2014-2015 NBA thread

[Jake]

Even though I don't get too into the East vs. West thing, doing a fantasy draft would definitely lower my interest in the ASG

[Balta1701]

Dude, that's coming very soon. Silver is evaluating conferences and whether we should even bother with location-based divisions. We'll be seeing the best 16 teams in the playoffs within the next 3 seasons. As for the ASG, at that point my guess is they'd be smart and just have it turn to a fantasy draft the roster thing like the NHL and NFL have done.

I kinda hope they keep some remnant of it in scheduling...I like having the Bulls get some extra games against nearby teams and a 3rd long-duration west coast trip would seem kinda rough.

[Swingandalongonetoleft]

Barkley had some pretty sick playoffs numbers, but I was just a kid when he was dominating. His career averages in the playoffs were 23 and 13 on a 58.4 TS% though.

 

My favorite player growing up.

[GGajewski18]

Bucks interested in Taj Gibson

[Kyyle23]

Bucks interested in Taj Gibson

 

OK, gimme the Greek.

[Quin]

http://www.newsy.com/videos/adam-silver-s-...genda-for-2015/

[bmags]

While I would like to see more western con games, I also don't get to see them even when Bulls play. I'd prefer majority of bulls games be in eastern/central time zone.

[Jordan4life_2007]

He deserves criticism for the loss to the Mavericks. Last year he played really well against the Spurs and the Heat lost because they couldn't defend the Spurs at all. There's nothing LeBron could have done to change the result of that series.

 

This.

 

You could replace LeBron with '91 MJ or '00 Shaq and the Heat still get dusted by the Spurs. They were that good.

[thxfrthmmrs]

This.

 

You could replace LeBron with '91 MJ or '00 Shaq and the Heat still get dusted by the Spurs. They were that good.

 

The same Jordan that averaged like 30-7-12 against the Lakers that year? The Spurs that lost to Heat in 2013 was largely the same team in 2014. Give me the '91 Jordan who's also better defensively than the 2014 Lebron and I will pick the Heat.

 

Also, I don't see how a 37 year old Duncan, Splitter, Diaw or Donner could contain a prime Shaq. A Shaq and Bosh front line would be the ultimate pick your poison if I've ever seen one.

 

I don't blame Lebron for that Finals loss, but that Heat team could definitely beat the Spurs with a God mode Jordan or Shaq.

[Jordan4life_2007]

The same Jordan that averaged like 30-7-12 against the Lakers that year? The Spurs that lost to Heat in 2013 was largely the same team in 2014. Give me the '91 Jordan who's also better defensively than the 2014 Lebron and I will pick the Heat.

 

Also, I don't see how a 37 year old Duncan, Splitter, Diaw or Donner could contain a prime Shaq. A Shaq and Bosh front line would be the ultimate pick your poison if I've ever seen one.

 

I don't blame Lebron for that Finals loss, but that Heat team could definitely beat the Spurs with a God mode Jordan or Shaq.

 

No, they couldn't. Not with a broken down Wade and a mostly aging supporting cast. 4 straight trips to the finals took it's toll at the end. In hindsight, the Bulls breaking up in '98 was the best thing ever for their legacy. Or else they would've looked a lot like the Heat had they faced the Spurs in '99.

[bmags]

I was thinking how odd it was that this is probably the most unrecognizeable NBA in terms of star teams in 30 years.

 

Top Teams

Golden State

Atlanta

Clippers

Oklahoma City

Toronto

Portland

San Antonio

Memphis

 

That is nuts. And considering ATL and Toronto, it goes to show that no matter the sport, good management can trump all. Small market, no luck in superstars, whatever.

 

On one hand it's a testament to how good Boston/LA were.

 

[MexSoxFan#1]

This.

 

You could replace LeBron with '91 MJ or '00 Shaq and the Heat still get dusted by the Spurs. They were that good.

