The 2004/2005 *NBA Talk* thread

[vonkaar]

BOOM!

Mavs are #1 on the ESPN power rankings!

2005 Power Rankings: Week 2
Rank (Last Wk) Team Rec. Comment
1 (7) Mavericks 7-1 We say so again: If Mavs keep holding teams under 95 ppg and stay in the league's top two in FG defense (.400 even), they're not going to lose often.
2 (2) Jazz 5-1 Committee deemed Jazz not quite ready for the No. 1 slot after its Toronto loss. But the response -- pounding on banged-up Detroit -- couldn't have been more emphatic.
3 (5) Spurs 5-1 Spurs can't go higher after two gimme wins (Warriors, Hawks) . . . and with Parker pressing to impress (.346 from the field) . . . and with Duncan's ongoing FT woes (.591).
4 (1) Pacers 5-2 As soon as someone (us) writes a Power Rankings comment about how Artest is 'looking great,' chaos ensues. Pacers never should issued him (Rodman's) No. 91.
5 (3) Heat 5-2 Like him or not, Shaq is a free-agent magnet. Shandon Anderson choose Miami over a clutch of teams and Zo wants to return to South Beach if Jersey buys him out. Et tu, Kobe?
6 (6) Timberwolves 3-2 There's not much more KG can do out there, but Sam I Am's struggles offensively and defensively suggest Cassell's hip could still be a problem.
7 (4) Pistons 3-3 Take away Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups and Larry Brown and look what happens. Pistons are averaging 96.0 ppg -- and allowing (gasp) 98.7.
8 (12) Kings 3-4 See? Kings' 0-3 start was at least a little bit about their brutal schedule. They look more Kings-like at home and hope Saturday's win at Phoenix will be their road platform.
9 (8) Suns 4-2 Suns feel as though first 4-0 start since 1984-85 should have been been 6-0, after narrow losses to Cleveland and Sacto. But the Outlaw signing was a handy pick-me-up.
10 (19) SuperSonics 6-1 Remember last November, when Flip Murray was deified? Danny Fortson is this season's Flip, because some Sonics fans are apparently calling Fortson the next Lonnie Shelton.
11 (13) Lakers 4-4 You can feel all alone sometimes carrying these Lakers. Ditto for presenting at the American Music Awards, when the boo-birds sound off unexpectedly.
12 (9) Rockets 3-4 Rockets' start was slow before McGrady hurt his hip and/or groin. Hard to see them getting healthy soon, with six of the next seven games on the road.
13 (21) Cavaliers 3-3 The rally against Phoenix was huge for LBJ and his Cavs, even if Amare wasn't on the floor, because it was the sort of game last season's squad always lost.
14 (18) 76ers 4-3 It's early, true, but AI is making big shots and fancy passes with regularity. If his ankle is an issue, it's tough to tell.
15 (15) Grizzlies 2-5 On the worrisome side, $86 million man Pau Gasol is averaging seven rebounds nightly. On the plus side, we love their new away uniforms.
16 (16) Bucks 3-2 Mo Williams has been a fine fill-in for T.J. at PG, but that doesn't change the fact that Bucks should be 5-0. Instead they've dropped two heartbreakers to Fla. teams.
17 (17) Magic 4-3 Magic thinks it should be better than one game over .500, but you won't hear much complaining because all of Orlando remembers how it feels to go 0-14 in November.
18 (10) Raptors 4-3 Vince's benching? Sorry. The obvious question here when Raps started 4-1: How are they doing this without a major contribition from Pape Sow?
19 (14) Trail Blazers 3-3 Looks like Blazers, playoff outsiders coming into the season, will have to rally just to claim Best in the Northwest status, thanks to Seattle's stunning start.
20 (22) Celtics 3-2 This is probably one of those first-month quirks, but Celts have the league's stingiest defense so far, at 86.6 ppg allowed. Right . . . can't last.
21 (23) Clippers 4-3 What surprises you more? The 4-3 record? Or the fact that three other Clippers (Maggette, Simmons and Wilcox) are doing as much offensive damage as Brand?
22 (11) Nuggets 2-5 Against legit NBA Finals contenders -- Minnesota and Detroit, specifically -- Nuggets are 2-0. The other five games? All losses by double digits.
23 (20) Wizards 3-4 It's never fun to burst the bubble of a Week 1 overachiever, but 3-4 should feel more Wiz-like . . . with only two .500-or-better seasons in the last 17.
24 (26) Knicks 2-3 It's a good thing Lenny beat Philly and Clips, because wins figure to be scarce this week with injury-hit Knicks in Texas to make all three stops on the dreaded triangle.
25 (25) Nets 2-4 Some encouraging news, at last: J-Kidd says his knee is holding well and that a December return is the goal. Just don't bet on him staying in Jersey long once he does return.
26 (27) Warriors 1-6 Only Hornets' ultimate shame -- falling below Charlotte -- nudged Warriors up one spot. Because they're up high on the list of early disappointments.
27 (30) Hawks 1-5 Thanks to realignment, Hawks have only one game left against New Orleans. So, no, Hawks aren't celebrating their victory (and rise) too much.
28 (29) Bobcats 1-4 Uh-oh. Bobcats' hopes of winning something -- Okafor for Rookie of the Year -- have already been compromised with the way Dwight Howard is flexing in Orlando.
29 (24) Hornets 0-6 Warm welcome to the West continues: Baron's back gives out, not for the first time, and five of the next seven games are roadies.
30 (28) Bulls 0-4 Next seven games are roadies . . . after Bulls blew 24-point home lead to Clips . . . after Bulls shot 1-for-21 on 3-pointers against Phoenix.

