Around the League: October

[SDC]

Last year, sending Okafor and the Minny pick for a Gasol rental (as you suggested) would have probably ended in a really inexpensive playoff run, specially because by the tradeline was pretty clear that the T-Wolves were keeping their pick at least for the year. Now we are going to see it transformed in two mediocre second rounders because we hang onto it for too long.

if the suns followed my advice on giving up the late 1st pick + Len + okafor for gasol, i really believe the suns would have beaten the spurs (1st vs 8th seed) and end up losing to another team along the way (mavs almost did it)

having gasol would have allowed the suns to rest plumlee's aching knees in preparation for the playoffs, go mcdo his EOTY award and horny's COTY award.

[Phoenix219]

Nash is out for the season

Nerve troubles.

From carrying luggage.

Sigh.

[Bruiser]

I watched that video last night and liked it a lot. I like the middle guest guy who has no reservations about bashing idiot coaches and players. Love the candor and bluntness.

He was very, very good.

Amazing to contrast with that roundtable of idiots on NBA Tv (Barkley, Shaq, Isiah, Webber, Reggie etc) who cant come up with a single non-moronic take between them. You can see how lazy they are with their analysis (would rather just talk about themselves) compared to Haralabos who watches 400 nba games a season and actually has some really good insight.

Yeah. Simmons actually seems to be the least informed and proficient of the three but I think that's okay because the mix of these three characters and their respective ideas and perspectives made it a great show and very much worth watching for anybody who loves the league. Bad thing is that after watching this I might be a lot more bored by the analysis of Jalen, Jacoby and the other aforementioned experts on NBA TV now. As I see it, the problem however isn't that much a lack of knowledge but a lack of people who dare to speak their mind the way that Bob (Haralabos Voulgaris) does and it is understandable because these people want to keep their jobs and might need to get interviews and stuff to keep on doing it. Even more so, I think it was a fantastic idea to bring Bob in - such a smart and fearless gambler/talker. Loved it!

Apparently I really had great fun listening to this...

[Phoenix219]

Last year, sending Okafor and the Minny pick for a Gasol rental (as you suggested) would have probably ended in a really inexpensive playoff run, specially because by the tradeline was pretty clear that the T-Wolves were keeping their pick at least for the year. Now we are going to see it transformed in two mediocre second rounders because we hang onto it for too long.

if the suns followed my advice on giving up the late 1st pick + Len + okafor for gasol, i really believe the suns would have beaten the spurs (and end up losing to another team along the way).

having gasol would have allowed the suns to rest plumlee's aching knees in preparation for the playoffs, go mcdo his EOTY award and horny's COTY award.

Maybe we could have gotten him to resign for a couple of years, instead of wasting all that money on the Morrii.

[carey]

https://twitter.com/JoshuaBRobbins/status/525653865627410433

Oladipo broke his face. Out indefinitely.

[Mori Chu]

Did any of you guys catch the debut last night of Bill Simmons's new ESPN TV show, the Grantland Basketball Hour? Here are some clips from it:

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/scene ... our-debut/

I like Bill Simmons a lot, so I'll watch his show. But why do they have a studio audience? It just gives the show a really weird vibe. Simmons doesn't seem like a live-crowd guy to me, and I don't get what the audience adds to the experience besides a weak-sounding laugh track to some of their goofy graphics and jokes.

[Indy]

Simmons seems very much like a live-crowd guy to me. I like him a lot, but he is a bit of an attention whore.

[EDC]

I haven't watched it yet but I don't like the idea of an audience. Simmons seems to have better conversations when it is just him and some friends talking basketball. Like this one where it is just 3 of them sitting around a table talking.



