On November 29 2011 09:00 slyboogie wrote: The Heat have to be Final favorites right? The site I checked has them 5-2, which is, shockingly fair. If you can get them for anything like 4-1, I'd take it in a second. Next closest? Lakers at 11-2.
Ninjaedit; Happy Birthday, slyboogie!
Heat as favorites is completetly fair, they've only gotten better since last season (atleast that would be my assumption), so it'll be tough for the other teams to keep up. I'm not gonna count out the Mavs either, if they can keep their game up to the level of last years playoff they'll be scary as hell! Not sure why the Lakers are the closest opponent to the Heat according to bookies, they haven't gotten any new players (correct me if I'm wrong), and they lost probably the greatest NBA coach ever.. (and not trying to hate on Brown, but to me that sounds like a huge loss).
I'm reeeeally exited to see how OKC does! As the years go by, I can only hope Westbrook becomes a smarter player - and given how good Durant is already, aswell as how good Harden has been playing - they could do amazing! Can't cross off the Celtics either, actually.. I think I'd put OKC, Celtics, Mavs & the Bulls before Lakers in competition for the title this season.
Can't wait for the trades that will occur! If LAL can get Howard on their roster, then I'd have to rewrite everything above, that would be a huuuge move! Anyone else who can think of any other blockbuster trades that could happen this season within the best teams from last season?
Also, so pumped to see the rookies this season! I always love to see newcomers make an impact and show they're a force to be reckoned with! What rookies are you guys looking forward to see? And who's gonna nab the ROTY (based on what you've seen of them in college in terms of pure skillset)?
Westbrook is a major part of the reason they win, but he gets a lot of blame. Durant was awful last year in the playoffs and OKCs failure was more so his fault than Westbrook imo.
I think the Mavs will be hurt by the loss of Tyson Chandler, who, despite his limitations, has some irreplaceable attributes (i.e. being super tall.) I seriously hope the Clips sign DeAndre Jordan to an extension. We should be able to sign him to a three-year extension at 4 million-5 million-6 million. Yeah, 15 million for DeAndre Jordan. Didn't we just have a lockout? Still cheaper than Nene at 66 million or Chandler at 54 million.
ROTY will probably be Kyrie Irving or Brandon Knight due to positions and their bad teams. Look out for one of the random Euros or Bismack Biyombo to steal it if they turn out to be wunderkinds.
Of course Westbrook was a big part of their playoff run, that goes without saying... but chucking shots from 5ft beyond the arc with 18 seconds left on the shot clock and so forth isn't the wisest decision to make in crunch time. I'm not trying to put the blame on Westbrook alone, you win and lose as a team, but I expected more from him that what he showed in the OKC vs. Mavs series.. I've watched that series a couple of times during the off-season, and you can't escape the fact that he crumbled quite hard (but again, I'm not trying to pin OKC's playoff loss on him - I'm just saying they'll do so well when he narrows down the obvious fumbles)
On November 29 2011 09:34 slyboogie wrote: TYTY Vendiz.
I think the Mavs will be hurt by the loss of Tyson Chandler, who, despite his limitations, has some irreplaceable attributes (i.e. being super tall.) I seriously hope the Clips sign DeAndre Jordan to an extension. We should be able to sign him to a three-year extension at 4 million-5 million-6 million. Yeah, 15 million for DeAndre Jordan. Didn't we just have a lockout? Still cheaper than Nene at 66 million or Chandler at 54 million.
ROTY will probably be Kyrie Irving or Brandon Knight due to positions and their bad teams. Look out for one of the random Euros or Bismack Biyombo to steal it if they turn out to be wunderkinds.
Whaat?! What has happened to Chandler? Is he injured? This has gone completetly by me :<
Hoping to see the Clippers sing extensions with most of their roster as it is, such a young team with loads of talent! DeAndre Jordan, Aminu, Griffin, Gordon, Bledsoe.. you can get quite the team with those guys around (given they keep evolving and don't hit a brick wall)!