[Xaiveir]

Sonics moving up!

[vonkaar]

Sonics are underrated on that list... I bet CNNSI and other mags rank them at least 2 spots higher. Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen are looking like one of the biggest one-two combos in the West.

[Tacks]

Fuck Alonzo. He had his fucking chance to come back.

[Xaiveir]

Sonics are 4-1 and they have beat the Spurs, Nuggets and Kings by 19, 20 and 30 points, respectively.

Still early, but Lewis and Allen look like they are one of the best 1-2 punches in basketball atm. NBA.com has em ranked 8th overall. Im telling you playoff bound

My quote from a page back Vonk. Great minds think alike....


Im surprised that Sac got rated above them. The sonics destroyed them when they played.

[vonkaar]

whoah

[vonkaar]

Toronto's playoff hopes are going down the toilet.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1924069

Pregame music violates uniform rules

NEW YORK -- Vince Carter has to listen to his favorite tunes on his own time. The Toronto Raptors star was informed by the NBA that he no longer can listen to music on his iPod during the 20-minute warmup period before each game. Carter recently started listening to the music on his headphones, a violation of the league's rules on proper attire.

When the NBA heard about it, the league called the Raptors.

"We informed them that he can no longer do that," NBA spokesman Brian McIntyre said Tuesday.

Carter has said he listens to the music in order to focus before a game.

No more focus! Vince is doomed!

[Malluas]

i am not sure dallas can keep the points down... i remember ove rth years they started good on D.. then collapsed. Would be nice to see later on in the season no matador defense from the Mavs tho.

I am not even sure the kings are that high RIGHT NOW... they still have a hard time with Defense is spurts that let teams back in the game... and the fact that adalmen is playin starts when 2 mins to play up by 18 cause the bench gave up like 15 straight against toronto will hurt later on.

Utah i think will be the surprise this year. Boozer is what they needed.


btw wtf is up with Duncan's freethrows, 3 years in a row under 65%. He was a 70+ in his first few years. But again Bowen can't hit freethrows but can drain 3s at 50% go figure

[vonkaar]

Well, last year... we started off mediocre... didn't play any D. The year before, we started 15-0 but it was still our offense that carried us. This is the first year where we've focused so strongly on defense, and it shows.

Just one more reason why Nellie is one of the top coaches in the game.

Duncan's FT% shouldn't matter IMO. When you do EVERYTHING ELSE as well as he does... be happy =p. There isn't a team in the league that wouldn't scrap half their roster for TD.

If the Kings miss the playoffs, you think Rick will be canned?

