Might as well start a daily game thread.

I'd love to see the Lakers pull the upset. Pau is gonna have a great year.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Same old Clippers. I'm inclined to think they're not legitimate contenders still.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Who's still here? Lets talk some hoops. I'm getting sick of reading all that other bullshit.

I was just thinking yesterday that the East has three teams for sure that are capable of winning the NBA Finals this year(Miami, Chicago, Indiana), and probably a 4th(Brooklyn). After that the quality falls off quite a bit, but at the top the West isn't better than the East anymore. Obviously they are still way deeper. I can't remember the last time I considered the number of contenders on both sides equal, but it seems to be the case this year. If say about 3-4 teams in each conference have a legit shot right now.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I'm probably basketball stupid but I plan on following Houston this season.

Also Minnesota.

_________________
Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Ummmm. I hope the Heat dont three peat.


That's all I got. In the Fantasy Basketball league I dont think I recognized 95% of my team.

_________________

Yeah I would say the following teams have a shot at winning the title this year if things break totally right for them: Heat, Bulls, Pacers, Nets, Spurs, Thunder, (probably the Rockets and Clippers). Either way it should be a fun NBA season. Loved watching the Lakers bench light up lob city last night. It is amazing how much more enjoyable the Lakers are without Kobe and Dwight.

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I agree with both of you, except on the Pacers and Nets. I don't think the Pacers have enough to trade shots with the Thunder and Spurs. The Nets are confusing with Kidd as HC and them having to figure out how to distribute shots between Lopez, Pierce, Williams, and Johnson.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Don't worry. That's more or less what I just wrote too.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I have some serious concerns about the Nets. Less so about the Pacers I am pretty sure Paul George is the goods and they have enough assets to make a trade to get some extra shooting on that roster. I think the Scola move was underrated for them.

_________________

gotta say, although it's the wrong section, that I watched last night's Orl/INdy matchup on my Apple TV and the video quality was excellent.

_________________
Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

I'm not really worried about Kidd as HC or about Brooklyn. I think Miami, Indy, Brooklyn, and Chicago are all potential 60 win teams.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I am more worried about Brooklyn from a getting old all at once and breaking down perspective. I think Kidd will probably be OK. It will be interesting to see Garnett and Pierce interact with Deron Williams once he starts making questionable Deron Williams plays.

Rondo > Deron

_________________

That's an awful lot of confidence in Kidd being able to direct that team to 60. Of course it helps that there are so many bad teams out there in both conferences.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

There is NOTHING enjoyable about watching Jordan Farmar and Nick Young.

_________________

If you can't get a hearty laugh out of Nick Young's shot selection then I don't know what to tell you. The Nick Young Lakers experience is only not enjoyable if you are a Lakers fan.

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well, I'd like to disagree with that but it's up to Deron to prove he's better.

I can't see Pierce lasting the season.

_________________
Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

I think Kidd will use KG and Pierce wisely. I think they'll be good to go come April.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Over/under on games played by Jason Kidd: 0.5

I say over. It's gonna happen!

_________________

I started a thread about hating Rondo awhile ago. I think the dude is overrated. No J whatsoever, and the presence of KG, Pierce and Allen opened up penetration lanes for him to exploit all game long. I also have meatballish reasons (tripping Hinrich during the playoffs I think, which started a fight between the two - that was wrong), but I'd be happy just submitting my more objective reasons and be confident with that.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Rick has made that say argument before. We'll find out if you guys are correct shortly. I think Rondo's going to be great when he gets back. He's the only guy in the league besides LeBron capable of putting up a 17-17-17 stat line in a game.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I think Rondo is a punk ass like Dwayne Wade, but I also think he is a very talented punk ass

_________________

Sure, once in awhile he'll put up a crazy line like that, but in terms of best PGs or whatever, I don't see how he ranks any higher than something like eight. The lack of an offensive game makes him a sort of high-middle class PG, IMO. Assuming good health, I'd take the following over him if I were starting a team:

Rose
Paul
Williams
Westbrook
Wall
Parker (the only concern here is age)
K. Walker
Lillard

I may be missing some.

EDIT: Kyrie Irving

Possibly J. Holiday?

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Can you explain this one? I didn't get to see any of the game. I expected Doc to take a couple months to coach up a little backbone into them and by January they will be very good. But I didn't see it.

Are you serious with Kemba Walker?

I'd rather have him than Williams, Wall, Walker, and Lillard(new Damon Stoudamire) from that list.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

And your list is missing Kyrie

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I am agreeing with FarveFan....what the hell is going on. City of Fools even chimed in with some not terrible NBA thoughts.

_________________

I'm intrigued with Walker, though I may be too stat-centric here. I edited my post to include K. Irving.

Over Wall? Are you not buying into the hype that says, should he get his head straight, he could be a 10 time + all star, All NBA, etc., type of guy?

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

I don't know how you could hate Rondo's shot and not have the same concerns about Wall

_________________

I admittedly don't watch a lot of Wizards ball, but I think Wall is simply the better scorer of the two, and that he likely has more of an upside than Rondo does when it comes to refining his J (like Rose). On the other hand, I'd agree that Rondo is the superior table-setter and defender of the two at this point.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

I argued with Rick over the course of the past 3-4 years that John Wall was better than Evan Turner and going to be a good player. I still think he is a good player. He's not a great player. Rondo is.

John Wall looks for his shot more. He might be a naturally better scorer, but not by a significant margin. They both have similar strengths(driving, finishing) and weaknesses(shooting) when it comes to scoring. Rondo is just more self-aware and efficient. And he's the best natural passer in the NBA right now. The last couple of years it is just as likely that he was propping up KG, Pierce, etc. as it was vice versa. And comparing them defensively isn't even fair.

Rondo is a much better player right now. He's already at the point that you hope Wall might one day get to(the talented headcase who got his head on straight and realized his potential). It's the reason why he already is an All NBA player and and 4x All Star and John Wall is still 10 All star games and an All NBA team nomination away from being a "10 time + all star, All NBA, etc., type of guy"

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul