Around the NBA

[Donald Kaufman]

I know we're not the most active of boards on RGM, but I thought it might be good to have a thread where we can discuss other games/teams that we check out throughout the season.

I caught the last half of the Lakers-Suns game tonight. The Laker bigs are just too good. Gasol and Odom are a treat to watch go to work. Gasol is such a good passing big man. I wonder why they don't trade Bynum for the best offer. The Lakers are so poised. They never panic. They know how to close out games.

The Suns are not as bad as some people are making them out to be. Of course they miss STAT and they overpaid Frye but I think they can sneak into the playoffs. Early days but I like what they've got.

Saw bits and pieces of the Heat-Magic game. Dwight had his way with the Heat bigs in the first half, but his teammates didn't show up.

Warriors-Clips. Damn, Blake Griffin is an amazing player. He plays like he's on a Red Bull IV. Just constant motion and energy. Reminds me of a rookie Kenyon Martin. I hate watching Monta Ellis play. He hasn't met a shot he won't take.

[Nolan]

Great idea buddy.

The Suns have really suprised me so far too. Nash has carried that team so far on offense and Hill and Lopez have been doing a pretty good job of anchoring their defense.

Landry Fields has been outstanding so far for the Knicks and it looks like he's going to be the steal of the draft.

[co_laper]

Don't get why they need to trade Bynum. Bynum, Gasol, and Odom makes an awesome frontcourt lineup. Without Bynum, you're forced to play Theo Ratliff or give too much minutes to Gasol like they did tonight. Gasol played 40 minutes, Odom played 40. and the only big other than them who played is Ratliff who log 8 minutes.

With Bynum, they don't need more depth in the frontcourt. It just takes away minutes from Gasol, Odom, or Bynum. That trio is already the best frontcourt lineup in the league even without depth.

Didn't get to see the Suns game last nite but saw their first 2 games. They're awful on the boards. Hedo is not a good fit there at all. Warrick had a nice Amare impression in game 2 but aside from that, they look like they're going to suck. Atleast a few years ago when Amare got injured, they still had Marion or Diaw playing like an allstar. They got no one who is even close to star level players to replace what Amare brought.

Golden State is looking great. Stephen Curry tweaked his ankle thou and it could cost them some games. Monta is just performing at a high level. 46 points first game and I only watched until halftime today but he was already at something like 13 points and 9 assists on 6 shots. They're looking great and is playing defense. Blake disappoint in his 2nd game and Baron Davis still suck. I thought atleast Baron will get motivated againts his former team but guess not. Nothing can motivate Baron nowadays.

[Donald Kaufman]

I just think Odom-Gasol is better than Gasol-Bynum. They have no reason to move Bynum but I just think their offense flows that much more when he's not out there. The problem with Odom is his inconsistency and that's where having Bynum is important. Odom always slays Phx though.

Hedo is awful. He should've stayed with the Magic.

[co_laper]

That I agree. I think Odom - Gasol is better than Gasol - Bynum. Doesn't mean they should trade Bynum thou unless they have a capable backup big. I don't know who finish games for LA, but even with a healthy Bynum, I'm guessing Odom-Gasol is still the tandem.

Although 4 days into the season is not enough to make a judgement, I am feeling better about our chances in the West.

Oklahoma is looking good so far and even though i feel they're overrated, they're still what I consider a top 4 team in the West.

Dallas still lacks that second scorer behind Dirk. Caron Butler really looks better as a 3rd option than a second.

Phoenix, as i said, is just awful on the boards and there's no fix there. I really doubt they're going to make the playoffs after seeing the first 2 games.

However, Portland looks pretty good. Haven't watch them play thou so can't say anything about them.

