Re: Random thoughts from around the league (An Onging Thread)

by **tjmakz** Mon Mar 07, 2011 5:35 pm

jeb,

I was hoping you would tell me why SA could/will beat LA but you chose to only bash LA. I am open to hearing your NBA analysis about players, offensive or defensive concepts, etc. If you don't want to discuss that, you don't need to.
You over emphasize regular season wins/losses, I try to focus on patterns, to see how a team is playing. LA started off 8-0 but I was not real impressed because their defense left a lot to be desired. I knew to some degree it was fools gold.
The Lakers always spend the most? Do you have any idea how much the Knicks and Mavericks have paid in salaries over the last 12 years? You might want to research that before claiming the Lakers always spend the most.
The Lakers with Barnes, a more consistent Brown and a possibly healthy Bynum could/should be better then last years team.
Who is old on LA? Besides Fisher, Smith and Ratliff, their core are not old players.
Just because Boston has had injuries does not mean that this will happen to other teams. There are freak injuries that happen to players (Barnes, Delonte West, Rondo, Wafer, etc) and there are injuries that happen which are no big surprise because of age and/or previous injuries (Bynum/Shaq/JO).
Yes, every time any of us looks forward it is speculation. SA confirmed my year long suspicions yesterday. That wasn't just an example of LA hitting every shot. They hit shots and completely dominated the inside.
LA could revert back to their passive ways against Miami and Dallas but I expect them to play well.
I agree that Boston will be significantly better with West and more games played by Green and Krstic. Plus, the playoff mentality will kick in for them too.

by **jeb** Mon Mar 07, 2011 6:13 pm

TJ

It aint worth it for us to interact. I should not have done it but I let your timing entice me into commenting.

I am going back to my life. Good luck to you and your team.

Enjoy your teams good health.

by **steve3344** Wed Mar 09, 2011 10:35 pm

Here's a statistical oddity for you. I've never seen an NBA game where a team only had one player attempt a free throw:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore?gid=2011030929&old_bs=1

Memphis attempted 35 FT's, the Knicks only 4. Yet the Knicks won.

by **cowens/oldschool** Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:07 pm

Big Al has been on a roll lately carrying that team, Sloans offense wasn't giving him enough touches. The player thats really shocked me is Tyler Hansbrough, his defense is better than I thought and can get his shot off among the trees.

by **Outside** Wed Mar 16, 2011 12:08 pm

For anyone needing additional incentive to dislike David Stern, or anyone who doesn't know how despicable Clippers' owner Donald Sterling truly is, here you go.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AmOPQR5B24qfKrHLitwDHiY5nYcB?slug=aw-sternnba031511

by **tjmakz** Wed Mar 16, 2011 2:28 pm

Outside wrote:For anyone needing additional incentive to dislike David Stern, or anyone who doesn't know how despicable Clippers' owner Donald Sterling truly is, here you go.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AmOPQR5B24qfKrHLitwDHiY5nYcB?slug=aw-sternnba031511

Outside,

I can't figure out how Adrian W. tied these two situations about Donald Sterling to David Stern.
If Sterling (the Employer) fires employees and doesn't pay them what is due in their contract, how is that David Stern's responsibility?
There are legal options for employees who are fired like this. (Department of Labor, Lawsuit, etc.)
The NBA can't be involved with every squabble/firing for every employee that is employed by the 30 teams in the league.

As for that situation with Kim Hughes who needed Prostate Cancer Surgery, I think maybe the moral thing for Sterling to do was to pay the $70,000 but was he required to do so?
Did Hughes not have health insurance through the team?
Do we know that Sterling turned down a request to pay for the surgery? Could he not have known about it? I don't know. Plus, this happened 7 years ago.
I don't like Donald Sterling at all, but I don't hear of many stories of business owners paying $70,000 for an employees surgery.

