* Offiical NBA Off-Season Thread: I'll give one of my damn kidney's for these Melo rumors to stop *

[airwing03]

Originally Posted by DubA169

that kings team is better than OKC. not even a question

is this serious? both teams will improve but OKC is already a good team, SAC will be lucky to make the playoffs this year. (Barring injuries to Russ or KD)

 

[steve cash]

you guys serious with the lebrons? they so big and bulky, look like space boots.

somthing neil armstrong wore on the moon

 

[duba169]

Originally Posted by AirWing03

Originally Posted by DubA169

that kings team is better than OKC. not even a question

is this serious? both teams will improve but OKC is already a good team, SAC will be lucky to make the playoffs this year. (Barring injuries to Russ or KD)

the 2001-2002 kings.

 

[CP1708]

Originally Posted by AirWing03

Originally Posted by DubA169

that kings team is better than OKC. not even a question

is this serious? both teams will improve but OKC is already a good team, SAC will be lucky to make the playoffs this year. (Barring injuries to Russ or KD)

  

 

[proshares]

Originally Posted by Nowitness41Dirk

If the Rangers lose tomorrow, I might have to kill myself off of NikeTalk for awhile...

They're not losing.

 

[N41D]

They might.. And I have battered wife syndrome and its never been worse than this weekend.

 

[N41D]

They might.. And I have battered wife syndrome and its never been worse than this weekend.

 

[CP1708]

Originally Posted by Nowitness41Dirk

They might.. And I have battered wife syndrome and its never been worse than this weekend.

Eh, even if they lose, at least you have the Cowbo.....oh, well, boy this is uncomfortable, uh.....there's always next year for the Rangers. 

Solid season for the Rangers regardless of what happens though, they a solid lookin young group, I know you been preachin those prospects for a couple years now, looks like they've arrived.  Props on that. 

  

 

[proshares]

Best minors in the league to me.

Dude Cliff Lee is pitching. So is David Price who forgot what a curveball is. They're gonna rock him again. Step away from the edge Dirk.

But seriously, watching the Cowboys yesterday I almost threw a beer bottle through my TV.

 

[franchise3]

No Kobe or Bynum for the opener.

...Rockets still lose

 

[CP1708]

franchise3 wrote:

---

No Kobe  for the opener.


?

Where are you people getting this?  Why would he be playing in preseason games, but ruled out for a game in 3 weeks? 

  He's playing tomorrow night, expected to get about 15 minutes or so. 

  

 

[JD617]

Originally Posted by CP1708

Originally Posted by Nowitness41Dirk

They might.. And I have battered wife syndrome and its never been worse than this weekend.

Eh, even if they lose, at least you have the Cowbo.....oh, well, boy this is uncomfortable, uh.....there's always next year for the Rangers. 

Solid season for the Rangers regardless of what happens though, they a solid lookin young group, I know you been preachin those prospects for a couple years now, looks like they've arrived.  Props on that. 

  

Yeah but he still has the Ma.... oops, never mind.

Just kidding Dirk, if you take a hiatus don't make it a permanent one like OC.

  

 

[duba169]

OC gonna end up making a new name and coming back as a heat fan. i'm still pissed that chester never showed his project

 

[franchise3]

I read it off Yahoo, well I should say Phil said likely won't be ready for the opener

 

[CP1708]

I miss OC. 

How else am I going to find out when there is turmoil in Orlando?  Or trouble brewing in Boston?  Or if the Lakers are lookin old? 

 

[do be doo]

g  
Mon Oct 11 05:29am PDT
[h2]Kobe Bryant won't be ready for season opener[/h2]
By Mark J. Miller

The Los Angeles Lakers, the two-time defending NBA champs, will start off the season with a difficult task: Winning without the help of Kobe Bryant(notes) and Andrew Bynum(notes).

Kobe Bryant is still trying to get his right knee stronger after having surgery in July, and Andrew Bynum hasn't begun to practice after surgery on his right knee, the Los Angeles Times reports. Bynum could be out till late November or December.

Coach Phil Jackson said that Bynum and Bryant likely won't be ready to go when the season kicks off, adding, "So we have to bring up the game and have a concept on how we want to play the game. That will be done during these next preseason games in the next week and a half."

Let the rumors come to you. Follow Scoop du Jour on Twitter or Facebook.

