NFT: NBA 2014/15 Season Thread ..........

One scenario did unfold and we can evaluate it based on reality, and the scenario didn't unfold and we can only use our imagination to judge it.

I mean shit, for all we know, the Hornets could have acquired all of those guys, half of them could have been injured, they still could have won the lottery, and they still could have wound up with Davis. Or they wouldn't have traded for Jrue Holiday the following year and could have wound up with Nerlens Noel, and then they could have sucked again and wound up with Embiid or Wiggins or Parker.

In comment 11948747 MarshallOnMontana said:

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Is borderline religious experience. Sportscenter there now. This is a very tough place to play when the cavs are good. Way more imposing than miami ever was. They should be awesome at home this year. They went 39-2 one year near the end of the first lebron era when the surrounding cast wasnt 1/10 what it is now cavs also debuting the biggest video board in the league with a 3d projection system

I haven't seen the Cavs in years, but do they still have the worst PA announcer guy in sports?

Its the same guy it was when lebron was there the first time

I feel like they're a buddy who is getting back with the hot chick who cheated on him.

But they deserve LeBron 100x more than Miami did, and I hope he brings that long awaited title to that sad sad town.

With all that offense and all those defensive/toughness question marks, Cavs games are going to be so damn fun to watch.

LeBron and Kevin Love collide into each other at top speed and break each others' collar bones.

for the Cavs to give Varajo the 3 year 30 million dollar extension now. The guy is never healthy. He is already 32, and Marc Gasol will be available.

is miles better than anything with Miami had with LeBron. Love these Cav jerseys.

tells me that he's always been good, even with limited minutes in Houston. I'm not full of shit, but I always thought he would be a very good player.

In comment 11948942 David in LA said:

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tells me that he's always been good, even with limited minutes in Houston. I'm not full of shit, but I always thought he would be a very good player.

Well you may have thought that.... but lets not act like you arent full of shit.

his numbers over 36 minutes is always silly, because he wouldn't have been playing against backups like he was for most of the time he was in there. For 3 years and 2 different teams the coaches somehow didn't know he was good?

To be quite honest, he's only ever had one really good year, last year.

Years before that he was decent, nothing more

Before they resemble the team theyre going to be. Just like in miami. Change a whole team overnight, it takes time for roles to chrystalize and an identity to develop. I didnt see them dropping this one though. Hell of a win by the knicks. Carmelo was terrific late. Bottom 5 game lebron will play all season. Cavs looked so directionless offensively, they just need minutes together.

john wall is off to a great start this year. Wiz need to get healthy and stay healthy, but theyre going to be damn good.

Im pulling for the pistons as a surprise team, two tough road losses to start the year, competed in both late

looking forward to seeing the clips tonight

breaks hand. Thunder's season in trouble.

Christmas-ish?

Westbrook has been so snakebit since the beverly play after being such an iron man before that

I hope okc still makes the playoffs but its going to be tough throwing a month away in the west. This is going to be a big hole to dig out of. They certainly wont have home court in any playoff series this season.

In the first round. They're going to be awful this next month plus. But I think they sneak in to the playoffs. Reggie Jackson and Ibaka time.

I've always been a huge John Wall fan. I still believe he has the highest ceiling of any PG in the league. But his jumper and overall halfcourt offense has been lacking. I think Paul Pierce is really going to help Wall in the halfcourt. If Wall's jumper is better this year, he could be a sleeper mvp candidate. I still need to see how legit that jumper is though.

as deep as the West is, this could be a Spurs-Duncan type year. They'll obviously get Durant back early enough to avoid a top 5 pick, but if they end up missing the playoffs and add a lottery pick alongside Durant/Westbrook/Ibaka, they could finally get over the hump.

In comment 11948858 dep026 said:

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for the Cavs to give Varajo the 3 year 30 million dollar extension now. The guy is never healthy. He is already 32, and Marc Gasol will be available.

In that case, the Cavs are almost guaranteed to do it.

he's a good player, but WTF are the Warriors thinking?
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Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to keep your guy and to keep him happy. Theyve pretty much deemed him virtually untouchable after the kevin love talks, so im not surprised theyd make this commitment.Theyre banking on him having another level to his game than previously displayed, obviously. And he might yet. Hes already one of the handful best two way sg's in the game. Also keep in mind that the cap is likely going way up when the new tv deal kicks in, so what seems excessive now will not seem as excessive soon enough.

The warriors brass do see to like him a tad more than the rest of us do though. Id have included him in talks for love

What the fuck were the Warriors thinking?

I think Thompson is a very good player, but I still kind of can't get over how they refused to trade him for Kevin Freakin Love. The future may prove me wrong and Klay may become near or equal to Love, but I strongly doubt it. Klay actually has a tendency to completely disappear in games -- or at least, he did under Mark Jackson. There are times where you just completely forget he's on the floor. Even if Love isn't performing well offensively, you'll still see him rebound the shit out of the ball and throw crazy outlet passes every game.

Nothing remotely resembling rim protection on the floor.

Dont get me wrong

cleveland is playing bully ball on the boards tonight. Cant remember the last time lebron played on a team that could win the battle on the boards so decisively against a frontcourt like chicago. Thats a big difference from miami. Still a long way to go in this one though.

Bulls / Cavs game is pretty good.

