Official NBA 2012-2013 Season Thread

[JD617]

Best tweet:

RT @jemelehill: At some point, people will realize Deron Williams isn't a superstar. Big game, low intangibles.

Shes wylin, he is without a doubt a superstar. If the second best PG in the league isnt a superstar then who is?

Deron Williams? Second best PG in the league?

 

[pmatic]

I'm sorry, but D-Will is not a superstar. That's my guy, but no.

Edit:

Brooklyn Nets not getting better

Every NBA coach operates with a clock hanging over his head that counts down to his eventual departure -- usually not by choice. Such is the nature of a league where only one coach (San Antonio's Gregg Popovich) has been with the same team for more than a decade. Some clocks tick faster than others, however, and whoever replaces Avery Johnson at the helm of the Brooklyn Nets doesn't figure to have much time to spare.

There were justifications for making a change after the Nets followed their impressive 11-4 start with a 3-10 record in December. Deron Williams' criticism of his coach's offense surely didn't help Johnson's cause, and Johnson was never able to get his team's defense playing at even an average level after building a reputation as a defensive specialist as coach of the Dallas Mavericks. Ultimately, Johnson's demise was about expectations. Brooklyn ownership didn't add more than $330 million in future payroll this past summer in order to go .500.

In the short term, Johnson's successor can build goodwill by continuing to add the Jerry Sloan-style flex sets that coincidentally appeared in the Nets' playbook after Williams complained to the media. There's room for improvement in the team's dismal pick-and-roll game (per MySynergySports.com; Brooklyn generates far and away the league's fewest shots out of pick-and-rolls, and is also dead last in effectiveness on pick-and-roll plays). Even incremental improvement on defense could allow the Nets to move up in a conference where 2.5 games represent the difference between home-court advantage and missing the playoffs if the season ended today.

The problem is that this might be Brooklyn's best team for the foreseeable future. At an average age weighted for playing time of nearly 30, the Nets are the league's sixth-oldest squad. Williams and Gerald Wallace are in the tail end of their primes, and shooting guard Joe Johnson has already begun an inevitable descent because of age. Among the team's top players, only 24-year-old center Brook Lopez can be expected to maintain his value going forward. Based on the development of similar players at the same age in terms of Wins Above Replacement Player, the core showing its age figures to cost Brooklyn a win or two next season and at least three by 2014-15.

Things don't figure to change either, as all four players are locked up to exorbitant long-term contracts. Johnson's deal is the most obviously problematic. At the same time his game is slipping, Johnson's salary only continues to increase. He's scheduled to make more than $20 million each of the next three seasons, including nearly $25 million in 2015-16, when he will be 34. Already, Johnson has seen his player efficiency rating slip below average this season because his scoring efficiency is down in a smaller role than the one he played in Atlanta.

Wallace, too, has shown more gradual signs of aging. His usage rate and his rebound percentage are both the second-lowest marks of his career. Though Wallace is only 30, the same aggressive style that earned him the nickname "Crash" and made him an All-Star has also resulted in more wear and tear than his age would indicate. He's due at least $10 million the next three seasons.

Usually, superstar players are the NBA's safest investments. Unfortunately, Williams no longer appears to fit into that category. He ranks 16th among point guards in WARP (2.3) and a distant 21th in PER (17.1) this season. The hope is that a new offense will revitalize Williams, who was more effective in Sloan's system in Utah. The fear is that this represents the culmination of a gradual decline since the Nets acquired Williams nearly two years ago.

Williams' shooting continues to be a struggle, likely because of lingering wrist issues. Once a dangerous threat beyond the arc, Williams has now gone three seasons without reaching league average on 3-pointers. This season's 29.5 percent accuracy from 3 hasn't stopped him from hoisting 149 attempts from downtown, far and away the most of any player making less than 30 percent. (Washington rookie Bradley Beal, at 102, is the only other player with more than 100 attempts and such poor shooting.)

