Enforcer84 Posted July 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2017 The Finals may have been a bit boring but damn the offseason has been interesting. How many teams (Like Portland) are going to look longingly at the eastern conference? All the talent seems to be moving west (generalization) but the vacuum in the east isn't as big as it could be. The Nets are going to fly this year. As near as I can tell all they have are athletes, it could be a run and gun return in Brooklyn. Speaking of Suck. The Knicks will. And the Bulls Probably the Lakers and Pistons too. It's a great time to be alive. Cygnia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted July 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2017 Oh hey, one more story. http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19866061/memphis-grizzlies-retiring-zach-randolph-no-50 Memphis is retiring Zach Randolf's #50. Zach signed a 2 year deal with Sacramento but the city team back in Memphis still love him. Considering his rough past and tenure in Portland near the end of the Jail Blazers era it was tempting to write him off as a Thug. And hey, maybe he is. But he was a thug who gave back to the community that loved him for his playing style and he loved for their embracing of him, warts and all. Hard to believe Z-Bo's been in the league for 16 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted July 6, 2017 Report Share Posted July 6, 2017 People here in Utah are losing their minds over the fact that Gordon Hayward is going to the Celtics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted July 6, 2017 Report Share Posted July 6, 2017 Speaking of Suck. The Knicks will. And the Bulls Probably the Lakers and Pistons too. It's a great time to be alive. And here I am, fresh out of Likes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted July 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 People here in Utah are losing their minds over the fact that Gordon Hayward is going to the Celtics. Boston too. ...Different sensation I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 The Finals may have been a bit boring but damn the offseason has been interesting. How many teams (Like Portland) are going to look longingly at the eastern conference? All the talent seems to be moving west (generalization) but the vacuum in the east isn't as big as it could be. The Nets are going to fly this year. As near as I can tell all they have are athletes, it could be a run and gun return in Brooklyn. Speaking of Suck. The Knicks will. And the Bulls Probably the Lakers and Pistons too. It's a great time to be alive. Is kind of ironic, most sports seem to see the talent go East. (albeit the gap in football and baseball doesn't seem as wide as in basketball) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted July 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 Well the hype certainly goes east. But as a near lifelong left coaster I say that out of hand. But for the NBA at least LeBron's Heat teams and the Pistons and Celtics brief supernovas have prevented a Western Conference Cakewalk in the last two decades. I think it's worth looking at Philadelphia with interest; those 33 games Embiid played last year they looked like a playoff team in the east. And with the sun setting on some teams' windows a healthy Sixers could really make some noise. And I for one would welcome it. Embiid is a joy to watch, if he can play 70 games a year and be healthy for playoffs it's hard to count them out. I've not even seen Simmons, but if their young core plays and doesn't have head issues they're really in a good position to hold court over the conference when LeBron's grasp slips. The West is almost over-saturated. The Keeping Up With the Warriors is in full - but awkward swing. Not sure how Paul will fit in D'Antoni's offense the Clippers are bringing in a big name Euro Point Guard to replace him. Westbrook has a running mate again, will this be the year the Spurs dip? The T-Wolves have retooled for winning and though I'm not sold on the Teague over Rubio transition (I have a blind spot for the Spaniard) I can see the team playing for a spot now. Utah - it's going to be hard to replace Haywood's production. Rubio sets guys up, he's not going to take the scoring reins. The Lakers should be a trainwreck but I hate them so I always say that. I'm doubting this is the year that New Orleans does anything despite their once in a generation talent (fragile though the Brow is) *takes a deep breath* I find it hard to pick against the warriors to repeat but I'll say this, they're in a cut-throat conference. Any misstep or prolonged injury and they could be vulnerable. Ditto Cleveland in the east. I don't see the league "figuring out" LeBron so unless he finally starts to slow down his streak of finals appearances will probably not end this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 COurse, at least in baseball season, the East Coast does get screwed due to the determination to make sure the games dont start until just before bedtime of most kids. Though, working 2nd shift, it works for me. (I can actually watch the end of the game when I get home). If it wasnt for the Nationals/Orioles station replaying games late at night, I'd only be able to watch games on the weekend during the season. (even though I dislike the Orioles, and am neutral on the Nationals) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 Lonzo Ball had a decidedly unimpressive debut in the Lakers' summer league game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted July 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 yeah, but it's Summer League...Sucking or Soaring doesn't (always) translate too much. Especially one game. And it's not like it shut his dad up. I heard Dante Exum looked pretty good which would be nice for Utah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted July 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 ...to continue though... Lonzo is under a keen microscope (Thanks, Dad!) and his triumphs and missteps will be amplified. What I heard that was worrisome was that he looked pretty helpless against lesser talent creating his own shot. Which IIRC was one of the knocks against him in college. So this should be something known to the Lakers. We'll see if his Defense, Playmaking, and Three Point Shooting prove good as advertised. (The latter having stunk the gym up on day one.