reg season chat 09-10 featuring blake griffins broken kneecap

http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2009/0407/ncb_g_bgriffin1_65.jpg rip big man :(

Boston @ Cleveland 7:30 PM
Washington @ Dallas 8:30 PM
Houston @ Portland 10:00 PM
LA Clippers @ LA Lakers 10:30 PM

The Clippers keep trying to reel me in with their unique brand of failure but cant seem the seal the deal.

o damn

The agent for Rajon Rondo said late Monday that his client will not sign a contract extension with the Celtics, meaning the 23-year-old point guard will become a restricted free agent at the end of the season, Yahoo! Sports reported.

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2009/1027/nba_openingnight_576.jpg

did they shop on Baron's beard there?

lol one of these things is not like the others

can understand a general reluctance to offer a contract when for practical purposes a player has 2 years remaining on his current - but im wondering why the c's wouldnt pull the trigger here - rondos price is like 99% guaranteed to go up - he cant be that bad of a dick can he - tho maybe in these uncertain economic times etc etc

he cant be that bad of a dick can he

ainge? sure he can

;)

wtf big baby broke his thumb and will probably get suspended

Davis and a former LSU teammate were involved in a scrap on Sunday, The Boston Globe reported. The newspaper did not provide details. Davis will have surgery Tuesday to repair his right thumb, a Celtics spokesman said.

"We'll deal with it," Grousbeck told WFXT. "I'm not going to call him 'Big Baby' anymore. He's Glen. He needs to act like Glen. We'll decide what to do once I talk to him, once we talk to him today."

lol was it ty thomas

cause guy is super punchable

Rondo ... restricted free agent

I'm sure they'll just match whatever Rondo is offered unless it's crazy.

yeah but likely they couldve got him for cheaper this year - but who knows maybe team rondo is asking for too much

season of missing yao ming

^alt thread title

and what happens if an idiot team steps up and tries to max rondo out - then you lose him for nothing - although maybe w/the free agent orgy cornucopia of 2010 approaching the c's are thinking they can lowball him while everyones all on lebron et als nuts

LATimes bringing some NYC/Yankees level of bullshit

For Lakers, there's a Bull elephant in the room
Lakers' NBA title defense begins Tuesday amid quiet talk of their potential to surpass Chicago's record 72-win season in 1995-96. Phil Jackson, for one, doesn't want to hear it.

FOR SOME, THE DREAM OF AN 82 WIN SEASON IS VERY REAL

ok enough w/all this contractual hand wringing WHO IS CHAMPS 2010

Idk - way more than 3 three teams are saving up for Lebron/Wade/Bosh - can easily see one of the rejected teams splashing out on Rondo to prevent 10/11 offseason being a failure?

Can you sign a restricted free agent and then use him in a sign and trade? I doubt the C's would let him go for nothing.

yeah u can - things could easily play out that way

Can you sign a restricted free agent and then use him in a sign and trade? I doubt the C's would let him go for nothing.

yes ie. hawks giving the suns boris diaw and two 1st round picks for a restricted joe johnson. seems like a lot of teams are letting the open market set the price for restricted fa's nowadays.

i picked rondo in the second round of my fantasy draft bcuz of FA year

cavs are going HARD to start, damn

lebron just owned rondo

^_^

lebrondo

holy shit @ that block

my friend invited me over to watch the game but he's not at his house yet :(

lebron has 3 blocks in nine minutes.

NBA league pass free preview for the first week btw

i signed up for an account but cant find where to watch the game on the site??

miss u powe :(

sheed looks kinda pudge

lol nevermind, the celts game is blacked out here? fuk u nba

also did the refs hold out for new unis?

NBA league pass free preview for the first week btw

just checked this out on my cable :D

man imo this new replay shit is bull, let the boys play iirc

taking that layup away from bron 5 damn minutes after it happened? come on now

i sort of take that back, i have volume off and i thought it was reversed on a travel call, not shot clock violation

i was watching a film for a class - hope the lebrons storm back

shaq's free throw game still intact ;)

bron is just killin tho, 3 pointer in kg's face, blocks from behind

is the cavs play where they just waited for Rondo to get up and get back a politeness thing?

:) :) :)

btw i googled 'gyrotonic' like shaq said to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrotonic

Just checkin in to let u guys know that the blazers are gonna be very, very good this year based on what I'm seeing tonight.

and based on what i saw tonight cavs are entirely unimproved from last year

blazers do look tough. houston's just a team of role players, but like the best role players in the league. no go to scoring options. i could see them having multiple games where they don't break 70 points.

That's kind of what I was saying about them all summer. Who the fuck is supposed to score on that team? Nobody there can really reliable average 17+ a game. Maybe Brooks someday, or Ariza on a team like this that just has no options.

Houston's 30-win season is gonna make fire-Kevin-Durant efficiency geeks so mad.

chuck and ernie narrating highlights on halftime report, over action taking place in the first half:

chuck: this was a disappointing loss for the mavericks
ernie: shh, you're giving it away

i'm so glad the nba is back

a tweet from the guy who runs the big blazers fan blog:

blazersedge: Greg Oden nearly on pace for a rare rebounds/turnovers/offensive fouls triple double

travis outlaw is filling it up tonight

21 pts (3-5 from 3) 4 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 blocks

great fantasy guy imo

also baron has 0 points tonight

outlaw can be pretty inconsistent imo. but yeah he had a great first half.

oden is blocking everything the rockets throw up.

maan forgot how ugly early season nba is - c's game was fun but damn just awful nonsensical basketball

btw celtics are gonna be vapor from three this year - adding sheed makes their deep game kinda ridiculous

artest off to a blazing start

baron davis 1-10 in fg -_-

oden 7to 5pf 2pts

^ uh don't forget 12 rebounds, 5 blocks in 26 minutes.

its a flail of a line even a portland native must admit

who can oden even be compared to, where you literally have to disregard points & fouls

he's sort of like the center version of pre-breakout rondo - just ignore everything that involves a direct attempt at putting the ball through the orange rim

12 reb - 7 to = 5 rebounds ;)

its the 7tos that really jumped out at me - how is that even possible for a big man to accomplish while taking 3 shots in 26 mins

attempted assists maybe

he seemed nervous tonight, opening night jitters maybe. He wasn't scoring because the rockets were tipping the ball out of his hands every time he got the ball in the post so his teammates stopped giving him the ball basically.

he had a couple impressive blocks and only one foul in the first half. i mean, that's improvement over last year.

so a rocket would just come and take the ball from him - was he trying to do fancy things or

AN ILX SPECIAL REPORT

Greg Oden traveling
Greg Oden lost ball (Chuck Hayes steals)
Greg Oden shooting foul (Trevor Ariza draws the foul)
Greg Oden lost ball (Chuck Hayes steals)
Greg Oden offensive foul (Aaron Brooks draws the foul)
Greg Oden offensive foul (Kyle Lowry draws the foul)
Greg Oden shooting foul (Kyle Lowry draws the foul)

they're crafty dudes, rockets.

przybillas stats are pretty similar except he had 6 pf in 16 min

rickets are all ima just stand here try that spin move again man sokay

actually i guess those two shooting fouls aren't turnovers...

maybe

Greg Oden 3 second

and i missed

Greg Oden offensive foul (David Andersen draws the foul)

oden should just concentrate on becoming a super tyson chandler - 1st order of business: figure out which shots are blockable

srsly portland already has a great offensive team - he could really help them by just holding down the middle and NOT FOULING

yeah tyson chandler is a good example - blazers need to throw oden mad alleys

get tons of rebounds - block tons of shots - do offense in the flow of the game

simple rite

rickets are all ima just stand here try that spin move again man sokay

lol

too bad nowitzki isn't on a better team

so oden had 3 off fouls in 26 minutes? O_O

http://a.espncdn.com/media/apphoto/8f510d1b-f5b6-49f3-a684-fdd78563c8aa.jpg

i want some kind of pic or gif of lebron swallowing rondo's fast-break layup last night

http://i34.tinypic.com/k4v8s6.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOAtRUZiu44

Starting to feel sorry for Lebron though - this many years and they haven't been able to put together a real team around him? How much longer is the guy going to keep having to do it all?