Williams hasn't been able to make up for the inaccurate shooting by getting to the basket, either; his free throw rate has slipped badly the past two seasons, a possible indicator of declining athleticism. These trends are all worrisome given that the Nets owe Williams more than $80 million over the next four seasons, making his play the first priority for whoever replaces Johnson.

But for better or worse, Brooklyn is locked into this roster for the future. The Nets have committed enough salary that they will likely remain over the luxury tax threshold through the summer of 2016, when Johnson, Lopez and Wallace are all scheduled to become free agents. Brooklyn will start feeling the effects next summer, when harsher provisions for taxpayers in the new collective bargaining agreement take effect. In addition to having only a smaller version of the mid-level exception to offer free agents, the Nets will no longer be able to make sign-and-trade deals like the one last summer that brought Reggie Evans, a valuable addition to their frontcourt.

Brooklyn can search the bargain bin for finds like Andray Blatche, who revitalized his career thanks to Johnson's confidence. But such players are short-term answers, since the Nets will have to dip into their mid-level exception to keep Blatche if he gets an offer from another team for more than the minimum next summer.

More likely, finding solutions to problems like the other pieces in the frontcourt not fitting with Lopez will require Brooklyn to take on even longer bad contracts to chase a short-term upgrade. That should sound familiar to any New York fans who changed allegiances over the summer, since it's the same position the Knicks were in under Isiah Thomas' management. Eventually, the combination of high salaries and aging players becomes crushing and requires a painful rebuild like New York executed when Donnie Walsh took over.

Coaching a team heading in the wrong direction is bad enough. Coaching one that ownership expects to win a championship borders on career suicide. Stan Van Gundy had the right idea by quickly renouncing any interest in the Nets job to the Orlando Sentinel. Phil Jackson and other top free-agent coaches should do the same. Otherwise, their fate will be the same as Johnson's.

 

[Deleted member 38182]

it really is nothing to do...old Sac is cool, but if you've done it once, you've seen everything

Felt bad for all my people at Sac St. :x

Pretty sure they went cow tipping for fun

Nobody cow tips dude.... That's cow murder.... We are humane here.
Like I said tho night life isn't terrible here. It's just a quite small town is all...

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

****, how about a place to eat at least?

 

[kevin cleveland]

I'm sorry, but D-Will is not a superstar. That's my guy, but no.

Repped.

 

[HIM]

I'd much rather have DBD post in this thread than CP. Neither of them know a thing about the NBA but at least DBD makes me laugh.

 

[CP1708]

 

[duba169]

Dbl post

Nets slander

Nets fans on NT are cool. But I HATE that team. Stupid hipsters and Knicks haters

 

[duba169]

Damn nets. "it was all good just a week ago"

What is a superstar?

 

[krazy88s]

Superstar, rising star whatever dude gotta shoot the ball better and be aggressive. That's all.

 

[pmatic]

What is a superstar?

To me:

Carry a given team in the regular season/playoffs
Draw fans everywhere he plays
Be the face of the team and league
Appear in national commercials, promotions, etc.

I'm sure there are other factors I'm forgetting but you get the gist of it. There's only like a handful of these type of players in the league.

 

[mr jordan04]

- Jamar Hudson ‏@jamarhudson Avery Johnson has Ether on repeat as he cleans out his office.

 

[duba169]

So lebron, Durant, Wade, Kobe, CP3.

 

[pmatic]

So lebron, Durant, Wade, Kobe, CP3.

Howard (well before the Dwightmare anyways) and Rose too.

Griffin and Irving could get there as well.

 

[mronegative]

- Jamar Hudson ‏@jamarhudson Avery Johnson has Ether on repeat as he cleans out his office.

I can't.
Dude gonna put on Rocky IV next.

 

[grandtheftbike]

 Lets be real, there ain't much to do around here....

and you gave me crap last time for saying this

 

[duba169]

Howard (well before the Dwightmare anyways) and Rose too.
Griffin and Irving could get there as well.

