2006-07 NBA season (1 Viewer)

[Kirk Tsai]

I think maybe KG was just being asked by the reporters and reacted instantly. Still, that's the only superstar reaction I've seen. This is all just my speculation; reading/watching ESPN or Sports Illustrated, nobody has mentioned this as a potential.

Several coaches and players complained that the synthetic ball cut their hands. Considering another early complaint was that the ball had less of a bounce around the rim, the higher percentages might not be a good thing.

 

[Nkosi]

I also think we can accredit the good offensive stats to rule changes. Players these days can do anything they want on the perimeter b/c rules make perimeter defensive almost impossible. You can't touch the guy- hence FG% going up. And if you do, you send him to the free throw line- hence higher FT #s and probably %.

One can argue these #s are up from even last year when these new rules were initiated. True. But you can also argue that this season's #s are but a continuation (and natural growth) from last year.

In conclusion, I think the ball is a challenging issue. You can argue it improves the game. You can argue it doesn't.

For me, I'm conflicted b/c I thought they never should have switched balls in the first place. Then again, I like the idea of a animal/ PETA friendly and non-leather ball.

Bottom line though- David Stern should've consulted the players first then we wouldn't have had this fiasco in the first place. And the Players Union should've been more pro-active on this issue too, instead of only reactive (to borrow Stephen A Smith's argument).

 

[Brian Perry]

Can someone explain why Iverson isn't playing? Since when does a player waiting for a trade get a paid vacation while his team falls into the abyss? I know the Sixers want to avoid an injury before a trade, but what about the cost of a season in shambles? The Sixers may not win 10 more games this year.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

I don't know either Brian. Maybe it's just too awkward?

Suns with 13 in a row. Rockets lose another heartbreaker. A whole bunch of crazy stat lines tonight:

Pierce 38/8/9
Melo 42/6/5 with
Kobe 53/10/8 with two Kwame Brown misses point blank for a 50 point triple double.
Yao 35/15/4 and 8 blocks! Second straight game on a back to back with 35 and 15.
Diaw 21/14/10
Ben Wallace 10/27/6

 

[Andy Sheets]

In my dreams, I would trade Jeff Van Gundy, Rafer Alston, and Juwan Howard for AI. Something tells me the Sixers wouldn't go for it...

 

[Brian Perry]

My prediction for AI is Miami...Iverson is a coach killer but Riley is pretty much bulletproof.

I can't believe the Lakers won last night, after being down 29-10 after the first quarter.

 

[Carl Johnson]

I'm going to slip into Devil's Advocate mode. Let's say that an employee has a contract that says he gets paid even if he doesn't show up to work. This employee tells his boss that he doesn't feel like coming to work any more. If that's the case then it's better to let they guy stay home than making him come to work anyway.

 

[Nkosi]

You better hope Melo isn't on your fantasy team

Seriously though... this is sad. I feel bad for everyone involved. I'm a Knicks fan so this is a new low for us... even for this pathetic season.

I know people close to me who are friends with JR Smith so this is unfortunate for him too.

And maybe mostly I feel sorry for Melo. Here he has worked so hard to restore/ remake his image after the negative press he got early in his career. For him to do what he did tonight really places him back at square one.

Poor David Stern. The league's #1 scorer involved in a brawl on the league's biggest stage- MSG.

A dark night for fans of the NBA. I hope everyone can learn from this and move forward.

 

[Chris]

I'm waiting for someone to have a YouTube of the riot.

 

[Brian Perry]

Once again Carmelo showed why he didn't win Rookie of the Year, even though he had outperformed LeBron that year.

He's a baby.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

ESPN.com has clips.

What a disgrace! I love the NBA, but this kind of stuff just shoots the entire league in the foot. I disagree with Brian in that Melo had a better year rookie year than Lebron, but there's no doubt he's having a career year so far. And now, this, a terrible, bonehead move. My guess is a suspension of at least 25 games.

 

[Andy Sheets]

It's actually business-as-usual for the Rockets this year. They blow 20 point leads like it's nothing. It's because Van Gundy overworks his starters and can't make adjustments throughout the game, resulting in a predictable gameplan that can't be executed because everyone's exhausted late in the game when the pressure goes up.

Yao actually broke his silence and complained about the refs after the Lakers game. Probably won't accomplish anything but it's kind of nice to see considering how many games in his career he's actually gotten bled on the court without getting a call.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I just watched the clips of the MSG brawl on ESPN.com. That was an ugly incident. First, the Knicks clobber Smith because they're upset that Denver's starters are still in the game, which erupts into a brawl. Then Carmelo throws a sucker punch and runs away after things had started to calm down.

