Official NBA 2012-2013 Season Thread

[alphawolf]

Check the video brah.

So you show the video to agree with what i said?

Video show the defender were poor athletes and were inferior in term of physicality. Wilt was blocking a bunch of little guys lol. This is what you want to see? 7 footer vs inferior little 6'6 centers and forward?

It was no contest

Google getty images of Wilt and Russel in the 60 70s.

Look at how small the guys that were guarding Wilt and Russel.

Lol he shot nearly 30+ freethrows in that 100 points game

When a big guy shoot 30+ freethrows in a game you know the competition wasn't there

 

[decemberlove]

So you show the video to agree with what i said?

Video show the defender were poor athletes and were inferior in term of physicality. Wilt was blocking a bunch of little guys lol. This is what you want to see? 7 footer vs inferior little 6'6 centers and forward?

It was no contest

Google getty images of Wilt and Russel in the 60 70s.

Look at how small the guys that were guarding Wilt and Russel.

Lol he shot nearly 30+ freethrows in that 100 points game

When a big guy shoot 30+ freethrows in a game you know the competition wasn't there

You have no idea what you're talking about.

The video was to show how amazing of an athlete this dude was.

Wilt revolutionized the game more than anybody and would dominate today. His combination of speed and strength with his incredible height and length makes him the perfect center.

Kareem's skyhook is defined as "the most unguardable shot" in the history of basketball and you see wilt doing it twice with ease.

The disrespect...you obviously don't know anything about basketball.

 

[quik1987]

Refs helped in more ways than one

which one is it delusional lin boy? did they get lucky or did the refs help them?

They got lucky that the refs helped them.

I don't see how one stops the other from happening.

Keep trying though.

 

[Coupé It]

Shaq in his prime > Any center

I'm laughing at the people in here saying that Dwight Howard needs to take 20 plus shots. Unbelievable.

 

[member 2323]

20 shots.. On what planet is it a good idea for any center who isn't dominating fools on offense to get 20 shots.
 

The same planet where 45% shooters take 20-25 shots per game.

 

[member 2323]

I also think both the Heat and Bosh would be better off if they parted ways. Bosh is still a good, and very productive player, if they can flip him into an athletic, competent center, the Heat would be really scary.
I also think Bosh is better as the #1 or #2 guy, and his style of play will really help him continue to be effective as he gets older. I think he would be a PERFECT fit for the Lakers....or package him to the Cavs with the Heat getting Varjaeo in return.
if only there was a chance my team could make a splash

Wow. You are clueless.

 

[fray salters]

Bosh has been Miami's 2nd best player for 2 years now.

No Bosh...they don't win the championship last season.

 

[Maximus Meridius]

Is Melo playing tonight?

 

[fray salters]

Crazy fact: Josh Smith is the only player in NBA history with career averages over 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) December 19, 2012

 

[antidope]

Shaq in his prime > Any center

I'm laughing at the people in here saying that Dwight Howard needs to take 20 plus shots. Unbelievable.

Taking it a bit too far here IMO. Hes def top 3 though, but Hakeem alone makes this false.

Bosh has been Miami's 2nd best player for 2 years now.

No Bosh...they don't win the championship last season.

THIS MAN KNOWS. He doesnt get nearly as much credit as he deserves. Bostrich is the real deal.

 

[Coupé It]

Taking it a bit too far here IMO. Hes def top 3 though, but Hakeem alone makes this false.

Hakeem does not make that false. He makes it arguable.

 

[duba169]

"It's Pau who has to expand his game, and he'll expand out in the corner threes and he needs to take a couple, and we'll get him in the post when we can," D'Antoni said, emphasizing those last three words.


He's the gift that keeps on giving. Jesus Christ lol. If he can't win his way, he doesn't want to win.

 

[tr1ll]

Is Melo playing tonight?

All signs point to no.

