The Official NBA Week 23 Thread

[jonesy86]

Portland are up by 27 at halftime, surely Mills will get some decent junk minutes today.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

Thought Durant may have been slowing down a bit (you couldn't blame him given he's 21) but nope, drops 37 in Boston as the Thunder double their win total from last season.

 

[Stiffy_18]

The Kings are in tank mode for as best a draft pick as they can get but Tyreke is turning into a nightly triple double threat.

If the Kings can get lucky in lottery and get an all-star level PF or a C, the rebuild would be just about complete!

 

[smashh]

Portland are up by 27 at halftime, surely Mills will get some decent junk minutes today.

Mills hasn't even been on our active list for a while. It's been him, Greg and Joel on the inactive list, going with Diener and Pendergraph to fill the final 2 of the 12 active spots.

 

[aaronm46]

Durant closes the gap on lebron for the scoring title, not that they care about it

 

[Thewlis Dish]

He might get it if the Cavs look to reduce LeBron's minutes over the last 7-8 games, but I think it's pretty meaningless. If the Thunder are smart they'll do the same thing as soon as a playoff spot is mathematically assured.

 

[rick James]

Durant closes the gap on lebron for the scoring title, not that they care about it

lol they're so full of shit. You watch, if it's close by the last game of the season they'll both go for 50+

 

[rick James]

He might get it if the Cavs look to reduce LeBron's minutes over the last 7-8 games, but I think it's pretty meaningless. If the Thunder are smart they'll do the same thing as soon as a playoff spot is mathematically assured.

Thunder will be playing hard til the end, they'd much prefer to face Utah or even Dallas, rather than LA - they will win as much as they can. 4th seed isn't out of the equation either.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

Well I'm not talking about reducing him to 25 minutes per game.

 

[Darealrath]

The Kings are in tank mode for as best a draft pick as they can get but Tyreke is turning into a nightly triple double threat.

If the Kings can get lucky in lottery and get an all-star level PF or a C, the rebuild would be just about complete!

To be honest I don't think the kings really need to tank to lose.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

They do to lose to the Wolves.

 

[Stiffy_18]

To be honest I don't think the kings really need to tank to lose.

Haha!

Believe me, there is a lot more talent there than you believe. We have actually pushed every contender hard this year and lost some games to the shittiest teams in the league.

The last 2-3 weeks (especially this roadtrip) its been nothing but a tank fest.

 

[Naitawhoey]

A player whose stepped up massively is Donte Green. Hits a good 3 but what ive noticed is he is a fantastic defender which is pretty rare in a Kings team as of late. Im not sure if other Kings fans will agree but they have got the rough end of the Landry/Martin trade at the end of the day I think. Landrys decent but I think they could of got better for Martin or maybe work out a deal to involve a Budinger/Lowry to get involved in the deal.

This years been a step in the right direction for the Kings but its only a start. Still a long way for them to travel yet

 

[Stiffy_18]

A player whose stepped up massively is Donte Green. Hits a good 3 but what ive noticed is he is a fantastic defender which is pretty rare in a Kings team as of late. Im not sure if other Kings fans will agree but they have got the rough end of the Landry/Martin trade at the end of the day I think. Landrys decent but I think they could of got better for Martin or maybe work out a deal to involve a Budinger/Lowry to get involved in the deal.

This years been a step in the right direction for the Kings but its only a start. Still a long way for them to travel yet

Don't agree on Landry! He has been excellent for us so far and has given us a consistent scorer in the post. The only issue you could have with him is that he is a poor rebounder at the PF position. I am very happy with the trade for a number of reasons, one being that we are a much better balanced team with him gone. We have more energy and grit than we did with Martin and we have a better overall production from Landry than we have from Martin (including efficiency).

Agree on Donte. His improvement from the rookie season has been phenomenal. He is still a bit inconsistent but he has been very good for us this year. He has started and played for us at SG, SF and PF this year. He has great length, is a good shooter when he gets his feet set and is one of our best defenders (after Tyreke). He has been given some massive defensive assignments this year and mostly done a great job. If he can continue improving at the rate he has so far, I have no doubt he would be a borderline all-star in the league. Think Rashard Lewis with defence.

I think we are definetly moving in the right direction. We have a cornerstone player that we can build around in Tyreke. He makes others around him better (just take a look at Beno this year). We have some good young players with great potential in Greene and Casspi (was always going to struggle after all-star break because of the way he plays and the beast that is NBA schedule). Then you have Landry who is a very good, efficient low post player. Jason Thompson who is improving and is a great big off the bench and is a double double threat every night.

