NBA SEASON!

[bikes]

It's only 5 minutes and I've forgotten how annoying Charles Barkley sounds.

Celtics v Cavs should be an interesting game as I pretty much hate both teams equally.

[wesrman]

[bikes]

It is awesome that Lebitch still sucks at FT's

[jyms]

[BankItDrew]

Twin Towers R back in da T dot now all we gotta do is avoid radical Islam

[Hawk]

It's only 5 minutes and I've forgotten how annoying Charles Barkley sounds.

Charles Barkley for governor!
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/...l?iref=topnews

[bikes]

LETS DO THIS!

[bigspenda73]

God I love Pop, calling the hack a shaq 5 seconds into the season just to let the big man know who the man really is.

[bikes]

Words cannot describe the burning hatred I feel for this man.

[tom]

God I love Pop, calling the hack a shaq 5 seconds into the season just to let the big man know who the man really is.

lol, thats hilarious

[bigspenda73]

meh missed Ginobili big time down the stretch plus we're going to have to find someone to guard the four b/c Timmy cannot handle two people and the toughest teams in the West all have 2 good big men.

PHO-shaq/amare
NO-West/Chandler
LA-Gasol, Bynum

[thizzSantaCruz]

Well, I'm ready to embark on another season full of disappointment heart ache and a strong urge to revert to the good ol' days. At least a lot of my teams games won't be televised.

[griffey24]

Twin Towers R back in da T dot now all we gotta do is avoid radical Islam

lets go rapssss

I'm going to the home opener friday yesss

[mcatdog]

meh missed Ginobili big time down the stretch plus we're going to have to find someone to guard the four b/c Timmy cannot handle two people and the toughest teams in the West all have 2 good big men.

PHO-shaq/amare
NO-West/Chandler
LA-Gasol, Bynum

ROFL at Phoenix being one of the toughest teams in the West. Utah and Houston seem clearly better.

Pacers looked pretty good tonight, I liked what I saw. I might even have to consider changing my avatar.

[bigspenda73]

Phoenix is a dangerous team, maybe not "tough" but they win a bunch of games and probably sneak-in and grab homecourt in the first round of the playoffs.

[BankItDrew]

Phoenix is a dangerous team, maybe not "tough" but they win a bunch of games and probably sneak-in and grab homecourt in the first round of the playoffs.

Phoenix won't be better than 7th in the West.

[bigspenda73]

please, PHO is the king of winning in the regular season. You cannot assume the Rockets are going to stay healthy, the Mavs aren't any better, the Spurs give up too many games and I'm not sold on the Jazz being all that great this year.

That leaves NO and LA as the two favorites, SA/DAL/PHO/UTA/HOU/POR/GS/DEN as the other teams fighting for playoff position. We know that Utah underachieves, GS doesn't play defense, POR is young, Houston is injury-prone, and the Spurs couldn't care until February.

I say Suns finish in the top 4 in the West, I'd be willing to book some action on it too.

[BankItDrew]

Suns over/under with home court birth in the playoffs (4th/5th)

I say $100 on the under

[bode]

ban OP for not liking Sir Chaaaaaaaales.

[martindcx1e]

yay lakers
lol oden
ban for not liking charles

[BankItDrew]

ban for not liking charles

ban for liking charles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s50K65PNeBU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuZPI...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sa9X...eature=related

[martindcx1e]

ban for not liking charles

ban for liking charles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s50K65PNeBU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuZPI...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sa9X...eature=related

lol hilarious i like him even more now thanks!

[mcatdog]

Spenda,

You are underrating Houston. They won a ton of games last year even without Yao, and Artest has always killed it when he's on his honeymoon with a new team. They have ridiculous depth too. This team has a better chance of winning the title than anyone except LA and Boston IMO. Obviously injuries are an issue and they could easily go down in the first round again.

Utah, Dallas and San Antonio, I kinda agree these teams aren't that great, but I don't see Phoenix as any better than them. Phoenix has no depth anymore, all they have is one incredible player, one pretty good player who's past his prime, a good role player (Barbosa) and a bunch of guys who are average at best.

When do you think Pop is finally going to pull the plug on Bruce Bowen? He was so awesome a few years ago, but he's done and he's just dragging the Spurs down now. He's not even that good at defense anymore.

