Yup. Agreeing with this 100%. These are pretty much the keys to the East this year.
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NBA Season 2009-2010
- Thread starter franky
- Start date
This threads been kinda lame so far, this should start some discussion.
A random question for every team:
Atlantic:
What will philly's play be like without andre miller? will they use Brand more, and will he be healthy?
How deep/good is Boston's bench?
Will the nets win 15 games?
Why are toronto fans hyping demarcus rozen so much?
Will NY's 2010 plan fail or suceed?
Central:
Who will play the majority of the minutes beside shaq at the other big?
Is chicago going to be alright losing their only great shooter in ben gordon?
How will detroits 3 guard rotation of stuckey/rip/gordon work out?
Who will start at pg for Indiana, ford or jack? And for how long?
How will Milwaukee's pg situation end up? (jennings vs ridnour)
Southeast:
Will brandon bass be able to hold his own in orlando?
Will Crawford help or hurt atlanta? they could be quite good if he helps.
Will wade win mvp this year?
When will charlotte lose felton to go 100% with augustin? How will chandler work in charlotte?
Too many questions for washington, about every position really.
Southwest:
Will RJ be healthy and play well this year for san antonio?
Will houston even be able to make it to the playoffs?
How will marion work in Dallas?
How overrated is the okafor to new orleans trade?
wtf is going to happen in memphis with this many ball hogs? Wil marc gasol ever get passed to?
Northwest:
Did denver improve enough to stay with the rest of the contenders? Chemistry could be enough of a improvement if they got better.
Why did hedo turkoglu turn away an amazing situation in portland? Why is andre miller being benched?
Who will be the odd big out in utah?
Minny? yeah thats enough of a question
Will OKC be able to fight for that 8 seed this year?
Pacific:
What will artests FG% be this year? I think this will be a big part of how far LA goes.
Can phoenix get back in the playoffs with robin lopez starting?
How long until Golden State fires nelly? before or after the entire team is traded?
Can the clippers stay healthy? If they are healthy are they good enough to make the playoffs?
Just how good is tyreke evans?
yeah, i just did that
A random question for every team:
Atlantic:
What will philly's play be like without andre miller? will they use Brand more, and will he be healthy?
How deep/good is Boston's bench?
Will the nets win 15 games?
Why are toronto fans hyping demarcus rozen so much?
Will NY's 2010 plan fail or suceed?
Central:
Who will play the majority of the minutes beside shaq at the other big?
Is chicago going to be alright losing their only great shooter in ben gordon?
How will detroits 3 guard rotation of stuckey/rip/gordon work out?
Who will start at pg for Indiana, ford or jack? And for how long?
How will Milwaukee's pg situation end up? (jennings vs ridnour)
Southeast:
Will brandon bass be able to hold his own in orlando?
Will Crawford help or hurt atlanta? they could be quite good if he helps.
Will wade win mvp this year?
When will charlotte lose felton to go 100% with augustin? How will chandler work in charlotte?
Too many questions for washington, about every position really.
Southwest:
Will RJ be healthy and play well this year for san antonio?
Will houston even be able to make it to the playoffs?
How will marion work in Dallas?
How overrated is the okafor to new orleans trade?
wtf is going to happen in memphis with this many ball hogs? Wil marc gasol ever get passed to?
Northwest:
Did denver improve enough to stay with the rest of the contenders? Chemistry could be enough of a improvement if they got better.
Why did hedo turkoglu turn away an amazing situation in portland? Why is andre miller being benched?
Who will be the odd big out in utah?
Minny? yeah thats enough of a question
Will OKC be able to fight for that 8 seed this year?
Pacific:
What will artests FG% be this year? I think this will be a big part of how far LA goes.
Can phoenix get back in the playoffs with robin lopez starting?
How long until Golden State fires nelly? before or after the entire team is traded?
Can the clippers stay healthy? If they are healthy are they good enough to make the playoffs?
Just how good is tyreke evans?
yeah, i just did that
I'm just gonna pick out the part about the lakers, since that's my hometown team and the team i probably care most about :P
Artest's field goal percentage matters a lot less if Bynum/Odom/Gasol/etc get some offensive boards; while they aren't by any means the most dominant rebounding presences in the game, they're all big bodies, and other teams are going to have their hands full making sure not only the lakers' bigger players, but also kobe and artest don't get the offensive boards.
