The 2010/2011 NBA Season Thread

[gnr-4-ever]

3. Averaged league-best 34.4 points to go along with 8.3 rebounds & 3.3 assists

Nothing wrong with those stats!

Yeah, LeBron had almost the same stats (but with a higher fg%, and a few more asists and steals) but the turnovers probably cost him the award. (6 for Melo and 15 for LeBron)


I've bet my money on Boston before the season started, but it looks like they fucked it up with that trade when they got rid of Perk. He was probably their missing piece for the finals and probably the tittle. Now they got Krstic, and the two O'Neals and no time to build chemistry with them. Will be interesting to see what happens with them.

[LongGoneDay]

I'd be pleasantly surprised if Shaq is ready to go this week.  I was figuring on the playoffs at best, if not the second round (if they were to advance).  And if he does play, can he stay healthy for the full grind of the playoffs?  It's hard to imagine he could the way his health has been this year.  Unless he's not all that injured and they're just playing it safe this whole time. 

That's what I have been hoping all year, that they were just saving him. He has a tendency to start fast and fade down the stretch the last few years, so was hoping that was the reason he hasn't been playing. Seeing him go out after 5 minutes made me a lot more nervous though! I guess we will find out soon enough. I'm sure he will do everything in his power to get out there since it's most likely his last chance at another ring.

[LongGoneDay]

[/quote]



I've bet my money on Boston before the season started, but it looks like they fucked it up with that trade when they got rid of Perk. He was probably their missing piece for the finals and probably the tittle. Now they got Krstic, and the two O'Neals and no time to build chemistry with them. Will be interesting to see what happens with them.
[/quote]

The Perk trade will be brought up until C's win w/o him, no doubt. I'm not too concerned about chemistry when it comes to Shaq and JO though, just health. If they are all healthy, and that's a big "if", Shaq should fit back in seamlessly. There won't be as much pressure on Nenad coming off the bench. I really want to see Green more aggressive. He's got some moves that remind me of Pierce. He's just too passive thus far.

As much as I'd like to see Perk in green right now, when C's were clicking early, it was w/o him. Even w/o Shaq, I can see them competing with most teams. Lakers, because of their size are the only team that would really scare me without him. That's a long way away, and if C's and Lakers got that far, I think Shaq would have leg transplants if that's what it took for him to have a chance to beat Kobe.

[D]

Just saw Carmelo Anthony and Spike Lee outside my work, like 5 feet away from me, he just finished taking pictures with people outside the Garden.  Eastern Conference Player of the week!

1. Led Knicks to a perfect 3-0 week
2. Knicks clinch first playoff berth since 2003-04 season
3. Averaged league-best 34.4 points to go along with 8.3 rebounds & 3.3 assists

number 2 doesn't count as they were playoff team before trade.

[Bodhi]

Just saw Carmelo Anthony and Spike Lee outside my work, like 5 feet away from me, he just finished taking pictures with people outside the Garden.  Eastern Conference Player of the week!

1. Led Knicks to a perfect 3-0 week
2. Knicks clinch first playoff berth since 2003-04 season
3. Averaged league-best 34.4 points to go along with 8.3 rebounds & 3.3 assists

number 2 doesn't count as they were playoff team before trade.

so they're not in the Playoffs?   

[D]

just saying Melo isn't why they are a playoff team for first time since 2003-04


Also denver 15-4 just beat the red hot lakers AT LA in a must win for LA

No other team could  trade their biggest superstar and get better which is why i think Melo is a great scorer, but bad teammate/overall basketball player.

[Bodhi]

just saying Melo isn't why they are a playoff team for first time since 2003-04


Also denver 15-4 just beat the red hot lakers AT LA in a must win for LA

No other team could  trade their biggest superstar and get better which is why i think Melo is a great scorer, but bad teammate/overall basketball player.

Denver was also irrelevant for about 25 years (minus 1 or 2 Mutumbo seasons) before Melo got there.

[Ignatius]

This thread is getting better and better. So many thinks to comment on now...

Ok, regarding the Jordan debate, whether if he should be labeled as the best player of all time, or if he would've been another Iverson if Paxon or Pippen had not stepped in...I believe I'm the oldest one here posting on this board. I've been watching NBA basketball since 1986, some of you weren't even born yet...so let me just say...

