I'm not going to say that these are good trades, but they are ballsy. http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/22921/magic-suns-trade-breakdown http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4285489 http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3253107 (veteran for Harris)
I've played and watched basketball for the better part of two decades. I'll admit it: I have no idea how the Mavericks are so good. Dirk is obviously a great player, but he's not transcendent. He's probably in the second half of my top-10 players. They don't have Caron Butler. Jason Kidd is 62 years old. They have a decent bench, but most of their scoring punch comes from the streaky Jason Terry. Clearly (as if it wasn't clear before) Mark Cuban knows something that I don't. A core of Kidd, Terry, Nowitzki, Marion and Peja in 2005? Great. But how the hell is it working 5 years later?
Another one bites the dust. Tractor Traylor found dead. When did former NBA journeymen dying suddenly become so trendy? Speaking of Dirk and dumb/silly trades: Clearly, Milwaukee feels dumber for that trade now than ever before, with Dirk red-eyed for a title. Between OKC, Memphis, Dallas, Miami, and Chicago, I'm not sure which team I'd be more intrigued to see win this year. Lots of reasons to pull for these teams, even if you're not a fan. I'm still on the Grizz bandwagon. SportsCenter showed a very surprising graphic over the weekend after Memphis won game 3: they have the second-best home court record, second to Chicago and just ahead of San Antonio, going back to roughly the All-Star break. For the regular season, their home record is identical with Miami and OKC, and better than Dallas. It's their road game that sucked ass (16-25).
To be fair to the Bucks, there's a big different between trades were dumb at the time, and those that look really dumb in retrospect. At the time, people thought Tractor Traylor was really good. Dude was a consensus Top 10 player in that draft year. He was drafted ahead of Pierce as well, and directly after Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter. Think I'll part ways with you on that one. I'd put him in my top 5, and I could see him as high as second (though the gap between, say, 3rd and 9th might be small). His defense has improved with age, he rebounds very well, his ability to move in the paint/get to the hoop has gotten better, and that jumper is damn near impossible to stop. He needs almost no room to get it off, and has no trouble going fade-away, off-balance, on 1 foot, etc. He makes it look absolutely effortless.
Hmm. I seemed to have forgotten. I remember how well Jamison, Carter, and Pierce were hyped coming out of college (I'm the only person I know whose favorite player growing up - besides MJ, of course - was Jamison), but I draw a blank on Traylor. Agreed. I used to hate a lot on Dirk (and all things Mavericks) about 5 years ago, but I agree that the man is fucking dangerous. He might be the most complete player in the NBA, right now. At the very least, he might be more complete offensively than Kobe, LeBron, or Pierce.
He was a beast though undersized. The other thing you have to remember about the trade is the NBA is different than the NFL in that you can't trade picks on the day of the draft if I recall correctly. So the Bucks were really trading the 9th and the 19th for the 6th, not Traylor and Garrity for Nowitzki. The concern with Dirk was a bit like a lesser form of Ricky Rubio in that people weren't sure he would come over. But I believe Don Nelson had a good relationship with him and thats part of the reason he did pretty quick. Not that the Bucks were absolved. Scouts loved Nowitzki and Pierce, but Sen. Kohl wanted Traylor and thought he was the next Barkley. Also, Michigan State fans, you can thank Traylor for Mateen Cleaves as that car accident they were in together leading to a bit of a recruiting scandal and thus Cleaves ended up at MSU instead of UM.
A little suprised at the Heat celebration. I know this was a much hyped series, and I guess it could be seen as the passing of the torch in the Eastern Conference, but all the Heat won was a chance to play in the Eastern Conference Finals. Having said that, I am absolutely terrified of this Heat team as a Bulls fan. (Hoping the Bulls survive Atlanta)
Haha. Good point. Still, I was not expecting to see Wade and Lebron embrace each other like they did. They won a semi tough 5 game series over an aging and hurt Celtics team. They hugged each other like they won the 7th game of the NBA finals in triple OT.
Good lord, for as much as the Celts were supposed to be the veteran team that had been there before and would not bend under pressure, the collapse this game and the inability to run a good play at the end of game 4 were hard to watch. They collapsed, plain and simple. And as much as people will point to the Perkins trade even more now, I don't think that was really the reason for their complete meltdown. Truth be told, they really don't have anyone that can create their own shot off the dribble outside of Pierce, but his first step has gotten markedly slower, and while I love Rondo's toughness, it's crazy that teams completely sag off an NBA starting point guard and play 4 on 5 defense.
Yep, it was glaringly obvious how much they rely on a 100% healthy Rondo tonight, and how nobody can create their own shot. Pierce kinda can, but like you said, he's getting old. KG, Pierce and Ray are all still serviceable, but they can't play heavy minutes. Next season, Doc needs to keep them in the low 30 mins per game and let the bench guys develop a lot more. We can play "What if" for months about the Perkins trade, but bottom line: Perk would be playing, not wearing a suit. A healthy Perkins is better than the two O'Neals any day. And KryptoNate, for all his mind boggling behavioral issues and what-not, at least can create his own shot. Does Danny need to lose his job over that? No. Does he need to be kicked in the balls for it? Yep. Hopefully he will remedy it this summer. The only thing I can think of is that he is lining up for a shot at Dwight Howard. We need a center, stat. Rondo needs to join Ray at the gym and shoot 1000 jumpers a day, too. I mean fuck, how hard is it to knock down a 16- to 18- foot jump shot? They dare the guy to shoot them. He can get an elbow jumper all day long, he needs to hit that.
