2009-2010 NBA Season Thread

[ALTRNTV]

With LA putting Morrison in the summer league, looks like they're giving him a chance to shine.

[ALTRNTV]

story here

The Lebron James Skill's Academy?
Looks like the participants won't be learning how to do anything. But i did find the
schedule of events:

9:00am-10:00am - Posing for pre-game antics
10:00am-11:30am - Creative dunking
11:30am-12:30pm - Lunch
12:30pm- 2:00pm - The Crab Dribble
2:00pm-4:00pm - Photo and autograph signing

--------------

Ron Artest impressed me with every word he said in his press conference. Dude is focused on winning.

[Phlip]

Well ain't THAT some shit

[ALTRNTV]

The photoshops keep on coming:

[enkei2k]

shawn marion to the mavs. interesting.

[FRpilot]

Kidd
Josh Howard
Marion
Nowitzski
Dampier/Gortat

super sixth man jason terry.

sounds like a lineup, that will get to first, maybe 2nd round.

[ALTRNTV]

Marion needs a good PG who can give him easy shots, that's why he thrived in Phoenix with Nash. He didn't
have that in Miami, and now he has Kidd. Interesting.

[FRpilot]

same with amare, that's why i don't see phoenix giving him a max contract. both marion and stoudemire were helpless for a few games when nash was injured 2 seasons ago.

we knew maroin's offense relied on nash, but in phoenix marion was getting blocks, steals, rebounds. all his defensive stats have also dipped once he got traded. all those defense stats must have come off freebies in a uptempo system. overated player no more.

[OptionZero]

Marion's game is all about athleticism and activity. The higher pace certainly helped, but he's also older now.

Marion's not as good as before, but he's getting paid less than half what he was before. They didn't give up any talent, and they want to win now, so I suppose it's a solid signing, but not spectacular.

[FRpilot]

anderson varaejo resigned with cleaveland for 6 years, $50M. what the hell is danny ferry thinking!? that much tied up to their "high energy" backup pf.. paired with an old ass shaq and a possible anthony parker signing. how does all this help lebron?

i rather throw that money at paul milsap (supposedly utah will match, but if they don't it will sort of be payback for stealing boozer away). david lee or lamar odom may help lebron more than shaq, varaejo, and anthony parker (whom is redundant since he's does the same thing as delonte west by scoring, shooting a few 3s, get a couple boards/ast and stls)

[Phlip]

Marbury is beginning to see that no one in the NBA that he wants to want him apparently does, is now thinking about going to Europe, that's funny.

Detroit hires a cheap nobody to coach the team, apparently isn't interested in winning anytime soon.

Andrea Bargnani gets 50mil? WHAT THE FUCK?!!?

McDyess to San Antonio -- good look in my opinion.

Salary cap going down, people will feel REAL dumb about the money they ARE throwing at these free agents when next year is upon us.

[FRpilot]

Originally Posted by PHLIP

Andrea Bargnani gets 50mil? WHAT THE FUCK?!!?

McDyess to San Antonio -- good look in my opinion.

Salary cap going down, people will feel REAL dumb about the money they ARE throwing at these free agents when next year is upon us.

plenty of bad signings this season so far.

bargnani for 50M. are they trying to build an all euro team just for the hell of it with bosh? he did really well last season with starters minutes, so he might still be good, but no way is he to live up his hype as the next dirk nowitzski. he is what darko should have been by now.

either mcdyess or rasheed wallace will be GREAT PF backups, maybe even can start for some teams (both split time starting last season in detroit due to injuries). good signings for san antonio and boston. mcdyess probably boards better, but wallace has more range. wallace is the more athletic one now due to mcdyess' injuries/surgeries in the past.

salary cap going down, but teams with money can still spend and pay the luxury tax, if their owners are willing. i'm sure cleveland, portland, and dallas don't mind paying the tax. mark cuban has already been throwing out rediculous money this offseason and outbidding himself for mediocre talent in kidd, marion, and gortat.

[OptionZero]

Originally Posted by FRpilot

anderson varaejo resigned with cleaveland for 6 years, $50M. what the hell is danny ferry thinking!? that much tied up to their "high energy" backup pf.. paired with an old ass shaq and a possible anthony parker signing. how does all this help lebron?

i rather throw that money at paul milsap (supposedly utah will match, but if they don't it will sort of be payback for stealing boozer away). david lee or lamar odom may help lebron more than shaq, varaejo, and anthony parker (whom is redundant since he's does the same thing as delonte west by scoring, shooting a few 3s, get a couple boards/ast and stls)

It's not $50M/6yr

If you read ESPN's article more closely, it's $42M/6 years, with incentives, and the last year is not guaranteed.