daaaaamn xp

:D

when they get boucned out of the 2nd round this year, lebron is going to *~explore~* the free agency world imo

i mean cavs payroll is swole as hell, for that kind of money you should be rolling three legit all-stars and some elite role playas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6VmWLUtdQo

that block is a monster play

BOTH those blocks are monster plays

follow by 3 pter over kg >_<

yah i kind of roffled when doug collins was talking about mo williams and kind of casually mentioned that he was their second option last year

then i got sad for bron

i mean mo's no slouch but lets talk about second options on other championship caliber teams: ray allen, tony parker, pau gasol, jameer/rashard, etc

i couldn't believe the cavs were playing shaq and z together in crunch time

more like crunching of bones time

you see because they are very old and the wear of playing many years of professional basketball has taken its toll on their enormous bodies

haha

lebron 2 clippers new nba meme

:D

i mean mo's no slouch but lets talk about second options on other championship caliber teams: ray allen, tony parker, pau gasol, jameer/rashard, etc

― i'll see you in jamie mccourt then (agent hibachi), Wednesday, October 28, 2009 12:42 PM (49 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i dont think mo is at the level of these 3rd options: KG, manu/richard jefferson, bynum/artest (who's 3rd here?), vince

it's basically gotten to the point where the come-from-behind fastbreak block is lebron's signature play right?

kobe has the fadeaway? duncan has the hook shot? nash has the behind the back pass? hardaway has the crossover? MJ has the switching hands in mid air layup?

wade has the fall on the floor after every drive?

true

The amazing thing is that before those blocks he slows down - how is that even possible?

i would definitely be a little shook if i were on an "open breakaway" and Bron was on anywhere on the court.

exactly!! the other teams still don't seem to get it. like that one on ray allen up there, bron had already done the come from behind block a ton of times before that and ray allen basically walked to the rim like he was doing layup lines.

Although for me the Lebron signature play is the type of drive he did right at the end of the third quarter yesterday (the one that hung on the rim but didn't go in) where he is somehow sprinting forwards at full speed and picks up the ball as he crosses the three point line for the layup/foul - it's pretty unique how he does it almost totally parallel to the direction of the court?

do yall think that rondo was emboldened last night by the guy from xavier having dunked on lebron? cuz i really have no idea what he was thinking trying to challenge him at the rim.

Although for me the Lebron signature play is the type of drive he did right at the end of the third quarter yesterday (the one that hung on the rim but didn't go in) where he is somehow sprinting forwards at full speed and picks up the ball as he crosses the three point line for the layup/foul - it's pretty unique how he does it almost totally parallel to the direction of the court?

― Gravel Puzzleworth, Wednesday, October 28, 2009 2:53 PM (2 minutes ago)

i was thinking this exact same thing

j idunno if he was really "challenging him" or just attempting a layup whilst quitely shitting himself thinking "shit, is he right behind me?"

dudes lebron signature is the CRAB DRIBBLE come on now

best block from behind has to be this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spi-4_6Ugdg

Tayshaun has a whole section in his wiki page dedicated to it: The Block

neither rondo nor ray tried to prevent the block at all - getting rejected on the break is something that only happens if you let it

thats why you dunk that shit like a man iirc

cant they figure out a counter move like a fake out or just hold the ball while he goes flying past u

lookin at u chris paul

slowing down at the last moment and positioning yr body so as to cause lebron to land headfirst into photographers might make him think twice abt trying it on the regular - there are reasons why people generally dont chase down breaks - its more of a surprise move than a go to

dudes lebron signature is the CRAB DRIBBLE come on now

― ice cr?m, Wednesday, October 28, 2009 3:08 PM (1 hour ago)

unfortunately i believe i am unfamiliar w/ this!

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv50/BigM211/CrabDribble.gif

HIGHsterical!

omg @ his face

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qoSXxWHV7Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikvtn6bDW0o

j idunno if he was really "challenging him" or just attempting a layup whilst quitely shitting himself thinking "shit, is he right behind me?"

― k3vin k., Wednesday, October 28, 2009 1:57 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

rondo definitely was trying to dunk on him. rondo's a crafty lil fucker too, he could've used the rim to shield himself by going up and under or something.

btw, courtney lee did dunk on lebron in the east finals last year on a fastbreak that everyone was expecting was going to be swatted by lebron

re the crab dribble, that might be one of lebron's enduring legacies, but wade does the head down brandon jacobs drive to the basket as much as lebron does

rondo had an easy layup and at the last second thought o hey why not dunk on lebron jumped too early held the ball out like a target and got pwnd - not well played at all

the thing abt the crab dribble is lebron got all fussy abt a totally resonable traveling call and when reporters asked him abt it he was all thats just a crab dribble man - none of them knew wtf he was talking abt and NEITHER DID LEBRON - so basically LOL and the world has a brand new catch all excuse

lollllll hop step aka double dribble

http://deadspin.com/5392030/the-book-the-nba-doesnt-want-you-to-read

In the book, Donaghy alleges, among other things, that referee Dick Bavetta spoke unabashedly about his role as the NBA's "go-to guy." Donaghy cites Game 6 of the notorious 2002 Western Conference finals, between the Lakers and the Kings — a game that NBA conspiracy theorists still talk about as if it were basketball's grassy knoll. Donaghy, who was not assigned to the game, reports that Bavetta "openly talked about the fact that the league wanted a Game 7."

god i love the nba.

had no idea that sean may's fat ass was starting for the kings this year

http://a.espncdn.com/i/headshots/nba/players/65/2776.jpg

secretly fun rosters:

nets:
devin harris
courtney lee
chris douglas-roberts
yi jianlin
brook lopez

raptors:
jose calderon
demar derozan
hedo turkoglu
chris bosh
andrea bargnani

hornets:
chris paul
morris peterson
julian wright
david west
emeka okafor

also the warriors which is gonna be naturally hilarious

That hornets roster is not fun.

Who is everyone watching tonight?

world series!

PS3!

top chef

haha yall, all i've been thinking about today has been

1. world seres
2. ps3
3. top chef

(sex & food not incl)

Hawks/Pacers, 7 pm, nba lp broadband.

spurs/hawnets

lol, bargnani just rimmed an open fast break dunk bcz lebron chasedown panic.

watchin grizz vs. det a bit cuz of the 6 combined uconn players - three 6 mafia "performed" stay fly as the grizzles were introduced

wuz pretty sweet

Josh Smith looking like an allstar... 16 and 6 at half w/ some beautiful dunks and passes, but i've been down this road before. amazing one game head case the next.

Warriors will have a pre-game ceremony to present Anthony Morrow trophy for leading NBA 3-pt% last season.

lol

Apparently the Warriors opponents tonight had to take the ferry to get to the game tonight because of the bay bridge closure.

hahah so awesome

Cleveland are going to win sixteen games next season.

hahahaha yuuuuuup

shit is hectic yo! mad basketball games on the Pass + WS yankee hating

bobcats down by 30 in 3rd qtr

philly getting butt raped too

espn should fire all commentators and have gruden & van gundy do every game, regardless of sport

same old hornets, same old spurs zzzz

luvin the league pass

fucking bargnani...

so, uh, the cavs

horford beasting tonight w/ 24 and 16.

pretty pissed that i passed him over a bunch of times >_<

the closest margin in a game right now is 9 in the DET-MEM game

everything else is like 17+ points

so how long til mike brown gets fired??? i say before xmas.

lebron for player-coach

just fyi det is now up 15

how long before we can call them the lolcavs

thank you league pass broadband preview for letting me see anthony randolph's halftime buzzer three-- probably the only warriors highlight i'll need this year

liking the bbpass-- wish there was a 10/20 one or two team follow option

10 or 20 dollar i mean

if u have the cable season pass u get the internet one for free - so if u have a friend who has that ask them for the internet login info - thats what ima do

and then share that login info w/ ilh

and then we'll have an ilh league pass broadband fap

that sounds amazing but have a feeling they prob neg u if too many logins

ftr, mlb.tv didn't neg multiple log ins so u never know

i mean maybe if there was 10 ppl using it...

