NBA Roundtable Discussion

[Just John 0]

Man, Lil Nate's got ups, but if he wasn't like 5'5 he definitely would've been called for a foul on that play with all that body contact.

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

This was always my favorite Yao Ming moment:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAmKppkDVBA

 

Mine

 

[Guest Vitamin X]

 

Timberrrrrrrrrrr!

[Ripper 0]

I was talking with a friend yesterday, mostly about the suckage that is Mike Woodson, and I was thinking, if they hired a offensive guru to go along side him...someone he listened to, he wouldn't be completely worthless.

 

I think that Phil Jackson will be remembered as one of the greatest coaches in NBA history, but lets be honest here. He is only 50% of the equation. Phil Jackson is a defensive guru that knows how to talk to and motivate players like few other coachs. But without Tex Winter next to him, I don't think that he would have one ring.

 

At the same time, if you have ever heard a interview with Tex, you know that he is way to much of a...well...lets just call it what it is....an asshole to be a head coach. Players wouldn't be as receptive because he has way to abrasive of a personality. Put them together and you have quite possibly the perfect coach. Jacksons defensive knowledge and ability to command respect from his players along with Winter's basketball genius. It is pretty obsene that Winter probably won't get in the Hall of Fame by the way.

 

I just wonder why other coaches haven't used this way of working. I mean, we all know Phil has a ego, but he recognized his shortcomings, addressed them, and went on to be one of the more sucessful coaches in NBA history. Do you think that other coaches egos won't allow them to do so. If phil Jackson has obviously set an example as to what you need to do, why haven't more followed suit?

 

Do you think that its because Tex Winter is underrated when it comes to his contributions to the Bulls/Laker teams?

[Guest]

The only thing I disagree with was that you said without Tex, that Phil wouldn't have a ring. Otherwise you're right.

 

Tex has always said things that get on my nerves, so I don't like him a whole lot. I respect him though.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I don't like Tex either. And I won't credit any of the successes to him. You need a combination of factors to make a run like the Bulls and the Lakers did. Mainly the PLAYERS.

[Ripper 0]

The guy made a pretty much unstoppable offense. He is quite literally a offensive genius when it comes to basketball. Watch a Lakers game. he is the one drawing up the plays and hands them to Phil.

 

Are you saying that if say...Rick Adleman was the coach of those Lakers team or Bulls teams they would have made those runs? Coaches are very important. You can have all the talent in the world, but without the right system, they aren't going to win anything. The players that were in place in Chicago and with the Lakers when they won it all are there because of their ability to play in A: tex's offense and B: Phils Defense.

 

I honestly feel that Phil with out the Triangle is Jerry Sloan without the pick and roll.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Not at all. I'm saying it takes everything to fall in place. You need the offensive planners, the defensive planners, the players, the system, even the GMs. You can't really give most of the credit to one aspect. Take Phil's defensive planning away, and you have Golden State in that they will score a lot, but allow a lot of points as well. Take Jordan, Shaq, Kobe, etc away, and you still have middle of road teams despite the good coaching.

[Ripper 0]

Oh I know. Like I said, they are a perfect combination. I just don't think either would be as effective alone. I personally don't see how Phil would have a ring without Tex, not saying that Tex would have one without Phil, because he wouldn't, but that is pretty much the point.

 

Yeah, all the pieces needed to fall in place for a team to win like that. And I think Tex is one of the big three. When I see Phils successes I see them as Phex Jackter....or Teil Wintson.

 

And its not always the case, because I refuse to believe that the Pistons wouldn't have won a championship without Mike Woodson over on the sidelines. Some coachs like to control everything and I think Phils ability to let a huge aspect of coaching not be completely in his hands is what seperates him from other coaches. And I think more of them should try it seeing as the guy that set the example has 6 rings.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

He has 9 rings.

[Ripper 0]

He has 9 rings.

 

 

Oh...yeah. I always forget and just throw Jordans ring total up there. Hell....even more reason to do what the fuck he is doing.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

Are you saying that if say...Rick Adleman was the coach of those Lakers team or Bulls teams they would have made those runs?