To me, David Stern is a rigid, maybe cold commissioner, but he has done a fantastic job in marketing/promoting the NBA.
People blame him for the problems with the referees but being an NBA referee is a very hard job to do.
I play basketball every week and when I watch the games that I am not playing in, it can be hard to see who hit a ball out of bounds, etc. or did a guy take 2 or 3 steps?
I have better then 20/20 vision and it is still hard to make accurate judgements.
I can only imagine how it would be to referee a game when all the players are big, strong and fast and to determine what fouls to call since a foul could be technically called on most posessions.

by **Outside** Wed Mar 16, 2011 3:41 pm

TJ,

It's David Stern's responsibility to ensure that owners run their teams in a responsible way that doesn't reflect poorly on the league as a whole. If an owner consistently mistreats his employees and does not pay them what they're owed, that reflects poorly on the league. It is Stern's responsibility, just like department heads' behavior is a CEO's responsibility, teachers' behavior is a principal's responsibility, and so on. No, it's not the NBA's job to get involved in every squabble or firing for every team, but when you see a consistent pattern of squabbling and not paying employees what they are owed, then it's the league should get involved. Sterling is a serial offender in this regard.

by **tjmakz** Wed Mar 16, 2011 4:06 pm

Outside,

I don't think these two examples reflected poorly on the league because none of us had heard about the firing and the guys surgery bill until recently. Would the story about Sterling not paying the $70,000 had come up if Hughes was still employed by the Clippers? He was fired less then a year ago.
The NBA did not step in on the issues that the Knicks had under the Isiah Thomas regime.
If the league wants to get involved in the firings of GM's and head coaches, then so be it. They should not intervene in employee/employer relationships. How do they know who to defend? How do they know the employee was not fired for for a good reason? They can't investigate every employee firing.

There are probably a number of oddball or lousy humans as Owners. Sterling seems to be both but this is not a reflection on David Stern.

Mike Dunleavy Sr. and any other fired Clippers employee will get his day in court to get his money (plus interest, attorney fees) from Donald Sterling if Sterling doesn't honor their contract.

by **bobheckler** Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:20 pm

David Stern is a mean old 'cuss.

Donald Sterling is a disgraceful individual.

I'm not sure Stern could force Sterling to pay for Hughes' surgery, but that doesn't mean he's still not a mean old 'cuss. It's possible they can both be abominable.

We would do better with a new commissioner. At 68, who knows how many more years he'll stick around.

Clipper fans would do better with a new owner. At 77, their liberation is probably closer than ours is of Mr. Potato Head.

On a slightly tangential note, here's an article where Donald Sterling, the worst person in the world (ok, Gaddafi and Achmenadinajad are worse), claims he didn't know Elgin Baylor's pedigree when he hired him to be VP-Basketball Operatons for the Clippers.

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/news/story?id=6225692

Unbelievable.

bob

.

by **tjmakz** Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:40 pm

bobheckler wrote:David Stern is a mean old 'cuss.

Donald Sterling is a disgraceful individual.

I'm not sure Stern could force Sterling to pay for Hughes' surgery, but that doesn't mean he's still not a mean old 'cuss. It's possible they can both be abominable.

We would do better with a new commissioner. At 68, who knows how many more years he'll stick around.

Clipper fans would do better with a new owner. At 77, their liberation is probably closer than ours is of Mr. Potato Head.

On a slightly tangential note, here's an article where Donald Sterling, the worst person in the world (ok, Gaddafi and Achmenadinajad are worse), claims he didn't know Elgin Baylor's pedigree when he hired him to be VP-Basketball Operatons for the Clippers.

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/news/story?id=6225692

Unbelievable.

bob

.

Bob,

Not that I want to defend Sterling at all but there seemed more to the Kim Hughes story then what we have heard.
I looked into it a little more and found out that the Clippers insurance would have paid for the surgery but it would have been in about a month.
Kim got a second opinion from a doctor who was not in their network and said he recommends surgery immediately.
Kim chose to go with the immediate surgery from the out-of-network doctor, thus having to come up with $77,000.

by **cowens/oldschool** Fri Mar 18, 2011 7:51 pm

WOW Tyler Hansbrough has arrived, just saw him put up 13 points and 5 boards in the most economical, energetic and physical way. Pacers were up 31-18 before Rose hit a 3 to make it 31-21 at end of 1st quarter. Psycho T scored inside on head fakes and was strong enough to finish thru contact, a 20 ft perimeter stroke a la KG, a turnaround midrange jumper a little like Malone or Cowens. Never saw Baby have a stretch like this, 5 20 point games in a row until he met us and KG, this game hes a dynamo, so intense and active. This kids gonna be an all star next year.

by **bobheckler** Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:25 pm

Mario Chalmers is down for Miami. Sprained knee. Expected to be out 2 weeks.