$7M a year is quite reasonable, and Varejao is only 26. In five years he's 31.

Given that he is a very good rebounder, mobile and very active, willing to bang inside, and is a legitimate 6'11, 260lb big man, I don't have any problem with it.

There is a large difference between a stiff like Dalembert who has no hands and is therefore useless on offense and types like Varejao, who move without the rock enough force defenses to at least account for them.

[OptionZero]

Originally Posted by PHLIP

Marbury is beginning to see that no one in the NBA that he wants to want him apparently does, is now thinking about going to Europe, that's funny.

Detroit hires a cheap nobody to coach the team, apparently isn't interested in winning anytime soon.

Andrea Bargnani gets 50mil? WHAT THE FUCK?!!?

McDyess to San Antonio -- good look in my opinion.

Salary cap going down, people will feel REAL dumb about the money they ARE throwing at these free agents when next year is upon us.

The Bargnani deal is an extension so it doesn't kick in till next year (2010-2011). The danger of any "early" extension is obvious: if the guy sucks or gets hurt, you're uber-fucked. See: Bynum, Andrew of the Lakers.

I don't think Bargnani is a total stiff - he's a good shooter and passer, he can put the ball on the floor, and he's extremely young (IIRC, 23). If Bargnani blows up into Dirk Nowitzki, $10M is a steal. The chances of that, however, are very slim.

The biggest problem is that Bargnani and Bosh are largely duplicative. Bosh and Bargnani are both mainly jumpshooting PFs; neither rebounds well enough to be a C, and neither is physically capable of defending strong big men. Bosh in particular is an absolute stick - Garnett was manhandling him effortlessly . . . EFFORTLESSLY in the first round series 2 years ago.

Colangelo has never recognized the incompatibility of Bosh and Bargnani. While he's been perfectly willing to move guys like TJ Ford or Villanueva or Jerm or Marion, he won't admit a mistake and cash in Bargnani's solid season last year for a true C? Bad move man.

[ShereKhan]

sorry boys. Celtics are coming for the title again. KG + Wallace is an unstoppable force!

[ALTRNTV]

Originally Posted by ShereKhan

sorry boys. Celtics are coming for the title again. KG + Wallace is an unstoppable force!

Great insight.

I guess I'll go hide in my cave now, since other teams won't be competing since Boston already has the title in the bag.

[Phlip]

Originally Posted by OptionZero

The Bargnani deal is an extension so it doesn't kick in till next year (2010-2011). The danger of any "early" extension is obvious: if the guy sucks or gets hurt, you're uber-fucked. See: Bynum, Andrew of the Lakers.

I don't think Bargnani is a total stiff - he's a good shooter and passer, he can put the ball on the floor, and he's extremely young (IIRC, 23). If Bargnani blows up into Dirk Nowitzki, $10M is a steal. The chances of that, however, are very slim.

The biggest problem is that Bargnani and Bosh are largely duplicative. Bosh and Bargnani are both mainly jumpshooting PFs; neither rebounds well enough to be a C, and neither is physically capable of defending strong big men. Bosh in particular is an absolute stick - Garnett was manhandling him effortlessly . . . EFFORTLESSLY in the first round series 2 years ago.

Colangelo has never recognized the incompatibility of Bosh and Bargnani. While he's been perfectly willing to move guys like TJ Ford or Villanueva or Jerm or Marion, he won't admit a mistake and cash in Bargnani's solid season last year for a true C? Bad move man.

Looks like we agree there, and it almost seems that there is some concession that Bosh bolts after this season as well.

Originally Posted by ShereKhan

sorry boys. Celtics are coming for the title again. KG + Wallace is an unstoppable force!

Is this to say that they will actually get along?
Talent is approximately DICK without chemistry. That denigrating shit that Doc Rivers and Kevin Garnett pull on their players/teammates (respectively) will NOT work on Rasheed Wallace. If Sheed does not get his way or buy fully into the Celtics, then he will do his own thing, always has... When that doesn't work for the common good of the team, he will be yelled at by KG -- think the Big Crybaby fiasco. When THAT doesn't work, Doc will yell at him, then bench him. What good is he then, more than tradebait?
IF it works, then they COMMAND attention, but I need to see it work to believe it will

[ALTRNTV]

OptionZero, here's your chance:

Chris Cohan, owner of the Golden State Warriors, is interested in selling the franchise, according to sources.

