But they need him to contribute, like him or not. In addition, he'd looked good in the preseason and some were seduced despite the small sample size.

I definitely can see it now. They are picking apart the Mavs

They need him to contribute on the defensive end but I am not expecting that since he has always been a horrible defender.

No offense to anyone here but I hate the NBA, David Stern and Clay Bennett for stealing the OKC Sonics from Seattle. If you ever want to see what really happened on that deal do a YouTube search for "Sonics gate". The whole thing was a scam.

The NBA will return to Seattle soon and you'll be better of with a new owner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GlmR0jTf9w&sns=em


Kevin Garnett you mad bro?



**** embedding, I'm too busy.

Im gonna like this Jae Crowder kid

I think the team people may be over looking is the Clippers. That teams depth is going to give them a chance.

I expected the Lakers to start out rough. Howard isn't quite Howard yet. Their bench is still weak. I favor them, but SA, OKC, and the Clippers will all contend. They won't get the cake walk the Heat will get.

He's feeling it for sure.

I keep waiting for the day where Gasol will get a call for getting elbowed in the face over and over or at least go off and start firing on somebody's mug but I am getting the feeling neither will ever happen.

Our bench is garbage.

I can't believe we couldn't find someone better than Jordyn Hill.

If your not going to play D and your bigs won't stand up for themselves when they are being constantly hacked with no calls you don't deserve to win. I am pretty much gonna crash unless their effort changes really quick.

Meh, he was decent last year and didn't cost too much.

Bet you he misses these.

Finally a friggen call on hacking a big. I didn't even think they would call that. Hill will b alright.

Told you.

I'm savoring this because I know there's a 50/50 chance the Mavs won't make the playoffs.

No effort by the Lakers tonight. 2-7 footers and get killed on the offensive glass. It's a long season, but they are going to have to play a lot harder than this.

Carlisle is a hell of a coach. You'll have a good shot.

Maybe. I just don't see it.

disagree, Dallas has some nice pieces with Kamen, Collinson, Mayo, and Brand to go along with Dirk. I think its possible they are a top 5 team in the West

Carlisle is one of the 3 best coaches in the NBA behind Pop and Doc Rivers. Few do more with less than that guy.

Just an awful game. Truly awful for the Lakers. Mike Brown is just atrocious.

WTF was that shit? Why is Mike Brown running an offense that doesn't involve Steve Nash doing a pick-and-roll (which is almost a sure basket and has been for over a decade)?

Because he's the basketball version of Romeo Crennel.

Literally makes no ****ing sense to run a Princeton offense when you have a PG like Nash. It's like running the option with Peyton Manning.

Nash should be the prime decision maker in the offense.

He can shove it up his ass about how great this offense will be in January. Any offense that negates your PG is dogshit.

Shaq just challanged Jason Whitlock to a fight

someone upload video to youtube. Happened after Laker/Dallas game.

Now they showed a picture of Whitlock.

Shaq clowned him. Called him fat.

:)

Brown is an idiot. For the life of me I have no idea why they picked that clown.

The Mavs are such a toss up that it's ridiculous. It'll still be a month and a half until Dirk comes back, who knows how long Kaman will stay out, and we have a bunch of 1 year contract guys. The 1 year guys might show up and play hard for a contract or they might mail it in because of lack of team unity from knowing that they won't be here next year. However, if anyone can make it work, it's Carlisle. That guy is a badass coach.

Yep, there's a reason guys like Collison, Mayo, Brand, etc. were allowed to walk by their former teams. However, Carlisle is so damn good he may very well mold this team into a competitive and consistent group. They won't be able to beat the upper echelon teams when those teams play well, but that's still enough to win 40+.

Who should they have hired? Not saying Brown is a good coach by any means, but NBA coaches are really hit or miss. It's extremely difficult to find a good one.

From what I saw last night, the Thunder are still the best team in the West, even without Harden. They have the talent and chemistry.

It's entirely too early to draw any conclusions. When the Heat brought in LeBron and Bosh, they were 7-7 in their first 14 games.

