This week in the NBA

[alfdogg 0]

Sun, Nov. 2

Milwaukee @ New York, 6:00 NBATV

Minnesota @ Oklahoma City, 7:00

 

Mon, Nov. 3

Detroit @ Charlotte, 7:00

Chicago @ Orlando, 7:00

Sacramento @ Philadelphia, 7:00

Golden State @ Memphis, 8:00

Cleveland @ Dallas, 8:30 NBATV

Utah @ LA Clippers, 10:30

 

Tue, Nov. 4

Phoenix @ New Jersey, 7:30

Boston @ Houston, 8:30 NBATV

Dallas @ San Antonio, 8:30

 

Wed, Nov. 5

Phoenix @ Indiana, 7:00

Detroit @ Toronto, 7:00

Philadelphia @ Miami, 7:30

Charlotte @ New York, 7:30

Chicago @ Cleveland, 8:00 ESPN

Washington @ Milwaukee, 8:00

San Antonio @ Minnesota, 8:00

Atlanta @ New Orleans, 8:00

Boston @ Oklahoma City, 8:00

Portland @ Utah, 9:00

Memphis @ Sacramento, 10:00

Denver @ Golden State, 10:30 ESPN

LA Clippers @ LA Lakers, 10:30

 

Thu, Nov. 6

Philadelphia @ Orlando, 8:00 TNT

Houston @ Portland, 10:30 TNT

 

Fri, Nov. 7

New Orleans @ Charlotte, 7:00

New York @ Washington, 7:00

Toronto @ Atlanta, 7:30

Milwaukee @ Boston, 7:30

Indiana @ Cleveland, 7:30

Detroit @ New Jersey, 7:30

Miami @ San Antonio, 8:00 ESPN

Phoenix @ Chicago, 8:30

Oklahoma City @ Utah, 9:00

Minnesota @ Sacramento, 10:00

Dallas @ Denver, 10:30 ESPN

Memphis @ Golden State, 10:30

Houston @ LA Clippers, 10:30

 

Sat, Nov. 8

New Jersey @ Indiana, 7:00

Washington @ Orlando, 7:00

Miami @ New Orleans, 8:00 NBATV

Cleveland @ Chicago, 8:30

Phoenix @ Milwaukee, 8:30

Minnesota @ Portland, 10:00

[alfdogg 0]

OKC's win tonight is considered "the first in the team's history." Now, I understand they left the banners/etc. with Seattle, but this is still the same franchise that was in Seattle, same players/coaches/ownership/etc.

[Maztinho 0]

Taking the fact that they had to leave everything, they have no history (technically, wink-wink-nudge-nudge-say-no-more) to speak of. They are essentially a displaced expansion team records wise.

 

With a horrible name.

 

I'm sure I'll get to the point that I'll reach some point where I don't care anymore, but Judas Priest the Thunder?

[Guest Smues]

They're really doing that? And acting like the team doesn't have a long history? That's really lame. I mean really, really, really lame. They changed the name and logo, but it's not like that's the first time that's happened.

[Just John 0]

Just think of it like a wrestler getting a new gimmick.

[Guest C*Z*E*C*H]

Their lineage is kind of a clusterfuck. The way I understand it, they left all the Supersonics stuff behind, but they also consider themselves the Supersonics when it's convenient to do so because "we paid for it." I don't know. Fuck the Thunder.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Allen Iverson for Chauncy Billups and Antonio Mcdyess is in the works right now.

 

As a Pistons fan I am excited

[Guest]

It's actually a real bad trade for the Pistons.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

from what i understand, Denver offered it (as they did months ago), its not really in the works (yet?). I'm not sure why the Pistons would suddenly bite now when they didn't in the past, the team is looking fine so far.

 

edit: err. looks i'm completely wrong. Apparently its already been submitted to the office? Wow. interesting. Well they'll have a lot of capspace in a few years.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I love Chauncy, but the Pistons need someone that will charge the hoop with a little agression

[bobobrazil1984 0]

Its debabtable if it makes them better. What's not debeatable for me is that I'm actually excited about their playoff run. I cant explain how dull the first two rounds of this pistons team had gotten. its like you spend the whole playoffs just praying they don't choke in the ECF this year

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

I don't see how 2008 Allen Iverson makes the Pistons any better than they were. What a weird trade.

[MFer 0]

I'm iffy about this trade as well...seems like a lateral move at best. I would've rather seen the Pistons do that T-Mac deal that was rumored during the summer.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

There are other elements to it too though. There's a line of thought that says the pistons have enough talent but don't have:

1) the hunger and drive anymore, bad attitudes, complacency, Billups and Sheed are the two main offenders of this sort of attitude.

2) are too perimeter oriented (this was partly the fault of Saunders' coaching philosophy though, his system had little to no use of inside scoring or rebounding)

3) need an "elite" scorer since the road through the title runs through guys like Lebron Pierce Kobe etc.

 

Iverson and Stuckey can both slash very well now, AI is hungry for a title, and they really cleared up the PF logjam to bring Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell to the forefront.

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

I don't think Allen Iverson is washed up or anything, but he doesn't shoot at the same clip he used too, his defense has fallen off (I blame that on the Denver Nuggets), and he's banged up from having a long career. Maybe he will be energized by playing for a contender, but for other than future cap space, I fail to see how the Pistons improved their team. Plus, Rasheed Wallace and Iverson on the same team with a rookie head coach? You Piston fans better hope this works out because if it doesn't this will turn ugly quickly.

[Steviekick 0]

If it goes through, this is a good trade for Denver. Billups for Iverson is a wash; getting McDyess helps their front court.

