NBA 2016-17 Preseason News.

ButtersSuki

NufcNavan wrote: »

Demarcus Cousins is one of the most talented guys in the NBA and no one even accepts it because the Kings are a flaming dumpster fire and somehow that is DMC's fault.

It's funny how his attitude doesn't seem to cause any issues on Team USA, in fact you had Albert praising him as one of the future leaders of the USA program. Some NBA franchises like the Kings would rather pin their issues on "immature players" instead of looking in the mirror that they've been poorly run for going on a decade.

I've talked about this before. I think when he's on Team USA he's around better (and tougher; i.e. you know Thibs ain't taking any sh*t - and he's only an assistant) coaches than he's ever worked for in the Pros and he's also around talent he doesn't ever get to play with in Sacramento. That helps set your mind and focus enormously.

I'm not excusing his behaviour in Sacramento. He's not been fully at fault but he's not been blameless either. I'd simply love to see him in Boston though.

I've been saying since the Big 3 were in Boston he was the guy to trade for and rebuild around. Unquestionably the best centre in the NBA for the last 2 years (and Top 3-5 since his rookie year) in my eyes.

Lt Dan

ButtersSuki wrote: »

I've talked about this before. I think when he's on Team USA he's around better (and tougher; i.e. you know Thibs ain't taking any sh*t - and he's only an assistant) coaches than he's ever worked for in the Pros and he's also around talent he doesn't ever get to play with in Sacramento. That helps set your mind and focus enormously.

I'm not excusing his behaviour in Sacramento. He's not been fully at fault but he's not been blameless either. I'd simply love to see him in Boston though.

I've been saying since the Big 3 were in Boston he was the guy to trade for and rebuild around. Unquestionably the best centre in the NBA for the last 2 years (and Top 3-5 since his rookie year) in my eyes.

Happy with Horford, but would have loved Boogie coming to Celtics. Problem was , Celtics has little to give Kings bar picks in return

Why is "Coach K" the first coach and NBA coaches are only assistants? Is it just a nod for his achievements in College basketball and just helps that he is an outsider (to the NBA) so won't do a George Karl and let egos get in the way ?

I know Coach K's record in College Ball speaks for itself but he had the resources and time (as does his tenure as coach of Team USA, to be fair) but is he a bit.......overrated if we look at the development side of guys who played for him in College (bar Grant Hill and Lou Deng) Laettner, Brand, Austin Rivers, J. J. Redick, McRoberts, Winslow, Plumlee brothers and Okafor hardly have / did much in the NBA

LuckyLloyd

Lt Dan wrote: »

Why is "Coach K" the first coach and NBA coaches are only assistants? Is it just a nod for his achievements in College basketball and just helps that he is an outsider (to the NBA) so won't do a George Karl and let egos get in the way ?

I know Coach K's record in College Ball speaks for itself but he had the resources and time (as does his tenure as coach of Team USA, to be fair) but is he a bit.......overrated if we look at the development side of guys who played for him in College (bar Grant Hill and Lou Deng) Laettner, Brand, Austin Rivers, J. J. Redick, McRoberts, Winslow, Plumlee brothers and Okafor hardly have / did much in the NBA

If that was true, wouldn't it make his achievements at the college level more impressive? If he's consistently winning at the NCAA level with a clean program and without many knockout NBA stars it would be a huge point in his favour over scumbags like Calipari. But I'd have to question some of the names on that list - JJ Redick and Mason Plumlee are solid NBA starters who excel in certain aspects of the game.

And to answer the more direct point you're making, ultimately his record as head coach of the USA Team speaks for itself. Since 2005 he's lost just one game in Tournament play. And he was involved in a head coach / assistant coach capacity for numerous teams at different levels between 1987 and him taking up the head coaching position again in 2005. It's simply impossible to argue with his record and - particularly when he's achieving it in the post 2004 era where the US can't afford to be complacent in a tournament and expect to win.

NufcNavan

Coach K is there for continuity. Prior to the USA overhaul in 2005, they basically treated international competitions like the NBA treats all-star games. Ask the best players you can find, and if someone drops out, ask the next guy on the list. No cohesion. Players treated it like a chore. Different coach every 2 years. When Colangelo took over he handed the reigns to Krzyzewski and made him USA basketball czar. Instead of selecting 12 guys and praying they'd say yes, he flipped the tables and selected over 20, and told the players to fight for their spots. This had the opposite effect of turning a team USA roster spot into something "won" and stoked the natural competitive instincts of the best players.

That_Guy

Pacers and Nuggets set to play in London's O2 arena on January 2nd.