I'm biased when it comes to MJ, so take this with a grain of salt, however, saying MJ would've been another Iverson had not been for Pippen or Paxon is probably the biggest piece of crap I've read here (sorry Garry).  Paxson became a bull in 1985, Scottie in 1987. The Bulls didn't win a ring until 1991. Paxson and Pippen  were just mediocre players (for God's sake, look at Paxson stats...they are simply awful). Scottie, didn't even start on his first year (Brad Sellers did). Actually, in 1987, the best Bulls players were Jordan and then Charles Oakley, who got traded to the Knicks for....Bill Cartwright (replacement Center for Pat Ewing).

It was playing alongside MJ what make Pippen the player he later became.  If you take a look at the Bulls roaster the first three rings, you see a team with a super star (MJ), a decent player WHO became an all start thanx to MJ (Pippen), a power foward with decent numbers (Horace Grant) and the forgotten names of ; Cliff Levingston, Craig Hodges, Will Perdue, Bill Cartwright, Rodney McCray,.... The Bulls won those three rings because each and every player, had a very specific role. MJ learned the hard way, he knew he couldn't go past Detroit scoring 40 points per game, so he got all his team mates involved. Some of you may have read the book "The Jordan Rules"  - if you haven't, please read it, it's an amazing insight on the Bulls locker room before they actually won the first ring - MJ was just somebody who didn't trust his team and even made fun of some of his team mates. However, he realized he needed them in order to win a ring, so he made the necessary changes.

Pippen later became an allstar, olimpic gold medalist, listed amongst the top 50 players in NBA history....you name it. HOWEVER, do not forget had not been for MJ, I have no doubts he would've never accomplished anything. Take a look and see what he's done without MJ.

Regarding Kobe, I like him. I believe he's the best player of the decade. Hands down. He should've been awarded with 3 MVP's already...but to go as far as to say he is a better player than MJ is fucking ridiculous. MJ is a thousand light years away from Kobe. There's no possible comparision. I have seen both players play at their prime and YES, Kobe is the closest thing we have to MJ today, but that's it. You can take a look at individual accomplishments, team efforts.... there's no comparision. MJ wins hands down. In addition, the impact MJ had in the league will NEVER, EVER be seen by any other player. For God's sake, Jordan is the reason why an 11 year old kid from fucking Madrid, Spain, started to watch the NBA on TV. He was the main reason why spanish TV back in 1987 started to show LIVE NBA games every friday. I remember, at least twice a month, we had a BULLS game (and that was when Bird and Magic were in their prime).

Kobe is an amazing player and I say he's a top 10 of all time. But he's not Michael Jordan.

As per Lebron James, he's a tremendous STATS player. He just puts up numbers on his stats sheet night after night....but to me it seems like he does nothing and scores 25. I mean, nothing seems to happen and all of the sudden he's one rebound away from a triple double. Don't get me wrong, that's an incredible feature, but...will he ever do something else?? Will he ever win a ring?? Will he ever be the clucth player MJ was? (or even KOBE is now)? I doubt it.

Who will win the title this year? Hard to say. The Lakers and Celtics are strong favorites, as usual. I don't believe the HEAT have the collective intangibles needed to win a ring. The Mavericks, they will never make it. They had a chance 4 years back, but they blew it. Dirk is a great player, but to say if he was american he would've been a top 10 all timer, is silly. There're so many players I can think off right now who could be considered higher up on this ranking than Dirk; Karl Malone, Moses Malone, Stockton, Barkley, Duncan, Olayuwon, Oscar Robertson, Bird, Magic, Jabbar, Kobe, MJ, Oneil, Jerry West, Russell, Bob Cousy, Dr J, Kevin Mchale... The Bulls, seem to be very strong, but they won't be able to go past the Celtics in the playoffs, San Anton will probably lose in the West Semis.

So to me, The Celtics and the Lakers will play the finals again. LA will win.


PS. Melo is a great offensive player, but he's one of the worse defenders in the league. The knicks WILL never win a title unless they get a decent back-up point guard, decent shooting guard and a decent center. Amare and Melo are too dumb to make their teammates better. Chauncy it's too old.

[D]

just saying Melo isn't why they are a playoff team for first time since 2003-04


Also denver 15-4 just beat the red hot lakers AT LA in a must win for LA

No other team could  trade their biggest superstar and get better which is why i think Melo is a great scorer, but bad teammate/overall basketball player.

Denver was also irrelevant for about 25 years (minus 1 or 2 Mutumbo seasons) before Melo got there.

but they were irrelevant with Melo. 2-7 in playoff series. look at last year. Karl went out with cancer. did Melo step up and lead the team? NO, the bottom fell out. Leaders don't let that happen.