IF TRUE, then he'll be back for the beginning of the playoffs. That tells you how close we are and how significant an injury now can be to the team's prospects in the post-season.

That means Bibby is starting and Eddie will pick up minutes.

by **steve3344** Tue Mar 22, 2011 6:31 am

Watch the last 2:14 of this game in Europe and even though the announcer's language is different, check out his reaction to four incredible late game shots and the amazing finish:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Video-This-last-weekend-s-craziest-finish-happe;_ylt=As1bCDDNmsmls4dRzQ.RFy68vLYF?urn=nba-336044

by **tjmakz** Tue Mar 22, 2011 7:46 am

Tim Duncan will probably be out at least through the rest of the regular season due to a severely sprained ankle. I love the description of what this does to San Antonio's frontcourt in the last paragraph of this story from CBS Sports:

In the meantime, DeJuan Blair will get even more time, and this means the Spurs will be trotting out the most hilarious frontcourt tandem, ever: DeJuan Blair and Matt Bonner, otherwise known as "Please Score On Us In The Paint At Your Own Discretion." It's like a trance band, only with an unhealthy love of Pitt basketball and sandwiches.

http://eye-on-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/28026710

by **Sam** Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:15 am

I'm sorry to hear that about Tim. Here's hoping he recovers in time to be full strength for the playoffs.

Sam

by **bobheckler** Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:50 pm

tjmakz wrote:Tim Duncan will probably be out at least through the rest of the regular season due to a severely sprained ankle. I love the description of what this does to San Antonio's frontcourt in the last paragraph of this story from CBS Sports:

In the meantime, DeJuan Blair will get even more time, and this means the Spurs will be trotting out the most hilarious frontcourt tandem, ever: DeJuan Blair and Matt Bonner, otherwise known as "Please Score On Us In The Paint At Your Own Discretion." It's like a trance band, only with an unhealthy love of Pitt basketball and sandwiches.

http://eye-on-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/28026710

Gregg Popovich declined to divulge the specifics of his internal monologue but admitted “it wasn’t flowers and lollipops.”

Oh, I'll just bet the words pinballing around the interior of his skull weren't "flowers and lollipops".

The Lakers catch another break.

bob

.

by **Outside** Tue Mar 22, 2011 2:28 pm

Duncan's injury hits both of the Spurs' biggest vulnerabilities -- being unable to afford an injury to their big 3 (Duncan, Manu, and Parker), and being thin in the front line. Now we get to see if Tiago Splitter is ready for the big time after being a star in Europe and on the Brazilian national team.

On the bright side, being out for the ankle injury will allow Duncan to rest his knees. In the couple of Spurs games I've seen recently, he looked like his knees were limiting him much more than earlier in the season. But the ankle injury looked pretty bad, so resting his knees is poor consolation prize.

I'd consider this a marginal break for the Lakers. The conference is good top to bottom, so whoever comes out of the West will have to run a gauntlet. Memphis might be the biggest beneficiary, assuming they play the Spurs in the first round. If Zach Randolph runs wild, the Spurs might have all they can handle. (They play each other Sunday.) The Spurs would be better off if Memphis moves up a spot and New Orleans falls to eighth.

Outside

by **bobheckler** Tue Mar 22, 2011 4:06 pm

Outside wrote:Duncan's injury hits both of the Spurs' biggest vulnerabilities -- being unable to afford an injury to their big 3 (Duncan, Manu, and Parker), and being thin in the front line. Now we get to see if Tiago Splitter is ready for the big time after being a star in Europe and on the Brazilian national team.

On the bright side, being out for the ankle injury will allow Duncan to rest his knees. In the couple of Spurs games I've seen recently, he looked like his knees were limiting him much more than earlier in the season. But the ankle injury looked pretty bad, so resting his knees is poor consolation prize.

I'd consider this a marginal break for the Lakers. The conference is good top to bottom, so whoever comes out of the West will have to run a gauntlet. Memphis might be the biggest beneficiary, assuming they play the Spurs in the first round. If Zach Randolph runs wild, the Spurs might have all they can handle. (They play each other Sunday.) The Spurs would be better off if Memphis moves up a spot and New Orleans falls to eighth.

