Official NBA thread

[seabeachfred]

Originally Posted by Jacoby_Ellsbury

No one's saying anything about it because it doesn't matter. The Celtics are old and paper-thin. The Lakers are dysfunctional, old, and paper-thin. Neither team has any shot at accomplishing anything so bantering between the two is stupid.

When you say the LA Lakers are dysfunctional, old and paper-thin, you have the perfect reason for my elation with our win last night over your Celtics. Any victory we get against a better team is cause for celebration this season, and right now at least your team has a winning record. We don't as you well know.

Still, knowing how we were once 0-7 against the Celtics in NBA Finals until we finally won one in 1985, anytime we beat that team is cause for elation, and you have to admit that when those two team play they seem to rise above their mediocre play this season. I only hope I will be able to see a few more Celtics-Lakers NBA Finals before it is my time to go.

[Jasonbay44]

John Wall with two clutch jumpers late in the 4th to seal the win? Holy shit, I think he might finally be developing that jumper.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Fuck the Wizards man. I knew after the 3rd we were going to lose.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Originally Posted by seabeachfred

I only hope I will be able to see a few more Celtics-Lakers NBA Finals before it is my time to go.

I wouldn't hold your breath, granted it only takes one stroke of dumb luck to change everything.

The Lakers don't have to do much to hold up their end of the deal. They're a double whammy; they're an attractive team for players of all types because they're constant contenders, they've won 10 titles since 1980 and they've been in the finals essentially every other year, and their home city is probably the most desirable one in the country. Not too long after Kobe's finished they'll draft another Kobe or Magic and be right back at it. Success will come to them, unless Jim Buss completely shits the bed.

The Celtics on the other hand are basically back in 1993 now. Garnett and Pierce are old. Rondo's talented but he plays up and down to his competition and doesn't make his teammates better, and now that he ripped his ACL his trade value is gone. We don't have any future franchise players on the roster, nor do we have any means of getting one outside of the draft. Boston isn't a destination on the NBA map, it's cold, it's in the shadow of New York, and it still has the racist tag. When Red built the Russell dynasty, he was well ahead of his time in a league filled with boneheads. When that was over he still had Havlicek (franchise caliber player), and was able to draft Cowens to go with him, and got two titles out of that in the 70s. In the late 70s when the Celtics were tubgirling, Red made an enormous gamble by drafting Bird's rights while he was still in college. Once the Bird era was over, the Celtics stalled because the rest of the league had finally caught up. Everyone else was as smart as the Celtics, if not smarter (due to Red taking a back seat), and all the loopholes were closed.

We could get back on top by throwing away next season for a strong draft class, but the owners won't have that because odds are they're getting ready to sell the team. It's hard to sell a basement dweller when they haven't had prolonged success since 1990 and don't play in NY, LA, Chicago, Dallas, or Miami. So we'll be riding Pierce and Garnett until they expire, Rondo will 'lead' the team to a bunch of 29 win seasons, and barring a miracle it'll probably be at least a decade before we're relevant again.

[seabeachfred]

Originally Posted by Jacoby_Ellsbury

I wouldn't hold your breath, granted it only takes one stroke of dumb luck to change everything.

The Lakers don't have to do much to hold up their end of the deal. They're a double whammy; they're an attractive team for players of all types because they're constant contenders, they've won 10 titles since 1980 and they've been in the finals essentially every other year, and their home city is probably the most desirable one in the country. Not too long after Kobe's finished they'll draft another Kobe or Magic and be right back at it. Success will come to them, unless Jim Buss completely shits the bed.

