Nba 2016-2017 Season! Let's Get It On!

[Cap™]

also, the Hornets are buzzing again (no pun intended). I think Nic Batum would be an All-Star in a soft Eastern Conference if he continues to post these numbers

[Eddy Syet]

HOT and COLD

 

Hottest teams as of this writing:

 

 

Golden State Warriors - 11 game win streak, 10-0 in last 10 games, current standing 11-0

San Antonio Spurs - 5 game win streak, 8-2 in last 10 games, current standing 8-2

Cleveland Cavaliers - 8 game win streak was snapped last game in a loss to the Bucks, 8-2 last 10 games, current standing 8-2

 

_____________________________________

 

Coldest teams as of this writing:

 

 

Philadelphia 76'ers - 11 game losing streak, 0-10 in last 10 games, current standing 0-11

New Orleans Pelicans - 3 game losing streak, 1-9 in last 10 games, current standing 1-9

Brooklyn Nets - 2 game losing streak, 1-9 in last 10 games, current standing 1-9

[Guiness]

No more late game heroics needed for this game at home against the Hornets as the Knicks win 102-94. Although i didn't particularly like the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter where the Knicks almost blew an 11 point lead by going scoreless until the Porzingis free throws to keep the Hornets at bay. The bright spot was Porzingis going for a career high in his rookie season with 29 points and 11 rebounds.

 

 

[Eddy Syet]

Houston Rockets fired Kevin McHale. Assistant coach JB Bickerstaff will take over as interim head coach.

 

Wow. This came in with only 11 games and a 4-7 start into the new season after a WCF finish last year.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--rockets-part-ways-with-coach-kevin-mchale-153032900.html

[Cap™]

well, think about it: they CAN hire Thibs if they want to

[Eddy Syet]

well, think about it: they CAN hire Thibs if they want to

 

Word is that they are looking at hiring John Calipari. Or Bickerstaff might get the job full time.

 

Thibodeau? Harden might now like that. Guy preaches defense!

[Guiness]

Houston Rockets fired Kevin McHale. Assistant coach JB Bickerstaff will take over as interim head coach.

 

Wow. This came in with only 11 games and a 4-7 start into the new season after a WCF finish last year.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--rockets-part-ways-with-coach-kevin-mchale-153032900.html

 

 

This is a case of "what have you done for me lately". it doesn't matter if they reached the WCF last year. Watching them, they were totally outclassed in that series against the Warriors. It's how they finished that series. Being soundly beaten in that series even having a very talented roster and having a lackluster start of the season with that kind of a win-loss record doesn't look good and more often than not, the coach will always get the blame.

[Cap™]

 

Word is that they are looking at hiring John Calipari. Or Bickerstaff might get the job full time.

 

Thibodeau? Harden might now like that. Guy preaches defense!

 

also heard that Mike D'Antoni MAY also be considered. Then again, that's another Dwightmare lolololol

 

in other news, Memphis is on a tear after that Chalmers trade. wow

[Guiness]

Dwightmare 3.0 Hits Houston

 

The word in Houston is that Kevin McHale “lost the locker room.” The real problem was what he found there.

Dwight Howard and James Harden, who are to coaches what Batman and Robin were to crime in Gotham City.

It’s not that they were arch-enemies of McHale. They’d just stopped doing things McHale recommended, like play defense, hustle and generally care about the team more than themselves.

At least Harden has an excuse. He’s gone Hollywood and hooked up with Khloe Kardashian.

If history has taught us anything, it’s that NBA players and Kardashians don’t mix. We can only hope Harden doesn’t end up like Lamar Odom.

 

Of more interest around here is our old friend Howard. Orlando was the first NBA outpost to see how high maintenance and egocentric Howard can be.

The Lakers were next, and now Houston is in the early stages of Dwigtmare 3.0. When you build your franchise around Howard, you’re asking for the general manager to eventually hold a press conference and say stuff like this:

“We’re just trying to win. You have to have stars to win the in the NBA. We need everyone to respond. It’s not about stars. The team was not responding.”