[Ripper 0]

I would rather have Iverson than Billups, but Antonio has been consistantly the only one not to just go out there and not look like he was giving any effort for the past few playoffs. He was full of heart, and played big for them. I am not sure Amir or Jason are ready to provide what he has.

 

I don't know. It should be interesting. I think this will affect Rip Hamilton alot though, so I wouldn't be suprised to see him moved.

 

[bobobrazil1984 0]

Plus, Rasheed Wallace and Iverson on the same team with a rookie head coach?

 

that i dont think is gonna be a problem. Rasheed is well known to have mad respect for Curry who's always been one of those Alpha types, and its well known Curry is basically a Dumars mouthpiece. F'ing with him is basically like f'ing with Dumars himself.

 

Also there's some chatter out there that Denver is going to buy out McDyess, and they might try the ole re-sign-after-a-month trick.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

There were some rumors over the weekend that Dumars was really high on Zach Randolph and that he'd consider making a move for him before the All-Star break. Wasn't a whole lot of meat to the story, but the Iverson trade could be the first piece in a Detroit shakeup.

 

As for this trade itself, it doesn't make them any worse, and given that Detroit doesn't have much of a shot of winning the conference, it's a trade you can afford to make. Maybe there is enough energy left in Iverson to push them over the top. But most likely they just freed up $21 million when his contract expires this offseason.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

Rasheed's also expiring, so it's $35 million (!) off the books at the end of this season. However, it's a season early for the 2010 sweepstakes.

[Ripper 0]

I don't see how iverson for billups makes them worse. But iverson for billups and mcdyess...I don't know there.

 

And I dont know why I am just now noticing this, but he Pacers have one fuck of a team over there. They are pretty solid at every position except maybe the back up 2. just a very very good looking team.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I don't see how iverson for billups makes them worse. But iverson for billups and mcdyess...I don't know there.

McDyess has already indicated that he's not going to play for Denver. I think this is one of those "buyout/fake free agent/return to trading team" deals that make the NBA's salary cap system so embarrassing.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

Pistons better hope nobody pulls a "Dallas Maverick" and just blatantly blurts out to a reporter the whole plan

[Just John 0]

If the trade went through as originally proposed, I think it would be a good deal for both teams. Detroit desperately needs a shakeup to take it to the next level, and Denver would benefit by getting a decent big guy and by making Melo happy since he'd be the top guy again. If McDyess isn't going to play for Denver, they should scrap the deal, though.

[alfdogg 0]

The Nuggets also got Cheick Samb in the deal, for whatever that's worth. Probably not much.

 

There are other elements to it too though. There's a line of thought that says the pistons have enough talent but don't have:

1) the hunger and drive anymore, bad attitudes, complacency, Billups and Sheed are the two main offenders of this sort of attitude.

2) are too perimeter oriented (this was partly the fault of Saunders' coaching philosophy though, his system had little to no use of inside scoring or rebounding)

3) need an "elite" scorer since the road through the title runs through guys like Lebron Pierce Kobe etc.

 

Iverson and Stuckey can both slash very well now, AI is hungry for a title, and they really cleared up the PF logjam to bring Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell to the forefront.

This pretty much sums up my thoughts on the trade.

[Rendclaw 0]

There is more to this.

 

Billups saw the writing on the wall as far as Stuckey being the future starting point guard for the Pistons. Billups and his agent went to Joe and asked to be traded to Denver if he was going to be traded at all. He's from there, he wanted to be close to his ailing mother, and if he couldn;t finish his career as a Piston, he wanted to go home to Denver.

 

Getting Iverson is a good trade from the aspect that he is a guard that is completely unafraid to take the ball to the hole, unlike Chauncey who is bigger and stronger than AI. I (along with the Piston fans here) could count a number of times just in the past year where he could take a smaller guard right down to the block and score on him and he wouldn;t, preferring to shoot threes with the clock winding down.

 

The Pistons lose something defensively for sure, but I think this makes them a tougher team. This might be the shot in the arm that the rest of the team needs. If McDyess get bought out and doesn;t get picked up by another team, you can bet he is coming back to Detroit.

 

I'm looking forward to their next game with AI, just to see what happens.

 

 

[Precious Roy 0]

I'd like to see AI win a championship but I don't think it's going to happen in Detroit.

 

Looking toward the offseason, I think he'd be a great fit in Orlando.

 

 

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Looking toward the offseason, I think he'd be a great fit in Orlando.

Curious as to why you'd see him fitting in Orlando. Howard likes to play low, Lewis is a slasher and AI is a slasher. Just seems like you run the risk of putting too many defenders in the paint. Orlando would be better served with a guy who is an efficient passer and good spot-up shooter.

[Precious Roy 0]

He'd fit because by attacking the basket he'd create easy baskets for Howard, either off of putbacks or dumpoffs, or Lewis/Turk on the wings. The Magic have two thirds of a great offense, and what they're missing is a guard who can get into the lane and create shots for himself and his teammates. And on defense Iverson can gamble for steals knowing that Howard is behind him.

 

I wouldn't consider Lewis a slasher at all. He can create his own shot, sure, but he's a natural shooter, not someone who consistently and aggressively goes to the rim. He has a lot of games where you look at his shot chart and 85-90% of his shots are from 15 feet out. He does a lot of standing around behind the three point line as well. And from what I've seen of Orlando this year and last neither he nor Turkoglu is particularly adept at setting up Howard. The Magic are basically a jump shooting team with a great big man, so I don't see how they'd suddenly have a huge logjam in the paint by adding Iverson of all people.

 

What team do you think he'd fit best on?

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Nothing to do with the actual game of basketball, but Kevin Johnson (yes Ripper's favorite boy) became mayor of Sacramento, California last night.