Do I think that Adelman could have won rings with the GOAT or Shaq/Kobe? Hell yeah; he almost won two with Clyde F. Drexler, and would have won one in '02, if they didn't get jobbed in Game 6. Adelman's problem has always been that he can't coach youth; give him an experienced team with that kind of talent, and an all-world closer like Kobe or the GOAT, and you bet your ass he could.

[Ripper 0]

Are you saying that if say...Rick Adleman was the coach of those Lakers team or Bulls teams they would have made those runs?

Do I think that Adelman could have won rings with the GOAT or Shaq/Kobe? Hell yeah; he almost won two with Clyde F. Drexler, and would have won one in '02, if they didn't get jobbed in Game 6. Adelman's problem has always been that he can't coach youth; give him an experienced team with that kind of talent, and an all-world closer like Kobe or the GOAT, and you bet your ass he could.

 

Adleman couldn't win with one of the great teams of all time. Yeah, I am saying that. From top to bottom, those Blazer teams were incredible.

 

Adleman's problems has been and always will be that he has no idea how to close out games. He coughed up that Finals versus the Pistons, which I will say is forgiveable because he was a new coach. then he coughed up that series against the Bulls where they were clearly the better team and were beating the Bulls to the point Phil sat down MJ in game 6 because it looked over and let the bench kick their asses, then he coughed up against that Lakers team, who indeed screwed the Kings in game 6, but he was just awful at coaching in game 7.

 

And yeah. He would probably have a ring..hell maybe two if he coached those teams. But he wouldn't have 9.

 

And lets not pretend that Clyde wasn't an all world closer.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Now that the regular season is over, can we officially call this the most miserable season of the past twenty years? I know it was a cheesy article, but Bill Simmons may have had a point that the fans deserve to be MVP this year after putting up with six months of total crap. I'm hoping that the playoffs can save the day like last year because I can't think of another time when my interest in the NBA has been lower.

[Darthtiki 0]

Musselman appears on his way out, sources say

By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer

Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, April 19, 2007

Geoff Petrie stood in his usual spot in the Arco Arena tunnel Wednesday night, the Kings' basketball president watching his team fall again as a season of so much strife and struggle finally ended.

 

He gazed out on the floor and in the direction of coach Eric Musselman, who -- according to numerous sources close to the team -- will not return to his courtside position with the Kings.

 

The team's future as it pertains to Musselman will reach a quick resolution. Petrie will conduct one-on-one interviews with the players today and meet with Musselman on Friday in what some close to the situation see as a mere formality. By Sunday evening, Petrie will be headed to Europe on a two-week scouting trip, and he said he wants to "address as much as I can as quickly as I can" in relation to the team.

 

But Petrie would neither confirm nor deny that Musselman is on his way out.

 

"My plans are pretty well set for the next two days," Petrie said. "I can't speculate beyond that, obviously. People seem to know what I'm thinking or what I'm going to do, then they ought to stand up and own up to it."

 

According to one source, a meeting in Las Vegas between Petrie and co-owners, Joe and Gavin Maloof was originally scheduled for immediately after the season but was changed. The Maloofs were in Miami during the season finale, a 117-106 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, and were taping a television segment with Oprah Winfrey.

 

By all accounts, the decision is Petrie's to make and the Maloofs' to sign off on. Firing Musselman after just the first year of his three-year contract would cost them approximately $5 million.

 

Musselman had requested to meet with the Maloofs to discuss the season and the future just after the season. It is not known whether that meeting has been rescheduled.

 

Asked after the game about when his meeting would be, Musselman -- who had told the Maloofs he wanted to show them a book as part of his analysis of the season -- had a curious answer that did not involve the Maloofs.

 

"My office is right next door to Geoff, and I'm sure Geoff and I will talk like we do every day and Geoff will meet with the players," he said. "I'll meet with the players. I'll start focusing on summer league and get ready for the draft."

 

As for today's player meetings, Petrie said it is a chance to get a better sense of the situation.

 

"It's just an opportunity for me to talk individually to all of them, talk about not just the team situation but their personal situation," he said. "(You) try to come up with something collective after all of that, and go from there."