Also, i dont expect for Artest to have as low of a shooting percentage as he did in Houston. The Lakers' talent and offensive scheme will put Artest in a position to take higher-percentage shots. (remember how Ariza always seemed like he was wide open when he shot? yeah...maybe there's a reason for that). The Lakers can have 4 extremely legitimate scoring threats on the floor at a time (Kobe, Artest, Gasol, and Odom; Bynum could be up there this year, but time will tell), and that's not including others' abilities to knock down shots (Fisher anyone? Sasha if he's wide open?). I think that in the beginning of the year Artest's field goal percentage will be kind of low, I agree, but I think come playoff time he'll find his niche in the team and that it wont have a serious effect during the season. And if anyone here doubts that the Lakers will make the playoffs, they need a serious reality check.
You want a number? I'll say 43% as an average for the regular season and then better in the playoffs.
Artest's field goal percentage matters a lot less if Bynum/Odom/Gasol/etc get some offensive boards; while they aren't by any means the most dominant rebounding presences in the game, they're all big bodies, and other teams are going to have their hands full making sure not only the lakers' bigger players, but also kobe and artest don't get the offensive boards.
Also, i dont expect for Artest to have as low of a shooting percentage as he did in Houston. The Lakers' talent and offensive scheme will put Artest in a position to take higher-percentage shots. (remember how Ariza always seemed like he was wide open when he shot? yeah...maybe there's a reason for that). The Lakers can have 4 extremely legitimate scoring threats on the floor at a time (Kobe, Artest, Gasol, and Odom; Bynum could be up there this year, but time will tell), and that's not including others' abilities to knock down shots (Fisher anyone? Sasha if he's wide open?). I think that in the beginning of the year Artest's field goal percentage will be kind of low, I agree, but I think come playoff time he'll find his niche in the team and that it wont have a serious effect during the season. And if anyone here doubts that the Lakers will make the playoffs, they need a serious reality check.
You want a number? I'll say 43% as an average for the regular season and then better in the playoffs.
Because I'm fucking bored to no end at 130 am.........
A random question for every team:
Atlantic:
What will philly's play be like without andre miller? will they use Brand more, and will he be healthy?
They obviously are already using Brand more heavily, although more as a passer as opposed to the main weapon. They installed the Princeton offense I think, so that means more passing, maybe like a 2004 Kings team if they're lucky, albiet they don't have Peja's shooting on this team.
How deep/good is Boston's bench?
I'd be more worried about the starting lineup. Another year, and more miles. Realisticly they look like the Pistons of 2005-2007. Still good because they were so displined defensively, but the age will catch up and I'm giving Celtics a 2 year window (including this year) to win it all again.
Will the nets win 15 games?
It's actually really, really, really hard to not win 15 games. Even the Kings beat that mark last year and their team was considerably less talented (Kevin Martin was hurt for quite a while). Devin Harris and Courtney is a solid back court and Brook Lopez had quite an underrated rookie year that he can build upon. For all we know, they could end up like Pacers of last year and irrationally win 37 games.
Why are toronto fans hyping demarcus rozen so much?
It's either that or "man fuck we just wasted our high draft pick again." Toronto fans are so hardcore about Raptors it's just pointless to even attempt to call them out on anything so don't even bother.
Will NY's 2010 plan fail or suceed?
Obviously fail. They can't sign Lebron and another max player and then have a good team. No money for anything else. A team of Lebron James, Chris Bosh (example), with Wilson Chandler and Chris Duhon and Eddy Curry is probably not going to scream championship contender.
Enter text h
Central:
Who will play the majority of the minutes beside shaq at the other big?
Possibly Varejao for defensive reasons. Shaq does clog up the lane but they need someone to roam after the more athletic teams that Shaq isn't as inclined to guard.
Is chicago going to be alright losing their only great shooter in ben gordon?
Obviously everyone is forgetting about Luol Deng. This is the guy the Lakers deemed worthy to be recieved for Kobe Bryant 3 years ago. He had an unfortunately year. There's no reason to believe that Derrick Rose's improvement, John Salmons unquestioned shooting guard position and a solid as always Deng with Thomas and Noah can't be a good, if not better than last year, team.
How will detroits 3 guard rotation of stuckey/rip/gordon work out?
We probably won't get to see it for too long. High chance of Richard Hamilton leaving before deadline.
Who will start at pg for Indiana, ford or jack? And for how long?
T.J. Ford hands down.
How will Milwaukee's pg situation end up? (jennings vs ridnour)
Jennings will eventually take it over if all the raves about him in preseason transfer to his limited playing time in the regular season.
Southeast:
Will brandon bass be able to hold his own in orlando?
Hard to tell. Rashard is suspended first 10 games. If he does great with those likely 30+ minutes per game, what happens when Rashard does come back?
Will Crawford help or hurt atlanta? they could be quite good if he helps.
He's better than Flip Murray so why couldn't he end up helping.
Will wade win mvp this year?