i'll neg u if u don't btw

go for it, says the kid who probably won't shell out any money himself

ill neg u all and take yr season passes - log on to a diff one each day of the week

did justin.tv change how their site works? none of their feeds work

ty lawson pretty wow

al signs continue to point to him being a v good player

Trending Topics

#Truthis
Halloween
#mymomsaid
MELO
Ty Lawson
Goodnight
No Ceilings
Cliff Lee
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Phillies

just to forewarn imma get into serious tl;dr on some spurs action rite now

game last night was impressive offensively for the spurs. duncan is moving around like a spry 50 y/o tho. but they roll 10 deep on their rotation, easy. they have 3 guys who are legit 3 pt specialists (finley, bonner, mason) and 3 guys who can cut to the basket and create their own offense (parker, ginobili, jefferson). george hill is a really well-rounded point guard who was giving chris paul some trouble. blair got burned by okafor and david west pretty routinely on defense, but his ability to rebound and get buckets off of them is second only to duncan on this team. mcdyess gives them some much needed interior d plus a midrange jumper that spreads the floor just as well as bonner's 3 pt. this game was never close past the first quarter. i think until duncan is back in game shape (they brought him into the season deliberately out of shape to save his knees) they're gonna have trouble with teams with stronger bigs, but they can outgun any team right now as far as i'm concerned. their depth means they don't have to play anyone more than 30 minutes a game.

its all abt staying healthy for them

very sad that I cant watch any games here in HK 囧

so, uh, the cavs

― a goon boy (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, October 28, 2009 8:42 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

yea dude wtf is this??

eeegghhh fuckin hate cleveland sports

we're like doomed already

spurs blew my six game win streak on streak for the cash, thanks u fucks

speaking of undersized pfs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMUIO9pdS5U

roy & melo going at it

oh boy oden at the line w 4 seconds left down 1

greg :-(

this fuckin guy

blazers got kinda screwed there - that ref was mad late calling a foul

i want to murder fratello right now, did he want them to choke slam melo?

i think the ref would've seen it had roy punched carmelo in the face. that's probably what should have happened. so they saw it.

KevinDurant35 Melo is gon be da scoring champ...balee dat...
19 minutes ago from web

rudygay22 Melo is killing! That's what Baltimore do!!!
20 minutes ago from UberTwitter

God I missed the fourth quarter of this too. Kinda happy about that atm

lol @ headline: Nuggets get help from Oden, Anthony's 41 points in win

ugh. hate whoever writes those things. it's like they didn't even watch the game! Nuggets would've won by much more if not for Oden

http://blog.sportscape.tv/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Logos-Denver-Nuggets.jpg

^^ dope

ugh. hate whoever writes those things. it's like they didn't even watch the game! Nuggets would've won by much more if not for Oden

Yeah but you gotta make those free throws

oden didnt have a particularly good game - no reason to believe a diff lineup couldnt have done better - of course he didnt have a horrible game and his backups werent playing great either so who knows - and def hit at least one of those free throws big guy

game 2 jitters

i dunno, seemed like most of the time he was in the lineup, he was awesome clogging up the middle. portland had so many more offensive rebounds than denver, and and it seemed like a huge amount of those were because of him

not gonna pick on him tho. was thinking the other day about who should be ilh's mascot and decided on oden O_O

p.s.

http://4gifs.com/gallery/d/136461-1/Crazy_eyes_basketball.gif

ilh's mascot would be like a sickening rondo/oden hybrid imo. RONDODEN.

LOL we got photoshop we can make this happen

Oden hasn't done nearly enough yet to merit star status, but then he's not so bad that he deserves people crapping on his head, either. Look at history and you'll see he's above average among #1 picks who were centers, although only a little above average.

ya but what about RONDODEN

i think opposing teams are gonna have to start fining dudes who get beat by rondo for a rebound

c's looking real good tonight

yeah--if this is how their second unit is going to play most of the time they're gonna be real fuckin good. in both this game and the cleveland game the c's got a big run the first time the second unit entered the game.

rondo's stats so far 1-2 fgm/a and 16 assists

loool @ lakers bench

alright this is my dean, which coach is he a dead ringer for?

http://uconnmagazine.uconn.edu/sprg2004/images/mccarthy04.jpg

http://images.athlonsports.com/d/9765-1/Mike+D_Antoni.jpg

amazing

ok i just bugged for a minute when espn showed a graphic of "ron artest sr, ron artest's father" and they didnt flash to him immediately so it was over a mavs player, lol

im pretty high too so that could have contributed, lol

damn that dude looks exactly like d'antoni

i kinda hate kentucky basketball, but i may watch every game w/ this kid playing point. expecting him to be the 1st pick in next yrs draft

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4CbQGBbUOw&feature=player_embedded#at=147

k3v that is funny if you are not high so don't feel self-conscious

yeah wall is next next level

speaking of young pg's, i thought i saw some pretty nasty highlights from brandon jennings tonight. nice line: 17 pts 9 boards 9 assist.

i barely watch college and i may watch every kentucky game xxxp

wau @ that shannon brown dunk

i think you'll all agree when i say that little thing between marion and cuban epitomizes what makes the nba so great

wow @ that kentucky kid

Oden hasn't done nearly enough yet to merit star status, but then he's not so bad that he deserves people crapping on his head, either. Look at history and you'll see he's above average among #1 picks who were centers, although only a little above average.

― Aimless, Friday, October 30, 2009 9:03 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

centers taken #1 since 1980 - kinda interesting list - not as many busts as i thought - bunch of great players - some really good players - and yeah i can see oden being somewhere around average here - worse than ralph sampson better than andrea baranani

2007 Greg Oden Portland Ohio State
2006 Andrea Bargnani Toronto Italy
2005 Andrew Bogut Milwaukee Utah
2004 Dwight Howard Orlando SW Atlanta Christian Academy (GA)
2002 Yao Ming Houston China
2001 Kwame Brown Washington Glynn Academy
1998 Michael Olowokandi Los Angeles Clippers Pacific (Cal.)
1997 Tim Duncan San Antonio Wake Forest
1995 Joe Smith Golden State Maryland
1992 Shaquille O'Neal Orlando Louisiana State
1989 Pervis Ellison Sacramento Louisville
1987 David Robinson San Antonio Navy
1986 Brad Daugherty Cleveland North Carolina
1985 Patrick Ewing New York Georgetown
1984 Hakeem Olajuwon Houston Houston
1983 Ralph Sampson Houston Virginia
1980 Joe Barry Carroll Golden State Purdue

yeah center busts are prob the most dramatic symbolically and otherwise but that's nothing but a solid list

omg that john wall mixtape

popeye is such a crazy lookin dude

c's looking real good tonight

― luol deng (am0n), Friday, October 30, 2009 9:51 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah--if this is how their second unit is going to play most of the time they're gonna be real fuckin good. in both this game and the cleveland game the c's got a big run the first time the second unit entered the game.

― call all destroyer, Friday, October 30, 2009 9:58 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

not sure abt shelden williams but whatevs baby will eat his minutes once he comes back and theres no reason to think sheed/daniels/house/baby cant flow at a high level all season - only question is will this daniels back up pg plan work - cause teams def can fuck w/houses ball handling if they feel like it

http://wizznutzz.com/images/birth_popeye.jpg

XD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jwSjgEWp78

omg

^ seconded

that is...amazing

wall mixtape is pretty bananas, but did he even take/make a single jumper in it? lol

i was thinking the same thing...there were like 2 Js but it doesnt look like that's a big part of his game. cant wait to see him play

Tonight's Halloween game between the Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs was delayed when a bat began flying around the court — that is, until Spurs guard Manu Ginobili(notes) whacked the bat out of midair with his hand like a freakin' cat! ("Manu who catch bat with hand accomplish anything." — Mr. Miyagi)

With the bat dazed and confused, Manu calmly picked up the flying mammal, walked it over to an usher and delivered his "kill." After a quick squirt of hand sanitizer the game was back on. No problem.

http://i33.tinypic.com/sbowmp.gif

O______________O

http://i44.tinypic.com/245ii6h.jpg

lolololololol

yes when there's a highlight reel of a spectacular athlete it should be filled with 18ft jumpshots.

arenas has been looking really really good offensively

which of the spurs is cowering in manic fear of the bat in that gif?

yes granny dainger because if you are a spectacular athlete your success in the NBA is automatically guaranteed

they should go ahead and give ginobili 6th man of the year for that

M. Ginobili 13 PTS 5-7 FG 3-4 FT 1 REB 3 AST 1 STL 1 TO 1 BLOCKED BAT

manuginobili btw, I dont think I kill the poor thing. I felt it moving in my hand...about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck

manuginobili Cuando me retire, ya tengo trabajo... Cazador de murciélagos! // Post retirement job... Pest Control! lol.... http://bit.ly/3pf8Hpabout 3 hours ago from Facebook

The former Knicks point guard made good on his promise to show up for his former team's home opener and sit in the front row. But Marbury was asked to leave those seats when ushers examined his ticket and determined he was sitting in the wrong spot.

