2010-11 NBA Season

[Drakonius26]

Nuggets 89, Celtics 75

Hmmmm.

Denver is now 2-0 post-Carmelo Anthony.

Are the Nuggets better without Carmelo and Billups? Probably not. But they are deeper, stronger defensively, and beating the Celtics is no east feat. (And can we not blame the C's loss on Kendrick Perkins being dealt? It's not like Boston lost a member of the "Big 3+1". What an overreaction.)

I always felt that losing Anthony would actually help with not just their team defense and ball movement, but their development as players overall. Raymond Felton is a solid player, and they've got not just cap space, but extra picks that they can use to provide themselves with greater depth as well as talent. Sure, losing Carmelo Anthony is a hit no matter how you look at it, and clearly the Denverites will miss Chauncey Billups as he's one of theirs. Though I would have faith in George Karl and the front office having the ability to rebuild on the fly.

Plus, other than the playoff run in 2009, Carmelo Anthony never led the team anywhere in the playoffs. Something to keep in mind, since even if he wins in New York, he'll have Amar'e to lean on, and Billups who's job will be basically not to screw anything up and take the occasional shot.

[NJTank]

Nuggets 89, Celtics 75

Hmmmm.

Denver is now 2-0 post-Carmelo Anthony.

Are the Nuggets better without Carmelo and Billups? Probably not. But they are deeper, stronger defensively, and beating the Celtics is no east feat. (And can we please not blame the C's loss on Kendrick Perkins being dealt? It's not like Boston lost a member of the "Big 3+1". What an overreaction.)

Sometimes when a team trades a star, short term the entire team steps up and plays well but it never lasts long and the Nuggets will settle into mediocrity soon enough.

[gingerbreadmann]

Are the Nuggets better without Carmelo and Billups? Probably not. But they are deeper, stronger defensively, and beating the Celtics is no east feat. (And can we not blame the C's loss on Kendrick Perkins being dealt? It's not like Boston lost a member of the "Big 3+1". What an overreaction.)

Perk wouldn't have played tonight anyway, he's injured. Along with the other 2 centers on the team. That didn't play in the D-League this morning. And didn't get traded. Along with 3 other players. See where I'm going?

Don't worry, Denver was better today anyway. I don't think you need to justify the quality of this win by saying that the Perkins sucks and everyone's overreacting. The Nuggets played defense when it counted, and the crowd reflected the new energy that team has. The Celtics played lazy and uninspired and sulky, but still, they did have just 9 gassed players (including one coming back from injury and one D-Leaguer). It was a great, inspired win for Denver but don't make too much of one game, no matter the opponent.

I still don't know why the hell the Celtics did that. They pick up another SF and an awful C just because Daniels' might miss the rest of the season? What? If we play them in another Finals we're beating them in 5. Think about it, in the Finals against the Lakers (both '08 and '10) the Celtics are 7-4 with Perkins, and 0-2 without him. People say the reason why they lost Game 6 and Game 7 was the lack of Perkins. I think the new favorites in the East are the Heat and Bulls. I just hope the Bobcats don't make it to the Finals somehow, because if they do, we are screwed!

Hey, if I were you, I would be more worried about the Lakers making the Finals.

Green is a good player. The Celtics just picked up a 2, 3, 4, and 5--three of those being Jeff Green. I think he is an outstanding fit for the C's. So is Perkins; I think playing around the Big Three has greatly elevated him the last few years, perhaps more than he should be individually. Yes, I am quite concerned about guarding Dwight in the playoffs, but you are failing to incorporate the three roster spots available now. Troy Murphy seems like he has a pretty good chance of coming here, and who knows, maybe Sheed will too. The big question is chemistry now: everyone in the organization loved Perk, especially Rondo, who looked completely disinterested tonight. I hope that void can be filled, but until someone is brought in, you can't call this trade anything but an Incomplete. Although I'm sure KG welcomes the "underdog" label.

Oh, and why the hell they did it: 4 starters are booked next year for $57 million. Perkins, an impending FA, already rejected a higher-than-MLE extension. And he has an injury question mark on his knee. A huge unknown quantity + no room to sign him = get something for him while you can. I don't know if this gives us a better shot this year, though, which, even though something needs to be done to ensure the Boston Celtics employ 5 non-corpses past 2013, should be priority #1.

[McCall]

Nuggets 89, Celtics 75

Hmmmm.

Denver is now 2-0 post-Carmelo Anthony.

Are the Nuggets better without Carmelo and Billups? Probably not. But they are deeper, stronger defensively, and beating the Celtics is no east feat. (And can we please not blame the C's loss on Kendrick Perkins being dealt? It's not like Boston lost a member of the "Big 3+1". What an overreaction.)