[Malluas]

lol yes. He is gonna be canned whether he makes the playoffs or not. Unless the kings win the championship this year.. he is gonzo.

And so would petrie. They are both good friends, and he has said he won't be around if Rick is gone. Thats probably the reason Rick hasn't been shitcanned outta there yet.

I think there will be a major change at the trade deadline. But knowing how Artest is acting now, probably nothing will happen.

Nellie is great but need to calm himself down on bad calls.. i always say "BORIS YELTSIN (he kinda looks like him) IS GONNA HAVE A HEART ATTACK" when he goes nuts. I think if Nellie gets more defense he will be even better.

Nellie and Rick are about the same. But each have their bad points in the playoffs. Nellie gets booted or gets Techs at the wrong times. Every one of the last 3 years i remember nellie in the middle of a 8-0 or 10-0o kings run gettin a tech or gettin booted and then another 5-9 points are scored cause of hyping up the Kings or the crowd.

Rick has some fucked up rotations and sucks at taking timeouts. He once in a while takes out people who are red hot, and put in a 1 for 15 shooter in his place. ANd during runs when the kigns are up 20 and it gets cut to 10 you would think there would be a timeout.. NO. It gets down to 6 or 4 then he does, which is dumb.

i honestly think both are gone if they dont' make the west finals if not the finals. And actually

They should have got rid of finley and nash for someone like ray allen or something. Ray plays some D and isn't hurt all season long like Finely.They didn't need nash to score 150 points a game hehe

[vonkaar]

Finley is one of the more durable players in the league... he's averaged only 3 games missed in each of his 9 seasons... and a lot of that comes from the 20 he missed between 01/02. The fact that his career average for minutes is freaking 40 MPG, says a lot. Also... Finley is a hella lot better defender than Ray... You can argue Nash's lack of defense all you want, but Mike has been our ONLY defender for many years.

Nash and Dirk were the reasons we score so much. Finley never put up huge numbers like Dirk... He's our jack of trades... the soul of our team.

I doubt Nellie will be gone this year... unless we totally miss the playoffs anyway. He's still one of the best GMs in the game AND one of the most experienced coaches around. Remember, he's won more games than every coach in the NBA besides Wilkens... and he and Pat Riley are the ONLY coaches that have received coach-of-the-year 3 times... and Nellie was 3rd in votes 2 years ago. When they did the 50th anniversary 'lists', he was on the 'top ten coaches of all time' list.

I'd say that for current coaches... I'd put Jerry Sloan at #1, and Larry Brown at #2. I think that historically speaking, the top five would be (in no order) Wilkens, Riley, Nellie, Jackson and Red.

If he goes anywhere at the end of the year, it'll be to step down as head coach and let AJ take the lead. He'll likely remain our GM for a long, long time. He's a fucking god on that end.

[Malluas]

not saying Finley missed games.. just sayin he is playing hurt alot with injuries he should take some time off for.. hamstrings etc.

[vonkaar]

oh...

well, chalk that up to dedication and love of the game!

... you are probably right 8(

[Malluas]

yea i think his hamstrings have a big time prob. He usually sits out a week then comes back and plays like shit for 2 weeks.. gets much better then they act up again in the playoffs.

Take Webber as an example (when he was actually on the court hehe) when they got to the west finals (and during the season), he was on a bad ankle and knee. That hurt his freethrows and other movements, and it cost the kings points.

Finely not being able to do as much of the jumping and movements hurts the Mavs in the sense he is the ONLY decent defender (minus this year), and he can't move with full range

So who you think is rookie of the year (hehe only like 7 games into the season)?

Howard, Okefor, or Deng?

Deng has been the most consistant so far, howard has some upside, and okefor i think his back is gonna affect him eventho i am pullin for him

[vonkaar]

Deng was my favorite rookie in the draft. Chicago has a nice looking group of youngsters... they *could* be a great team in a few years... Hinrich is the closest thing to Kidd we've seen in a rookie in a long time.

If Howard gets it, it will be a split victory.

I'm still pulling for my boy Harris =p.