The unconnected sources confirmed Cohan was in negotiations with Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison recently. But Cohan and Ellison’s group couldn’t reach an agreement. Cohan is “still interested” in selling the team. One source said “he is tired of losing” and another said he is “looking to cash out.”

[OptionZero]

If Larry Ellison buys the Warriors from Cohan, you won't see me on Zilvia for a few days, because likely went into cardiac shock.

[OptionZero]

Originally Posted by PHLIP

Looks like we agree there, and it almost seems that there is some concession that Bosh bolts after this season as well.

What are the Raptors? A running team? halfcourt?

They'll be a second round exit in the best case scenario, and Bosh will bounce.

[FRpilot]

Originally Posted by AkademikONE

OptionZero, here's your chance:

Saw this yesterday on a local warriors forum. Cohan has been making a little money, but he has a lot more taxes to pay. KPMG used to do work for Warriors, and there are always a lot of stories of KPMG and tax shelter frauds going on. I believe a report came out last year that said Cohan owed about $160M in back taxes. This is good news, and supposedly there have been rumors of Cohan selling his majority share for the last couple months. Hope this gets the ball rolling. New owner needs to fire Nelly and Rowell.

[ALTRNTV]

Nelson is the Warrior's biggest problem, I don't understand why he is still has the head coach position.

[FRpilot]

Originally Posted by OptionZero

It's not $50M/6yr

If you read ESPN's article more closely, it's $42M/6 years, with incentives, and the last year is not guaranteed.

$7M a year is quite reasonable, and Varejao is only 26. In five years he's 31.

Given that he is a very good rebounder, mobile and very active, willing to bang inside, and is a legitimate 6'11, 260lb big man, I don't have any problem with it.

There is a large difference between a stiff like Dalembert who has no hands and is therefore useless on offense and types like Varejao, who move without the rock enough force defenses to at least account for them.

Didn't see the article, just heard rumors on other boards early yesterday and people saying it's a possible contract at $50M/6yrs = 8.3M/yr!!

I mean, its not bad. $42M/6yrs is actually about $6M (granted he doesn't get the incentives). If it were at $8M, it's not cheap. Of course, big men come at a premium, so it is kind of justified.

In any case, he's never been a starter. He started at times when Big Ben was hurt. Possibly he can become their starter, but I don't know if you would want that in your starting frontcourt unless you combine him with another stud center.

I thought it would be better served for cavs to get a serviceable former all-star big man if there were any left. I'm talking about the rasheed wallace, mcdyess type who would sign for MLE. I'm sure if lebron courted someone, they would join him for the chance for a ring. Millsap or Lee would be nice, but they would want upwards of $8-10M/yr.

[OptionZero]

The Cavs had bird rights on Varejao, which means his signing did not preclude the Cavs from using the MLE on others.

Sheed just didn't wanna go there, apparently.

The only bigs with offense left for them are Kleiza and Bass.

[FRpilot]

Forgot about Bird rights rule. They can still use the MLE, but its still a hit against the cap. It's irrelevant, since Cleavland owner is willing to pay whatever it takes to keep LBJ happy. i won't be surprised if he overpays and stockpile mediocre talent like mark cuban, then weed out the good players and let the bad players make their money on the bench.

this excerpt from yahoo today tries to make the varejao deal appear a bit more "reasonable"

Patrick McManamon, Akron Beacon-Journal: "At first blush, Anderson Varejao's(notes) new contract with the Cavaliers sounds like a lot of money. Think about it — $50 million for a guy whose combined scoring and rebounding averages last season did not break 16. Fifty million dollars is a lot of money for anything, really ... tomatoes, pretzels, basketball players, you name it. But as often happens with professional sports contracts, $50 million is not really all that. It's funny money. It's $50 million only if Varejao plays six years with the Cavs and hits every incentive in the deal, including becoming America's Next Top Chef. So scratch most of the incentives. The deal actually averages $7 million per year, and only a portion of the final year of the contract is guaranteed. Which puts the contract at five years for somewhere around $37 million or $38 million, with a team option for a sixth. That's still a lot of tomatoes, but it's not $50 million."

[OptionZero]

Originally Posted by AkademikONE

Nelson is the Warrior's biggest problem, I don't understand why he is still has the head coach position.

Nellie is certainly a big problem.

The biggest problem?

The guy that hired Nellie TWICE: Chris Cohan . . . and his lackey, Robert Rowell.

Bastards. All of them.

I hope Larry Ellison fires both immediately, installs a young VP of operations with a basketball background and hires a moderately young but experienced coach to grow with our kids.

Preferably we poach someone from San Antonio's front office to run the show. Not sure who's a good coaching candidate, I could live with Keith Smart for a couple years I guess.