Except they need to fix the damn wobbly table.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

Last year, sending Okafor and the Minny pick for a Gasol rental (as you suggested) would have probably ended in a really inexpensive playoff run, specially because by the tradeline was pretty clear that the T-Wolves were keeping their pick at least for the year. Now we are going to see it transformed in two mediocre second rounders because we hang onto it for too long.

if the suns followed my advice on giving up the late 1st pick + Len + okafor for gasol, i really believe the suns would have beaten the spurs (1st vs 8th seed) and end up losing to another team along the way (mavs almost did it)

having gasol would have allowed the suns to rest plumlee's aching knees in preparation for the playoffs, go mcdo his EOTY award and horny's COTY award.

The Len, even if in street clothes, is too much to add as a throw in, especially half a year ago. But the rest of your logic was solid in hindight. Altough hindsight is always 20/20.

[JCSunsfan]

Last year, sending Okafor and the Minny pick for a Gasol rental (as you suggested) would have probably ended in a really inexpensive playoff run, specially because by the tradeline was pretty clear that the T-Wolves were keeping their pick at least for the year. Now we are going to see it transformed in two mediocre second rounders because we hang onto it for too long.

if the suns followed my advice on giving up the late 1st pick + Len + okafor for gasol, i really believe the suns would have beaten the spurs (1st vs 8th seed) and end up losing to another team along the way (mavs almost did it)

having gasol would have allowed the suns to rest plumlee's aching knees in preparation for the playoffs, go mcdo his EOTY award and horny's COTY award.

I do not think the Lakers would have taken that deal. They wanted multiple firsts. If the Suns had done it, I am convinced that Gasol would have already been gone by now anyway.

[carey]

They wanted multiple firsts. If the Suns had done it, I am convinced that Gasol would have already been gone by now anyway.

I don't think that was reported by any official sources. Why would they try to extract 2 first rounders for 1/2 a season of Gasol? Even if a team wanted his bird rights, that's a lot to give up. Especially since that was seen as a loaded draft and not a lot of teams were trading out of it.

[The Bobster]

Simmons seems very much like a live-crowd guy to me. I like him a lot, but he is a bit of an attention whore.

Well..... yeah!

I liked a lot of THE BOOK OF BASKETBALL, but there was quite a bit of self-aggrandizing that he should have left out or that a good editor would have pruned.

[LazarusLong]

Simmons likes to be entertaining. That's OK, as long as you remember to provide some actual commentary intermittently ....

[INFORMER]

OKC has lost Anthony Morrow for 4-6 weeks. That's a substantial lost; they really need his shooting.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11756 ... -4-6-weeks

[Mori Chu]

OKC just never has enough depth to strike me as a true contender. They have great swingmen / guards but no bench, and they have mostly mediocre bigs outside of Ibaka. I think they have been a really great team all of these years but have just barely made enough mistakes at the FO and coaching levels that they'll never sniff a title.

[INFORMER]

OKC just never has enough depth to strike me as a true contender. They have great swingmen / guards but no bench, and they have mostly mediocre bigs outside of Ibaka. I think they have been a really great team all of these years but have just barely made enough mistakes at the FO and coaching levels that they'll never sniff a title.

I don't think any of that is accurate.

First, just look at the last three seasons. They lost to the Heat in the Finals, they lost Russell Westbrook in the playoffs, and then they lost to the NBA Champions in the Conference Finals.

They have the 2nd best player in the league and he's 26. They have another All-Star to be his sidekick that is also 26.

You talk about their big men "outside of Ibaka." Well first, that's a heck of an impact player to set aside. Some teams don't have a big man as good as Ibaka. I wish the Suns had some at the 4 or 5 5 as good as Ibaka. But sure, let's look at their other big men. Steven Adams was a contributor last season as a rookie, and by all accounts has looked improved in the preseason. They also drafted Mitch McGary who performed well in his preseason debut before getting injured. We all know Kendrick Perkins sucks, but his contract is almost up, and just in time for when the cap jumps. So their big man situation is at worst improvable.

I don't think it's accurate to say they have no bench when they have one of the best sixth men in the league in Reggie Jackson. They also have Jeramy Lamb. I'm not a fan, but he has shown considerable flashes and I think it remains to be seen if he becomes a legit impact player on a regular basis.