No kidding. Perkins only played in 12 games for the Celtics this year and they've seemed to do alright. Plus, with all the trades how many guys did they even have dress out for this game?

[Saintsfan]

Just watched the ESPN trade deadline special. Man those guys were hard on the Celtics, and those two last posts say a lot. You bitching about a losing a player whose played 12 games? And the finances probably matter a lot in a post big 3 world. Eventually Allen, Pierce and Garnett will ride off into the sunset. That organization needs to start looking at the medium and long term. When you've got other big men around, why not pull the trigger on it?

[infrared41]

EDIT: Oh, and why would the Spurs and Hawks be your dream Finals match-up? Just curious

It would be like the Patriots and Packers playing in the Super Bowl. I would win either way.

I used to be a big Seattle Supersonics fan, and would be if they ever returned, but always had a soft spot for the Hawks when I was a kid. Dominique Wilkins, Spud Webb, and the Atlanta Air Force, you know. Once the Supersonics relocated, I found myself playing attention to the Hawks once more and it just so happened that despite falling short against the Celtics in 2008, I found a new group to gravitate towards. Spurs, I was born there, so that's a given.

Let me guess, your favorite baseball teams are the Red Sox, Yankees, and Phillies right?

Oh, don't you start with me again.

As for baseball, it's Tigers and Red Sox... definitely not Yankees or Phillies. Really though, I care so little about baseball that it could fold tomorrow, and I honestly wouldn't lose sleep over it. I never got into it as a kid, and never really found it to be riveting television to watch. For me, it's fantasy football (whether it be madden or the statistical-kind), football, hockey, basketball, and finally baseball.

If you exclude the 2000's though, most of my teams were perennial underachievers and hadn't won anything of significance, or were in the middle of a massive championship drought. I make no excuses, I'm spoiled.

Or what?

What a terrible thing to say.

[ltjets21]

Why does everyone think the knicks can't win know? When the Celtics won they had 3 good players a young kid with talent and an ok center at the time in perkins. It rings a bell except melo and stoudemire are better than pierce and garnett were at the time. Billups is equal to allen and fields even though night a pg i believe is better now than rondo was at the time.

[cameroncrazie07]

Why does everyone think the knicks can't win know? When the Celtics won they had 3 good players a young kid with talent and an ok center at the time in perkins. It rings a bell except melo and stoudemire are better than pierce and garnett were at the time. Billups is equal to allen and fields even though night a pg i believe is better now than rondo was at the time.

Being a Knicks fan as well, I just don't see it happening. Even if they were as good as that Celtics team the East is way better now. And Billups isn't better than Allen. Just give it some time man, we'll be winning in a few years.

[Drew22]

Why does everyone think the knicks can't win know? When the Celtics won they had 3 good players a young kid with talent and an ok center at the time in perkins. It rings a bell except melo and stoudemire are better than pierce and garnett were at the time. Billups is equal to allen and fields even though night a pg i believe is better now than rondo was at the time.

There were no good teams in the East back then. Orlando and Detroit were decent. Now they have to compete with Miami, Orlando, Chicago, and Boston. As of now, they're about as good as Atlanta.

[dfwabel]

Why does everyone think the knicks can't win know? When the Celtics won they had 3 good players a young kid with talent and an ok center at the time in perkins. It rings a bell except melo and stoudemire are better than pierce and garnett were at the time. Billups is equal to allen and fields even though night a pg i believe is better now than rondo was at the time.

Then now would have to be this season. And this season, they play no defense.

NYK has $40MM tied up in Amare and Carmelo going into next year when the new CBA will have a hard salary cap and a cap number much less than the current CBA ($59MM). How can you fill out the rest of the roster if there is just $10MM to spend?

Plus, the current CHI and MIA teams are probably the worst of both teams that we will see for the next four seasons and that is just to get out of the East.

[Saintsfan]

If, and it's a big if, the Knicks can avoid the Heat, then I'd give New York a shot this year. In the playoffs it's all about match ups, I don't see the Knicks winning a shoot out of a series against the Heat, but given a defensive set up against them they stand a chance.

[TFoA]

The East is wide open, that's the thing. Boston was the clear cut favorite (even with that 3 headed monster in Miami), now, like Saintsfan said, it's all about matchups. Before we got into this season, it was pretty much established that it was either gonna be Orlando, Boston, or Miami coming out. Now, it's anybody's game when it comes to the Top 6, maybe 7 if Philly continues this little hot streak that they've been on since late January. Boston got weaker for THIS season, Miami is either waiting to turn the switch on or just not THAT good (still favorites to come out of the East, don't get me wrong), the Bulls are coming on strong, the Magic are "meh" but still have D12, the Hawks finally have a point guard that can play defense, the Knicks have Melo & Stat, & all of a sudden Doug Collins has got the Sixers playing well, so they shouldn't be taken lightly.