My bet for ROTY is Biyombo.. if he turns out to be a Mutumbo-type defender he'll garner tons of attention (which obviously help during a ROTY voting).. plus I think he's a good fit for the Bobcats!
Ah I really really really hope the price for legauepass goes down this year. I would definitely not mind saving a penny or two from their usual expensive price.
Of course Westbrook was a big part of their playoff run, that goes without saying... but chucking shots from 5ft beyond the arc with 18 seconds left on the shot clock and so forth isn't the wisest decision to make in crunch time. I'm not trying to put the blame on Westbrook alone, you win and lose as a team, but I expected more from him that what he showed in the OKC vs. Mavs series.. I've watched that series a couple of times during the off-season, and you can't escape the fact that he crumbled quite hard (but again, I'm not trying to pin OKC's playoff loss on him - I'm just saying they'll do so well when he narrows down the obvious fumbles)
On November 29 2011 09:34 slyboogie wrote: TYTY Vendiz.
I think the Mavs will be hurt by the loss of Tyson Chandler, who, despite his limitations, has some irreplaceable attributes (i.e. being super tall.) I seriously hope the Clips sign DeAndre Jordan to an extension. We should be able to sign him to a three-year extension at 4 million-5 million-6 million. Yeah, 15 million for DeAndre Jordan. Didn't we just have a lockout? Still cheaper than Nene at 66 million or Chandler at 54 million.
ROTY will probably be Kyrie Irving or Brandon Knight due to positions and their bad teams. Look out for one of the random Euros or Bismack Biyombo to steal it if they turn out to be wunderkinds.
Whaat?! What has happened to Chandler? Is he injured? This has gone completetly by me :<
Hoping to see the Clippers sing extensions with most of their roster as it is, such a young team with loads of talent! DeAndre Jordan, Aminu, Griffin, Gordon, Bledsoe.. you can get quite the team with those guys around (given they keep evolving and don't hit a brick wall)!
My bet for ROTY is Biyombo.. if he turns out to be a Mutumbo-type defender he'll garner tons of attention (which obviously help during a ROTY voting).. plus I think he's a good fit for the Bobcats!
He's an unrestricted free agent, me thinks. I love these baby-Clips but it's a lot of risk to be carrying guys like Aminu and Bledsoe just hoping for development. God damn you Baron Davis! Kyrie Irving!!! WHY?!?! >___<
@Vendiz: I agree that he made some bone-headed decisions. In fact I think his major problem were the killer turnovers. But Durant has escaped a lot of blame even though he was just as responsible for gumming up the offense. Westbrook was put in some tough spots by Durant's inability to get free at times (along with the other players). Analysts, unsurprisingly missed out on the times Durant had trouble scoring in iso. Which looking at how heavily he is used as a catch and shoot player isn't really out of the norm.
On November 29 2011 09:55 Ace wrote: @Vendiz: I agree that he made some bone-headed decisions. In fact I think his major problem were the killer turnovers. But Durant has escaped a lot of blame even though he was just as responsible for gumming up the offense. Westbrook was put in some tough spots by Durant's inability to get free at times (along with the other players). Analysts, unsurprisingly missed out on the times Durant had trouble scoring in iso. Which looking at how heavily he is used as a catch and shoot player isn't really out of the norm.
Happy Birthday s-boog.
That's true! Not sure if you've seen any of the "playoff breakdowns" by bballbreakdown on YouTube, but he shows several plays where what you say is on point. He has done breakdowns of most of the playoff games from last season - some of them not so good, but most have good examples of why Bulls & OKC lost their CF.
Here's one on why D-Rose can't score in the 4th quarter (like he did during the regular season versus the Heat)
After watching a few of his videos, it seems like the guy hates Boozer and Westbrook for some reason.. so they get perhaps a tad too much critisism, but like I said earlier, most of the videos shows the overall problems both OKC & Bulls had.
