This week in the NBA

[Psycho Penguin 0]

ESPN is saying Portland has won ELEVEN straight meetings against Phoenix. That's pretty insane if true. I know Portland is probably a better team now, but two years ago they sucked and Phoenix was one of the better regular season teams in the league.

[alfdogg 0]

Actually, it's the other way around. Phoenix has beat Portland 11 in a row, including twice this season.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

That makes more sense. I guess they put the wrong info up because they haven't been running it in the bottom line scoreboard thing lately.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Yeah it'd be nice to get a win against the Suns. Next Tuesday's game against the Nuggets (which I also have tickets to) is going to be pretty big if we can beat the Suns tonight, since it could be for the #1 spot in the division to close out the year.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

I think the Blazers are a very exciting team. It's too bad the NBA seems to be loaded with too many top teams right now, since the Blazers could be a title contender in a few years. Roy is the truth.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I think the Blazers could be a title contender a hell of a lot sooner than that, since everyone didn't expect much from them last year and they nearly made it to the playoffs.

 

It'll take a while to get past the Lakers, I think, because the coaching isn't up to par and guys like The Spanish Connection (Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez), the Vanilla Gorilla Joel Pryzbilla, and of course the Big Elephant Greg Oden (think about it it's a perfect nickname! He's big, wrinkly, and lumbering) need to develop, but they're doing great so far. Steve Blake is having a breakout year too. This team is absolutely loaded with depth, which is great.

 

Hell of an exciting game so far.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

Speaking of Blazers/Lakers, I rewatched game 7 of the 2000 WCF the other day again. Ouch.

 

I keep forgetting Richardson is on the Suns now. This has been a quality game so far.

 

I saw a Blake game earlier this year against the Kings where he kept nailing threes. I love Steve Blake. Glad to see him having a good year.

[IllustriousOne 0]

Brandon Roy is ridiculous.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I saw a Blake game earlier this year against the Kings where he kept nailing threes. I love Steve Blake. Glad to see him having a good year.

I'd imagine so, considering he was a Terp!

 

That game was absolutely amazing. That 3 Roy took against Barnes when he just dribbled it for a while, just stood there, measured up his shot and let it fly then make it was fucking great.

 

Pretty happy to see the back to back against division leading Denver next week, except it's pretty stupid scheduling- Play them in Denver on Monday at 9pm Eastern, then come back to Portland and play at 10 Eastern. Hopefully they'll take the division lead the night I get to see them next Tuesday.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

Gave a way anova game, geez im pissed agggggggggh dats a yell about 1 hour ago from txt

[Psycho Penguin 0]

That game was incredible tonight. I am glad I stayed up to watch it. Portland is a good team and it's good to see Phoenix still can't play defense. Roy is crazy good already.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Yup, the MVP chants started tonight at the Rose Garden.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

I'd say he has to be in competition if Portland goes on to the make the playoffs and stays healthy.

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Clippers beat the short handed Pacers in double overtime. 5-2 in last seven.

 

Clippers are playing with their starters and nobody else. Worst bench in the league without Kaman and Ricky Davis. Constantly the bench gives the team less than double figures. 5 points in a double overtime game.

[Damaramu 0]

What do you know, the Thunder won a game. Amazing. Haha.

 

Nice to see Lebron James can still commit offensive fouls and get away with it.

[alfdogg 0]

Granger, Troy Murphy and Marquis Daniels all came down with viral infections today and were hospitalized. Jim O'Brien said they'll probably miss the next game, too. That stuff's only supposed to happen before road games!

[Psycho Penguin 0]

Lakers lost to a .500 Miami team tonight. Boston won #17 in a row. Cleveland looks like they might beat Denver tonight.

 

Thunder somehow won over the Raptors. Bobcats won over the Grizzlies by TWENTY NINE. Wizards lost to a shitty Sixers team badly.

 

The amount of great teams and shitty teams in the league this year is truly astounding.

