NBA 2010/11

[Superstition]

Hornets are not so healthy atm. It looks unlikely to survive financially in New Orleans, and the NBA is going to buy the team to have greater control over its eventual sale. They say the goal is to keep the Hornets there, but it's essentially been an unprofitable market this past decade. There are some potential relocation ideas being thrown around: Kansas, Vancouver.... Seattle?

NBA Commissioner David Stern announced today that the NBA is proceeding with the purchase of the New Orleans Hornets, following Gary Chouest’s decision not to proceed with the acquisition of the interest of majority owner George Shinn. The transaction is subject to a vote by the NBA’s Board of Governors, which will likely occur next week.

Stern: “In light of the uncertain economic situation, Gary has decided not to move forward with the purchase... In the absence of any viable purchaser seeking to own the Hornets in New Orleans, I recommended to the NBA Board of Governors that the best way to assure stability and the adequate funding of the franchise would be for the league to step in, and complete the transaction and assume control."

/ In other news.... Derrick Rose is a little bit good....

The Rockets bench lololol. Bulls go on to win in OT. He threw down a bag of nasty dunks in that game as well, just balling out of his mind this season. Athleticism is f*cked... he can score over anybody just by elevating and floating over people for his jumpshot.. reminds me of someone..

[Guest Waka Flocka Dave]

excuse me if this has been posted

[Mr Q]

Heat at Knicks has been a very good game.

Stoudemire/Gallinari and James (who needs 1 more Reb and 1 more Assist for a triple double) had good games.

Heat up 16 going into the 4th. Can't see Knicks coming back from this.

[Superstition]

KBerg_CBS

Loudest "over-rated" chant I've ever heard just now, with Chris Bosh at the foul line

Snm.

New York basketball crowds >>>>

Knicks now know the reality of the D'antoni defensive philosophy.. "hope they miss some shots". They have improved fast (Amare's been really impressive tbf) but there is a ceiling on their potential because of it

Christrmas day lineup-

Bulls-Knicks

Celtics-Magic

Heat-Lakers

Nuggets-Thunder

Blazers-Warriors

[Superstition]

Two big trades getting hammered out, all change in Orlando, Phoenix and Washington.

Orlando sending Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat & Mickael Pietrus to Phoenix

Phoenix sending Jason Richardson & Hedo Turkoglu to Orlando

Washington sending Gilbert Arenas to Orlando

Orlando sending Rashard Lewis to Washington

Magic are really blowing up the roster and rebuilding, they must be legitimately spooked that Dwight could leave in two years. Unsure how they're putting a lineup together though. Will J-Rich play SF and Hedo PF? Why re-acquire Hedo at a price you weren't prepared to pay him in '09 causing his exit in the first place? And why trade Rashard Lewis for the one guy in the sport with a worse contract?

+ There seems to be NO rhyme or reason to Phoenix's roster decisions since Steve Kerr left. Nash needs to demand a trade outta there ASAP. It would be a disgrace to waste his last productive years in that mess.

[Mr Q]

Wait, WHAT!

Orlando just reshaped their whole team..

Possible starting 5 - Jameer Nelson, Arenas, J-Rich, Turkoglu, and Dwight

East is looking crazy.

[Superstition]

There are several WTF angles to the decisions

Lewis was hugely overpaid in the first place has stalled and regressed since the '09 finals run, but why not see if he can be restored by Turkoglu's return (since Shard's decline has been since Hedo left)? Shipping him for headcase maximus (Arenas) who has a longer contract at the same fee (~$20m/per) seems rash. Now there's two starting-calibre guards who need the ball to be effective (Jameer Nelson & Arenas). It's a very small backcourt if they intend to start them together. Hedo also needs the ball to thrive. And they shed Pietrus, who's struggling but remains a good wing defender; & Gortat one of the best backup C's in the league - they'd better hope Dwight doesn't take a serious injury..

On the upside, J-Rich is an upgrade from Vince Carter at this point. He can play off the ball, score efficiently, hit the 3. They've get Hedo back, (makes the entire Orlando Vince Carter experiment pointless because they effectively swapped him for VC in summer '09). But he can run the pick and roll with Dwight again, and they have another go-to guy who can score or create in crunch time. And Gil is potentially another clutch scorer/creator, 3-shooter and scoring spark.

It will depend on how well they gel together and make a system work, I reckon they're still 3rd seed in the East behind Boston/Miami.

[Superstition]

Blake Griffin confirms he will participate in the dunk contest.

[Mr Q]

LeBron James doesn't even have a ring, and my man Ron Artest is selling his

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/scott_howard_cooper/12/23/ron-artest/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1

[Mr Q]

LeBron seems to like this a**hole role he has these days.

http://yhoo.it/eJMofH

[Mr Q]

Bait gonna miss most of the Lakers game

[Mr Q]

Orlando end Celtics winning streak.

