Other NBA Action

[MigratingOsprey]

Figured I'd open this thread to discuss actual games from around the league that aren't Suns games - I have the league pass and am a huge Sonics fan, but will also watch other teams as well - ESPN etc also show other teams

anyhow, let me start this off by recapping a disapointing opening night in seattle

Brandon Roy is going to be someone to watch this year - the kid looks polished and was giving the sonics fits, putting up 20 and helping to keep their offense running for the Blazers

the biggest problem was Zach Randolph was unstoppable - he was making everything and most were tough shots

seattle had a 9 point lead late, but took a couple quick shots and didn't execute well down the stretch

their defense was either really good or really bad - i'd be happy somewhere in the middle

luke seemed confident, lewis did his normal, allen was a little off, wilcox looked motivated and collison was terrible (after wilcox fouled out he got beat by a smaller man on a rebound of a blazers missed FT to help seal the game.....)

Mo Sene actually impressed me - the guy moves well and is a presence - hopefully he'll ease the loss of big ugly - the one thing he needs to realize is that in the NBA even the best shot blockers only get 1-2 a game - he needs to pick and choose his spot and not try to leave his feet to block everything - he can stand tall and change a shot, which would still allow him to be able to body up on the rebound - he's taking himself out of position on the misses by leaving his feet for the block

haven't seen much aside from this game, but there are some games I want to check out

watched a bit of the wolves/kings (wife is a MN fan) and both of those teams looked pretty bad

 

[abomb]

Nice post. I am finding myself reading a lot of game recaps and stuff. I am just genuinely interested in the NBA this year.

I want to catch a Magic game, as Dwight Howard is being compared to the early-90s Shaq.

There are a lot of good rookies this year. I havent seen too many, but Bulls' rookie Tyrus Thomas looked good in the game I saw. He was fitted with a mask for his broken nose, so we'll see if he is any less aggressive.

I want to watch the Portland rookies.

 

[D-Dogg]

Nice post. I am finding myself reading a lot of game recaps and stuff. I am just genuinely interested in the NBA this year.

I want to catch a Magic game, as Dwight Howard is being compared to the early-90s Shaq.

There are a lot of good rookies this year. I havent seen too many, but Bulls' rookie Tyrus Thomas looked good in the game I saw. He was fitted with a mask for his broken nose, so we'll see if he is any less aggressive.

I want to watch the Portland rookies.

You didn't watch the Bulls/Magic game? Howard was fantastic.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

i enjoyed watching howard last year - also enjoyed watching wizard games - also following the development of LeBron is a can't miss

will also be interesting to see BC in toronto

I also like the bucks, although i'm skeptical on their early moves (essentially trading tj ford & jamal magloire for steve blake and charlie villaneuva)

 

[Ronin]

I was able to watch bits and pieces of the Spurs and Mavs game last night, and it seems that the spurs might have got a steal in Fransico Elson. He looked really good last night.

 

[nowagimp]

I was able to watch bits and pieces of the Spurs and Mavs game last night, and it seems that the spurs might have got a steal in Fransico Elson. He looked really good last night.

Elston did look really good, he did a decent job defending Nowitski, he's quick and long. Duncan played poorly (for TD), and the Mavs couldnt take advantage. The mavs were unimpressive with only 15 assists all game, all one-on-one and they shot like 38%. Horry looked old for the spurs, they will have depth problems if the suns can run some. Incredibly, the Mavs still dont get it, they need to run to beat the spurs and Heat.

 

[nowagimp]

Nice post. I am finding myself reading a lot of game recaps and stuff. I am just genuinely interested in the NBA this year.

I want to catch a Magic game, as Dwight Howard is being compared to the early-90s Shaq.

There are a lot of good rookies this year. I havent seen too many, but Bulls' rookie Tyrus Thomas looked good in the game I saw. He was fitted with a mask for his broken nose, so we'll see if he is any less aggressive.

I want to watch the Portland rookies.

Comparing Howard to a young shaq is dumb. Howard is quicker, much better on D, and not even close on O. I'd say Howard is closer to Akheem before he got his 'O down. Poor old PJ(38?) and Big Ben, on the second day of back to backs, is not yet a real test of Howard on offense. He's quicker than both of those guys and they looked old. Lets see him against Denver, the clips, and the Spurs big guys.

 

[D-Dogg]

Howard also has drive to be the best and tons of class. Again, other non-Shaq like qualities.

 

[nowagimp]

Howard also has drive to be the best and tons of class. Again, other non-Shaq like qualities.

I do like that he's a classy guy and his athleticism on D is way better than a young Shaq. His upside(athleticism) on D is better then TIm Duncan, in my opinion. His offense will need alot of work to even be within a city block of Duncan though.

 

[Russ Smith]

Howard also has drive to be the best and tons of class. Again, other non-Shaq like qualities.

Howard reminds me a lot of Terry Cummings early in his career before he fell in love with his jumpshot and became soft.

But a better defender particularly shotblocker than Cummings ever was.

 

[abomb]

Are you a Warrior fan Russ? I think they have a pretty decent team, young, but decent. I was impressed by how fast Monta Ellis was against the Lakers.

 

[Nash]

I was impressed by how fast Monta Ellis was against the Lakers.

I read somewhere that Monta Ellis kid is unbelievably fast. Got to check him out.

 

[Russ Smith]

Are you a Warrior fan Russ? I think they have a pretty decent team, young, but decent. I was impressed by how fast Monta Ellis was against the Lakers.

