One thing that looks like I'm wrong about is demarcus cousins.

He sucked sac in the preseason which is a bit surprising but he's so young he should still develop into a solid big man. Probably at least a year away though which when you combine dalemberts injury and a tougher western conf the kings might struggle out of the gate.

Favors has been total garbage and evan turner has been such a poor shooter that its distracting from the things he's doing well.

Blake griffin on the other hand might be an all star this season if he can stay healthy. What a freaking beast he has been.

10/26/2010 8:18:13 AM

One thing that did impress me about the heat is that they played like TOTAL garbage. Couldn't hit shots and turned it over constantly.

And they still almost beat one of the top teams in the league on the road.

They definitely didn't look ready to win 70 but once they get rolling they should be fun to watch.

10/27/2010 1:07:11 AM

I knew people would overreact to that loss (or maybe just non-basketball people...experts aren't putting too much stock in it). Wade and Bosh played like shit and although James played well, he didn't exactly take the game over (3rd quarter exception) and had a shit-ton of turnovers. They'll be fine. They would have beat 80% of the teams in the NBA on a horrible night like this.

Ray Allen is still one of my favorite players to watch when he's knocking down shots. It's a beautiful thing to see.

10/27/2010 8:44:50 AM

Pretty amazing that the Heat were able to nearly pull that game out last night. I wish I could shoot like Ray Allen. That dagger 3 to put the Celtics up by 6 was crazy, he had about 1 sec to catch, set, shoot and hit it while fading to his left.

10/27/2010 8:55:38 AM

Quote :

"They would have beat 80% of the teams in the NBA on a horrible night like this."

Agree to disagree, they played like shit, but one game in the NBA is = to 1 quarter in the NFL, so no need for anyone to shit their pants yet.

I still think Boston, Miami, and Orlando will finish 8-10 wins clear of anyone else in the conference.

10/27/2010 8:58:20 AM

Portland looks like they can contend for the #1 seed out west they did well without oden or pryz in the lineup.

The suns got dominated on the glass there is a good chance they are the worst rebounding team ever assembled. I think they may struggle to make the playoffs.

Shannon brown looked like the terminator last night. 16 pts on 9 shots and 4 steals?! If he plays like that the lakers can still win 55-60 even if bynum can't go and kobe takes the regular season off again this year. (He picked up right where he left off shooting 40% last night)

10/27/2010 9:38:10 AM

another season of rally bashing on Kobe while he piles up another ring...cant wait

10/27/2010 9:46:24 AM

Quote :

"I still think Boston, Miami, and Orlando will finish 8-10 wins clear of anyone else in the conference."

Easy there fella, don't go out on a limb or anything....

10/27/2010 10:08:27 AM

You mean another season of kobe realism while he rides the lakers loaded lineup to a possible ring?

Why aren't the fans chanting MVP when Pau goes to the line? I wish hed get hurt in the playoffs so kobe would get exposed again.

10/27/2010 2:06:53 PM

10/27/2010 2:17:17 PM

Why are we talking about a has been like kobe, did you see shannon brown?! Bobcats let him go for radmanovic OUCH

10/27/2010 2:39:03 PM

why are we talking about a has been like mike miller

miller, who like kobe, only ever looked good because of gasol

10/27/2010 2:47:40 PM

Lakers dont win that ring last year without Shannon Brown

10/27/2010 2:52:34 PM

or Phil Jackson, or Kobe, or Gasol, etc etc

its a team sport

which is one reason Miami lost last night, because so far, they're not a team, they're a collection of individuals

10/27/2010 2:56:25 PM

I still say they would have lost to a dozen teams with the way they played last night

10/27/2010 2:59:04 PM

^^^ sarcasm

10/27/2010 3:02:02 PM

might have been sarcasm, but my point is still true, which is why I'm not at all sold on Miami being the hands down favorite in the East

yet

also Boston was playing without their starting center

10/27/2010 3:04:34 PM

they showed me they have some glaring weaknesses. when old ass Shaq dominates your starting center out of the gate and you have Bronson Arroyo/Mario Chalmers that will be going up against guys like Rondo, Jameer Nelson, and Fisher/Blake it doesnt bode well

10/27/2010 3:38:19 PM

^ Bronson Arroyo huh? Dude can throw a wicked full court pass.

