Official NBA thread

[italstallianion]

I wonder if Ainge had stock or some kind of ownership with some of the other Eastern Conference teams. Either that or he's bored.

[SoxSport]

Bob Ryan pointed out the Celtics got the best player of the four in the deal--Green--who was the no.5 overall pick Ainge traded for Ray Allen. Ainge still likes him, obviously. He has been in Durant's shadow in OKC, and figures to have some upside. He makes them stronger offensively up front, but they still have to replace Perkins' defense and rebounding. Hopefully, Danny still has some cards left to play. He has cleared plenty of roster space, so something has to be up.

[bsox0407]

Bob Ryan pointed out the Celtics got the best player of the four in the deal--Green--who was the no.5 overall pick Ainge traded for Ray Allen. Ainge still likes him' date=' obviously. He has been in Durant's shadow in OKC, and figures to have some upside. He makes them stronger offensively up front, but they still have to replace Perkins' defense and rebounding. Hopefully, Danny still has some cards left to play. He has cleared plenty of roster space, so something has to be up.[/quote']

 

They only have two spots left now after they signed a guy from the D-League. They Traded Daniels away as well today for a pick. Which is not bad considering that he is out for the season.

[yankees228]

A few interesting quotes from Doc explaining the rationale behind the move.

 

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/211447/Doc_Trading_For_Green_Gives_Boston_Lineup_Similar_To_2008_Title_Team

[Emmz]

Makes a little more sense when you think of it like that, but as they were before, they were probably the most complete team in the NBA. I guess we really just have to hope Shaq can play well for us. Maybe even in the days where he was with the Heat, yeah, but now, Shaq's not even half the force he once was.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Should be a good day at school today. My nuggets were able to do what the Heat can't do and that's beat the Celtics. Plus they lost. Lets see them run their mouth now.

[Palodios]

If they face Howard or Noah in the playoffs, they're in trouble without a reliable center. And if Bynum is healthy, NWIH they beat the Lakers.

[Emmz]

You're seriously overdoing it. This isn't the sky falling, or anything close. The Lakers beat you with Kobe Bryant, not Bynum.

[Palodios]

Kobe's going to get his 40 points no matter what happens. Bynum is one of the most underrated players because of his significant injuries, but every time I've seen him play, he's looked very much like a top 5 center with huge shotblocking ability. For the 2010 Finals, I kept saying, center is a key position, and when Bynum stayed healthy and Perkins busted his knee, the Celtics just couldn't close.

[italstallianion]

If Bynum is healthy and playing well, combined with Kobe, Pau, Odom, Artest etc (and Phil Jackson), I don't think that an Eastern Conference All Star Team would win a 7 game series.

[Emmz]

Dude, you're seriously overestimating the significance of the center vs. center matchup. The reason this deal is so bad is not because we're going to get killed by opposing centers, but because Perkins is exceptional on defense, and he completed this team. While I think it was a stupid move, I think you're down on it for the wrong reason. I don't think that losing him changes much on how the opposing centers play, considering that the position is not generally there to score points. Also, even in this day, I think you're underestimating Shaq, I wouldn't be surprised to see him get it done. He's lost several steps, I can't deny that, but he's big, and he's powerful. I think I'd see how he does picking up more time before we're all down on the C's.

[Emmz]

If Bynum is healthy and playing well' date=' combined with Kobe, Pau, Odom, Artest etc (and Phil Jackson), I don't think that an Eastern Conference All Star Team would win a 7 game series.[/quote']

 

I think the Lakers are who everyone should watch out for, but those are some big words. I really don't think they're as "vastly" superior to all other teams as you think they are. I think they'll have to fight pretty hard in the West, the Spurs and the Mavericks are very good.

[Palodios]

Where did I mention offense at all? And as much as I love Shaq, he just can't handle the minutes. When Krysic and Big Baby are playing significant minutes at center, you're going to miss out a lot of productivity.

[Emmz]

Where did I mention offense at all? And as much as I love Shaq' date=' he just can't handle the minutes. When Krysic and Big Baby are playing significant minutes at center, you're going to miss out a lot of productivity.[/quote']

 

Well then what the hell were you referring to if you didn't mean offense. You were mentioning the opposing centers we might have to face off against, which implies that it creates matchup problems, which might be true, but I wouldn't sweat those matchup problems against Noah or Bynum, they're not the guys who beat you on their team. So either you were referring to offense, or you were just naming those players for the sake of naming them.

[italstallianion]

I think the Lakers are who everyone should watch out for' date=' but those are some big words. I really don't think they're as "vastly" superior to all other teams as you think they are. I think they'll have to fight pretty hard in the West, the Spurs and the Mavericks are very good.[/quote']

 

 

They are big words, but keep in mind that I said that the Lakers would win a 7 game series vs. an Eastern Conference All Star Team, NOT that they were more talented (or that it would be a sweep) In addition, I also mentioned Phil Jackson in the listing because he is as crucial to the team success as anyone.

