Nba 2011-2012

Zen

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Did as well as anyone could of with Cleveland tbf, they probably would of won except for modern day sports impatience thus it breaking far quicker than it should have. The Bulls wouldn't have survived in this era either, they had to wait even longer.
 

elmo

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Apart from deferring to the wishes of his star players, I've yet to see what Brown is able to do as a head coach in the NBA.

His teams basically do whatever they want, which works well against the weaker teams but once they match up against another team with as much fire power as them, they're as good as gone.

Anyone else who knows more can tell me otherwise.
 

ha_rooney

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I thought the Lakers defense was an improvement at the start of last season and pundits were attributing that to Brown. However, that good D disappeared around the all-star game and we struggled for the remainder of the year.

I'd have liked to have seen Brian Shaw get the job instead of Brown. Highly rated, he was on the coaching staff with Phil and Kobe liked him.
 

MrMarcello

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No gurantees behind this team, although it's overwhelmingly dominating front-court and back-court.

Remember Lakers had at one point Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Shaq, Bryant and Fisher as the starting five and they won feck all.
True, but you also have note that Malone never fully recovered from a mid-season injury and was barely able to walk let alone play against Detroit (19-5 start to 23-17 without Malone to 14-4 after his return). It completely disrupted their rhythm when he was injured again in the west playoffs.

Payton looked way too old against a younger, tenacious Detroit team.

Today's side you have Nash in the Payton role and the Heat do not have a Billups. Gasol fills the Malone role - not as good defensively but much younger and can score. The Heat are a top notch defensive side but have no one like Ben Wallace to defend the lanes. The Lakers just got better defensively as well. Could end up a great series or a complete romp by either side, assuming either/both sides make the finals of course.
 

gooDevil

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Another "super" team, another nail in the coffin of the NBA.
The NBA have always had super teams, it's not killed the league yet.

Very exciting stuff for LA fans, it will be interesting to see if Kobe can accept the smaller role he'll need to take to succeed with Nash and Howard.

Like the Heat, it may take a season before they know each other well enough to win the title.

I'd have OKC as slight favorites still, but I wouldn't be surprised if they can't keep up with this LA team.
 

gooDevil

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As long as the team gels by the playoffs and get there healthy, they'll be tough to beat. I would expect Nash and Kobe to be the leader of the team, Kobe is at that stage of his career where he knows he can't do it all and expect to be the hero every game in the regular season and the playoffs.

He's shown it last season where he was willing to be second fiddle to Bynum if it meant winning, as long as Nash and Howards gains his trust quickly, Kobe will play in a team.

And just how lucky is Mike Brown? He messes up the Cleveland project with arguably the most wanted player of the 2000s and his reward for that is getting to coach the Lakers?! :lol:

Edit: On hind-sight, killing the CP3 deal was probably the best thing Stern could have done for the Lakers, it left them with 4 superstars now instead of possibly just 3.
Brown let LeBron walk all over him, I assumed the point of LA hiring him was to let Kobe ignore him next, he'd take the check and they wouldn't have to declare Kobe as coach.
 

gooDevil

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Not a bad deal for Denver and Philly either, Philly haven't had a top center since Moses Malone (probably one of the most underrated players ever) and while giving up Afflalo hurts a bit, Iguodala is certainly now the best player in Denver, their best scorer and defender.

The draft picks Orlando gets are not very good.

"Orlando also received five draft picks: a protected first-round pick in 2015 from the Sixers, the Nuggets' lowest first-round pick in 2014 and a protected first-round pick in 2017 from the Lakers. Orlando also received a 2013 second-round pick from the Nuggets and a conditional 2015 second-round pick from the Lakers."

Ouch.
 

elmo

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Not a bad deal for Denver and Philly either, Philly haven't had a top center since Moses Malone (probably one of the most underrated players ever) and while giving up Afflalo hurts a bit, Iguodala is certainly the now the best player in Denver, their best scorer and defender.

The draft picks Orlando gets are not very good.

"Orlando also received five draft picks: a protected first-round pick in 2015 from the Sixers, the Nuggets' lowest first-round pick in 2014 and a protected first-round pick in 2017 from the Lakers. Orlando also received a 2013 second-round pick from the Nuggets and a conditional 2015 second-round pick from the Lakers."

Ouch.
But will Bynum stay after next season? He's definitely going to test the free agent market and the Sixers don't have the players to convince him they'll stand a chance of winning to get him to resign.
 

gooDevil

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I guess that's why Orlando took so long to make a deal, they couldn't believe they wouldn't get more out of this.

But what good is getting Howard if he's not going to resign? Almost none, no team would give up a top player for a rental like that. Really it's just a case of getting the contracts to match to make the trade pass regulations.

I think this just shows how idiotic the Knicks were to give up all their good players for Melo when they could have had him for nothing in 6 months. Really, what is the point of having Melo on the Knicks for the 2nd half of a season where they obviously won't win the title?

The only benefit is clearing contract space to sign Amare and Chandler, but they could have also traded those players from the Melo trade in order to attract a top player instead of being limited to free agents.
 

gooDevil

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Knicks finally get the NBAs top jersey seller in Lin and then they decide he's too expensive, including luxury taxes, to sign. It's the first time the Knicks have passed on a player because he cost too much in living memory.

Stephon Marbury - 4 years $76m
Alan Houston - 6 years $120m
Jerome James - 5 years $30m
Jalen Rose - 2 years $33m
Shandon Anderson - 6 years $41m
Steve Francis - 2 years $40m
Eddie Curry - 6 years $60m

And that's not all of their bad contracts in the last 10 years or so. But let's let Lin go because the taxes are 10m more than we want to pay!
 

adexkola

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I just watched the highlights of the Olympic final. Pau seemed impressive, and if he can stay consistent through the upcoming NBA season (a big if), I can see the Lakers getting to the conference finals next season, at the very least. Still not sure about their ability to defeat a blazing Thunder and Heat.
 

OGkush

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I know it's not realistic to expect the Knicks to win it all, but I want them to win it so bad. Melo fecking deserves a ring :)
The clear favorites though are: 1) Heat 2) Lakers 3) Thunder 4) Bulls in that order IMO. (It's hard to pick between the first 3, but Bulls are the clear #4 here considering this offseason)
 

gooDevil

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It's a shame about Rose, Chicago was just as good, if not better, than Miami last season, but having him out pretty much wipes this season, even if he comes back with a few months left I can't see Chicago getting back to their best that fast.
 

adexkola

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I know it's not realistic to expect the Knicks to win it all, but I want them to win it so bad. Melo fecking deserves a ring :)
The clear favorites though are: 1) Heat 2) Lakers 3) Thunder 4) Bulls in that order IMO. (It's hard to pick between the first 3, but Bulls are the clear #4 here considering this offseason)
Brooklyn's more likely to win it than the Knicks.

Just finding out Bynum is at Philly, and Igoudala is in Denver. Interesting trade.