Cheapest flight from 2nd-3rd is with Aer Lingus. €65
Might be worth checking back in a few months to see Ryanair's prices when they announce them. I imagine it'd be significantly cheaper.

NufcNavan

That_Guy wrote: »

Pacers and Nuggets set to play in London's O2 arena on January 2nd.

Cheapest flight from 2nd-3rd is with Aer Lingus. €65
Might be worth checking back in a few months to see Ryanair's prices when they announce them. I imagine it'd be significantly cheaper.

Great chance to see the Pacers. It's on the 12th not the 2nd btw, which is a Thursday. I'll play it by ear but having the game midweek is a bitch for me work wise.

For Forks Sake

That_Guy wrote: »

Pacers and Nuggets set to play in London's O2 arena on January 2nd.

Cheapest flight from 2nd-3rd is with Aer Lingus. €65
Might be worth checking back in a few months to see Ryanair's prices when they announce them. I imagine it'd be significantly cheaper.

Cityjet into London City is a far better option for the O2, yeah the flights themselves might be a bit dearer but when you factor in the hassle, time and cost of connecting in from Gatwick or Stansted it's a way more convenient, and sometimes cheaper option.

LuckyLloyd

David Lee signed to a two year vet min (player option second year) deal with the Spurs. Think it's a good pickup though they'll want to avoid him and Gasol on the floor at the same time

brady23

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

David Lee signed to a two year vet min (player option second year) deal with the Spurs. Think it's a good pickup though they'll want to avoid him and Gasol on the floor at the same time

It's going to be a very good offensive frontcourt but although Aldridge looked better on defense last year, I struggle to see him looking as good without Duncan who was still defensively excellent last year.
Perhaps they'll play some small line ups Aldridge, Kawhi, Green, Manu/Martin and Parker/Mills.
I see the roster getting lots of wins as usual but definitely struggling in the post season

howiya

That_Guy wrote: »

Pacers and Nuggets set to play in London's O2 arena on January 2nd.

Cheapest flight from 2nd-3rd is with Aer Lingus. €65
Might be worth checking back in a few months to see Ryanair's prices when they announce them. I imagine it'd be significantly cheaper.

How easy/difficult is it to get tickets for this?

ButtersSuki

howiya wrote: »

How easy/difficult is it to get tickets for this?

Pretty easy. Not sure when they go on sale but they go on ticketmaster. if you're willing to pay for better seats then your chances are increased obviously.

Haven't gone to any of the nba games in London since the Hawks Orlando (both teams laden with superstars at the time - Nique, Shaq, Penny etc.) series in the 90s. The quality of the teams that they've sent over hasn't been great since then. If they're really serious about this, they need to be sending either a Golden State or a Cleveland to really build interest in these games.

LuckyLloyd

It's still elite athleticism right infront of you. Watching the Manimal or Hill go to work should be well worth the price of admission.

NufcNavan

In fairness the Pacers Nuggets isn't a bad game in comparison to past years. Pacers are a decent playoff team and it's East v West.

nerd69

Westbrook has signed an extension called it

ButtersSuki

nerd69 wrote: »

Westbrook has signed an extension called it

There's a good piece on The Ringer (Bill Simmons) NBA podcast on this. By signing he opens himself up to the 10 year with one club rule which entitles him to 35% of the cap (next year's bigger cap btw).

Couple of other goodies:

Good article on Coach K and USA Basketball on si.com - on mobile, can't link (sorry) but easy enough to find.

Also BBall breakdown on YouTube has a really good feature on why Carmelo plays so well offensively for the US team. Again easy to find. If you haven't watched Coach Nick on there, he really knows his stuff and his shows are excellent.

ButtersSuki

Olympics to lok forward to over the next few weeks....


I expect a lot of interest in the Croatian Women's Team......
She's married now.....but still....

brady23

I was reading theundefeated.com a while ago and they mentioned a guy who writes for a little known site http://hoopsanalyst.com Ed Weiland, he done all their NBA Draft analysis, the site is isn't very user friendly but he seems excellent, it'll be interesting to compare his big board to that of ESPN and alike as outside of the top 2 it's quite different

NufcNavan

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Olympics to lok forward to over the next few weeks....


I expect a lot of interest in the Croatian Women's Team......
She's married now.....but still....

Name? :cool:

ButtersSuki

NufcNavan wrote: »

Name? :cool:

Mrs. ButtersSuki.......


Antonija Sandric (married name, he's a baller). She's better known as Antonija Misura.

Carcharodon

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Olympics to lok forward to over the next few weeks....


I expect a lot of interest in the Croatian Women's Team......
She's married now.....but still....

