Official 09-10 NBA Thread/ The repeat!

[Showtime]

June 17th: WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!! AGAIN!

Here we go! 16 team enter...

CAV VS CHI CAVS UP 1 - 0
ORL VS CHA
ATL VS MIL ATL UP 1 - 0
BOS VS MIA BOS UP 1 - 0

LA VS OKC
DAL VS SA
PHO VS POR
DEN VS UTAH DEN UP 1 - 0



Not a lot of surprises.

Cavs cruise.

Nuggets cruise against injured jazz.

Boston struggles with Miami. KG elbows q and gets ejected and should be suspended for next game.

Atlanta had a little trouble with the bucks, but losing your starting center just before the playoffs really hurts.

Portlands Roy could be back late in the series if it goes long enough or maybe the 2nd round. Again, losing your starting guard/star player right before the playoffs hurts. Team was my darkhorse. Now it's probably the Thunder in west and boston in the east. Yes, they are a distant 4th imo.

Now for the Show... Bynum is back and says he's pain free. Benches Mbenga got hit in the eye, had surgery, might be able to play game 2. Lmao. Please let that be the last injury.

Phil already started the head games by stating (along w/ others) that Durant already gets superstar treatment. He does. Durant will try to prove he deserves it and the Lakers will handle their business. Though this squad is much more questionable than last years. But if they start to gel, it will be very entertaining.

Lakers officially are not a great team... well according to this. I agree for the reg season Lakers, but playoff Lakers should be a whole another story.

http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerrankings

-------------------------------------------------


I'm back for another run.

The NBA season opens and it opens with a ba... well, not much. Clippers lost their star rookie and the Show will roll them again.

We are raising our 15th CHAMPIONSHIP banner tonight!

You know the Lakers picked Ron and I don't know if it was great move, but should be enough for this run. The rest of the cast is basically the same and that was good enough to win it all last year.

Looking for back to back. Teams in the way are in this order imo.

Cavs. If Shaq is healthy for their playoff run, they will be very dangerous. Chemistry shouldn't be a problem. They could give the Lakers the most problems. The future of the NBA will hinge on how they do. Biggest free market in the history of the NBA.

Celtics have upgraded too. It all depends on how healthy the team is and how much Wallace can contribute. And thats why they are 2nd on this list. Potential is as high as the Cavs, but they won't remain healthy and we'll see about the chemistry.

Portland Trailblazers are nice on paper. Lots of questions, but man this team could be a beast. They can play with the Lakers and if they are healthy will be the only team from the west that can beat a healthy Lakers squad. I think they'll need a couple more years though.

Spurs are relevant again til an injury hits. As long they hit the playoffs healthy, they will get a chance to lose to the show.

Magic went downhill, but if Dwight keeps improving, they have a shot. He is the new Shaq and can carry a team to the championship to lose to the show again.

Fun teams to watch... Golden state could be golden again. Wizards have Agent 0 back. Clippers when their rookie gets back. New Orleans will always be fun with Paul running point. There are others will update later.

GO LAKERS!

[Showtime]

coulda sworn i updated this... lol

ok so the lakers looked ok then not ok and now look really scary good. that's it for the west so far. phoenix had challenged for a second, but once again look like a 1 dimensional team when playing the show. portland is cursed. call it bowie 2. we'll see how the nuggets play soon enough.
as long as the show gets better and the rest of the west doesn't it will be a one horse race.

in the east... lol. same teams. celtics off to a nice start. orlando playing better than i expected. lots of firepower. the cavs are coming on slowly, but will be there.

now for some entertainment... kobe's lucky shot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhtz4MAWs5o

it's the same in every language... crazy. happy holidays and there will be more to say as the season gets going.

[MrGreg]

Portland Trailblazers are nice on paper. Lots of questions, but man this team could be a beast. They can play with the Lakers and if they are healthy will be the only team from the west that can beat a healthy Lakers squad. I think they'll need a couple more years though.

