NBA 2010-2011

[jon abbey]

Rondo demolishing his previous career high in assists with 24 tonight against NY. NY still had a shot at the end, but couldn't get over the top. Gallinari looks awful so far and Randolph will be out the first two weeks with an injury, those are the two guys who will determine how good they are this year.

[Steve Reynolds]

plus they missed a whole bunch of open looks off Rondo passes in the second half so it could have been more than 24

Amare looked strong down the stretch - looks very quick to these eyes

[The G Man]

Nets are 2-0!!! They blew an 18 point lead to Sacramento, were down 87-79 then finished on a 17-3 run. Devin Harris and Jordan Farmar looked good playing together during the stretch. Walto, you should become a Nets fan this year.

[walto]

Maybe I will, Gordon. But there's so much Warriers pressure from SqD.

[The G Man]

Maybe I will, Gordon. But there's so much Warriers pressure from SqD.

It's more practical for you to follow an EC team:)

I'm thinking of avoiding games involving the Heat, Lakers and Celtics. I'm sick of superstar team and player hype.

I'm curious about the Knicks when Randolph comes back, the Nets, the Wizards (all those guards), the Rockets if Yao is able to play well, and OKC. Am I missing any interesting teams?

[walto]

I was thinking about the Nets after reading your post. If they could have picked up a Joe Johnson, they'd really be a team to be reckoned with. I'm not sure Morrow at the off-guard position is going to be potent enough. They need a scorer. I really like Harris and Lopez, though.

BTW, Rondo threatened Cousy's single game Celtics franchise assist total (28) last night. He had 24, and, partly as a result, the Cs shot over 48%. That's the kind of thing I think the Heat loses by putting James or Wade at the point and sitting Arroyo and Chalmers (or just having them stand around on the weak side). I remember when Boston decided they'd play Reggie Lewis at point. It doesn't matter what a nice player he was: it's a bad move.

[The G Man]

I was thinking about the Nets after reading your post. If they could have picked up a Joe Johnson, they'd really be a team to be reckoned with. I'm not sure Morrow at the off-guard position is going to be potent enough. They need a scorer. I really like Harris and Lopez, though.

BTW, Rondo threatened Cousy's single game Celtics franchise assist total (28) last night. He had 24, and, partly as a result, the Cs shot over 48%. That's the kind of thing I think the Heat loses by putting James or Wade at the point and sitting Arroyo and Chalmers (or just having them stand around on the weak side). I remember when Boston decided they'd play Reggie Lewis at point. It doesn't matter what a nice player he was: it's a bad move.

.400-.500 teams can be interesting. I like Avery Johnson, too. The Heat would definitely be better with a real PG but when I see most of the NBA writers picking the Lakers or Celtics to win the title, I think it's partly wishful thinking because almost all of them, like me want ABTFH to win the title. The Heat is no cinch to win the title but I think they are legitimate favorites.

Do you think the Warriors will be entertaining? I've seen a lot of David Lee already and don't like Monta Ellis.

[walto]

As you say, I can't see the Warriors much because of the time zone thing. II think I've only seen Ellis once or twice.

I don't think the Heat lack a pg; they've got two pretty good ones, IMO; they just won't let them handle. It's my view that the Heat would have been a better team if they'd picked up Jefferson (or some other post-up guy) instead of Bosh. I think they were showing off a bit trying to get all the "superstars."

And I totally agree that .500 teams can be fun to watch. But you don't want to actually root for them.

[jon abbey]

the Warriors looked really good and fun last night (albeit against the Clippers), but Steph Curry rolled his ankle pretty badly and he's hurt that ankle before.

[Noj]

The Clippers have looked good for stretches of each game I've watched. Once Griffin matures and learns to assert himself for four quarters they'll be formidable. They've yet to have all their stars show up and play a good game this season. Eric Gordon, whose crossover made Curry's ankle fail, has hit the ground running after a solid showing with Team USA.

[BoBetter]

The Clippers need to learn how to play defense for 4 quarters. until they do that, they will never win games.

On one of my fantasy teams my guards are:

Tyreke Evans
Stephen Curry
Monta Ellis
John Wall

so much fun having those guys.

Rondo is insane. Totally insane.


SO. What does everyone think of the new Lebron commercial???

[walto]

Self-indulgent and over-produced. But I guess most of them are.

[crawjo]

SO. What does everyone think of the new Lebron commercial???

I'm not the target audience for sure, but I increasingly find James to be a thoroughly annoying, pathetic even, figure. I love this commercialization of a message that basically says "I'm just going to be me no matter what you think." If he really didn't care what anyone thought, he wouldn't make the commercial in the first place.

I still doubt he gets how he screwed up over the summer. Leaving Cleveland for Miami = fine. Doing it with your own hour-long special on ESPN = incredibly tasteless and immature.

