Reactions

Eastern Conference: Initial Reactions

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As part of my weekly columns on Popblerd I deceded to write my initial reactions on every team in the eastern conference:

Eastern Conference

Miami Heat – They look scary good so far. They’ve had 4 blowout victories in their first 8 games and a win without Wade OR James. It also looks like they got a steal in Norris Cole. Exactly what a team with 2 of the 5 best players in the league needs, to get really lucky in the draft on top of that. Barring any long-term serious injury to their big three, they are pretty much a lock for the conference finals.

Chicago Bulls – Boozer is playing closer to what the Bulls thought they were getting last year, Rose looks even better and they were able to steal Richard Hamilton for next to nothing. The East is a two horse race this year between Miami and Chicago.

Indiana Pacers – They made some great moves in the offseason, getting David West being the best of those moves. They have a lot of good young pieces and no terrible contracts. While not contenders this year, they will be a tough out and they are in position to make some noise in the very near future. Continue reading →

Easy Shots vs. Hard Shots…In Baron Davis We Trust…Why the Knicks look so awful right now

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If Kevin Garnett had hit that last second shot against the Knicks on Christmas then this season would have been an absolute disaster so far. Instead, the Knicks are 1-2 and we are all comforted by the thought that, “hey, it has only been three games.” Yes, the season is young but I think the Knicks need to take their problems very seriously or this season could get out of control really fast and by February we could all be speculating as to what lottery pick the Knicks will get in next year’s draft (assuming they have not traded this pick away which is very possible).

Last night, in their loss to the Lakers, it seemed like the Lakers had quite a number of easy looks while the Knicks seemed to have to work hard for every basket. The Lakers shot extremely well last night especially in the first half where the Lakers seemed like they never missed a basket. The Knicks, on the other hand, managed to stay in the game despite an awful shooting night. This may make you think that if the Lakers did not get so lucky with their shooting and if the Knicks had a little more luck last night then the outcome would have been different. The problem with this thought process is that you are missing why the Lakers were having more “luck” shooting and the Knicks lacked “luck”. Teams can make their own “luck”. The real difference is that the Lakers shot a lot more easy shots than the Knicks and that is why they shot the ball much better last night. The Lakers were hitting lay-ups and short, open jumpers while the Knicks were focusing on 3s and almost always taking contested shots. It is very understandable that the team taking the easier shots will more times than not shoot better than the team taking harder shots. If the Knicks want to improve their offensive performance they need to really focus on taking easier shots, or what you would call higher percentage shots (and if they want to improve their defense they may want to focus on forcing teams like the Lakers into lower percentage shots by say having everyone stick with their man). The Lakers were able to shoot a lot of easy shots last night because they did some very important things like moved the ball around, found open cutters, used screens and basically worked as a team. These things sound pretty basic but maybe D’Antoni, the Offensive Genius may want to work on these things with his team. He may also want to try basic, youth league rules like you have to pass the ball twice before anyone is allowed to shoot so at least this team thinks about passing (Toney “I shoot way too early” Douglas in particular should never be allowed to shoot before having passed the ball at least once).

The common collective response to the Knicks’ offensive woes is that we do not have a true point guard and once Baron Davis gets back everything will be fine. Continue reading →

The Knicks Amazing Offense Was Showcased Last Night Against Golden State

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The Knicks are truly an offensive juggernaut as they have two of the best offensive players in the game, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. Plus, they have an offensive Guru as their coach in Mike D’Antoni. Let’s review last night’s performance against Golden State to understand the Knicks approach to scoring.

  1. Amare Stoudemire – STAT is one of the best players in the game so it is unfair for him to go one-on-one against anyone. Amare must always wait for the double team before trying to drive to the basket. Also, he must make sure to never pass the ball out of the double team because a double teamed Amare is always better than an open shooter. The Knicks also should never set a pick and roll for Amare because again that would just be unfair to their opponents.
  2. Carmelo Anthony – See description of the game plan for Amare. Plus, Carmelo plays point forward like Larry Bird which means he dribbles the ball up the court and always passes to the best player on the court which is almost always himself. He should especially never pass to Amare or Amare to him because it would be unfair to have two of the game’s best players working together.
  3. Toney Douglas – Douglas plays point guard which means he should always push the ball up court and try to shoot with as much time remaining on the shot clock as possible. It doesn’t matter if his teammates are open or if he missed the last five shots he took because it is the effort that matters most.
  4. Mike Bibby – Bibby is the back up point guard but he is older. His job is to take his time dribbling up the court. He needs to slow down the action as much as possible, kind of a rope-a-dope style lulling his opponents into submission. Continue reading →

A few quick thoughts on the season opener

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  • Carmelo Anthony is really really good.
  • LOVE how D’Antoni had either Anthony or Stoudemire on the court and the other on the bench for much of the game.
  • Less Bill Walker and more Renaldo Balkman please.  (I can’t believe I just typed that)
  • When the PG drives SOMEONE has to check the opposing teams PG.
  • Brandon Bass really stepped up.  Is he a good player or does the Knicks defense just stink?
  • With Imam Shumpert injured get ready to see a lot of Mike Bibby the next two weeks.
  • Toney Douglas need to pass a lot more.
  • Carmelo Anthony is really really good.

