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Post by gk on Apr 19, 2010 20:52:51 GMT -6
@theakronhammer: Tonight is LeBron's 17th career 30-7-7 game in the playoffs. No other active player has more than 6
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Post by gk on Apr 19, 2010 21:16:38 GMT -6
Not saying the Bulls are a great team or anything, but I'll be glad when I don't have to see Derrick Rose blowing by Mo Williams every other possession.
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Post by gk on Apr 19, 2010 21:22:21 GMT -6
Not sure what Jamario's contract looks like, but he just made himself about $3 million tonight.
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Post by fatmenace on Apr 20, 2010 20:47:44 GMT -6
I hate that the term 'manufacturing points' has crept into basketball. Keep that nonsense in baseball.
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Post by gk on Apr 21, 2010 12:24:13 GMT -6
I have two thoughts about the OKC-LA series.
1) Was everyone a little too hasty to heap endless praise upon OKC GM Sam Presti? People were praising him as a genius for dismantling a team to be so bad as to be able to draft Durant. So kudos to that. But what else has he done? Jeff Green whom he traded for the same day he grabbed Durant, looks like - if not a bust, a near-bust. Russ Westbrook looks like a nice pick, but that was at the #4 spot in what's turning out to be a very nice draft class. As part of that Jeff Green trade he acquired Delonte West, but then traded him to the Cavs by including him as a throw-in to get rid of Wally Szczerbiak contract (which he also acquired in the Jeff Green deal).
#3 overall pick James Harden scored ZERO points in 10 minutes last night. This was after scoring ZERO points in 16 minutes the night before. Not a great sign for a shooting guard.
As it stands, they have little to no inside presence on a well-coached, overachieving team. But if there's one thing we know, it's that bigs are the hardest commodity to draft. And Presti hasn't drafted one, so his drafts don't look like total flops, but the truth is, they have several high lottery picks and still no all-star caliber starting PF or C.
Oh and they DON'T have the cap space to sign a max player. How again is Sam Presti a good GM, let alone a great one?
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Post by gk on Apr 21, 2010 12:25:30 GMT -6
Oh yeah, I had another point: Ron Artest.
I remember some very knowledgeable people killing the swap of Trevor Ariza for Ron Artest. I think it's safe to say that Artest has done his job the first two games of the playoffs.
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Post by fatmenace on Apr 21, 2010 15:06:04 GMT -6
The swap of Ariza for Artest deserved to be killed because Artest played poorly last year. I get to see a lot of Rockets games here in Austin, and last year Artest did NOT play like an elite defender. He seemed a lot slower. I thought it was a poor trade based on how Ron Ron was playing. I still think they got him simply so that some other western team wouldn't. KD still had 32 points last night. But Artest is making him work for them (sometimes Ron completely blanked and left KD wide open), which is what matters.
Regarding Presti, I think you're being too hard on Harden. Sure, he's bombed so far in the playoffs, but he played fairly well for a rookie during the season. His first playoff series may not be the best time to judge him. I understand what you're saying about Green, but I think playing next to a solid big would help him tremendously (like how Amare blossomed with Shaq) because Green is not a big tough guy down low. Camby would have been good, but I feel like I'm just parroting Simmons by pointing it out. But as you pointed out, Presti hasn't really drafted a big yet.
On the bigger picture, where the Thunder were the last two years and where they are now is pretty good. To his credit he went out and got a good coach, not merely a retread. He's had some solid draft picks and I think is probably in the top 5 in GMs. But we said the same thing about Kevin Pritchard a few years ago in regards to the Blazers, and now the tide is starting to turn against him because he hasn't really done anything with all the talent he acquired. It's very possible Presti will go the way of Pritchard, but I'm more inclined to think the Thunder will make a finals appearance before the Blazers.
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Post by fatmenace on Apr 21, 2010 15:07:16 GMT -6
Since Presti is a Spur, I'm inclined to be more biased towards him.
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Post by gk on Apr 21, 2010 15:24:47 GMT -6
I guess my point comes down to this: draft/trade for a quality big, then call me back.
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Post by gk on Apr 21, 2010 19:45:22 GMT -6
I've never heard a team get killed after two double digit opening round wins like the Cavs the past few days.
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Post by fatmenace on Apr 21, 2010 22:03:32 GMT -6
Duncan is showing up in the 4th!
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Post by fatmenace on Apr 21, 2010 22:04:17 GMT -6
And no offense Krall, but if you think double digit wins is going to get it done in the playoffs, then you need to go back to watching baseball.
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Post by fatmenace on Apr 21, 2010 22:08:37 GMT -6
This is what I like to see! I feel good going back to SA tied, although Carlisle is good at making adjustments. This Dallas team won't show up in SA, so it'll be tough.
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Post by gk on Apr 21, 2010 22:30:13 GMT -6
Just saying that everyone's killing the Cavs after winning two games by double digits. Wins only count against 8 seeds if they're more than 15 points, or something?
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Post by fatmenace on Apr 21, 2010 22:44:47 GMT -6
I was being sarcastic. Double digit wins are fine. Reporters have to criticize something, so they just pick that for the Cavs.
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