[FRpilot]

I wish Nelson retires after he reaches the most winning est coach plateau. He doesn't even seem like he has the heart to coach and he can have a heart attack at any minute. it kind of means nothing, since he only got that far because he's been coaching for so long. same as Lenny Wilkins, the guy Nelson is trying to oust. They should factor the winning % into the most wins award.

Hopefully Nelson reaches it this season, but hard to believe the warriors will win more than 30-40 games this season. With the way he coaches and, in my belief, intentionally throws games for better draft position (probably will for John Wall, if by january we are not in the hunt) he could be here another 2-3 more seasons.

Optionzero, what do you think about a coach like Avery Johnson. (him or Jeff Van Gundy, but i think he's pretty comfortable with his TV gig). AJ is pretty young and will light a fire under the ass of players who don't put enough effort like Brandon Wright, but not how Nelly does it (by benching them and saying they suck in the media). He'll also preach defense, unlike Nelson, which means a frontcourt of Ellis and Curry will not work unless one of them gets traded for a big guard.

[FRpilot]

Magic signed Brandon Bass. That's a good signing. Seems like he will be starting since there's no one else, and it seems like a good complement next to Dwight Howard.

Bass probably a little bit better offensively than Gortat and defensively he's bigger and wider.

Starting lineup of Nelson, Carter, Lewis, Bass, Dwight Howard.

It still seems like they lack something. I think a bench of just Pietrus and JJ Reddick will hurt them.

[OptionZero]

Originally Posted by FRpilot

I wish Nelson retires after he reaches the most winning est coach plateau. He doesn't even seem like he has the heart to coach and he can have a heart attack at any minute. it kind of means nothing, since he only got that far because he's been coaching for so long. same as Lenny Wilkins, the guy Nelson is trying to oust. They should factor the winning % into the most wins award.

Hopefully Nelson reaches it this season, but hard to believe the warriors will win more than 30-40 games this season. With the way he coaches and, in my belief, intentionally throws games for better draft position (probably will for John Wall, if by january we are not in the hunt) he could be here another 2-3 more seasons.

Optionzero, what do you think about a coach like Avery Johnson. (him or Jeff Van Gundy, but i think he's pretty comfortable with his TV gig). AJ is pretty young and will light a fire under the ass of players who don't put enough effort like Brandon Wright, but not how Nelly does it (by benching them and saying they suck in the media). He'll also preach defense, unlike Nelson, which means a frontcourt of Ellis and Curry will not work unless one of them gets traded for a big guard.

Pass on Avery. He lived for a year on Nellie's roster, then totally lost the locker room. He's an authoritarian coach and didn't jive with Kidd's desire to push pace, which is why he isn't a coach anymore.

Interested in JVG since I think he'd be more adaptable to a different type of talent (faster, longer). Not sure he'd work with a young roster though. Love his commentating.

[FRpilot]

idk, i remember Avery had a number of semi successful seasons with the Mavericks. He completely changed the culture of the team under his time there, even with Nelson's roster. Remember that the Mavericks weren't known to play much defense with their big three of Nash, Dirk, and Finley.

He took over in the last few weeks of the season after nash left and in the following full coached season made the mavericks play defense and brought them to the finals but lost to dwayne wade. then he had the best season in the NBA, but lost embarrassingly to the warriors. I think this is when he lost his players, but it could have been the players were to traumatized by the lost to the warriors too. he had one more good season, but this time got kicked out of the first round by cp3 and he was fired. i think for the reason that players claimed he was too controlling, but mike d'antoni was fired after the playoffs of that season too. I think the firings of these two coaches had to do more with the fact that both teams needed change, despite doing well. It was the best both of those coaches could lead their teams despite chances and numerous runs in the playoffs without the ultimate success.

i still think Avery would make a good coach for the warriors (at least for a few seasons) for the sole purpose of "undoing" the mentality of the warriors players now have after Nelson brainwashed them to play small ball, run and gun, no defense, shoot, shoot, shoot, gimmick basketball. He would place a greater emphasis on defense and give players a chance. He could start by giving the players a new direction and culture, like he did with the mavs, until we can find another competent coach if he loses control and respect of the players.

over the years and many coaching changes the warriors had, i still think eric mussellmen was the best (despite his problems in sacramento). carleismo, mike montgomery, and gary st jean were the worst. idk if there are many young coaches out there who players like sjax would respect. definitely can't bring in some young rookie coach like spoelstra in miami. i like the work that paul silas did with hornets in the 1999+ seasons and i would even take a chance with stan van gundy to change the mentality of our team.