The NBA Thread

[Babar]

Yeah this above all a great storyline about a kid that went the hardest route into the NBA, was playing in the D-League a few days ago and is now an overnight sensation with an iconic franchise. This type of story and these type of moments is why I love the NBA. J-Lin is not gonna average 25 points but if he would continue the pace of 7-8 assists per game he is a legitimate PG in the NBA. Not like the Knicks got anything going in the PG department anyway. I like his Nashian way of keeping the dribble alive, just dribbling all over the place and driving towards the rim and finding other guys or going for the layup. I wish him all the best even though I secretly want the Knicks to crash and burn because of the Melo-drama (much like they have been all season), but on the other hand I love a LOUD Madison Square Garden, especially in the Playoffs.

Have fun at the games.

[Thermofusion]

I get to see the Bobcats play a road game in Indianapolis in a week and a half, meanwhile. And the Spurs play at the Nets on Saturday. Action packed mismatch basketball!

The Bobcats are morbidly interesting because Silas is doing the desperation thing of fielding a different lineup every night, trying to find the combination that has the least potential for profound self-embarrassment. Spurs at Nets will be a much more fun game to watch, I bet.

[coldforge]

Babar, I'm curious—and this is not to be taken as an underhanded challenge to anything you've said, especially not here, because I know nothing about basketball—have you ever been to America?

[Babar]

Yeah, I've been to Florida and Minnesota. I saw Magic-Celtics when I was in Florida.

[Babar]

Hey, mo-mo. I'm watching our teams going head-to-head right now. It's been an ugly game so far but it's close. The main story-line is Pierce passing Larry Bird with second most scored points for the Celtics franchise. He's got 3 to go as of now.

[Thermofusion]

I didn't watch it, but anytime the Bobcats only lose by ten I handicap the outcome as "neutral"

Diaw 30 MIN, 4 PTS, 3 A. Man.

[dumbfish]

Not an NBA game, but half the players will be in the league eventually, so:
Fuck Duke in the ear.
Roy is a genius on the recruiting trail but a simpleton in-game.
Mostly I feel badly for Zeller, who played hard but had every possible bounce go the wrong way.

[Thermofusion]

I texted my friend last night "somewhere in Haiti right now there's a crude makeshift Tyler Zeller doll w/ pins sticking out of it".

Also as I mentioned in the booze thread I automatically went into the kitchen and opened a bottle of rum. Maybe we'll get em back at Cameron but that game last night felt omen-ish in a bad way.

[Thermofusion]

Hey dumbfish not sure if you read Deadspin but one of their guys wrote a post exalting Cook-Out

[dumbfish]

Glorious. My immediate reaction was the reflexive "Chargrill's better," but the man's point is strong: the delicious to dollar ratio at Cook Out is wonderful. For those who are wondering, the burgers are that crucial one cut better than McD/BK/Wendy's.

[Thermofusion]

Huh, I've never been to a Char-grill! Looks like they're confined to RDU save for a random location in Davidson. I'll have to try 'em next time I'm near one. As for Cookout, the burgers are definitely better than those other places, their food definitely gives you the shits, and their (awesome) milkshakes are completely impossible to drink through a straw.

[dumbfish]

Back OT: Lakers and Celts just played a great rough and tumble Old Man game. Neither team shot over 40%.
Lakers were 1-16 on threes and won. Really happy for Gasol to play strong against those guys. They punked him in that first Finals series, but he's killed them ever since.

[Ignatius]

LINSANITY! I am a believer.

[Thermofusion]

I just looked at the box score based on a friend's tweet, saw he outscored Kobe

[Ignatius]

There was a stretch near the half where he drove to halfway down the paint, got fouled on the floor but pulled up for a tough fallaway and hit it. Then he got fouled again driving to the same spot, this time on the shot which was also a made fallaway. A few possessions later, he comes down towards the middle of the lane, pulls up just under the free throw line. He's in the air, keeps his feet off the ground for a solid second with a hand right in his face before he puts up another floater. Like his heels must have been an inch from the court, and he had absolutely nothing under the shot. But he got it in, and at that point it's no longer a fluke shot, or that he's just in a rhythm - the degree of difficulty on that basket was about as high as it gets, and it's what he WANTED.

Dude is fun to watch.

I'll be seeing the Bobcats play the Pacers next weekend, Therm - give me the scouting report.

[Thermofusion]

Man that is awesome. Seems like a real humble kid, too (although granted he ain't had much of a chance to be cocky playing for the Erie Bayhawks)

Bobcats scouting report, uhh man. They're about as injury-plagued as the Knicks right now, Maggette, DJ Augustin and Gerald Henderson are all out with injuries. Kemba has flashes of brilliance and is unafraid to drive hard down the paint but he's careless, Diaw plays well when he feels like it or if the Bobcats happen to be playing Phoenix, Diop is miserable, Tyrus Thomas is miserable and fouls a lot, Biyombo makes lots of mistakes. In general, they play lukewarm defense and (at least for the time being, with arguably their three most important players injured) seem unwilling to play aggressively inside, set picks or fight for position. Really they should just cancel the game, give the Pacers an auto-win and just let Jordan and Bird play a one-on-one exhibition match.

[Thermofusion]

Also the Bulls beat them by 30 points tonight without Derrick Rose, if that tells you anything

[Ignatius]

Corey Maggette, Tyrus Thomas and DeSagana Diop! They are the Island of Misfit Toys!

[Ignatius]

The sideline reporter interviewed Lin at halftime and asked how he (man with 18 points on 7-11 shooting) wanted to run the offense, and he said he needed to get it Tyson Chandler in better spots and kick it out to his shooters, and that he was gonna watch the game film to see what was going on. The dude wanted to watch game film AT HALFTIME.

[Thermofusion]

Man I seriously hope the NBA doesn't corrupt him too much, it's really hard to find that level of earnestness anymore. But I'm seriously happy for the Knicks (probably the only NY pro team I kind of have an affinity for--hard to hate a team that suffered through five of the most horribly mismanaged years in pro sports) and I can't wait to see how that offense works once you get your injured starters back

Corey Maggette, Tyrus Thomas and DeSagana Diop! They are the Island of Misfit Toys!

Haha, it is a motley damn crew. Compare to two seasons ago when we had Gerald Wallace, Stephen Jackson, Raymond Felton, Tyson Chandler (which, speaking of, how's he looking these days?)

[Ignatius]

I ain't a Knicks fan, I'd just rather watch them than the Nets on nights the Spurs are off.

Tyson Chandler plays d pretty well on a team that does not. I figured having Amare opposite him at PF would bring him back to that 2008 NO season when him and David West tore shit up, but I guess you need Chris Paul for that.

That said, he's running the pick and roll ok with Jeremy Lin. Right now the roll part only works if Jeremy Lin basically gets to the block before Chandler and lobs it from five feet. But if they get their timing/spacing down it could be pretty effective.

[Ignatius]

Also Amare is not half the offensive rebounder David West was (or is). I like how the Pacers are like a daughter cell of that Hornets squad. Darren Collison as junior CP3, David West, Hibbert as Tyson Chandler-, Danny Granger as Peja+... Who played 2 guard for that team?

[Ignatius]

Sorry to remind you of the most successful Charlotte team since the 90s, thermo.

[Thermofusion]

It's OK! I'm not really all-in as a Bobcats fan, I still see them mostly as David Stern's bizarre consolation prize for what happened with the Hornets (their downfall and move really, really broke my heart)

[Ignatius]

Ohh, nah, SJAX is cool and all, but I meant that the 07-08 Hornets were the most 'successful' Charlotte team.