New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season

jadis said:
what a downturn in the last 2 years of odom. from a champion and sixth man of the year in 2011 to this...what is he not happy about?
Click to expand...

Maybe he doesn't like being back up to Khloe (no pun intended ;))

I heard on one of the news networks today that there has never been a TV reality show involving a marriage where the marriage has not failed
 
It would be nice and even a dream match if Kobe and the Lakers can take on Lebron and the Heat, Time is running down. Maybe next year is the only time it can happen.
 
Steve Williams said:
Maybe he doesn't like being back up to Khloe (no pun intended ;))

I heard on one of the news networks today that there has never been a TV reality show involving a marriage where the marriage has not failed
Click to expand...

Been away for a little while, busy moving. We are getting settled in now.

Looks like Lamar is finally finished in the NBA. Thank goodness the Clippers didn't sign him.
 
40 years is really really a long time for a big city like NY to wait for an NBA title, but I think it's still much shorter than the Red Sox getting over the 'curse of the Bambino'. :D Somehow I do not feel what JR is saying. :D

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports....hampionship-this-year-according-to-j-r-smith/

Knicks will win NBA championship this year, according to J.R. Smith

Scott Schroeder

Sep 1, 2013, 4:38 PM EDT
13 Comments
J.R. Smith

The New York Knicks are guaranteed to win an championship this year, according to a column written by Marc Berman of the New York Post. Berman’s source, however, was none other than Knicks sixth-man extraordinaire J.R. Smith.

Smith made headlines on Saturday after Ian Begley fired off a few tweets regarding the beef between Smith and new Brooklyn Nets wing Paul Pierce, but that wasn’t the end of Earl The Third’s Saturday thoughts. The mercurial sharpshooter also made a few other disparaging comments about the Nets after guaranteeing a championship.

During a question-and-answer session with kid golfers at Chelsea Piers, Smith was asked how sure he was of the Knicks ending their title drought this season.

“I’m 100 percent sure,” the swingman said.

Smith was then asked why he joined the Knicks over the Nets when he came back from China in February 2012.

“The Nets weren’t good,’’ Smith said. “Now they’re still not good.’’

The Nets are substantially better than they were last season at this time, but that’s not the most controversial statement Smith made on Saturday. No, Smith guaranteed a championship for a team that made Andrea Bargnani their big addition this summer and hasn’t been to the NBA Finals since the 1998-99 lockout — and hasn’t won an NBA Finals since the 1972-73 squad that featured Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, Jerry Lucas, Phil Jackson, Henry Bibby and the recently deceased Dean Meminger.

The NBA news cycle hasn’t been intense over the holiday weekend, but at least J.R. Smith is doing his part to keep reporters busy.
 
NBA superfan Jimmy Goldstein has his own ideas about how to stop flopping.........

As the NBA’s unending quest to remedy the flopping craze in the exact worst way continues unabated, while team owners take out their own checkbooks in order to try to end what the league office has created, one of the league’s more colorful fans has taken to the league’s own website to kvetch about a problem he gets to see from just a few feet from the middle of the paint.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...n-own-ideas-stop-flopping-175814547--nba.html
 
The Rise and Fall of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics

By Justin Haskins | Yahoo! Contributor Network

COMMENTARY | It would have been hard to imagine on June 3, 2010, when the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics started what would become an epic seven-game series in the 2010 NBA Finals, that both teams would be projected to have rough seasons in 2013-2014.
Yes, the Celtics and Lakers were already two of the oldest in the NBA. Yes, both were likely to lose some of their key players within the next few seasons. But did anyone think that both teams would be in the position they are today?

The recent rise and fall of the two most successful and prestigious NBA franchises in history isn't a cautionary tale of how to avoid the inevitable decline that old age eventually brings to even the most prepared front offices; it's a display of the two blueprints utilized by the two best organizations in the NBA over the past 50 years and an explanation for the roster decisions made by both teams now in preparation for the future.