Rather than relocate, Marbury left the arena just as the first quarter was ending.

Adding to the bizarre scene, Marbury pulled out a video camera shortly after arriving and began shooting the live action, at one point standing up -- thereby blocking the view of the fans behind him -- while play was ongoing.

A Madison Square Garden security official spoke to Marbury during a timeout, and it was then discovered that Marbury was holding a ticket for Row A. But the seat he was occupying -- just a couple chairs down from Spike Lee's regular seat -- was actually in Row AA, and Marbury was asked to move.

nice to know he sneeks up too. i don't get caught tho. it's about being inconspicuous starbury.

lol

An article on Monday about Brandon Jennings’s season thus far as an N.B.A. rookie with the Milwaukee Bucks referred incorrectly to a Ferrari driven by one of his teammates. It belonged to Bucks guard Michael Redd; it was not center Andrew Bogut’s car.

manuginobili btw, I dont think I kill the poor thing. I felt it moving in my hand...about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck

― RONDODEN (Clay), Sunday, November 1, 2009 2:19 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ok just twitter u done what u came for

never 4get

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrQzRBcrCts

which of the spurs is cowering in manic fear of the bat in that gif?

― I AM NOT ONE TO PURSUE GAME, MY FRIEND - NO, INDEED. (forksclovetofu), Sunday, November 1, 2009 1:50 AM

dejuan blair

yes granny dainger because if you are a spectacular athlete your success in the NBA is automatically guaranteed

most bizarre "response" i've gotten in 6 years. congrats.

thankin u, where do I pick up my prize

lol shelden williams is on the celtics? u mean this guy?

http://www.sportsargumentwiki.com/images/1/15/Tomahawk.JPG

http://www.sportsargumentwiki.com/images/c/cd/Sheldenwilliams.jpg

http://i35.tinypic.com/345lmbt.jpg

pleased to meet you, my name is rondoden

wait i fucked that up

my post should've been:

lol shelden williams is on the celtics? u mean this guy?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/af/Cave_troll.jpg

― candice spergin (cankles), Sunday, November 1, 2009 7:24 PM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3498/4067439914_7fa08fcc59_o.jpg

lol RONDODEN

http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss51/tr_fudge/hmmodulok.jpg

u guys im really not comfortable w/this RONDODEN thing its kinda freaking me out

would u rather have LEBRONDO

http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/files/2009/09/parkerwilliamsportrait_627.jpg

jazzoween

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/201135/jazzhalloween2009-2.jpg
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/201107/jazzhalloween2009.jpg

HAAH XD

kosta koufos as harry potter slaying me

loool

oh yeah and d-will --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJHJmH57nxc

<3<3<3<3

who is t-pain

popular recording artist and producer.

that is a fucking weak zack morris. i don't even see him carrying a ginormous cell phone.

hornets got 32-13 from cp3, 24-10 from omeka, and 21 from west and LOST TO THE KNICKS.

yeah wtf happened to them

lol, internets say t-pain is millsap

srsly what is the chance that byron scott has a job come january 2010?

free chris paul

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WCrIotSdkFA/SUqF2wsa5sI/AAAAAAAABAQ/EkuEzbbJgbc/s320/i_believe_in_chris_paul.jpg

"sb nation" is the url in those pics

'Batman' Manu Ginobili has rabies shots after capture

After he caught the bat, the theme song to "Batman" played
After he caught the bat, the theme song to "Batman" played
After he caught the bat, the theme song to "Batman" played

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmZsU-6plmc

d wade playing a little 1 on 5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW3dD9CbaxI

must get a pair of stuckey's skull shoes!!!

"That is an elite player, right there."

True.

got into it w/rondo to the point of trying to follow him to the locker room after the game - next day hes punching david lee in a scrum - cp3 is hella mad abt his current scenario

they're probably going to trade him

what a disaster for the hornets

dysfunctional franchise x1m

id love to see cp3 on a good team - just look what hes done w/the shit ones hes had so far - man is a baws

can't possibly think of a trade that makes sense for the hornets other than an everything must go firesale, moving to vegas kind of thing

xthreadpost with the simmons book one: hawks could've had cp3 and how awesome would that have been for everyone.

Followup to the lighter side:
Ginobili: "It was pretty funny at the time. Now it's not. I have to get
like a million shots. It wasn't so much fun. The bat survived. I'm
fine. I'm not going to have rabies. The bat won."

lol batman

xthreadpost with the simmons book one: hawks could've had cp3 and how awesome would that have been for everyone.

― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Tuesday, November 3, 2009 1:03 PM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

celtics couldve had him too - hornets were offering that pick for pierce iirc

http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-peta-slams-nba-s-manu-ginobili-for-swatting-bat-during-game

do we really need to have peta make press releases anymore to know what their opinion would be?

http://www.opposingviews.com/article_attachments/0000/3193/bat.jpg?1257189089

plz do not stun bats w/hand then release safely into wild - lolwtf he saved that bat

the bat died

not what i heard maan

the bat survived

schrödinger's bat

there u go

or not

\O_O/

story of the year. bat man vs balloon boy

xthreadpost with the simmons book one: hawks could've had cp3 and how awesome would that have been for everyone.

what's worse is the next yr we picked sheldon williams over brandon roy. fuk urself billy knight

man that is pretty sad - especially since paul and roy were both v highly thought of going into the draft - its nto like they were sleepers - teams just consistently over think these things

its my contention that draft consensus is better 3 months out than it is on draft day - hype drive people mad yo

cp3 was widely considered the best point prospect since jason kidd then he ends up going 4th - behind another point guard - wtf nba

which pg went ahead of him?

dwill

eh

thing is, okafor, west, and cp3 are a pretty decent core, they needa wing player to be serious players, but they have basically no guns outside those three players! bench is horrrrrrible outside posey (is he starting now?)

well marvin williams and bogut were pretty high in the draft consensus all year, but marvin was definitely thought of as a project. sadly we really needed a pg at the time. apparently billy knight liked deron more than cp3 anyways but either would have been a better pick.

i like marvin enough... he'll be a solid starter for years to come, but sheldon williams??? that was some serious over thinking.

haven't watched NO much but it sounds like West is declining quickly

watching them against the spurs, i dont think he's necessarily declining but he was perhaps given too much yay! for being a guy who can score 18-20 and has no defensive hustle to speak of

otm - never a legit allstar

this is a non-shocka but nola has a serious coaching issue based on paul's comments and what i saw when they played the c's on sunday. they look bored and stiff--no discernible identity. they're bringing peja off the bench for some unknown reason even though his only value is to hang out and wait for paul to kick it to him--predictably when the hornets tied the celts in the 3rd it was paul and peja shredding them.

yeah they really need to play defense too

what's worse is the next yr we picked sheldon williams over brandon roy. fuk urself billy knight

― Moreno, Tuesday, November 3, 2009 1:53 PM (38 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

well marvin williams and bogut were pretty high in the draft consensus all year, but marvin was definitely thought of as a project. sadly we really needed a pg at the time. apparently billy knight liked deron more than cp3 anyways but either would have been a better pick.

i like marvin enough... he'll be a solid starter for years to come, but sheldon williams??? that was some serious over thinking.

― Moreno, Tuesday, November 3, 2009 2:21 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ugh. yeah. ugh. billy fucking knight. goddammit. i hate basketball. fuckin... fuck. goddammit.

http://i25.tinypic.com/fvzcy0.gif

those are imprisonable offences imo

i would cry every night cursing basketball jesus's name if i were a hawks fan for the wasted b-roy/cp3 combo opporuntity

it's made so that it's still kind of hard for me to enjoy their recent success, maybe i'm just a giant baby for feeling that way. at least we're not the clippers or kings i guess.