 

In addition, if one could prove to me that an All Star Team could play with the cohesion, defense, and fundamentals that a team like the Spurs (and even the Lakers) play with, then I would happily back them in the series.

[Emmz]

Sometimes, there's too much talent to overcome. If you put the best players in the East in a chance to win an NBA title against a normal, limited budget team, I just don't see how you could honestly believe the Lakers could win on chemistry. Too much talent differential IMO.

[Palodios]

Well then what the hell were you referring to if you didn't mean offense. You were mentioning the opposing centers we might have to face off against' date=' which implies that it creates matchup problems, which might be true, but I wouldn't sweat those matchup problems against Noah or Bynum, they're not the guys who beat you on their team. So either you were referring to offense, or you were just naming those players for the sake of naming them.[/quote']

 

What on earth are you talking about? All the things that centers do well, those guys do significantly better than Krybaby. Those matchups suck, every way you look at it.

[italstallianion]

Sometimes' date=' there's too much talent to overcome. If you put the best players in the East in a chance to win an NBA title [b']against a normal, limited budget team[/b], I just don't see how you could honestly believe the Lakers could win on chemistry. Too much talent differential IMO.

 

 

I understand your point, but I wouldn't consider the Lakers a "normal, limited budget team" I think your point would apply in 9/10 of the circumstances, but I think this is the 1/10 where you'd be wrong, which is why I said something. If this was the 9/10 where you'd be right, I wouldn't have even brought it up.

[yankees228]

They are big words, but keep in mind that I said that the Lakers would win a 7 game series vs. an Eastern Conference All Star Team, NOT that they were more talented (or that it would be a sweep) In addition, I also mentioned Phil Jackson in the listing because he is as crucial to the team success as anyone.

 

In addition, if one could prove to me that an All Star Team could play with the cohesion, defense, and fundamentals that a team like the Spurs (and even the Lakers) play with, then I would happily back them in the series.

 

Well, in this hypothetical situation, is this all-star team just being thrown together to play the Lakers, or have they played and practiced together for some length of time? If it's the former, then I agree, the Lakers would most certainly win.

[Emmz]

I understand your point' date=' but I wouldn't consider the Lakers a "normal, limited budget team" I think your point would apply in 9/10 of the circumstances, but I think this is the 1/10 where you'd be wrong, which is why I said something. If this was the 9/10 where you'd be right, I wouldn't have even brought it up.[/quote']

 

They really are though, when you compare them to an all-conference team. I don't think chemistry would matter, I think they would destroy the Lakers, or any team for that matter. Too much talent differential. You see, the Lakers might have the best player, but the East would have several guys who were at least somewhat close to Bryant in talent level, or the next level down. On the Lakers, after Kobe, there's a fairly substantial drop off to the next guy.

 

I really don't see them competing in any way against a team that would include Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, among others. Lots of others. Because not only is that team going to have the overpowering starters, they'd have the deepest reserve you'd ever see. I mean, they'd do a better job versus them than other teams, but I don't see them overcoming the gap. Like I said, it's IMO though.

[WhiskeyBreath]

One thing I don't think anyone has mentioned on here yet about the Perk trade is how the Celtics vets would react to it. I'm guessing they are pretty upset to see a guy like Perk leave town. The vets are obviously looking to win now and I'm curious what type of comments will come out now.

[Emmz]

Kevin Love just became the owner of the longest double-double streak in 32 years. 45 straight. Incredible.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

It really is.

[Emmz]

I think Love has to be one of the most underrated players in the NBA. I remember the first time I ever saw him play, he was a top ranked high school player, his team came to the Target Center to face one of our teams, I forget which one, but he scored like 47 points or something. Then I remember how awesome he was at UCLA. I didn't expect him to be this dang good though.

[italstallianion]

They have a team in Minnesota?

[Emmz]

D:

[WhiskeyBreath]

Nice streak by Love.

 

How does Wilt not have that record? Did they not record that stat or what? The guy averaged 30+ and 20+ for his entire CAREER.

[Emmz]

Haha, he played previously to 32 years ago, I think they sort of start after the Russell/Chamberlain era, because of their advantage. Obviously, those two probably topped 45-straight, maybe even doubled that streak, but like I said it was for the last 32 years, I don't think it's an all time record.

[Emmz]

Wilt Chamberlain's double-double streak record is 227, so yeah, this isn't even close to that, but no one's going to approach any of Chamberlain's records, he was just too advanced for his era.

 

Moses Malone's 44 in '82-'83 was the previous longest since the 1980s.

[WhiskeyBreath]

Ah, didn't catch the 32 years bit. Makes sense now.