The Celtics on the other hand are basically back in 1993 now. Garnett and Pierce are old. Rondo's talented but he plays up and down to his competition and doesn't make his teammates better, and now that he ripped his ACL his trade value is gone. We don't have any future franchise players on the roster, nor do we have any means of getting one outside of the draft. Boston isn't a destination on the NBA map, it's cold, it's in the shadow of New York, and it still has the racist tag. When Red built the Russell dynasty, he was well ahead of his time in a league filled with boneheads. When that was over he still had Havlicek (franchise caliber player), and was able to draft Cowens to go with him, and got two titles out of that in the 70s. In the late 70s when the Celtics were tubgirling, Red made an enormous gamble by drafting Bird's rights while he was still in college. Once the Bird era was over, the Celtics stalled because the rest of the league had finally caught up. Everyone else was as smart as the Celtics, if not smarter (due to Red taking a back seat), and all the loopholes were closed.

We could get back on top by throwing away next season for a strong draft class, but the owners won't have that because odds are they're getting ready to sell the team. It's hard to sell a basement dweller when they haven't had prolonged success since 1990 and don't play in NY, LA, Chicago, Dallas, or Miami. So we'll be riding Pierce and Garnett until they expire, Rondo will 'lead' the team to a bunch of 29 win seasons, and barring a miracle it'll probably be at least a decade before we're relevant again.

Jacoby, seems I have more confidence your Celtics than you do. They always seem to come back. It may take a few more years but they'll be back. One or two solid players and they revive. Besides, the rest of the teams in the EC, save for Miami and maybe one other, always seem to fall on their faces. I can see a Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals in about five or six years. Hopefully my Lakers will somehow get off their snide and start playing well again.

[Jasonbay44]

Originally Posted by RedSoxfanforlife305

Fuck the Wizards man. I knew after the 3rd we were going to lose.

Don't be ashamed, of the Wizards 17 wins, almost all of them were against teams over 500, including another one tonight.

[Jasonbay44]

Lebron just dropped 40/16/8 in a double overtime win.. Holy shit.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Why is that impressive? He played against the sorry ass Kings and nearly lost.

[Jasonbay44]

Originally Posted by RedSoxfanforlife305

Why is that impressive? He played against the sorry ass Kings and nearly lost.

True. Every night a player is putting up 40 and 16 against the Kings.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Well the superstars capable of doing it, don't go 2 OT in order to make it happen. What was LeBron's stat sheet like at the end of regulation?

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

15 points and 4 assist in OT.

He would have finished with 25 points and 12 assist had the game ended in regulation. I'm not surprised by the end result because he earned the points with extra time. His 2OT performance was impressive no doubt, but don't see the oohs and ahhs of him dropping 40 and 16 on a scrub ass team in not one, but two overtimes.

[Jasonbay44]

Originally Posted by RedSoxfanforlife305

Well the superstars capable of doing it, don't go 2 OT in order to make it happen. What was LeBron's stat sheet like at the end of regulation?

In the history of the NBA, there has only been 6 other times where a player has had 40+ points and 15+ assists, this includes games against shit teams, 2+ overtime games and playoffs and its only been done twice since 1994. The last time it was done, was in 2010, by of course, Lebron.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/...=&order_by=pts


Even with two overtimes, Lebron "only" played 48 minutes and he took over the 2nd overtime, a part of the game where most players are fatigued and would be slowing down, he seemed to actually get stronger. The numbers he put up are impressive, it doesn't matter who he was playing against and how many overtimes there was, 40 point, 15+ assist games don't happen very often.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

The stats don't suck and I gave him credit for his 2 OT performance. I just don't find it impressive because he needed more time to get there. Even if he did it against the bobcats, I would have been impressed, only if he did it in regulation.

Btw: You say only 48 minutes but he averages 38 a game.

[Jasonbay44]

Numerous superstars have played in 2+ overtime games in their careers and have never put up a 40/15 game, the only active player with a 40/15 game is Lebron. those type of numbers don't happen, regardless of amount of overtimes or team they are going up against. I know overtimes can inflate stats (Paul Pierce had like a 20/14/14 game in triple OT a few weeks ago), but these number are still impressive and incredibly rare.

[italstallianion]

I think you're both right.

The numbers are impressive.

The numbers are slightly discounted because of the fact the game went to two overtimes.

Settled?