Simply put: The Eastern Conference Playoffs are going to ROCK THE OUT THIS YEAR.

[Lights Out]

Don't hate 'cause the ClipJoint didn't wanna pony-up for Carmelo. It's not the Denver's fault the Clippers have ZERO telent to offer, outside of the untouchable Blake Griffith.

Um...

Eric Gordon (who was deemed untouchable after his performance in the FIBA's this summer) and Chris Kaman (when focused) are extremely talented (or "telented" ) players. The Clippers were reportedly going to offer Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu, possibly Eric Bledsoe, and a first-round lottery pick we received from the Timberwolves. That would have been a reasonable haul considering how little the return is in the NBA when teams trade their stars.

And Blake Griffin IS off the table. He's one-half of Sterling's new gravy train (the other half being Gordon). Sterling may be scum but he's not stupid.

[Jigga]

Nuggets 89, Celtics 75

Hmmmm.

Denver is now 2-0 post-Carmelo Anthony.

Are the Nuggets better without Carmelo and Billups? Probably not. But they are deeper, stronger defensively, and beating the Celtics is no east feat. (And can we not blame the C's loss on Kendrick Perkins being dealt? It's not like Boston lost a member of the "Big 3+1". What an overreaction.)

I always felt that losing Anthony would actually help with not just their team defense and ball movement, but their development as players overall. Raymond Felton is a solid player, and they've got not just cap space, but extra picks that they can use to provide themselves with greater depth as well as talent. Sure, losing Carmelo Anthony is a hit no matter how you look at it, and clearly the Denverites will miss Chauncey Billups as he's one of theirs. Though I would have faith in George Karl and the front office having the ability to rebuild on the fly.

Plus, other than the playoff run in 2009, Carmelo Anthony never led the team anywhere in the playoffs. Something to keep in mind, since even if he wins in New York, he'll have Amar'e to lean on, and Billups who's job will be basically not to screw anything up and take the occasional shot.

If we're playing that game...KG never lead a team anywhere in the playoffs either until he became part of a "Big 3" other than the 2004 WCF where the Lakers smoked them. Let Carmelo get his "Big However Many" and then see what he can do.

[TFoA]

5 Pistons skip practice in protest of coach.

The ongoing skirmish between Pistons players and coach John Kuester just ratcheted up a notch. Or five.

Five players were absent from Pistons morning shootaround Friday in Philadelphia in what a source told the Detroit News was a protest of the coach. Tracy McGrady, Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton Chris Wilcox and Ben Wallace were not at the shootaround (although Wallace has been out for a few games dealing with a personal issue so his situation is different). Austin Daye and Rodney Stuckey showed up as shootaround ended saying they missed the bus.

I can't.

[ESTONES6]

What's the problem with per game stats? Mo's played less games than Baron this season IIRC and is still putting up similar numbers every night. That says to me that Mo is better right now.

I fail to see how the Cavs fleeced the Clippers at all. You guys got an inconsistent headcase with a horrible contract. We got rid of said inconsistent headcase with a horrible contract. Sorry man, this trade was bad for your Cavs.

Sure, that's fine. But what the Cavs did is stagger their contracts. Instead of having just 1 season where everyone is off the books... they have multiple seasons consecutively where players come off the books. Having consecutive years with expiring contracts is better than 1 year with expiring contracts.

Even with Davis being a head case, his worst is better than Mo's best. Davis will basically be the #1 which he is 100x better suited for than Mo, even is Baron isn't a true #1. Jamison can actually slide down to be a #2 option, now that Mo is gone. Mo is not a 1... he's not a 2. Baron can play the role of 1 a lot better than Mo and fits Scott's system. Whether you believe it or not, Davis has actually shown respect to Scott the last 2 years. I mean, let's be honest, take it for what it's worth.

People wanna talk about how bad the draft is... and that's fine... but you still two chances to hit on a star. People are saying that this draft is filled with James Harden's and Russle Westbrook's but no Kevin Durant's... and I'm not sure why so many people think that's a bad thing. Worst case scenario... the Cavs are in the lottery again, with a solid point guard, SF, or PF for the future. And I'm 100% good with that. We have the right coach to rebuild. He has young players responding to him.