 

[antidope]

"It's Pau who has to expand his game, and he'll expand out in the corner threes and he needs to take a couple, and we'll get him in the post when we can," D'Antoni said, emphasizing those last three words.


He's the gift that keeps on giving. Jesus Christ lol. If he can't win his way, he doesn't want to win.

 

[solarius49]

I also think both the Heat and Bosh would be better off if they parted ways. Bosh is still a good, and very productive player, if they can flip him into an athletic, competent center, the Heat would be really scary.

I also think Bosh is better as the #1 or #2 guy, and his style of play will really help him continue to be effective as he gets older. I think he would be a PERFECT fit for the Lakers....or package him to the Cavs with the Heat getting Varjaeo in return.

if only there was a chance my team could make a splash

Wow. You are clueless.

man that rolling emoticon really showed me....

but why am I clueless?

You dont think that Bosh could be a top 2 option somewhere? You dont think the Heat could do with better play at center (considering their starting center/pf combo pulled down 0 defensive rebounds last night?)

Could you please explain this in a language other than rolling emoticons

thanks

 

[mgrand15]

man that rolling emoticon really showed me....
but why am I clueless?
You dont think that Bosh could be a top 2 option somewhere? You dont think the Heat could do with better play at center (considering their starting center/pf combo pulled down 0 defensive rebounds last night?)
Could you please explain this in a language other than rolling emoticons
thanks

You deserve the rolling emoticon because Bosh has easily been Miami's 2nd most valuable player the last two years. He's quick and long enough on defense to play centers, blitz pick and rolls and generally be much more aggressive protecting the rim than the average center due to his foot speed. On offense, he spaces the floor like few centers can with his shooting. To make things more difficult for the opposing team, he can drive by nearly every center in the league with his speed/ball handling.

LBJ is a huge part of that team but Bosh is what really lets them play aggressive small ball. No other athletic, competent center brings that sort of package to the table. You'd be hard pressed to even find a PF who can bring that versatile skill set to the Heat.

Of course he could be a top 2 option somewhere - he was the 1st option for the Raptors and was a monster. That doesn't mean the Heat should be jumping at the opportunity to trade him. Bosh is damn good. His personality and skill set meshes perfectly with that squad.

DWade is the expendable one...

 

[sohi 23]

U do have a point, I think Pau for Bosh makes sense for both teams. It'll never happen tho.


Also, I agree with @mgrand15 , Bosh is more valuable to the Heat than Wade. He allows them to play small.
They couldn't trade Wade if they tried imo.

 

[solarius49]

man that rolling emoticon really showed me....
but why am I clueless?
You dont think that Bosh could be a top 2 option somewhere? You dont think the Heat could do with better play at center (considering their starting center/pf combo pulled down 0 defensive rebounds last night?)
Could you please explain this in a language other than rolling emoticons
thanks

You deserve the rolling emoticon because Bosh has easily been Miami's 2nd most valuable player the last two years. He's quick and long enough on defense to play centers, blitz pick and rolls and generally be much more aggressive protecting the rim than the average center due to his foot speed. On offense, he spaces the floor like few centers can with his shooting. To make things more difficult for the opposing team, he can drive by nearly every center in the league with his speed/ball handling.

LBJ is a huge part of that team but Bosh is what really lets them play aggressive small ball. No other athletic, competent center brings that sort of package to the table. You'd be hard pressed to even find a PF who can bring that versatile skill set to the Heat.

Of course he could be a top 2 option somewhere - he was the 1st option for the Raptors and was a monster. That doesn't mean the Heat should be jumping at the opportunity to trade him. Bosh is damn good. His personality and skill set meshes perfectly with that squad.

DWade is the expendable one...

