2010-2011 NBA Season Thread

[Rhinox]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lh...umrto1_400.gif

Mad? what for?

[Dimmauk]

Derrick Rose is a sure-fire All-Star and among the best rising stars at the point guard position. With incredible athleticism, a tremendous floater and a much improved jump shot, Derrick Rose is quickly establishing himself as a top player in the league.

While a great player, Rose is getting MVP consideration despite not necessarily warranting the attention.

With a gaudy stat line of more than 24 points and eight assists, Rose has the basic statistics of a top player in the league, but a more analytical look at his season gives a different view. Because he is simply a good shooter, doesn't draw many fouls, and shoots a lot, his true shooting percentage is merely ordinary.

At 53.3 percent, Rose's true shooting percentage is 29th out of 65 point guards, a disappointing figure for a seemingly elite point guard. Right now, he is fourth among point guards in estimated wins added, ranking behind the Western troika of Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul and Deron Williams.

Is he a great player and a definite All-Star? Yes. Does he have the potential to become the league's best point guard? Yes.

Is he a legitimate MVP candidate right now? For now, the answer is no.

http://www.blacksportsonline.com/images/duncant.jpg

[Dimmauk]

The evidence was all over the visiting locker room at the Rose Garden on Friday night. Medical tape strewn on the floor. A bucket filled with ice water at the foot of Kobe Bryant's locker. A doctor, latex gloves on, applying ointment to Lamar Odom's floor burns.

The Lakers looked beat.

Pau Gasol dressed, then explained, "We have work to do." Coach Phil Jackson said, "I can't explain why we were lazy or didn't get back on defense." One of the veteran Lakers, still in the showers, dropped an expletive that rattled through the room. And a few feet away, Ron Artest slipped on a pair of brown shoes and called to the team trainer, "I need a bag of ice for the plane."

The Blazers hammered the Lakers 93-86. It was a chippy night. In part, because Portland led by as many as 24 points. Three technical fouls. Brandon Roy had tense words with both Bryant and Artest. Gerald Wallace tangled with Artest, throwing so many elbows and rumps in the key they looked like two men battling over a quarter in a telephone booth coin-return slot.

The Blazers didn't wilt. They didn't back down. This felt different. And that fight in Portland's heart became so obvious that the public address system played Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" coming out of a fourth-quarter timeout.

Except the Lakers claim they barely noticed.

"Physical?" Artest said, "I guess, maybe. I don't know. I'm a physical player so that just feels normal to me. If (Gerald Wallace) wants to feel good about that, good for him.

"The playoffs haven't even started yet."

So, um, Wallace vs. Artest II anyone?

Yeah. Me, too.

Because as Artest left the Rose Garden, I talked with him down a hallway about the possibility of drawing Portland in the first round, and also, what Friday's game might have signaled. Did he notice the extra fight? Was the Blazers' charged-up spirit as plain to Artest as it was the rest of us? Does the guy who bullied Portland out of the playoffs in Houston two seasons ago see a difference in their eyes?

"That out there? That was nothing to me."

Nothing? No growth? No difference? No Wallace-led and Roy-fueled refusal to back down to the defending champions? No message sent? Nothing?

"Nope."

Look around the NBA on Friday and what you find were technical fouls and an ejection in Boston. And Memphis slamming the door on Sacramento, hunting a better seed in the West. And so, yeah, the electricity inside the Rose Garden, and the Blazers looking like the aggressors all made perfect sense.

Portland sent a message. And it was this: "We're not the same ol' first-round patsy." The Rockets two seasons ago. The Suns last season. If it's the Lakers in 2011 for Portland, well, then it's going to feel like a cage match. The Blazers would be a long shot to win a series against Los Angeles, but not for lack of courage.

It made me want to see more of the Blazers and Lakers. And I suspect it made the Lakers want to see less of it.

