2008/2009 NBA Season Thread

I'm so happy basketball is starting back up, even if the Pistons are roughly the same team they were last season.

This year should probably be the referendum on Kobe. If that team fails, he'll probably take the brunt of the criticism. No reason to suspect it won't be Lakers v Celtics again this year, though.

Eric Cordo, It all depends on Dwayne Wade being healthy, Michael Beasley being a great rebounder as he was in college, consistant play from Udonis Haslem and getting some of their other young players like G Mario Chalmers (also a college teammate of Beasley) to play well enough to return to the post season. Of course the new HC of the Heat...Eric Spolestra must show he is a capable coach. I still say, that Miami and not New York should have hired Mike D'antoni as their Head Coach. Wade running MD's offense could have been glorious.

I sense another glorious season of failure for the Knicks.

yet another season of watching the Timberwolves suck...sigh.

No he wasn't.

Anyways the Heat signed Livingston a few weeks back. They're taking it slow with him, as of now, but if his knee can hold up, he could be a factor in the second half of the season...hopefully.

Lakers and Hornets look scary. Houston looks good.

I feel like the Celt overachieved last year and I don't expect to see them in the finals again this year. Lakers might need a little more experience, but I put them as the favorites. Bynum is going to be a force in this league, and the Lakers probably have the best starting 5 in all of basketball.

heLL pAso, Ooops! You are right...Beasley was in Kansas St and Chalmers played in Kansas.

I see a big improvement for the knicks this year. Twenty-nine wins, I'm calling it here.

Love David Stern getting booed during his introduction for the ring presentation.

I say this as a Suns fan: Fuck David Stern.

I don't think there are many NBA fans who'd disagree with you there.

But is there a sports commissioner who wouldn't get booed during a banner ceremony? Goodell outside of New England, maybe? I say this fully hoping that the Sabres win the Stanley Cup and Gary Bettman gets pelted with something during the presentation. Buffalo fans don't forget, Gary.

Anyway, just saw the banner ceremony on YouTube and I can't stop grinning. No way they win 66 games again, but Boston's still the favorite in the East. Philly will push them, and we'll see if Orlando can take a step past Detroit. Miami could make a big leap, and the Knicks will suck.

I get paid on Friday, and am fully intending on purchasing the Celtics' box set that came out today, along with the separate Finals DVD (which wasn't included with the set this time around). Excited? You bet.

I'm hoping for Lakers/Rockets in the West versus the Celtics in the finals. If the Rockets don't get to the Finals I'm jumping off the Astrodome.

Cavs without Lebron really does make it a D-League team (Thanks Gilbert). Even with Mo Williams, if Lebron gets contained on defense they won't go anywhere, and Celtics defense won't disappear with Thibodeaux on the bench.

Oden out in 12 minutes? Not time to panic, I'm on the Blazers bandwagon, but that's not good news at all.

Wake me when the playoffs start. Seriously, the best NBA season was the strike-shortened one that was around 50 games. 82 is just too long.

I've never understood the complaints around the 82 game season, especially from baseball fans. (Not saying you're a baseball fan Dickson, just in general)

Every NBA teams gets to play at least twice. Every city gets a chance to see every team at least once, if not twice, in person. Conference teams get to play a couple more games against each other, but not so much that you say "holy fuck I am tired of seeing the Mavs."

Where as in baseball it's 162 games, you barely get interleague play, and the Astros play the Cards something like 37 fucking times. Would it destroy the MLB to take a page from the NBA and let it's fans see ALL of the teams at least once in their city each year?

So yeah, it might be a long season, but it's half a baseball season, and they still let the fans see every star and team the league has to offer. And that's why I will never want it to change.

Half the amount of games, but the season lasts for the same period of time. I've never really thought about it, but it does seem the basketball season is more drawn out than the baseball season. Not exactly sure why, but it could have something to do with the amount of teams that get into the playoffs, and that the playoffs are almost like watching a second season of basketball.

Well, when it takes them two weeks to play seven games in the Finals, it's not surprising the regular season takes so long. In fact, maybe it's not the number of games, but how long it takes to play them. Granted, basketball is a much more physical sport than baseball.

That's due to the way basketball scheduling works. I read a great piece on it, and it comes down mostly to two things.

Basketball arenas have to share the space. Concerts, circuses, community events, conferences, etc. all are held in basketball arenas. Not to mention hockey in many cities. Most baseball stadiums are just baseball stadiums. Nothing happens in those stadiums until baseball season is over, if anything at all.

It also takes into account the actual sport. Football players play once a week, because it is a crushing sport that most players are injured on a weekly basis. Basketball players spend 40 minutes (at least starters) running up and down a court non-stop, and the game doesn't legitimately slow down until the last 2-4 minutes of a close contest. Baseball players spend most of their time sitting on a bench, waiting for a batter to adjust his jock strap, and daydreaming between pitches, so playing 4,5,6 days in a row isn't as bad.

It's just not as taxing on the body day in and day out. I don't want to get into the "not an athlete" bullshit, because I don't believe it, but David Wells-like person is not going to average 20 and 10 in basketball. Basketball players need rest, or they're all going to Reggie Lewis on the court.

Trying to spit sunflower seeds into a styrofoam cup is a fairly popular past time in the dugout as well.

In all seriousness though, baseball is more demanding then it looks. Sure, you sit around a lot, but that doesn't change the overall difficulty inherent within the sport.