 

So said Houston’s Daryl Morey Wednesday as he announced McHale’s axing. He was right about one thing – the team was not responding.

 

He was wrong about another – the NBA is all about the stars.

And if the stars aren’t responding, it doesn’t matter if the coach is a combination of Pat Riley, Phil Jackson and James Naismith. He must go.

 

McHale led the Rockets to the Western Conference Finals last year. It was the best run for the Rockets in 17 years, and they rewarded McHale with a three-year, $12 million contract extension.

Then, 11 games into a new season, he’s Red Klotz.

 

What happened?

The Rockets decided they didn’t need to play defense, an aspect of the game that requires effort, interest and selflessness. Morey’s is Mr. Analytics and has put together a roster that statistically could win the NBA title.

What all that bloodless number-crunching can’t measure is a player’s attitude. Howard’s body is starting to creak like a geriatric but he retains the emotional maturity of a third grader. And in the NBA, adolescents don’t have to listen to their teachers.

“We’ve had more team meeting the past six weeks than in my previous four years here,” McHale said shortly before his firing.

Ty Lawson told the Houston Chronicle that players were blowing off the coaching staff’s instructions. The stars always set that tone, and you know what Howard was thinking.

 

He’s Dwight. It doesn’t matter that McHale is a Hall-of-Fame player, proven coach and highly respected throughout the league.

Dwight’s gonna do what Dwight wants to do, which apparently didn’t include following McHale’s orders.

“Coaches say, ‘Run this pick-and-roll coverage.’ We were calling something totally different,” Lawson said. “No matter what the coaches say, we need to do. We need to be on the same page.”

Not when Harden is more interested in being on the pages of US Weekly and Howard still patterns his life after cartoon figures. Now that the Rockets have run McHale off, they’ll probably buckle down and play up to their potential.

But the true character of a team wins out. When your primary character is Howard, it’s not just the locker room that goes missing.

The whole franchise eventually gets lost.

 

 

 

 

- i didn't know that khloe was dating James Harden. now i'm thinking, i hope his life doesn't get ruined like Lamar Odom. And as for Dwight. It's a good thing he decided to sign with the Rockets because the Lakers wouldn't and shouldn't have pined for this guy to re-sign with the team. Dwight proved he is too much of a diva to even listen to his coach who only want him to get better. Clearly he has a different take on what it takes to be a great player. That is why he won't win a championship and shouldn't even be picked or considered for a Hall of Fame ballot because he is a fake. I feel sorry for what happened to Kevin Mchale and how his "star" players are acting.

[Cap™]

i didn't know that khloe was dating James Harden. now i'm thinking, i hope his life doesn't get ruined like Lamar Odom. And as for Dwight. It's a good thing he decided to sign with the Rockets because the Lakers wouldn't and shouldn't have pined for this guy to re-sign with the team. Dwight proved he is too much of a diva to even listen to his coach who only want him to get better. Clearly he has a different take on what it takes to be a great player. That is why he won't win a championship and shouldn't even be picked or considered for a Hall of Fame ballot because he is a fake. I feel sorry for what happened to Kevin Mchale and how his "star" players are acting.

 

Khloe and Harden are done since she's back with Odom (given the current scoop that these Kardashian famewhores are getting). Dwight's lost his allure ever since he got hurt last year. This is Harden's team and they're just waiting for a better player to play with Harden when Dwight's contract runs dry (which is waaaaaaaaaay too long)

[Guiness]

 

Khloe and Harden are done since she's back with Odom (given the current scoop that these Kardashian famewhores are getting). Dwight's lost his allure ever since he got hurt last year. This is Harden's team and they're just waiting for a better player to play with Harden when Dwight's contract runs dry (which is waaaaaaaaaay too long)

 

Good thinking on the part of Harden as he might've ended up like Lamar in the hospital.

