2012-2013 NBA Season Thread

[Riq]

Originally Posted by FRpilot

What a weak first round. Every series was either a sweep or a 4-2 win.

Playoffs seem weak this year with all the major injuries to Rondo, Kobe, Westbrook, Gallinari, Amare, and even less severe injuries to David Lee and Griffin.

I don't consider Amar'e the Extinguishinator a significant injury. Besides everyone outside of NY knew that right after he signed his max deal he would be out alot more than he would be in. The guy is a walking injury and has been for many years. I feel alittle bad for him because he was born in Florida but at the same time he talked alot of trash before Heat games so fuck'em.

[FRpilot]

Originally Posted by Riq

I don't consider Amar'e the Extinguishinator a significant injury. Besides everyone outside of NY knew that right after he signed his max deal he would be out alot more than he would be in. The guy is a walking injury and has been for many years. I feel alittle bad for him because he was born in Florida but at the same time he talked alot of trash before Heat games so fuck'em.

yea i was wondering if i should have added him to that list i was making (that's why he was at the end). maybe he's more of a minor injury since he should be back for the 2nd round. i was going to list Lee as a major injury since he tore some hip muscles as was expected to be out of the playoffs, but he came off the bench the last game (maybe it's similar to ron artest's muscle tear in that he also came back after a few games) i read that wade is hurting a bit too and noah was playing hurt in this series and farried was hobbled too.

[Riq]

Originally Posted by FRpilot

yea i was wondering if i should have added him to that list i was making (that's why he was at the end). maybe he's more of a minor injury since he should be back for the 2nd round. i was going to list Lee as a major injury since he tore some hip muscles as was expected to be out of the playoffs, but he came off the bench the last game (maybe it's similar to ron artest's muscle tear in that he also came back after a few games) i read that wade is hurting a bit too and noah was playing hurt in this series and farried was hobbled too.

Yeah Wade has a bruised knee that looks to be pretty close to 100% from what I read yesterday. The week long rest has been good for him. I don't know how much I can believe that Amar'e will be back next round and even if he is, I really don't expect him to make much of an impact. I picked the Pacers to win that series 4-2. I just don't see Iso-Melo working at all against that team.

[Phlip]

Carmelo Anthony is shooting more than a homeless person's walking dream of Kobe Bryant playing NBA jam.
... with about a third of the accuracy rate.
Knicks are done in 6

[Goofs]

Man did Memphis really blow it at the end. I still think they can take the series though.

[Riq]

I picked the Knicks to lose this series in 5. I just can't see Iso-Melo working against that Pacers squad. Melo is goin going to have to avg 45ppg for the Knicks to get past them but then again, it may take him 50 shots per game to get those numbers.


Memphis will beat the Thunder in this series, damn I really like that Memphis team. They remind me of the 90's Miami Heat Zo and PJ Brown doing it up in the middle while Tim Hardaway killer crossovers everyone.

[theronin]

Originally Posted by Phlip

Carmelo Anthony is shooting more than a homeless person's walking dream of Kobe Bryant playing NBA jam.
... with about a third of the accuracy rate.
Knicks are done in 6

I feel like relying on the 3 THAT much isn't a good strategy. I'm still really feeling Spurs/Heat finals.

[Gnnr]

Bad omen for the Knicks to dress in black, they're done for.

Memphis still gonna take it.

[Riq]

Less than 24hrs until Heat vs Bulls, CAN'T WAIT(in Bart Scott's voice).


Pacers vs Heat ECF is going to be tough. I feel that the Pacers are the only team that can challenge the Heat in the East (by challenge I mean 6-7 game series). All the Knicks know how to do is Iso-Melo and rain 45 threes per game. That kind of crap doesn't work in the Playoffs.

[FRpilot]

Originally Posted by Phlip

Let the record show, the people who thought Melo had a chance were delusional.