Even our damn coach is having surgery now. And I really love how Oden's knee just exploded with no provocation. I guess that's what I get for getting my hopes up. We've got some bench players stepping up (Juwan Howard and Cunningham), but still.

[GraingerGuy]

I'm actually a bit surprised about the Rockets. Scrappy, hard working, blue collar team that is winning a few games it has no business winning.

[zippyjuan]

Even our damn coach is having surgery now. And I really love how Oden's knee just exploded with no provocation. I guess that's what I get for getting my hopes up. We've got some bench players stepping up (Juwan Howard and Cunningham), but still.

Looks like Oden's career will be a tragically short one.

I don't follow basketball much but Denver seems to be doing pretty well so far.

[Showtime]

LAKERS!

The Good:

The Show (thanks to the soft schedule) is still in 1st place. All the injuries make it impressive none the less.
Team is all finally playing together. Not healthy, but on the court.

The Bench is playing well.. finally thanks in part to injuries. I like having starters out early in the season to get the bench going. Farmar is in a contract year and playing like it.

Kobe is going for 25,000 points. Might take a game or 2 with the bad finger, but he should end up being the youngest to 25k.

Shannon Brown has been gettin down and is in the dunk contest. He can jump like no ones business. Youtube to see people get postered on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nek9fjaQspQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WTlcqB0EIE


The bad:

Show can't win in Portlands house. Not good cuz they are a playoff team.

Got blown out by the Cavs on Christmas at home.

Gasol injures his other hamstring, but not as badly lol.

Lots of road games and back to backs to deal with.

Teams not as healthy as I'd like.


The Ugly:

The Kid is never here, but Kobe busts up hand and then busts it up again. He's shooting like 8% from the field now, but that won't stop him lol. He still hits a go ahead shot and is gettin it done. Look at that finger.

Artest falls down the stairs or something after getting blown out by the Cavs on Christmas and suffers a concussion. No one says if he brought the liquor from staples.

Lost to Clippers. (Got 40 point revenge a few night later)


NBA Report:

It's all about INJURIES. From top to bottom. How different would things look without all these early injuries. LA and Boston missing starters, etc. Up and coming Portland and the Clippers losing #1 Draft picks to season ending injuries.

In the east it's still the Cavs, the Celtics, and the Magic.
Well see how well Shaq holds up and what trades take place.Shaq scored his 28k pts and is in the top 5. Quite a career so far. Garnett should be back to fix Celtics. Might be too little too late despite what all the writers say. Everyone wants a finals rematch between the Show and celtics. Works for me, but probably won't happen. The Magic just got whupped by the show, but can take out the other 2 if they are hitting their 3's.

In the west the spurs are back, kinda. People talk about the nuggets, but I worry far more about the Rockets or Trailblazers. The rockets are like what the Pistons used to be. No stars just a lot of heart like mentioned before. Show haven't beaten Portland in the house in a long long time.


Other news:
TMAC and Iverson are not really playing, let alone starting, but they are in the All Star game thanks to the fans. TMAC better thank the Chinese in particular. It's like a lifetime achievement thing... again then why is TMAC going to be there?

[attgig]

let's go knicks! perhaps the first playoff appearance in ... gosh i have to look it up cuz it's been sooo stinkin long... 04!!!!

baby steps here..... till free agent season starts

[Jah Rulez]

Lakers vs. Cavs TNT 8pm 01/21/10. Oh Boy!!!

[Showtime]

Lakers had a mediocre road trip and lost 3 out of 8. Beat the Celtics last night and lost to the up and coming Grizzlies tonight. Kobe when off for 44 points on a good shooting night finally. Best since he broke his fingers. He passed Jerry "The Logo" West (25,192 pts over 14 seasons) as the Lakers all time scorer which is really saying something. Basically his bad finger and bad shooting/bad free throws cost some games, but it might have been worse if he rested. Though I would have rather he took time off to heal and let the guys get more pt.