Eastern Conference Predictions

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In Episode 89 we went through our predictions for the Eastern Conference for the upcoming season.  Here are the results:

Jay’s Picks

Playoff Seeds:

1. Chicago Bulls
2. Miami Heat
3. Boston Celtics
4. New York Knicks
5. Orlando Magic
6. Atlanta Hawks
7. Indiana Pacers
8. Philadelphia 76’ers

Continue reading →

David Stern Goes Mad With Power

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The NBA took some heat for the extended and unnecessary lockout.  It’s time for damage control.  So the very first thing David Stern did, before the ink was even try on the new CBA was to kill the Chris Paul to L.A. trade.  Winning the new CBA and getting 3 billion dollars back from the players was only the beginning apparently.  David Stern is officially mad with power, he’s jumped the shark, he’s turned the NBA into a dictatorship….

What does this mean for the upcoming season?  No one knows.  I guess David Stern can now pick and choose whatever deal he does and does not want to approve.  The NBA under Stern’s regime has been accused of being fixed for a long time.  Ask Sacramento fans.  I guess every trade has to be followed by “If David Stern Allows It.”

The sad part about this is the Hornets will never even come close to getting this much for Chris Paul.  They were about to get Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, Lamar Odom, Goran Dragic and a 2012 first-round pick that Houston had acquired from the Knicks.  Who is even going to come close to that?  New Orleans basically received an entire starting lineup for Chris Pau.  Houston would have gotten Pau Gasol and the Lakers would have gotten Chris Paul.  We are now robbed of seeing Derrick Caracter and Ater Majok as the Lakers front line once Andrew Bynum gets his annual injury.  OK, it wouldn’t have been that bad, the Lakers would have two trade exceptions after that trade, one worth 8.9 Million, so in theory they would have been able to fill the void on the front line with a pretty decent player.

So far the backlash from this has been pretty heavy.  Twitter exploded as soon as this was announced, fans from EVERY team were pissed, even the usually loyal writers at ESPN wrote a number of articles criticizing this move.  Oh and Chris Paul is planning on suing the NBA.  He has a good case too.  If New Orleans can’t trade Chris Paul by the end of the season (and I bet a lot of owners are going to be scared to even try, think about how awkward practice is going to be when Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol show up), he won’t be able to sign a max contract with that team.  That means he could lose up to 30-40 million dollars.

Nice work Stern, what’s the next move?  Are you going to make all the trades yourself for now on?

Knicks Now in the Lead for Tyson Chandler!?!?!?!

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According to Ken Berger of CBS Sports the Knicks are in the lead for Tyson Chandler.  That came out of nowhere!  For this to happen the Knicks would amnesty Chauncey Billups and trade Ronny Turiaf for….whatever they can get, probably a 2nd round draft pick.

I’m trying not to get too excited but just the thought of the Knicks with a defensive center makes me giddy.

The Top Ten Things I Will Miss If the 2011/12 NBA Season Is Cancelled – Part 2

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5. Kobe Bryant chasing the all-time points record –

Right now Kobe is 6th all-time in points scored (8th if you count ABA).  He’s 10,519 points away from breaking Kareem’s record.   Love him or hate him it’s exciting when all-time records are in danger of being broken.  The record is in play, but he’d have to play 5 more years, averaging 80 games and 25 points to break the record.  Skip a year and he’d have to either have a season like that at 39 or play into his 40’s at a slightly less productive level to even sniff the record.  In other words this lockout might lower his ceiling to 3rd all-time.  Still impressive but doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.

4. The Knicks –

We said as a joke when we started this blog/podcast that the Knicks would finally get a good team and then there wouldn’t be an NBA.  Fast forward 12 months and we get Amar’e Stoudemire, Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony.  Then we make the playoffs for the first time in 7 years.  Then….NO DAMN SEASON.  It’s just not fair.  I’m not delusional, this team needs a lot of work to be a contender but they are at least relevant and competitive now.  I’d like to see a season or two of it before Amar’es knees explode. Continue reading →

The Top Ten Things I Will Miss If the 2011/12 NBA Season Is Cancelled – Part 1

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I’m starting to get really nervous that there isn’t going to be a season this year.  We’ve lost all November games and the sides aren’t even talking anymore.  This is bad.

This Sucks

Last season was one of the best in recent memory and this season promised to be just as good if not better.  In preparation of the worst I put together a list of the top 10 things I will miss the most:

10.  The Timberwolves

Yes, the Timberwolves.  Ricky Rubio has finally arrived, they drafted Derrick Williams with the #2 pick and they have the best rebounder in the leage in Kevin Love.  Throw in complete wildcards like Beasley and Darko and I’m very intrigued by this team.  They aren’t going to compete for a championship, but they might be very fun to watch. Continue reading →

Is the entire 2011/12 season going to be cancelled?

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David Stern is threatening to cancel the entire season if significant progress isn’t make this weekend.  Is he using this as a negotiating strategy, trying to scare the players into giving in or is he serious and are we days away from finding out that there isn’t going to be any professional basketball (I’m not counting the WNBA) for at least 13 months?

Personally I think he’ll announce the season is cancelled early next week if nothing gets done this weekend.  He’s not messing around and neither are the owners.  This is a terrible thought and I hope I’m wrong.  What do you think?