This thread last year got over 3,000 posts. Worked out very well, why not do it again?
Season starts tomorrow with a pretty "meh" tnt doubleheader, but i'm just happy to have basketball back. I have a Cavs vs Clippers Finals this season. Jabari Parker rookie of the year. Lebron m.v.p. Detroit as a surprise team who will find a way into the playoffs this season under stan van gundy. What say you guys?
I think every single team in the east potentially got better with the exception of indiana and miami. It may not be reflected in the records by seasons end, but this is the deepest the east has been in quite a while talent wise.
I'm thrilled that they hired Steve Kerr. His interviews alone are a breath of fresh air -- I've always found him humorous and listenable as a commentator, but as a coach he's even more so, and his casual candor makes him a great interview. I think the players will love him, albeit perhaps in a different way than they loved Mark Jackson.
I can't wait to see what Bogut does now that Kerr is determined to feature him a bit more offensively. He's a great and willing passer and nearly put up a triple double in their preseason finale.
They're much, much deeper than they were last year. They're thinking strongly about having Iggy come off the bench, not because Barnes has surpassed him by any means, but more because Iggy makes the second unit much better than Barnes does. If Kerr sticks to that idea even after Livingston is healthy enough to play, Igoudala will almost certainly be a very strong 6th Man of the Year candidate.
Gonna be a fun year.
Agreed.
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Lakers have to score a top 5 pick. Otherwise we lose our pick to the Suns.
Really hope they get the 6th pick
lolz
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In comment 11942368 GiantFilthy said:
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Lakers have to score a top 5 pick. Otherwise we lose our pick to the Suns.
Really hope they get the 6th pick
Lol, you bastid, even after saying I'd root for NYK.
I've been waiting for these last couple years for the Lakers for almost 15 years. I don't want to give it up quite yet, I need to watch my brother squirm some more.
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Lakers have to score a top 5 pick. Otherwise we lose our pick to the Suns.
Really hope they get the 6th pick
Mook is really young Greg in LI
Thon Maker is a bit like Hakeem from watching some of the video. Good observation. I think he plays for Australia so we could see the Aussies in medal contention pretty soon at the Olympics (Patty Mills, Exum, Bairstow, who I really like, and Thon Maker are a good core of players)
WCF Finals: Spurs over Warriors in 6.
Finals: Spurs over Cavs in 6.
I think the Cavs will be around .500 in the first 20 games or so before they start to mesh. I think this summer, playing with the rest of the stars will help Kyrie adjust quicker to playing with Lebron (I know he's a different players but great players generally have the same attention to detail, desire for perfection etc).
An underrated subplot I'm looking forward to is seeing how Wiggins is this year. Personally, I know Lebron isn't getting younger but I was in the crowd that wanted to see them keep him and maybe move Waiters to get a different big.
You're wrong.
Im happy to have basketball back, and i will be watching and looking forward to it all day. But by opening night standards thats not a very splashy start. Kinda meh
lol
Would love to see the Spurs repeat, but they never accomplished that feat in their prime and now it'll only be harder with the age of that roster.
as for the doubleheader tonight, who knows. Spurs had to have a home game tonight as defending champs, but i wish it was a more juicy matchup than dallas. I know dallas took the spurs to 7 games last year, but the mavs are down the list when it comes to most watchable teams out west. Then again, they could have scheduled the thunder for a date at s.a. tonight and gotten burned by the durant injury. In the 2nd game, id have rather the clippers or warriors hosted that late game, but tv loves the lakers.
Would love to see the Spurs repeat, but they never accomplished that feat in their prime and now it'll only be harder with the age of that roster.
Parker is only 32. It always more about his overall health. Manu and Duncan are up there obviously but the former has been streaky for a few years now anyway (and the Spurs still win) and Duncan has adjusted his game.
Don't forget that Green and Leonard now have more experience under their belts. And they're all under the best HC in the game.
I think the Spurs are the favorites to win it if they stay healthy.
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He is currently on pace for the 2017 draft and if he reclassifies he will be in the 2016 draft not the 2015 one
You're wrong.