Source: Los Angeles Times

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/post/Kobe-Bryant-won-t-be-ready-for-season-opener?urn=nba-276023

 

[proshares]

Don't kill the messenger, pretty ironic you guys were just arguing about this

.

[h3]

[h3]Question: Which West team is best suited to pull off a Lakers upset?[/h3]

BUCHER: With all that changed in the NBA during the offseason, one constant remains: The Los Angeles Lakers are the overwhelming favorite to win the Western Conference again. But who is the biggest threat to upset them? I'm going to go with the West team that scared them the most this past spring, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

BROUSSARD: I think Oklahoma City is the non-Lakers team that is most able -- perhaps even likeliest -- to have the best West record. But I think the Thunder are too young to reach the NBA Finals. Getting through that tough Western Conference playoff gauntlet is a lot to ask of a team with just one year of postseason experience and no playoff series wins. I thought about taking Dallas, but I can't put my faith in the Mavs. Therefore, I'll go with the Portland Trail Blazers.

RB: Thank you for setting me up. My biggest reservation about the Thunder being capable of upsetting the Lakers is that they've never won a playoff series. Knowing what it takes to close out an opponent is crucial -- as is winning a playoff game on the road, playing from behind in a series, etc. -- and a team or star who's never done it is at a disadvantage. But because you agree that the Thunder will have one of the best records in the West, they won't face the Lakers until they've already won a round or two. So then it will come down to matchups, and that's where the Thunder can create more problems for the Lakers than anybody else.

CB: Nice try, Buch, but do I look that stupid? (For the sake of our friendship, don't answer that.) My point is that teams don't go from never having won a playoff series to reaching the Finals in the course of one year. Winning three straight tough playoff series will be absolutely uncharted territory for a group of practically college-aged kids. They'll be mentally and emotionally spent by the time they reach the Western Conference finals (if they do). The last Finals team whose best players had never won a playoff series before that season was the 1994-95 Orlando Magic. And we all know they would not have done it if Michael Jordan hadn't been as rusty as a neglected '54 Chevy after returning from playing minor league baseball. As much as I like Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, I'm not ready to put them in the class of Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway. So using history as our guide, it is virtually impossible for OKC to go all the way to the Finals.

RB: The precedent would be historic, but teams have come awfully close to doing it. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers had won only one playoff round before their march to the 2007 Finals. And the Minnesota Timberwolves had never won a single round before going all the way to the conference finals in 2004, when they lost to the Lakers.

I'll take the Thunder's chances of making history because they have the components -- an unstoppable go-to scorer, an athletic point guard, an equally athletic power forward in Serge Ibaka, physical and mental toughness in both the backcourt and frontcourt and a cohesive organization. Experience is all they're lacking. I look at all the other teams in the West, and I just don't see the same potential. We already know what Dallas, Portland and Denver are versus the Lakers: not good enough. I don't see how they're going to change that between now and the spring.

CB: Cleveland had a much easier route to the Finals in 2007 because the East was a joke. The only good team the Cavs had to go through was an aging Detroit squad. This year's Western Conference, although weakened a bit, is still very strong. And that Minnesota team was full of veterans. Kevin Garnett was a vet, Latrell Sprewell had played in the Finals and Sam Cassell had won two championships in Houston. So those comparisons aren't really appropriate.

Don't get me wrong, I do like the Thunder, but I think expecting them to reach the Finals, even if L.A. falters, is too much. They have next to nothing inside, even if Ibaka continues to improve, and Westbrook, although dynamic, still has much to learn about running a team. If healthy, the Trail Blazers can beat the Thunder in a tough playoff series.

RB: This debate is about who has the best chance of pulling off an upset. You keep telling me why OKC can't without making a case for why the Blazers are better suited. Let's face it: The franchise's prospects are dimmer now than two years ago. The way Kevin Pritchard and Tom Penn were sent away is not the way a franchise headed in the right direction operates, regardless of what you think of Pritchard's performance. Nate McMillan even chose not to sign an extension, which speaks volumes. Rudy Fernandez wants out, Brandon Roy and Andre Miller have struggled to mesh, and Roy, at the tender age of 26, is having a hard time staying healthy for a full season. That doesn't sound to me like a team in the least bit ready to knock off the defending champs.