10/27/2010 3:52:19 PM

Yeah I've said all along the heat fucked up by not taking dampier or ben wallace who are both productive and cheap.

Haslem is good value but really they need more size than he provides.

10/27/2010 4:32:54 PM

Heat will pick up a Big Man sometime soon...they can't afford to go all season without one. Not sure how the trade will go down, but something will have to happen.


III

10/27/2010 5:28:51 PM

well I see the lakers have started right back where they left off last yr, kobe shoots like shit but somehow enough things go their way in the end to win the game, everytime i watch these guys some random player on their team plays out of his mind and hits a bunch of 3s

10/27/2010 5:37:46 PM

Quote :

"Heat will pick up a Big Man sometime soon...they can't afford to go all season without one. Not sure how the trade will go down, but something will have to happen. "

Bet Mutombo will do it.

10/28/2010 6:01:32 PM

He is shooting like Russell Wilson is passing. 3/13 for 6 points so far

10/28/2010 9:45:55 PM

yeah Wall looks awesome guys 6-19 FG?!

That Wizards under is the stupidest bet Ive ever had the opportunity to take. I considered taking out a 401k loan but i couldnt find anyone to take a $10k bet on it anyway

I don't know if anyone noticed but every single team i have an over bet on has won and every single under has lost so far.

I'm 9-0 and Phx is up 16 right now on Utah to potentially send me to 10-0. (not sure if i got this in on page 1 but i have the Utah under 48.5 for just $50 now)

10-0??!!? That would be incredible.

10/28/2010 11:56:40 PM

Hey look other people are starting to take notice. My knutesac is going to get awfully crowded.

Quote :

"Rookie point guard and No. 1 draft pick John Wall is one of the quickest players in the league. And he's used such quickness to blow by defenders and get easy looks at the rim. But like those before him -- Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings -- his shooting skills as a rookie leave a little to be desired. As such, in their convincing win over the Wizards on Thursday night, the Magic dared Wall to shoot. And he played right into their hands. "Since the Magic knew that it couldn't keep up with the 20-year-old lightening bolt, [Magic coach Stan] Van Gundy decided to have point guard Jameer Nelson step back as far as he could, giving Wall as much room as he wanted for jumpers," wrote Michael Lee of the Washington Post. "Of Wall's 13 misses, eight came from 17 feet or beyond." "He was wide open. It's not like he took bad shots," coach Flip Saunders said, according to the paper. Wall is a phenomenal talent and will likely be in the hunt for rookie of the year. But if teams bait him into taking jumpers, it may be a decent strategy in which to try and keep him in check this season."

10/29/2010 5:06:43 PM

How is no one posting about the Miami blowout of Orlando last night?

They'd only have to go 71-8 from here on out to beat the record.

Miami's offense has been underwhelming but Orlando has been one of the better offensive teams in the league and they got absolutely smothered last night by Miami's defense.

10/30/2010 11:58:26 AM

^you can't be serious

10/30/2010 12:51:20 PM

10/30/2010 12:56:34 PM

Quote :

"now that John Wall has confirmed he isn't ready for the NBA"

2nd career NBA game statline: 28 pts, 9/17 FG, 2/3 3pt, 8/10 FT, 5 reb, 9 asst, 3 TO

10/30/2010 9:32:01 PM

I saw the highlights just now. God, he is quick. Won't shoot like that very often though. He even made 2/3 from three.

LOL, why is Shelden Williams starting over Al Harrington and getting 33 minutes for the Nuggets? Guy played about the worst three minutes of playoff basketball I've ever seen last year for the Celtics.

[Edited on October 31, 2010 at 10:24 AM. Reason : he's doing a decent job not turning the ball over through two games too.]

10/31/2010 10:22:41 AM

^ believe it or not shelden has been pretty solid so far 12.3 rebs in 28 minutes per game.

John Wall had a big game last night there's no denying that. Not to take away from his performance but it was against Atlanta's backcourt who can't guard anyone (Bibby is particularly awful).

That was a breakout game for him, yet they still lost to a marginal Hawks team playing the 2nd night of a back to back.