I'm sure his reputation will recover just fine, but speaking for myself, I was a mild (very mild, because it's the NBA) fan of his. In fact, James with Cleveland was one of the few things that made me want to watch the NBA at all, and I was much more likely to watch games featuring LeBron than other games. Now? I honestly don't care in the slightest about the Heat or the rest of the league. Of course, I never cared much to begin with, but I care even less now.

But I'm sure that I'm in the minority, and that James to the Heat will be good for the league as a whole, in terms of marketability and ratings and all that other stuff. It creates storylines that people will invest themselves in. But not me.

[Captain Hate]

I don't think you're in the minority, David. I think you summed up the feelings of a lot of people based on my observations on other sports boards, almost all of them not related to Cleveland.

[jon abbey]

just in case I haven't gone on the record, you all know that I was on the LeBron to NY bandwagon even before he signed his previous deal, and I was as heartbroken as any non-Cavs fan when he took his talents elsewhere.

but I'd currently (this could change) root hard for Miami over both Boston (obviously) and Orlando in playoff series, not sure about the Lakers. the Wade/LeBron on-court dynamic should be pretty fascinating for any fan of the game, no matter what you think of either of them personally.

[The G Man]

just in case I haven't gone on the record, you all know that I was on the LeBron to NY bandwagon even before he signed his previous deal, and I was as heartbroken as any non-Cavs fan when he took his talents elsewhere.

but I'd currently (this could change) root hard for Miami over both Boston (obviously) and Orlando in playoff series, not sure about the Lakers. the Wade/LeBron on-court dynamic should be pretty fascinating for any fan of the game, no matter what you think of either of them personally.

If OKC played the Lakers in the Western finals who would you root for? Same question if they beat the Lakers to face the Heat.

[The G Man]

For Walto-

According to ESPN the Magazine's Ric Bucher, Miami Heat president Pat Riley will probably try to acquire a point guard once we get to Dec. 15 when most of the free agents from the summer are eligible to be traded.

From Bucher: "Two different team executives said they expect the Heat to dangle $3 million and second-year PG Mario Chalmers to a lottery-bound team looking to shed the long-term contract of a mid-priced spot-up shooting PG. Riley's objective is to find another shooter to space the floor, a la BJ Armstrong or John Paxson in their Chicago days playing alongside Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen."

Bucher lists Toronto's Jarrett Jack and Cleveland's Daniel Gibson as potential targets.

[walto]

For the reasons I've already given, I think that's weird. I think they should just use the pgs they have and pick up a post- up guy.

But I guess that's why they get the big bucks and I just shoot my mouth off here.

[Enforcer]

Miami is impossibly unlikeable for me. There's almost nothing you could do to make me hate that team more. Even before the Decision, I hated them. They're like a rogue's gallery of everyone and everything I can't stand, and they have been for a while now. The 2006 edition featured Pat Riley, Alonzo Mourning, Udonis Haslem, Gary Payton, Antoine Walker, Jason Williams, James Posey, the "White Out" bit and the media circle-jerk surrounding Wade and Shaq at the time. By the time the Glory-Fucker Riley kicked Van Gundy to the curb and the officials handed them the trophy in that ridiculous Final with Dallas, I had given up caring about NBA basketball and haven't viewed it as much more than a pleasant distraction since.

There may not be as many hate-able players on this roster, but The Decision easily makes up for that.

I'm definitely interested in watching this edition of the Heat, but only because I want to see them lose and have awful things happen to them. I would strongly root for any team to beat them. That includes Boston and LA. I would passionately cheer the Lakers on and pump-fist after every Kobe basket if they meet the Heat in the Finals.

In a way, I guess you could say that Miami has made me more interested in the NBA than I've been in a long time.

[The G Man]

Miami is impossibly unlikeable for me. There's almost nothing you could do to make me hate that team more. Even before the Decision, I hated them. They're like a rogue's gallery of everyone and everything I can't stand, and they have been for a while now. The 2006 edition featured Pat Riley, Alonzo Mourning, Udonis Haslem, Gary Payton, Antoine Walker, Jason Williams, James Posey, the "White Out" bit and the media circle-jerk surrounding Wade and Shaq at the time. By the time the Glory-Fucker Riley kicked Van Gundy to the curb and the officials handed them the trophy in that ridiculous Final with Dallas, I had given up caring about NBA basketball and haven't viewed it as much more than a pleasant distraction since.

There may not be as many hate-able players on this roster, but The Decision easily makes up for that.

I'm definitely interested in watching this edition of the Heat, but only because I want to see them lose and have awful things happen to them. I would strongly root for any team to beat them. That includes Boston and LA. I would passionately cheer the Lakers on and pump-fist after every Kobe basket if they meet the Heat in the Finals.

In a way, I guess you could say that Miami has made me more interested in the NBA than I've been in a long time.

Larry, everything you just wrote speaks for me as well. The season will be a success for me if the Heat don't win the title.