Hell no, that Heat team isn't winning the required 50+ wins it normally takes for a superb player to win MVP.
When will charlotte lose felton to go 100% with augustin? How will chandler work in charlotte?
Realized I wasn't that bored and more so sleepy so stopping here!
Too many questions for washington, about every position really.
Southwest:
Will RJ be healthy and play well this year for san antonio?
Will houston even be able to make it to the playoffs?
How will marion work in Dallas?
How overrated is the okafor to new orleans trade?
wtf is going to happen in memphis with this many ball hogs? Wil marc gasol ever get passed to?
Northwest:
Did denver improve enough to stay with the rest of the contenders? Chemistry could be enough of a improvement if they got better.
Why did hedo turkoglu turn away an amazing situation in portland? Why is andre miller being benched?
Who will be the odd big out in utah?
Minny? yeah thats enough of a question
Will OKC be able to fight for that 8 seed this year?
Pacific:
What will artests FG% be this year? I think this will be a big part of how far LA goes.
Can phoenix get back in the playoffs with robin lopez starting?
How long until Golden State fires nelly? before or after the entire team is traded?
Can the clippers stay healthy? If they are healthy are they good enough to make the playoffs?
Just how good is tyreke evans?
yeah, i just did that[/QUOTE]
A random question for every team:
Atlantic:
What will philly's play be like without andre miller? will they use Brand more, and will he be healthy?
They obviously are already using Brand more heavily, although more as a passer as opposed to the main weapon. They installed the Princeton offense I think, so that means more passing, maybe like a 2004 Kings team if they're lucky, albiet they don't have Peja's shooting on this team.
How deep/good is Boston's bench?
I'd be more worried about the starting lineup. Another year, and more miles. Realisticly they look like the Pistons of 2005-2007. Still good because they were so displined defensively, but the age will catch up and I'm giving Celtics a 2 year window (including this year) to win it all again.
Will the nets win 15 games?
It's actually really, really, really hard to not win 15 games. Even the Kings beat that mark last year and their team was considerably less talented (Kevin Martin was hurt for quite a while). Devin Harris and Courtney is a solid back court and Brook Lopez had quite an underrated rookie year that he can build upon. For all we know, they could end up like Pacers of last year and irrationally win 37 games.
Why are toronto fans hyping demarcus rozen so much?
It's either that or "man fuck we just wasted our high draft pick again." Toronto fans are so hardcore about Raptors it's just pointless to even attempt to call them out on anything so don't even bother.
Will NY's 2010 plan fail or suceed?
Obviously fail. They can't sign Lebron and another max player and then have a good team. No money for anything else. A team of Lebron James, Chris Bosh (example), with Wilson Chandler and Chris Duhon and Eddy Curry is probably not going to scream championship contender.
Enter text h
Central:
Who will play the majority of the minutes beside shaq at the other big?
Possibly Varejao for defensive reasons. Shaq does clog up the lane but they need someone to roam after the more athletic teams that Shaq isn't as inclined to guard.
Is chicago going to be alright losing their only great shooter in ben gordon?
Obviously everyone is forgetting about Luol Deng. This is the guy the Lakers deemed worthy to be recieved for Kobe Bryant 3 years ago. He had an unfortunately year. There's no reason to believe that Derrick Rose's improvement, John Salmons unquestioned shooting guard position and a solid as always Deng with Thomas and Noah can't be a good, if not better than last year, team.
How will detroits 3 guard rotation of stuckey/rip/gordon work out?
We probably won't get to see it for too long. High chance of Richard Hamilton leaving before deadline.
Who will start at pg for Indiana, ford or jack? And for how long?
T.J. Ford hands down.
How will Milwaukee's pg situation end up? (jennings vs ridnour)
Jennings will eventually take it over if all the raves about him in preseason transfer to his limited playing time in the regular season.
Southeast:
Will brandon bass be able to hold his own in orlando?
Hard to tell. Rashard is suspended first 10 games. If he does great with those likely 30+ minutes per game, what happens when Rashard does come back?
Will Crawford help or hurt atlanta? they could be quite good if he helps.
He's better than Flip Murray so why couldn't he end up helping.
Will wade win mvp this year?
Hell no, that Heat team isn't winning the required 50+ wins it normally takes for a superb player to win MVP.
When will charlotte lose felton to go 100% with augustin? How will chandler work in charlotte?
Realized I wasn't that bored and more so sleepy so stopping here!
Too many questions for washington, about every position really.
Southwest:
Will RJ be healthy and play well this year for san antonio?
Will houston even be able to make it to the playoffs?
How will marion work in Dallas?
How overrated is the okafor to new orleans trade?
wtf is going to happen in memphis with this many ball hogs? Wil marc gasol ever get passed to?
