NBA Thread

[TrollFreak]

Haven't seen one of these, if there's one just lock this.

New season about to start, Lakers trying to win another ring for Kobe, BROOKLYN finally back in Pro Sports, they need to bring home a ring to celebrate!

To start with the previews, here is a NBA Preview for all 30 teams.

http://www.hardwoodparoxysm.com/2012...preview-guide/

Have Fun Discussing, just follow the rules!

[LordCBH]

NBA isn't my favorite pro league (that honor belongs to the NHL...I hope that doesn't have to get changed to the past tense......), but I do enjoy the Grizzlies though....It's a shame they're in the armpit of the state, though....

[Golden_Latias]

I thought I saw an NBA thread here earlier.

I know they suck for now, but the Pistons are my team.

[Vern]

This the new thread? Last year, I had the pre-Paul Clippers winning it all and I was damn close as in they made the playoffs.

This year: Kings are winning it all.

[Golden_Latias]

I think the Heat will win it all again. I don't like it, but that's what I'm saying.

[Vern]

I think the Heat will win it all again. I don't like it, but that's what I'm saying.

They probably will. Unless the Kings have something to say about it.

[Golden_Latias]

The Heat, or maybe the Lakers. I think it will be one of those two, and I do think they'll meet in the NBA Finals.

[Vern]

Howard is probably going to disappear again. It would be funny to not watch of course.

[Golden_Latias]

Which is why I won't be watching. Not that I can, living in Michigan and all.

Pistons win their final preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks and go .500 in the preseason. Eh. Only storyline coming from them will be whether or not Andre Drummond starts. I hope he does, just for the experience. Pistons are probably a 34-35 win team regardless.

[KrayzieBuddha]

In another news, James Harden was traded to the Houston Rockets. Man, what a shocker.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--th...-27481909.html

[TrollFreak]

I wonder who wins in this trade? Looks like Houston lost, losing two pretty good players, draft picks, all for a guy who just played off the bench, who knows if he can start for the entire season.

Only time will tell tho

[Black Dragon]

Harden and Lin are going to have to carry the Rockets now, and they probably won't even make the playoffs. Their hype is so much greater than their abilities. No lie, I think the Thunder got a steal out of this. I can't help but be disappointed, though. Harden's a huge fan favorite here.

[~Magic Thunderbolt~]

Harden out of OKC? Lakers/Spurs/Clippers just breathed easier. Sure, they replace the scoring with a guy who can score, but Kevin Martin is on the wrong side of 30 and isn't a playmaker.

[beshort123]

The thunder obviously won this trade, but i am gonna miss harden.

[OshaMijuWott]

I think in the short-term OKC definitely did not better itself, but not saying it worsened it either. They will have a promising rookie and Jeremy Lamb, and K-Mart who is a pure scorer. I am a Kings fan, so I know how K-Mart can score the ball. However, they will not make the immediate impact to replace Harden. Jeremy Lin and James Harden are a very PROMISING back court. I'm off of Linsanity fever, and I'm not too sure Lin can thrive for a long period of time, but now... James Harden is the face of that franchise. I still think we will see a repeat of last year's finals with the Heat winning again. I don't see the Lakers being as good as expected and LeBron is just so good, I see him repeating.

[Golden_Latias]

Heh, my Pistons are going to be testing those trades early, seeing as their first game is a home game against the Rockets on Halloween, and they Thunder on the road in game 6. Oh boy. :/

And everything I wanted to say has already been said. OKC definitely won the trade, but we'll see how that one pans out.

[Black Dragon]

Harden out of OKC? Lakers/Spurs/Clippers just breathed easier. Sure, they replace the scoring with a guy who can score, but Kevin Martin is on the wrong side of 30 and isn't a playmaker.

With Maynor back, I'm sure Harden's playmaking abilities won't be too missed. I always thought of Maynor and Harden as similar players.

Now we just need Kevin Love, Kevin Garnett, and Kevin Hart.

