The 2008/2009 NBA season thread

[w.axl.rose]

check it out Garry, Hotdogs 

http://www.tmz.com/videos?autoplay=true&mediaKey=75e1b051-ec04-42ef-b52d-06bc5cb00765

[faldor]

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/

Wallace commits to Celtics
Link|Comments (0) Posted by Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff July 5, 2009 08:13 PM
An NBA source said tonight that Detroit free agent forward Rasheed Wallace has committed to sign with the Celtics on July 8 when free agents are able to sign. Wallace is expected to get a two-year deal using the mid-level exception (expected to be about $5.6 million to $5.8 million). Celtics All-Star trio of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, owner Wyc Grousbeck, coach Doc Rivers and president Danny Ainge met with Wallace last week. Wallace turned down overtures from Orlando and San Antonio to commit to Boston.
The Celtics also have interest in Suns free agent forward Grant Hill. Despite a Fanhouse report that Rivers was to meet with Hill today in Orlando, its uncertain if he did and Rivers declined comment. All Boston can offer is the $1.9 million bi-annual exception.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

The two great teams of the league get the two baddest boys from this past decade.

What's Rodman up to?

[faldor]

I was never a big Rasheed fan for obvious reasons.  But 2 years ago when he was caught singing along to "Paradise City" before a playoff game with the C's, made me look at him differently.  If he likes GNR, he's fine in my book.  I can overlook some of his deficiencies.

I just heard on the New England Sunday Sports Show that the Grant Hill signing will be made official by the C's by the end of the week.  But since they signed Rasheed and the Spurs ultimately lost out on that front, that Glen Davis will be going to San Antonio.  So basically if you want to compare last years Celtics roster to next years, you have Rasheed and Grant Hill replacing Big Baby and Leon Powe (who won't be ready to go until late in the season if at all).  They could still use a legitimate backup PG and C, who couldn't?  They really could use another big man though, they have no legit center on the roster other than Perkins.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Quite a youth movement you have going on up in Boston.

[faldor]

Quite a youth movement you have going on up in Boston.

Yeah, so much for Danny blowing things up and re-tooling.  Looks like they're going for it with what they've got while the window is still open.  Should have a couple years left to be a major player.  THEN, let the re-tooling begin.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Quite a youth movement you have going on up in Boston.

Yeah, so much for Danny blowing things up and re-tooling.  Looks like they're going for it with what they've got while the window is still open.  Should have a couple years left to be a major player.  THEN, let the re-tooling begin.

Enter:  The great Celtics teams of the 90's.

[faldor]

Quite a youth movement you have going on up in Boston.

Yeah, so much for Danny blowing things up and re-tooling.  Looks like they're going for it with what they've got while the window is still open.  Should have a couple years left to be a major player.  THEN, let the re-tooling begin.

Enter:  The great Celtics teams of the 90's.

Ah, the glory years. 

They've got a lot of work to regress to that level.  The Celtics of the 90's came about because the big 3 finished their careers and Len Bias and Reggie Lewis died.  They were still a decent team before Lewis passed, but he was their best player and wasn't easy to replace.  Mix in the possible tanking of the 1996 season in hopes of getting the #1 pick to draft Tim Duncan, which of course didn't happen and they ended up with Billups/Mercer instead.  And a slew of bad moves by Rick Pitino, it took years to recover from all those things.  Hopefully we never get back to that level.

I was so excited when Pitino came aboard too.  But he was AWFUL!

Also on Mike and Mike this morning they had a Boston sports journalist on who said the Celtics were looking to sign BOTH Grant Hill AND Glen Davis.  I'd like to keep Big Baby, he's made great strides so far in his career.  But I don't know if there's much more room for improvement.  He may have reached his ceiling, so if they do sign him I hope it's at a reasonable price.  Let's not forget the guy isn't the most shapely gentlemen to ever play the game.

[D]

Id rather have Big Baby than Rasheed


Sheed is over the hill and finished. Shoots way too many threes and is a headcase.