Ignatius: How bout the year after Jordan retired when Bulls won 50plus games and made it to Semi Finals only to be cheated in game 7 against knicks? pippen was a great all around player.

[Bodhi]

just saying Melo isn't why they are a playoff team for first time since 2003-04


Also denver 15-4 just beat the red hot lakers AT LA in a must win for LA

No other team could  trade their biggest superstar and get better which is why i think Melo is a great scorer, but bad teammate/overall basketball player.

Denver was also irrelevant for about 25 years (minus 1 or 2 Mutumbo seasons) before Melo got there.

but they were irrelevant with Melo. 2-7 in playoff series. look at last year. Karl went out with cancer. did Melo step up and lead the team? NO, the bottom fell out. Leaders don't let that happen.


Ignatius: How bout the year after Jordan retired when Bulls won 50plus games and made it to Semi Finals only to be cheated in game 7 against knicks? pippen was a great all around player.

yeah but that was a championship team from top to bottom with the best coach of the last 30 years.  Who do the Nuggets have? Nene?  a washed up Kmart?   

The Nuggets couldn't even spell playoffs before Melo got there. He also averaged 30 points in a playoff series that they lost.  That wasn't his fault.

[LongGoneDay]

Ignatius

I agree with just about everything you said.
The Kobe/Jordan debate to me is so tired it's unbelievable. The only reason it ever comes up is because the media, fans too young to have seen MJ, or Laker ballwashers desperately want to believe it's true.

I do happen to have more faith in Lebron for some reason though. He doesn't seem to be the most intelligent guy to ever play, but most of his real bad decisions seem to come off of the court. He's never going to be the shooter MJ was, but he doesn't have to be. I think Wade is the perfect teammate for him. I think the mistake Miami made was Bosh. They severely overrated him in my opinion. My C's seem to have Lebron's number, but any team with Wade on it still scares me, and I think they actually match up better with LA than they do most other playoff teams, if they can get that far.

C's may be a long shot this year, since at some point they will need something out of Shaq, but I'm not writing them off. Gasol had his way with KG last year because KG was playing on one leg and with a bad shoulder. A healthy KG showed he wins that matchup early this year. He was a shell of himself last season, and it cost the C's another ring in my opinion.

[faldor]

KG needs some help in the frontcourt though.  I'm not counting on much from Shaq, and who knows what Jermaine O'Neal can give you.  But if neither of them are considerate contributors, I don't think Kristic and Big Baby is enough help for KG down low.

And I agree, MJ is the best ever.  Kobe is the best today, despite any "clutch" stats you want to throw at me.

[Ignatius]

@ D, the bulls in 93-94 had a solid season. But they couldn't get past the knicks in the east semis. If you watched any of those games held at NY, the bulls had no chance. All those matches were so one-sided that I had no doubts the Knicks didn't really work hard to win despite the 7 matches.

Pippen had an ok season. He averaged one single point more than what he had the previous year. Everyone expected Scottie to score at least 5 more points since Jordan retired, but Scottie was never the scorer Michael was.

In addition, everyone expected pippen to fill in the leadership gap Jordan left but he didn't. You may not remember this but in 1994, in a very close game, Jackson wrote up the game winning shot for Tony kukoc. Scottie, got so
angry he refused to play. Well, it turns out Kukoc shot at the buzzer and scored the game winning three. Scottie walked off the court, head down, while his team mates were celebrating the win on court.

Next season, the bulls had a 34-32 W-L record before Jordan came back. This proves they were already a mediocre team. Then Jordan came back, the bulls won 13 and lost 5, made it to the playoffs and lost against Orlando in the semis. There we had a "clumsy" Jordan who only averaged 26 points per game. In addition, his clutchness was not there. That summer Jordan worked his ass off to take his team back to the top.

Next season, 95/96 the NBA witness the most successful record in the league's history when Chicago had a 72-10 W-L record. Jordan and the bulls would win three more rings.

So yeah, pippen was a great player, but he was no Jordan.

[Bodhi]

Another week, another Eastern Conference Player of the Week for Melo...

1. Led Knicks to 4-0 week
2. Averaged 28.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks & 1.0 steals
3. .529% (18-of-34) from three-point range

[Bodhi]

@ D, the bulls in 93-94 had a solid season. But they couldn't get past the knicks in the east semis. If you watched any of those games held at NY, the bulls had no chance. All those matches were so one-sided that I had no doubts the Knicks didn't really work hard to win despite the 7 matches.

did you watch that series?  If it werent for that bullshit call that gave Hubert Davis those free throws in Game 5, the Knicks actually lose that series in 6.