HAHAHA! And a single voter actually chooses Carmelo Anthony over LeBron to rob him of the unanimous MVP. The Irony is killing me. This is the whole I voted for AI because he means more to his team than Shaq all over again. He will probably get death threats too. lol

They should change the name of this award to Player of the Year or something of that nature so these so called "sportswriters" and "broadcasters" who vote on this understands that this award is for MVP of the League. Not MVP to their team. (I guess to call this award MVP is kind of misleading, but these are sportswriters and broadcasters who should know better since they've been covering the NBA for years)

[revat619]

Originally Posted by FRpilot

HAHAHA! And a single voter actually chooses Carmelo Anthony over LeBron to rob him of the unanimous MVP. The Irony is killing me. This is whole I voted for AI because he means more to his team than Shaq all over again. He will probably get death threats too. lol

They should change the name of this award to Player of the Year or something of that nature so these so called "sportswriters" and "broadcasters" who vote on this understands that this award is for MVP of the League. Not MVP to their team. (I guess to call this award MVP is kind of misleading, but these are sportswriters and broadcasters should know better since they've been covering the NBA for years)

I really do think it should be changed to player of the year. MVP is just so subjective. Nobody can even agree on how we define it. Don't get me wrong, Lebron's stats are insane but lets be real, that team is awesome even without him. Hell without the big three, they're still a playoff team in the east. Is the award based on stats, player importance to the success of the team, league popularity, what? I don't even know anymore. They were talking Lebron's 4th MVP during preseason....so was it REALLY gonna go to anyone else? Get real.

And seriously, enough with the "If Lebron had Kobe's teams, he would've done...." or "in 17 years Lebrons gonna be better than Jordan ...." It's stupid and PURELY speculation. Hell any comparison is. Until his entire body of work is completed, Lebron's resume pales in comparison to any of the greats before him. He's a great player, but he's a different player in a different era and shouldn't be getting compared to goddam shooting guards in the first damn place. Seriously, from a sheer basketball perspective, its fucking asinine.

[Riq]

Originally Posted by revat619

And seriously, enough with the "If Lebron had Kobe's teams, he would've done...." or "in 17 years Lebrons gonna be better than Jordan ...." It's stupid and PURELY speculation. Hell any comparison is. Until his entire body of work is completed, Lebron's resume pales in comparison to any of the greats before him. He's a great player, but he's a different player in a different era and shouldn't be getting compared to goddam shooting guards in the first damn place. Seriously, from a sheer basketball perspective, its fucking asinine.

Asinine how exactly? Lebron plays SF but plays a roll as a pure scorer when needed. The conversation was about Lebron vs Kobe player for player. Not body of work, not career stats, not championships. It was meant as a if you had to start a team with both players at their very best, which would you take? The point of Lebron on his 17th season was more of a rebuttal to someone else's comparison. Now when you say that Lebron cannot be compared to a SG, that in itself makes no sense. How can you say that? Jordan was compared to Magic and Larry and both players didn't play SG. How exactly is Lebron being compared to MJ every fucking day of the week? MJ's game is alot closer to Kobe than it will ever be to Lebron's yet people feel the need to make that comparison instead of Lebron vs Magic. Kobe has never been the all around player that Lebron is. But Lebron has been the pure scorer that Kobe has been while still filling up the rest of his stats to a respectable level. To take a subject that you may not like and call it stupid or asinine is just plain dumb. By the way, I am speaking as a person that has been a fan of Kobe through out his whole career and I was never a big fan of Lebron (because of Espn) Hell my favorite player is D-Wade. But getting to watch him night in night out you get to see exactly what a special player the guy is and what all the hype is about. I understand that this subject is touchy to some people but it's a valid conversation whether you like it or not. I also stand by my claim, you put Lebron on any of the championship Lakers rosters that Kobe was on and take Kobe out, he wins as many if not more rings. Because as we all know Championships have everything to do with teams not just one player scoring 30+ per game....

[zooopreme]

Disregarding career stats and championships makes your argument weaker. Lebron had CLE and never pulled through for that team. And it wasn't until his second year in MIA, that he finally won it all.

Kobe was a part of a team and lead his team into making the Playoffs almost every year of his career and managed to make several NBA Finals trips in his 17 years (7 to be exact and he was able to bring home the championship in 5 occasions). Lebron has 3 trips and took home 1. ~71% vs ~33%, which are you going to take?

And to your insert Lebron, subtract Kobe Laker team, I'd love to see that but it's all speculation. It's easy to say it's going to work but you have yet to consider all the factors that go into it.

I love Lebron and what he contributes to his team but to base his status now as a dominant player without even considering where Kobe's been in his 17 year career is outlandish. Kobe is just as important to the Lakers as Lebron is to the Heat.

Both are tickets to their teams' success. Side note, I could make a claim that the Heat don't need Lebron and that Lebron is also blessed with a great team.

Stats matter. And it's unfair for people to bring up some stats and leave out others just to prove a point. With all things considered, Kobe has achieved more than Lebron so far. Lebron IS the best player in the game now. But will he rise above Kobe and his achievements by the time he's done? I'm on the side that says no.