I disagree, the Spurs were pushed to seven games in the first round by the Mavs, they might've of not gotten out of the West if Ibaka never gets hurt. It's more a testament of how stacked the West was and how awful the East was (Indiana, lol). If the East actually had great competition, the Heat wouldn't have made the Finals, stick them out West and they weren't sniffing that fourth Finals in a row. The Spurs beating OKC in 6 tough games was your real Finals last year.

 

The '13-'14 San Antonio Spurs were good but they're not even the best version of their previous championship teams.

 

BTW, LeBron is smart staying in the East, he's been to 5 Finals but two of those times, ('07 Cavs and '14 Heat) he had no business being in the Finals with those teams, proof being his teams got mauled in the championship round.

[SleepyWhiteSox]

Still laughing at The Dream being a jump shooting center with a weak post game and The Admiral playing like dwight

 

Where do you come up with this stuff??

[Dick Allen]

Amare to Dallas. The Mavs would have the best team in basketball if this was 2008.

[southsider2k5]

Hakeem is one of the top 10-12 players ever. And you underestimate how athletic he was in his youth/peak.

 

He grew up as a much shorter soccer player. He didn't pick up a basketball until he was 14 after he had a massive growth spurt. His footwork was some of the most amazing skill I have ever seen in the NBA. Historically NBA centers have either operated to brute force, such as a Shaq or Dwight, or a unblockable shot, such as the Kareem sky hook. I don't know that I have ever seen anyone own the post the way Olajuwon did. The Dream is my all time favorite player in the NBA.

[southsider2k5]

I remembered back in 2009-10 I said Rose could learn a thing or two from Westbrook and I was toast by pretty much everyone on this board. But that was back in the days when Rose could do no wrong in the eyes of everyone in Chicago.

 

Because obviously you knew that Rose was going to miss around 3 years of basketball with two catastrophic injuries.

[southsider2k5]

Hakeem was a monster in the post. He had a ton of moves down low.

 

The dreamshake was one of the most nasty post moves in the history of the NBA>

[bmags]

Because obviously you knew that Rose was going to miss around 3 years of basketball with two catastrophic injuries.

 

I would love to see what 2010-11 rose looks like with Durant alongside him rather than Deng.

[Balta1701]

I would love to see what 2010-11 rose looks like with Durant alongside him rather than Deng.

I would love to see what 2014-2015 rose looks like if he hadn't missed 3 seasons. And that's referring to his game, not to hardware on his hands.

[thxfrthmmrs]

Because obviously you knew that Rose was going to miss around 3 years of basketball with two catastrophic injuries.

 

No, because I believed that the 2010 Westbrook had potential to become something close to the 2014 Westbrook that 2010 Rose couldn't, even had he stayed healthy. In 2010, I saw Westbrook as a guy who would contribute to every aspect of the game and could do everything well if he plays with the right attitude. At that time, he was superior to Rose in terms of rebounding, drawing fouls, defense, and passing. Rose was better as a scorer, shooter, and floor general. Not saying WB was better at the time, but there were aspects of his game that I admired and would have liked Rose to adopt.

[Balta1701]

No, because I believed that the 2010 Westbrook had potential to become something close to the 2014 Westbrook that 2010 Rose couldn't, even had he stayed healthy. In 2010, I saw Westbrook as a guy who would contribute to every aspect of the game and could do everything well if he plays with the right attitude. At that time, he was superior to Rose in terms of rebounding, drawing fouls, defense, and passing. Rose was better as a scorer, shooter, and floor general. Not saying WB was better at the time, but there were aspects of his game that I admired and would have liked Rose to adopt.

I'd be willing to bet that Rose would have improved his passing and defense a ton had he actually been on the court working with Thibs for the past 3 seasons. Rebounds maybe not, but that'd be in part because the Bulls have had Noah and Gibson as their main rebounding guys so Rose would actually be out of position a lot of times to clean things up.

