Jump to content

NBA 2009/10


Superstition

Recommended Posts

Tip-off is two months awayIt will be the first NBA season since 1990 which won't feature Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacque Wamutombo, retiring after 18 seasons. 2eobmub.jpgRespect due.Here's some interesting moves from the free agent merry-go-round...Cavs added Shaq, Jamario Moon and Leon PoweCeltics added SheedMagic lost Turkoglu, but got Vince Carter in exchange for Rafer/Courtney LeeLakers dropped Trevor Ariza, but picked up Ron ArtestDallas signed Shawn Marion and Drew GoodenSpurs signed Richard Jefferson and McDyessDetroit signed Ben Gordon and Ben WallaceThings haven't settled yet, and more players will undoubtedly move before Oct 27th... but at this early stage, the threats are looking to be the usual suspects: Lakers, Celtics, Cavs, Magic, Spurs... Yet ultimately, all will undoubtedly be scythed down by Derrick Rose and the 2010 BullsThank you pleaseRoll on October

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am itching for the season to start!Miami are going to struggle again this season, unless they have made signings that has sneaked under my radar. I would love Chicago to get further in the play-off's though. Rose>>>>I Hope the Cavs fail momentously *No hater*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Miami are virtually the same roster - Wade will get them to the playoffs, but I can't see them doing much past thatThe Cavs are gonna be a juggernaut. I was surprised by the lack of teams courting Leon Powe - he's a great young player, been to the Finals and even beasted a couple of games while there. They snapped him up for less than $1m. This is Shaq's last season too, and he will be on a mission. Lebron wants to give Cleveland a championship before going to NYC. Everyone else on the Cavs roster knows they ain't winning sh*t after this season, so they're gonna go all-out.Spurs in particular look scary to me. Especially when they switch to playoff mode. Parker/Manu/RJeff/Gooden/Duncan... all talents, all productive, all veterans. Tim is still formidable but is nearing the end of his road. He probably detects his window for another championship closing. Anyone else reaching Bulls-Jazz on Oct 6th?sww8lv.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am itching for the season to start!Miami are going to struggle again this season, unless they have made signings that has sneaked under my radar. I would love Chicago to get further in the play-off's though. Rose>>>>I Hope the Cavs fail momentously *No hater*
Hater, death to all Lakers.Super what are your thoughts on Ben Gordon leaving? Who will take his place?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Super what are your thoughts on Ben Gordon leaving? Who will take his place?
Would've liked for him to stay - he's a great shooter and a clutch scorer - but imo he's not worth the $10m/year+ contract that Detroit gave him. He's an undersized, shoot-first guard who's a defensive liability. When his shots are falling, it's beautiful to watch, but when he's cold, it can be infuriating coz he'll virtually never look to pass. And he's too small to defend almost all NBA shooting guards. Genuine clutchness is a rare quality in the NBA, but we have another natural SG in John Salmons, and hopefully Luol Deng can take up some of the scoring load too (Really it was giving Deng such a huge contract last year which removed all wiggle room for re-signing Gordon)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Turns out after a whole summer of negotiations to bring Ricky Rubio to Minnesota, a deal was reached... but he backed out at the last minute, and is now staying in Spain for at least another two seasons :lol: Summer 2010 stuff: ESPN have done some indepth considerations of where Lebron, Wade, Bosh and Amare might end upThe Bulls have a Bosh-shaped hole in the squad. We need to sign dude. Lebron and Wade are unrealistic hopes. Rose to Amare sounds like a great fastbreak prospect, but he's coming off several knee surgeries and plays no D. Bosh is an All-Star big man who plays on the blocks, doesn't have to dominate the ball to be effective, is a dependable 20 and 10 guy, hits FTs, and plays decent defence. We haven't had a formidable post presence since Elton Brand left. That was ten years ago. For that production I'd be prepared to put two of Luol Deng/Tyrus Thomas/Kirk Hinrich on the chopping block as a sweetener. But the salary cap shrinking means Toronto can offer him more money than any other team, so he'll only leave if he's disgusted at the direction of the club (which atm he seems to be)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok....A.I is going to sign for the Grizzlies.