Damn it, if only she was still single.... Lol

Carcharodon

Trade rumors of cousins going to Cleaveland, Love would be on the way on plus a few more moving parts involving Suns too.
Just a rumor but would be intriguing, they are a lock for the east as it is and a great bet at 7/2 for championship last I looked

ButtersSuki

Carcharodon wrote: »

Damn it, if only she was still single.... Lol

Join the queue.

ButtersSuki

Carcharodon wrote: »

Trade rumors of cousins going to Cleaveland, Love would be on the way on plus a few more moving parts involving Suns too.
Just a rumor but would be intriguing, they are a lock for the east as it is and a great bet at 7/2 for championship last I looked

If you're Sacramento do you trade him for Love or do you go to Boston ho have more to offer?

I know the Kings front office have crowned themselves in glory (as the biggest idiots in the NBA) in recent years, but come on, you can do better than that - and I say that as a fan of Love - he'll be a better player away from Cleveland than he can ever be in it.

nerd69

ButtersSuki wrote: »

If you're Sacramento do you trade him for Love or do you go to Boston ho have more to offer?

I know the Kings front office have crowned themselves in glory (as the biggest idiots in the NBA) in recent years, but come on, you can do better than that - and I say that as a fan of Love - he'll be a better player away from Cleveland than he can ever be in it.

Celtics have picks to offer though and with a new stadium I think the Kings want to "compete" now that's why I don't think there is a hope boogie gets traded full stop (never mind for a guy in love who in my opinion is clearly inferior)

ButtersSuki

nerd69 wrote: »

Celtics have picks to offer though and with a new stadium I think the Kings want to "compete" now that's why I don't think there is a hope boogie gets traded full stop (never mind for a guy in love who in my opinion is clearly inferior)

They will trade him rather than lose him for nothing. That's the reality of the league; whether they get value for him or not depends on when they do it, rather than if.

Not sure when his contract is up (next year I think?), but you can't let a guy like that walk for free.

LuckyLloyd

ButtersSuki wrote: »

They will trade him rather than lose him for nothing. That's the reality of the league; whether they get value for him or not depends on when they do it, rather than if.

Not sure when his contract is up (next year I think?), but you can't let a guy like that walk for free.

Yep. And Love can be a no.1 option just as he was at Minnesota and I actually think he has been good for Cleveland overall. From Cleveland's perspective Kyrie / LeBron / Cousins would make them stronger - particularly if they can hang onto JR for spacing and shooting purposes. Though the devil might be in the detail. I'd imagine Thompson might end up in the mix in that type of moving three way trade and I'd already be a little iffy about Cleveland's depth.

ButtersSuki

The current Bill Simmons Podcast with Michael Rappaport is hilarious. Rappaport attempts to break the world record for f-bombs in one setting......worth a listen.

ButtersSuki

ButtersSuki wrote: »

The current Bill Simmons Podcast with Michael Rappaport is hilarious. Rappaport attempts to break the world record for f-bombs in one setting......worth a listen.

He's popped up a lot over the past few months.
Maybe three times since last season as the first time they they were talking about Porzinghis early contributions.

Would prefer if Bills show ended tbh. The volume of podcasts has dropped massively since it started and its not a medium I'm interested in.

Have to say, Jalen and Jacoby has taken a big dip.
And not because its too frequent now but simply for the production values.
Constant music playing in the background and 1-2min segments of songs(breaks id imagine but edit them out, one went on for nearly the full song one time).

Would love if they just fired the producer and just got back to the old format.

nerd69

gilberto_eire wrote: »

He's popped up a lot over the past few months.
Maybe three times since last season as the first time they they were talking about Porzinghis early contributions.

Would prefer if Bills show ended tbh. The volume of podcasts has dropped massively since it started and its not a medium I'm interested in.

Have to say, Jalen and Jacoby has taken a big dip.
And not because its too frequent now but simply for the production values.
Constant music playing in the background and 1-2min segments of songs(breaks id imagine but edit them out, one went on for nearly the full song one time).

Would love if they just fired the producer and just got back to the old format.

Isint jacoby the producer though how would that work

i like bill simmons when he gets on a podcast with basketball people and discusses basketball be it current or historically the rest of it is tedious... for me at least

nerd69

nerd69 wrote: »

Isint jacoby the producer though how would that work

i like bill simmons when he gets on a podcast with basketball people and discusses basketball be it current or historically the rest of it is tedious... for me at least

There was a point he would play the drops.
I haven't seen a video version of the podcast in months so not sure how they do it now, but the change in direction with the constant background music was a bad choice.

Formula worked much better back even a year ago.