[GhostAnime]

Eastern Conference Standings

(1) Miami Heat
(2) Boston Celtics
(3) Philadephia Sixers
(4) Chicago Bulls
(5) New York Knicks
(6) Brooklyn Nets
(7) Indiana Pacers
(8) Atlanta Hawks

Miami is the obvious first choice. You could also argue Boston but there’s going to be one of those times they collapse for no reason. As you may have noticed, I feel like the Atlantic division is very, very crowded this year. Whatever happens in that whirlpool of craziness will certainly influence the rankings of the New York, Brooklyn, Boston, and Philadelphia. My money’s on Boston winning it, though. New York and Philadephia have a slight shot and there’s no way a frontline that contains Kris Humphries and Brook Lopez in a starting line-up does anything. Their size just isn’t enough; you ask Kim Kardashian about that one.

Philadephia just might be my dark horse. Only reason I didn’t put them higher is because of Bynum’s fragility. I’m actually tempted to take them down a level or two, but their ranking really depends on Bynum’s health. Bynum with athletic three-point shooters is a good recipe of success.

You also might be wondering why I have any amount of confidence in New York despite the past two seasons, and it’s really more about the two new guards they have: Felton and Kidd. New York has missed some stability and ball-handling at that position. Kidd is old, but his chemistry with Chandler and setting up guys in the right spots is all New York really needs to succeed. Plus, Stoudemire is injured, so he won’t be on the court at the same time as Carmelo. They’ll do better with him off the court at first. Trust me.

Chicago, Atlanta, and Indiana will be without their original stars for a long amount of time (and in Atlanta’s case, forever). I feel it will take them some time to adjust to the regular season even if Rose and Granger return on time. Thibs should still have the great defensive system, but Carlos Boozer will make sure they don’t get a high seed sans Rose coming back 100% early on. Their offense is too terrible for me to put them too high. Indiana could be higher I suppose, but I’m going to bank on last year being somewhat of a fluke. I feel the competition this year is much more tough; I don’t see them any higher than a five seed regardless.

Other than that, the only two teams missing that could possibly sneak in are Toronto and Milwaukee (more likely Milwaukee). The Jennings/Ellis experiment in a contract year could prove useful. I don’t really have much of an argument for Toronto other than the fact that they looked pretty good in the preseason. I’d give both of these teams a moderate shot at an eight seed.

Western Conference Standings


(1) San Antonio Spurs
(2) Los Angeles Lakers
(3) Oklahoma City Thunder
(4) Los Angeles Clippers
(5) Denver Nuggets
(6) Memphis Grizzlies
(7) Dallas Mavericks
(8) Utah Jazz

My top four are pretty much standard. Re-arrange the top three however one sees fit. San Antonio will go on another regular season run. Pops just knows how to manage his players better than anyone in the conference. I could have Los Angeles Lakers a tad bit lower because of their age, point guard defense, and the bench is horrible. It may take some time to find that winning formula. Oklahoma City on the otherhand lost a major piece in their three-way offensive punch. Los Angeles Clippers got a lot of depth over the Summer, but you know what? Griffin is still too raw. They’re getting there, and I could see a potential three seed but other wise, they’re still an uppermid-tier team. Memphis will be healthier this year, but their three-point shooting needs to get better if they want to move up at all. Giving up Mayo surely doesn’t help that fact. Denver won’t change much, lolmavs will always make sure to give NBA fans around the country laughs (btw Dallas, who the **** starts Eddy Curry on opening night?), and the eighth seed is pretty much a free-for-all between Utah, Golden State, and … possibly Houston? No, why did I even say that? Jeremy Lin will be exposed… but there is that 1% chance we get Linsanity revival.

I’m tempted to put Golden State here, but will Curry and Bogut be healthy enough throughout the season? The Jazz simply have no guard to speak of— oh wait, there’s that Mo Williams guy again. I heard some Phoenix talk, and I really like Dragic but I’m not sure about Dragic/Beasley carrying them through that conference.

I honestly don’t know. Flip a coin between Golden State and Utah, and if it rolls on its side, pick Houston. I’ll stick with Utah simply because their division is the weakest out of all three, so they’d only really have to deal with Oklahoma City four times versus the other teams who have to deal with San Antontio and two great Los Angeles teams.

[Vern]

Time for the Nets to go 42-42. Woo~

[PoKe_aRcHeR2010]

NBA Day 1 <3.<3

My Heat beat the Celtics as I expected :'D

Lakers lost to the Dirk-less and Kaman-less Mavs... yeah that pretty much says a lot of their poor bench... they're on a 9 game losing streak (yeah I'm counting the pre-season games) ... I'm anti-Lakers but I hope they get a move on cuz it's not gonna be fun to watch them if they play like that all year...