The problem with Chicago's offense does have a lot to do with Rose. Or at least coaching decisions. We know Carlos Boozer being hurt was a problem, but he was fine in the playoffs. Analysts and guys that don't know shit aka Bill Simmons keep talking about how no one but Rose can create their own shot.
Which is a blatant lie if you've ever seen Carlos Boozer or Luol Deng play ball. Both of them are fine number 2 options and both can score 1 on 1 just fine. Especially Boozer. But Chicago's coaching staff keeps forcing Rose to create which is terrible because he isn't the rare high usage/high efficiency/high offensive output kind of perimeter player that only comes a long every so often - or he just isn't there yet.
I wish people that wrote about basketball got it right but of course, they rarely do.
On November 29 2011 11:06 Ace wrote: The problem with Chicago's offense does have a lot to do with Rose. Or at least coaching decisions. We know Carlos Boozer being hurt was a problem, but he was fine in the playoffs. Analysts and guys that don't know shit aka Bill Simmons keep talking about how no one but Rose can create their own shot.
Which is a blatant lie if you've ever seen Carlos Boozer or Luol Deng play ball. Both of them are fine number 2 options and both can score 1 on 1 just fine. Especially Boozer. But Chicago's coaching staff keeps forcing Rose to create which is terrible because he isn't the rare high usage/high efficiency/high offensive output kind of perimeter player that only comes a long every so often - or he just isn't there yet.
I wish people that wrote about basketball got it right but of course, they rarely do.
Boozer was not fine in the playoffs. He was missing open shots all the time on the pick n' pop and in the lane just like that video showed. The Bulls, like I predicted, are going to regress from best in the NBA record of last year. Unless Rose becomes a real 3-Point threat, like Steve Nash he has to work too hard to score, and the rest of the team can't spread the floor.
So, in short the Bulls need 3 things to happen to become a legitimate threat: 1. Rose is 37%+ from 3 pt range. 2. Boozer's defense improves slightly 3. Boozer (and the rest of the Bulls) make the open shots that Rose creates all the time
Boozer improving his defense isn't going to happen, and it really isn't the problem. Chicago's defense is good enough with him.
I overstated saying Boozer was fine and you're right, I should have said he looked better than he did in the RS. He had some big games against Atlanta that won't be remembered.
You're asking a lot from Rose to become a 37% 3 point shooter. He can only score so many points with an already high usage rate. If they changed the offense and let Boozer operate, or let Deng go 1 on 1 at times they would have better success over running the Derrick Rose show.
On November 29 2011 11:06 Ace wrote: The problem with Chicago's offense does have a lot to do with Rose. Or at least coaching decisions. We know Carlos Boozer being hurt was a problem, but he was fine in the playoffs. Analysts and guys that don't know shit aka Bill Simmons keep talking about how no one but Rose can create their own shot.
Which is a blatant lie if you've ever seen Carlos Boozer or Luol Deng play ball. Both of them are fine number 2 options and both can score 1 on 1 just fine. Especially Boozer. But Chicago's coaching staff keeps forcing Rose to create which is terrible because he isn't the rare high usage/high efficiency/high offensive output kind of perimeter player that only comes a long every so often - or he just isn't there yet.
I wish people that wrote about basketball got it right but of course, they rarely do.
Yeah, with the amount of balltime Rose has during the offense, of course several of their problems has to do with him. Boozer being hurt didn't affect the Bulls all too much during the regular season, honestly.. my problem (and I guess "Coach Nick"'s in the video) with Boozer is that he was, like you said, completely fine during the playoffs. 4/14 shooting inside the paint isn't good enough :\ And yeah, seems like Bill Simmons got a bit carried away (Rose equals second coming blah-blah-blah), however you have to give credit to Rose for doing so much with what he was given..
