kaman will be gone though, that doofus...

Good in spurts, but man, he's atrocious at times.

 

[antidope]

KD hugging a fan who makes the halfcourt shot for 20K

Trying too hard to be like LeBron(not SRS)

 

[hood17]

The guy said in a interview after that he saw Miami and wanted either KD or Russell coming over to cheer for him.....*cue Russell "WTF" pic*

 

[julius wrek]

Hey_

I wonder what the response had been if Russ tackled the fan.

I'm sure Skip Bayless would produce some ridiculous theory.

Julius F. Wrek

 

[jjs07]

@ the Heat really referring to D.Wade as "WoW."

@ Wade referring to himself as that. Idiot.

 

[CP1708]

That's my first time seein that JR gif. I need CPR now.

 

[noblekane]

[/VIDEO

durant bout to injure himself copying lebron lol

 

[IATT]

Derek Fisher, who is playing shooting guard, has missed his last 15 shots from the field

http://www.nba.com/2013/news/powerrankings/03/25/week-21-power-rankings/index.html

 

[Coupé It]

Dat Derek Fisher affect.

He needs to play the Juwaun Howard roll, seriously no idea why teams even play him or want him.

 

[scotthallwithapick]

The Fundamentals: Nuggets challenging the conventional contender wisdom

Spoiler

Even after 15 consecutive victories, the Nuggets — and their playoff prospects — remain drenched in public skepticism. No team is easier to write off with tired platitudes, and thus every conversation regarding Denver’s merit inevitably comes to address the ways in which the team fails to line up with the playoff standard.

That separation from the traditional contender mold is undeniable. Since trading Carmelo Anthony two seasons ago, the Nuggets have evolved along a track that fully differentiates them from the rest of the league to the point that playing against Denver is a challenge unlike any other in the NBA. The fruits of their ingenuity and insistent efforts have slotted the Nuggets as the third seed in the Western Conference, and better yet: a possible, improbable fringe championship contender.

Let’s consider the most common, general criticisms of the Nuggets and their style before dismissing them out of hand. First and foremost is the lack of a superstar player, much less the two or three stars traditionally considered requisite for contention. The Nuggets have no all-world dynamo in the vein of LeBron James or Chris Paul, and nothing even remotely close. Even Denver’s best players are borderline All-Stars lacking a skill set even vaguely reminiscent of those who have led their teams to championships. This is reason enough for some to disregard Denver as a regular-season wonder, and it’s hard to argue against the empirical precedent of star-driven teams. (Ninety-two percent of the champions from 1956 through 2005 had a recent All-NBA first-team selection, according to 82games.com.)

Yet most of what a superstar provides for a contender can be boiled down to an economy of function. It’s convenient to have a vast collection of those necessary skills and attributes distilled into one player, but a superstar is only as necessary as those underlying qualities afforded. Typically, chief among those traits is the capacity to create efficient offense — something of a superstar hallmark in today’s NBA. It’s no longer sufficient for a star to pile up points, as it’s all the more crucial that he does so without the ill-advised attempts or raw shooting volume that might offset the impact of his scoring. True offensive anchors are able to maximize their points per shot attempt, typically by getting to the basket, scoring from beyond the arc and getting to the free-throw line.

Denver is successful in two of those ways despite the lack of a standout star — so much so that it ranks fourth in the NBA in points per possession.

The Nuggets’ offense can be defined by its insistence on getting to the rim. Every player in the lineup works in concert to advance the ball closer to the basket on a second-by-second basis. The bulk of that work is accomplished by pushing the pace with unbelievable abandon – an effort that results in all kinds of looks around the basket as the Nuggets overwhelm flat-footed opponents in the open court. Denver has a great understanding of how much it can give up in the way of defensive rebounding in order to jump-start its fast break, with Corey Brewer and Andre Iguodala quickly topping the ranks of the NBA’s premier leak-out scorers. Further, point guards Ty Lawson and Andre Miller waste precious little time dawdling in the transition between defense and offense, consistently challenging opponents to keep pace.

When things slow down, coach George Karl has remedied Denver’s spacing and shot-creating issues in the half court by dialing up the movement and involving the big men in tons of screening action, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe illustrated in his breakdown of the Nuggets’ offense last week. The Nuggets incorporate so many dribble hand-offs and so much off-ball cutting that their possessions can seem like a desperate scramble, though most every action is a valuable step in bringing the play closer to the rim. That might be easy enough to counter if the Nuggets weren’t collectively flying around the court to set screens and cue curls, but no Denver player stands still long enough for opponents to really capitalize on any particular matchup or exploitable area of the court.

Denver just keeps churning, and as a result leads the NBA in shot attempts at the rim. To put it in perspective, here’s a look at the Nuggets’ attempts in the restricted area during their 15-game streak compared with the rest of the NBA’s top 10 in that category over the same stretch:

Every Nuggets game is an all-out assault on the basket (Denver has outscored opponents in the paint in 52 consecutive games), with no regard for the mid-range jumpers that some teams rely on as an inefficient crutch. As a result, Denver also ranks a fantastic fifth in free-throw rate — an area of performance typically reserved for those teams with stellar individual shot creators. True to form, no Nuggets player averages more than five free throw attempts per game, though virtually every component of Denver’s regular rotation manages to get to the line at a respectable clip.

Every player at Karl’s disposal can either handle a drive or finish inside, providing a solid skill foundation for a furious fast-breaking team that brings a similar aim and frantic approach to its half-court sets. The end result isn’t perfect, as the Nuggets ultimately rate as an above-average half-court offense. But when that slight success is paired with a brutal and relentless transition game, there’s reason enough to believe that even a postseason dynamic wouldn’t unsettle an offense this potent.