And to add to what Devildoubt said below: The same thing that applies to golfers applies to bowlers and pool players. Those are not sports, and they are not athletes.

Baseball players are athletes. But you know who isn't an athlete? Fucking golfers. They play a game, and it's a very hard game to master, but it aint athletic.

The D'Antoni era begins tonight. I'm fully expecting another crappy season. At least, he's not starting the human anchor known as Eddy Curry.

And my interest in the season wavers. I'm into the first month or two and then I usually forget about it till the playoffs.

I wouldn't be so negative, this is the best shot at being relevant again that the Knicks have had in years. I think D'Antoni is going to do some good for that team. Plus they are in the easy, I mean east. The Hawks were the 8 seed last year...

I don't think the East is near the pushover it has been, even last year. Boston, Cleveland, Toronto, Philly, Orlando are all teams that could be dangerous if they got a two game lead in a playoff series. Last year the only legitimate scary teams was Boston. Larry Brown might just turn around the Bobcats, because they definitely have the talent to be good. I hope this year Gerald Wallace becomes a star. Atlanta could sneak back in on the back of Josh Smith being a ridiculous athletic specimen, but no one is going to worry about them until Acie Law becomes a threat, but that won't happen under Woodson.

I think Larry Brown was a better choice for Atlanta, and would have killed for Jeff Van Gundy to take over duties in Charlotte, but it's good knowing he's loving life in Houston and announcing. But the Knicks? I don't think they hit .500 until 2010, and that's only if they clear cap space and snag a couple marquee players. I honestly don't think that will happen, meaning they're screwed until 2012.

They're the Knicks. Negativity is all I have.

D'Antoni had a successful run in Phoenix because he had some great, unselfish shooters. I don't see that in the Knicks.

The corpse of Cotton Fitzsimmons (is he even dead yet?) makes the Knicks better. Remember who was coaching them last year?

Nope, I've wiped him from my memory of Knicks coaches.

Anybody like the Raptors this year?

I'm intrigued by the twin towers concept.

I'm rooting for New Orleans, but I'm not sure if they're for real yet. Is Chris Paul Isiah Thomas or Kevin Johnson/ Tim Hardaway/Baron Davis? (The next next great point guard who ends up disappointing or not living up to the hype)

Chris Paul is legit, and the Hornets are just getting better.

Raps are looking pretty good with JO, they are definitely better than Philly so far.

Dare I watch the Heat/Knicks game in 30 minutes? I almost can't resist the pain.

Mike D'Antoni will eventually turn the Knicks around. The fact that he is willing to play his young players will get them the experience they need when some of the deadwood i.e. Marbury, Richardson, Jerome James, Eddy Curry and others are gone. Next year the Knicks will probably draft a PG that will be able to run D'Antoni's offense properly. The Heat/Knicks game should be entertaining...with the Heat rising enough to win the game.

Eric Cordo, Hey...Miami was down by 23 and they lost by 6, not too shabby since they have a PF at Center (Udonis Haslem), a rookie PG Mario Chalmers (nice debut 17 pts 8 assists), a Rookie Head Coach Erik Spoelstra, and Dwayne Wade playing well but sloppy as he got 2 penalties in the last 5 minutes resulting in fouling out.

Bang! The Spurs go down. That was sweet.

Yes, I know this is a regular season game, and they didn't have Manu, but I think the Suns needed this game for confidence. They're starting a new system, with a new coach, against the hated Spurs on the road. And they did it. Hopefully they can build on this impressive win.

Rockets offense looked rough last night. Plenty of great stat nights, but it wasn't fluid at all, letting Memphis make it way too close of a game. Scola is a hoss. I love him to teeny tiny South American pieces.

Oh and this from Popovich was classic. I've watched this clip 5 times.

I bout damn near put my shoe through the TV when he did that. I was all "FUCK YOU!"

But in hindsight, it was a pretty funny joke....till the little shit stain did it for real in the second quarter.

I can't find the 07/08 thread. Destroyed by The Great Purge tm??

In any event, whoever vociferously defended Greg Oden and energetically chastised me for calling him a "bust," an "injury-risk," and a colossal waste of a draft pick, please step forward.

This one has all of six posts in it.

Knicks won! Awesome, as long as they show signs of improvement this season (and really, how could the not?), I'll be happy.

Knicks will be okay if they can play some d. What is D'Antoni gonna do with Curry and Starbury though? Marbury's up next year right? That's nice for a team that wants to rebuild in one form or another and get some dollars off the books...

Good win for the Suns. Impressive home opener for the Warriors, but it's just gonna go downhill from here. They are gonna win in the high-20s at home and still miss the playoffs.

Toronto could make a run in the east. Boston and Cleveland look solid. Didn't watch Philly, Orlando, Houston or Utah yet. And Scola is a flopper, just like his South American brothers. But hey, till they figure out how to call that shit right, why not abuse the system right? It's worked for the Spurs for the past, I don't know, 5 years, no reason to knock it off yet.

Eric Cordo, The Heat will be fine...Of course another good draft wouldn't hurt. However there is a downside...If Miami does not have a pick in the first 10 selections in the first round of the 2009 NBA draft...they have to send the pick to Minnesota as a result of acquiring Ricky Davis...Ooops!

Didn't the Heat win the NBA Championship in '06? I didn't realize Parcells was spitting out championships left and right.