Around the League: Week 24 4/6-4/12

[carey]

I can't believe I've made 24 of these things. On with the schedule!

Nationally televised games this week.

Monday: None.
Tuesday: San Antonio @ OKC 8:00PM EST TNT, L.A. Lakers @ L.A. Clippers 10:30PM EST TNT
Wednesday: Boston @ Detroit 7:00PM EST ESPN, Phoenix @ Dallas 9:30PM EST NBATv
Thursday: Chicago @ Miami 8:00PM EST TNT, Portland @ Golden State 10:30PM EST TNT
Friday: San Antonio @ Houston 8:00PM EST NBATv, Minnesota @ L.A. Lakers 10:30PM NBATv
Saturday: Toronto @ Miami 7:30PM EST NBATv, Memphis @ LA. Clippers 10:00PM EST NBATv
Sunday: Atlanta @ Washington 6:00PM EST NBATv, Dallas @ L.A. Lakers 9:30PM EST NBATv

NBA News.

Dragic slapped David West in the junk? LINK
Jeff Green dunked on Seraphin so hard: LINK
That Brad Stevens is pretty good: LINK
Interesting little piece on Sim Bhullar: LINK

No Morning Tip yet.

[Mori Chu]

carey, your weekly threads are one of the best things on the forum. Really appreciate the time and effort you put into them. Thanks, bud.

[Mori Chu]

[Indy]

[ Image ]

This.

[carey]

Awww you're welcome. Gonna get the Suns news thread up in a minute before I use my kid-free day to go see Fast & Furious 7.

[Mori Chu]

I can't decide what i think of those movies. I haven't seen any of them yet. They just seem so mindless and stupid, but it seems like the more of them they make, the more they're in on the joke and having great fun with it. So maybe they've become hilarious and watchable after all. Am I missing out? Should I start with #1?

[carey]

I can't decide what i think of those movies. I haven't seen any of them yet. They just seem so mindless and stupid, but it seems like the more of them they make, the more they're in on the joke and having great fun with it. So maybe they've become hilarious and watchable after all. Am I missing out? Should I start with #1?

I love them. I guess people would call them a guilty pleasure, but they are films that know what they are. Over the top action that is in no way realistic and each stunt tries to top the next one. Plus the characters genuinely seem to care for each other. They are essentially popcorn movies, just sit back, switch the brain off a bit and enjoy. Not every film needs to be Birdman or Selma or Interstellar.


If you want to watch the later ones you may be confused about what's going on if you haven't seen them all. Character motivations, why certain characters are important, etc. However the order of the films chronologically isn't the order they were theatrically released in.

The order to watch is as follows: The Fast & the Furious, Too Fast Too Furious, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Furious 7.

[Indy]

I can't decide what i think of those movies. I haven't seen any of them yet. They just seem so mindless and stupid, but it seems like the more of them they make, the more they're in on the joke and having great fun with it. So maybe they've become hilarious and watchable after all. Am I missing out? Should I start with #1?

I am in the same boat. Not my style of movie, but I always hear people say that are fun action movies.

But for me, I am not interested in a bunch of CGI action movies that are completely unbelievable. For example, leaving out my bias for Raiders, I would say Die Hard is a top 5 action movie of all time. No (well, very minimal) CGI, but tons of stunts.

[Danimal]

uh yeah so basketball. Is anyone following the Sim Bhullar story? I had a look at this guy in the pre-season. He was badly out of shape then. Seems to have put up decent numbers in the D league. He always had a decent level of skills and decent hands for someone his size. But really needed to work on his conditioning. He does have a younger brother who is very similar also. Really wish we had given Sim a go, more so to give us some other point of interest this season

The NBA is pimping this as much as possible to try and grow the india market which is their next big target. I don't know how many times already I've heard 'now millions of kids in india can see in its possible to be the NBA one day.' um yes if you're 7 foot 6. I don't think the NBA learned from its mistakes in trying to grow the market in China with Yao Ming that using someone who is somewhat of a freak of nature >7'5 isn't the best way to grow the game since so few people are that height. China has produced so few players since. Guards are far more inspiring in this way.