Said Artest: "Naw, they weren't that tough or anything out there. I'm not trying to play around or be funny about it. I'm not even worried about them, or the playoffs. It's not the playoffs yet. That's another level of physical. We have three more games. I'm not worried about the playoffs now."

Now. Understand. The more you talk with Artest, the more you like him. He's interesting. And candid. And atypical in an NBA locker room. I'm not sure if he was waging psychological war or in denial or just being goofy. But of the things said in the Lakers locker room, nothing was more interesting than the resident tough guy announcing that the Blazers felt like flies at a picnic.

Even on a night when it was apparent that Portland beat the reigning champions to the punch, with LaMarcus Aldridge swatting four Lakers shots and Wallace refusing to be bullied and Andre Miller throwing alley-oop passes for dunks as if he hired an eye in the sky, Artest still wouldn't admit a thing.

"I'm super-physical," he said. "If they feel good for being tough guys, good for them. But that was nothing."

Later, when I asked about that bag of ice he requested for the plane ride home, Artest said, "I use it to put in my bottle of Gatorade."

I'm not buying it.

I wonder how hard the Lakers will play the Spurs bench in a couple days. LOL

[Rhinox]

http://www.blacksportsonline.com/images/duncant.jpg

Same tired argument which has been disproved countless times.


Next you're going to say he isn't the best defensive pg in the game.

Point God

[Rhinox]

I wonder how hard the Lakers will play the Spurs bench in a couple days. LOL

Not that it matters but better hope they don't play well otherwise the Spurs lose HCA if they somehow make it past the first round and into the finals.

Point God

[Dimmauk]

Not that it matters but better hope they don't play well otherwise the Spurs lose HCA if they somehow make it past the first round and into the finals.

Point God

LOL Like the Bulls are making the Finals. You think Thibs is going to start resting players?

[Dimmauk]

Same tired argument which has been disproved countless times.


Next you're going to say he isn't the best defensive pg in the game.

Point God

So not being in the Top 5 in any stat category means MVP or mediocre? Careful what you say cause you might accidentally endorse someone that actually deserves the MVP. Or does being the best player on the best team mean MVP or mediocre?

[Rhinox]

So not being in the Top 5 in any stat category means MVP or mediocre? Careful what you say cause you might accidentally endorse someone that actually deserves the MVP. Or does being the best player on the best team mean MVP or mediocre?

Having the best record in a conference most thought we wouldn't be better than 5 In a division we weren't supposed to win with a point guard who wasn't supposed to be this good means he's the MVP.

Stats aren't the only thing that determines the MVP. Never was otherwise tim Duncan wouldn't have won as I said.


U sure seem pretty insecure for a team with the best record in the association.

Point God

[Rhinox]

LOL Like the Bulls are making the Finals. You think Thibs is going to start resting players?

Nope. Thibs is hardcore cause he ain't got geriatrics playing to be resting players.

Point God

[Dimmauk]

Nope. Thibs is hardcore cause he ain't got geriatrics playing to be resting players.

Point God

He is hardcore until someone gets hurt playing in a meanless game, then the fans and media crucify him. LOL

[Dimmauk]

Having the best record in a conference most thought we wouldn't be better than 5 In a division we weren't supposed to win with a point guard who wasn't supposed to be this good means he's the MVP.

Stats aren't the only thing that determines the MVP. Never was otherwise tim Duncan wouldn't have won as I said.


U sure seem pretty insecure for a team with the best record in the association.

Point God

http://images2.memegenerator.net/Ima...e-Sheen-Advice

[Rhinox]

He is hardcore until someone gets hurt playing in a meanless game, then the fans and media crucify him. LOL

Point God was out a week his rookie year cause he cut his hand peeling an apple boozer tripped over his gym bag and broke his pinky this year. Thibs isn't worried what fans or the media thinks he's on the verge of his first title and on the road of becoming coaching god

Point God

[Man0warr]

Why are you guys still arguing with Rhinox. Also I thought Akiyama was gonna ban people for this :>

Let Rose win the MVP, regular season MVP is meaningless.