Also, friendly reminder : NBA League Pass is free from 10/30 to 11/6

They made no run at trying to retain Phil Jackson and the whole clean cut thing was a bad idea IMO. After at least trying to make a serious run at Phil I would have thought Brian Shaw would have been a much better choice and a simpler, cleaner trasition. If they were going to move on for sure they should have courted Byron Scott the year before. Any opportunity to have picked up Sloan would have been a good move IMO. I can't stand Brown.

Yea because making decisions based upon new teams on their first game is always a wise choice.

Laker fans have to be a little concerned considering they are now 0-10?

And yes I know preseason games are meaningless but the same issues showed up last night.

Mike Brown makes RAC look competent

I agree. The Bus family is usually pretty smart so I can't believe they passed on Brian Shaw for Brown

Sure I am concerned but there is a lot of time to get things straight and a whole lot of talent to do it with.

man it is going to be another depressing season to be a Wizards fan

ugh

I wonder where Cleveland and LeBron would be if we had a different coach besides Brown...

Ummm..Harden is straight up dominating tonight 36-12 assists, 3-4 steals

People that say Harden is a max contract player need their heads checked.

I'm a Lakers fan and I'm absolutely concerned about this offense.

He's essentially taking the ball out of one of the 5 best ball handlers of all time. Steve Nash should quarterback this offense. They should also run, run, run and stop getting into these ridiculous half-court sets.

The Princeton offense is great for a team that doesn't have dominant players.

The Lakers have 4 top 25 players on their team, and they can't effectively score. That's a huge issue. Nash ran 1 pick and roll with Howard. This is the best P&R combo in the league right now based on their skillsets, and they ran one.

Giving Mike Brown this type of talent is like giving a 16 year old blind kid the keys to a Range Rover. All that's going to happen is a major accident.

After his domination tonight against the Pistons I would say hell yes.

on his own team yes he is

who else is Houston going to give a max contract to? The ghost of Yao Ming?


Houston isnt going to win a championship with or without Harden but at least with him he will put people in the seats and put cash in the FO pockets and with Lin and the asian market Harden can benefit greatly

Phil wanted to retire. Phil's body couldnt take the constant flying anymor. Do you remember there was even talk of him not coaching when the team went to the east coast.


Phil is a great coach but his body is hurting and he's not young. Phil now just chills in Montana and in L.A with Jeanie

Harden went OFF. F me.

You mean isn't, I think.

Harden is a fantastic basketball player and well worth what he's being paid now. Unsurprisingly, he dominated tonight's game. OKC will miss his presence greatly.

Lakers getting the shit kicked out of them again.

Lake Show! 0-2

Is Mike Brown fired yet?

**** the clippers. **** them. i wish they were dead.

People were interested in seeing Harden with a full complement of minutes, and with the keys turned over to him full time. Um, I'd say he's validated the "one of the best 20 players in the league" statement some have made. Funny thing is, watching the game.....dude didn't even know the plays. They were telling him where to go on out of bounds plays. Otherwise, it was just free flowing pick and roll. Either he initiated or Lin initiated and they played off each other. If I'm a Houston fan, I'm ecstatic that I now have this team to watch every game. Damn fun team.

Griffin is really f'ing annoying on the court at this point. Guy complains as much or more than anyone out there. Conley wasn't his efficient self, and ZBo needs to make his damn free throws.

*ok i really don't wish they were literally dead but OH MY GOD I HATE THEM SO MUCH

He's my least favorite player in the league, without question. Or at least I'm pretty sure he is, since no other NBA player brings me to the verge of a frothing rage every single time I'm reminded of his existence.

I know no one will care, but the Warriors won in Phoenix with Curry not having a worth a shit night.

If Harden continues to go off like tonight then he needed to leave. OKC was holding him back. I'll be rooting for Houston because I can't not like Harden. OKC will be fine though IMO.

The Lakers are playing shockingly bad. Mike Brown may not make it 20 games at this rate.