Big Baby hit that huge shot against Orlando and is getting better every season, plus he is young

dumb move

[faldor]

I think Big Baby and Rasheed are closer than most people say, but I don't think I'd ve Glen the nod just yet.  He stepped up his game big time during the playoffs, but as I said before, I'm not convinced he hasn't reached his ceiling.  He's a bit undersized (crazy as that sounds) for a PF. He carries his weight pretty well but he didn't have a prayer at staying with Rashard Lewis or guys like that.  He's more of a banger, Rasheed is far more versatile.

[D]

WHAT?

U think Rasheed Wallace can guard Rashard Lewis at the 3pt line?

[faldor]

WHAT?

U think Rasheed Wallace can guard Rashard Lewis at the 3pt line?

I don't know if he can, but I know Big Baby can't.  Rasheed can defend the post better than Davis, so regardless, he's a better defender.  And it's not just about guarding Rashard Lewis at the 3 point line, Lewis at 6'10" could shoot right over Davis, Wallace can at least match him height wise.

[Bill 213]

Man it's getting worse and worse with the "rich get richer" ideology behind basketball next year.  The Knicks apparently just don't give a fuck anymore and I highly doubt that their anticipation of a "major" free agent after next season will pan to anything...maybe Bosh if they're lucky.  We didn't get Curry so that hurt us too I feel.  Eh fuck it......another season of only having the Celtics, Cavs, Magic and Lakers dominating the league!

[D]

Im not real big on LA the more I think about it.

A team needs certain parts to work. I think they have too many egos now, too many stars.

U thought Lamar Odom pouted last season.


artest is a ball stopper and he takes ill advised shots. Gonna be interesting to see how he co-exists with this team

also, putting Ron in LA is a bad idea as he will be distracted to no end.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

L.O. didn't pout last year, what are you talking about?!!?!?

[D]

Maybe it was last year, but I remember he didn't care much for being off the bench there for a while earlier in the season



my Mavs are getting ready to pick up Shawn Marion.

I may sound crazy, but we are dangerous.


We won 50 games with Josh Howard missing 36. U add Marion and Gortat who would be a nice upgrade over Dampier with Damp coming off the bench and we get more athletic and better defensively.


Kidd
Howard
Marion
Dirk
Gortat

JET
Damp
Wright
Barea

off the bench

good team

[Malcolm]

Raps are gonna have a great starting lineup

Bosh
Calderon
Bargnani
Derozan
Turkoglu
Parker

[Eazy E]

Raps are losing Parker because of the Turkoglu signing... but that's OK because you just listed 6 players for a starting lineup.  Hopefully Calderon stays healthy this season, his injury last year absolutely killed us.

I'm interested to see how Orlando fares with VC in the lineup, it seems like it could have the same result as D's prediction for LA with Ron.  Though Vince's problem is a lack of drive & heart as opposed to a big ego.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

The Mavs are only a danger to themselves. 

Orlando goes down the shitter with Vinsanity in there.  Fewer touches for Howard = botched development.  Carter is a cancer like Iverson.

[AxlsMainMan]

Iverson's ego own worst enemy

It is equal parts arms race, high-stakes poker (we'll see your Shaq and raise you a 'Sheed) and familiar tradition, this practice of top teams selectively plucking an NBA veteran free agent and enticing him with the prospect of a deep playoff run, a final season or two of fun and a few more solid (if not grand) paydays. Rasheed Wallace to Boston is a classic example, a player in the twilight of his career who is willing to fit his somewhat diminished skills into a specific role for a good team that's getting better. Grant Hill might try to do it with the Celtics, too, two years after applying the rationale in his move to Phoenix.

In Hollywood terms, it's the leading man or lady who transitions into character roles. Michael Finley and Antonio McDyess both did it recently, signing with defending champions San Antonio (2005) and Detroit ('04) respectively (and in McDyess' case, a year too late). Karl Malone tried it with the Lakers in '03. Gary Payton did it twice, jumping aboard the Lakers in '03, then getting it right with Miami in '05. Shaquille O'Neal's transfer to Cleveland is just a variation, officially a trade and way more trumpeted because of his overall Shaqness. But the idea still is the same: A household name who's past his All-Star prime, ready now to be a supporting player.