Now, being a bit unsure whether you meant creating space for their own shot or "finding a solution" in a bad spot (i.e. those wonky shots Rose pulled off versus the Pacers for instance), I'll just say this (and feel free to correct me, if I misunderstood) - there are quite a few players in the NBA who's better at creating their own shot in the NBA, but few have the same, uncanny, way of making weird shots fall in (Dirk is probably the king of weird shot-making).
I agree that Deng & Boozer can do things on their own - note that I have nothing but good words for Luol Deng, he's such an important piece to that Bulls team! The difference this season between Deng & Boozer for me was efficient use of the ball.. while both are good enough to make things happen, it didn't happen as often as I hoped for with Boozer, whilst Deng was doing fine. I agree that Rose's efficiency is somewhat shaky, however I think it's hard for the coaching staff to find another person to set up the offense for them.
I might be a bit harsh when talking about Boozer, but I guess it's because I expected a lot from him prior to last season. He did worse in every category compared to his career avg., and you'd hope for a player to at least play up to those numbers :<
Ninjaedit: Saw the posts regarding 3PT% and the Bulls. I think it'll take time before we see Rose shooting 37% from the arc, however his improvement from his rookie season till now is quite good in my opinion (22% -> 33%). But before I worry about his 3PT ability, I'd rather see him make the easier mid-range shots more often, or improve his stepback jumper/faders.
A really cool thing is that Luol Deng has gotten soooo much better (well, more viable) as a 3PT shooter! 130ish 3PT-A over the last four seasons prior the last one (during that he had 333PT-A with just slightly worse %), so that could spread things out for the entire team really.
But.. more than anything I hope that we find another starter for Keith Bogans.
On November 29 2011 11:46 Ace wrote: The Bulls are already a threat.
Boozer improving his defense isn't going to happen, and it really isn't the problem. Chicago's defense is good enough with him.
I overstated saying Boozer was fine and you're right, I should have said he looked better than he did in the RS. He had some big games against Atlanta that won't be remembered.
You're asking a lot from Rose to become a 37% 3 point shooter. He can only score so many points with an already high usage rate. If they changed the offense and let Boozer operate, or let Deng go 1 on 1 at times they would have better success over running the Derrick Rose show.
I think Rose could get to 37% if his usage rate goes down, IF the SG the pick up can handle the ball decently. With amnesty clause guys being dumped you could theoretically pick up someone on the cheap (I think, I don't fully understand how it works and no one has explained it well since the deal was reached this is the best explanation I can find http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2011/11/28/revised-amnesty-clause-raises-questions/).
By creating their own shot I meant creating space, not necessarily bailing the team out of a bad possession. Deng's history and wlel, his damn contract show he can do it. Boozer is a noghtly double/double threat with high efficiency sans last year's injury plagued campaign.
Deng got snubbed last year. He should have definitely been on the All Defense team or at least get some damn attention. A lot of the top tier wing defenders don't get enough credit because the guys that write shit don't do simple research or actually watch the other players on the court.
On November 29 2011 12:06 Ace wrote: By creating their own shot I meant creating space, not necessarily bailing the team out of a bad possession. Deng's history and wlel, his damn contract show he can do it. Boozer is a noghtly double/double threat with high efficiency sans last year's injury plagued campaign.
Deng got snubbed last year. He should have definitely been on the All Defense team or at least get some damn attention. A lot of the top tier wing defenders don't get enough credit because the guys that write shit don't do simple research or actually watch the other players on the court.
I don't disagree, but clearly Rose has the most potential to improve in real terms and he needs to do so. If it means getting someone to take the ball up the court on 15-20% of the possessions, than that is a great idea. Boozers defense I think regressed last year (maybe because of the injury) but as a Bulls fan I still think they will keep losing to the Heat until Drose is able to be more efficient (or the not-too-remote chance that Taj Gibson becomes a 20/10 super efficient guy giving the Bulls one of the league best frontcourts).
EPT