CB: Fernandez is irrelevant; now that Wesley Matthews is there, the Trail Blazers have depth with or without him. All Miller does is make teams better -- check his history. After some growing pains last season, he, Roy and McMillan will be fine together. We know what we're getting from LaMarcus Aldridge. Nicolas Batum should continue to improve at the 3 spot, and Marcus Camby provides insurance in case Greg Oden remains hobbled. With Camby there, you don't have to rush Oden back, so assuming Oden returns healthy for the second half of the season, the Blazers could be clicking come playoff time. If Oden plays as well as he did before getting hurt last season, he'll give Portland something OKC doesn't have -- an answer for Andrew Bynum and any other big out West. Then, you'll still have Camby and perhaps even Joel Przybilla. They play solid half-court offense, yet can run with Miller when the opportunity presents itself. They can rebound and defend, and they've got a solid amount of experience.

RB: I've long thought Fernandez was overrated. That's not the point. Fernandez wanting out, McMillan not signing an extension and the humiliation of Pritchard are signs of a franchise coming apart, and those aren't the kind of teams that pull major upsets. Matthews is no longer an undrafted, minimum-wage overachiever; now he's a $9 million defender, and we all know how players struggle, particularly in the first year, under the weight of a fat, new price tag.

I'm glad I checked Miller's stats -- they reminded me that he's never made it out of the first round. I actually like Dre, but he and Roy function best when they have the ball. That's not something you figure out but fix by moving Miller, which is what the Blazers tried to do more than once last season. Again, it's not the kind of thing you hear too often about a team capable of knocking off the defending champs.

CB: Actually, Miller and Roy can play well together. Miller didn't begin playing big minutes with the Blazers until Roy got injured in January, and that's when Miller took off. When Roy came back, both players continued to play well alongside each other. March is the one full month in which they both played full time, and Roy averaged 21 points and four assists while Miller averaged a strong 15 points and six assists. Most importantly, the Blazers won 11 of 13 games, including victories over Dallas and Oklahoma City.

With Miller better acclimated and all the tension from his arrival gone, the Blazers should be much better. Everyone besides the Lakers is a long shot to win the West, but if L.A. falls, it'll be Portland, not OKC, that picks up the torch.

[/h3]

 

[CP1708]

Originally Posted by Do Be Doo

g  
Mon Oct 11 05:29am PDT
[h2]Kobe Bryant won't be ready for season opener[/h2]
By Mark J. Miller

The Los Angeles Lakers, the two-time defending NBA champs, will start off the season with a difficult task: Winning without the help of Kobe Bryant(notes) and Andrew Bynum(notes).

Kobe Bryant is still trying to get his right knee stronger after having surgery in July, and Andrew Bynum hasn't begun to practice after surgery on his right knee, the Los Angeles Times reports. Bynum could be out till late November or December.

Coach Phil Jackson said that Bynum and Bryant likely won't be ready to go when the season kicks off, adding, "So we have to bring up the game and have a concept on how we want to play the game. That will be done during these next preseason games in the next week and a half."

Let the rumors come to you. Follow Scoop du Jour on Twitter or Facebook.

Source: Los Angeles Times

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/post/Kobe-Bryant-won-t-be-ready-for-season-opener?urn=nba-276023




Right.......I got ya'll.  So he'll play tomorrow in the preseason, but not in 2 weeks in the regular season.  Got it.  Makes so much sense. 

You opened the link that says won't be ready to go, right?  In that article, all it says is "unsure how ready Kobe will be" 

But ok.  He won't be in the opener.  Long as he plays the playoff opener (provided we make the playoffs) that's all that matters.  He can miss October, November, and December for all I care.   

 

[do be doo]

  

 

[ex carrabba fan]

Originally Posted by CP1708

Originally Posted by Do Be Doo

g  
Mon Oct 11 05:29am PDT
[h2]Kobe Bryant won't be ready for season opener[/h2]
By Mark J. Miller

The Los Angeles Lakers, the two-time defending NBA champs, will start off the season with a difficult task: Winning without the help of Kobe Bryant(notes) and Andrew Bynum(notes).

Kobe Bryant is still trying to get his right knee stronger after having surgery in July, and Andrew Bynum hasn't begun to practice after surgery on his right knee, the Los Angeles Times reports. Bynum could be out till late November or December.

Coach Phil Jackson said that Bynum and Bryant likely won't be ready to go when the season kicks off, adding, "So we have to bring up the game and have a concept on how we want to play the game. That will be done during these next preseason games in the next week and a half."