The 'Laker Way'
It's impossible to talk about the Lakers' 2013 offseason without mentioning the departure of superstar center Dwight Howard to the Houston Rockets. Despite all the talk of the so-called "Dwightmare" in Los Angeles last season, it was clear that Lakers ownership and the front office planned on Howard staying in Southern California. The team would almost certainly not have traded the young Andrew Bynum in exchange for Howard if it had known for certain he would walk away only a year later.
And while many Lakers fans were relieved to see Howard go, a position that itself is debatable, the reasons for keeping him fit perfectly into the model the Los Angeles Lakers consistently employ to build great teams. It all starts with a successful draft pick, one star who will either be the first or second option on the team but always serves as a foundation upon which a championship team can be built. This role continues to be filled by the ageless Kobe Bryant, who is currently recovering from an Achilles tendon tear at a record pace.
The Lakers then primarily use their giant wallet, along with the allure of Hollywood Boulevard and the Southern California sunshine, to bring in at least one superstar through free agency or by a trade. If, for some reason, the one added superstar isn't enough or isn't working out, the Lakers quickly dump the player or add another star. In short, the "Laker Way" is to let the weather, the Hollywood stars sitting courtside, and the championship banners hanging in the rafters sell the team for them.

The only real team-building comes in the initial stages of development, when the Lakers look to find that first great player through the draft and when the team needs to find solid role players. The rest of the work is done by the coaching staff, which is nearly always composed of some of the league's most talented and highest paid coaches.
Following Kobe Bryant's injury and Dwight Howard's decision to leave Los Angeles, the Lakers could have employed a conventional approach to the 2013-2014 season, accepting that the team would likely not compete for a playoff spot and allowing the Lakers to get their hands on a valuable 2014 lottery pick. But losing, even for one season, is not the "Laker Way."
Instead, the team aggressively signed veteran center Chris Kaman and the offensively gifted, yet defensively unfocused Nick Young. Both guys are solid additions but neither is going to make the Lakers title contenders, even with a healthy Kobe Bryant. They are, however, likely going to be important starters for the 2014-2015 season when the team will make another championship push. The current strategy for the Lakers, which falls perfectly into the blueprint the team has always utilized to build championship squads, is to compete as much as possible now while also ensuring that cap space is freed up in the upcoming offseason so that the Lakers can snag a superstar from another organization.
Rumors are already flying that the team is interested in adding Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, Danny Granger or Dirk Nowitzki, all of whom are set to be unrestricted free agents or have an early termination clause in a current contract.

The 'Celtic Way'
In complete contrast to the plan put in place by the Lakers, the Boston Celtics traded two of their biggest stars, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, for draft picks and expiring contracts while also letting star coach Doc Rivers walk away from Boston in return for another draft pick. Unlike the Lakers, who rely on free agency to build contenders, the Celtics have nearly always built teams from within the organization. Even when the team has added important players through trades, it is usually older veterans looking to win titles, not younger guys looking to sign big deals to stay in Boston.

This more conventional strategy of adding as many younger assets as possible to help rebuild within the organization is more a result of the fact that NBA free agents typically refuse to sign in Boston. The weather is lousy in the winter, the expectations are always extremely high, the sports media is a circus and any superstar on the team is inevitably stacked up to legends of the past like Larry Bird, Bob Cousy and Bill Russell -- names almost no one can actually live up to.
Additionally, if a player is actually willing to put himself through all of the scrutiny and the harshness of a New England winter, as well as the very high taxes, there are two teams in New York, a bigger and more glamorous city, that often have more to offer.

Knowing the difficulties traditionally experienced by Celtics teams in the past in free agency, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is focused on adding as many young players and assets for the draft as possible, a goal he has been extremely successful in fulfilling. The Celtics currently hold additional first-round picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018 from the Brooklyn Nets and a 2015 first-round pick from the Los Angeles Clippers. They also have three very promising young players under the age of 23 -- Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk and Jared Sullinger -- as well All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo, age 27, who could be re-signed to a maximum contract deal in the near future or dealt for more draft picks or young players.

Two very different strategies
Although each team's strategy for future success is radically different, both have produced significant results in the past. The Lakers have won more championships in the modern era than any other team by adding players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal and by paying big-name coaches like Pat Riley and Phil Jackson huge salaries, a strategy they plan on repeating over the 2013-2014 season and into the offseason. The Celtics, on the other hand, have relied on savvy front-office moves, drafting, player development and using young assets to trade for older veterans to establish championship-caliber squads.

