2006-07 NBA season (1 Viewer)

[Nkosi]

As a Knicks fan I can't wait for us to discharge Isiah. He has failed miserably. And his actions related to Saturday's brawl were out of line. BUT, George Karl is just as culpable.

I like George Karl. But Denver was up 19 with 1:15 left. I don't want to hear him "swearing on his children" that he wasn't trying to run up the score. Please.

He was trying to stick it to Isiah b/c of Isiah's beef with Karl's friends Larry Brown and Greg Poppovich.

Everyone had a hand in this mess. The media's obsession with trying to brand Isiah a devil or his actions novel, is asinine. While I don't condone what he did, let's be real: it's a (hidden and dark) part of the game. Chuck Daly, Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy (both w/ the Knicks) made careers out of rough ball. Come in the lane and you pay. Charles Oakley anyone? Bill Lambeer? Rick Mahorn?

Again, while Isiah's tactic was deplorable it's not novel. I equate a hard foul in the lane to beaning in baseball. It's a bad part of the game... but still part of the game.

With all that said, party at my house the day we jettison Isiah out of town! It's long overdue.

 

[Walter C]

Speaking of the Nuggets...

Allen Iverson gets traded to the Denver Nuggets.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...v=ap&type=lgns

As a 76ers fan, I'm not too sad that he has been traded. In fact, I wonder why they didn't trade him earlier.

The team will be bad for many years to come, just like in the John Lucas and Johnny Davis era.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

I haven't watched any of the Nuggets games this year, but from the box scores, Andre Miller has been dishing out a lot of assists. He is the third leading assist man in the league. I don't know how much Melo and JR Smith has depended on his passes to score (considering the amount of dunks Anthony has, Miller has to be part of the reason), but surely this is a challenge for Karl to get Iverson to be as facilitative. On the other hand, once those guys get back from the suspension, that's a lot of fire power on an already high scoring team (2nd behind the Suns).

Any idea if the first round picks are from other teams, or just the Nuggets to begin with? Any pick protection? If they are just natural, without protection picks, the Nuggets probably won't one of the worst teams in the league, meaning that Philly most likely won't be getting any top picks.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

ESPN.com speculated the two picks would be in the 20's, but they did not say where they came from.

I wonder how Iverson and Anthony will play together? After all, there is only one ball allowed on the court.

 

[Walter C]

As long as Billy King is the GM, I don't think the 76ers will ever get good draft picks. He will find some way to waste them.

The only times when he looked ok was during the Larry Brown years, but that was because Brown had more of a say on the team's moves.

It will be interesting to see how George Karl deals with AI.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

AI plays well in his Nuggest debut, but it's a loss. Kristic is out for the season. Yao, one of the early MVP candidates, is out for six weeks, which might derail the Rockets' season. This might be fun though: to see how many minutes Mutombo plays every game.

The next NBA game is the Christmas, Laker-Heat matchup, which seems like the league's continued attempt to form a non-existent rivalary.

 

[Jan H]

The Shaq-Kobe rivalry is dead, but the Wade-Kobe rivalry is just beginning. Jordan is gone forever, so the league must latch onto the closest thing going. It's a good marketing move, if also a desperate one. Hopefully, they'll both put on a great show.

Speaking of Mutumbo, Greg Oden sure looked alot like him in yesterday's game. And today's Mutumbo, not the Dikembe circa 1995. I know he's hurt, but damn, the dude looked like he better stay in school at least another year.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

[rant mode]

Apparently, games that go into triple overtime (that's 3 OTs!) is cheap this year. And it often involves bad teams! The latest edition is the Bobcats, 7 and 21 before the game, beating the Lakers in 3OT. Kobe puts up 58 points on near 50% shooting; he wasn't on fire, put up a lot of shots, and was probably gased towards the end. It didn't help that Kwame Brown once again showed he has the worst hands in the entire league, turning the ball over several times, and couldn't stop Okafor on the glass (25 reb). Without Odom, our rebounding edge is turning into a deficit almost every game.

Ol' Phil might need to rethink his substitutions on this game, too. In a game with 3 OTs, Bynum, Farmar, and Turiaf, certainly three of our top rotation guys, combine to play 25 minutes in the game, with no OT play. Our improvement from last year isn't just about Kobe and Odom playing better, but the big leap in terms of team depth. Jackson didn't utilize our strength. It's the frickin' Bobcats, with Adam Morrison going 1 for 15, and Gerald Wallace fouled out in the game in the first OT, and we still lose.