 

Dwight being cast as an overrated player is true. He is showing his true colors now from all the altercations in Orlando to L.A. and now to Houston. I've always thought that he was a fake. Smiling and playing to the cameras even when he was playing for the Magic. I thought to myself, this guys isn't serious and he lacks the focus and motivation to win. Fast forward to now, he is still the same player. I'm not saying that he's a bum or a scrub, but he doesn't want to make sacrifices and the needed work ethic to become a great player. Such a waste of talent.

 

When the coach tells you that you need to play defense, you should play defense and give 100% effort, not tune him out like he's some heckler in the stands shouting nonsense at you. That's total diss on his part to Kevin Mchale.

 

It's a good thing he didn't stay with the Lakers or they will have this problem with this guy. He should be given an award for "Highway robbery of the decade" with that contract he signed for the rockets because he got a guaranteed contract and he can just basically choose not to play and still get paid.

 

Wonder if Morey is thinking about if getting Howard was a good idea.

Edited November 19, 2015 by hahnz

[Cap™]

Wonder if Morey is thinking about if getting Howard was a good idea.

 

I'd say that Dwight WAS a good player. A complimentary player at that. He couldn't do things by his lonesome or as the main attraction. And he did Orlando a favor by building that youth-savvy lineup right now

[Guiness]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14170326/cleveland-cavaliers-star-lebron-james-says-team-needs-play-better

 

 

This story was fun to read. After losing to Milwaukee and Detroit. Lebron rips his teammates by saying that they need to have more urgency and show more effort. Nothing against Milwaukee and Detroit but Lebron is right to say so, they are the more talented team even without Kyrie Irving and they should show more effort and not get outhustled by these teams.

 

You can be the more talented team but you shouldn't play to the level of the team you are playing. He also points out that the Warriors are showing more hunger than they are and is saying that his team should be as hungry as they are if not more since they lost and have the pressure of winning it this year.

 

Right now they are at home playing the Bucks again. So it will be interesting to see if the Cavs respond to Lebron's challenge to help out

Edited November 20, 2015 by hahnz

[Cap™]

well, Eddy wouldn't take that comment you had over Milwaukee being less talented than Cleveland without Kyrie. Moose, MCW, Middleton, Jabari, and the Greek Freak form an awesome lineup. Detroit's about Drummond being Motown Dwight Howard under SVG. But yeah, outside of LeBron and Kevin Love (who's reaaaaaaaally inconsistent), I don't see TT lifting them up. JR Smith is a paradox. Cleveland is top-heavy but not really as talented as, let's say, Chicago or Miami in the East.

[Guiness]

well, Eddy wouldn't take that comment you had over Milwaukee being less talented than Cleveland without Kyrie. Moose, MCW, Middleton, Jabari, and the Greek Freak form an awesome lineup. Detroit's about Drummond being Motown Dwight Howard under SVG. But yeah, outside of LeBron and Kevin Love (who's reaaaaaaaally inconsistent), I don't see TT lifting them up. JR Smith is a paradox. Cleveland is top-heavy but not really as talented as, let's say, Chicago or Miami in the East.

 

Well he won't like them more since the Cavs just ran over them today 115-100. Looks like Lebron's challenge was answered as they were more aggresive in the game. As far as Thompson is concerned i think he is doing exactly as he's expected, play some D get rebounds and make hustle plays. You're right about Kevin Love, you don't really know what to expect from him as he plays inconsistently each night. Some nights he's clicking, some nights you're scratching your head. The Bucks are a pretty talented team, they kind of remind me of the Bulls in the pre Derrick Rose years with Ben Gordon and Luol Deng carrying them. But they are too raw to me. They don't have the experience that the Cavs have. That's one of their advantages over them, besides Lebron is the Best player on the planet. People will hate because he is that good. I hate him too but I've come to respect his game, same with Kobe, i used to hate him because he was brash and co.cky. But i've also come to respect his game. Having the best player on the planet with a good mix of veterans and all-stars makes them favorites in the east.

 

I'm on the fence when it comes to the Bulls as I'm not 100% sure about Derrick Rose's health. But yes they are one of the favorites after Cleveland. Miami is also another case with Dwayne Wade and his "old man" knees. Don't know if those are gonna hold up. I like Whiteside.