[Riq]

Originally Posted by zooopreme

Disregarding career stats and championships makes your argument weaker. Lebron had CLE and never pulled through for that team. And it wasn't until his second year in MIA, that he finally won it all.

Kobe was a part of a team and lead his team into making the Playoffs almost every year of his career and managed to make several NBA Finals trips in his 17 years (7 to be exact and he was able to bring home the championship in 5 occasions). Lebron has 3 trips and took home 1. ~71% vs ~33%, which are you going to take?

And to your insert Lebron, subtract Kobe Laker team, I'd love to see that but it's all speculation. It's easy to say it's going to work but you have yet to consider all the factors that go into it.

I love Lebron and what he contributes to his team but to base his status now as a dominant player without even considering where Kobe's been in his 17 year career is outlandish. Kobe is just as important to the Lakers as Lebron is to the Heat.

Both are tickets to their teams' success. Side note, I could make a claim that the Heat don't need Lebron and that Lebron is also blessed with a great team.

Stats matter. And it's unfair for people to bring up some stats and leave out others just to prove a point. With all things considered, Kobe has achieved more than Lebron so far. Lebron IS the best player in the game now. But will he rise above Kobe and his achievements by the time he's done? I'm on the side that says no.

I understand your argument, I honestly wanted to keep stats out of this because I knew I would have to go back and compare each player's first 10 seasons just to prove what I know is a fact without looking but I did it just to add even more foundation to my argument. Here are both players stats Kobe's FIRST 11 SEASONS VS Lebron's 10 seasons. I gave Kobe 11 seasons because I feel his first season was a wash.


-------Kobe--------Lebron

Points--19296-------21081
Stl------1170--------1323
Ast------3561--------5502
Reb-----4073---------5553
Blk-------467---------649
FG%-----.469--------.565
3PT%----.383--------.406

As of right now, Lebron is on pace to destroy all of Kobe's career stats and if you avg all those numbers out Lebron has better stats career for career. On the FG% and 3PT% I went with their best season because if I went for avg Lebron would still win. Ofcourse when I say put Lebron on those Lakers' teams it's pure speculation but given the fact that Lebron is a better teammate than Kobe is I would think that Shaq would have never left L.A so they may have won 5-7 together. It's no secret that Kobe has a certain way of being that rubs alot of people the wrong way.

In Cleveland Lebron took a Cav's team that had Larry Friggin Hughs as it's second best player to the Finals. After that He had a Shaq that had nothing left and a Mo Williams that didn't know how to act once the games started to count. Again, Rings have everything to do with a full roster and it's chemistry. Kobe couldn't win with a team that had Gary Payton, Karl Malone, Shaq etc on it's roster and it's no secret that their problems were in the locker room. Given this information I can't blame Lebron for not winning one in Cleveland. As far as losing to Dallas does that has alot more to do with Miami not having a good bench and our best bench player having 2 broken thumbs and Lebron not having a post up game, I mean zero post up game. That's an indictment on his Cleveland coaches and their lack of IQ to get the kid to work on that part of his game. One year after coming to Miami the guy is a beast inside.

The only place that Kobe has done better than Lebron is in Rings but again that is an indictment on the rosters Lebron has played with during his career not on his individual game. Plus Lebron could get 4-5 more if he has the pieces around him. Now if we are only going to count rings than NO ONE is better than Bill Russell including MJ...

[Phlip]

By show of hands, how many had the heat losing at home?

[theronin]

Nate Robinson doing WORK in game 1.

[Goofs]

Originally Posted by Phlip

By show of hands, how many had the heat losing at home?

I doubted the Bulls would even win 1 in this whole series. The question now is this going to spark the return of Rose?

[theronin]

Originally Posted by Goofs

I doubted the Bulls would even win 1 in this whole series. The question now is this going to spark the return of Rose?

At this point they don't even need him imo. Robinson has stepped up and proven that he IS a go to man now. Impressive game 1 by the "boring" Bulls I've heard some guys around here call em

[zooopreme]

Originally Posted by Phlip

By show of hands, how many had the heat losing at home?

Not me, haha. But I had the Bulls not bending over backwards.

And Riq, for argument's sake, I'll take Kobe over Lebron. If you were watching tonight's game, you can see that Lebron ain't clutch. Airball and took a jumper from way beyond the arch. L is a L.