I need to renew my ESPN Insider subscription, so I could read articles like this: I love articles that address unseen ways in which players contribute to their teams. For those of you who haven't already done so, check out the article that explores how Shane Battier does exactly that, written by none other than Michael Lewis. Plus/Minus is my favorite statistic in any sport, particularly basketball, because I find that it's more telling than PPG, PER, AST/TO, or any other major statistic.
You know, I never watched any of that until right now. I skipped into it a little bit, and heard Wade say, "To be part of arguably the best trio to ever play the game is amazing." Seriously? I've seen some arrogant shit in my day, but seriously? Before they even played a real game together, they're the best trio ever? I've only been watching the NBA since about 1982, but I can think of a couple better trios right off the top of my head... Bird. Parish. McHale. Kareem. Magic. Worthy. How can you be "the best trio ever" when you haven't won a damn thing?
Wow, Memphis got spanked today. Holy shit, I didn't expect that. Well, Chicago needs to threaten Boozer's life so he doesn't pick up then dumbest fouls in the first quarter and sit for the rest of the game. Taj Gibson is good for a rookie, but he's not going to be producing every night like he just did. Also, Omer Asik isn't going to bring it every night either. I still think we can punk Joel Anthony, but Boozer vs Bosh has to be where the difference is made. (Yes I'm looking past the Hawks.) *This thread is going to be a little quieter for two days. Please enjoy it to the fullest extent.
Oh, and I'm going to go out on a limb and add to this, just to stir up healthy discussion (and some argument too, because that's always fun): If Rondo had a reliable pull up 16 - 18 foot jump shot, he'd be absolutely unguardable. Further, I think that would legitimately put him into the "Best PG in the NBA" debate. He's the perfect PG for a 100% healthy Boston team. As soon as one of them struggles, his shooting weakness only magnifies it. I don't think he needs 3 point range like CP or Rose, but if he can take that elbow jumper any time it's given to him and hit it more often than not, how do you guard him?
Exactly. I had someone message me saying that Rondo can create off the dribble. Yes he can, but he can't create his own shot. If he had the ability to pull up with someone on his hip he would indeed be unguardable. For goodness' sakes, he still blows by people and gets to the rim even though defenders completely back off and have zero respect for his pullup jumper. It's ridiculous. He would be broken ala Mike Vick in Madden 04. With that said, as you mentioned earlier, Ainge needs to be kicked in the nuts for numerous gambles that, not only did he fail to break even on, but blew up in his face. Hey, maybe Shaq can give us 10-15 minutes and be healthy for the playoffs. Maybe we can get by without Nate giving us a spark off the bench. Maybe Jeff Green and Krstc can give us quality minutes. Maybe Davis won't turn into a fat shit who can only elevate one inch (that one isn't his fault, but I'm still blaming him because, well, screw it). With the number of things that went awry, they still played admirably, although I can't help but feel this might have been their last hurrah. I mean, cmon, how much longer does Garnett's knee hold up before it explodes like Kyle's knee in South Park?
Wow, the Hawks look like fucking shit tonight. I can't believe this series went 6 games with them looking the way they do. What is going on?
Well apparently the Bulls just signed this guy Carlos Boozer. I didn't know teams could sign people this late into the season. He played great tonight for someone just starting. If we had this guy earlier in the playoffs it'd be amazing. Seriously, yeah, Joe Johnson was 1-3. And it really wasn't Atlanta. Miami celebrated, Rose saw it, Noah saw it, and it sparked the Bulls. The Bulls were up by 20, Rose did not smile, Thibs did not stop coaching. Chicago hates Miami. It was nothing personal to Atlanta. Rose didn't smile until they asked about Miami. "It's going to be fun...I'm just going to ball out." I cannot fucking wait. And Omer Asik said "Oh wait, I'm fucking Miss Ohio, let me be a beast." Spoiler
Bulls vs. Heat will be an unbelievable series. Haven't looked at the odds yet, but I would imagine the Heat will be slight favorites. I really think the Bulls can win the series, especially if they play like they did tonight. And, holy shit, I just learned about Asik and Destroy fucking Ms. Ohio. Well done you fucking crazy Turk. The Bulls should win the title just for that alone. Also, good job to Atlanta. Gave the Bulls a good series, but you lived and mostly died with the jump shot.
If Chicago now has its playoff "sea legs" and Boozer is going to play in the fashion that we have all seen in past years this Miami series is going to be very interesting. My sense is not to read too much into Chicago's struggles along the way in these playoffs. It could easily be attributable to the normal playoff learning process. However, if Chicago is not sharp, then Miami's big two and a half will crush them. I'm betting that both teams play well and that Chicago wins in 7. (But given how Wade and LeBron are playing when I read that back to myself I think I am nuts). This is as excited I have been about a non-Laker NBA series in years.