NBA Season Thread

[rams80]

The Bobcats are about to beat the Cavaliers for the 2nd time this season. For those who are keeping track, yeah, this is the same team that lost to the Nets twice. They've now beaten the best team in the NBA twice.

Jamison's o-fer from the field since he was moved to Cleveland. It's only 2 games though, he'll get used to things soon enough.

And the Billcats win.

Would I be amiss to point out that if the playoffs started today, the Billcats and Cavaliers would be playing in the first round? Should Cavs fans possibly be alarmed?

[The_Admiral]

Nah, it's the NBA. You have to exploit glaring mismatches to beat a 1. Look how much it took for Golden State to bump the Mavs. That was just a 1/1000 matchup.

[TFoA]

Nah, it's the NBA. You have to exploit glaring mismatches to beat a 1. Look how much it took for Golden State to bump the Mavs. That was just a 1/1000 matchup.

Pretty much. Every 8's fatal flaw is more overpowering than their strengths. Learned this when the Hawks took the C's to the limit back in 07-08, only to have their fatal flaw (playing outside of Atlanta) kill them in the end. The Bobcats inconsistency is what will allow the Cavs to show them the door if they meet.

[Discrim]

yeh, if I were a Cavs fan I wouldn't worry about whoever's the 8 seed unless LeBron breaks his leg or something.

[crashcarson15]

The Bobcats are about to beat the Cavaliers for the 2nd time this season. For those who are keeping track, yeah, this is the same team that lost to the Nets twice. They've now beaten the best team in the NBA twice.

Jamison's o-fer from the field since he was moved to Cleveland. It's only 2 games though, he'll get used to things soon enough.

And the Billcats win.

Would I be amiss to point out that if the playoffs started today, the Billcats and Cavaliers would be playing in the first round? Should Cavs fans possibly be alarmed?

Actually it's been thrice. We're 1-3 against them this year.

So, yeah I sure as hell don't want to see the Bobcats in the playoffs. They're the only team I don't wanna play.

[The_Admiral]

lol the Bobcats have Tyrus Thomas. Does he really worry you? He forgets he's on defense.

[MDC]

lol the Bobcats have Tyrus Thomas. Does he really worry you? He forgets he's on defense.

He also believes he can fly.

In related news, Flip Murray and Hakim Warrick are 10000000X better for the bulls than Salmons and Thomas

[Sport]

All of my friends that are Cleveland fans are hilarious to watch right now. A few days ago, they Loooooooooved the trade for Jamison. Now they're 0-3 since the trade and it's "all his fault" (despite not playing in the first game), and "we never should've traded Z".

[Cujo]

All of my friends that are Cleveland fans are hilarious to watch right now. A few days ago, they Loooooooooved the trade for Jamison. Now they're 0-3 since the trade and it's "all his fault" (despite not playing in the first game), and "we never should've traded Z".

Jamison is nowhere near as good as everyone made him out to be at the trade deadline. Perhaps he was once of the better players who became available at the deadline, but I don't even think the guy is that mucb better than Tracy McGrady, who the Knicks picked up for virtually nothing. I, for one, am not surprised at all that Jamison's been a total bust since arriving in C-Town.

[NJTank]

This is why Cleveland is forever doomed. They had a 13 game winning streak and were playing awesome ball but they screwed up the formula, and making matters worse the Knicks have cleared more cap space, making room for the King to reign in the Garden.

[infrared41]

All of my friends that are Cleveland fans are hilarious to watch right now. A few days ago, they Loooooooooved the trade for Jamison. Now they're 0-3 since the trade and it's "all his fault" (despite not playing in the first game), and "we never should've traded Z".

I'm not in panic mode or anything and I understand it's going to take a little while to settle into the new rotations etc. So I'm not ready to say trading Z for Jamison was a bad move and I'm certainly not going to pass judgement on a trade after just three games. That said, I was not a fan of The Cavs making any trade period. I've always believed that when you have the best record in the league etc. you leave well enough alone. Regardless of the sport. I just don't like fixing something that ain't broke. But I haven't been back with The NBA long enough to know if the deal needed to be made or not.

Time will tell if this was a good trade or not. I think if Z comes back in 30 days then it could turn out to be an all-timer in deadline deals. Whatever the case, I agree that it's hardly time to panic. But as we've seen on numerous occasions, you'll never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the typical Cleveland sports fan.