You are arguing about something that doesn't matter one bit.

[Rhinox]

Why are you guys still arguing with Rhinox. Also I thought Akiyama was gonna ban people for this :>

Let Rose win the MVP, regular season MVP is meaningless.

You are arguing about something that doesn't matter one bit.

Cats away etc but you're right. lets talk about something that matters

FATALLY FLAWED

10. Dallas Mavericks
If players were forced to argue their own MVP cases, here's what I would write for Dirk to say (add your own German hip-hop accent):

"Um, have you ever watched us? We were playing 3 on 5 offensively in crunch-time when Caron Butler was healthy. In every close game, we run every play for me. No, really. Watch us some time. According to 82games.com, I'm the league's best clutch scorer: in crunch-time, I make 49.5% of my field goals, get to the line more than anyone else and make 89 percent of my free throws. I have chunks of Kobe's crunch-time prowess in my stool. And that's playing with Tyson Chandler and Shawn Marion (who couldn't create shot for themselves if they were posting up Yi Jianlian's old chair from the 2007 Draft) and Jason Kidd, who's only been decomposing since the All-Star Break. When I got injured in December, we went 2-8 while I was out, then 1-2 as I eased my way back into shape. We're 50-15 when I'm healthy even though Jason Terry is my second-best teammate -- he'd be the fifth-best Bull, fifth-best Celtic, sixth-best Laker and the fifth-best Blazer (a team that we're playing in Round One).

"I thought for sure we'd make a deadline deal to help me. We didn't have much to trade because everyone on our team is between 2 and 12 years past his prime except Roddy Beaubois. Our front office decided Roddy was untradeable, which sounded good on paper when he was injured, but then he came back and started playing, and now it's just plain awkward. So far he's looked like either a poor man's Tony Parker or a homeless man's Tony Parker. The Dallas employee who decided Roddy was untradeable must have been the same guy who guaranteed those 1400 temporary seats would be done for Super Bowl XLV. To be honest, I have no idea how we ended up with a 3-seed. We're going to lose in Round 1 or Round 2. Crap."

how far you expect to go when Jason terry is your second scoring option?

[Dimmauk]

In an unprecedented move of stupidity and desperation, Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has decided to force head coach Rick Carlisle to wear his hair like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

“Right now, Rick just doesn’t have the attention of the players, and it’s reflected in our bad record,” said Cuban, while writing the script for the comeback episode of his awful reality show The Benefactor. “So, I’ve done what any irrational meddling owner would do; I’ve decided to threaten Rick with his job if he doesn’t do his hair like Ace Ventura. I mean, the guy looks exactly like Jim Carrey.”

Coach Carlisle agrees with Cuban’s highly unorthodox motivational tactic.

“It’s pretty simple, really. I’m surprised I didn’t try this in Indiana when I had all those MMA fighters dressed as NBA players on my team,” said Carlisle, while trying on Hawaiian shirts with wife beaters underneath in his office. “Obviously the players weren’t interested in what I had to say to them before; this should help get their attention.”

When asked what they thought of the move, the Mavs players responded basically as expected.

“Yeah, I heard about the move. I’m not really surprised”, said forward Dirk Nowitzki, while applying makeup in his locker. “I mean, look who Cuban put onto our roster. I’m used to his idiotic moves.”

LOL

[Rhinox]

[Kyo]

As a nice break from the picture wars and who has better dick fro and or more pubic hair.

Ty Lawson scored a career high last night, hitting 10/10 three's at one point, went 10/11 from three and scored 37 points, he's been playing lights out since they traded Chauncy to NYC.

[Rhinox]

Saw that.

Crazy thing the night before Willie green made 12 straight field goals.

[Deejay]

Denver is so stacked right now.

[Kyo]

The Denver OKC series is going to be the best in the playoffs, can almost book that shit. Either team could easily come out of the west as well.