But don't count the Heat out, Spoelstra is a video geek, he'll make adjustments on both Butler and Nate. I expect them to win game 2 unless they find a way to not show up.

[Phlip]

Originally Posted by theronin

At this point they don't even need him imo. Robinson has stepped up and proven that he IS a go to man now. Impressive game 1 by the "boring" Bulls I've heard some guys around here call em

I can't let myself trust that this will carry them to a series win. As great as Nate has played the last little while, he is prone to these INFURIATINGLY unexplainable moments of stupid choice, like JaVale McGee, only a foot and a half shorter.
I FULLY expected him to dunk that open break instead of turning it back to run out the clock.

[Riq]

Originally Posted by Phlip

By show of hands, how many had the heat losing at home?

Honestly I had the Heat protecting home court and losing 1 in Chicago. I had them winning the series in 5 or 6 games.

[theronin]

Originally Posted by Phlip

I can't let myself trust that this will carry them to a series win. As great as Nate has played the last little while, he is prone to these INFURIATINGLY unexplainable moments of stupid choice, like JaVale McGee, only a foot and a half shorter.
I FULLY expected him to dunk that open break instead of turning it back to run out the clock.

Ya I thought he was gonna dunk too. Kinda impressed/ shocked he didn't

[SharkMan]

Originally Posted by Phlip

By show of hands, how many had the heat losing at home?

Boy is my face red.

Originally Posted by Goofs

I doubted the Bulls would even win 1 in this whole series. The question now is this going to spark the return of Rose?

Highly unlikely, and as already stated they're looking like he's not needed at the moment.

[Riq]

Originally Posted by zooopreme

Not me, haha. But I had the Bulls not bending over backwards.

And Riq, for argument's sake, I'll take Kobe over Lebron. If you were watching tonight's game, you can see that Lebron ain't clutch. Airball and took a jumper from way beyond the arch. L is a L.

But don't count the Heat out, Spoelstra is a video geek, he'll make adjustments on both Butler and Nate. I expect them to win game 2 unless they find a way to not show up.

LMAO! Seriously? Lebron ain't clutch? You may be watching too much Skip Bayless. Tonight was a rare night that the whole team was out of rhythm. It happens when you take a week and a half off. But after watching Lebron show up all of last years playoffs and being nothing but clutch as well as this whole season for you to claim he isn't clutch shows me exactly what your angle is so yeah there really is no point in trying to have an objective conversation with you. It's all good I'll take Lebron all day and dominate Kobe every time


Just keep in mind there is a reason that everyone compares Lebron to MJ while skipping Kobe completely but I'll leave that to you to figure out

[SharkMan]

Originally Posted by Phlip

I can't let myself trust that this will carry them to a series win. As great as Nate has played the last little while, he is prone to these INFURIATINGLY unexplainable moments of stupid choice, like JaVale McGee, only a foot and a half shorter.
I FULLY expected him to dunk that open break instead of turning it back to run out the clock.

I don't see them winning the series, the heat won't perform like that again.

Originally Posted by Riq

LMAO! Seriously? Lebron ain't clutch? You may be watching too much Skip Bayless. Tonight was a rare night that the whole team was out of rhythm. It happens when you take a week and a half off. But after watching Lebron show up all of last years playoffs and being nothing but clutch as well as this whole season for you to claim he isn't clutch shows me exactly what your angle is so yeah there really is no point in trying to have an objective conversation with you. It's all good I'll take Lebron all day and dominate Kobe every time

+1

[Riq]

My only question is what the Hell was that 3 that D-Wade took with 1 minute left in the game? It was completely flat as if he had no legs. Someone has to tell him not to take long jumpers like that if his knee is still bothering him. That miss killed all the momentum left in the game. All those missed good looks in the first half, had they made half of those they would have been up by 15 at halftime. Hopefully all the rust is gone for game 2. Knowing Spo those boys will be firing on all cylinders by game 2.

[KiLLeR2001]

DAAAAAAA BULLS!

The Heat will come back strong Game 2 for sure. But would be MOST hilarious if they lose that game too.

[theronin]

GS is impressive, but Pop gonna straight up out coach Jackson. Bye n bye though, this second round has delivered big.

[theronin]

Yup OT, this is all Spurs, calling right now.

9:24pm PST

[Riq]

Holyshit so GS lose a lead again? 15-0 to end the 4th qtr. You can tell that this team needs more time to grow. But they were impressive for 45mins. It's like they start to panic when they know they have the game in the bag.

Despite this, I still feel that GS can beat the Spurs.