In the first 3 games at the Garden, the Knicks won by 5, 4 and 1 point.  The last one stolen by the Knicks on a b.s foul call.  What games were you watching that you say these were not competitive?

[GeorgeSteele]

@ D, the bulls in 93-94 had a solid season. But they couldn't get past the knicks in the east semis. If you watched any of those games held at NY, the bulls had no chance. All those matches were so one-sided that I had no doubts the Knicks didn't really work hard to win despite the 7 matches.

did you watch that series?  If it werent for that bullshit call that gave Hubert Davis those free throws in Game 5, the Knicks actually lose that series in 6.

In the first 3 games at the Garden, the Knicks won by 5, 4 and 1 point.  The last one stolen by the Knicks on a b.s foul call.  What games were you watching that you say these were not competitive?

Yeah, I watched that series too.  Everyone's got their own opinion, but the consensus at the time was that the Bulls were robbed.

As for Pippen, nobody argued he was Jordan, only that he was a great all-around player, which he was without question. 

[Ignatius]

@ D, the bulls in 93-94 had a solid season. But they couldn't get past the knicks in the east semis. If you watched any of those games held at NY, the bulls had no chance. All those matches were so one-sided that I had no doubts the Knicks didn't really work hard to win despite the 7 matches.

did you watch that series?  If it werent for that bullshit call that gave Hubert Davis those free throws in Game 5, the Knicks actually lose that series in 6.

In the first 3 games at the Garden, the Knicks won by 5, 4 and 1 point.  The last one stolen by the Knicks on a b.s foul call.  What games were you watching that you say these were not competitive?

I watched that series and I don't remember being so close. Guess you are right though, my memory did not serve me well this time.

[Eazy E]

Here we go.

[gnr-4-ever]

Here we go.

Should be fun.

Though without AI the NBA will probably never be fun for me again.

[faldor]

I'd be pleasantly surprised if Shaq is ready to go this week.  I was figuring on the playoffs at best, if not the second round (if they were to advance).  And if he does play, can he stay healthy for the full grind of the playoffs?  It's hard to imagine he could the way his health has been this year.  Unless he's not all that injured and they're just playing it safe this whole time. 

That's what I have been hoping all year, that they were just saving him. He has a tendency to start fast and fade down the stretch the last few years, so was hoping that was the reason he hasn't been playing. Seeing him go out after 5 minutes made me a lot more nervous though! I guess we will find out soon enough. I'm sure he will do everything in his power to get out there since it's most likely his last chance at another ring.

Surprise, surprise.  Another setback for Shaq.

http://www.csnne.com/04/16/11/Shaq-out-indefinitely/v1_landing_celtics.html?blockID=505329&feedID=3945

Apr 16, 2011

By A. Sherrod Blakely
CSNNE.com

WALTHAM ? Shaquille O'Neal failed a conditioning test this morning, and has been ruled out indefinitely by the Boston Celtics.

Danny Ainge, Boston's president of basketball operations, made the announcement this afternoon with team physician, Dr. Brian McKeon.

"He has been making progress," Ainge said. "We tried to get him out there to practice today, simulate the game as much as we could. He's not ready. We don't know when he'll be ready."

McKeon said the trial O'Neal was involved in consisted of him running, a test McKeon acknowledged O'Neal had failed.

"It didn't work," McKeon said. "It's just too sore. We're going to spend another ... get back to tomorrow and hopefully we'll get him back soon."

O'Neal has had an assortment of right leg injuries all season.

After missing 27 games, O'Neal returned to the Celtics lineup on April 3 against the Detroit Pistons. He played well, but re-aggravated his right calf injury after less than six minutes of court time.

McKeon said the nature of his injury remains in the calf and Achilles region of his right leg.

"This is a tough injury," McKeon said. "The blood supply in this area is so weak. It just needs time."

Time is something O'Neal and the Celtics don't have a lot of right now.

New York doesn't have a ton of big bodies in the frontcourt, so to not have O'Neal for some or even all of the Knicks series, probably won't have much of an impact.

But when you look at a possible second-round matchup with the Miami Heat, size does matter.

And if the C's can somehow survive that, O'Neal and his presence will surely be needed if Boston runs into top-seeded Chicago.