Another one of the most common critiques of the Nuggets’ balanced roster is the question of who will take the last shot. It’s a good question, but one that’s hardly been relevant this season. While Lawson, Iguodala, Miller and Danilo Gallinari have all done their fair share of good work in the clutch, it’s Denver’s success overall that makes this more or less a moot point for the moment.

According to NBA.com, the Nuggets rate as one of the best offensive teams in the league in clutch* situations by way of their shooting percentages. Only four teams — the Heat, Clippers, Lakers and Blazers — have posted a higher effective field-goal percentage in clutch situations than the Nuggets, in part because Denver brings the same aggressive transition drive and flurry of half-court movement to its late-game offense. While other teams get bogged down with simplified isolations, Denver continues to execute its fluid, motion-heavy offense until clock management becomes an unavoidable issue. Not only does that make the Nuggets far less predictable in crunch time than any other team, but it also allows Karl to manipulate matchups by relying on the same screen-heavy actions to instigate beneficial defensive switches. Even without a specific player to go to in end-game situations, Denver creates advantages by continuing to be more aggressive in its playing style.

*Clutch, in this case, is defined as any possession with less than five minutes remaining in which either team is ahead by no more than five points.

Plus, Denver is consistently underrated as a defensive team, in part because it allows 101 points per game (No. 24 in the league) as a result of its fast-paced style. But in assessing per-possession performance rather than the far-too-broad per-game scope, the Nuggets are 11th and have improved a lot over the course of the season.
Andre Miller drives on LeBron James

Andre Miller (right) and the Nuggets rank second in the NBA in pace. (Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)

Quantitative measures aside, though, I don’t think we consider enough just how defeating playing against the Nuggets can be. Denver is rivaled only by Miami in exploiting live-ball turnovers and may be the best in converting a defensive rebound into a transition opportunity. Those factors, while seemingly small, can create a mental fatigue that dwarfs even the physical toll of playing against the Nuggets at altitude.

When this team is operating at peak or near-peak levels, its success in transition is so consistent that each missed shot from an opponent seems as though it will result in a Denver dunk. Every pass is an opportunity for a turnover that would surely result in Nuggets points. Every opponent’s deep drive into the paint is a voluntary surrender of good defensive positioning against a transition chance. As Denver works through every possession at a dead sprint, doubt and hesitation begin to creep into the minds of its opponents, which only pulls them further and further into the Nuggets’ trap.

The general trends of playoff basketball (slower pace in general, time for proper tactics and scouting, lower turnover rates) will make things more difficult, but Denver’s style is ultimately wearying for opponents to defend in full-court and half-court situations alike. Neither matching aggression nor offsetting tentativeness is the remedy for the Nuggets’ oppressive style, and yet opponents so often fall into a rhythm of trying to play too cautiously or too wildly in their attempt to control the game. In that, the Nuggets’ approach — so often cited as a reason for some inevitable playoff failure — is an incredible asset, and one that isn’t likely to be quelled solely by teams tightening up in a postseason setting.

It’s easy to pick out all the things that the Nuggets are not — an elite defensive team, a traditional star-driven operation, a grind-it-out offense — and it remains to be seen whether a team this unconventional can apply its style to a certain playoff series. It’s not perfect, but this Nuggets team has the kind of nuance in its offense that could more fully make up for the lack of a traditional star, and an altogether more consistent philosophy that breaks down opponents from opening tip until the final minutes.

 

[yungchris504]

[/VIDEO

 

[HIM]

There is no reason Denver shouldn't win the West. IMO it would be a huge choke job if they don't make the finals.

That team is stacked.

If the Heat mess around and miss the finals I might not even watch the finals. Nobody wants to watch those other boring *** teams in the finals. Miami vs DEN, OKC, or Memphis would be entertaining, tho.

 

[scotthallwithapick]

There is no reason Denver shouldn't win the West. IMO it would be a huge choke job if they don't make the finals.

That team is stacked.

If the Heat mess around and miss the finals I might not even watch the finals. Nobody wants to watch those other boring *** teams in the finals. Miami vs DEN, OKC, or Memphis would be entertaining, tho.

hmmm aren't you a Clip fan? Mia vs LAC wouldn't be entertaining? Are you doing a reverse jinx?

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

George Karl is the reason.

 

[Coupé It]

I've said it before, I wouldn't be surprised one bit if Nuggets made the finals. I don't think they will, but def not a surprise. It's a hell of alot more of a surprise to me if the Clippers, Rockets, GS, Lakers make the finals.

They still need that go to half court star, that's the only thing they're missing from getting a ring.

If I'm the Nuggets management, I do whatever I can to trade for Dirk this summer. Trade Gallo and some change for Dirk, let Dallas rebuild and give Dirk a contending team for his final years. Then I'd seriously think they'd be able to make it to the finals and get a championship.

 

[japanair21]

Derek Fisher, who is playing shooting guard, has missed his last 15 shots from the field

http://www.nba.com/2013/news/powerrankings/03/25/week-21-power-rankings/index.html

Good, he's a scumbag.

I lost a ton of respect for him this year.

Dude comes to the Mavs to try and get in-shape, get a little paycheck, but doesn't like that the team isn't winnning, so he makes the excuse that he wants to be home with his family, which I respected.

Two weeks later, he's with the Thunder? Man up and say you don't want to be with the team, don't be a ***** and make excuses about missing your family.

I don't care to see him in the NBA anymore.

 

[scotthallwithapick]

I

If I'm the Nuggets management, I do whatever I can to trade for Dirk this summer. Trade Gallo and some change for Dirk, let Dallas rebuild and give Dirk a contending team for his final years. Then I'd seriously think they'd be able to make it to the finals and get a championship.

No. No. No. That would ruin a lot of our advantages as a running team. Hell no to a declining Dirk.