I don't think Dwight was really selling games out on the road like that. But yeah his stock dropped significantly.

Griffin will top out at Amare's first year on the Knicks. He isn't carrying a team through the playoffs. He will always be a #2. But he is super popular and his commercials are amazing and hes in a huge market. And I would def buy tixx to see him

Melo has the potential. I think if he played his prime in the east we would see him differently. And I know people check for him on the road. He has superstar talent. I've been blown away this year.

But the league does NOT want Him being the face of anything. That fight and the stop snitching tape did him in for good

Kyrie has the potential for sure.

 

[licensed to ball]

Can't believe some of you still respond to DBD's Laker hating posts. I just laugh and move along. There's a reason why I don't post much here, it's because I come in for the good information being posted here then proceed to post my thoughts in our team thread. It's not always necessary to defend our teams Legacy everytime someone starts hating

Haters gonna hate.

Plus it's too obvious DBD is trying to get under your guys skin, and it's always working. So obviously he's gonna keep doing it

Btw, Kev I didn't agree with you in years past but you've been right about DWill all along. Dude just isn't as great as people want him to be. Very good but consistency is key to be great and he doesn't have that. It's a shame Avery had to take the fall for those players playing like doo (be) doo but I guess someone has too in this business and its always the coach

 

[Deleted member 38182]

 Lets be real, there ain't much to do around here....

and you gave me crap last time for saying this

Well during the day it's whack. All I do is go to the bars and clubs and get drunk off my *** I'm trying to keep it day time appropriate

It's not like he can just get up and go to the Santa Monica pier or some ****

****, how about a place to eat at least?

hmmm if you like sushi go to Mikuni's on J st. Pizza Rock and Zocalo is cool too

 

[antidope]

-........

GO LIN GO!!!!

Why do D-Howard and Blake Griffin have that much more votes than Tim Duncan. Good job "fans"

Because it's an all star game and his game is boring as watching old balls dry. I imaginary voted for DeAndre Jordan over him. Dunks > bank shots. Youthful Exuberance >

You know who also is young, likes to dunk alot, and should be there? Serge Ibaka? Last year he led the league in goaltends, whoops I mean "blocks" why isnt he there?

Hey if you got the okc fan talking crazy. Duncan play right now >>>>>

Should be starting in the all star game. He wont cause the "fans" dont know about basketball.

Then you got ol boy talking about last year.

Like his laker team doing something now, last year, or 2 season ago.

Lakers can limp into the playoffs as the 8th seed for all I care, as long as they bring it when it matters..

But did the Spurs do anything last year, the year before when they were the #1 seed and lost in the first round

You mean the year when the third best player, the hall of fame player, an integral part of what the team does wasnt there?

Deron Williams > Chris Paul.

Yup.

 

[pmatic]

Howard (well before the Dwightmare anyways) and Rose too.
Griffin and Irving could get there as well.

I don't think Dwight was really selling games out on the road like that. But yeah his stock dropped significantly.
.

Dwight had national commercials with adidas, T-Mobile, McDonald's and Gatorade just three years ago. Now? Nothing.

 

[pmatic]

Charles Barkley just pronounced Anderson Varejao's name as "Anderson Var-aye-ho" on NBA TV.

 

[ag 47]

You mean the year when the third best player, the hall of fame player, an integral part of what the team does wasnt there?

Stop it. Rudy Gay wasn't on that Grizz squad either...you know...the team's second best player that year behind Z-bo. Plus you mean to tell me...the God Coach, Popovich, couldn't find a way to get ya'll at least one more win.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

There are 5 guys who singular force can impact your chances of winning a championship dramatically.

Bron
Durant
CP3
Healthy Dwight

THATS IT. THATS THE LIST.

If you don't have those players on your squad, paying Brook Lopez all that money getting Joe Johnson is stupid. Deron Williams is not of that caliber and never has been.

Deron is a great he's not that great, thats why the CP3 vs Deron was always a joke.

 

[ag 47]

Who's the 5th?