Allen Iverson will sign a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Memphis Grizzlies in the next 24 to 48 hours, ending a summer-long pursuit of a team that wanted the 34-year-old's game and cache and would provide him an opportunity for the playing time he still desperately covets.The contract will have incentives that could make the deal larger, but the Grizzlies will not renounce their rights to guard Juan Carlos Navarro, which would have freed up another $900,000 in salary cap room.The Grizzlies' braintrust, including owner Michael Heisley, general manager Chris Wallace and head coach Lionel Hollins, flew to Atlanta on Labor Day to make its offer to Iverson, who has a home there and has been training there this summer with NBA TV analyst and former teammate Eric Snow. The meeting went well and after looking over the remaining options, Iverson took the deal.Iverson confirmed his decision on his Twitter feed Wednesday morning."God Chose Memphis as the place that I will continue my career," he wrote. In a post a few minutes later, he said, "I feel that they are committed to developing a winner and I know that I can help them to accomplish that. I feel that I can trust them."Reached by telephone Wednesday, Heisley said that Iverson verbally committed to the Grizzlies late Tuesday evening."He told us he was very interested in playing with the young team we've assembled," Heisley said. "He thought he could help us win and he was looking forward to helping the young players, and helping them to develop. Frankly, I'm ecstatic to have him."Iverson didn't have a lot of suitors this offseason. Memphis, Miami and Charlotte were most aggressive in their pursuits, but the combination of a cut in next season's cap, down to $57.7 million, along with the prospect of even lower cap and luxury tax numbers for the 2010-11 season, dried up most of the potential marketplace for veterans. Portland, one of the few teams with room this summer, had no interest in Iverson, and the contending teams with mid-level exceptions went in different directions.Signing a one-year deal will make Iverson an unrestricted free agent next summer, joining a strong free agent class. But Iverson would likely have to wait again next summer like he did this one, as teams line up to woo younger stars like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh."We know it's going to be difficult for us to keep him past next year," Heisley said. "But he told us we shouldn't think he's going to just jump at the next opportunity. We have to win."The 10-time All-Star will be looking to resurrect his career in Memphis, after failing to boost the Nuggets and Pistons into contention the last two seasons. Iverson's teams have not gotten past the first round of the playoffs since 2003, when the 76ers lost to Detroit in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Since then, Iverson has only been in the playoffs three times, not including last season, when he was not on the Pistons' postseason roster.Iverson said a back injury made it impossible for him to play, and the Pistons concurred, though it also coincided with then-coach Michael Curry's decision to bring Iverson off the bench in favor of starter Richard Hamilton. Iverson chafed at the role and said he would rather retire than come off the bench in the future.Heisley said that he was giving Iverson a clean slate."I don't buy into all of the stuff that's gone on," he said. "I'm not saying none of it happened. Some of it did...but I know Allen is an excellent player. He's going to the Hall of Fame. Pau [Gasol, the former Grizzlies star forward and current Laker] might someday. The city of Memphis is going to be ecstatic to have him. We've never had a Hall of Famer, a guy of Allen's stature playing in Memphis. I feel Allen is going to be outstanding for us."However, Iverson will expect to start in the backcourt for the Grizzlies, and that would mean benching either bench third-year point guard Mike Conley, Jr., who came on toward the end of last season with Hollins backing him, or second-year shooting guard O.J. Mayo. Both guards need all the reps they can get as they continue their development. After trading Gasol to the Lakers early in 2008, the Grizzlies went back to the drawing board, looking to build a new core group around Conley, Mayo, forward Rudy Gay and center Marc Gasol, Pau's younger brother, who came from Los Angeles in the trade for his older brother.Memphis added center Hasheem Thabeet and forwards Sam Young and DeMarre Carroll in this year's excellent draft, and acquired forward Zach Randolph from the Clippers in the summer for guard Quentin Richardson. But Randolph, like Iverson, needs a lot of touches to be most effective."Your whole team changes when Allen is on it," said an Eastern Conference executive. "And he's not that kind of player anymore."Of course, Iverson feels differently. He said his jumper was "still very wet" in a Twitter post this past weekend, and has said previously he would "lead by example" on his next team.Iverson should also positively impact the Grizzlies' business side. Memphis was next to last in the league in average attendance this past season, drawing just more than 12,700 a game to the 18,000-seat FedEx Forum, filling around 70 percent of the available seats, the worst percentage in the league.But Heisley said that was not his motivation in signing Iverson."He said, 'you're not bringing me here to sell tickets, are you? 'Cause I'm not interested,'" Heisley said. "I said no, we want to win ... we want to really be a contending team."Iverson posted career lows both in scoring average (17.5) and minutes (26.7) last season, mostly with the Pistons, who acquired him from Denver in November in a trade that sent Chauncey Billups to the Nuggets. That Billups and the Nuggets, who had lost in the first round four straight seasons, then went on to the Western Conference finals before falling to the eventual champion Lakers was an even more bitter tonic for the Pistons, who were quickly swept in the first round by Cleveland.But Iverson remains one of the league's most popular and iconic players. His Pistons jersey was the fifth-highest seller among individual jerseys at the NBA Store in New York last season, trailing only Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Chris Paul and Kevin Garnett. And Heisley believes that Iverson will fit right in with Memphians and not overwhelm them with his outsized personality."I think Allen will get the kind of attention in Memphis that he did in Philadelphia," Heisley said. "I think he will be a major, major figure in the city. I think Allen will do the right things. I think people will be very surprised around the league."
Adds good experience to a young team. I like the look of their team actually, not that that means they will do much.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm skeptical about AI on the Grizzlies. They have a young core who they need to improve. They've already signed Randolph, who needs to dominate the ball to be effective. Add Iverson to the mix, that's two players who gobble up possessions like few others in the league. I don't think Mayo will be benched (AI + OJ backcourt = butts in seats)... but he, Rudy, Conley, Y.Gasol will certainly struggle to get touches, which could be disastrous for their development individually and as a unitAnyone following the Eurobasket tournament? Team GB got pretty well crushed, lost all three group games (Spain, Slovenia, Serbia) and have gone home. Turkey are impressing me, this crafty 7-footer named Omer Asik deaded Poland the other night, and has hit 80% of his shots in the first three games (and the Bulls have the draft rights to him B)). Interested to see how he does against Spain and the Gasols tomorrow

