2014-15 NBA thread v. 2015-16 thread now playing

[Azyiu]

Kobe reportedly "bought Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Compressor Chronograps, retail $9,000 apiece" for his Lakers teammates in 2008.... and all eyes are on Curry now     

[FlyingBIZKIT]

Well I probably should have mentioned I had the Bulls beating the Cavs in 6 before the series started. 

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I did too. I'm trying not to overreact to one game, but LeBron has been mediocre all playoffs and a mediocre LeBron is trouble for the Cavs.

[Nekov]

I did too. I'm trying not to overreact to one game, but LeBron has been mediocre all playoffs and a mediocre LeBron is trouble for the Cavs.

Mediocre? He was the only reason they beat Boston, that series was a 1 man show...well, maybe 1,5 since Irving did a pretty good job in the first game. he didn't execute well against the bulls yesterday and a lot of credit goes to Jimmy Butler for being a tremendous defensive player.

[FlyingBIZKIT]

Jimmy Butler has become one of my favorites. Guy is a stud!

[KevShmev]

I did too. I'm trying not to overreact to one game, but LeBron has been mediocre all playoffs and a mediocre LeBron is trouble for the Cavs.

Averaging 27-9-7 in a series is mediocre?

[j]

Jimmy Butler has become one of my favorites. Guy is a stud!

Agree with this for sure, he's a boss.  But the Bulls are still wildly inconsistent as a team.  That series will be close and ugly IMO.

-J

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I should clarify. By LeBron's standards, he's been fairly mediocre.

25/10/7 looks great by itself, but then consider he's playing 43 minutes a game, which inflates those stats a bit. He's only shooting 45%, and he's turning the ball over five times a game. All of the metrics that try to encapsulate performance rate him way below his standards: 22 PER, .117 WS/48, and a 5.8 Box Plus Minus. His career averages in the playoffs are 27.5, .238, and 10.2.

Again, poor wording originally. LeBron has been good compared to most, but he's playing way beneath his capability.

[KevShmev]

You can't go all out in every single game, especially when you are LeBron James, who plays deep into the playoffs every season.  You have to pace yourself for a 4-round playoff.  The Celtics had no chance to beat Cleveland, and James knew he didn't have to be beastly for it to happen.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Yeah... I mean, I'm a huge LeBron fan and I think there's a very good case to be made that he's already one of the five best players ever, but  there have been some troubling signs from him this year. He came into training camp out of shape and pouted the first half of the year. He was very good the second half of the year but still not particularly efficient and was a turnover machine. Now we're five games into the playoffs and he's been a level below his usual playoff self.

At some point he needs to start dominating or else I don't think the Cavaliers can beat the Bulls. Cleveland is a very, very flawed team, and if he's not making up for those flaws, they're in trouble.

[Azyiu]

I don't want to sound alarmed or anything, but without Love the rest of the season, and JR until game 3, the Cavs can't afford to play catch up in game 2. If, just if, the Bulls are somehow up 2-0 in the series; I just don't see the Cavs recovering from it at all.

[Aefenwelg]

It kinda sounds like some of you want Cleveland to win...

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I think I would. I don't like the Bulls for some reason.

[Azyiu]

It kinda sounds like some of you want Cleveland to win...

Not exactly...

[j]

Although I'm actually glad to see Houston put up a fight this series, I have seldom seen officiating as one-sided as it seems like it's been in this Rockets-Clippers game.  Every single call is going Houston's way.  I know after the first half the Rockets had already shot twice as many free throws.  This is one I'd like to actually look at some numbers on.

-J

[Nekov]

Apparently John Wall has a hand and wrist fracture. There goes Washington's possibility of getting to the East finals...

[KevShmev]

Oh man, I just saw the video of Shaq's face plant last night.

"Down goes Shaq!!!"

[Syzzle]

Ernie set him up Shaq even said so himself

[Azyiu]

D.Rose sucked in game 3... shooting just 10 for 26 with 3 TOs!  Oh wait...

[Azyiu]

Got to give the Memphis D a lot of credits in the first half!!

They pretty much disregarded everyone but Curry and Thompson in the first qtr! They always have at least one guy on them! And it looked like they didn't expect / prepare for that kind of rotation. Once you went cold in an entire quarter, it is hard to warm up afterward. Wow! That D was amazing. Can the Grizzlies keep it up? We will see... nice game so far!! 

[Syzzle]

Leclutch makes an appearance

[KevShmev]

David Blatt is not a smart coach.

[FlyingBIZKIT]

David Blatt is not a smart coach.

Agreed. He's lucky he has good players and some other coaches that know not to call a timeout they don't have.

[Syzzle]

So is the media going to over hype the Bulls again next year or have they learned their lesson?

[Azyiu]

David Blatt is not a smart coach.

That's pretty much the case for close to 20 teams in the league. 

[Aefenwelg]

So is the media going to over hype the Bulls again next year or have they learned their lesson?

I think the hype at the start of the season was semi-justified. But half way through the season it just became, "Um, are you guys actually watching this team?"

The saddest part about going out this way is that I'm not even surprised.

[KevShmev]

Oof.  What a terrible end to the season for the Clippers.

[TAC]

I think the hype at the start of the season was semi-justified. But half way through the season it just became, "Um, are you guys actually watching this team?"

The saddest part about going out this way is that I'm not even surprised.

Why is Thibideau out? Has he actually been fired?

[Nekov]

I think the hype at the start of the season was semi-justified. But half way through the season it just became, "Um, are you guys actually watching this team?"

The saddest part about going out this way is that I'm not even surprised.

Why is Thibideau out? Has he actually been fired?

Not yet but there have been several rumors about it happening.

[Syzzle]

I guess the NBA Lottery isn't rigged. Poor Okafor though has to play for Minnesota now

[sneakyblueberry]

That title tho

[Dark Castle]

I guess the NBA Lottery isn't rigged. Poor Okafor though has to play for Minnesota now

Minnesota = best so okay.

[Nekov]

I guess the NBA Lottery isn't rigged. Poor Okafor though has to play for Minnesota now

Minnesota is far better than Philly... or some of the other teams that were in the draft. They had a bad year because of injuries but that's it

[bosk1]

A game 1 loss in a series should never be "soul crushing."  But I think Houston's loss last night was about as close as you can get.  They were on an incredible emotional high after coming back from 3-1 down to beat the Clippers.  They had the Warriors on the ropes early in Oakland, I'm sure with a strong desire to steal a road win early on.  They came out and played nearly flawless early on, and really for the most part, were able to play their type of ball all the way through.  Despite that, they simply could not stop the Warriors' comeback and lost an emotional first game, and appeared helpless to stop it.  Add to that the fact that they have not beaten the Warriors at all this year.  I would definitely not count them out.  But I think they are in as deep a hole as a team could possibly be in after a game 1.

[j]

^I somewhat agree.  I don't think any team in the league has the firepower to score with GS when Curry, Thompson, et al are on.  But the Warriors definitely live and die by the jumper.  Houston's best bet is to be disciplined on defense and hope they don't shoot the lights out.

-J