2015-16 NBA Regular Season

[britbox]

The Kobe Bryant farewell tour is becoming a farce IMO. You don't waste a season saying goodbye to a legend. Sure, give him a nice dinner, civic reception... whatever... but this whole farewell tour is hurting the Lakers organization. Don't agree with Magic on his thoughts. Do agree that Jim Buss has to step aside and why not Jerry West?

 

[britbox]

Magic: Lakers "Showtime" would blow out GSW.

 

[DarthFed]

Kobe's contracts have crippled that team for awhile. They will be bad for many years to come. Their season has turned into only being a Kobe farewell tour because the team is that bad. They were never going to be fighting for the playoffs this year or anytime soon.

As for Magic's comments...that'd be one hell of a matchup. I've always felt basketball is the one sport that hasn't necessarily advanced much if at all the past 20-30 years. Players on average may be a bit more athletic but there is a lot more to basketball than that. MJ is still the best player I've seen (not just the greatest which can be different).

 

[britbox]

Kobe's contracts have crippled that team for awhile. They will be bad for many years to come. Their season has turned into only being a Kobe farewell tour because the team is that bad. They were never going to be fighting for the playoffs this year or anytime soon.

As for Magic's comments...that'd be one hell of a matchup. I've always felt basketball is the one sport that hasn't necessarily advanced much if at all the past 20-30 years. Players on average may be a bit more athletic but there is a lot more to basketball than that. MJ is still the best player I've seen (not just the greatest which can be different).

Magic seems to think the Lakers are awash with spare cash at the moment, but they are struggling to attract players with Jim Buss running the show. Do you not think basketball was a lot more physical back in Magic's day?

 

[DarthFed]

It was A LOT more physical back then. The NBA, similar to the NFL, cracked down hard on any physical contact that they deem "unnecessary"

Part of the Laker's problem is that they suck. They no longer can just snap their fingers and think they'll attract big name free agents because they're the Lakers. They need to start showing promise and then they'll be able to attract more free agents.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Milos is playing now, part of the all star festivities, the celebrity game. Of course I just hold my breath when he goes for a lay up or whatever...perfect scenario to hurt yourself for nothing.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Milos ends the first half with a dunk! Easy boy....

 

[brokenshoelace]

The Kobe Bryant farewell tour is becoming a farce IMO. You don't waste a season saying goodbye to a legend. Sure, give him a nice dinner, civic reception... whatever... but this whole farewell tour is hurting the Lakers organization. Don't agree with Magic on his thoughts. Do agree that Jim Buss has to step aside and why not Jerry West?

Normally I'd agree but honestly this Lakers team is so terrible that you might as well put the spotlight on the one thing that'll grab people's attentions. Kobe's contract has hampered the team for so many seasons now that they were unable to build, and they really haven't been able to make the right moves as far as trades go. All of this hurt their ability to attract any marquee free agents. Plus, drafting D'Angelo Russell instead of Jahlil Okafor was a mistake IMO.

I laugh when I hear about them making a move for Durant. Beyond the appeal of the city of Los Angeles, there's no way a player with legit championship aspirations would join the Laker organization in its current state.

 

[britbox]

Blast from the past...

 

[calitennis127]

Normally I'd agree but honestly this Lakers team is so terrible that you might as well put the spotlight on the one thing that'll grab people's attentions. Kobe's contract has hampered the team for so many seasons now that they were unable to build, and they really haven't been able to make the right moves as far as trades go. All of this hurt their ability to attract any marquee free agents. Plus, drafting D'Angelo Russell instead of Jahlil Okafor was a mistake IMO.

I laugh when I hear about them making a move for Durant. Beyond the appeal of the city of Los Angeles, there's no way a player with legit championship aspirations would join the Laker organization in its current state.

That is assuming Byron Scott is still the coach. It is amazing that teams still hire the likes of him or Rambis. They have no winning track record but get they get recycled.

I also do not think the main problem has been Kobe's contract. It is more so that management has made terrible decisions on surrounding players. It wasn't a case of settling so much as misjudging.

 

[calitennis127]

Pretty funny stuff from Griffin. Meanwhile the Clippers have generally played better this year without Blake. I wonder if there will be a shakeup on that team. LAC and OKC are kind of unlucky because they are very good teams that realistically have no chance of going all the way this year.

The Clippers have been a BS team ever since getting Chris Paul. They are an awkward amalgamation of parts that do not mesh well. Chris Paul is one of the most overrated players in NBA history and Griffin's 1-on-1 game is one of the goofiest skill sets you'll ever see. Plus DeAndre is a useless player outside of 6 feet. And then there is JJ Reddick, who after crying over Donald Sterling decided to get tatted up.