I never said he wasnt their second most valuable player lol. Hell, for a good portion of his career, Pau was the Lakers most valuable player...honestly aside from a few years difference, they arent entirely different players. You laugh, but its REALLY not that far fetched.....and are you saying that Pau doesnt bring that type of skillset to the team? Dude is one of the most skilled, versatile players in the league, capable of playing either big spot, a variety of post moves, a nice 16 foot jumpshot. And Bosh would be perfect for what the Lakers are trying to do

 

[Humbled]

U do have a point, I think Pau for Bosh makes sense for both teams. It'll never happen tho.
Also, I agree with @mgrand15 , Bosh is more valuable to the Heat than Wade. He allows them to play small.
They couldn't trade Wade if they tried imo.

Pau for Bosh only makes sense for LA. Miami wants no part of that bum. He's DONE.

 

[fray salters]

Why would Miami trade their 2nd best player in his 20's still in his prime for someone in his 30's on the down slide of his career? 

Why do people keep coming up with trade proposals for anyone in Miami's big 3 period?

 

[pmatic]

Here's a good read on the Heat's rebounding last night.

 

[solarius49]

Why would Miami trade their 2nd best player in his 20's still in his prime for someone in his 30's on the down slide of his career? 


Why do people keep coming up with trade proposals for anyone in Miami's big 3 period?

it was just a though, I'm not a fan of either team....but its much more realistic than Kevin Love.

 

[jpzx]

Miami first team ever to win after being outrebounded by such a wide margin like that.

Still don't know if I want Pau from the Lakers. I think I do, despite some of his notable averageness over the past couple of years. Please take Derrick Williams as far away from the Timberwolves as you can. If he can get lost in the Cali scene like George Jung, that'd be perfect.

 

[cato312]

The Bulls may stupidly waive Nate Robinson:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Bulls might waive Nate Robinson to save money (and possibly for another reason, one for which I have no evidence)
-Mark Deeks (http://www.shamsports.com/2012/12/bulls-might-waive-nate-robinson-to-save.html)

K.C. Johnson reports that the Bulls, despite being a number four seed without having their MVP on the court, are sorely tempted to waive Nate Robinson.

In one of the most unheralded high quality moves of the summer - unheralded because the dominant Bullsean narrative of the summer was rightly one of cost-cutting and player-dumping - the Bulls were able to sign Robinson to not only a minimum salary contract, but a partially guaranteed one at that. Of the $1,146,337 Nate is owed - an amount which, if he's kept for the full season, the Bulls will owe only $854,389 of - only $400,000 is guaranteed, becoming fully guaranteed if not waived on or before January 1st [not the 10th, as reported elsewhere]. In an industry where the permanent goal is to sign as good as quality of player as is possible for as cheap of a price as is possible, this is an incredibly good contract. The institutional maligning of Nate as a player that dates back years cannot (or should not) ignore the fact that he's a hugely talented player who can single handedly turn the outcome of NBA games. And the Bulls should know this, because he's done that more than once for them this season.

The move would be, of course, patently ridiculous. Even if the season was a wash, you don't waive a most vital contributor to save on what, by NBA standards, is a nominal fee, and by no standard is the season proving to be a wash in the first place. Nate is third on the Bulls in PER, the only man who can consistently create a shot off the dribble in Rose's absence, arguably the team's best ball handler, its only creative backcourt player, and one of its best shooters. He's even being masked defensively by the Bulls's meticulous defensive system, and is thus a hugely important player to a team whose season is still important. There are absolutely no basketball reasons why Nate should be cut on the basis of his performance thus far, and the justification offered - that Marquis Teague is showing "signs" - is an unbelievably tepid excuse. Teague has not yet even had the Bulls career of Acie Law, who at least managed three good games to Teague's two. Excited by his future as the may be, there is absolutely no reason why Teague should play ahead of Nate if the Bulls want to win games.