Let the rumors come to you. Follow Scoop du Jour on Twitter or Facebook.

Source: Los Angeles Times

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/post/Kobe-Bryant-won-t-be-ready-for-season-opener?urn=nba-276023

Right.......I got ya'll.  So he'll play tomorrow in the preseason, but not in 2 weeks in the regular season.  Got it.  Makes so much sense. 

You opened the link that says won't be ready to go, right?  In that article, all it says is "unsure how ready Kobe will be" 

But ok.  He won't be in the opener.  Long as he plays the playoff opener (provided we make the playoffs) that's all that matters.  He can miss October, November, and December for all I care.   

Well I guess we'll wait and see if he plays the rest of the pre-season I guess.

I wouldn't be surprised if they kept him out of the first 2-3 weeks. If Kobe's as good as everyone says he is home court in the Finals won't matter so the regular season shouldn't mean much, much less the first month or two.

 

[shuges]

[h3]

The franchise's prospects are dimmer now than two years ago. Theway Kevin Pritchard and Tom Penn were sent away is not the way afranchise headed in the right direction operates, regardless of whatyou think of Pritchard's performance. Nate McMillan even chose not tosign an extension, which speaks volumes. Rudy Fernandez wants out, Brandon Roy and Andre Millerhave struggled to mesh, and Roy, at the tender age of 26, is having ahard time staying healthy for a full season. That doesn't sound to melike a team in the least bit ready to knock off the defending champs.

[/h3]
Gotta agree with this.

The past 2-3 years I've been waiting for Atl in the East and Por in the West to take "the next step". Just hasn't happened. And I don't see it happening soon either. Both of those squads have allowed teams like OKC and Mil to catch and/or leapfrog them while they (Atl & Por) have remained stuck in quicksand.

 

[ex carrabba fan]

Originally Posted by SHUGES

[h3]

The franchise's prospects are dimmer now than two years ago. Theway Kevin Pritchard and Tom Penn were sent away is not the way afranchise headed in the right direction operates, regardless of whatyou think of Pritchard's performance. Nate McMillan even chose not tosign an extension, which speaks volumes. Rudy Fernandez wants out, Brandon Roy and Andre Millerhave struggled to mesh, and Roy, at the tender age of 26, is having ahard time staying healthy for a full season. That doesn't sound to melike a team in the least bit ready to knock off the defending champs.

[/h3]

Gotta agree with this.

The past 2-3 years I've been waiting for Atl in the East and Por in the West to take "the next step". Just hasn't happened. And I don't see it happening soon either. Both of those squads have allowed teams like OKC and Mil to catch and/or leapfrog them while they (Atl & Por) have remained stuck in quicksand.


That is all true but at the same time Oden could change everything. Obviously it would be foolish to bank on his health and maybe even Roy's but if both stay healthy I like them in a match up against LA more than OKC.

OKC doesn't have anyone who can operate in the paint yet, while Portland at least has Aldridge [although a bit soft can still get buckets out of the post] and Oden/Pryz.  KD/Westbrook putting their team on their back's and winning 4 games against LA? I could see it, but Portland has all the pieces to push LA and more IMO. Batum/Matthews/Roy are a nice bunch to throw at Kobe. Camby/Oden/Pryz/Aldridge are a nice bunch to throw at Pau/Bynum/Odom.

Plus we all know how well LA plays in Portland

It's a damn shame Roy and Oden can't stay healthy.... Roy is so lethal

 

[CP1708]

Originally Posted by ex carrabba fan

Plus we all know how well LA plays in Portland

I absolutely LOVE when people bring this topic up.  Gives me the chills.  Yes, yes we do all know how the Lakers play in Portland.  6 and 3 at the Rose Garden.........in the postseason. 

But you're right, Lakers can't win there in the regular season.  Just postseason. 

Local radio guy here is hinting that he thinks Oden may go under the knife again.  He won't go on record, he isn't saying it's a certainty, but he is saying that he hears whispers and that they are getting louder.  *shrugs*  Not sure if he is telling the truth or just trying to gain radio ratings or whatever and have people panicking calling in or what not. 

 

[mronegative]

Skip To My Lou is headed to China. So Darko's getting paid healthy and Rafer can't backup anyone in this league? Shame.

 

[nicedudewithnicedreams]

Skip needs to make sure his overall FG% is higher than his 3pt FG%...