Utah, I don't know what's going on there. I think Deron needs that p&r partner and Al Jefferson is playing more as a post up guy than the roll man. Millsap is no Boozer. They certainly miss Okur right now because their shooting is also awful. Plays with no energy and Deron's shot is just off. Thing is, boozer is important in the pick and roll because of his ability to hit the jumper and finish at the rim. Al Jefferson is a post up guy and didn't look too good as a roll man. Okur is more of a shooter than a roll man. Millsap is their best guy but again, he's no Boozer.

I'm not a fan of houston. Yes I like their hustle, but I really think they need a 100% healthy Yao to go anywhere. Even at 24 minutes a night, you can see Yao is not his usual self. It would be different if this 24 minute Yao plays at 100%, but he's not.

Can't wait to see our game 2. 1 game isn't enough to figure out what our team will be like.

[Donald Kaufman]

Plus I want to see Splitter out there to really gauge what sort of team we're going to put out there this year.

I'm not a fan of Houston either, though I kind of feel for Yao. It happens to so many bigs, but it sucks that his career is being derailed by injury.

I think the Mavs and Thunder are being overrated by fans and the media. OKC especially.

[Nolan]

I just think Odom-Gasol is better than Gasol-Bynum. They have no reason to move Bynum but I just think their offense flows that much more when he's not out there. The problem with Odom is his inconsistency and that's where having Bynum is important. Odom always slays Phx though.

Hedo is awful. He should've stayed with the Magic.

Totally agree. Hedo is useless without the ball in his hands, if the offense isn't running through him then you might as well keep him on the bench.

[Blame Rasho]

The Nets actually have won a few games...

The Lakers look very good in my opinion...

Hedo will be a letdown in my opinion, and it wouldn't surprise me if the Suns trade him during the middle of the season. They are going to be eaten on the boards over a 82 game season.

[co_laper]

IMO Suns should trade Hedo for anything they can. First of all, I gotta say I think they're using him in the wrong way. Hedo obviously can't be the roll man and he's got to be the one handling the ball. But from the 2 games I saw, they rarely run pick and rolls for him when he has the ball. I haven't seen him be the roll man either. Instead when he gets the ball, he's basically going ISO which result in a step back 3 pointer. I recall seing that happens 3 times. Even when he launches his shots, it's a 3 pointer.

To be fair thou, Phoenix got no roll man at all. Warrick is their best guy and he's not that good. They got pick and roll players like Hedo and Nash but nobody to finish the plays.

[batmana]

I caught both Blazers games so far, they are playing very well on both ends and are especially impressive on the offensive glass. But their efficiency is so high right now it can't possibly last forever - I mean if you just look at Batum's numbers he looks like an All-Star.

Blake Griffin is an absolute beast and is my pick for ROY. I am really rooting for him even though I don't care about the Clippers.

The Suns are going to have a hard time with their lack of a PF. Turkoglu is OK offensively but cannot guard any PF in this league.

BTW Big Baby Davis is on an insane tear right now, probably an early-season pick for Sixth Man of the Year. Oh, and that Bulls-Thunder game was like a highlight reel. Westbrook and Rose going at each other... I am one of the people who think the Thunder are legit and there is no ceiling for this team... I think they might even be considered a title contender.

Absolutely agree about Fields, one of the biggest steals of the draft. What's probably more surprising is D'Antoni is playing him instead of some watered down player (Mason) like he did with Chris Duhon for 2 seasons. BTW Evan Turner had a better debut than expected, he could be really good as well. I guess many people watched him in summer league and pre-season and thought it is going to be a tough transition for him but in the first game that mattered he was really sharp.

BTW I am really glad we re-signed Tony and I am looking forward to tonight's matchup between him and Chris Paul.

[BFrizzy]

Gasol was amazing against the suns, he was doing what he liked when posting up. That mid range jumper he shoots over defenders is just soo sexy.. Almost as nice as Timmy's bank shots!

On watching the Heat / Magic game I think it'll be interesting to see how our bigs go offensively against them, if Dwight can go off against them, I wonder what TImmy and co can do.

[SApuro_]

I have NBA TV so I catch most games.

