NBA 2016-2017 Season Thread

[Gibonius]



i am not now nor have i ever been anything that anyone would ever mistake for a basketball player. but when i was in college i was a big-time gym rat and as a sportswriter i covered the college team that included michael cooper (all together now: 'WOW FG IS REALLY OLD"). he was a good guy and used to hang around to talk after practice. one time we were messing around and he dared me to try to steal the ball from him. he dribbled right in front of me, not doing anything special, and left me swatting air like a grizzly after salmon. then he wanted to do the same to me. i swear, i don't think i ever got past one bounce. people just don't appreciate the level of play those guys are at. if you ever get the chance, sometime catch a live practice. it'll blow your mind.

Saw some of that when Durant and the others were playing with the streetball teams in Rucker park. Just killing people, the NBA guys were far and away the best people on the court.

 

[RFX45]

It's official, New Orleans will be the Pelicans next year.

 

[idfnl]



Ainge was a pretty good athlete. He played pro baseball too I think. A lot of those Celtics guys, if you did not know who they were and played them in a pick up game, you'd probably think you could school them as they all looked like they really couldn't play (Ainge, D. Johnson, Parrish, McHale, Bird). Looked like a bunch of suburban dads.

Ya, that was the most ornery looking bunch of players you can imagine. If you were playing pickup (size aside) you'd leave them all on the sidelines.



In other news:

According to The Los Angeles Times, the Lakers held a "loud" clear-the-air meeting Wednesday that included Kobe Bryant directly asking Dwight Howard if Howard disliked playing with him.

According to the report, the meeting started with coach Mike D'Antoni telling the team he was tired of hearing them complain about the offense and ordering them to start playing defense. At one point during the meeting, Bryant then confronted Howard, but the big man reportedly reportedly "didn't go back at Kobe." Add this to the trade rumors, rumblings over D'Antoni's job security and mounting losses and it appears the Lakers' five-ring circus has reached its pinnacle. No one knows where it will go from here, but it's obvious to us something needs to change in L.A.

 

[HRoi]

You know what, I think that Kobe throughout his career has been guilty of some extremely selfish behavior, but not this time. The dude has gone out of his way to get Howard involved, to the point that his own game has suffered and the overreactionary Laker fans have slammed him for it. And then he refuses to blame Howard or say anything negative about him.

If Howard isn't doing well or doesn't like something or someone, it's totally on him

 

[RFX45]

I'm not convinced Howard is even 100% right now. He seems a step slower than previous years and he also doesn't seem as focused.

 

[Vickt]

Not even close. Either that or he's using it as an excuse to check out. His help D is awful, and he just flails at people with his arms instead of moving his feet.

 

[foodguy]

yup. if i see one more uncontested layup followed by bryant, howard and gasol looking at each other without a clue ... who am i kidding? i'll probably see it at dozen times tonight (memphis).

 

[idfnl]



yup. if i see one more uncontested layup followed by bryant, howard and gasol looking at each other without a clue ... who am i kidding? i'll probably see it at dozen times tonight (memphis).

Those reactions are the funniest thing in the NBA right now.



[VIDEO][/VIDEO]


[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

 

[Steve B.]

LAKERS BABY LAKERS

Oh wait- I'm a Clippers fan now

 

[LawrenceMD]

One example of the rocky relationship between the two Western Conference All-Star starters, according to a league source, was a game this season when Howard harped to a teammate about the disparity between his and Bryant's shots while sitting on the bench. The teammate called Bryant over so Howard could tell it to Bryant's face, but Howard refused to speak up.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/...geles-lakers-hold-team-meeting-air-grievances

what a ******* *****.


with howard being so flaky about his impending free agency in orlando (to the point where he shot himself in the foot by opting-in to another year of drama) and the fact that he won't stand up for himself when confronted by kobe... the dude is just so spineless... he is in need of a good ***** slap.

I think thats all howard needed to avoid this mess...a good bitchslap. if he got the bitchslap he deserved in 2010 he would've been in brooklyn or dallas. if he got the bitchslap he deserves this year he would've just told kobe that the offense should run through him.

 

[edinatlanta]

The Lakers are really bad--has anyone pointed this out yet?

 

[idfnl]



http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/...geles-lakers-hold-team-meeting-air-grievances

what a ******* *****.


with howard being so flaky about his impending free agency in orlando (to the point where he shot himself in the foot by opting-in to another year of drama) and the fact that he won't stand up for himself when confronted by kobe... the dude is just so spineless... he is in need of a good ***** slap.

I think thats all howard needed to avoid this mess...a good bitchslap. if he got the bitchslap he deserved in 2010 he would've been in brooklyn or dallas. if he got the bitchslap he deserves this year he would've just told kobe that the offense should run through him.

Kobe is having a solid season, but his routine is starting to wear thin, he's aging and can't put up or shut up like he used to.

DHoward is a ***** and that anecdote is pretty funny about the bench... the team hates Howard and Kobe. They probably wanted to see them argue. Which goes back to my point a few pages ago with that Gerald Henderson dunk and the bench sweating DHoward. Anyone miss that video? Just in case


[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

 

[RFX45]

 

[thinman]

Is anyone else getting the idea that Dwight Howard is just an insufferable drama queen and you can't win with him on your team?

 

[foodguy]



Is anyone else getting the idea that Dwight Howard is just an insufferable drama queen and you can't win with him on your team?

i don't think that's really it at all. he's been hurting because of his back, but there's no arguing that his shots are dramatically down because of sharing the ball. it's natural that he should complain -- the lakers would be a better team going to him more often. so the issue becomes his reluctance to say anything directly to kobe. this is the sticking point. thhroughout his career, kobe has never had anyone able to confront him ... aside from shaq and we all know how that ended. i've got a friend who is close to the team and he says howard is really a good guy and that the problem is that he's so aware of his public personality that he shies away from any situation where he might be the bad guy. that was part of the problem in orlando ... everyone would have understood if he'd just cut and said "i've given you X years, time to go". but because he dragged it out not wanting to be a bad guy, he turned himself into an even worse guy. same thing with him and kobe right now. the underlying reality is that there has to be a certain level of trust to make a team cohesive. if there's not enough trust to honestly bring up issues that are destroying the team, there's not much chance of anything getting better.
i only watched a little of last night's game (this is the first year i've consciously been missing games not because of scheduling conflicts). and while there's no question that kobe shot too much (1/3 of team shots), i couldn't help but notice that almost every time he was in a situation where he hoisted one of those prayers, the other four players were standing around the perimeter watching. i'm not sure which comes first -- kobe's antics or the other players' passivity, but that really kills the offense.