^that's their '09-'10 season marketing tagline, right?

http://yazmar.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ept_sports_nba_experts-22684473-1241096724.jpg

six flags over atlanta should name a ride after josh smith. never seen a player go from absolutely dominant to whiny baby-worthless ass from one game to the next as much as him.

yeah, i cant stand josh smith.

Iverson was disappointed with [that he only played 18 minutes], according to FanHouse. "I had no problems (with the hamstring)," Iverson said afterward. "I had a problem with my butt from sitting on that bench so long. That's the only thing I got a problem with."

game one for this guy and he's already making a scene. lookin' forward to this tbh.

lol

did he really say "butt"

itt replace ballers names with "butt"

dr. butt

earvin "butt" johnson

george "the buttman" gervin

lebutt james

buttmelo anthony

butt

^shaq

luol butt

West was indicted on two counts of carrying a dangerous weapon, two counts of carrying a handgun, two counts of transporting a handgun, and one count each of reckless driving and negligent driving. The charges are all misdemeanors. Each of the weapons counts carries a penalty of up to three years in prison.

West has been treated in the past for bipolar disorder, and last week his wife filed a domestic violence report against him in Ohio. No charges have been filed in that incident.

kobutt

butt walker

kareem abdul-jabbutt

daryl "chocolate butt" dawkins

larry butt

glen "big butt" davis

dickey buttkins

caron buttler
kermit buttington

chris "the birdbutt" anderson

buttlef shrempf

lol @ you guys!

charles buttley

aka sir butt aka the round mound of butt

shane buttier

butt malone

chase buttinger

luther butthead

kevin garbutt

world b. free <-- the b stands for "butt"

mo butt

butt cheeks

^^wins!

allen "butt answer" iverson
kenny "butt jet" smith

Žydrūnas Ilbuttskas

butt outlaw

butt pierce

muggsy butt

butt webb

speedy butt

red auerbutt

uhh despite the awful reviews he got upon signing shel williams is a damn decent bench player so far

flip butt

the bucks (the butts?) are beating the bulls despite not having michael redd tonight.

jennings is the early leader for rookie of the year, right?

there was a good article about how Jennings is all saving his money and drives a Ford Edge, which made me feel all good inside

jennings has been awesome - again, it's hilarious to me that the knicks passed on him - the stuff i saw of jennings playing in europe made him look really good. simmons said the knicks had the 8th pick in a 7th team draft but jennings ended up going tenth

his numbers were pretty bad in europe and prob teams found his decision to play there a little untrustworthy - he was considered a top 3 prospect coming out of hs tho

if he continues to do well you got to think a lot of others will follow that path - theres that kid whos going over who would be a senior in hs this year - if europe becomes a popular stop over for name prospects itll really put a cramp in commish sterns age limit marketing ploy

the european game is pretty different tho, no?

i remember seeing him on real sports a while back, when he was in europe, and it seemed like he was being asked to take a very different role than he was used to

idk, i mean if they really wanted rubio or flynn or whoever, it doesn't seem to me like jennings was that far off of it - def think that d'antoni could've brought out the best in him - good 4 the bucks i guess, kinda sucks for the league that he's embargoed up there tho

i'm sorry, did no one mention butt gay???

europe is def quite different in style and roles - which is one of the reasons he didnt do so well - the other is he was playing against grown men - its the 2nd best league in the world no doubt - but that along w/the fact that they dont have to abide by ncaa limits on training time makes it seem like itd be a better minor league than college - and u get paid

prob some kids arent mature enough to handle the culture shock but if they are seems like a no brainer - make some money while getting the best available experience - and once the nba gets used to the idea that kids arent going to play that great in europe it should hurt their draft stock like it did jennings

james hardin just took a monster charge from kobe

if i had to move to okc at least i could follow the thunder

also, re jennings, not sure where i heard it, but the coach of his european team was known as one of the best over there.

pistons just beat the magic w/o tayshaun and rip?!?!?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AvtC6CMvbFpTvlidKZ.yh.S8vLYF?slug=dw-jenningsbucks110209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

lol @ yahoo

3:00 OKC - Bad pass by K. Durant

man this la/okc game is awesome and in related news i <3 having nbatv now

i tried to find a stream on justin.tv but no dice >:(

THABO SEFOLOSHA

they block out the nbatv games from the league pass broadband wtf

what--that's retarded

pistons just beat the magic w/o tayshaun and rip?!?!?

― Moreno, Tuesday, November 3, 2009 10:09 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol ive scoured the box score looking for answers and found this d howard 17min 6pf

ok wat durant just bailed and took a 30-foot airball?

durant has had a bad 4th q? he has 7 turnovers

yeah the game's been a mess but like he pretty much could have done anything else and it would have been better than that

the crowd in okc is unbelievable btw

wau 6 total points form the lakers bench

watchin' jazz/mavs on addfoot.com. the lakers game was on there too

another airball for durant :'(

what a chucker

loool @ exhibition college basketball leading sportscenter

2nd game I've seen Jennings play and he looks like a stud. Outplayed D Rose (who has looked pretty dreadful so far. hoping it's just due to no virtually no preseason run and tight ankle tendon) in both games.

OKC is a gutsy ass team.

yeah they were tenacious as hell--jumpy and spastic on offense with durant off his game tho

man does phil jackson just not trust his bench at all? it's november and their bench played 45 minutes collectively in an overtime game. their starters minutes played is kobe 46 minutes, fisher 35 minutes, bynum 48 minutes, artest 46 minutes, odom 43 minutes.

dj mbenga's PR team needs to get to work

No, he does - they got a lot of minutes in the first three games. I think he varies the amount each squad plays depending on the opponent.

I am very glad that Bynum is playing so well. Kind of want Pau! back, but I'm okay with Andrew getting a few extra points/boards per game.

damn good win by the hawks in portland. crawford w/ 27 and 7. who says he doesn't pass?

Told the last Bull to post a 20-20 game was Marcus Fizer, Dend said, "Wow. Proud to join that group." loluolol

^Deng

haha really hes thinking "who the fuck is marcus fizer"

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/buzzerbeater/luolz.jpg

haha

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x18/gr8080/dancingalienld7.gif

The Heat filed a lawsuit a few weeks ago against Rony Seikaly, its first No. 1 draft pick (1988), but reached a settlement that Seikaly seems happy with. The problem was that Seikaly did not pay for his seldom-used AmericanAirlines Arena floor seats last season or this season (the last year of his lease) because he's spending most of his time overseas as a traveling disc jockey. ``I'm playing every corner of Europe. It's an artistic passion.''

http://www.reachon10.com/customers/hushent/saturday_ronyseikaly_4.25c_.jpg

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/object3/458/93/n66907383282_9608.jpg
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rony-Seikaly/66907383282

O_O

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs027.snc1/3146_77513528282_66907383282_1772028_1795254_n.jpg

Seikaly's NBA career highs in a game are 40 points, 34 rebounds, 8 blocked shots, 4 steals and 6 assists.

During his run with the Heat, he had the nickname "The Spin Doctor", due to his trademark low-post spin moves.[citation needed]

needs more than a citation imho

seikaly's ex-wife

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/IMAGES/MMPH/257768.jpg

uhh despite the awful reviews he got upon signing shel williams is a damn decent bench player so far

yes but he was picked over brandon roy who is an all star

lol now celtis pickin up scraps for the vet minimum

pistons just beat the magic w/o tayshaun and rip?!?!?http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2009/1104/nba_g_bynum_stuckey_300.jpg

pistons or rockets as yr fav scrappy underdoggs

or okc

ya i was not defending shel williams' draft position ircc

every time i've seen a Deng boxscore this season i shout "Deng's Back!" like the beginning of T.I.'s "Get It." try it, it's fun

lol dang

deng stan here

luoldengestan

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/04/maria-sharapova-sasha-vuj_n_345529.html

Machinapova

Sharachine

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gen/116338/thumbs/s-MARIA-SHARAPOVA-SASHA-VUJACIC-large.jpg

that kid is gonna have such an awesome jaw

i am so outraged over this right now - she is waay to cool for him

http://i36.tinypic.com/21kjeo0.jpg

want move there^

just south of steve kerrgyzstan

sixers went 1-16 from 3 against c's btw

c's guard that line well - other teams v c's not so much

so far this year c's 49% - opponents 25%

this sort of thing will cause you to lose not v often

Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, former rivals turned friends, collaborated with basketball reporter Jackie MacMullan and wrote a book, published this week, titled "When the Game was Ours."