Allen Iverson ought to be next. The '01 MVP, nine-time All-Star and four-time scoring leader has the individual r?sum? for such a move. He presumably has the financial wherewithal to take the requisite pay cut after 13 seasons of superstar wages, including the $76.7 million extension he landed in '03 and the "lifetime" endorsement deal (whatever that means) he signed with Reebok in '01. He even has the game for it -- think instant offense, sixth man, the sort of player a coach could turn loose off the bench to mess with the opponents' second unit almost at will. At 34, Iverson still is quick enough, slippery enough and crafty enough to change games.

What he doesn't have, though, is the attitude for it. Or the personality, the ego, the inclination or the confidence. Iverson always has been the league's most self-contained offensive player, a dynamic, irrepressible and (pound for pound) generally durable scorer who asks as much of his own team's attack as he forces upon the other team's defense. It worked marvelously in Philadelphia, where Larry Brown directed players who were instructed to do all the things Iverson wouldn't or couldn't do. It did not work as well in Denver, where others wanted and needed the ball, and it most certainly did not work last season in Detroit, where the Pistons' run was over, and Iverson's pertinent number was not his 27.7-point scoring average but his $20.8 million expiring contract.

Yet Iverson still blames his "most miserable" season -- that's what he called it in a Detroit Free Press story Sunday -- on others. Recently fired Michael Curry "wasn't ready" to be an NBA head coach. Pistons boss Joe Dumars misled him into thinking he was acquired for competitive reasons, not payroll-clearing. That practice he skipped on Thanksgiving, his across-the-board dip in his numbers (17.4 ppg, 4.9 apg, 1.6 spg, 36.5 percent shooting with Detroit), his refusal to embrace or even tolerate a reserve role (fine for Richard Hamilton but not fine for AI), his somewhat mysterious back injury that clipped the final two weeks off his season? Not his fault.

Even setting aside all that, would the Lakers bother to plug Iverson into their hallowed triangle offense? Would the Spurs welcome his ball-hoggery? Would Iverson find a way to spell "ubuntu" with an I in Boston, clear out for LeBron James in Cleveland or facilitate either Dwight Howard or the three-point shooters in Orlando? No, no and no.

Which explains why we hear mostly of the Grizzlies as the team Iverson now might consider and be considered by. That's right, the lowly Grizzlies who won 15 fewer games than the Pistons in Iverson's season of misery. Murmurs about Miami might make sense if he were open to sixth-man status, but Iverson reiterated to the Free Press that he would retire rather than come off anyone's bench. Besides, the help Dwyane Wade is lobbying for -- "someone who can make plays and make others better" the Heat star told reporters in South Florida on Monday -- doesn't sound much like this guy.

Iverson says he wants to continue playing in the NBA but apparently only on his terms, with minutes and shots more of a priority than victories or rings. At least you can't say dollars, since the pay cut he'll be facing down to the mid-level exception (about $5.8 million) or some fraction thereof will be staggering wherever he goes. He just sounds incapable of changing, too insecure to handle the "Didn't you used to be 'The Answer'?" looks and questions.

In terms of NBA precedents, Iverson is way ahead of Shawn Marion and on the verge of eclipsing Latrell Sprewell as the most rapidly marginalized and fallen talent, non-crippling injury category. The transitions that Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Nate Archibald and Bob McAdoo successfully navigated, from Mr. Franchise types to supporting players who gained rings and added credibility late in their Hall of Fame careers, seems beyond him. Iverson's most face-saving option might be Europe, where he could truly be a gate attraction without rocking other NBA players' boats.

Don't forget, though, that even Dominique Wilkins -- after taking his dunking and scoring overseas for a couple of seasons -- eventually accepted diminished roles in Boston, San Antonio and Orlando near the end route to Springfield. Iverson, on the other hand, could end up like Madonna headlining on the casinos circuit because she wouldn't sing backup for Beyonce.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/steve_aschburner/07/07/iverson/index.html