[Malluas]

i didn't think deng was ready hehe i was wrong.

But the way Duke plays doesn't show peoples skill enough. Look at Grant Hill, what like 15 points a game 5 rebounds a game.. to 20 8 and 6 in the NBA, Brand 20 10 guy now. ANd maggette i thought was ready and look at him now hehe.

BTW Vonk.. next Dukie to watch is Demarcus Nelson (once he gets back from the hand injury) This boy is the real deal, or at least kicked the shit outta the other top freshmen he played against

33 11 and 7 in high school Top scorer in CA history heh

[Malluas]

only down side .... 6'4 but musclar. so that will compensate for only being a 6'4 SG

[vonkaar]

33/11/7?

damn

[DangerPaul]

just posting to say hi

[Malluas]

yea vonk.. he played a Vallejo HS and then transfered to Sheldon (sac area) and owned eveyrone, but he wasn't good enough to take his team to the state finals or even far into the Norcal playoffs.

As a junior i think he avg 28 9 and 6 or something

he was crazy good. You kno how lebron would have people from miles away coming to see him... same with this kid. my high school had our gym (best gym in the area and the high school is a perienial powerhouse in the sac area) and cafeteria (off shoot of the gym, just have to pull back this funky drape thats like a giant door) to watch him play his 1 league game at our gym. I think they shoved 2 thousand people into the gym to watch. and In the playoffs i think like 15k watched his games.

They charged people to watch him at his own Gym hehe... and you saw guys with suits everywhere (NBA scouts etc)

Jesuit HS's gym has had some good players play at it. Luke Walton University-San Diego HS (him and his brother were on the same team), Gary Payton's Brother, DeMarcus Nelson Vallejo/Sheldon, Issac Fontaine Jesuit (went to Washington State, one year i thnk was 2nd in the NCAA scoring or 3rd, either way it was 26 ppg) Matt Barnes Del Campo, Leon Powe Oakland Tech (All-american, went to Cal) etc.

[Rotj]

I'm hoping my homeboy Howard will take it. If he can get that offensive touch going he'll be up there..the guy is already a rebounding machine. <insert bias Magic comments>

[Xaiveir]

Found an interesting article about Dirk for Vonk.


THE DEUTSCHE MARKSMAN

Last week, in our awards issue (the first of many), we gave our MVP to Utah's Andrei Kirilenko. In the other contenders section, we listed Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki.
Is it too early to change our minds? (We're fickle that way.)

While Cleveland's LeBron James and the aforementioned Allen won Player of the Week honors for their stellar efforts last week, Nowitzki had a heck of a week going for 20, 41, 31 and 32 points, respectively, in his four games last week. He's the No. 1 reason the Mavs are an NBA-best 7-1.

And no effort may have been more impressive than his 41-point performance against the Heat in Miami on Nov. 11. True, 41 points is impressive any time, but in this case it was even more so because of what happened before the game. Seems that Nowitzki's long legs had a hand in his having his fingers slammed in a car door.

According to the Dallas Morning News: "Dan Dickau had the scare of his professional life when he went to South Beach for dinner with Dirk Nowitzki on Wednesday. The pair hopped in a cab and Dickau asked Nowitzki what seat he wanted for the most legroom.

"Nowitzki took the back seat. Then Dickau shut the car door on Nowitzki's fingers. Worst of all, it was his shooting hand.

"'I looked at the door and two of Dirk's fingers were hanging out,' Dickau said. 'That could have been the most expensive cab ride of my life.'"

As for Dirk, what did he say when he noticed his digits in the door?

"I said, 'Dude, open the door. My fingers are in there.'"
-- Dallas Morning News (Registration required)

I don't know what's more amusing: Dirk being nonchalant about his fingers in the car door or my imagining him saying "Dude" with a German accent. Heh. That's funny.

Anyway, Dirk's old buddy, Steve Nash, returns to Dallas for the first time since signing a free-agent deal with the Suns this offseason.
-- Dallas Morning News (Registration required)

[Malluas]

hopefully his fingers are broken

[Xaiveir]

He went on to score 41 points that night hehe.

[Malluas]

F HIM!