Then there is another good draft pick coming our way AND some serious cap space to work with (though I doubt we will use it this year). We are in a VERY VERY good position going forward. Taking into account the expected development curve of players like Tyreke, Greene, Casspi, Thompson, Hawes and the new draft pick. Solid veteran and heady play of Udrih, Garcia and Landry and the cap space to work with, I think we are a couple of moves away from being a play off team in the West.

Things are SO much easier when you have a genuine franchise player to build around.

 

[aaronm46]

Thank **** for the NBA otherwise I'd have sweet **** all to do on this 'good' friday. Backyard cricket this arvo, gonna be sick yo

 

[WALL-e]

**** I love it when we click.

Pietrus is going off.

And Dirk, I have a man crush on the Dirktus.

 

[Shaucob_Burjan]

Interesting ESPN insider article if no1 has read it:

I was asked the other day what I think of the referees this season. My answer: I hate the referees.

I was only kidding, kind of.

Lately, the refs have treated me and my teammates OK, but there was a point earlier this season when they were acting like they were bigger than the game. Joey Crawford, especially. That guy. You can't even ask him a question; he won't even look at you. Did you see what happened a few years ago when he challenged Tim Duncan, of all people, to a fight during a game? Ridiculous. The guy is a hothead, and players around the league know that whenever he refs a game there is gonna be some drama. More foul calls, more technicals, more delays. If you're watching a game and see Joey Crawford as one of the refs, expect controversy. It's a shame but it's true.

I always say that you can tell the difference between a young ref and a veteran guy. Generally speaking, players like young refs better because they don't tend to favor coaches or individual players, they just call the game as they see it. The problem is they are constantly being overruled by older refs. They'll make the right call and then an older ref will come running in and say, "Are you sure that's the right call?" Then the young guy will be like, "Well, what did you see?" They don't want to show the older guy up so they defer to him, and he's most likely biased. That's right, you'd think that the veteran referees would be more mature and balanced about their calls, but really they just carry more baggage onto the court.

Of course, the refs, young and old, are always getting worked over during the game by players and coaches. We played Charlotte earlier this season and Larry Brown completely controlled the whistle. The same thing happens with Gregg Popovich, Phil Jackson and George Karl -- they're considered the greatest coaches in the league so it's easy for them to get the refs to do their bidding. I guess it's no surprise that refs favor winners. Let's say you're a great team and you're on a fast break and someone fouls you. A ref won't call it right away, he'll let you dunk, then call the foul so you get the three-point play. But if you're on a bad team they'll call a ticky-tack foul right away. No dunk for you.

Me, I always try to chat up the younger refs during the game. I'm a pretty calm guy, so I usually start with "Excuse me, sir. Can you explain to me what just happened?" Then I'll ask him to check the call at halftime because I think he missed it. My favorite response -- and this is what they usually say -- is, "That wasn't my call. Ask him." I get that a lot. Maybe I'm not one of the refs' favorites like some guys in the league. For instance, Kevin Durant has impressed me with his ability to get a whistle at such a young age. He had 15 free throws the other night! LeBron always gets calls, obviously. Kobe gets fewer than you'd think because he travels all the time. But the guy who gets the most calls by far is Dwyane Wade, even though he carries the ball a lot and is always falling down. The refs like his personality, I guess. He never met a ref he didn't like.

Chris Paul gets away with the most talking. There have been times when I've seen him curse a ref out like, "What the f--- are you looking at you ---hole?! Learn how to call a f------ game!!" The ref will be like, "My bad, I'll get you next time." What?!! If that had been me I'd have been T'd up and thrown out. You can't curse at a ref without getting a technical or at least a stern warning. Unless you're Chris Paul, who can say whatever he wants.

 

[Dez!]

LeCrab says he "won't stop" till he brings a Championship to Cleveland

In an interview on NBA TV, LeBron James indicated that he "won't stop" until he reaches his goal of winning a title in Cleveland.

Knickerbockers better hope he does it this year if they want to be a chance to sign LeCrab.

 

[sblack]

Interesting ESPN insider article if no1 has read it:

I was asked the other day what I think of the referees this season. My answer: I hate the referees.

I was only kidding, kind of.