Agree with all of this. I actually think most are underrating Kevin Martin. They guy is a career 18 ppg scorer who will spread the floor with his outside shooting. In addition, he gets to the line a lot and shoots a very high %. He's not Harden, but he gives you much of what Harden gave you.

It's an interesting concept... you think there's no way they'd be better off without Harden. I can't possibly say that, but it is possible to have too many cooks in the kitchen. Someone eventually has to take charge, especially in the NBA. Notice how the Heat got over the hump when LeBron finally took control.

Although I've said all along I refuse to count out any team that has Kevin Durant. He is an unstoppable force.

Royce White is another very likable Rocket... can't wait until hes ready to move into the starting lineup. Very unselfish PG in a PF body.

By the way, is Mike Brown fired yet?

those Lakers guards better learn some defense quick because they got crapped on by a rookie guard and Wes ****ing Matthews

and its going to be a long season if they are letting Damien Lillard put up 20 on them lol

As a Magic fan, I can tell you Lakers fans you might get angry at Dwight from time to time. He's a great defender in the paint and a great rebounder of course, but offensively at times he just really sucks. He showed flashes last year. It seemed he had really worked on his little hook and his overall footwork. Sometimes he is just careless. He likes to hold the ball down low and gets stripped a lot. He pouts to the refs EVERY time he misses a shot or gets stripped (like a lot of players). Plus he's just straight up abysmal at free throws. A couple years ago his attitude just took a nosedive. He used to be a happy go lucky guy who seemed to really love the game and his teammates. Then he just became a diva.

i dont think that Dwight is the problem, it is the fact that Steve Nash can not play defense to save his life and they are not running a uptempo run and shoot offense, so Nash also cant play the half court triangle sets or isolation either.


there is a lot of good young point guards and combo guards in the NBA now, with tons of potential. And they are going to eat Nash up every game. (Collison and Lillard for example.) Guys like Kyrie Irving are going to shit on the Lakers for this very reason. Russel Westbrook is going to eat them up and spit them out

They didn't bring in Nash because he was as good defender, and none of the rest of the Laker guards can defend. I'm not sure what you were expecting.

No I don't think Dwight is the problem at all, I'm just saying...he will piss you off at times.

As I've said many times, Harden is an incredible natural talent and he has a very high BBIQ. His vision on the court is superb. Offensively, there shouldn't have been any question that he would excel with a new team. The question for him will be whether he can maintain this kind of effort over a full season (he often didn't in college when he was a #1, he got bored and lazy at that level at times). I doubt today's game will be a one-time thing or anything, but I certainly do think he was trying to prove a point and was more focused because of it.

OKC will be fine. Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka is probably enough to win at least 55 games by themselves. But Harden is a significant loss (2nd on their team in win shares). Nobody else on that roster can match the production that he was giving them last season..

They really missed his presence in the Finals.

I know. His no-show there was a huge reason why they lost.

Dwight has a tendency to be soft at times. If he ever wants to win a championship, he'll have to get mentally tougher.

I thought they brought in Nash to do what he's done his entire career incredibly efficiently and run the pick and roll. But Mike Brown.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...arden-disaster

Typo on my part. He def is one. Meant to have isn't not is.

Agree.

BTW I was rooting for your Raptors last night and they really should won that game. They have a chance to be a playoff team but can't blow games like last night.

Harden is a max contract player. He earned it. The problem is OKC has 2 other max contract players, and his role on the Thunder was to provide bench scoring. You had 2 options. Trade Westbrook for a similar deal, and keep and sign Harden to start or what they did. It's a difficult choice to make. I could make a case for going either way.

Martin just needs to be a scoring 6th man off the bench with Maynor facilitating. It will take a while to get it going, but they will be fine. The goods news is they got rid of 3 players that can't play, and added an extra talented player. The trade can't be judged until the picks are used in some way. We will know in 3 or 4 years. Maybe sooner if the picks are traded.

My instance that Harden is a max player really isn't even about the trade because it's one OKC had to make because Harden needed to be paid like the star he is.

I think Durant really can score over 30 PPG this year.