This is why Cleveland is forever doomed. They had a 13 game winning streak and were playing awesome ball but they screwed up the formula, and making matters worse the Knicks have cleared more cap space, making room for the King to reign in the Garden.

God I get so sick of this Knicks nonsense. Seriously Tank, why would James leave a title contender to go play for a team that will have him and a bunch of nobodies? Playing in New York doesn't gain him a single thing. He's already easily the most marketable player in The NBA. He's arguably among the top 5 most popular sports figures in the world. How does playing in New York add anything to that? If he's serious and it's all about winning then he would be insane to leave Cleveland for The Knicks.

From a basketball standpoint the best case scenario if he goes to New York is he spends at least three seasons waiting for the team to build into a contender. That's three years in the prime of his career wasted. He'll score 35 night and they'll be lucky to be a 7 or 8 seed and go out in the first round. Or he can stay where he is and continue to be a title favorite.

From an endorsement standpoint: If you knew anything about marketing you'd already know that if Lebron bails on The Cavs it only hurts his reputation. New York will love it but he'll lose a ton of support everywhere else. And as I've already stated, moving to New York gains him absolutely nothing from an endorsement standpoint. Just look at Peyton Manning. He's the NFL's number one pitchman and he's doing it from the media hotbed that is Indianapolis. You don't need to be in New York to be the biggest star in your sport.

I'm not saying there's no chance that he leaves but he'd be silly to do it and I think he and his people already know that.

[See Red]

I like the idea of adding depth at the deadline when you're one of the two or three best teams in the League, but I don't like the idea of bringing in, and trading away, big name guys when clearly whatever you had had been working. So I really didn't like the Jamison deal to start with. But who knows, way to early to tell whether it was a good move. It'll prove to be either a good trade or a bad trade when the playoffs roll around.

[andrewharrington]

They also won 13 games in a row with both of their starting guards missing most of those. They weren't going to leave Mo WIlliams and Delonte West to come off the bench because it 'wasn't broke,' were they? No. That would be silly. Just like saying, 'We have the NBA's best record and we've won 13 games in a row in January and February, so we'll stick with what's working.'

How a team is playing now has nothing to with the playoffs. It just gets you there. and the Cavs will probably still get there even if they lose all their remaining games. Weren't they playing well last year with a huge expiring contract in Wally Szczerbiak (who was not a huge contributor) and stood on it at the deadline instead of trying to shake it up and better the team? Didn't they win 66 games start the playoffs 8-0 before throwing up a dud in the Conference Finals? Teams get complacent after playing well for so long. This isn't the '98 Bulls. The Cavs will actually have to work again to get to their peak; to integrate Jamison as a new member of the team, Mo Williams as a player coming back from a significant injury, and Leon Powe as both, instead of sitting around with the league's best record while everyone begins to believe they're invincible. If they get Zydrunas Ilgauskas back, they get a bonus as an extra frontline defender and offensive rebounder, but I'm feeling less and less like that will happen.

You honestly expected them to sit around while all the other playoff teams tried to get better?

Also, have you seen the latest LeBron/New York Special Edition sneaker? It's done up in Knicks' colors and has the L23 logo on the bottom modified to be a question mark. A question mark. If that's not the cheesiest, skinniest ray of hope for New Yorkers to hang on to, I don't know what is. Sounds to me like a dude who wants to keep a big market happy, hopeful and buying his tennies for the next few months by saying, "we'll see. You never know (winkwink)." before he inevitably makes the smartest financial, PR and basketball move by resigning with his title contender.

[TFoA]

You guys are making these assumptions after 3 games. Everybody needs to chill

Now, if the Cavs are struggling a few weeks from now, then it'd be time to panic. But yeah, not fair to call the trade a bust when they've only had 3 games.

[infrared41]

They also won 13 games in a row with both of their starting guards missing most of those. They weren't going to leave Mo WIlliams and Delonte West to come off the bench because it 'wasn't broke,' were they? No. That would be silly. Just like saying, 'We have the NBA's best record and we've won 13 games in a row in January and February, so we'll stick with what's working.'