Lately, the refs have treated me and my teammates OK, but there was a point earlier this season when they were acting like they were bigger than the game. Joey Crawford, especially. That guy. You can't even ask him a question; he won't even look at you. Did you see what happened a few years ago when he challenged Tim Duncan, of all people, to a fight during a game? Ridiculous. The guy is a hothead, and players around the league know that whenever he refs a game there is gonna be some drama. More foul calls, more technicals, more delays. If you're watching a game and see Joey Crawford as one of the refs, expect controversy. It's a shame but it's true.

I always say that you can tell the difference between a young ref and a veteran guy. Generally speaking, players like young refs better because they don't tend to favor coaches or individual players, they just call the game as they see it. The problem is they are constantly being overruled by older refs. They'll make the right call and then an older ref will come running in and say, "Are you sure that's the right call?" Then the young guy will be like, "Well, what did you see?" They don't want to show the older guy up so they defer to him, and he's most likely biased. That's right, you'd think that the veteran referees would be more mature and balanced about their calls, but really they just carry more baggage onto the court.

Of course, the refs, young and old, are always getting worked over during the game by players and coaches. We played Charlotte earlier this season and Larry Brown completely controlled the whistle. The same thing happens with Gregg Popovich, Phil Jackson and George Karl -- they're considered the greatest coaches in the league so it's easy for them to get the refs to do their bidding. I guess it's no surprise that refs favor winners. Let's say you're a great team and you're on a fast break and someone fouls you. A ref won't call it right away, he'll let you dunk, then call the foul so you get the three-point play. But if you're on a bad team they'll call a ticky-tack foul right away. No dunk for you.

Me, I always try to chat up the younger refs during the game. I'm a pretty calm guy, so I usually start with "Excuse me, sir. Can you explain to me what just happened?" Then I'll ask him to check the call at halftime because I think he missed it. My favorite response -- and this is what they usually say -- is, "That wasn't my call. Ask him." I get that a lot. Maybe I'm not one of the refs' favorites like some guys in the league. For instance, Kevin Durant has impressed me with his ability to get a whistle at such a young age. He had 15 free throws the other night! LeBron always gets calls, obviously. Kobe gets fewer than you'd think because he travels all the time. But the guy who gets the most calls by far is Dwyane Wade, even though he carries the ball a lot and is always falling down. The refs like his personality, I guess. He never met a ref he didn't like.

Chris Paul gets away with the most talking. There have been times when I've seen him curse a ref out like, "What the f--- are you looking at you ---hole?! Learn how to call a f------ game!!" The ref will be like, "My bad, I'll get you next time." What?!! If that had been me I'd have been T'd up and thrown out. You can't curse at a ref without getting a technical or at least a stern warning. Unless you're Chris Paul, who can say whatever he wants.

Who wrote it? Melo?

 

[Shaucob_Burjan]

Doubt it considering the one who wrote it is complaining about average teams not getting calls.

ESPN article said "Player X" whoever that is, so we'll never know.

 

[-Junior-]

After watching my Bucks play the Cavs yesterday and then watching the Orlando/Mavs game today im starting to honestly feel that the Magic will beat the Cavs in the playoffs. Will be a great series but the Orlando bench impressed me no end today and just on paper i love their mix more then Clevelands. Pietrus, Reddick, Bass, Williams, Anderson and Tat are more then solid off th bench and sure the Cavs missed Shaq and AV yesterday but i think the bench is going to be where the game is won and lost. Would like to see the Magic make it to the Finals again anyway and besides it would be interestng to see how much Lebron ment his comments on NBA TV anyway.

 

[hamG]

Hawks @ Cavs tomorrow, live on ESPN. Kudos to my parents going down somewhere so I am forced to stay at their foxtel equipped house to look after the dog

Hopefully back up the Laker spanking with dropping the other big fish on their turf. We didn't do so well in the playoffs against them last season

 

[Thewlis Dish]

I think Orlando are pretty clearly the most dangerous team in the East if they get everything right, which they seem to be doing at the moment.

A lot of hit and miss guys on the team though.

 

[sblack]

Doubt it considering the one who wrote it is complaining about average teams not getting calls.

ESPN article said "Player X" whoever that is, so we'll never know.

Interesting. I didn't think Melo initially, because 'he' mentioned Karl getting the favourable calls. But he clicked because he doesn't get nearly as many calls as the other mentioned.

Now looking at it, it looks like a mid level superstar from a small market team ... ie Roy, Granger, etc

 

[peternorth]

Hi all
pn checking in from vegas.
General concensus in la ATM is not to panic with laker form. I'm a little concerned but most important for us is to get a better record than the magic.