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted July 9, 2017 Report Share Posted July 9, 2017 yeah, but it's Summer League...Sucking or Soaring doesn't (always) translate too much. Especially one game. And it's not like it shut his dad up. I heard Dante Exum looked pretty good which would be nice for Utah. Yeah, even Stephen Curry is allowed a bad game or 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted July 9, 2017 Report Share Posted July 9, 2017 ...to continue though... Lonzo is under a keen microscope (Thanks, Dad!) and his triumphs and missteps will be amplified. What I heard that was worrisome was that he looked pretty helpless against lesser talent creating his own shot. Which IIRC was one of the knocks against him in college. So this should be something known to the Lakers. We'll see if his Defense, Playmaking, and Three Point Shooting prove good as advertised. (The latter having stunk the gym up on day one.) Well, if he can do the first 2 mentioned, he'll at least be valuable. Wont stop him from being a disappointment at #2 (and Daddy Ball want help matters) but he at least will not be Darko Milicic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted July 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2017 still didn't shoot well, but he did get a triple double. in his second game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted July 9, 2017 Report Share Posted July 9, 2017 James Harden has now become the richest player in the history of professional basketball with a mammoth contract extension in Houston. The Rockets seem to believe he will definitely lead them to the Promised Land very soon. His new contract totals $228 million and runs through the 2022-23 season. (Yes, that's a quarter of a billion dollars.) He has never won a championship, which makes me wonder what sort of deal Lebron James will get when he becomes a free agent. The Cavs are not paying him that kind of money right now, and probably can't, Lebron's representatives are looking at Harden's deal, no doubt. I am reminded of what happened when the Texas Rangers singed Alex Rodriguez, then baseball's greatest rising star, to a massive ten-year contract. He only lasted three years in Texas before departing for the Yankees (where he eventually was pushed out in disgrace). In that time, the Rangers went 216-270. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted July 10, 2017 Report Share Posted July 10, 2017 Course, A-Rod did last 13 years in NY, albeit as a headache. And he did get himself a ring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted July 11, 2017 Report Share Posted July 11, 2017 Stephan Curry got a huge extension too, which is to be expected. After all, if you have the second and third greatest players in the game on your team, you want them to stay there. It was the record contract before Harden. The record it broke was also given this off-season -- to Blake Griffin, by the Clippers. Blake Griffin? Really? He has some serious holes in his game, the principal one being his ability to remain healthy for long stretches. He has great hops, and when Chris Paul was feeding him a steady diet of the sorts of balls only he could reach he terrorized interior defenders. Paul is gone now. Who's going to get Blake the ball? Can he go down into the post and make his own shot? Can he out-muscle other teams' defensive-specialist big men? Most importantly, can be counted upon for an 82-game regular season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted July 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2017 Well the New York Knuckleheads continued their amusing slide into irrelevance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted July 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2017 A nice story on Greg Oden. Back at Ohio State, getting his life back together. http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19868061/cursed-body-was-blessing-greg-oden-headed-back-ohio-state Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted July 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2017 Well the Lonzo Ball watch is now scrambling to analyze his 35pt 11 assist 8 rebound 2 block performance. Like I said, Summer League. But I think we'll see more games like this for him in the future, quite honestly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted July 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2017 In a move we could all see coming (in a chuckle brothers kind of buffoonery) the Knicks have raided the OTHER worst run team in the NBA for their GM talent. Sacramanto's Scott Perry will be the GM with all the freedom Steve Mills gives him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted July 14, 2017 Report Share Posted July 14, 2017 In a move we could all see coming (in a chuckle brothers kind of buffoonery) the Knicks have raided the OTHER worst run team in the NBA for their GM talent. Sacramanto's Scott Perry will be the GM with all the freedom Steve Mills gives him. Perry has only been with the Kings for three months, then he bolts to New York. Either King's ownership is even worse to deal with than Knicks ownership, or this guy has a serious loyalty issue. Plus even a good GM coming in will be hamstrung by the moves of the previous administration, like Tim Hardaway Jr.s contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted July 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2017 Which was signed by Mills. The guy who's still in charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted July 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2017 The Rockets are going up for sale. Owner Leslie Alexander bought the Rockets in 93 for $85,000,000.00. And now Forbes has it valued at $1,650,000,000.00 (won't write the words as this is a better example of the money) In 24 years the value of the Rockets went up by almost 20 times. That's in a "small" market. This is why I will never side with teams and owners on things like strikes and stadiums. Burrito Boy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted July 19, 2017 Report Share Posted July 19, 2017 I never do on stadiums, but strikes make me hope nobody wins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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