Damn, I really hate these kinds of games. The Lakers can beat the Spurs, Rockets, Jazz, Magic and the Suns, but then lose to the worst teams in the league: Bobcats, Blazers, and (a depleted) Hornets. I can understand losing to the Heat on Christmas, and occassionally some of these really bad teams. It's hard to bring it every game. But this kind of inconsistency is going to keep the Lakers from being contenders. It sure would have been nice to finish the roadtrip 4-2...

[rant mode off]

In other news, more injuries: Wade for a minor one, and Chris Paul out for a month. Injuries to key players and multiple overtime games seem to be the 06-07 season mark so far.

Artest trade rumors have also started again.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Webber to sign with Pistons. I have mixed feelings on this. On one hand, a healthy Webber could help the Pistons on the court. However, I really dislike Webber for the way he handled his involvement in the Michigan basketball scandal. He lied about many things after the fact, and publicy berated anyone who dared to question him before his lies were exposed. After he was exposed, he just ignored the situation and hoped it would go away.

I just cannot bring myself to pull for him if he's wearing a Piston uniform.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

I know the C-Webb saga has been at the front of the NBA discusson for the past week, but does he still matter as a basketball player? From what I previously read, his knees are shot, mobility gone. I mean, the Sixers need players, and they're cutting him. Has anyone watched him this season?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Webber's played in 18 games this season -- averaging 11 points and 8.3 rebounds. So, he's missed some time, but I'm not sure why.

The best news about this is that Detroit is now talking about trading Nazr Mohammed to Minnesota for guard Marko Jaric. I know nothing about Jaric, but Mohammed's been a huge disappointment while trying to fill the starting center spot vacated by Ben Wallace.

 

[Jan H]

I've seen Webber play a couple of times, and let's just say that I'm glad the Lakers didn't sign him. He is a shell of the player he was. Maybe he'll find new legs in Detroit, but the ones he's got right now aren't going to carry anyone over the championship hump.

 

[Brandon_T]

I will use last years numbers as more of an indication, not this years when he knew he wasn't welcomed and had no motivation to play for a team that wasn't winning. True enough he may not be the player he once was, that is for sure, but last season he still was averaging 20 and 10. Something the Pistons could really use. People say that he can't make the big shot when it counts and that is another advantage of coming to Detroit. He will be the third or fourth option in the clutch. Chauncy, Rip and Tayshaun all are in front of him to make the game winner.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

Big trade between the Warriors and Pacers that probably nobody saw coming:

Pacers get
Troy Murphy
Mike Dunleavy
Ike Diogu
Keith McLeod

Warriors get
Al Harrington
Stephen Jackson
Sarunas Jasikevicius
Josh Powell

I don't know how much Jackson's off court antics were part of the trade. I recall Diogu being in Golden State's front court long term plans, but perhaps the emergence of Andris Biedrins makes him more dependable.

 

[Jan H]

So, seeing as the UEFA Champions League and the Super Bowl Prediction Thread have seen more recent postings than this one, is my guess that nobody cares about the NBA correct?

Jeez, what happened? There used to be some lively discussions around here.

 

[Brandon_T]

I still watch, but as the years go on, each year makes me feel more and more that it is rigged to some degree. I hate that it sounds like a conspiracy theory, but that is how I feel. The first sport I have felt that way. The Finals from last year are what put me over the top.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I'll watch the 4th quarters of some Pistons games, but I have a very difficult time getting excited for regular season NBA games. The season is so long, and an individual game is pretty meaningless. Just watching the Pistons breeze through the regular season last year and yet play like crap in the playoffs shows how little the regular season means.

I'll probably watch more once the playoffs begin, but the Eastern Conference is shaping up to be some very unattractive basketball. The Pistons are the best of the bunch if they decide they want to be (and it's impossible to predict if they'll show up this year), Cleveland's a one-man team, Washington is dysfunctional, Chicago can't score, and Miami has no shot without Dwayne Wade. It's difficult to get excited about any matchups in the conference. Meanwhile, the Western Conference games start too late for me to stay up and watch.

 

[Chris Farmer]

I just don't post on here that often any more. As plenty can recall I used to be hugely active in the NBA thread, but med school is just keeping me too busy to give the HTF the kind of time I used to.

That said, Spurs are gonna win it all this year. Mavs are hot as hell right now, but Spurs are catching fire at just the right time and they're out for blood after feeling they got robbed last year.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

I think I was posting too much and hogging the thread earlier, so I felt kind of bad about it.

I still follow the league very closely, especially the Lakers. They've been hit with a lot of injuries, and been playing very poorly. They are barely above .500 now. On the other hand, they are still my team, unlike some people...

Looking at my original post, I was off on some predictions, but I'm very proud of my Knicks improvement call.

 

[Rich Romero]

Phoenix and Dallas tonight. Biggest game of the season thus far. Thoughts?