NBA: 2014-2015 Season

[Paulie]

Boston really had to settle for what they got for Rondo, Dallas were the clear winners of that trade as it fills a major position of need for them.

Edit: Just to further add to that now I have more time, Crowder is a nice role player but it seems the focal point of the deal for Boston is the first round pick, and they'd have to strike gold to get a great player as late in the first round as Dallas' pick will be this upcoming draft. To give up an alleged star point guard (regardless of my somewhat lower opinion of Rondo ) for that haul is disappointing to say the least.

 

[Brett]

Dallas. Wat r u doin? Dallas. STAHP. The West was already stupid OP and this just makes it worse. NBA nerf the West, except the Thunder. The Thunder need buffs, starting with a no more injuries buff.

 

[JohnBM01]

San Antonio became the first team since the 1951 Baltimore Bullets to play back-to-back Triple Overtime games. In what we can passionately call the "a6m5 Special," the Portland Trail Blazers took down the San Antonio Spurs 129-119. You do the math- 48 minutes of regulation, three 5-minute Overtime sessions, two successive nights. Because I'm not a Math major, that's a total of 126 minutes of basketball! That's about as many minutes as a lot of movies! If that isn't bad enough, the Spurs are on a back-to-back to where they play at Dallas tomorrow night! They'll get Sunday off and host the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday followed by another back-to-back starting on Christmas- Brett's Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday followed by Stavingo's New Orleans Pelicans. Boy... the Spurs can use a break!

UPDATE 119 pts., not 199. I am only human, people...

 

[a6m5]

Blazers score 199 points? Bad ass. I saw the score few minutes ago & was surprised that it went to the triple overtime. I guess San Antonio did want it after all(Portland definitely did). Since the Blazers have the nicer record, I'm glad my #1 team beat the #2, but it's the same trend I have with the baseball. I root for my #1 Braves, but it's always about the #2 Cardinals. Blazers & the Braves make noise during the regular season, and they become pretty irrelevant in the playoffs.

 

[Spacegoat]

Back to back triple overtime games for SA, unbelieveable. Lillard was money though for the Blazers, 43pts. 👍

 

[a6m5]

Lillard's flashy, but LaMarcus' my man. 32 points, 16 boards, 5 steals & 2 blocks. I used to think that Rasheed Wallace was going to be our best PF ever. LaMarcus not only has better game, he has his head on straight.

My top-3 all-time Blazer(not in order): Bill Walton, Clyde Drexler & LaMarcus Aldridge.

Based on their career with Portland.

 

[Paulie]

Just watched the highlights of the Spurs vs Blazers game, Aldridge very clearly stepped out of bounds when he saved the ball late in 2OT, Spurs should have won and that's a bad missed call by the refs.
Watched the Raptors game and James Johnson had a SICK dunk on Andre Drummond. Apparently Drummond was cut about it, because he hip checked Johnson on the very next play which resulted in a scuffle, 4 technical fouls and a flagrant 1.

 

[a6m5]

And LaMarcus totally sold it. That 'all-time' Blazer claim still stands.

 

[JohnBM01]

I updated my previous post. Still- San Antonio is just getting worn out.

 

[Paulie]

Looking like a reasonable day for Aussie players today! Exum had an unimpressive 6pts on two three's from inefficient shooting, but Jingles had 13pts and 4reb and Baynes, who at the time of posting is nearing the end of the 3rd quarter, is up to 16pts and 8reb. Go Baynesy!!👍

 

[JohnBM01]

104-97, Rockets failed again. This time, to the Atlanta Hawks. We're on a home stand that ends on Monday with a6m5's Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. If the Rockets want to avoid this being a winless home stand, they'd better take care of the team that knocked us out of the playoffs last season.


Meanwhile, congratulations to all who won today/tonight.

 

[a6m5]

We're on a home stand that ends on Monday with 16m5's Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. If the Rockets want to avoid this being a winless home stand, they'd better take care of the team that knocked us out of the playoffs last season.

