the next season is kind of an uneventful lull before 2010. i expect the cavs to regress somewhat in regular season wins, unless lebron takes his game to yet another level, which is unfair but somehow distinctly possible. they will try to get a "player," but will not be discriminating when it comes to value. i see this pressure to get some help for lebron as a potential pitfall that might mess with their cap space come 2010, not for signing lebron, but for signing that other guy to go with him.

most interesting teams to watch, thunders and portland, along with howard's development down there.

tonight

United States11130 Posts

June 17 2009 00:55 GMT

#22

This has nothing to do with anything, but I love those Kobe/LeBron Nike puppet commercials.

KOFgokuon

United States14912 Posts

June 17 2009 00:58 GMT

#23

i HATE those lebron puppet commercials

iLoveKT

Philippines3615 Posts

June 17 2009 01:09 GMT

#24

bulls 09-10 champs! you heard it here first.

seriously though, Derrick Rose will break out next season. A decent trade or 2 for a big man and Chicago is set.

BalliSLife

1339 Posts

June 17 2009 01:13 GMT

#25

so apparently cavs really want shaq..

I read an article saying it's a bad idea because it wasn't dwight howard that really killed the cavs it was the poor shooting from the supporting cast and the poor defense vs the orlando shooters. The guy also mentions that if they do take shaq it would be a problem during late games when they are all hacking away at him so he would miss free throws. I agreed at first but i was thinking that the cavs don't really need to feed it to shaq late in the 4th since opposing teams would have lebron to deal with and instead use shaq primarily for defense.

what do you guys think?

Jibba

United States22883 Posts

June 17 2009 01:43 GMT

#26

Shaq cannot be bad for the Cavs. I don't think the Cavs defense will improve very much with him, but I'm positive their offense would, at least come playoff time. The Cavs run a terrible and slow offense that totally wastes Lebron's abilities, but that's probably not changing and Shaq + slow is like DeShawn Stevenson + terrible. The two just go together.

How many foul shots per game do you think a Shaq/Lebron team could average? I say 180.

Zozma

United States1626 Posts

June 17 2009 02:00 GMT

#27

I don't know about it. It's not that Dwight Howard killed the Cavs... even though he was a problem, the main thing is that other than Lebron the team was playing like crap against an Orlando team that was on fire.

Jibba:

Well, they might TAKE that many, but as for the number they would actually make...

JoMal

Trinidad/Tobago1177 Posts

June 17 2009 02:01 GMT

#28

Ariza the new Scottie Pippen !

Judicator

United States7270 Posts

June 17 2009 02:05 GMT

#29

...why would they implement Shaq? They lost not because of Howard, they lost because they couldn't hit anything and the Magic hit everything in sight, they do need someone to go to for a reliable and solid possession besides Lebron in situations where their offense stalls, but that's not Shaq at this point.

Anyways, Hedo apparently wants 10 mil/season next season for playing shitty in the most important series of his life; guy doesn't realize how he fits into this system, and forgot how forgettable he played for the Kings.

Judicator

United States7270 Posts

June 17 2009 02:06 GMT

#30

On June 17 2009 11:01 JoMal wrote:
Ariza the new Scottie Pippen !

Not even close. And these Lakers are not on the same level as those Bulls.

Zozma

United States1626 Posts

June 17 2009 02:13 GMT

#31

On June 17 2009 09:58 KOFgokuon wrote:
i HATE those lebron puppet commercials

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/kobe_bryant_puppet_finds

72AND10

United States93 Posts

June 17 2009 02:21 GMT

#32

The commercial are okay. That article in the Onion is LOL though.

Currently, Ariza might be 1/10th the player Scottie was when he was playing

Xeris

Iran17695 Posts

June 17 2009 02:23 GMT

#33

On June 17 2009 10:09 iLoveKT wrote:
bulls 09-10 champs! you heard it here first.

seriously though, Derrick Rose will break out next season. A decent trade or 2 for a big man and Chicago is set.

he already broke out this season

but yes I am really hoping they go far in the playoffs. they're my 2nd favorite team.

Chicago has some serious problems though if they want to be a serious contender

Starting 5:
PG - Derrick Rose
SG - Ben Gordon
SF - Deng
PF - Thomas
C - Noah

Bench:
PG - Hinrich
SG - Salmons
SF - ??
PF - Tim Thomas
C - Miller

Alright. First of all, Chicago needs a strong Center. Secondly, they can't be very successful if Ben Gordon is their highets scorer. Ben Gordon's ideal role is as a 6th man, playing a Ginobli type role. Having someone who can give you 25 points on any given night off the bench is DANGEROUS. Joakim Noah isn't an NBA starter. He's one of those "energy" guys who is great coming off the bench to give you ~10 boards and a block or 2. Hinrich is an amazing backup PG, and Gordon would be a strong backup 2, Noah a backup center.

They really need an elite scorer and strong center before they can be a real contender in the East. Right now Chicago has a few great pieces, but mostly the makings of the best bench in the NBA (Hinrich, Gordon, Noah). If they build a strong group of starters around a nucleus of Rose and Deng they can become pretty powerful.

Xeris

Iran17695 Posts

June 17 2009 02:33 GMT

#34

Also... Chicago is gonna have about 8 million in cap space to play with... hopefully they can dump Brad Miller somewhere...

unknown.sam

Philippines2701 Posts

June 17 2009 02:46 GMT

#35

im not a laker fan, in fact i hate the lakers. BUT i think it would be great if they could keep their team together and go for another title run so some other team can end the run lol. it will be interesting to see how the play without phil jackson though (correct me if i'm wrong on that statement about phil not being around next season).

unknown.sam

Philippines2701 Posts

June 17 2009 02:47 GMT

#36

On June 17 2009 11:01 JoMal wrote:
Ariza the new Scottie Pippen !

hold it right there...

HonestTea

5007 Posts

June 17 2009 03:04 GMT

#37

Ahahahaha we're such fucking junkies.

KOFgokuon

United States14912 Posts

June 17 2009 03:32 GMT

#38

yea.....
go us haha

Jibba

United States22883 Posts

June 17 2009 03:52 GMT

#39

On June 17 2009 11:05 Judicator wrote:
...why would they implement Shaq? They lost not because of Howard, they lost because they couldn't hit anything and the Magic hit everything in sight, they do need someone to go to for a reliable and solid possession besides Lebron in situations where their offense stalls, but that's not Shaq at this point.

Shaq averaged 18ppg and shot 61% last season. How does he not qualify as a reliable and solid possession? The Cavs don't even need him until the end of the year. They're basically guaranteed a seed in that division.

igotmyown

United States4291 Posts

June 17 2009 04:09 GMT

#40

Shaq moves to Cleveland. Phil Jackson opts out and becomes Lebron's coach. After winning the finals, Jackson answers in an interview, "I just wanted to clarify". Lebron answers, "Are you kidding, he always ends up coaching the best player in the league". Shaq says, "how my ass taste?".

David Stern dies of complications of having a month long orgasm.