[Trilliam]

End to the Celtic Magic match was sick

[Aquaman]

my don ronron having a tough time out there. lol @ the stage dive

[Superstition]

Lakers have gone into a tailspin, wha quorn fellas. Pau is fading from games, Artest is underperforming, Kobe is in chucking mode again (incl. career-worst 13 consecutive misses vs Spurs), Phil is calling guys out in the media, Ron's feeling alienated by it. Was it Vujacic holding the ship together all these years?

Isit just regular season mode, or all the dormant problems in the squad coming to the fore?

We know the rate of Kobe's aging is unpredictable because of the nature of his career (no college, few injuries, so many deep playoffs/finals runs, etc), but is he closer to the end of his effectiveness than we realised? (And by implication, are Kobe-led championships already obsolete in today's NBA? The last one very nearly didn't happen...)

[Trilliam]

Dunno if this has been posted, 0:33, mockage

[Trilliam]

(And by implication, are Kobe-led championships already obsolete in today's NBA? The last one very nearly didn't happen...)

Don't sound too happy

Haven't seen much ball this season so I'm gonna put it down to two things; a dangerous sense of entitlement and Kobe being a selfish prick.

On a darker note the scary thing is it could actually be Sasha, human stress ball ting, keeping the team maybe even the organisation together as a lightening rod for aggression. Think.

[Mr Q]

I heard PJ called Kobe out and said it was his fault. (Well in one game at least)

We can get back on track, I'm sure of that, just need a kick up the arse. Bynum is still easing himself in.

/

Blake Griffin is such a friggin BEAST!

[Aquaman]

shet

who was that getting repeatedly posterized?

[Mr Q]

Lol @ his entrance.

Haven't seen anything of Wall, has he lived up to his billing?

[Superstition]

Posted those Blake vs Knicks dunks on the previous page. He is some sort of half-human half-airbourne creature (a Gryffin perhaps?).

@Respol- the first two are Timofey Mozgov, the third is Danilo Gallinari. Mozgov in particular is the victim here because he is 7'1 and has done nothing of note on a basketball court except receive a faceful of Griffin's nuts. (whereas Gallinari actually has other redeeming qualities as a basketball player). However I like the third jam (on Gallinari) more, he doesn't get up as high, but just twists Gallinari inside-out on the break, gathers and then flies in over him like an airstrike. You could put that footage in Apocalypse Now and it wouldn't look out of place

Can't wait to see him in the dunk contest.

I wonder if there's a correlation between Kobe's approaching career milestones and the spans of mindless ball-hogging/chucking. I recall it last year, mid-season when he was on the verge of passing Jerry West as all-time Laker top scorer. Started chucking for a while, and then he got the milestone, and Pau was quoted saying "I'm glad he's got the achievement, now we can get back to winning basketball games" or something to that effect

These times he's nearing some rivals on All-Time NBA Scoring charts... he passed Havlicek in December, Dominique this week, he's now 10th all-time scorer.

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 38,387

2. Karl Malone: 36,928

3. Michael Jordan: 32,292

4. Wilt Chamberlain: 31,419

5. Shaquille O'Neal: 28,500

6. Moses Malone: 27,409

7. Elvin Hayes: 27,313

8. Hakeem Olajuwon: 26,946

9. Oscar Robertson: 26,710

10. Kobe Bryant: 26,695

11. Dominique Wilkins: 26,668

12. John Havlicek: 26,395

He probably overtakes Oscar tonight vs. the Hornets. Hakeem, Elvin and Moses are all in sight this season. Does he keep forcing shots til he catches them too? Is this going to become more common in the last years of Kobe's career - he can't score like he used to, his body won't let him. He will need even more shots to keep the points rolling. Does he want to take Kareem? MJ? Or just Shaq? Lakers are paying him $30m in 2014... sh*t could get ugly...

[Mr. Gayle]

We Salute you Mr Bryant

/

Heat been on a good rund of late, now they have 5 games in 9 days on the road, these are times your bench need to deliver. Miller is back which is good

Bucks, Blazers, Clippers, Nuggets, Chicago, Bulls will be tricky IMO. Rose is beasting

[Mr Q]

Surely, winning a 6th ring and taking the Lakers to a fourth successive final, which would be f*ck*ng monumental, is more important than individual records. I mean, I know he likes to have his superman moments, but to me, the rings have been the most important thing to him in the last few seasons.

[Mr. Gayle]

Lol @ his entrance.

Haven't seen anything of Wall, has he lived up to his billing?

Yeah man is jokes, yeah he has been sick so far, go as far saying a bigger impact for his team than Rose and T Evans done, yes I know its still early lol,

HOWEVER

Blake Griffin = BEAST, he will win it IMO, Wall 2nd. But still a lot of games to go

[Mr Q]

Rookies v Sophmores gonna be interesting