I know quite a few players will be suspended, but I wonder if the NBA will go after Isiah, too, for the hard foul. He admitted telling Anthony after the fight that he and Camby shouldn't have still be in the game at that point.

 

[Ray Chuang]

I'm sure David Stern is really not looking forward to determining what kind of punishment to dole out over this latest debacle. :rolleyes

 

[Brian Perry]

I'll try to convince you otherwise.

Melo LeBron
Games 82 79
Points 21.0 20.9
FG% .426 .417
FT% .777 .754
Rebounds 6.1 5.5
Assists 2.8 5.9

Statistically, Carmelo exceeded LeBron in every significant category except assists.

There were three major intangibles, one in favor of Melo and two against. The one in his favor is that he led the Nuggets (a team of stiffs) to the playoffs, whereas LeBron wasn't able to lead his team to the playoffs in a weak Eastern conference.

The two things that worked against Carmelo were 1) LeBron was considered royalty for years before he came into the NBA and 2) In one game, Carmelo was pouting about a coach's decision and refused to enter a game. I think this one incident turned enough voters against Anthony.

I do think the race was much closer than the voting turned out.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

Brian, very reasonable argument there! I will point out, however, that Melo's advantages were small, but Lebron's assist difference was huge. One of Lebron's biggest assets to the claim of being the best player in the game is his passing ability to go with his scoring. The difference of 3 assists pg is the difference between Steve Nash and AI's assist average last year.

Also, I tend to place less emphasis on team success when it comes to individual awards. I think team success should really only matter for the MVP award when there are comparable players. For example is the 04-05 All NBA team selection. Kobe had 27.6/5.9/6.0 and Ray Allen has 23.9/4.4/3.7. This is the year the Lakers miss the playoffs after trading Shaq, and the Sonics have their one good year with Allen and finish with 52 wins, so Allen gets the second team nod over Kobe. What!?! Allen is a great player and arguably the best pure shooter in the game, but would anyone realistically say he's a better player than Kobe? Would anyone choose Allen's stats over Kobe's? This is when team success clouds the judgment of voters on who the better player is.

I will say, those stats are closer than I thought, but even looking at it now, I prefer Lebron's. Not on topic regarding their rookie seasons: Lebron's improvement over the next two years was just scary, and I don't think anyone would say Melo is better than Lebron before this season started.

Back to this year's Lakers...as in many other games, we were down big time (17 in the third, 10 in the fourth), but couldn't pull through another miracle in OT. The Wizards shoot 60 free throws, and Gilbert Arenas goes off and scores 60, with 8/8. Amazing. That stat line makes Kobe's otherwise great game, 45/8/10, pale in comparison. The Lakers just didn't play much defense, often using their hands/arms to substitute for position and footwork, hence resulting in many, many fouls. Odom's rebuilding ability was also sorely missed. We really needed this win at home, because a 6 game road trip is next.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

Stern hands out the penalties. I was way off on my prediction.

Anthony: 15 games
JR Smith and Nate Robinson: 10 games
Mardy Collins: 6 games
Jared Jeffries: 4 games
Jerome James and Nene: 1 game

 

[ZacharyTait]

Interesting stat of the day: The Pistons have a league high 22 back-to-backs this season. They've played 8 of them so far, going 15-1. In the other 7 games? 0-7!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

That's a very bizarre stat, Zachary. There's no logical explanation to account for that record that I can think of.

The Knicks - Nuggets feud is getting nastier. Isiah blasted George Karl publicly for leaving his players in the game, and Karl (rightfully so, IMO) blasted Thomas in response. Karl noted that his team had struggled to hold onto late leads, and they needed work on that. Sounds reasonable to me.

Hey, Isiah, if you want your team to not get embarrassed, here's a suggestion... play better!

 

[Brandon_T]

To go along with the back to back scheduling, anyone notice who has the lowest amount of back to backs? That would be the Miami Heat. Nothing to it I am sure, did I mention that during Shaq's time with the Lakers they had the lowest amount of back to back games in the league, year in year out. Of course I am sure there is nothing to it.

Try as I might, I just cannot get into basketball after last years finals. Football season is almost done and I don't care for hockey all that much, so I have been trying to force myself back in to basketball to have something to keep me sane over the winter months.