 

Where they go from here is a question for Petrie to confront. He is facing what might be the most significant offseason since he revived the franchise and sparked the stretch of eight consecutive playoff berths that ended this season. At 33-49, the Kings tied with Charlotte and New York for the eighth-worst record.

 

Mike Bibby had 17 points in what might have been his last game with the Kings. The point guard was nearly traded to Cleveland just before the February deadline and could be on his way out again.

 

Also among the players in question is small forward Ron Artest, whose tumultuous season came to a close bathed mostly in silence. The talkative talent grew quiet as the season ended and would not discuss the future or the past before or after the loss to the Lakers.

 

"A lot of things happened this year, a lot of distractions," forward Corliss Williamson said. "Unfortunately, we just never could get on the right path, whether it was the distractions or whether it was us as players or whatever the case was. We couldn't be consistent enough to play to our potential."

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Not a big surprise.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I have a hard time accepting that you can see enough of a coach in one season to make this sort of move (with the one glaring exception being Art Shell). It just seems like a reactionary move and Musselman is being made the scapegoat for a poorly constructed team.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

Musselman sucks; this should have happened in the preseason.

[alfdogg 0]

Mussleman's a decent coach, he was just a bad fit for the Kings. He'll get another job somewhere, perhaps back in Memphis.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

Your custom title suits you, alfdogg... becuase you're opinion is interesting, but WRONG!

 

I watched every game the Kings played this year, except for the four that weren't on network or League Pass; he sucks.

[MrRant 0]

Well, he was dead in the water with the DUI and then Artest.

[Vern Gagne 0]

McHale is coming back.

[Rendclaw 0]

And of course Geoff Petrie is doing everything he can to keep the Maloofs from whacking him, and no matter whom they get next, when HE fails, its his ass next.

 

They need to blow that team up and start over completely, plain and simple.

 

Musselman is a good coach but like that team, he got derailed by bad decisions.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Now that the regular season is over, can we officially call this the most miserable season of the past twenty years? I know it was a cheesy article, but Bill Simmons may have had a point that the fans deserve to be MVP this year after putting up with six months of total crap. I'm hoping that the playoffs can save the day like last year because I can't think of another time when my interest in the NBA has been lower.

I'm glad you pointed this out. I thought that this was going to be a weird season for me since I still do like the Lakers but I'm also cheering on the Blazers, and thats why I haven't been into the NBA as much as recent years, but this season just hasn't been all that entertaining. All I knew is that there's the usual fighting around in the East below Detroit, then in the West, the Texas Triangle would get in with every team from California also fighting to get in along with a random other team labeled as the surprise.

 

But, despite all this, this was really a terrible, boring, and pretty predictable regular season and that was just annoying. Here's hoping to the playoffs to make up for it. (Of course, the worst thing about the NBA is the officiating, which I think most if not all of the fellow pr basketball fans here could agree on.)

[MrRant 0]

There was a good article on MSN I believe about no one caring that much since the East is so weak. You have teams with 40 losses making it in.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Wouldn't 41 losses be .500? It's not like a .500 team hasn't made the playoffs before in other sports either. Also looking at it, the West is sending in two 40 game losers too.

[MrRant 0]

True, but if you look at the standings, the West is only sending 3 teams with a below .600 winning percentage.

 

Overall though, the league right now is very top heavy (which ends up being West-centric) besides Detroit and maybe Cleveland but in the West I think Cleveland would have Denver's record.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I actually did some calculations. Detroit would have Utah's record if they played in the West. Everyone else from the Eastern side of the playoff field wouldn't even make the playoffs in the West.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

On the flip-side, Dallas would add about 6 or so more wins to the record if they played in the East.

[SteakGrowsOnUecker 0]

The worst part of this season to me was all the goddamn injuries. It really hampered just about every team besides Dallas and Phoenix and the quality of games all year. I can't think of such an injury prone season.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Musselman is officially out in Sacramento. I wonder who they have in mind for a replacement. It wouldn't shock me to see Adelman return to the fold because Petrie is such a huge fan of his, but it's a longshot.