How a team is playing now has nothing to with the playoffs. It just gets you there. and the Cavs will probably still get there even if they lose all their remaining games. Weren't they playing well last year with a huge expiring contract in Wally Szczerbiak (who was not a huge contributor) and stood on it at the deadline instead of trying to shake it up and better the team? Didn't they win 66 games start the playoffs 8-0 before throwing up a dud in the Conference Finals? Teams get complacent after playing well for so long. This isn't the '98 Bulls. The Cavs will actually have to work again to get to their peak; to integrate Jamison as a new member of the team, Mo Williams as a player coming back from a significant injury, and Leon Powe as both, instead of sitting around with the league's best record while everyone begins to believe they're invincible. If they get Zydrunas Ilgauskas back, they get a bonus as an extra frontline defender and offensive rebounder, but I'm feeling less and less like that will happen.

You honestly expected them to sit around while all the other playoff teams tried to get better?

Also, have you seen the latest LeBron/New York Special Edition sneaker? It's done up in Knicks' colors and has the L23 logo on the bottom modified to be a question mark. A question mark. If that's not the cheesiest, skinniest ray of hope for New Yorkers to hang on to, I don't know what is. Sounds to me like a dude who wants to keep a big market happy, hopeful and buying his tennies for the next few months by saying, "we'll see. You never know (winkwink)." before he inevitably makes the smartest financial, PR and basketball move by resigning with his title contender.

My point was simply that personally, I don't like messing with a good team. But I also qualified that by saying I wasn't qualified to say one way or the other. A point you wouldn't have missed if you weren't in such a rush to take me to task. I also said that it was hardly time to panic and that I wasn't judging the trade based on three games. Next time read my whole post before you decide to treat me like an idiot.

[infrared41]

You guys are making these assumptions after 3 games. Everybody needs to chill

Now, if the Cavs are struggling a few weeks from now, then it'd be time to panic. But yeah, not fair to call the trade a bust when they've only had 3 games.

I'm not making any assumptions...

I'm not in panic mode or anything and I understand it's going to take a little while to settle into the new rotations etc.

I'm not ready to say trading Z for Jamison was a bad move and I'm certainly not going to pass judgement on a trade after just three games.

Whatever the case, I agree that it's hardly time to panic. But as we've seen on numerous occasions, you'll never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the typical Cleveland sports fan.

[NJTank]

Why wouldn't LeBron want to come to New York. The NBA needs LeBron in New York and the moment he signs with the Knicks he will be the biggest star in the biggest stage in the world. LeBron understands this and the only reason the Cavs would have a shot to re-sign him is they are a good team and its home. However, like when Shaq signed with L.A. at the time the Magic were allot closer to a title than the Lakers too, there is something about the Garden and the Knicks being a dormant franchise will do everything they can to sign him and David Stern may even gresse the wheels because it would be a big boost to the NBA which has seen the New York market lose interest in the NBA in recent years.

[crashcarson15]

So LeBron can go play with terrible teammates and have no chance at winning a title as the Knicks would become the team that's never bad enough to get a real talent in the draft?

[Cujo]

So LeBron can go play with terrible teammates and have no chance at winning a title as the Knicks would become the team that's never bad enough to get a real talent in the draft?

Yeahm the Knicks of today are awful. However, the Knicks have a TON of money to shop with this offseason. If they can first lure in someone like Chris Bosh, then going to the Big Apple becomes even more appealing to LeBron. Cleveland has yet to prove that they will ever give LeBron the "Pippen" that he's long been waiting for, and if some other team can offer that, then you know he'd be more than willing to listen.

[floydnimrod]

So LeBron can go play with terrible teammates and have no chance at winning a title as the Knicks would become the team that's never bad enough to get a real talent in the draft?

Yeahm the Knicks of today are awful. However, the Knicks have a TON of money to shop with this offseason. If they can first lure in someone like Chris Bosh, then going to the Big Apple becomes even more appealing to LeBron. Cleveland has yet to prove that they will ever give LeBron the "Pippen" that he's long been waiting for, and if some other team can offer that, then you know he'd be more than willing to listen.

But LeBron and Chris Bosh won't win a title by themselves, as Jordan and Pippen didn't win a title by themselves, they had a great team. It was just led by two great players. LeBron's team right now is better than anything the Knicks will be able to assemble next year.