The East looks to be the cavs and the cavs. Though if the magic get hot from 3 pt land... The Celtics just got swept by the Hawks. Wow. Now there are 3 teams that can definitely knock them out of the playoffs. Garnett is back from injury and now Pierce is being checked for an ankle or faking again.

In the West it seems to be the Lakers and Nuggets now that Parker is out. Nuggets seem to play as well without Anthony who is nursing something right now. Portland is still dangerous imo and the Spurs should have Parker back for the playoffs. I know Utah looks nice, but will need some luck getting out of the west. CP3 just busted up his knee. Not that that really affects things. Team is a bust after the trade imo. Hopefully he comes back strong. He'll need a replacement for the all star game. Speaking of which, it's on Valentine's Day/weekend at Cowboys stadium in Dallas.

2010 Western Conference All-Stars

#13 * Steve Nash (Phoenix) G 6-3 178 02/07/74 Santa Clara

#24 * Kobe Bryant (L.A. Lakers) G 6-6 205 08/23/78 Lower Merion HS

#15 * Carmelo Anthony (Denver) F 6-8 230 05/29/84 Syracuse

#21 * Tim Duncan (San Antonio) F 6-11 260 04/25/76 Wake Forest

#1 * Amare Stoudemire (Phoenix) F/C 6-10 245 11/16/82 Cypress Creek HS

#35 Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City) F 6-9 230 09/29/88 Texas

#16 Pau Gasol (L.A. Lakers) F 7-0 227 07/06/80 Barcelona, Spain

#41 Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas) F 7-0 245 06/19/78 Wurzburg, Germany

#50 Zach Randolph (Memphis) F 6-9 260 07/16/81 Michigan State

#7 Brandon Roy (Portland) G 6-6 211 07/23/84 Washington

8 # Deron Williams (Utah) G 6-3 207 06/26/84 Illinois

INJURED* 3 Chris Paul (New Orleans) G 6-0 175 05/06/85 Wake Forest

*Stern to pick replacement.


2010 Eastern Conference All-Stars

#3 * Allen Iverson (Philadelphia) G 6-0 165 06/07/75 Georgetown

#3 * Dwyane Wade (Miami) G 6-4 210 01/17/82 Marquette

#23 * LeBron James (Cleveland) F 6-8 250 12/30/84 St. Vincent/St. Mary HS

#5 * Kevin Garnett (Boston) F 6-11 220 05/19/76 Farragut Academy (HS)

#12 * Dwight Howard (Orlando) C 6-11 265 12/08/85 SW Atlanta Christian Academy

#15 Al Horford (Atlanta) F/C 6-10 245 06/03/86 Florida

#4 Chris Bosh (Toronto) F/C 6-10 230 03/24/84 Georgia Tech

#2 Joe Johnson (Atlanta) G 6-7 235 06/29/81 Arkansas

#34 Paul Pierce (Boston) F 6-7 235 10/13/77 Kansas

#1 Rajon Rondo (Boston) G 6-1 171 02/22/86 Kentucky

#1 Derrick Rose (Chicago) G 6-3 190 10/04/88 Memphis

#3 Gerald Wallace (Charlotte) F 6-7 215 07/23/82 Alabama

Looks like no TMAC! As it should be. Reports had him in.

Around the league...
Didn't address Agent 0 getting banned at least the remainder of the year for pulling a gun in the locker. As much as I like the dude, he is an idiot and deserves the ban and to have his contract voided imo. Most likely he'll get a large buyout unless he has to do time. I still don't understand why he got all the heat when his team mate also pulled a gun. Now they are both suspended and Arenas has to see what the courts will sentence him to for being an idiot.