He's still shooting 41.7% on the season, and I don't expect it to get much better than that.

I went 5-1 last night with my only loss being between two teams that were playing each other. I'm 18-3 right now and two of those losses were guaranteed so I'm really 16-1, unbelievable. Now, that is impressive.

10/31/2010 11:05:16 AM

Can you guys drop the whole "trolling" thing? I cant help if you are so uninformed that everytime I make a statement that you guys don't know enough about basketball to agree with you think that I'm trolling...

Anyway, the Heat just keep on rolling people.

They still aren't playing anywhere near their potential on offense but they managed to shoot 54% with only 8 turnovers and got to the line 34 times. That's their best offensive outing to date.

Their defensive effort was again just stifling. They already look like the best defensive team in the league by a fairly wide margin and that's without a legit defensive center. If they could just find a way to add any help in the post they could be unbelievable.

They'd only have to go 70-8 from here so the record certainly isn't off the radar yet.

10/31/2010 4:47:08 PM

can't believe the Heat beat the Nets, talk about upset central, lets go ahead and crown em

10/31/2010 8:20:27 PM

Again, no one is handing them the title. We're saying the 72-10 record isn't totally out of play yet even though the Miller injury is going to make that really difficult to achieve.

I'm not sure they'll get their offense on track fast enough to do it but if their defense keeps eating everyone like this they might not even have to... that's just scary...


New Orleans on the road Friday is a minor test and then Thurs Nov. 11 we'll see how far they've come when they get Boston at home.

Utah, NJ, and Minnesota in between should all just be tune up games but I guess you never know for sure

10/31/2010 8:43:51 PM

Quote :

"They'd only have to go 70-8 from here so the record certainly isn't off the radar yet."

10/31/2010 8:53:58 PM

Quote :

"I went 5-1 last night with my only loss being between two teams that were playing each other. I'm 18-3 right now and two of those losses were guaranteed so I'm really 16-1, unbelievable. Now, that is impressive."

you better not be lying

10/31/2010 9:15:19 PM

the bets are posted on page 1 with the exception of the jazz who i posted on page 2. this is season total over/unders.

I'm 0-2 tonight as the Jazz pulled off an upset win and the warriors without Steph Curry are of course getting murdered by the Lakers.

All of them are looking pretty damn good so far except the Pacers who are 2-1 and i have the under.I definitely underestimated the impact Roy Hibbert would have this year, the Pacers might be the early favorite for the #8 seed in the East. If I lose that one and sweep the rest ill take the ~$2700 no questions asked haha

[Edited on October 31, 2010 at 10:15 PM. Reason : add]

10/31/2010 10:12:17 PM

Ouch. 4-16 from Blake Griffin today on top of getting torched defensively.

10/31/2010 10:17:21 PM

The elephant in the room right now is Kevin Durant. Is he just tired from FIBA? Has the stardom gone to his head? What the hell is going on why can't he make a fucking shot this year?

I thought OKC was overrated when everyone was predicting them to win 50+ and especially when a few thought they could challenge the Lakers in the West...

But if Durant really has regressed then they aren't even a guaranteed playoff team.

I think he'll re-gain form but it's certainly surprising to see how bad he's been so far and then you take into account his struggles against the Lakers in the playoffs have teams figured him out a little bit?



^ Yeah Griffin had a bad game but he still looks like a beast so far. That Clippers team is just miserable though, they could challenge for worst record in the West if Minnesota cuts back on turnovers and figures out how to score at all (they are an awesome rebounding team). Bill Simmons is a total homer sometimes he said they were probably a playoff team haha...

10/31/2010 10:49:01 PM

The elephant in the room right now is Kevin Durant. Is he just tired from FIBA? Has the stardom gone to his head? What the hell is going on why can't he make a fucking shot this year?

I thought OKC was overrated when everyone was predicting them to win 50+ and especially when a few thought they could challenge the Lakers in the West...

But if Durant really has regressed then they aren't even a guaranteed playoff team.

I think he'll re-gain form but it's certainly surprising to see how bad he's been so far and then you take into account his struggles against the Lakers in the playoffs have teams figured him out a little bit?