Neither teams wants to lose to the other team here, so it should be a good one. Our starting center RoLo's out, but it's not like he did particularly well against Dwight Howard anyway, so I hope our remaining bigs hold their own. We have added depth this year, and it's been a big help.

Like last season, our teams have nearly identical records(considering).

 

[JohnBM01]

How the hell did I type a "1" instead of "a" in my prevuoys post in trying to type "a6m5?". I apologize for the misspell. The Western Conference is just loaded. Having a great record doesn't mean you are running away with the West. I think we're 2nd in the NBA's equivalent of SEC football- the Southwest Division only behind Memphis. It's tough, man.

 

[a6m5]

Yeah, last I checked, teams from 1~7 were pretty equal, and in my book, that's a good thing. I find the NBA to be too predictable. Same teams wins over & over. My interest has started to shift towards MLB for this very reason. While I like the game of basketball more, in my second favorite sport baseball, it can get pretty interesting, not to mention the American League vs the National League in the World Series. I love NBA, but IMO, it needs to be more balanced & competitive.

 

[Paulie]

The Raptors' easy streak is over, it's time to take on Chicago and a tough 5 game Western road trip without DeRozan. I suspect Toronto will finally relinquish that top spot in the East, and going 3-3 without DeMar would have to be considered an outstanding success.

 

[Aesthetics]

We have another blockbuster today, but it isn't a trade!
The Detroit Pistons have waived Josh Smith, hoping to "further develop their younger players."
Where do you think he'll end up? I think some team that doesn't know what they're doing like the Lakers will pick him up.
Realistically, he can probably go to the Kings, they are interested in him.

 

[sumbrownkid]

Holy crap did this Toronto Chicago game became a showcase in offense.

Bulls scored 49 and Toronto 37 in the fourth alone.

Ah Toronto...Enjoy that second loss to us. Butler vote for all star is imminent.

 

[a6m5]

Josh Smith thing was a shocker. I haven't been following them, but was he not tradable?

Anywho, Blazers without RoLo & L-Train got beat bad by Houston tonight. I've been looking forward to this one, but it wasn't even close. I'd congratulate John, but I think he got shortchanged tonight, because even with LaMarcus in the line up, way these two teams played, Houston likely would've beaten the Blazers fair & square anyway.

 

[JohnBM01]

H-Town. Rip City. Turn 'em loose and see who comes out on top. At least tonight, it was a blowout for Red Nation as the Red Rowdies were jacked to see their team take down Portland 110-95. James Harden was out of his freaking mind- he hung 45 points on Portland. We [finally] picked up our 20th win of the season to improve to 20-7 against the team that knocked us out of the playoffs last season. Sorry we had to smack up your boys this way, a6m5.


Congratulations to all other winners from Monday.

 

[Aesthetics]

I'd say Detroit was a big winner today.
But a6m5, yeah Josh Smith's contract ($26 million owed over the next 2 years) was absolutely untradable.

 

[Paulie]

Wow, yeah that Josh Smith news caught me off guard. A lot of people think Houston will make a play for him. I really hope Kings don't, could you imagine Gay, Smith and Cousins all in one front court? Probably not as bad as what the Pistons had there but hey.....

Holy crap did this Toronto Chicago game became a showcase in offense.

Bulls scored 49 and Toronto 37 in the fourth alone.

Ah Toronto...Enjoy that second loss to us. Butler vote for all star is imminent.

Apparently they were allergic to defence. But hey, if you need to score 49pts in the 4th quarter to beat a DeRozan-less Raptors then you do what you gotta do.

 

[JohnBM01]

Chrismas come early? Sure- especially since fans wanted to see this game as this week's NBA Fan Night Game of the Week:

...the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Cleveland Cavaliers!

Fire up NBA TV, NBA fans! You wanted to see a homecoming for the likes of Kevin Love. Midwestern hospitality is getting served up NBA style. Enjoy some NBA 'ball tonight, folks.

 

[Brett]

I will be at tonight's game between the Thunder and the Trail Blazers. Hopefully Portland will be tired after last night's game with Houston. OKC needs to keep gaining ground.

