Around the League: Week 1 10/26-11/1

[Superbone]

I enjoyed watching the Lakers lose by 1 point.

[Mori Chu]

I enjoyed watching the Lakers lose by 1 point.

The only downside was that a lot of their pieces didn't look bad. Hibbert had what I think you'd have to call a great debut. He was like 12 and 10 and shot perfectly on his free throws. Randall had 15 and 11. Jordan Clarkson had 14. Lou Williams had 21. At least Kobe's shooting was a horrid 8-24 and D'Angelo Russell had only 4 points in his debut.

[pickle]

I enjoyed watching the Lakers lose by 1 point.

The only downside was that a lot of their pieces didn't look bad. Hibbert had what I think you'd have to call a great debut. He was like 12 and 10 and shot perfectly on his free throws. Randall had 15 and 11. Jordan Clarkson had 14. Lou Williams had 21. At least Kobe's shooting was a horrid 8-24 and D'Angelo Russell had only 4 points in his debut.

think of it this way. all those wonderful things happened and they still lost to the wolves, which is in my view a team in total disarray, trying to find an identity and a rotation, having just lost saunders.

[Mori Chu]

Lakers should look on the bright side: At least they didn't lose to the 2015-16 Mavs by almost 30.

[ShelC]

Got a big kick out of this.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/wei ... mg00000067

[Mori Chu]

I had high hopes, but I didn't laugh much at that video. The only part that got me to chuckle was when the star player said, "Everybody gave a mathematically impossible percentage of effort out there tonight."

[carey]

Sign me up for Heat v. Cavs for the ECF. Been a great game so far. If both teams are healthy it will be a great series.

[Ring_Wanted]

Crazy OKC@ORL. Magic blowing a big lead and insane end of regulation. KD, Dipo, Westbrook. Watch it. on to OT. OKC takes it no doubt.

Also nice Mil vs Was. very serious game. The Freak in wonderful.

[SDC]

i'll repeat my prediction: minny a playoff team if rubio stays a healthy.

[Mori Chu]

This OKC-Orlando game was freaking nuts. Two OTs, crazy shot after crazy shot. Here's just a small excerpt:

https://streamable.com/mtrn

[pickle]

that box score is very hollow though. 40+ pts from both durant and westbrook, and after that not much to look at. i hope billy donovan can do a bit more to change the way this team gets its offense.

been watching a bit of washington as well, the way they telegraph passes, feels like they didn't get to do training camp...

[SDC]

wow, marcus must be the lucky charm for detroit.

[EDC]

Marcus has been way better than average so far for the Pistons. I didn't mind them ditching him at all because he just didn't play well enough for us to have to deal with his crap. It definitely brings up the question of what was holding him back? If the Suns do trade Kieff is he going to all of a sudden start avg 20/10?

Is it the coach? Sad thing is I don't think there are all that many really good coaches out there. Way too many former players pretending to be coaches running around. Some former players make good coaches but most don't.

Is it asking for too much to actually have a decent head coach.

[Mori Chu]

I think Marcus is a knucklehead, but it's fine with me if he plays well in Detroit. That can only help the trade value of his brother, who I can't wait to get rid of.

[The Bobster]

He could average 30 this year and I wouldn't regret trading him.

[Superbone]

He could average 30 this year and I wouldn't regret trading him.

Like.

[Mori Chu]

He could average 30 this year and I wouldn't regret trading him.

+1.

Also, SVG is going to run his top 7-8 players into the ground, so Marcus's numbers are going to look inflated for sure. That doesn't mean he suddenly got better as a player.

[Mori Chu]

My goodness. Steph Curry just dropped *53* on the Pelicans, who are not off to a strong start this season (largely due to injuries).

http://espn.go.com/nba/gamecast?gameId=400827922

[Mori Chu]

Melo had 37 as the Knicks beat the Wizards. Wall/Beal had 25 and 26 points, respectively. I like Washington but I forgot that their bench is kind of anchored by guys like Drew Gooden, Gary Neal, Ramon Sessions, and Jared Dudley. Hmm.

http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400827921

Side note: I picked the Knicks to make the playoffs this year and I still think they'll get there. I like Lopez for them a lot, and Porzingis is intriguing. Galloway is also pretty good. Their rotation is a little thin, but I like most of the guys they have.

[ShelC]

Knicks are playing very solid basketball. Melo's Melo and they probably need to phase out Calderon and start either Galloway or Grant. Sasha's been a nice surprise and O'Quinn and Derrick Williams have been very good.