The 2010/2011 NBA Season Thread

[D]

Dirk HUGE fourth quarter last night. 18 pts in 4th!

[gnr-4-ever]

CP3 just owned the Lakers.

Also Kobe's "I'll take every goddamn shot in the last 3-4 minutes of the game, who cares about teammates" attitude didn't help L.A. But then again I go used to that in like 2005 so nothing new there.

Nevertheless I expect L.A. to win it by 4:2 in the end.

Too bad West went down, who knows how would the Hornets play with him in the line up.

Next up Knicks @ Celtics. Should be fun.

[faldor]

Knicks impressed me tonight.  Actually played some pretty solid defense overall.  And Amare was a BEAST.  He could not be stopped.  Carmello had an off night though and was in some foul trouble early on. 

Ray Allen had a big game, as did Pierce and KG.  There was a Jermaine O'Neal sighting, and he actually played real solid.  It looked like turn back the clock night for him.  The Knicks played NO defense on Rondo, by design, and it worked to perfection for the most part.  C's are going to have to do something about that.  Billups went down towards the end of the game and didn't return.  We'll have to see if it's anything serious.  Without him, I wouldn't like the Knicks chances.

Celtics really didn't play all that great.  The Knicks certainly played better, IMO, but the C's escaped with a win.  And that's all that really matters this time of year.  Something the Lakers, Spurs, and Magic can't say for themselves.

[D]

Melo shows once again why he has only been out of first round once

terrible shot selection all game long. ball hawking, ball stopping.

Lakers will win series in spite of Kobe.

[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.

Surprise, surprise.  Another setback for Shaq.

Haha, I know, it's painful. They may be able to get past the Knicks without him, but even that is looking suspect right now. If they start playing smarter ball I think they could even get past Miami w/o him, but gonna need Shaq vs Chicago, and def vs LA or OKC. The way they are playing right now they are lucky they aren't down 0-2. Hopefully they turn it on quick.

[LongGoneDay]

Melo shows once again why he has only been out of first round once

terrible shot selection all game long. ball hawking, ball stopping.

Lakers will win series in spite of Kobe.

Couldn't ask for more out of Melo than he gave last night. Gutty performance out of the Knicks in general.

[LongGoneDay]

Some conflicting reports on the big guy...

Celts say Shaq has shown 'some improvement'
http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/news/story?id=6396600

Source: C's not expecting Shaq in playoffs
http://www.eagletribune.com/sports/x461197727/Source-Cs-not-expecting-Shaq-in-playoffs

Here's hoping the first one is closer to the truth.

The good news is J.O. looks a lot better than I ever would have expected. Granted they didn't use him much last night, and he's still one hard foul away from season ending surgery, but good looks so far. Hoping Green steps the f up before it's too late. He has the skill, just needs to get aggressive.

[D]

Melo shows once again why he has only been out of first round once

terrible shot selection all game long. ball hawking, ball stopping.

Lakers will win series in spite of Kobe.

Couldn't ask for more out of Melo than he gave last night. Gutty performance out of the Knicks in general.

to be nickpicky he still put the game in the hands of a guy he should know isn't capable in Jeffries THEN allowed Delonte West to catch ball in backcourt and run the clock down. Melo showed poor basketball IQ not knowing u were allowed to catch ball in backcourt and for not knowing to foul.


Dirk Nowitzki by the way is averaging 16 points per game............ in the FOURTH quarter.

[faldor]

Melo shows once again why he has only been out of first round once

terrible shot selection all game long. ball hawking, ball stopping.

Lakers will win series in spite of Kobe.

Couldn't ask for more out of Melo than he gave last night. Gutty performance out of the Knicks in general.

to be nickpicky he still put the game in the hands of a guy he should know isn't capable in Jeffries THEN allowed Delonte West to catch ball in backcourt and run the clock down. Melo showed poor basketball IQ not knowing u were allowed to catch ball in backcourt and for not knowing to foul.

That's being REAL nitpicky.  First off, like Melo said himself, he made the right play by passing to Jeffries.  It was Jared who made the wrong move by trying to pass the ball.  Melo was double teamed on the play and passed to Jeffries, who had good position at the time.  Carmelo played out of his mind good in game 2, you couldn't possibly convince anyone otherwise.

The lack of a quick foul was puzzling for sure.  Carmelo said he was gassed, but I'm not sure I buy that excuse.  Then again, he did have to exert a lot of energy being THE guy all night for the Knicks while putting up 42 and 17. 

As for the series, I have been extremely impressed with the Knicks so far.  I didn't think they had this amount of fight in them.  What they did in game 2 was remarkable without Billups AND Stoudamire (for MOST of the game).  They've actually outplayed the Celtics in the first two games and could easily be up 2-0.  Fortunately for the C's though, their coaching and overall experience has made the difference in the end. 