What's good for the Clippers is Mo won't get in the way of developing young talent. He is a solid pro, but was a beneficiary of LeBron. If you are lucky, Griffin will do the same for him. Bottom line is... we swapped players who weren't working in our systems. That is a no-lose situation. That fact that we got an extra lottery pick is just icing on the cake.

[Drakonius26]

EDIT: Oh, and why would the Spurs and Hawks be your dream Finals match-up? Just curious

It would be like the Patriots and Packers playing in the Super Bowl. I would win either way.

I used to be a big Seattle Supersonics fan, and would be if they ever returned, but always had a soft spot for the Hawks when I was a kid. Dominique Wilkins, Spud Webb, and the Atlanta Air Force, you know. Once the Supersonics relocated, I found myself playing attention to the Hawks once more and it just so happened that despite falling short against the Celtics in 2008, I found a new group to gravitate towards. Spurs, I was born there, so that's a given.

Let me guess, your favorite baseball teams are the Red Sox, Yankees, and Phillies right?

Oh, don't you start with me again.

As for baseball, it's Tigers and Red Sox... definitely not Yankees or Phillies. Really though, I care so little about baseball that it could fold tomorrow, and I honestly wouldn't lose sleep over it. I never got into it as a kid, and never really found it to be riveting television to watch. For me, it's fantasy football (whether it be madden or the statistical-kind), football, hockey, basketball, and finally baseball.

If you exclude the 2000's though, most of my teams were perennial underachievers and hadn't won anything of significance, or were in the middle of a massive championship drought. I make no excuses, I'm spoiled.

Or what?

What a terrible thing to say.

Or I'll mock your team for not winning anything of value since 1964! Nah, I'm not going to resort to that.

Honestly, it's just my opinion. If you want to blame someone, blame my parents, as I wasn't raised around baseball, and never even knew about the sport, as well as teams like the Tigers, Red Sox, or Yankees until I was in my teen years (10-12 years old). It was football and basketball in my household, and I stumbled upon hockey when I was young and fell in love with it then.

Nuggets 89, Celtics 75

Hmmmm.

Denver is now 2-0 post-Carmelo Anthony.

Are the Nuggets better without Carmelo and Billups? Probably not. But they are deeper, stronger defensively, and beating the Celtics is no east feat. (And can we not blame the C's loss on Kendrick Perkins being dealt? It's not like Boston lost a member of the "Big 3+1". What an overreaction.)

I always felt that losing Anthony would actually help with not just their team defense and ball movement, but their development as players overall. Raymond Felton is a solid player, and they've got not just cap space, but extra picks that they can use to provide themselves with greater depth as well as talent. Sure, losing Carmelo Anthony is a hit no matter how you look at it, and clearly the Denverites will miss Chauncey Billups as he's one of theirs. Though I would have faith in George Karl and the front office having the ability to rebuild on the fly.

Plus, other than the playoff run in 2009, Carmelo Anthony never led the team anywhere in the playoffs. Something to keep in mind, since even if he wins in New York, he'll have Amar'e to lean on, and Billups who's job will be basically not to screw anything up and take the occasional shot.

If we're playing that game...KG never lead a team anywhere in the playoffs either until he became part of a "Big 3" other than the 2004 WCF where the Lakers smoked them. Let Carmelo get his "Big However Many" and then see what he can do.

You won't get any argument from me about that, as I completely agree with you about Kevin Garnett. I've just heard enough from Knicks fans acting like they've won the championship after acquiring Carmelo. Yes, they got a couple of a good basketball players, but time will tell if it was the right move.

I watched him up close as a Nugget and he never impressed me, as I find him to be like another former Knick, Bernard King. He's a great scorer, and a good basketball player, but not a great all-around basketball player. Perhaps he will improve his defense in New York (though under Mike D'Antoni, I doubt it), and perhaps he will win a title or two (who knows if they'll ever advance out of a stacked Eastern Conference), but I'm just cautioning both Nugget fans to not get too down, or Knick fans to get too high. That's all.

[infrared41]

Or what?

Or I'll mock your team for not winning anything of value since 1964!

Like I'm not used to that already.

[Drakonius26]

Or what?

Or I'll mock your team for not winning anything of value since 1964!

Like I'm not used to that already.

The same can be said for all of the 18-1 jokes I hear all the time. I feel your pain.

[Lights Out]

The difference is, Boston fans get the 18-1 comments because of their arrogance and inability to handle success. Cleveland fans get comments for no reason - like, what are people expecting, that Cleveland fans should just hop on the most-successful current bandwagon instead of rooting on their teams through hard times? I can relate, having heard a lot of "why are you a Clippers fan, they suck" comments all my life, usually from the same people that also claim to hate bandwagoners.