[Showtime]

Well 1 game or so away and what a crazy year. Like I said before injuries seemed to affect the league like an epidemic. Just on the Show there was Bynum, Kobe, Artest, LO, Farmar, Walton, Gasol, etc. It cost us several wins and as a unit, they are not as cohesive as a reigning championship team should be. Good news is that Bynum should be ready to go for the playoffs. Bad news is that don't know how that will go. The two 7's still don't play well together imo. They shut Kobe down for the last 2 games. I wish it would have been for the last 2 weeks. The team played great when he was out resting that hand. That injury cost at least 5 wins imo. Though some of those ftw shots he took were fun. He had so many terrible shooting nights that I would have rather he rehabed longer and let the team find its way win or lose. I am hoping for a short 1st round cuz 2nd and 3rd could be a little crazy.

Playoffs are here!!! No not even close. With 1 or 2 games remaining, there are 1 or 2 games separating 2-5 and 6-8 in the west and same in the east for 5-7 and 8.


It's up for grabs! Who wants it? Can't predict where teams will end up since it will go to the wire.

Lakers with another win are #2 in the league and have the playoffs locked up in the west. Funny how 2-8 bounced around for the last couple of weeks. No dominate #2, but a lot of good teams trying to get it going for the playoffs.

Watched Phoenix dismantle the Nuggets last night. Gotta say that Nash is still the most fun to watch of any point guard. It's funny like the teams that seemed too old and on their way out are still causing all kinds of problems for the new up and coming squads.

Speaking of old and washed up... Spurs have been playing great. Especially with all their injuries. If they keep playing like this, most teams won't want to play them. Portland is in, but probably lost their main guy for the rest of the year. Which will most likely help the Show, but you gotta wonder what could have been for them. It's like they are cursed.

Durant got down this year and it's turning into a bowie before jordan thing again. He can already do what Carmello does (score) and is getting better. Don't think they can win a series? They are young and don't know that. Their loud arena helps a bit.

The Jazz also get a boost at home. They are a workhorse and get there every year and fall out every year. Should be able to handle portland if they get them.

Dallas... umm doubt they make a splash especially if they play the spurs in the 1st round. It was a good trade, but they are dallas.


EAST has 4 teams to talk about and 3 that everyone knows and 2 that will problably go to their finals, and one obvious favorite.

Cleveland has playoffs locked up with most wins in the league and shut down James for the last few games. LeBron = MVP. Shaq is back from his rest errr injury. Jamison turning into nice win now addition. They look like a monster, but will have to try to figure out Orlando their only real competition imo.

Orlando is the 2 seed in the east and could have home court in the finals. Dwight is the defensive player of the year. They haven't been the same since losing Tork, but they have shined and is the only team that can upset the cavs in the east imo. They spread the floor and Superman2 has no problem playing the old man of steel straight up.

The Hawks and Celtics are both wild cards imo. You never know what you are going to get with the wildly inconsistant celtics, but they could possibly win the 1st round and then upset a team or 2. Not going to happen, but it's possible. Problem is that there are 3 teams that can beat them in a series. So looks like its time to break up the big 3... Garnett, Pierce, and... Rhondo. Atlanta could do something... just not this year. Maybe the bulls can pull off a mircale upset if they get in, but not 2 or 3 or even 1 since it will have to be against the cavs. Same goes for Miami, the Bucks (lost Bogut for the year), and the Hornets.

Love this time of year!

[Showtime]

Playoffs!!!

CAV VS CHI CAVS UP 1 - 0
ORL VS CHA
ATL VS MIL ATL UP 1 - 0
BOS VS MIA BOS UP 1 - 0

LA VS OKC
DAL VS SA
PHO VS POR
DEN VS UTAH DEN UP 1 - 0



Not a lot of surprises.

Cavs cruise.

Nuggets cruise against injured jazz.

Boston struggles with Miami. KG elbows q and gets ejected and should be suspended for next game.

Atlanta had a little trouble with the bucks, but losing your starting center just before the playoffs really hurts.

Portlands Roy could be back late in the series if it goes long enough or maybe the 2nd round. Again, losing your starting guard/star player right before the playoffs hurts. Team was my darkhorse. Now it's probably the Thunder in west and boston in the east. Yes, they are a distant 4th imo.