Kirk Hinrich raining 3's!!!!

last 8 Bull points

at that basket counting

good call, didn't put the ball on the floor again after the contact

with the bulls, I know Rose is out with a sprained ankle, but their best option late outside of Rose is Kirk fuckin Hinrich

.

and he's already on a minutes limit, and it's game 2. Not concerned at all.

The Bulls are figuring themselves out just as much as cleveland is. Im guessing we see all sorts of late game combinations until halfway through the season.

this is a very bittersweet game. The Bulls went toe to the toe with the other top team in the East. Gasol is such a massive upgrade over Boozer. They are shooting the ball and will shoot the ball better this year. They have 3 great bigs. But....

The Derrick Rose Era is coming to an end for the Bulls IMO. This cannot be his team anymore. He is a great player and does a lot of wonderful things. But its always gonna be an ankle, a knee, and get ready for for the soon to be hamstring (because leg injuries will eventually break down the hammys). It's a shame because he is my favorite player. But the reality is he cant go 2-3 games without an injury it seems anymore.

And if he is out, the Bulls will be very competitive, but they just wont be good enough.

it may be minor and a precaution holding him out. I'm not going to judge this team or the season after 2 games or a minor injury. Being 1-1 or 2-0 is pretty irrelevant.

In comment 11950403 UConn4523 said:

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it may be minor and a precaution holding him out. I'm not going to judge this team or the season after 2 games or a minor injury. Being 1-1 or 2-0 is pretty irrelevant.

Oh I agree about the team. This game was just entertaining to watch. But someone just said Rose hasnt gone 10 straight games without an injury since 2011. I dont know if it was precaution or not, but if it was I would have assumed he would have been back on the bench.

Gibson got his lunch handed to him by Thompson. I rather see Noah/Gasol at the end of the games.

Even dating back to the preseason in that game vs the cavs at ohio state. I wouldnt trust him to stay healthy either, but he has still retained most of his explosiveness through the injuries. Tonight was just a freak play that can and does happen to everyone at some point, rolling an ankle landing on someones foot. Sucks he couldnt finish the game though, took some air out of the end of that game. But hinrich was awesome taking over primary ballhandler responsibilities in his place.

Tristan thompson was amazing tonight. Cavs still look very unrefined in the halfcourt offensively and thats going to take a while. Offensive rebounding bailed them out tonight

Neither team is as good as they will be by new years, and tonight wasnt always the most crisp game. But watching that game tonight for stretches it was awesome to behold the level of talent on the floor. Hope they both stay healthy and do this in may

when I said that I hoped the Bulls didnt trade Butler for Kevin Love. Tonight was the reason why. There is no one even close that can slow down Lebron other than Butler. Not saying Butler would shut him down, but outside Kawhai, he may be the defender who does the best job on him.

Butler is a huge factor for this team and they need him healthy.

at box scores, the 6ers scored 7 points in the 4th quarter tonight. And somehow that's not even close to an NBA record for a quarter

46 points in 49 minutes off the bench for the suns this year. Its awesome watching that team with all that quickness at guard, even more since adding him. Suns beat the spurs

Rudy gay 40 for the kings on 13 of 19 shooting

is now dropping long range jumpers and threes with consistency?

Fuck that.

Is terrifying. I'm so amazed at his improved outside touch. He could be on the verge of one of the great offensive seasons from a PF. And if that happens the Clippers would be heavy favorites.

Durant out early could open the door for Blake to have an MVP season. I never thought Blake could improve this much.

11-12 at the line tonight.

Uh oh.

By a lot imo. He deserves to get paid.

He was fantastic in the World Cup. He's starting to create off the dribble more and that could allow him to reach not only his own potential but the true potential of the splash bros. Curry can be even more dangerous with a SG who can create off the dribble.

Kevin Martin type scorer + able to defend Chris Paul = really really good

Martin got to the line at will though, something Klay needs to improve.

I love watching Derrick Rose, but to echo what others here said, he can't stay healthy. Thankfully he said the injury isn't too serious.

which is a good move. He is on a minutes limit so any missed time just prolongs him getting back to full playing time. He is going to have to play through nagging injuries.

he is inactive.

Like I said last night, the Rose era is over. Ill still root like hell for him and hope he can remain a healthy career, but he is just not a reliable player to remain healthy. It took until the 2nd game for him to be hurt, and this just postpones/prolongs his condition and game activity.

because he stepped on a guys foot and rolled his ankle. If anyone in the NBA did what he did they would get hurt too, absolutely ridiculous to call the rose era over and then point to him getting him like that as part of the reason

Just learned tonight that when picking a team on the app their isno injury notifications.

Good thing I only did $1 tournaments

Is flashing some athleticism these last couple nights. Still inefficient as hell, but hes playing himself back physically. Crazy finish in traffic just now in g.s.

Minny blew the end of that game against the bulls. Bad defense by wiggins on the last possession leaving his feet. And he has looked horrible on the offensive end of the floor. He and parker are both off to sluggish starts

disappointed with the way detroit has come out of the gates

another monster line for anthony davis

bosh off to a great start first two games. Miami is 2-0, but beating philly almost doesnt count. And the wizards did not have nene or beal when they beat them opening night.

grizzlies 3-0 for the first time ever

Hit 7 of his last 8 after starting 3 for 12. Fun one in golden st. Mid 3rd

lakers have been much more competitove thesr last couple nights