He is averaging an incredible amount of FT's per game though, so thats probably affecting his numbers a little if he's trying to create contact.

edit: I just noticed he did go 5-6 in the 2nd half, but he was 3-13 in the first half and the game was out of reach by halftime.


^ Yeah Griffin had a bad game but he still looks like a beast so far. That Clippers team is just miserable though, they could challenge for worst record in the West if Minnesota cuts back on turnovers and figures out how to score at all (they are an awesome rebounding team). Bill Simmons is a total homer sometimes he said they were probably a playoff team haha...

10/31/2010 10:53:59 PM

Even though I know face wants someone to respond to this and that I shouldn't, I don't care because I am bored at work.

Quote :

"Has the stardom gone to his head?"

Have you ever read a story on the kid? He is one of the most humble professional athletes out there.

Quote :

"but it's certainly surprising to see how bad he's been so far"

Besides his FG%, how else has he been bad?

Quote :

"I thought OKC was overrated"

How can you possibly believe OKC is overrated?

11/1/2010 12:58:06 PM

Serge Ibaka is going to make a big difference for OKC this year. He could easily be one of the top 5 defensive big men by season's end.

I think Westbrook and Green and more vital to their season than Durant. He could get slightly better or slightly worse and he's going to be a stud regardless. If Westbrook can improve his jumpshot and decision making, and Green can continue to play the Pippen role, this team is right up there with Dallas and Utah out West.

And it's been 3 games...nothing of value can be taken from a player's performance until mid November at the earliest.

11/1/2010 1:49:09 PM

Agreed Ibaka is a machine out there but Jeff Green? He's gone from horrible his rookie year to a below average starter but he's not going to get that good he's already 24. The guy just doesn't have it.

OKC is overrated because everyone is projecting them to win 50+ and thinks they are the Lakers stiffest competition in the West when Portland is the real threat out West if they can get to the postseason healthy for once. They are the team with the frontcourt that can actually challenge the Lakers and they have trading chips to try to land someone midseason.

Durant so far is .388 FG, 6.4 reb, 1.7 ast, and 4.3 TO
vs last season .476 FG, 7.6 reb, 2.8 ast, and 3.3 TO

That's a pretty significant drop off and his offense really struggled in the playoffs too. It just seems odd that those poor offensive numbers are book ending such an incredible FIBA performance.

11/1/2010 10:09:19 PM

I totally forgot about portland this yr after all their injury problems, I still think they should have traded oden for chris paul but i still hope oden develops

11/1/2010 11:05:56 PM

they've been trying to get Chris Paul for awhile now Miller doesn't really fit for them. They really need either Pryz or Oden to come back because they are getting nothing from Oberto and Camby can't go a ton of minutes at his age.

11/1/2010 11:16:16 PM

Holy crap Tyreke Evans is just unbelievable on the fast break. The Kings are a sleeper to challenge for the #8 seed.

Demarcus Cousins isn't quite "good" yet but he looks really talented for a 19 year old. He looks like he'll be a terrific rebounder and low post scorer for the next decade.

The Dalembert for Hawes trade got zero attention but really its the sole reason I took the Kings over and the Philly under. You just can't switch a good big man for a terrible one and not expect the teams to go in totally opposite directions. Dalembert is still playing himself into shape after his injury but 14 rebounds in 22 minutes is absolutely sick.

The Clippers look putrid, they are definitely in the running for worst team in the league not named the Wizards.

[Edited on November 2, 2010 at 12:47 AM. Reason : clips]

11/2/2010 12:44:21 AM

Quote :

"OKC is overrated because everyone is projecting them to win 50+"

Besides your opinion, why do you think that OKC is overrated? It can't just be "because everyone is projecting them to win 50+"

11/2/2010 10:10:16 AM

how did Wall do tonight? i didn't see...

Quote :

"John Wall has confirmed he isn't ready for the NBA"

Quote :

"hey fellas it's rally. alright enough already its been over a week. basketball season is getting ready to start and you guys are going to need someone around here to explain what's happening out there."

Quote :

"9 steals"

11/2/2010 10:44:56 PM

29 points, 13 assists and 9 steals on >50% shooting again? Color me unimpressed. Nene is far more valuable to his team.

(I kid, sort of)

11/2/2010 10:53:48 PM