Edit: I don't really like to make prop bets that take 6 months to figure out who wins, let's just trash talk each other a lot.

[BankItDrew]

I say Suns finish in the top 4 in the West, I'd be willing to book some action on it too.

HELLOOOOOO ?!?!

I'm game if you are chump

[tom]

ban for not liking charles

ban for liking charles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s50K65PNeBU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuZPI...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sa9X...eature=related

a more convincing youtube argument to like charles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oCF-QFuoYs

[bigspenda73]

Phoenix has no depth anymore, all they have is one incredible player, one pretty good player who's past his prime, a good role player (Barbosa) and a bunch of guys who are average at best.

When do you think Pop is finally going to pull the plug on Bruce Bowen? He was so awesome a few years ago, but he's done and he's just dragging the Spurs down now. He's not even that good at defense anymore.

so you're saying Amare is the incredibly good player, Nash is past his prime, and Shaq is a role player (who just put up like 15 and 15 on the Spurs) or did you forget about Amare? Also, they picked up Matt Barnes, who is like the prototypical wing man for the team and has the perfect body for defense (not that he learned any of it in GS mind you).

Bowen looked bad if you watched the game, he had two fast break lay-up opportunities with only Steve Nash back on D and he pulled both of them back and the Spurs went empty of the possessions. Mason is supposed to inject some youth into the team but I'm not sure if he can play D yet. Basically we just need to tread water, beat the teams we're supposed to beat, and wait for Manu to get back. However, saying Bruce is not even good at defense anymore is way off, he's still one of the top on and off the ball defenders in the league.

The Rockets always disappoint, so I'm just waiting for them to do that again this year.

[mcatdog]

so you're saying Amare is the incredibly good player, Nash is past his prime, Barbosa is the role player, and Shaq is average at best.

FYP

[lolzzz_321]

GO ROCKETS!

I pay more attention to how the Kansas players are doing tbh.

[mcatdog]

Bowen looked bad if you watched the game, he had two fast break lay-up opportunities with only Steve Nash back on D and he pulled both of them back and the Spurs went empty of the possessions. Mason is supposed to inject some youth into the team but I'm not sure if he can play D yet. Basically we just need to tread water, beat the teams we're supposed to beat, and wait for Manu to get back. However, saying Bruce is not even good at defense anymore is way off, he's still one of the top on and off the ball defenders in the league.

He really isn't though. I wish the NBA kept better defensive stats, because without them anyone who plays hard and fights through screens is considered to be a good defender, even if they have no talent anymore.

I looked up Bowen on 82games.com, which is the site that keeps a lot of weird stats. I don't know how accurate they all are but it's fun to look up a player on there just to see if their stats go along with what you notice from watching games.

http://www.82games.com/0708/0708SAS.HTM
http://www.82games.com/0708/07SAS12C.HTM

The first page says Bowen was the worst player in the Spurs rotation last year, tied with Jacque Vaughn, in terms of how the team did when he was on the court vs. when he wasn't. FWIW those same +/- stats from a few years ago show Bowen as a very effective player for the Spurs.

The second page shows how other teams' SFs did while Bowen was in the game. Because I have no life and like to waste time proving a point, I looked up the same stats for the other 29 teams' SF and Bowen rated 18th out of 30. Again, I realize these stats are flawed because defense depends on the whole team, but the Spurs have excellent team defense, and if SFs are doing well against them anyway, it should mean that Bowen isn't playing very good man defense, right? And again, those same stats from a few years ago show that Bowen used to be an elite defender.

I don't know, I just don't think he can stay in front of guys the way he used to and the sooner the Spurs find someone to replace him, the better.

[bigspenda73]

he's getting older, the game is getting faster, people get amped up to play against him, etc...

[BankItDrew]

spenda - r u avoiding our bet?

[bigspenda73]

I'm considering it

[BankItDrew]

I'm starting to think I was overestimating the Suns this year

FYP

[lolzzz_321]

Jacque Vaughn was such a bad ass player @ Kansas

Brandon rush will win MVP this year

[bigspenda73]

I'm starting to think I was overestimating the Suns this year

FYP

no I was just trying to figure out if I deserve a price or not, which I think I do, like 3:2, it seems a lot of columnists/analysts are picking the suns are 6-8 seeds, which means they are def. a dog to be in the top 4. Also, if we were to bet I would want the wager to be top 4 record, not top 4 seeds.

