WHOS THE 08/09 NBA CHAMPS ???

there are some GOOD motherfucking teams this year

http://www.mylifetime.com/files/imagecache/photo_gallery_featured/files/images/dynasty-395x298-staffpicks.jpg

voted atl cuz lololo but imo celtix repeat

http://www.probasketballnews.com/friedman_120808.html

cavs, on a limb

yeah i think it's a tenuous prediction at best but ill go ahead and believe that lebron has his mj moment and just cloverfields everyone in the playoffs this year

worth noting: a bunch of cavs are playing way over their heads right now - look at that team - theres no way they should be 1st in offensive efficiency

rondo looking like hes ready to bust out in a major way is giving me hope for the c's - i think im still voting lakers tho

o well we can do this again at the all star break

all i know is that it won't be detroit

lakers early season defensive prowess is looking more like smoke and mirrors then anything else these days. hoping that PJ is just playing hold out on some new schemes or something.

http://www.probasketballnews.com/friedman_120808.html

― carne asada, Wednesday, December 10, 2008 2:49 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

good article btw - only complaint is no mention of the short time that lakers team had been together due to the deadline trade that brought in gasol - def in the finals the lakers roles fell apart something that was imo at least partially attributable to their lack of familiarity w/each other

Early tea leaves point to Lakers v Celtics rematch. If so, I would take Celtics in 7. Bynum adds a dimension they lacked during the last Finals, but I expect Lakers will get worn down while getting out of the Western Conference playoffs.

The Cavs will win if they pick up the depth they need at the deadline.

lakers vs celtics II, w/ lakers winning
cavs are overrated right now, altho yeah ^^ the right move could make the difference

yah obv deal/injuries are the wildcards - prob cavs > lakers > celtics as far as trade flexibility

obv

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

What do you guys think of the possible Varejao/Wally for Marion trade?

hmm if the cavs are trying to position themselves for long term success and convincing lebron to stay its prob not the best to trade for a declining dude - might be pretty sweet for this season tho

be perfect for the heat so long as varejaos contract doesnt hinder their ability to sign a max dude this summer - not sure exactly what their cap scenario is - everyone seems to think theyre targeting boozer

I think that Marion's contract expires soon, so I think they'd still have flexibility as long as they don't re-sign Marion.

yah marion and wally both expire this summer

I can't see Varejao's contract being a problem for the Heat, it's pretty reasonable.

clevland is gonna have a big surplus of varejao wigs. wonder if they can work those into the trade.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

LA Lakers 5
Cleveland 5

there's your finals match up

The collective wisdom of ILH has spoken. Cower before us!

Cavs first in off.efficiency, second in def.efficiency, hard to argue with that too much even considering the 2-game advantage the Celtics have in the loss column.

yo ice cream:

worth noting: a bunch of cavs are playing way over their heads right now - look at that team - theres no way they should be 1st in offensive efficiency

(1) Cavs being first in offense (by a pretty substantial margin over my Blazers) is 80% because of LeBron basically producing Jordan-like numbers through 1/4 the season
(2) Who other than Z is way over their head right now?

Who voted Warriors?

Someone who's fearless courage I greatly admire. (not me Blazersssss!)

Damn, this Lakers/Knicks tilt!

lol i think i know who voted hawks

(1) Cavs being first in offense (by a pretty substantial margin over my Blazers) is 80% because of LeBron basically producing Jordan-like numbers through 1/4 the season
(2) Who other than Z is way over their head right now?

― josephcharles, Tuesday, December 16, 2008 11:56 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lebrons been jordanesque for a while tho this has been his best year so far - but i dont see why we cant include him - i mean hes a player too right

imna look at per here cause its a good aggregate and mostly concerned w/offense and its per minute and some of these guys arent playing as many minutes as before - Z side show bob and lebron are having their best per years ever - pavlovic and willaims are having their second best per years

so 5 of their top 9 guys in terms of minutes are having their best or second best per years in all of recorded history - and of the other 4 only wally world is having a worse year than last - so all of their players save one are playing better than last year and more than half of them are better than or nearly better than ever

im skeptical that this can continue for a whole season - tho that sort of run is how teams tend to win championships - and as weve noted the cavs are in a v good position to pick up another quality guy

btw ilgauskas is injured right now - its just an ankle sprain but id be pretty worried abt any injury to a 33 y/o 7'3" guy - hes been playing out of his mind and the cavs lost their first game w/o after destroying the league for 3 weeks

thats how i break it down to an extent

Guess you're right re: Lebron. This season isn't just out of line compared to his first five years, but out of line with EVERY SEASON EVER PLAYED BY ANYBODY IN THE NBA:

Season Leaders and Records for Player Efficiency Rating
NBA/ABA
Rank Player PER Season
1.LeBron James 33.20 2008-09
2.Wilt Chamberlain* 31.84 1962-63
3.Wilt Chamberlain* 31.76 1961-62
4.Michael Jordan 31.71 1987-88

So something like a billion player-seasons would suggest this kind of thing is unprecedented/untenable.

unprecedented yes untenable no

yah obv everyone has been saying for a while that lebron could be the best ever - but that doesnt mean this will be the season he puts up record per - more likely the rest of the way he regresses somewhat

btw OMG LEBRON SMASHING RECORD BOOKS HOLY SHIT did not realize that

lol i think i know who voted hawks

― craig sager (eman), Wednesday, December 17, 2008 1:04 AM (16 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

:3

yah lebrons unreal season is kind of getting overshadowed by lakers/celts/2010 chatz, who knew that was even possible

he's not even up to last year's averages in reb and ast yet, but averaging two steals and a block-plus per must help, by himself he's erasing three possessions per game. he's even playing ~5min less per game which means his per minute stats are basically the same as last year. the one hole is his 28% from three, if he bumped that up his true shooting % would be an outrage and we've have to break him up

weirdly he's shooting 80% on fts though i still absolutely would not fear him at the line in a clutch game

changing my vote to celtics guys