The past may not always predict the future, but if it is any indication at all of what is to come, you should expect both the Lakers and Celtics to make championship runs within the next five years. And for all you doubters out there who think such a positive outlook is unlikely, remember that these teams have been competing at this level for 50 years with only a few droughts. There is a reason they deserve to be called two of the greatest organizations in sports history, and the behind-the-scenes moves being made right now only serve as further proof of that designation.
 
Steve Williams said:
The Rise and Fall of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics

By Justin Haskins | Yahoo! Contributor Network

COMMENTARY | It would have been hard to imagine on June 3, 2010, when the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics started what would become an epic seven-game series in the 2010 NBA Finals, that both teams would be projected to have rough seasons in 2013-2014.
Yes, the Celtics and Lakers were already two of the oldest in the NBA. Yes, both were likely to lose some of their key players within the next few seasons. But did anyone think that both teams would be in the position they are today?

The recent rise and fall of the two most successful and prestigious NBA franchises in history isn't a cautionary tale of how to avoid the inevitable decline that old age eventually brings to even the most prepared front offices; it's a display of the two blueprints utilized by the two best organizations in the NBA over the past 50 years and an explanation for the roster decisions made by both teams now in preparation for the future.

The 'Laker Way'
It's impossible to talk about the Lakers' 2013 offseason without mentioning the departure of superstar center Dwight Howard to the Houston Rockets. Despite all the talk of the so-called "Dwightmare" in Los Angeles last season, it was clear that Lakers ownership and the front office planned on Howard staying in Southern California. The team would almost certainly not have traded the young Andrew Bynum in exchange for Howard if it had known for certain he would walk away only a year later.
And while many Lakers fans were relieved to see Howard go, a position that itself is debatable, the reasons for keeping him fit perfectly into the model the Los Angeles Lakers consistently employ to build great teams. It all starts with a successful draft pick, one star who will either be the first or second option on the team but always serves as a foundation upon which a championship team can be built. This role continues to be filled by the ageless Kobe Bryant, who is currently recovering from an Achilles tendon tear at a record pace.
The Lakers then primarily use their giant wallet, along with the allure of Hollywood Boulevard and the Southern California sunshine, to bring in at least one superstar through free agency or by a trade. If, for some reason, the one added superstar isn't enough or isn't working out, the Lakers quickly dump the player or add another star. In short, the "Laker Way" is to let the weather, the Hollywood stars sitting courtside, and the championship banners hanging in the rafters sell the team for them.

The only real team-building comes in the initial stages of development, when the Lakers look to find that first great player through the draft and when the team needs to find solid role players. The rest of the work is done by the coaching staff, which is nearly always composed of some of the league's most talented and highest paid coaches.
Following Kobe Bryant's injury and Dwight Howard's decision to leave Los Angeles, the Lakers could have employed a conventional approach to the 2013-2014 season, accepting that the team would likely not compete for a playoff spot and allowing the Lakers to get their hands on a valuable 2014 lottery pick. But losing, even for one season, is not the "Laker Way."
Instead, the team aggressively signed veteran center Chris Kaman and the offensively gifted, yet defensively unfocused Nick Young. Both guys are solid additions but neither is going to make the Lakers title contenders, even with a healthy Kobe Bryant. They are, however, likely going to be important starters for the 2014-2015 season when the team will make another championship push. The current strategy for the Lakers, which falls perfectly into the blueprint the team has always utilized to build championship squads, is to compete as much as possible now while also ensuring that cap space is freed up in the upcoming offseason so that the Lakers can snag a superstar from another organization.
Rumors are already flying that the team is interested in adding Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, Danny Granger or Dirk Nowitzki, all of whom are set to be unrestricted free agents or have an early termination clause in a current contract.

The 'Celtic Way'
In complete contrast to the plan put in place by the Lakers, the Boston Celtics traded two of their biggest stars, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, for draft picks and expiring contracts while also letting star coach Doc Rivers walk away from Boston in return for another draft pick. Unlike the Lakers, who rely on free agency to build contenders, the Celtics have nearly always built teams from within the organization. Even when the team has added important players through trades, it is usually older veterans looking to win titles, not younger guys looking to sign big deals to stay in Boston.