The move, then, would be financial. In a best-case scenario for them, cutting Nate on New Year's Eve will save the Bulls about $900,000 after tax calculations, if they are not able to get under the luxury tax threshold by season's end. However, in light of the concurrent rumblings about the desire to move Rip Hamilton, which wasn't difficult to predict, they likely will do so, therefore they'll only be saving about $450,000 on Nate, an even smaller amount. It's also an amount that much of which would more than likely have to be spent again anyway. Chicago only has 13 players on the roster on the moment, and although the NBA allows for 12 for two weeks at a time, 13 is the mandated minimum roster size. Someone will have to be signed - or a succession of people on 10 day contracts - to meet that requirement. And that would demand spending the saved money again. In short, then, the Bulls should suck it up and pay.

If the Bulls decide they absolutely cannot afford to spend an extra $400,000 on a projected backup, there are many other ways to go about it. The obvious candidate to go is Vladimir Radmanovic, signed to a guaranteed deal and completely unused on the court, the sixth player on a six man forward depth chart. Vlad is also signed to the minimum of $854,389, and, come trade deadline day of February 21st, two thirds will already have been billed to the Bulls. There are many teams out there with open roster spots and no luxury tax concerns who would happily take him and a $375,000 check - $100,000 more than will be outstanding on Radmanovic's salary - just to take the cap hit. To the recipient team, it's a free $100k. If the Bulls would rather not sign that check, a second round pick would be equally well received.

There is no reason to believe this kind of deal is not available to them, considering the amount of precedence that exists for it across the league in reason seasons. Failing that, though, he might take a buyout. Or they could perhaps make the increasingly inevitable Rip-Hamilton-and-a-pick-to-Cleveland deal happen, whilst adding Vlad and Omri Casspi to it. There are always, ALWAYS ways around this that don't involve cutting a bargain of a player just to save on a trivial amount.

As this is the same team that squeezed Teague of of $170,000 for no justifiable reason, it is entirely possible that this supposedly negligible amount is nevertheless deemed sufficient to merit losing one of their best players. That, however, would be unpalatable. So would be the grim but plausible reality that Bulls brass have sullied on Nate simply because they don't like his style of play, a reality which would involve prioritising aesthetics and perceived importance of fundamentals over actual positive impact. Flawed as Nate is, he's still incredibly useful. It would be depressing for that to be overlooked in deference to stylistic reasons.

Perhaps, then, there is another justification. In the search for a palatable reason for this rumour to exist, perhaps there exists something off the court. It is demonstrably proven to all Bulls observers that Robinson has been better for them this season than the starter ahead of him, Kirk Hinrich, whose perceived defensive value just does not offset the incontrovertible fact that he just can't play the other end any more. Indeed, it's been so apparent at times that it's painful. We should not, therefore, assume that the players don't know this either. Nor should we assume that a basketball locker room is unlike any other workplace in the world. And people in workplaces *****.

When a backup is wildly outplaying a starter on a nightly basis, but the team is more emotionally and financially invested in the starter, they have two options; they can divorce themselves from that investment and maximise their incumbent assets on the court, or they can get rid of the thing that's making their investment look worse. In doing so, they reaffirm their investment, and, they hope, help it realise its potential. The investment then has every opportunity to succeed, without being able to feel superior breath down its neck all the time. It's asset management, or at least, it pertains to be. And so perhaps that is why we have arrived at this point.

As the title suggest, I have no evidence that this is what is indeed happening. I merely posit the theory that it might, on account of the fact that it has happened sufficiently often elsewhere. [Find a team with a struggling starter and a worse backup, and ask yourself why they won't at least upgrade the backup.] And I posit it mostly in the vain hope that there's a reason that this course of action is being discussed, other than the overarching and unavoidable "Bulls are spendthrifts" narrative. It is, however, merely my own whimsy. And I'm not sure I even want it to be true.

All this cost cutting is the direct result of signing Hinrich to the oversized and unnecessarily ambitious contract that they did. His underperformance, predictable as it was, should have meant a greater reliance upon his superior backup. As it is, it might cost him his job.

Something's not right there.



(NB - The above is all contigent on the Bulls actually considering this as an option, rather than just is being an option available to them. The two are very different.)

 

[pmatic]

Reinsdorf is the worst. Just awful.