As a Celtic fan, I'm not sure how to feel at this point.  A win is a win, but they've been far from impressive.  I wonder how much of it is the Celtics playing poorly vs. the Knicks playing way above their heads.

[D]

well the media spin is on and anybody who watched that game knows Jeffries had KG come over on him. KG is only one of the greatest defensive players of all time. People today, when u hear them tell it, act like Jeffries had a wide open dunk which he didn't.

I just sometimes question Melo's basketball IQ

for instance he helped off Ray Allen in game 1 which led to Allen hitting game winning 3, bad IQ

he didn't know u could throw ball into back court and actually had to look to the bench to see if he was suppose to foul. thats worse than Donovan McNabb not knowing overtime ended in a tie.

Then, the jeffries play.. i think a superstar has to know who u can trust in certain situations. U cannot expect a scrub like Jared Jeffries to make that play. That game is on Melo to win or lose for better or worse and he has to feel the double team, split the double team or drive left past initial defender and away from the double, and make something happen going towards the basket.  he coulda scored 60. doesn't matter what he did once u factor in the two plays that lost the game. was it impressive? SURE but everyone knows when a star goes out, the other team relaxes. Boston saw amare go out and they relaxed.

[D]

Now, dont get me started on Kobe and how he scores 34 and they lose, scores 11 and they win just like game 7 of the finals.

Must be nice to have other superstars to pick u up.

if Dirk,Durant,Lebron *last year* score 11... they are losing by 20.

[LongGoneDay]

well the media spin is on and anybody who watched that game knows Jeffries had KG come over on him. KG is only one of the greatest defensive players of all time. People today, when u hear them tell it, act like Jeffries had a wide open dunk which he didn't.

I just sometimes question Melo's basketball IQ

for instance he helped off Ray Allen in game 1 which led to Allen hitting game winning 3, bad IQ

he didn't know u could throw ball into back court and actually had to look to the bench to see if he was suppose to foul. thats worse than Donovan McNabb not knowing overtime ended in a tie.

Then, the jeffries play.. i think a superstar has to know who u can trust in certain situations. U cannot expect a scrub like Jared Jeffries to make that play. That game is on Melo to win or lose for better or worse and he has to feel the double team, split the double team or drive left past initial defender and away from the double, and make something happen going towards the basket.  he coulda scored 60. doesn't matter what he did once u factor in the two plays that lost the game. was it impressive? SURE but everyone knows when a star goes out, the other team relaxes. Boston saw amare go out and they relaxed.

You can't have it both ways. Your common knock on the guy is that Melo doesn't make his teammates better, he's a ballhog etc, and overall I agree. But then to turn around and fault him for getting the ball to an open teammate rather than hoisting a hero shot when the defense has one objective, to stop YOU from getting a shot off. The C's were going to live with anyone other than Melo beating them. He essentially had PP, Baby and Ray on him. Jeffries was open, and made the wrong move, instead of going with his momentum, he spun around to his right, and that was all the time KG needed to make a hell of a play. Either way Melo doesn't win in that situation. If he shoots, it's a selfish shot double teamed. If he passes to an open player, it's his fault the guy can't convert. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel the least bit sorry for him, but I do find it a bit comical.

As for letting West go backcourt, that seemed to take the entire team, and coach by surprise. I put that on the incompetent Mike D'Antoni. It's his job to make the players aware of those possible scenarios.

[LongGoneDay]

The bench has done nothing for the C's so far, and that seems to be the difference right now. The starting unit is building leads, and the bench comes in to squander them. Could be a fatal flaw, since as a result, the starters are being forced to play more minutes. I think Baby will come around. West is money, he's going to help. Green showed some signs of life, hopefully he builds on it. Grabbing a rebound every now and again would be a nice change of scenery. They seemed to go away from Ray 2nd half of the game. PP was trying to take over for a while.

[faldor]

well the media spin is on and anybody who watched that game knows Jeffries had KG come over on him. KG is only one of the greatest defensive players of all time. People today, when u hear them tell it, act like Jeffries had a wide open dunk which he didn't.

I just sometimes question Melo's basketball IQ

for instance he helped off Ray Allen in game 1 which led to Allen hitting game winning 3, bad IQ

he didn't know u could throw ball into back court and actually had to look to the bench to see if he was suppose to foul. thats worse than Donovan McNabb not knowing overtime ended in a tie.

