2013 NBA Season

[Slyder]

Oklahoma City led 26-24 after the first quarter in San Antonio tonight. They were outscored 88-51 the rest of the way.... Durant was held to 15 points.

They miss Ibaka on defense... BADLY. Looks like San Antonio is driving to the hoop at will. If you're the GM of the Thunder what do you do? Last two years you've been a top 2 seed, injury to Westbrook and you go out in Rd 1. This year you struggle to get out of rd 1, lose Ibaka in rd 2 and getting absolutely DOMINATED by the Spurs. Do you change coach and try again, do you try and take Westbrook and maybe turn him into 3 useful players and build up the entire depth, sign fas? I thought for certain this team would have won at least 1 title by now.

[WVRed]

They miss Ibaka on defense... BADLY. Looks like San Antonio is driving to the hoop at will. If you're the GM of the Thunder what do you do? Last two years you've been a top 2 seed, injury to Westbrook and you go out in Rd 1. This year you struggle to get out of rd 1, lose Ibaka in rd 2 and getting absolutely DOMINATED by the Spurs. Do you change coach and try again, do you try and take Westbrook and maybe turn him into 3 useful players and build up the entire depth, sign fas? I thought for certain this team would have won at least 1 title by now.

D: All of the above.

[Stray]

If you're the GM of the Thunder what do you do?

I get rid of Scott Brooks.

Losing Ibaka sucks and all, but his absence isn't worth the difference in this series so far, and OKC still has two of the 3 best players in the series. The Thunder don't run good offense, they rely on Durant and Westbrook to beat their guy one and one and score or get someone else a shot. Even out of timeouts late in games, I've never seen OKC run a play that produces a good look for someone. Pick and rolls and iso plays...yawn. What the Thunder have done up to this point they could have done with anyone coaching.

The more I watch NBA games the more I appreciate how good Pop, Carlisle and Spoelstra are. After those three it's a pretty big drop off to the rest of the NBA coaches.

Edit: Tom Thibodeau is a really good coach too. Forgot about him.

[Chip R]

Right. The Lakers, Knicks, and Celtics were in the lottery. Why on earth would they rather have Cleveland win?

The Knicks already gave their pick away but I agree with your point.

[Kingspoint]

I get rid of Scott Brooks.

Bingo!

[Stray]

Heat are in the Finals again, yawn.

I was hoping the Pacers could beat them, but I think the Pacers could use the time off for a trip to Dr. Phil or something. What a dysfunctional group they are. In the first quarter I saw George Hill jump over Stephenson's back on a wide open layup so Hill could bring the ball up the floor instead of Lance lol.

And Lance is obviously borderline with just about everything he does, but the media take it so personally it's weird. Whether it's gamesmanship or dirty play, I dunno, but if nothing else he made the games entertaining. He was also competing hard in a game where his teammates didn't really care. I think it'd be a mistake for the Pacers to resign him, he'd fit more on a team with strong leadership and good coaching, and the Pacers have neither.

Paul George throwing him under the bus was classic too. I would think he could have taken some responsibility for his performance in the biggest game of their season, but instead he's saying how Lance needs to grow up? Lol

Also, Roy Hibbert is really bad. He was a liability to them when he was on the floor. Put him in a pick and roll and he looked like he was wearing cement boots. Didn't guard the pop or the roll, just stood around looking clueless.

[Razor Shines]

Heat are in the Finals again, yawn.

I was hoping the Pacers could beat them, but I think the Pacers could use the time off for a trip to Dr. Phil or something. What a dysfunctional group they are. In the first quarter I saw George Hill jump over Stephenson's back on a wide open layup so Hill could bring the ball up the floor instead of Lance lol.

And Lance is obviously borderline with just about everything he does, but the media take it so personally it's weird. Whether it's gamesmanship or dirty play, I dunno, but if nothing else he made the games entertaining. He was also competing hard in a game where his teammates didn't really care. I think it'd be a mistake for the Pacers to resign him, he'd fit more on a team with strong leadership and good coaching, and the Pacers have neither.

Paul George throwing him under the bus was classic too. I would think he could have taken some responsibility for his performance in the biggest game of their season, but instead he's saying how Lance needs to grow up? Lol

Also, Roy Hibbert is really bad. He was a liability to them when he was on the floor. Put him in a pick and roll and he looked like he was wearing cement boots. Didn't guard the pop or the roll, just stood around looking clueless.

I think the Pacer players were just annoyed and tired of Stephenson's act. I know as a Pacer fan, I am. Does he seriously think anything he did was a positive? He didn't get in Lebron's head. And then the slap in the mouth was just dirty. Many Pacer fans I know thought it was great but if Wade had done that to a Pacer they'd have called for him to be ejected.