Now for the Show... Bynum is back and says he's pain free. Benches Mbenga got hit in the eye, had surgeory, might be able to play game 2. Lmao. Please let that be the last injury.

Phil already started the head games by stating (along w/ others) that Durant already gets superstar treatment. He does. Durant will try to prove he deserves it and the Lakers will handle their business. Though this squad is much more questionable than last years. But if they start to gel, it will be very entertaining.

Lakers officially are not a great team... well according to this. I agree for the reg season Lakers, but playoff Lakers should be another story.

http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerrankings

[MrGreg]

Only upset so far!

[RoniMan]

I have to say Showtime, this is the most I've ever agreed with you. I don't believe there is a magic button they can push. Kobe's injury/age is finally catching up to him. D-fish, as much as I love him, isn't the same player anymore. Odom is being Odom-ish...for now. I think Lakers will have an uphill battle all the way to the Finals.

However, after all that, there is still hope. If Lakers can finally see the power of the Gasol/Bynum combo, it could potentially be enough to bring back the championship. This is a BIG "maybe" b/c it all relies on Kobe putting his ego on the shelf and taking on a "leadership/support" role.

Cleveland and Orlando will have a major fight to get out of the east. The winner will be pretty banged up, which will be of benefit to the Lakers.

For the last 2 games, I'm happy they won, but I just don't feel they're SOLID wins.

[Showtime]

OK it's go time. So far the kids really have outplayed the vets imo. Which is sad cuz Bynum and the bench are relatively young and should play with more energy and the vets should play smarter.
If the Lakers are going to fall, I want it to happen here. Kobe needs to learn and so do the rest. Pound the ball to the middle when you have that advantage. Do it the whole game or fail. Kobe needs to not play ball outside of the NBA, but he wont. Even MJ took those 2 years off to play baseball and it may have prolonged his bball career. But we are getting too far ahead...

Lakers win tonight for sure. But if they don't finish it up in at 6, they fail imo.

GO SHOW!

[Showtime]

Ok so the Show finally got in gear and swept the Jazz. Though they could have easily lost a game or 2. I really don't respect phoenix in the playoffs so I don't really care if people thought they were a good team. I do respect Nash. He has a bloody history with the spurs and gotta respect dude for playing through a closed eye. They still can't match up so unless everything falls, they will be swept. Oh and Kobe has payback on his mind. That's never a good thing for an opposing team. No Drew, no biggie. Will make things harder in the finals. Either way see you in the finals.

IN THE EAST. WTF happened Bron? I fully expected the Cavs to rep the east and give the Lakers some problems. Celtics are showing some people, but they haven't showed me anything but Bron was really injured and has a terrible coach. Though Rhondo's triple double was simply amazing. Lot's of good basketball mixed in with the mediocre crap. I don't care who wins out, but think the Magic will still win this series. All that physical play is just going to sharpen them and make them a little more dangerous in the finals.
We'll see. Big game later.

Strange to see 3 sweeps in the 2nd round.
Stranger to see Rhondo have an epic triple double.
Strangest to see the Cavs beat soundly.

[Showtime]

FINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

say it again....

FINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Celtics shocked the world. It's too bad the Magic didn't start the series with the right mindset. The experience will make them better, but LEWIS NEEDS TO GO. To quote Scarface... "I never like that guy." He reminded me of LO at his worst. Man up! That was the conference finals and you are the reason your team is not advancing.

Also, LeBron is probably leaving. I didn't think he would, but now Ferry is gone. Sounds like a sinking ship. Maybe they will make James the GM and Coach-player. Gotta love all the speculation. It would be funny if 2 or 3 of the big free agents got together and pulled a fab 5. Or what if Lebron ended up in LA. If I were him, I'd stay put, become GM-player, and go after Amare or Chris.