Of all the Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals, one of the most legendary, and for Lakers' fans one of the most bitter, was in 1984 when the Lakers outplayed the Celtics in the first four games, but blew two of them, and ultimately lost the seventh game and the championship at the Boston Garden.

That spring, Celtics fans tried to intimidate the Lakers when they flew into Boston. Back then, NBA teams flew on commercial flights, not charter planes:

When the Lakers landed at Logan Airport ... they waited nearly an hour for their bags, emblazoned with the purple-and-gold Lakers emblem. When the luggage finally appeared on the conveyor belt, many of them were unzipped. Nothing was missing, according to Magic, "but the message was clear. It was just Boston's way of letting us know we shouldn't get comfortable here."

... [After getting hounded by Celtics fans at the airport, Johnson] was relieved to finally reach the team bus -- until he noticed the driver was wearing a Celtics shirt. When he stepped up to the counter at the team hotel to check in, the manager who assisted him also proudly wore Celtics colors.

"Even the curtains in my room were green," Magic said.

In Game 2 of the series, the Lakers blew a chance to win the game in regulation when Johnson misjudged the time left and passed too late for Bob McAdoo to take a shot. The Celtics won in overtime to even the series.

Bird contends that Magic may have been a victim of a Celtics home-court advantage. In 1984 shot clocks were not positioned atop the baskets, as they are today. In Boston there were huge electronic boxes on the floor displaying how much time was left on the shot clock, but more often than not they were obstructed by a court-side photographer or a fan who had draped his or her jacket over it ...

Bird said ... '" bet Magic couldn't even see how much time was time was left. I never could. What I used to do was check the time during the timeout, then count down in my head once I got out there."

want to read this.

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2009/1103/nba_rim2_600.jpg

"I would liken these new rims to the ones found on the playgrounds that we grew up on," Houston Rockets forward Shane Battier said. "If you miss on the back iron, it deadens the rebound. If you miss on the front rim, it gives the rebound spring and your chances of rolling the ball in are better."

Said Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash, who for four consecutive seasons has managed to shoot at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the line: "I see no difference."

"the ball isnt supposed to hit the rim"

-- ray allen responding to criticism of the lack of rotation on his shot

wait who is criticizing ray's shot???

spike lee

i guess spike would prefer a tracking shot huh

jesus shuttleworth

lol stojakovic just sunk a clutch 3. on the replays there was one angle where you could see mark cuban in the background rolling his eyes

wade vs arenas was pretty cool

in yr face Cuban!

and goddamn it Kings why must you always get my hopes up and then take a giant dump in the 4th?

It took a big defensive stop for the Lakers to walk away with the victory...
Trevor Ariza, the former Laker who signed with the Rockets this summer, tried to drive the lane, but Derek Fisher stripped the ball away.

plz karma don't hurt him

i am so outraged over this right now - she is waay to cool for him

― ice cr?m, Thursday, November 5, 2009 4:28 AM (13 hours ago) Bookmark

more or less outraged than over marco jaric

sasha is a few orders higher than jaric on the douchery scale no question

http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/wilbur/2le56wj.gif

just one more time for y'all

i dont mind these euro scummies having hot gfs - its just im sort of into sharapova as a person you know i like her energy man - it all started when she won i cant remember which grand slam and the interviewer was all what do you have to say and she yelled I LOOOVE MY DADDDDY - i was like whoa this lady is sort of fascinating - also how shes jealous that her own dog is more famous than her i mean come on right

Donald Sterling is a scumbag: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=dw-sterling110409&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

4 real

can we count on at least barkley to put him on blast if the players are gonna wuss out?

Apparently, Sterling is so cheap he won’t even spend money to defend his reputation against a racial discrimination charge. If you’re innocent (and rich), you’d think squashing the possible assumption that you’re a despicable racist is a project worth dropping some cash on, but hey, this is Donald Sterling.

he's a super creep it's pretty well known. someone should help elgin get it together enough legally to stick it to him but that window might be closing.

I saw this line in the LATimes the other day and was convinced it was about Elgin Baylor

Los Angeles Clippers owner and real estate mogul Donald T. Sterling has agreed to pay a record $2.725 million to settle allegations that he discriminated against African Americans

However its another separate issue about the owner of the clippers being a racist.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/11/donald-sterling-to-pay-2725-million-to-settle-housing-discrimination-lawsuit.html

That is precisely what we're talking about!

its just im sort of into sharapova as a person you know i like her energy man - it all started when she won i cant remember which grand slam and the interviewer was all what do you have to say and she yelled I LOOOVE MY DADDDDY - i was like whoa this lady is sort of fascinating - also how shes jealous that her own dog is more famous than her i mean come on right

Right. Plus, she's HOT.

cavs fail

yessssssssssss

luolol

luolol cavs

starting to think this cavs season could get ugly.

someone make this guy stop writing
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/thelife/news/story?id=4617790

omg yes - lol last year in a column he was totally i hav discovered this amazing new very strange band 4 u: animal collector! then he was all everyone in nba is assholes cause they dont know abt rad shit like i do

thought that was gonna be a reilly column

he comes off like such a fuckin creepy douchebag

The girl, who I'll call Sara because that's an innocuous enough fake name, looked good. Better, probably, than she did when we, ahem, dated. This was going to be a problem, I thought, as she leaned in to kiss my cheek. I did not need to be tempted for several reasons but I wasn't sure I was lucid enough to remember that fact.

"ahem, dated."

"lucid enough to remember" <<rapist

ha srsly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Shirley

Shirley is noted for briefly maintaining an online journal while playing for the Phoenix Suns in 2004-05. His first journal dealt with a several-day-long road trip, while the second chronicled the Suns' NBA Playoffs run. After their playoff elimination, the Suns did not re-sign him, as he rarely played in his twelfth man position.

Shirley was signed to a non-guaranteed contract by the Minnesota Timberwolves in early October, but was cut in training camp before the start of the 2006-07 season.

its all teh sports guys fault iirc

lolspurs

does shirley still play basketball at all or is he just espn's music blogger?

plays for spain in euroleague

het dudes posting this valuable insider article 4 u

Will Cavs' issues affect LeBron's future?
By John Hollinger

LeBron JamesGarrett W. Ellwood/NBAE/Getty ImagesLeBron to the Wolves in 2010? If the Cavs don't shape up, Minnesota may be a better fit for the King.

It's Circus Night in New York, with LeBron James visiting the Big Apple and Knicks fans openly pining for him to save their franchise next season. And it comes at a very interesting time, when the Cavs appear to be much less dominant than we expected.

The Cavs have already lost two times in their own building -- they lost only one home game with James in the lineup last season -- and the wins haven't been works of art, either. In fact, perhaps it's time to revise our assumptions about the Cavaliers entirely.

More specifically, we've presumed that last year's 66-win season was a representative sample of Cleveland's ability. And perhaps it will turn out to be -- teams have played, at most, only six games so far, and while the Cavs haven't been great, many teams have started worse only to finish with spectacular win totals.

Nonetheless, let me at least throw out another possible interpretation: Last season was an outlier for a Cavs nucleus that otherwise has settled into the 45-50 win range, and their talent base might portend similar results in the future.

Consider:

• In 2006-07, Cleveland won 50 games and finished 18th in offensive efficiency

• In 2007-08, Cleveland won 45 games and finished 20th in offensive efficiency.

• And in 2009-10, the Cavs are 3-3 while ranking 17th in offensive efficiency.

Look at the four-year trend and last season sticks out like a Yankees cap in Ohio. The Cavs were the league's fourth-best offense in 2008-09, and that's what fueled the 66 wins. Cleveland's defensive numbers, meanwhile, have hardly changed over the four seasons. While it seemed at the time that all the attention forced on LeBron allowed those performances to happen, one could suggest an alternate argument: The role players were playing over their heads and were bound to crash back to earth.

If so, the crash is happening. Of the seven role players around Shaq and LeBron, only Anderson Varejao and Daniel Gibson are producing at last season's level. Delonte West's early absence has also hurt, though even with him on Thursday night, the Cavs had few answers at the offensive end.