Scott Brooks is definitely a marginal coach. But that's not something they're locked into. They can discard him if need be.

So with all these things considered, it's hard for me to see how they don't qualify as a "true contender."

[Mori Chu]

Interesting NYT article on Sarver's preseason apology.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/sp ... ?referrer=

[SwingMan]

Interesting NYT article on Sarver's preseason apology.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/sp ... ?referrer=

Nothing but an attempted diversion from the suckage that New York basketball has been for the past decade - the little snark should be stumping for refunds to Knicks season ticket holders as opposed to bagging on someone for making a decent gesture to his team's fans.

[Mori Chu]

OKC just never has enough depth to strike me as a true contender. They have great swingmen / guards but no bench, and they have mostly mediocre bigs outside of Ibaka. I think they have been a really great team all of these years but have just barely made enough mistakes at the FO and coaching levels that they'll never sniff a title.

I don't think any of that is accurate.

First, just look at the last three seasons. They lost to the Heat in the Finals, they lost Russell Westbrook in the playoffs, and then they lost to the NBA Champions in the Conference Finals.

They have the 2nd best player in the league and he's 26. They have another All-Star to be his sidekick that is also 26.

You talk about their big men "outside of Ibaka." Well first, that's a heck of an impact player to set aside. Some teams don't have a big man as good as Ibaka. I wish the Suns had some at the 4 or 5 5 as good as Ibaka. But sure, let's look at their other big men. Steven Adams was a contributor last season as a rookie, and by all accounts has looked improved in the preseason. They also drafted Mitch McGary who performed well in his preseason debut before getting injured. We all know Kendrick Perkins sucks, but his contract is almost up, and just in time for when the cap jumps. So their big man situation is at worst improvable.

I don't think it's accurate to say they have no bench when they have one of the best sixth men in the league in Reggie Jackson. They also have Jeramy Lamb. I'm not a fan, but he has shown considerable flashes and I think it remains to be seen if he becomes a legit impact player on a regular basis.

Scott Brooks is definitely a marginal coach. But that's not something they're locked into. They can discard him if need be.

So with all these things considered, it's hard for me to see how they don't qualify as a "true contender."

You're totally right. I guess I feel like I'm right, too. I agree that they're a "contender" in the literal sense; every year they are one of the handful of teams that people agree have a shot at the title. And that's about all you can hope for as a team, because actually winning the trophy is so random and depends on so many factors.

I just meant that I think they have a bunch of hurdles in their way that cause me to think that they'll never actually win it. I have no faith in Scott Brooks as a coach, for starters. I think he's limited and doesn't know what to do to win some of these tough playoff series. Also I think their FO has pinched too many pennies. The Harden trade is an obvious example, but they just never seem to bring in any interesting talent in the offseason. Part of it might be that they are in boring Oklahoma, but who wouldn't want to play with KD and Westbrook and win a title?

I don't have any faith in their young guys or bench. Steven Adams is a nice prospect, but I don't think Jeremy Lamb or PJIII are any good.

I *love* Kevin Durant, and I want to see him do well. But I watch this team in the playoffs and I see them overly dependent on Westbrook and KD chucking up shots and no semblance of a strategy or offense. I just don't think they will ever win a championship that way. They are a "contender" but I just think they have peaked unless they fire Brooks, get 1-2 more solid rotation guys, and instill a much more disciplined offensive strategy.

[SDC]

Interesting NYT article on Sarver's preseason apology.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/sp ... ?referrer=

are the players willing to take a 20% pay cut for fewer regular season games?

as for the sarver-spurs situation, spurs line that they need to rest players is BS. you stop playing players only late in the regular season if you're playoff spot is secure to avoid injuries, not to "rest" them. you think the spurs will "rest" ginobili or parker if they are competing for a playoff spot late in the season?

and as i said before, the number of games isnt the problem (players are getting paid handsomely for it), it's the constant travelling across america.