Back to the FINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So game 1 was fun. Celtics came in expecting to steam roll the show like they did in the final game of 08. They didn't. They got healthy for the playoffs and apparently, the Lakers got healthy for the finals. Boston got dominated thx to Artest and Bynum being in the lineup. Thx to Kobe playing like he's finally healthy. But mostly thx to Gasol who was the soft guy in defeat, but showed people a lot this time. Team effort won the day. As it should be. BUT game 2 is about adjustments and... talking smack? Pau said KG lost a step. KG did lose a step. Gasol said it nicely and that KG would still bring it etc... BUT Gasol is smart and probably knew it incite them. Rhondo has a big smile anticipating what big bro will do and KG has a chip and so what. Man up Gasol. Show and prove. Better not backfire...

Big game 2 in an hour or so.

NOTES:

The historical matchup between the 2 teams that have more than half of all the Championships between them.

The hated rivalry renewed.

The history between current teams. (Bad Blood! Thx to pau, but it was always there. The fans. 08 Finals. Pierce jealous of Kobe etc. )

THE MOST IMPORTANT NOTE: PHIL JACKSON HAS NEVER LOST A SERIES AFTER GOING UP 1 - 0 in a 7 game series.

GO LAKERS!

[Showtime]

****IN refs! How can the officiating be so bad. There is no rhyme or reason and it's funny how just about every play that was reviewed had the call over turned and even one of those were wrong after being changed. Doesn't matter to me cuz we got home court. But man this is the ugliest finals...

Time for some home cookin'! Time for the wakeup call. Lakers are gonna punish those ugly celtics tonight and their fairy tale run will be forgotten after thursdays smackdown.

GO LAKERS!

[Showtime]

2010 Los Angeles Lakers are your NBA CHAMPIONS!

Did I mention that I love beating the boston celtics. LOVE IT!

What a game! Boston basically led the whole way til they hit that road block that I told you was coming. Incredible defensive battle that some will say is one of the greatest game 7's in history. BUT it wasn't. It was a flukey game where the Lakers shot free throws terribly and Kobe's offense, not just his shot, was off for most of the night. Of course that opened the door for all kinds of drama, but most of it was of the Lakers own making. Celtics had bullied their way into the finals and then got punked by the bigger and better show. Your run and your team is done. Magic won't bow out and LBJ will have his robin next year. Rays leaving, sheed is done (he even wanted words with the refs after the game), KG has lost a step and Paul got punked.

Kobe MVP huh.. yeah overall i guess he was. Though Gasols numbers were just as impressive imo.
Too bad Pau missed sooo many free throws. I don't know what was worse to watch; kobe jacking up bad and highly contested shots or pau's free throws.
Ron ron ron! GAME 7 MVP no doubt. Amazing defense. Clutch shots and rebounds. Where were you the other 5-6 games though? He will give pierce nightmares this whole offseason. Ask rhondos chin about that.
Derek played great for most of the finals. Good d on ray, but didn't really shine much tonight offensively til the 4th tonight on a very clutch 3 pointer.
Bynum gutted it out. Needs surgery and still might be traded if someone like bosch decides he wants a ring.
LO showed up and did nice tonight. So much potential still.
Bench has a long ways to go to being that bench mob they once were. They played decent the last 2 games. Farmar could be on the block. Walton would too if we weren't paying him so much lol.
We'll just have to see. At least Sasha hit his free throws at the end. Brown has some nice highlights and will hopefully work on his ball handling and defense in the off season.

What can you say about PJ? Never won COTY, and yet he is the greatest to ever coach in the NBA. 11 rings? Yeah that's really going to be topped in our lifetime. Phil should be back. If not Byron Scott will be coaching the lakers next year. I don't have a problem with either scenario.

Now this was fun. Time to move for the 3-peat. It's that fast my friends. WE might get it, we might not. Things are going to be so shook up in the offseason that no one can predict anything about next year yet. We'll, except that the Lakers should be up there again.