Yes, Ellis is a stud but Nelson doesn't seem to like him. He's questioned his ability to play every night, says he doesn't think he can hold up etc. Ellis is a phenomenal defender for a kid right out of HS, most guys take years to catch on at the NBA level but he was locking guys up last year as a rookie.

They drafted him planning to make him a PG but I don't think he'll ever be one, he's sort of a modern day Vinnie Johnson undersized SG but he's such a great defender.

 

[Nash]

Is anyone watching Cavs-Spurs game? Boy, LeBron just dunked over 'Dunk'an! Un'frikkin'believable.

He soared after taking just one step from the FT line and slammed it down on Duncan.

 

[SO91]

Is anyone watching Cavs-Spurs game? Boy, LeBron just dunked over 'Dunk'an! Un'frikkin'believable.

He soared after taking just one step from the FT line and slammed it down on Duncan.

That dunk was sick!! I had just turned the TV on and caught it. Definetly top play on sportscenter tonight

 

[Lefty]

Is anyone watching Cavs-Spurs game? Boy, LeBron just dunked over 'Dunk'an! Un'frikkin'believable.

He soared after taking just one step from the FT line and slammed it down on Duncan.

It was pretty sick!

 

[panfolk]

Glad to see this thread. Can it be stickied?

 

[MigratingOsprey]

didn't catch any games last night - but brandon roy put up another great stat line and I saw that lebron dunk on sportscenter - amazing - he also had a strong game leading them to the W

 

[nowagimp]

It was pretty sick!

Not to take anything away from Lebron, but Duncan did not try to block his shot. If he had tried, it may have risked injury to Lebron as Duncan was coming (late) on help defense. One thing I like about Duncan is that he does not foul hard to "send a message" a la Danny Fortson. Of the spurs 19 losses last year, 15 were second of back to backs, so I wouldnt take too much away from that game. I do love watching Legron though, and Duncan continues to look "out of whack", I wonder if its age.

 

[Nasser22]

Duncan didn't look out of whack at all. He had a very good game especially in the 4th quarter(I heard). It was still a great dunk jumping over him like that.

And one more thing, I think hard fouls are good. Not flagrants but I love a guy like Fortson who would foul you hard instead of a little tap on the arm.

 

[nowagimp]

Duncan didn't look out of whack at all. He had a very good game especially in the 4th quarter(I heard). It was still a great dunk jumping over him like that.

And one more thing, I think hard fouls are good. Not flagrants but I love a guy like Fortson who would foul you hard instead of a little tap on the arm.

A hard fould could have been comitted by Duncan, he could have taken Lebron out as Fortson would have. Hard fouls on high flyers is damaging to the game. The threat of injury has already reduced the high flying. Guys end up with concussions(Marion), broken bones(Zarko), and fractured faces(JJ). Thats probably why Marion doesnt finish strong on the break in traffic anymore. That play by Lebron used to be a common play in the NBA now its not, thank the bad boys and the Riley led knicks. Play can be physical without being dangerous. WHen the threat of injury is high, the basketball will be ugly.

 

[Nash]

Not to take anything away from Lebron, but Duncan did not try to block his shot. If he had tried, it may have risked injury to Lebron as Duncan was coming (late) on help defense. One thing I like about Duncan is that he does not foul hard to "send a message" a la Danny Fortson.

If he had tried, he would have risked injuring himself. True, Duncan did not resort to a hard foul which was an option he had.
But if he had tried to get in the air to block the shot, considering the speed at which LeBron was coming, Timmy would've got knocked out cold.

PS: I'm not a big fan of LeBron, probably because of how much he is hyped by the media. Its sickening to hear them rhapsodize about him. D Wade and his bevy of ads are pushing him into that category as well. I used to enjoy watching Wade but I'm getting tired of the Wade-Bron hype machine.

 

[nowagimp]

If he had tried, he would have risked injuring himself. True, Duncan did not resort to a hard foul which was an option he had.
But if he had tried to get in the air to block the shot, considering the speed at which LeBron was coming, Timmy would've got knocked out cold.

PS: I'm not a big fan of LeBron, probably because of how much he is hyped by the media. Its sickening to hear them rhapsodize about him. D Wade and his bevy of ads are pushing him into that category as well. I used to enjoy watching Wade but I'm getting tired of the Wade-Bron hype machine.

If I'm Duncan, I know Lebrons more at risk than me. Falling at a height onto the floor is alot worse than choosing the contact(probably shoulder to hip or thigh the way Lebron jumped) from the ground, he could have just subbed him like guys do to marion at times. Lebrons head would be falling from 11' up. Ask any player(ask JJ) whether they think the risk is higher falling from a height or just absorbing a foul while planted. The old bad boy pistons would have just taken Lebron to the mat. Lebron would have just bounced off Rick Mahorn onto the floor.

 

[Nash]

If I'm Duncan, I know Lebrons more at risk than me. Falling at a height onto the floor is alot worse than choosing the contact(probably shoulder to hip or thigh the way Lebron jumped) from the ground, he could have just subbed him like guys do to marion at times. Lebrons head would be falling from 11' up.

yeah, that was what I was saying too. Duncan (as you said), did not throw a hard foul at Bron, which he could have pulled off by staying grounded and banging into Bron.
Nothing would have happened to TD in that case.
But if he had tried to block the shot by jumping to do so, he would have gone down harder (than Bron) because of Bron's higher horizontal momentum.

so , yes -- agreed that TD indeed took the high road by not buldozing/toppling Bron from below.

 

[Nash]

there you go! One day after the Cavs beat the Spurs on the road, they lose to the Bobcats!

So show some patience guys, our bunch of fools will take their time to get their act together.