I hope the Pacers don't bring him back and I pretty much agree with this article.

http://www.cbssports.com/general/wri...ure-free-agent

[Stray]

I think the Pacer players were just annoyed and tired of Stephenson's act. I know as a Pacer fan, I am. Does he seriously think anything he did was a positive? He didn't get in Lebron's head. And then the slap in the mouth was just dirty. Many Pacer fans I know thought it was great but if Wade had done that to a Pacer they'd have called for him to be ejected.

I hope the Pacers don't bring him back and I pretty much agree with this article.

http://www.cbssports.com/general/wri...ure-free-agent

I can understand being annoyed by his antics, which is why I don't think they should resign him. They don't have the kinda lockerroom or head coach to control a player like Lance. Throwing him under the bus for their performance is weak tho. Hibbert being soft, Vogel being clueless, PG showing up on occasion, Hill being all around bad, and their bench not doing much are all higher on the totem pole of blame imo.

I didn't think the slap in the mouth on James was a dirty play. Strange, weird, hilariously awkward, stuff like that comes to mind. That slap on Cole I'm unsure about. I mean in slowmo it looked bad, but in real time you'd have to have off the charts reaction times and coordination to conceive and execute a cheap shot on a loose ball play like that. He doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt, but who knows. It wasn't as obviously intentional as the clothesline he took a few years ago from Miami, and it wasn't as obvious as the Battier cheapshot on him last night, that much I know. I guess you could say he earned both tho.

I guess I should add that I loved watching Rodman back in the day. Players that compete that hard and are always on the line are entertaining. The Bulls had the leadership and coach to keep a controlled environment around Rodman, I guess that's the difference between the two. And Rodman was embraced by his teammates while Lance being Lance seems to embarrass his teammates.

[Stray]

Looking forward to the Finals. It should be good.

[improbus]

I can't wait for the Finals. I'm a Heat guy and the playoffs have been a massive disappointment so far. While the Heat have won, the last 3 seasons have provided massive drama and those sick feelings in the pit of your stomach that make you feel alive and make sports worth watching. Before game 6 against Boston two years ago, I smelled like a scared hamster. Before game 6 last year in the Finals, I was completely lost at sea. I hope that fear comes back.

[cincrazy]

Stephenson reminds me a bit of a young Ron Artest. Crazy talented, more than a little unhinged. I don't think the Pacers are capable of handling his personality, whereas he'd thrive in a place like Miami or San Antonio or even Dallas. The leadership structure in Indy is a mess, and the players seem to hate each other. A weird mix to be sure.

[Kingspoint]

Stephenson reminds me a bit of a young Ron Artest. Crazy talented, more than a little unhinged. I don't think the Pacers are capable of handling his personality, whereas he'd thrive in a place like Miami or San Antonio or even Dallas. The leadership structure in Indy is a mess, and the players seem to hate each other. A weird mix to be sure.

Both they and OKC need better Coaches. Neither team should have gone into this season with their HC, both having wasted a good opportunity.

[Mutaman]

Very surprised to see that San Antonio is favored. Spurs are a year older and Dwyane is healthy. Heat in 6.

[Stray]

Very surprised to see that San Antonio is favored. Spurs are a year older and Dwyane is healthy. Heat in 6.

I'm not sure either team is better than they were last year, but I don't know that the Spurs have dropped off, and I think their bench is even better this year if that's possible. Hard to say exactly how good Miami is... They played in a really bad Eastern Conference and seemed to go stretches where they didn't care that much, but then could turn it on when they needed to for some games.

Honestly SA should have won it all last year, that's prolly why Vegas is favoring them. I don't think Pop and their big 3 let it slip away this year, well unless Lebron has four out of this world games....and that's totally possible.

I'll guess the Spurs in 6.

[Kingspoint]

This is one heckuva 2014 All-NBA "Third" Team...

Goran Dragic, Damian Lillard, Paul George, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Al Jefferson.

I actually like them better than the First or Second Teams in a best-of-seven, as they are more likely to play a better brand of team basketball, willing to defer to the best matchup on the floor. Nice combination of Defense, Post play, ball-handling, rebounding, pasing, outside shooting, post-play and penetration.


The "Second" Team:

Tony Parker, Stephen Curry, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, and Dwight Howard. Too many people want the ball on this team, and even with Dwight Howard, there just isn't any Defense on this team.


The "First" Team:

Chris Paul, James Harden, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Joakim Noah. No way could Durant, LeBron and Harden co-exist on the same team.