A lot of pressure on the young man.

[Mori Chu]

Dick Vitale might say, "Sim City, baby!"

[pickle]

carey, your weekly threads are one of the best things on the forum. Really appreciate the time and effort you put into them. Thanks, bud.

i have to second this. this is my way of staying informed on the NBA basically, because i'm too lazy to dig around the news sites on my own. thanks carey.

[pickle]

uh yeah so basketball. Is anyone following the Sim Bhullar story? I had a look at this guy in the pre-season. He was badly out of shape then. Seems to have put up decent numbers in the D league. He always had a decent level of skills and decent hands for someone his size. But really needed to work on his conditioning. He does have a younger brother who is very similar also. Really wish we had given Sim a go, more so to give us some other point of interest this season

The NBA is pimping this as much as possible to try and grow the india market which is their next big target. I don't know how many times already I've heard 'now millions of kids in india can see in its possible to be the NBA one day.' um yes if you're 7 foot 6. I don't think the NBA learned from its mistakes in trying to grow the market in China with Yao Ming that using someone who is somewhat of a freak of nature >7'5 isn't the best way to grow the game since so few people are that height. China has produced so few players since. Guards are far more inspiring in this way.



A lot of pressure on the young man.

i don't think the nba cares so much about getting players out of china as it does getting revenue out of china, and honestly, yao ming has been a sensation. without him, basketball would not be nearly as popular as it is today. though obviously sim bhullar is no yao ming. being the #1 pick overall and languishing on the end of the bench on a 10 day contract are not going to do the same to your home market interest level. i'm not trying to comment on sim bhullar the player in any way, just saying, marketing-wise...

regarding yao ming's success in bringing the nba to the china market, just look at how many all star starts stevie franchise and tmac got out of the deal...

[carey]

The Pacers' Chris Copeland was stabbed and Sefalosha and Antic were arrested last night in NY after the Suns game. They were interfering with police officers or some such.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/nyreg ... egion&_r=2

[Mori Chu]

Man, have you guys looked at the West standings lately?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/standings

The Spurs are in 6th but they are only 1 loss behind Memphis who are in 2nd. Basically the #2-6 seeds are almost totally up in the air as we come down to the wire these last few games. A lot of shuffling could happen before the regular season is over. I can't believe the Spurs could still be the 2 seed after all they've been through this year.

I'm also super curious to see whether the Pelicans or the Thunder make the 8 spot. They have identical records now, but the Pelicans seem to hold the tie-breaker.

[OE32]

I just don't want to see the Spurs and Clippers play each other in the first round. Warriors, Spurs and Clippers are the best 3 teams in the west, and they should all make it to the second round.

And... man, a cakewalk for the Cavs, as expected. Think they could win it all? Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me.

[Cap]

I am not looking forward to another LeBron-vs-Spurs Finals.

[carey]

Steph Curry balled last night. He set the record for 3-pointers made in a season. Made 8 in the game. Scored 45 including 19 in the 4th.

[carey]

So Afflalo busted his shoulder last night. Said he felt a pop. Blazers are snake bit.

Sefalosha also broke his fibia in the night club altercation. It must have been bad.

Copeland for his part apologized for being out at "da club" at 4 in the morning.

[Mori Chu]

The Portland curse continues.

[Mori Chu]

Have you guys been following this Chris Copeland story? The story sounds kind of involved and a bit weird. Copeland got stabbed at a nightclub, and then Thabo Sefolosha and Pero Antic were also at the club and tried to push onlookers away after the stabbing, then they got roughed up by the police. The cops may have even broken one of Sefolosha's bones! So now that's being investigated, too. It sounds ugly.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12653 ... n-stronger

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12662 ... ken-fibula

The police are facing new questions about their tactics during the incident, as Sefolosha suffered a season-ending broken fibula, which went untreated overnight and into Wednesday as Sefolosha languished in custody.

On Thursday evening, TMZ published a video that it says shows five officers surrounding Sefolosha at the scene and trying to take hold of him. TMZ says the video shows one officer grabbing Sefolosha by the back of the neck before bringing him down to the ground.