Link to comment
Share on other sites

lol yeah Mike is fully a petty a**hole, but it made him the greatest, so who are we to dispute itApparently, Delonte West got pulled over on his motorcycle, riding with two pistols - and a shotgun in a guitar case on his back. Dude has Desperado delusionsAn appendix to my earlier thoughts on the Grizzlies' offensive problems.. a funny article:

LOL @ last year's Grizz bein the second worse of ALL TIME in the assists department, and their solution being to add AI and Randolph7. 2004-05 Seattle Supersonics: led by Ray "I'm open!" Allen (3.7 APG) and Rashard "NO, I'M OPEN, PASS IT TO MEEEEEEE!" Lewis (1.3 APG)Such a great characterisation of that team :lol:
Link to comment
Share on other sites

lol yeah Mike is fully a petty a**hole, but it made him the greatest, so who are we to dispute itApparently, Delonte West got pulled over on his motorcycle, riding with two pistols - and a shotgun in a guitar case on his back. Dude has Desperado delusionsAn appendix to my earlier thoughts on the Grizzlies' offensive problems.. a funny article:
LOL @ last year's Grizz bein the second worse of ALL TIME in the assists department, and their solution being to add AI and Randolph7. 2004-05 Seattle Supersonics: led by Ray "I'm open!" Allen (3.7 APG) and Rashard "NO, I'M OPEN, PASS IT TO MEEEEEEE!" Lewis (1.3 APG)Such a great characterisation of that team :lol:
Wow, West is an idiot if it happened, I really can't comprehend the logic of some of these millionaire athletes. Will be interesting though, if he has a license for those guns (highly unlikely) in a gun allowing state (although I think even in those states two pistols and a shotgun is a bit excessive to say the least), how will the NBA treat him. /The article is jokes. I wonder how their teammates felt when they heard about the trades. /37 Days till tip-off!!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...