[BankItDrew]

If you want to use Vegas as a tool to determine a proper price on your bet, I'll just wager with Vegas.

I will bet you $50-$100 that Phoenix will not finish with a top 4 record in the West, straight up.

[mcatdog]

That's a kind of a bitch move Drew. People should be allowed to think a team is overrated or underrated without having someone challenge them to a bet and then angle shoot for odds. All of the sports bets that go down on this board are at Vegas odds minus the vig.

[BankItDrew]

I feel like I'm loosing my EV

[bikes]

Wow the Suns looked absolutely atrocious tonight.

[BankItDrew]

shhh!

any fan of the NBA could have seen this coming...

[bikes]

I BELIEVE IN A GOD!

AND HE IS CALLED STEVE NASH!

He will not forsake us!

[bigspenda73]

shhh!

any fan of the NBA could have seen this coming...

you mean back-to-back games against two of the best teams in the league, the 2nd of which is against a younger, more athletic team AFTER a big emotional win?

[BankItDrew]

shhh!

any fan of the NBA could have seen this coming...

you mean back-to-back games against two of the best teams in the league, the 2nd of which is against a younger, more athletic team AFTER a big emotional win?

yes

[WildBobAA]

Great trade today by the Pistons. Chauncey was under contract for four more years and there were signs that his body was breaking down. This gets rid of his contract and allows them to go after Boozer if he opts out next year and Lebron/Wade/Bosh in 2010.

As for this year, they are basically freerolling.

[Lukie]

we talkin' about practice man!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI

[bigspenda73]

wow, McDyess will most likely have his contract bought out, omg please let the Spurs pick him up.

[Lukie]

I was just thinking about this trade.. I think it definitely makes Detroit tougher.

But why now? Why so early in the season? Why not in the off-season?

The only thing that makes sense is something happened behind the scenes with one of the players, and my money would be on A.I.. What other possible explanation could there be?

[swiggidy]

I was just thinking about this trade.. I think it definitely makes Detroit tougher.

Completely disagree. Billups was great defender and distributor. Detroit will be solid, and fun to watch in the regular season, but will get rolled in the playoffs. Doesn't matter because they weren't making it to the finals with Billups anyway.

Great review, IMO
http://mvn.com/cavalierattitude/2008...cavaliers.html

[mcatdog]

I think changes Detroit from a clear 2nd best in the East to perhaps 4th or 5th. This team was tied 2-2 in the ECF last year, and played two very competitive games in 5 and 6, the notion that they had no shot at a championship is mind-boggling to me.

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/chaunc...eer_stats.html
http://www.82games.com/0708/0708DET.HTM

Where's the evidence that Billups was breaking down. I think he's at the very worst, one of the top 25 players in the league still.

[mcatdog]

I was just thinking about this trade.. I think it definitely makes Detroit tougher.

Completely disagree. Billups was great defender and distributor. Detroit will be solid, and fun to watch in the regular season, but will get rolled in the playoffs. Doesn't matter because they weren't making it to the finals with Billups anyway.

Again, I don't understand how people can say this after they came so close to the Finals the past two years and were basically the same team. They weren't the favorites, but they definitely had at least a 10-15% shot at the Finals and that's not something to just throw away IMO.

[Lukie]

Ya.. I probably jumped the gun a litle earlier saying that. I have a bad habit of not really following and breaking down NBA basketball until after the NFL season ends.

I'm still confused about why the trade was made now though. All other things being equal, it would have made far more sense (for both teams) to do this deal earlier so they could develop some chemistry together.

[swiggidy]

I think changes Detroit from a clear 2nd best in the East to perhaps 4th or 5th. This team was tied 2-2 in the ECF last year, and played two very competitive games in 5 and 6, the notion that they had no shot at a championship is mind-boggling to me.

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/chaunc...eer_stats.html
http://www.82games.com/0708/0708DET.HTM

Where's the evidence that Billups was breaking down. I think he's at the very worst, one of the top 25 players in the league still.