And then there's O'Neal. Certainly the Cavs have struggled at times to integrate him into the offense -- in fact, early analysis suggests they've been a far more potent team with Shaq off the court. But any second-guessing of his acquisition this summer also has to bear witness to the declining fortunes of 34-year-old Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Thursday's 0-for-9 performance in an 86-85 loss at home to the Bulls took him to 37.2 percent shooting on the season, and his rebound numbers are down as well.

I know -- it's six games. We're a long way from the finish line, and our view of the landscape can and will shift dramatically with the twists and turns of an NBA season. But it's worth noting that all the surprises thus far for Cleveland have been negative ones, with pieces not fitting as well as intended thus far.

And it's especially worth noting that if the Cavs are back in the 45-50 win range this season, King James might be a much more portable commodity this coming summer. If he's looking at a Cleveland lineup with one majestically talented player and several spare parts, one would think the comparison to such arrangements in New York or New Jersey wouldn't be dramatically different.

But those aren't close to being the most palatable changes of uniform available. For instance, it bears mentioning that joining the Chicago squad LeBron's team lost to Thursday night would be dramatically different. With a young star point guard, quality big men and lots of secondary help, the Bulls -- who could get as much as $20 million under the cap if John Salmons opts out of his contract, conveniently opening a spot in the lineup for LeBron at the same time -- would offer a more clear opportunity for long-term success.

Let me throw out an even crazier proposition -- Minnesota. The Wolves will have the cap space to make a run at LeBron, depending on a few variables -- or at the very least can get there fairly easily if they know there's a chance for a player of this caliber. (Declining an option on Ryan Gomes, for instance, is done much more easily if it allows you to replace him with the best player in the league.)

Minnesota is generally thought of as one of the NBA's least-desirable relocation options, but let's consider it from a winning perspective. Who would you rather play with for the next five years: Al Jefferson or Anderson Varejao? Kevin Love or Ilgauskas? Ricky Rubio or Mo Williams? Jonny Flynn or West? Ramon Sessions or Daniel Gibson? Next year's fourth pick or next year's 24th? It's obvious, isn't it?

And as Howard Beck points out in today's New York Times, the advantages of one city over another are minimal from a financial perspective -- it's as easy to put Cleveland, Minnesota or Sacramento on national TV as it is the Knicks. Really, the main considerations are who LeBron wants to play basketball with and whether he can handle living in that city day-to-day.

All the attention will be on New York, of course, because it's New York and because LeBron is playing there Friday night. But really, the possibility of his joining the Knicks is just the tip of the iceberg. If the Cavs' true level is just as a 45-50 win team, then a lot of other situations look at least as appetizing, if not better. Thus, for Cleveland, the truly terrifying part about this season's slow start is not what it may do for its playoff seeding in the spring, but that it may fuel LeBron's search for greener pastures this summer.

even when i agree with hollinger i still sort of go wtf at him

if you're trying to wrest lebron away from cleveland, don't you have to put together a "this is how we can win you mutiple championships" plan? seems like at this point money is not much of an issue, it's going to be a lot either way, he's gotta be thinking legacy (and i'm guessing your lifetime earnings are even more jakked if u have the rings).

the thing that looks lamest wrt to clevland is that they have tried (poorly) to put a championship team together aka spending a lot of money and like...this is probably as good as it gets. i don't think they're going to pull a fucking scottie pippen out of what they have now, and in today's game that might not even be enough anyway.

altho cleveland is going to win more than 45 games, hollinger is trollin

i still think that they will go all fucking out this year to get lebron to at least the finals. i'm not sure that they have many movable pieces but we'll see.

yeah if i'm lebron i'm going to free agency and meeting with any team that wants me and saying ok guys what's your plan to build a championship team?

xpost - it seems like if they are serious, cavs should try to put together a deal for bosh asap (who else is on the block that would be game changin like this?) that lets them keep mo

simmons keeps saying the clippers would make lots of sense but i could never see lebron playing for a team that's not even #1 in its own city (so lets rule out the mets too). what he should do is say "you know what, i'm going to get like $100 million dollars a year in endorsements. i'll take $3 mill a year from the cavs, but go out and get me a teammate that isn't shaq"

That LeBron Wolves team sounds so much fun actually :(

Although I guess Lebron for any bad/upcoming team is a really enjoyable lineup: Tyreke-Martin-Lebron-Nocioni-Hawes - fun! Harris-Lee-Lebron-Yi-Lopez - fun!

clippers would be perfect imo except they have the worst most unreliable ownership

whoa - just looked it up and the Knicks have 9 million in guaranteed salaries for next season (admittedly Eddy Curry will probably be picking up that option)

<3<3<3 the thunder

http://twitvid.com/6DD97

<3<3<3

i could never see lebron playing for a team that's not even #1 in its own city (so lets rule out the mets too).

but if lebron came to clips or nets they could easily become the city's #1 and a dude like lebron might enjoy producing that effect. "lol kobe jack and dyan come to see ME now"

The thing with the clippers is that Lebron has already had like 6 years of a really shitty GM failing to build a team around him?

You know what big market team has cap space in 2010? The Lakers.

i think knicks/nets is one thing because of how bad the knicks have been for the past 5+ years - i think the kobles lakers are a totally diff story

(Oops - um I just checked the more info thing and the Lakers cap space illusion is because of an option on Kobe - would have to be some sign-and-trade shit)

c's about to take an L at home

nash with the dagger! oh my!

is this on tnt?

i wish i knew what channel tnt was

nah tnt only has nba tues and thurs
http://atdhe.net/

oh duh i am in new england

lolhornets watch: down by 20 in the 4th to raptors at home

oden w/ 2 fouls in 4 minutes :D

I am at blazers/spurs right now. Man, when the spurs are tired they are TIRED.

they played EXACTLY the same last night against the jazz. they just do not look to be in rhythm yet at all.

part of this is trying to get roles divvied out to a team that is like 50% new faces. ginobili is coming off a long run of not playing, parker seems hurt, he's not blazing up and down the court. blair brings nice energy but get pwned by tall doods, bonner is STILL starting despite being 20% red hair, 80% sandwiches. jefferson is starting to come around, tho.

Parker limped off the court in the second and hasn't returned

yeah, george hill is a competent relief player but doesnt have nearly the offensive gifts

this is shaping up to be a good game!

that dunk by jefferson was sick

lol @ that continuation call

missed the c's game what happened there :(((((

at least the blazers blazed the lolspurs

lmao @ the fact that 11 lakers got in the game against memphis tonight and somehow adam morrison was the only one who managed to get a negative +/-

i officially retract my spurs-as-champs 2010 prediction. duncan's mobility is much more limited that i would have thought had i not seen him in person and without a healthy parker they are really f'd.

tim oldman

yeah if i'm lebron i'm going to free agency and meeting with any team that wants me and saying ok guys what's your plan to build a championship team?

Agreed. And, to reiterate, using that criteria, I think one of LJ's best options is Miami. LeBron, Wade and a combination of other players (that are there now or realistically can be added this off-season) equal a possible major dynasty. What I've heard some say is that LJ may not want to share the stage with someone like Wade. But that's just dumb, and LJ seems smart (certanly too smart for that kind of thinking).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ5TsZhvonc

c's game: from what i saw suns controlled tempo and played a near-perfect game. c's turn it over way too much when they play a litle fast.

c's game = 3 pt shooting and 3 pt shooting

c's = foul shooting didn't help either.

feels like too many nba games now come down to who hits their 3s on a given night

<3<3<3 the thunder

http://twitvid.com/6DD97

<3<3<3

― soiceybot (J0rdan S.), Friday, November 6, 2009 4:47 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol durrants a wicked ham

yeah, sheed was what 0-6? probably doomed them in some regards

xp yeah he's awesome

the 3pt shot has become wildly dominant - not sure if this is a good or bad thing - crazy how many dudes can shoot it at 40% - used to be u had to be a super marksman to even attempt it regularly

its really transformed the pf position - most guys now are shooters - which along w/stringent hand check enforcement has opened up driving lanes

its kinda nuts considering the 3pt% disparity + the volume of 3s taken that the c's only lost by 7

i mean i like floor spacing and i like it when everyone can shoot, but night to night results for most guys will be highly variable and it has a huge impact on games. i would like it if when guys like sheed missed the first couple they would try to go down low a bit more.

i dunno shooting is pretty variable anyway and the efficiency of 3s is affected by the same things other shots are - is the shooter guarded or open - can he make the shot under these conditions

basically the only shot thats untypical in that regard is an uncontested dunk - like even if sheed goes to the low block hes still gonna take a fall away j and have to make it

i do feel like there is maybe some destabilizing aspect of the 3pt shot that im not sussing out here - but i dont think the effect is as great as cw would have it

What I find hard to figure out is that there are guys who only take wide open catch-and-shoot 3s and hit 42%, and guys who have to make their own shots off the dribble or whatever and hit 42% or whatever but no-one ever gets much past that? Like, if Calderon can miss three free throws in an entire season why is 46% this totally unbreakable wall if your offensive role is streamlined to Stand In Corner And Shoot If Open?

well two things--first the additional point is destabilizing w/r/t points per possession so if one team is lights out from 3 you're gonna see a bigger swing there.

second, i'd like to know what fg% for various types of uncontested shots is--like i feel that fg% from 3 is going to max out at a number lower than other types of shots if you average everything out. we already see the macro version of this with the fact that probably no one is ever gonna make 50% from 3 over the course of a season.