[thxfrthmmrs]

I'd be willing to bet that Rose would have improved his passing and defense a ton had he actually been on the court working with Thibs for the past 3 seasons. Rebounds maybe not, but that'd be in part because the Bulls have had Noah and Gibson as their main rebounding guys so Rose would actually be out of position a lot of times to clean things up.

 

I won't argue against that. But what made Westbrook the well rounded superstar he is today is he is an effort player and almost never takes a play off and plays hard on both ends of the floor. He has always been that way and now his skills finally caught up to his talent and demeanor. Rose on the other hand has a tendency to coast for parts of the game, for whatever reason. I still remember in early parts of his career he was invisible for prolonged stretches of the game and was benched by Vinny in a game against the Pacers for not playing defense. Again, that's another part of the Westbrook's game I admired over Rose's at the time.

Edited February 17, 2015 by thxfrthmmrs

[SoxAce]

I'd be willing to bet that Rose would have improved his passing and defense a ton had he actually been on the court working with Thibs for the past 3 seasons. Rebounds maybe not, but that'd be in part because the Bulls have had Noah and Gibson as their main rebounding guys so Rose would actually be out of position a lot of times to clean things up.

Don't get into the rebounding debate with thxfrthmmrs. He's been adamant on that for some reason for a while because Rose isn't Westbrook or Rondo with his athleticism when he has had Noah/Boozer/Gasol etc. big men for years. I remember Zoom arguing with that not mattering for a PG. I have my own opinions, but I generally lean heavily towards Zoom on that debate. I personally still feel VDN stunted his development a bit as a rookie, but that's another discussion.

Edited February 17, 2015 by SoxAce

[ZoomSlowik]

Don't get into the rebounding debate with thxfrthmmrs. He's been adamant on that for some reason for a while because Rose isn't Westbrook or Rondo with his athleticism when he has had Noah/Boozer/Gasol etc. big men for years. I remember Zoom arguing with that not mattering for a PG. I have my own opinions, but I generally lean heavily towards Zoom on that debate. I personally still feel VDN stunted his development a bit as a rookie, but that's another discussion.

 

It's more that the difference between a great one and a lower tier one isn't all that large. Any PG with a pulse is going to get 3 boards a game and the absolutely elite PG's are in the high 5's or occasionally low 6's (outside of rare freaks like Magic/Kidd/Robertson). Your rebounding is still going to be carried by your bigs; a PG isn't going to totally fix the issue if you have someone like Bosh or Brook Lopez inside.

[thxfrthmmrs]

Don't get into the rebounding debate with thxfrthmmrs. He's been adamant on that for some reason for a while because Rose isn't Westbrook or Rondo with his athleticism when he has had Noah/Boozer/Gasol etc. big men for years. I remember Zoom arguing with that not mattering for a PG. I have my own opinions, but I generally lean heavily towards Zoom on that debate. I personally still feel VDN stunted his development a bit as a rookie, but that's another discussion.

 

Rebounding is just one of the areas WB does better Rose. I am not going to split hair on how much better or whether rebounding is important for a guard or not. I think in the end it all ties back to hustle and effort plays, and Westbrook definitely puts more effort in all areas of the game, that's why I said back then "Rose could learn a thing or two from Westbrook".

 

And the moment you were referring to I think came after Rose got out rebounded by Kidd 11-0 in a loss to the Mavs. Noah was out that game and that was pre-Boozer I believe. Coming out of college, Rose was often compared to Kidd and thought to be a nightly triple double threat. Needless to say I was disappointed that his rebounding left something to be desired, but I have accepted the fact that he's not going to be an all around guy like Kidd, Rondo or Westbrook but instead makes his mark on scoring the ball and playing within himself.

 

To flip this back on you guys, I think I was one of the first to hop on the Westbrook train and thought he could be better than Rose, but no one took it seriously at the time. I think even had Rose not been injured, Rose vs. Westbrook would certainly be a fun and legitimate debate today.