Want to say wow, but AI is only 2 spots behind him, and Z is #35

http://www.82games.com/ROLRTG8.HTM

[bigspenda73]

Closing in on thehalf-way point o the season my Spurs are plotting along, hate to say it but Cleveland looks really good although I think they're a Scottie Pippen short of a championship team.

Boston has shown that they're getting older but maybe the losing streak helps rejuvenate them. I enjoy watching Orlando b/c D-Howard is a beast. Obviously LA is going to make it to the conference finals, just a toss-up between Denver and SA in my mind on who they will be facing.

And finally, the only reason for bumping this thread was this little gem I found today, exactly why I love Pop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFU-wXsRhic

[Lukie]

Cavs: 20-0 at home.

I'm going to state the obvious, but they are going to be tough to beat to beat in the playoffs if they get home-court advantage.

And wtf, LeBron is unbelievable.

[Lukie]

lebron you're trying too hard

[swiggidy]

I'm going to state the obvious, but they are going to be tough to beat to beat in the playoffs if they are healthy.

FYP

lebron you're trying too hard

OMG yes

[bigspenda73]

Anyone of you guys wanna give me action on Orlando representing the Eastern Conference in teh NBA Finals. Obviously you're going to have to lay me odds.

[swiggidy]

I'll take Cleveland, you take Orlando, in the unlikely event that it's someone else is a push

[bigspenda73]

how about you get CLE and I get ORL/BOS?

[Lukie]

how about you get CLE and I get ORL/BOS?

[swiggidy]

how about you get CLE and I get ORL/BOS?

LOL

[WildBobAA]

Geez Spenda, you should ask for Detroit, Atlanta, and Miami too while you're at it

[bigspenda73]

how about you get CLE and I get ORL/BOS?

You both feel CLE has a great chance to make the finals, so instead of getting like 3:1 on my money taking Orlando I figure we can go 1:1 and I get the Celtics as well. We all know if Boston doesn't get homecourt they're a lame duck in the playoffs so I'm the one taking a chance here.

[swiggidy]

LOL

[bigspenda73]

Announcers tilting me just suggesting that was a flagrant foul, he didn't even hit his face, he hit his arms.

[bigspenda73]

wow the Cavs front-court is just really really soft

[Lukie]

how about you get CLE and I get ORL/BOS?

You both feel CLE has a great chance to make the finals, so instead of getting like 3:1 on my money taking Orlando I figure we can go 1:1 and I get the Celtics as well. We all know if Boston doesn't get homecourt they're a lame duck in the playoffs so I'm the one taking a chance here.

LOL at getting 3:1 on that kind of bet taking Orlando v Cleveland. Seriously, that would be worse for the person taking that than would getting Cleveland vs Orlando+Boston.

The gap between the top 3 teams in the easy is very small. The Cavs certainly aren't as likely to make the finals as the Celtics and Magic combined, and it only takes a non-retard to figure that out. Whether or not they even have the best chance to make it period is even debatable. I'd probably say that they are, but I'd likely think the same thing if I were a fan of Orland or Boston.

[bigspenda73]

Hollinger has the Magic as the favorites in the West. He's typically very close to right with all of his picks which makes me mad b/c he gives the Spurs like a 7% chance to reach the finals.

[nutsinho]

wooo going to see my celtics play the mavericks and lakers in the next few weeks

[Lukie]

Hollinger has the Magic as the favorites in the West. He's typically very close to right with all of his picks which makes me mad b/c he gives the Spurs like a 7% chance to reach the finals.

I'm assuming you meant to say Magic in the East, but I'm not discounting Lakers in the West instead (which would be pretty obvious, ldo).

[bigspenda73]

ya, obv.

Also, hi Mcat, your team put up a fight last night! You guys even outscored us in the 4th quarter!

[bigspenda73]

I hate when the officials take over a game

[nutsinho]

f the lakers

[Deuce Blue]

f the lakers

LOL, Lakers beat Celts without Bynum. Lakers with Bynum will be unbeatable in the playoffs.

[bigspenda73]

Spurs gave the entire Western Conference a game the other night

Still love Pop