Kapono was a hair off of 50 percent recently; but if you're a 3 pt specialist, you're probably going to be asked to take lower percentage shots as well

actually kapono hit over 50 percent in the 06/07 season

so the place where the nets play is really called the izod center?

ai has taken a leave of absence from the grizz!

whaaaaaat

game one for this guy and he's already making a scene. lookin' forward to this tbh.

― Clay, Tuesday, November 3, 2009 2:08 PM (4 days ago)

even someone named jodie meeks can appear and make 4-4 3pt nowadays

haha i can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not but meeks was insanely good at shooting threes in college

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haxfZ1WzXHk

XD

i love the "hey look"

where u go now ai

cleveland

BTW, to follow-up an earlier (and ongoing) discussion: Can Riley land LeBron?

so not gonna happen.

Why not?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exOxUAntx8I

^ how the hell can he make his team mates better by practice?

PRACTICE? PRACTICE?

not a game

not a game

much prefer jazzy jeff's take
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsxFx8oj-ZM

<3 Stephen Jackson's agent

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4636820

that's some a+ agenting

former Suns ballboy q&a http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/a1w3c/iama_former_nba_ballboy_ama/

Triedd 12 points13 points14 points 2 days ago[-]
Who was the biggest jerk NBA player you ever came across? How was he a jerk?

nbaballboy [S] 24 points25 points26 points 2 days ago[+] (10 children)
Kevin Garnett; no competition there. One of the biggest assholes I've ever come across, he'd yell at us whenever we didn't pass a ball to him during warmups, and basically get pissed if we didn't constantly submit to his personal whims. I think he's single handidly responsible for my hatred of the Celtics

lol

that's not kg being an asshole he's just super intense do you see

pubis_membrane 2 points3 points4 points 2 days ago[-]

Has Kobe Bryant ever Tried to Ride Your Hershey High Way?

@dyao: the 2 dont have to be mutually exclusive yknow

kg is a saint fu ballboy

;o)

So I was a ballboy during the 94-94 season. I think I worked about half the Portland home games that year.

One night the Suns were in town. Charles Barkley called me ugly twice. I was 13. That's my ballboy story.

(Oops meant 93-94 season obv.)

das not cool chuck

He's not a role model.

The second time he did it he barked loudly even though I was about ten feet away. Hey you! The ugly one! Toss me that damn ball!

;_; chuckles!

did he ask you for a bj after the game? :-0

important info: were you ugly?

tell us more stories ala linked to ballboy thread - who was nicest - what sort of silly shit went down

pretty surprised by who he said was nicest tbh

lebron seems nice

tru, but amar'e, kobels, every spur?

amare seems like a nice person to me. I could see Kobe being nice in a fake oily way. and remember Bruce Bowen cures cancer

was unsurprised to hear the spurs were down to earth

it's one of those things that "makes sense" in a way that i'm still surprised to hear it's true

well the ballboy deosnt seem like the most reliable observer so basically whatevs

if u gave him a high 5 you were awesome then he stole some shirts from the locker room the end

lol would u approach it any differently?

would conduct scientific study based on deep psychological analysis and ipod contents

and while you were busy w/that kg would rip yr head off and use it during shootaround

no wai kg is the kindest guy in existence everyone knows that

didn't he catch shit for not tipping a pizza guy when he first joined the league?

BTW, major sadface: I got offered tix to knicks/celtics... on the day i'm goin' home for t-day

the suns and hornets had this epic 2ot game, cp3 got thrown down by one of our players for some reason (i dont remember exactly what happened anymore), slid a bit, a kind of lay on the ground in a crumpled heap. Everyone started booing cuz they thought he flopped and the refs were gonna give him the call, but then he just jumped right up and yelled "THAT AINT NO FOUL!" in a classic New Orleans accent and everyone started laughing.

lololol

so g-state put up 146 last night, huh

ya their bench was going off apparently

hmm

J.R. Smith has decided to drop the "J.R." and start going by his given name, Earl. His full name is now Earl Smith III.

"I just felt like changing it," Smith said Tuesday. "J.R. has no significance to my name. My name is Earl, so I figured -- why not?" Smith will make his season debut Tuesday night, so don't be surprised if you start hearing about some guy named Earl raining threes.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_g23lfkRjkWA/Sg1cxTY-4wI/AAAAAAAAAxg/APK2WItgZP4/s400/earl+season+34.jpg

he always be "smitty" to me

xp lol

he'll still be "that guy who acts like he just won game 7 after every shot" to me.

i thought that was eddie house

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/Franky_51/eddie-house-celtics.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_g23lfkRjkWA/Sg1cxTY-4wI/AAAAAAAAAxg/APK2WItgZP4/s400/earl+season+34.jpg why not?

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

love the onion's annual 'lol duncan' article...not quite up to the standards of tim doing everyone's taxes or getting the summer job at the genius bar, but still.

lol @ the ticker above that story

Latest: Dwayne Wade Wallet-Size-Picturizes Defender

# Trail Blazers: Team headed in right direction after making a number of off-season pickups to help Greg Oden, including 10,000 yards of gauze, a defibrillator, and a kidney dialysis machine

# Atlanta Hawks: This team was built to go very deep into the regular season

# Utah Jazz: With Carlos Boozer's future with the team uncertain and just the future in general being uncertain, who knows if the Jazz will be better or worse than 9th? Who knows if there will even be a Utah Jazz next year? You know? Do you ever think about stuff like that?

lebron seems nice

Yes, he does. He just did a cameo on the latest SpongeBob TV special. That confirms it for me.

ahahahaha
http://www.theonion.com/content/files/images/Manu-Ginobli.jpg
40,000 Revenge-Seeking Bats Descend Upon Manu Ginobili

# Atlanta Hawks: This team was built to go very deep into the regular season

lol @ this

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)—Memphis Grizzlies rookie center Hasheem Thabeet, the second overall pick in the June draft, left Tuesday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers with a broken jaw.

The 7-foot-3 center from UConn was injured late in the first quarter during a battle under the Memphis basket. Replays appeared to show Thabeet’s jaw colliding with forward Zach Randolph’s head.

that's a weird phrasing for how the injury happened

wau @ end of denver/chi game

apologies to thabeet, but i mostly just like lollin' at how z-bo just destroys teams from within after years of putting up with it in pdx.

xp

yea tough 2 overturn that basket in denver/chi

i thought it was clearly not a basket--they had a good replay on the postgame.

a tangent to the ballboy thing: my lil brother's gf's dad is some high up exec for the heat (not on player side - i think he's like vp of marketing or something) so anyway he was sitting courtside tonight and jermaine o neal told him that he thought my brother's shoes are cool - so he might be a nice guy

either that or he has a foot fetish

or he just wanted the shoes but lol feet too big

Denver's J.R. Smith scored five points in his first game after serving a seven-game suspension. He said he wants to go by his given name, Earl III, although the Nuggets plan to keep calling him J.R. ...

waht

why won't the nuggets call him earl??

goddammit smitty

they called him jr on PA tonight. i was yelling to call him earl but even nuggs fans behind me gave the wtf you on whiteboy look.

deng has had great defensive games against lebron and now melo (season low 20 pts). never thought he was bad defensively but def never thought he was BAD.