I have been very impressed with O-dumb. Playing for the USA team has really made his game sharp. I think he is more of a threat than injury prone Bynum. I thought for sure the Rockets would pull out that game but they simply ran out of gas.

I can't believe the Mavs lost to the Grizz. Dirk was amazing as always but somehow managed to lose. Which of course made my day.

I am in San Diego these days so I have tickets to the Spurs vs Clippers game on Monday. I'll let you know how are boys look.

[Donald Kaufman]

Odom is a great but inconsistent player. He'll get 18-17-5 one game and 6-8-3 the next. But he's exactly what the Lakers need and he's such a mismatch for opposing teams.

Watching the Knicks-Blazers until Spurs game starts. Amare looking great out there. He is near unstoppable inside.

Suns options at the 4: Hill, Warrick and Hedo. That's got fail written all over it.

[DEEP3CL]

Nice thread DK, we have the same one on our board too. I'm not going to get into all the Bynum talk, but I'll turn the tables around like this.......If we we're to trade Drew, what do we get back ?

Having the bigs we have is what makes our team tick, so why trade him knowing we'd weaken our front line depth ?

[Donald Kaufman]

You could get a PG with a pulse maybe? Not sure.

Truth be told, you'd probably never get equal value for any trade involving Bynum, so you'd be better off hanging onto him. I guess it was more of a reaction to how well the offense runs with Odom-Gasol as your bigs as opposed to Bynum-Gasol.

Watching tonight's debacle of a game vs NOH, having 3 quality bigs is a luxury I wish we had.

[DEEP3CL]

Sure we'd like to have an quality lead guard like most teams, but I feel we can get one in the draft. Nobody is giving us CP3 or anything close to that level.

And you're right, we won't get equal value for Drew. Personally I don't like trading big for small anyway.

[Nolan]

Lebron says he would of done the decision differently.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/news/story?id=5749163

"If I had to go back on it, I probably would do it a little bit different," James said. "But I'm happy with the decision I made. There's always going to be a misunderstanding. I don't know what I would [have done], but I definitely would have changed it."

Instead of doing a 1 hour special on ESPN i'm guessing he wishes he would of done a 5 hour PPV event that ended with him and Dan Gilbert duking it out in a steel cage match.

Why can't he just come out and admit that the decision was a horrible idea. Comments like this and his Nike comerical just make him out to be more of an arrogant douche.

[Donald Kaufman]

Yeah, agree, the best thing he could do for his tarnished image is just come out and say the decision was a bad idea. Poorly conceived and executed. Donating $3M to some kids foundation did little to soften the blow.

He doesn't get it. For the most part, people don't mind that he decided to go to Miami. He was a free agent, emphasis on the word 'free'. He was able to decide where he wanted to go. It was the way in which he went about it. You'd think someone in his entourage would have the foresight to see that it was not a good idea to announce his move the way he did. It was a PR nightmare.

And now, even if the Heat ring some titles, haters can dismiss it by saying that he needed Wade and Bosh to get it done, and that he couldn't do it as The Man. If he loses with the team he's got, it further hurts his already damaged legacy. He's made things very tough for himself in that regard.

[Donald Kaufman]

Sure we'd like to have an quality lead guard like most teams, but I feel we can get one in the draft. Nobody is giving us CP3 or anything close to that level.

And you're right, we won't get equal value for Drew. Personally I don't like trading big for small anyway.

I guess while you guys are running the triangle, a traditional PG is probably not a necessity anyway.

Well you can't teach height, as the saying goes. And he is talented, if injury prone.

[Donald Kaufman]

Further to the LeBron thing, I actually think the day after The Decision was a bigger debacle. That event where he, Wade and Bosh got up in front of the crowd and danced and basically just looked like 3 of the most arrogant, egotistical idiots on the planet? That was embarrassing. And the MC introduced them like it was a WWE PPV.

That, to me, was more more obnoxious and shameful than The Decision.