Outside

outside,

Great analysis, I agree. Obviously whomever faces the Spurs in the first round could catch the strongest part of that tailwind.

When I said that the Lakers caught a break it was based upon the assumption that it's all said and done, the top 2 teams in the WC will be facing off in the WC semis or finals and the winner of that series will go to the finals.

bob

.

by **tjmakz** Tue Mar 22, 2011 8:26 pm

bob and outside,

Unless Tim is not 100% by the 2nd round, I don't think his injury will hurt SA at all. Even without Tim, I doubt Memphis will push SA in the 1st round with Rudy Gay out for the year.

by **tjmakz** Wed Mar 23, 2011 1:55 am

LA beat Phoenix 139-137 in 3OT.
WOW, that was an entertaining game.

by **steve3344** Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:16 pm

SLAM: The 500 Greatest NBA Players of All-Time (ABA stats not included):

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212548

Note: Lebron at #31.

Accompanying commentary:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AkhYXIEzhXUNWtVcGmkuCZLQPaB4?slug=ycn-8108498

by **bobheckler** Fri Mar 25, 2011 6:53 pm

Mike Bibby is #251. Gimme a break. He's 251 if it ends at 252. Carmelo is #105 and Tony Parker is #139 and Cedric Maxwell is #217. I'd take Max or Parker over Melo, wouldn't you?

Sidney Wicks is #214 and Curtis Rowe is #430. Wicks and Rowe!!?? They comprised one of the worst frontcourts I've ever seen, but they're ahead of Turkoglu (#454), PJ Brown (#494) and Chris Kaman (#497)?

This is ridiculous.

bob

.

by **bobheckler** Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:05 am

Lakers send Caracter to D-league.

In some ways, this is a good thing, it lets him get on the court and get some minutes in. On the other hand, if he needs D-league, then why is he going down now? He should have been sent down earlier in the season and maybe he'd be ready to help in the playoffs. There isn't enough time left in the season for him to really improve in Bakersfield and be back for the playoffs.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/212679/Lakers_Assign_Caracter_To_Bakersfield_D_League_Team

by **tjmakz** Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:32 am

Bob,

LA had to keep Caracter with the team much longer then they expected due to the injuries to Bynum and Ratliff and before they traded for Joe Smith.
He will probably be back right just as the regular season ends.

He is ready to help in the playoffs but he is just not that talented.
If Caracter has to play a big man, Joe Smith will be going in the game because he is much longer and can defend centers.
When Bynum was in foul trouble in their last game, Artest played some at PF and Kobe at SF.

Neither Caracter or Smith will make any impact in the playoffs. They will only play in garbage time.

I am not sure LA will pick up Caracter's option for next year. They have 4 second round picks in June so they might take a chance with someone with a higher upside then Caracter has.

by **bobheckler** Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:18 pm

tjmakz wrote:Bob,

LA had to keep Caracter with the team much longer then they expected due to the injuries to Bynum and Ratliff and before they traded for Joe Smith.
He will probably be back right just as the regular season ends.

He is ready to help in the playoffs but he is just not that talented.
If Caracter has to play a big man, Joe Smith will be going in the game because he is much longer and can defend centers.
When Bynum was in foul trouble in their last game, Artest played some at PF and Kobe at SF.

Neither Caracter or Smith will make any impact in the playoffs. They will only play in garbage time.

I am not sure LA will pick up Caracter's option for next year. They have 4 second round picks in June so they might take a chance with someone with a higher upside then Caracter has.

TJ,

Nice to have the perspective of someone who watches the Lakers regularly on this.

I'm always amused to see players that are amazing in college not translate that game into a pro career. What I find amusing about it is all the so-called "experts" who oooh and aaah over young talent and the value of draft picks ending up with egg on their faces. In this case, Derrick Caracter was the darling of summer league and a lot of my Laker fan friends were drooling over him at the beginning of the season and how he came into camp at weight and all, and now he's not that talented and won't get picked up by the Lakers next year.

Just goes to show, you don't know for sure what you get in the draft until you get the player out onto the court and see him compete night-after-night.

bob

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