[Guest Czecherbear]

I don't care if the Bulls win another game this year. They need another lottery pick more than an 8 seed or whatever. Maybe they can play well enough to showcase Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah, let some sucker take those dopes out of town. Hughes, Gooden, and the White Panther can go away forever too. Luol Deng has to relearn basketball. Lousy NBA season. I just hope the Celtics lose 11 games this year.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

The Bulls are pretty hit or miss in the lottery lately, though.

[Golgo 13 0]

Nice to see Balkman come in late instead of when Denver could have used him when he's been one of the better players off the bench this season.

[Guest Czecherbear]

I'm willing to believe that Pax has learned his lesson about good kids from good schools and is now just going "best player available" from here on out. Even if he hasn't, it does them more good to draft higher than draft lower, since this season is a wash.

[bob_barron 0]

Poor Raptors. They finally turned things around and now are back to being awful again

[Guest Czecherbear]

Good thing we have a salary cap in the NBA to help achieve parity. It's even better that you can't make a fucking trade without being saddled with other people's mistakes. But yeah, obviously the salary cap has leveled the playing field here in the Association.

[Star Ocean 3 0]

Clips up, Lakes down, Westside! We're gonna own this town.

 

Oh, they're still 10 games under .500. Nevermind.

[Cartman 0]

Good thing we have a salary cap in the NBA to help achieve parity. It's even better that you can't make a fucking trade without being saddled with other people's mistakes. But yeah, obviously the salary cap has leveled the playing field here in the Association.

 

Can't blame the Association for "Mistakes". If there was no salary cap we would probably end up seeing Lebron on the Lakers. So just like Baseball is a joke during free agency where the NY, Boston, Chicago, and LA teams have clear advantages luring big money FA's, the NBA would have the same problem with the same cities. God forbid the league want's to make sure GM's actually have to do their jobs correctly to build winning teams.

 

[bob_barron 0]

But the NBA salary cap is a bigger joke than baseball free agency.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I think they're different kinds of jokes. The NBA salary cap is a complex joke where the guy telling it keeps messing up the punchline, and MLB free agency is the kind of joke that you've heard a million times before, but that always makes you roll your eyes regardless.

[Guest Czecherbear]

NY, Boston, Chicago, and LA teams have clear advantages luring big money FA's [sic], the NBA would have the same problem with the same cities. God forbid the league want's [sic] to make sure GM's [sic] actually have to do their jobs correctly to build winning teams.

Comparing baseball and basketball is comparing apples and jalapenos, though. For all the complaining, most baseball free agency is just bluff and bluster. You get a big pitcher or a big hitter, and they help, but ultimately they're a piece of a large puzzle. One player on an NBA team can make a world of difference. Slowly building a team through the draft, what one might call "a GM doing his job the right way," reaps huge dividends in baseball, but not so much in the NBA, which is a league driven by transcendent individuals. Adding baseball's talent-equivalents to Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to a team would make them very good, but not necessarily guarantee so much as a wild card. The Celtics got Garnett and Allen and were instantly the prohibitive favorite to make the Finals. Doing your job as a GM correctly in the NBA ought to be simple: get the best players available. This dollar-for-dollar trade bullshit just makes GMs build purposely expensive and awful stopgap teams. How does that make for compelling basketball? Look, I don't like the Knicks, but the fact that they're forced to punt two entire seasons before they can compete again should indicate that something's fucked. And given that the NBA is cutting jobs left and right, watching ratings and attendance plummet, and fielding a historically awful team in goddamn Oklahoma City, maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if the Knicks were worth giving a shit about again instead of just twiddling their thumbs until this magic 2010.

If there was no salary cap we would probably end up seeing Lebron on the Lakers.

The Knicks are probably going to sign him anyway. So?

[The Niggardly King 0]

But what if the Cavs win a championship before 2010? Doesn't that just have major abortion labeled to the Knicks?

[Cartman 0]

The Knicks are probably going to sign him anyway. So?

Joining the Knicks is what WILL happen. The Knicks suck right now. It is not equivalent of Lebron signing with the already stacked Lakers or Celtics teams, which is what would happen if there was no salary cap.