 

[Omnis]

Josh Smith thing was a shocker. I haven't been following them, but was he not tradable?

Josh Smith is a scrub. He doesn't know his role. ALWAYS shoots his team to a loss.

I'm worried that he'll wind up on the Heat. He can be a good forward, but he needs to STOP SHOOTING.

Classic Josh Smith:

 

[a6m5]

I don't know anything about Josh Smith, but right after the first vid, one of the suggested video was this one, which I thought the timing was kinda funny.



Pretty good top-10 dunk video. Not many left-handed ones out there.

 

[Omnis]

Josh Smith's best days were in in ATL. He's also a beast in 2K14.

But remember how Danny Granger was hot stuff a few years ago and now he's hot garbage? It's worse for Josh Smith because Josh Smith still plays like he's Kobe.

Seriously, Josh Smith is the worst. He is one of the most consistent shooters, but doesn't even make a quarter of his shots. That means he misses consistently. It's a fluke if it goes in. Terrible shooter.

Read these articles:

http://bballbreakdown.com/2014/10/13/how-stan-van-gundy-is-helping-josh-smith/

http://regressing.deadspin.com/is-josh-smith-the-worst-three-point-shooter-of-all-time-1506600877

http://bballbreakdown.com/2014/10/2...t-pistons-and-the-huge-experiment-gone-wrong/

That said, Detroit is retarded for waiving him. They're going to have to pay him 5 million dollars per year until 2020. LOL. Good for Josh Smith.

 

[HELLAFLUSH240SX]

The Bulls handled the Wizards pretty well today, as to be expected. 19-9 is a great start to this season, and I expect them to be the Eastern Conference top team at the end of the year.

 

[Omnis]

The Heat suck. Spo is not coaching well. We just lost against the 76ers because apparently the game plan is to not have any movement on offense with 2-3 minutes left in the game after losing a 10 point lead. Instead of looking for easy baskets and playing defense against a garbage Philly team, the Heat thought it would be a good idea to just pass around the arc and jack up brick threes for 5 possessions. Why feed ice-cold shooters? Miami could have had a 6 point lead if they had just run some kind of action and driven the lane for a foul each possession. The Sixers threw up 3 bricks before they did what Miami should have done and got some easy buckets to finally win the game by 2, and then seal it away with two more bonus shots off the foul.

Ever since Lebron left, the Heat have been playing with their heads up their asses. There is no awareness for how the game is unfolding and no signs of adaptation to take advantage of situations. No situational basketball, and when you break it down to just the numbers and take chances based on pure percentage shooting, those percentages are terrible too. What the heck are they doing? How can Spo be comfortable with the **** this team is putting on tape?

 

[JohnBM01]

Sorry your Heat had to endure the natural disaster known as the 2014-2015 Philadelphia 76ers, Omnis. I was reading on Twitter of the news, and I learned you guys lost 91-87 at home to PHI. Speaking of Twitter... check out this Tweet I read that someone re-tweeted:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Knicks are behind the Sixers in the standings. Officially." -@talkhoops on Twitter

I also read this funny Tweet:

BREAKING: #Sixers extend winning streak to 2 games, setting a new team record" -@NOTSportsCenter on Twitter

One last Tweet I want to share which encapsulates the Heat's woes:

"The Heat had a 23-point lead vs the Sixers in the 3rd quarter tonight.

The Heat lost." -@SportsCenter on Twitter


So, uh... yeah. This one hurts. It goes to show (pardon the cliché) any team can beat any team on any given day. Teams favored can still fall to the most inferior (and sometimes luckiest) of teams in any given game. You really can't take anybody lightly in any sport to be honest. The script can definitely be flipped. Also, nothing sucks quite like growing an insurmountable lead... yet still fail when the game reaches its conclusion.


No games for Christmas Eve, so congratulations to all winners from Tuesday- including Cleveland routing the Timberwolves at home.

 

[Aesthetics]

The Suns took good care of the Mavs today, 124-115. Eric Bledsoe had a triple double, and Dragic had 25 points.

But Bledsoe really wanted that 10th rebound to get that triple double.