Northwest:
Did denver improve enough to stay with the rest of the contenders? Chemistry could be enough of a improvement if they got better.
Why did hedo turkoglu turn away an amazing situation in portland? Why is andre miller being benched?
Who will be the odd big out in utah?
Minny? yeah thats enough of a question
Will OKC be able to fight for that 8 seed this year?
Pacific:
What will artests FG% be this year? I think this will be a big part of how far LA goes.
Can phoenix get back in the playoffs with robin lopez starting?
How long until Golden State fires nelly? before or after the entire team is traded?
Can the clippers stay healthy? If they are healthy are they good enough to make the playoffs?
Just how good is tyreke evans?
yeah, i just did that[/QUOTE]
I think Bynum is the Lakers' biggest factor here. Im pretty sure Artest cant possibly blow up as he knows he wont be the man in LA and he really wants a ring. Plus, I doubt anybody thinks the Lakers cant make the playoffs. Thats just crazy talk. The Lakers are pretty much dependant on Bynum being their X factor now. Hes shown signs of having the potential to be a top 10 center, but hasnt returned too well from injury. If he can just stop having more personal fouls then field goals by half time, then i'll be happy with him
He came back when all the hype was that the Pistons were trying to pursue Glen Davis.
Being a Canada Boy i am gonna have to go Toronto to make it to the top 4 this year, I think this will be Bargnani's big year and I think Turgolu will make a big diference as well.
For the Championship, I say San Antonio or LA again. San Antonio's lineup is even more strong now, with the addition of RJ.
For the Championship, I say San Antonio or LA again. San Antonio's lineup is even more strong now, with the addition of RJ.
Yeah, I probably agree Bynum's success will probably have more of an effect than Artest's. I was just kind of arguing that, since whoever posted that huge list of questions thinks Artest's FGP is gonna have a big effect on the lakers' success, Artest's field goal percentage probably won't be a huge problem anyway.
Yeh, I dont see Artest being much of a problem in LA as people think. Hes an upgrade from Ariza, and with Kobe they make a pretty scary Defensive combo. If he sticks to his word that he wants to win a ship, then he should have no problem being the 3rd/4th scoring option on this team. Bynum is really going to be the factor on this team that puts them way ahead of every other team. If he can just reach his potential like he was showing a few years ago when he was averaging 16/10 (before his knee went out the first time)A Front Court rotation of Gasol/A Healthy Bynum/Odom/Artest is just scary
Yes, its quite clear that Artest is the upgrade but the question in people's mind is that will Artest form the chemistry Lakers had in the past? A lot of people are scared of the fact that Artest will ruin the chemistry of the entire team. BUT, he did say he is focused on winning some rings and knows that this is Kobe's team from an interview. Hopefully he lives up to his words.
About Bynum, its been 2 years since his injury. Before that, anyone can attest to his skill. After that, I've been iffy with Bynum because he was injured the entire summer and was unable to train. Hopefully now he has enough room to train because the Lakers are going to need his defensive pressence to claim the title this year.
Bynum's D + Gasol's low post threat + kobe + artest + same fisher = automatic ring.
About Bynum, its been 2 years since his injury. Before that, anyone can attest to his skill. After that, I've been iffy with Bynum because he was injured the entire summer and was unable to train. Hopefully now he has enough room to train because the Lakers are going to need his defensive pressence to claim the title this year.
Bynum's D + Gasol's low post threat + kobe + artest + same fisher = automatic ring.
Best News I've heard all day: NBA and Ref committee are close to a deal. If they get this deal done, the NBA would've averted a DISASTER. I swear those guys at the top are complete idiots.
Also on a more humorous note, an article on the history of the Clippers and why they will never succeed. Its a bit dated (Written on te eve of this year's draft) but its still a great read.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090624&sportCat=nba
Also on a more humorous note, an article on the history of the Clippers and why they will never succeed. Its a bit dated (Written on te eve of this year's draft) but its still a great read.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090624&sportCat=nba
And the curse continues, Griffin was just diagnosed with a broken kneecap which should keep him in the sidelines for 6 weeks... =/
I'm so excited the season's starting again.
I'm a Lakers fan, and I l do live in LA County, haha. I expect the Lakers to do no worse than reaching the western conference finals this year, but I really do hope that Vujacic does a lot better this year. He made me cringe just being on the floor last year, especially during the play-offs.
I'm a Lakers fan, and I l do live in LA County, haha. I expect the Lakers to do no worse than reaching the western conference finals this year, but I really do hope that Vujacic does a lot better this year. He made me cringe just being on the floor last year, especially during the play-offs.