This more conventional strategy of adding as many younger assets as possible to help rebuild within the organization is more a result of the fact that NBA free agents typically refuse to sign in Boston. The weather is lousy in the winter, the expectations are always extremely high, the sports media is a circus and any superstar on the team is inevitably stacked up to legends of the past like Larry Bird, Bob Cousy and Bill Russell -- names almost no one can actually live up to.
Additionally, if a player is actually willing to put himself through all of the scrutiny and the harshness of a New England winter, as well as the very high taxes, there are two teams in New York, a bigger and more glamorous city, that often have more to offer.

Knowing the difficulties traditionally experienced by Celtics teams in the past in free agency, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is focused on adding as many young players and assets for the draft as possible, a goal he has been extremely successful in fulfilling. The Celtics currently hold additional first-round picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018 from the Brooklyn Nets and a 2015 first-round pick from the Los Angeles Clippers. They also have three very promising young players under the age of 23 -- Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk and Jared Sullinger -- as well All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo, age 27, who could be re-signed to a maximum contract deal in the near future or dealt for more draft picks or young players.

Two very different strategies
Although each team's strategy for future success is radically different, both have produced significant results in the past. The Lakers have won more championships in the modern era than any other team by adding players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal and by paying big-name coaches like Pat Riley and Phil Jackson huge salaries, a strategy they plan on repeating over the 2013-2014 season and into the offseason. The Celtics, on the other hand, have relied on savvy front-office moves, drafting, player development and using young assets to trade for older veterans to establish championship-caliber squads.

The past may not always predict the future, but if it is any indication at all of what is to come, you should expect both the Lakers and Celtics to make championship runs within the next five years. And for all you doubters out there who think such a positive outlook is unlikely, remember that these teams have been competing at this level for 50 years with only a few droughts. There is a reason they deserve to be called two of the greatest organizations in sports history, and the behind-the-scenes moves being made right now only serve as further proof of that designation.
Click to expand...


Steve, between our 2 teams, we have about 33 championships and I personally wonder why there are so few Celtics fans out here. :D Is it because they are for the Lakers? :D

I see Ainge wheeling and dealing some of his future first rounders to land a good veteran or two. As for the Lakers, it is their 'tradition' to land some big name players, if not a big player. So next 5 years is a good estimate for either these 2 teams to be on top again. So make your hay while the sun shines, Pacers, Nets, and those who will top the west. Kill the Heat first. :D
 
The problem with the C's draft picks is that they come from strong teams. They'll be picking late in the drafts including next year's draft which looks to be THE draft.
 
JackD201 said:
The problem with the C's draft picks is that they come from strong teams. They'll be picking late in the drafts including next year's draft which looks to be THE draft.
Click to expand...

True Jack, but one tactic of Ainge is to package 2 picks to move up, or possibly even 3 picks for the rights to a top pick. He showed this in the recent draft. Trading his 16th plus a 2nd rounder or cash to grab a 13th pick who is Kelly Olynyk, a 7 foot Dirk Nowitzki 'play-alike'. :D Remember he shoved in 7 (seven) players, picks, plus some young veterans, to land 1 Kevin Garnett. Call him a maverick GM. :)

And looking at the 'bright side', Boston could win 20 games this coming season and get into the lottery, if not, get one of the top 10 picks. :D So I say, shop Rondo. :)
 
I didn't know that Phil :) What I am wondering now is who will eventually keep 2014's THE pick. Looks like that kid is the next KD and then some.
 
JackD201 said:
I didn't know that Phil :) What I am wondering now is who will eventually keep 2014's THE pick. Looks like that kid is the next KD and then some.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Wiggins should shake the NBA again. I didn't know that there is a WNBA player named Wiggins too, she hit six 3s the other day and make the headlines, I clicked on it thinking that that Wiggins was a HE. :D
 
There's Jabari maybe in 2015 too!
 
Just stumbled into this picture. Look at those biceps, I mean, KD's... :D No contest.

1nba.jpg
 
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