Then, the jeffries play.. i think a superstar has to know who u can trust in certain situations. U cannot expect a scrub like Jared Jeffries to make that play. That game is on Melo to win or lose for better or worse and he has to feel the double team, split the double team or drive left past initial defender and away from the double, and make something happen going towards the basket.  he coulda scored 60. doesn't matter what he did once u factor in the two plays that lost the game. was it impressive? SURE but everyone knows when a star goes out, the other team relaxes. Boston saw amare go out and they relaxed.

You can't have it both ways. Your common knock on the guy is that Melo doesn't make his teammates better, he's a ballhog etc, and overall I agree. But then to turn around and fault him for getting the ball to an open teammate rather than hoisting a hero shot when the defense has one objective, to stop YOU from getting a shot off. The C's were going to live with anyone other than Melo beating them. He essentially had PP, Baby and Ray on him. Jeffries was open, and made the wrong move, instead of going with his momentum, he spun around to his right, and that was all the time KG needed to make a hell of a play. Either way Melo doesn't win in that situation. If he shoots, it's a selfish shot double teamed. If he passes to an open player, it's his fault the guy can't convert. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel the least bit sorry for him, but I do find it a bit comical.

As for letting West go backcourt, that seemed to take the entire team, and coach by surprise. I put that on the incompetent Mike D'Antoni. It's his job to make the players aware of those possible scenarios.

Absolutely, plus the fact that Carmello went to Jeffries a few possessions earlier when he was doubled and Jared drove right to the hoop and scored an easy 2.  The C's were doubling Carmello, so he expected to be doubled again, which he was.  He passed to the open man.  I don't see the harm in that.

And yeah, the non foul was a team wide problem, not just Carmello.  Nobody was chasing down West at that point.  On that same front, what was up with the Tony Douglas foul with 3:30 left in the first half.  It was like he was being instructed to foul, for NO REASON that I can think of.  It was his 3rd foul, and there's no reason to stop the clock at that point.  At times I don't think D'Antoni knows what the hell he's doing.

[LongGoneDay]

Absolutely, plus the fact that Carmello went to Jeffries a few possessions earlier when he was doubled and Jared drove right to the hoop and scored an easy 2.  The C's were doubling Carmello, so he expected to be doubled again, which he was.  He passed to the open man.  I don't see the harm in that.

And yeah, the non foul was a team wide problem, not just Carmello.  Nobody was chasing down West at that point.  On that same front, what was up with the Tony Douglas foul with 3:30 left in the first half.  It was like he was being instructed to foul, for NO REASON that I can think of.  It was his 3rd foul, and there's no reason to stop the clock at that point.  At times I don't think D'Antoni knows what the hell he's doing.
[/quote]


Haha, was that when he just all of a sudden charged Rondo full speed? Yeah, that was great.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing when no one chased down West, but I was absolutely loving it! It was the first play of the series where I wasn't pulling my hair out.

In close games, you have to love the C's because of their experience and coaching. I never understood how D'Antoni had a job in the NBA. Not sure what his strength is besides the fact that players enjoy playing for him, because they know he won't push them to play defense, and will let them run and shoot at will.

[gnr-4-ever]

If the Knicks plan on doing anything serious they should get rid of D'Antoni. That guy doesn't know the word DEFENSE.

Sure it's gonna be fun scoring 110-120 per night, but you can't win with no D.

Just watching Bulls @ Pacers, half of the building is in red and cheering for the Bulls. 

And Rose just twisted his ankle, hope he's okay.

[D]

WOW, i am still in shock and absolutely deflated after yesterday... .Blowing a 23pt lead..... u gotta be fucking KIDDING ME!

I blame that on coaching. Ever heard of double teaming Brandon Roy? Maybe go to the zone that has helped us all season???  just maybe?  Getting Dirk a shot in the last 2 mins? maybe?

[Bodhi]

WOW, i am still in shock and absolutely deflated after yesterday... .Blowing a 23pt lead..... u gotta be fucking KIDDING ME!

I blame that on coaching. Ever heard of double teaming Brandon Roy? Maybe go to the zone that has helped us all season???  just maybe?  Getting Dirk a shot in the last 2 mins? maybe?

That was a Dallas Mavericks playoff special at its finest yesterday...

[D]

I could come on here and bitch how we got ripped on some terrible calls: Chandler's 5th foul when he clearly didn't touch Batum on the loose offensive rebound. or the other two ticky tack calls on Chandler

I could bitch about how there is no way they can overturn that out of bounds call with a minute left cause their was no conclusive evidence

truth is

when u blow a 23pt lead u deserve no excuses cause it never should've came to that anyway.

[LongGoneDay]

Best case scenario for the C's!
Series sweep, and now get to rest, and watch the 6ers hopefully make Miami work.
Not sure if Shaq was, or is going to be an option, but good to see them get past NY w/o him. Hopefully the rest is all he needs.
Among the contenders, C's seem to have the hot hand at the moment.