ODBeat, my apologies. I am wrong, brain cramp on my part. I was looking at his high school graduating class, and for some unknown reason thinking thats when he would be in draft. You are correct, he will be in either 16 or 17 draft, most likely 17
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you would think a guard would have time to get back and guard the cherry picker on every made basket.
many people noticed this over the summer with team usa, but he has definitely been hitting the weights. He clearly looks bigger
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In comment 11942531 MookGiants said:
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In comment 11942368 GiantFilthy said:
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Lakers have to score a top 5 pick. Otherwise we lose our pick to the Suns.
Really hope they get the 6th pick
Lol, you bastid, even after saying I'd root for NYK.
I've been waiting for these last couple years for the Lakers for almost 15 years. I don't want to give it up quite yet, I need to watch my brother squirm some more.
Isn't your brother also a 49ers fan? Wtf?
Spurs
Thunder
Clippers
Warriors
Grizz
Mavs
Rockets
Blazers
That would just be a ridiculous WC Playoffs. I could legitimately see the top 6 teams on that list end up with the #1 seed this year. Can't remember the last time I thought 6 teams could end up with the best record in a conference. The Rockets and Blazers are very good but I expect both to take a little step back this year, although I'd love to see Howard and Harden prove the doubters wrong. Enormous season in the careers of James Harden and Dwight Howard.
The Clippers seem to be the bandwagon everyone is jumping on. And I get it. CP3 has been the 3rd best player in the NBA over the course of the past handful of seasons. Blake Griffin was probably the 3rd best player in the NBA last season. Blake's arrow is still pointing up and CP3 just feels due for a Conference Finals or Finals appearance. They have a good cast around them and Rivers is a top coach. But when I look at their roster it just feels like they are still missing that athletic wing to throw at the top guys in the league. Matt Barnes is not the solution. If the Clips had a guy like Nic Batum, they'd be a 60+ win juggernaut title favorite. I still think they could win 57 games and challenge for a #1 seed but I just don't think they'll win it all.
I think the Warriors have the highest ceiling in the league. They ranked 12th in ORtg last year! They were also the worst passing team in the NBA last year. Read that again, the Warriors passed less than any other team in the NBA last year. That's just incredible. I blame Mark Jackson. Jackson clearly did not get the most from this offense. With Kerr's system and a breakout campaign from Klay Thompson, I expect the Warriors to be a ferocious team this year. But as always, so much of this team's hopes and dreams are tied to Andrew Bogut. They need him if they want to reach their ceiling.
I have major concerns about the Cavs. Kyrie and Love have zero playoff experience, have sucked on D, and are injury-prone. Blatt is a rookie coach and that can't be overlooked. This Cavs team might be a better rebounding team than the LeBron Heat were, but they'll never be close to the defensive team that the LeBron Heat were. The Warriors are banking on Bogut, but Bogut is an iron man compared to Anderson Varejao. And the Cavs D would be truly fucked if Varejao goes down, and he always seems to go down. That being said this Cavs team could have the GOAT offense in NBA history. The best offensive support LeBron has ever had.
But if Rose is healthy, I think the Bulls come out of the East. But that's obviously an enormous "if".
and fuck the Lakers
Anthony Davis going to be the best player in the NBA within this next 2-3 years, maybe sooner. He has no ceiling to his game.
22/15 with 7 blocks for Davis... through 3 quarters
I think cleveland will be better defensively than people think if they can get 60 games out of varejao, which is probably on the optimistic side, but i guess we will see. I think they can be right on the fringe of the top 10 in defensive efficiency. Theyre going to be a devastating defensive rebounding team, arguably the best in the game. Thats step 1 to ensuring a floor of "average" defensively. I think youll see both their guards take a step forward defensively this year in a situation that demands it of them, neither irving nor waiters lack the physical ability to defend an adequate level. It is mostly a matter of youth and commitment. And irving has made strides since the summer. Waiters is just a straight up competitor who flashed in preseason on the ball. Lebron himself was not a bigtime defender at those guys ages.
I think youll see lebron play his best defense in a couple seasons too as he tries to set a tone, and he will have more disposable energy to commit to defense with fewer ball handling responsibilities on the other end, less banging around with 4s too. Less coasting on defense this year. We will see soon enough
One thing as a fan that I question is why you go away from what was working. A 9 point lead with 3:00 to go and they actually lost the lead.
Whatever.
Pelicans would have been better off with Scola, Odom, and Martin rather than getting Davis.