I like Crawford but he deserves better than to play with a team of such d bags. And even he has his moments of not shooting well, which really hurts the team because the rest of the roster is junk and there is no back-up.

OKC can beat Golden State when it comes to talent, but coaches are so stupid in how they defend Curry that it is unfortunately improbable. I will root for them though, no doubt about that.

 

[calitennis127]

Magic seems to think the Lakers are awash with spare cash at the moment, but they are struggling to attract players with Jim Buss running the show. Do you not think basketball was a lot more physical back in Magic's day?

What players exactly do you think the Lakers have missed out on free agency?

 

[DarthFed]

^ LaMarcus Aldridge for starters

 

[DarthFed]

The Clippers have been a BS team ever since getting Chris Paul. They are an awkward amalgamation of parts that do not mesh well. Chris Paul is one of the most overrated players in NBA history and Griffin's 1-on-1 game is one of the goofiest skill sets you'll ever see. Plus DeAndre is a useless player outside of 6 feet. And then there is JJ Reddick, who after crying over Donald Sterling decided to get tatted up.

I like Crawford but he deserves better than to play with a team of such d bags. And even he has his moments of not shooting well, which really hurts the team because the rest of the roster is junk and there is no back-up.

OKC can beat Golden State when it comes to talent, but coaches are so stupid in how they defend Curry that it is unfortunately improbable. I will root for them though, no doubt about that.

If anything CP3 is underrated. At worst he is the 3rd best PG and that's the lowest he'd be ranked in a long time. And while Westbrook is the better individual player at this point but I'd take Paul on my team all day over him. Check their record without Griffin this year. He is one of those players that wherever he goes the team will be good. The knock against him and it is a fair one is that he has had some really bad moments in the playoffs. The collapse vs. Houston last year wasn't his fault but he badly choked away the pivotal game 5 vs. OKC the year before.

OKC has the 2nd best chance in the NBA vs. Golden State in the playoffs...and barring injuries it is not a good one. The main edge is that OKC is about the only team Golden State would face that would have 2 of the 3 best players in the series.

 

[calitennis127]

If anything CP3 is underrated. At worst he is the 3rd best PG and that's the lowest he'd be ranked in a long time. And while Westbrook is the better individual player at this point but I'd take Paul on my team all day over him. Check their record without Griffin this year. He is one of those players that wherever he goes the team will be good. The knock against him and it is a fair one is that he has had some really bad moments in the playoffs. The collapse vs. Houston last year wasn't his fault but he badly choked away the pivotal game 5 vs. OKC the year before.

OKC has the 2nd best chance in the NBA vs. Golden State in the playoffs...and barring injuries it is not a good one. The main edge is that OKC is about the only team Golden State would face that would have 2 of the 3 best players in the series.

Paul overdribbles and slows down offensive flow of his teammates. Coaches and basketball nerds like him because they think that his way of playing basketball is the smartest way to play, when it isn't. He is a little drill sergeant holding back his teammates.

I completely disagree that the meltdown against Houston wasn't his fault.....this is typical rationalization for Paul on the part of his fans.

 

[DarthFed]

That team was shit before him and they would now be shit without him...

 

[DarthFed]

The Warriors are now 55-5 and only need to go 18-4 to beat the Bulls all time record of 72-10. I think the only way they don't get it is if San Antonio wins all 3 of their remaining games (2 @ San Antonio and 1 @ Golden State). That or Curry gets injured for an extended amount of time. If Golden State wins 2 out of 3 I think they will get 74 wins. Their schedule aside from SA is weak with lots of home games to end the year. It is pretty incredible what they're doing.

That record season was 20 years ago which is a decent amount of time yet I figured it'd last a heck of a lot longer than it has.

 

[Billie]

Their record is amazing. At the beginning I didn't think that they could do it, most sports are more physical these days than in the past. But the Warriors can definitely do it. Like them or not, they are very impressive. And you can see that they want to win every game. The Saturday overtime thriller vs OKC is proof.

 

[britbox]

What players exactly do you think the Lakers have missed out on free agency?

No idea Cali. don't follow it closely enough to know. Grew up on the Celtics/Lakers in the 80s.... watched the Lakers a lot in the early 2000s, particularly when they had the rivalry with the Kings going, but not a lot since. Didn't like Kobe much and when they jettisoned Shaq lost a lot of interest.

Like GSW too because I visited the Oracle Arena in Oakland and all my NBA/NFl/MLB/Hockey teams are from Oakland or from LA.

So call it passive interest...

 

[DarthFed]

With the biggest upset of the year the Lakers reminded us not to crown GS with the record just yet. Pretty shocking. I still say they have a very good chance of breaking it but that was a bad one to drop.