The ILF-ILNBA Basketball Thread

[pelliott]

UMAD

[D.o.S.]

obvs.

[MSUsousaphone]

[bigchiefbc]

So I know it was only preseason, but holy shit the Celtics actually looked competent. They're still not going to contend for shit, but they might actually end up fighting Toronto for the division.

Also, holy SHIT the Nets are bad. The one thing that gives me hope as a Celtics fan is the fact that we have their next 3 1st rounders (including the pick swap in '17), and those look like they're going to be very high picks.

[rustywire]

League Pass free preview until Nov 3rd.
Check your cable/sat listings.

Added thoughts+
Pistons def have a shot at the 8th seed. Maybe even the 7.
The Knicks will not make the playoffs but somehow come close (since East)
Their fans rage about KrisPo's lack of development under Fisher by...Thanksgiving.

Lol@Lakers winning the title currently being the most placed NBA bet in Vegas...even more than the Cavs/Warriors.
Yeah, right.

Don't sleep on the Celtics. They play hard...with a squad of solid roleplayers.
What they lack is a star; someone who can get a crucial, timely bucket/assist in crunch time.
Isaiah Thomas is their best scorer but comes off the bench and will close games. This points to a pending move for a #1 option/starter.
Brad Stevens can coach, I keep waiting for the Danny Ainge trade of the decade to materialize.
Maybe this is the year he cashes in the chips and gets a go-to guy.
If I had to guess who's in green by trade deadline...it's Boogie Cousins. Or maybe Drummund if the Pistons take a major nosedive/SVG wears on him.

[D.o.S.]

No way Sacramento trades Cousins.

The Celtics have a roster of 11 great bench guys. They just don't have any actual good players... instead they have Evan Turner and David Lee (excuse me while I vomit). Optimistic for Smart's future development, though.

[pelliott]

I like Smart and think he can top out as a 2nd/3rd best player on a title team, but they do need a legit superstar.

Ainge's only good trades came when the Sonics were having a salary-offloading rebuild fire sale and when his old teammate bro-dealed him a superstar. He's not a very good GM and a bitch to deal with because he thinks he can catch lightning in a bottle again by offering terrible lopsided deals. And the Celtics can never fire him because there'd be a riot.

[D.o.S.]

I like Smart and think he can top out as a 2nd/3rd best player on a title team, but they do need a legit superstar.

Ainge's only good trades came when the Sonics were having a salary-offloading rebuild fire sale and when his old teammate bro-dealed him a superstar.

And the Billy King swindle (even if Pierce should have retired with the C's after playing out his whole career).

[pelliott]

Yeah King is a super nice guy but isn't... exactly... savvy... I was actually just gonna say those picks are going to be very valuable if Ainge wanted to deal for a superstar.

[D.o.S.]

Insofar as I have any insight into him at all, Billy King is a really nice dude who speaks very well and has the uncanny ability to smile and handshake his way through pretty much every fuckup you can think of.

While I am jealous of that ability, I don't think I'd want his track record.

[bigchiefbc]

No way Sacramento trades Cousins.

The Celtics have a roster of 11 great bench guys. They just don't have any actual good players... instead they have Evan Turner and David Lee (excuse me while I vomit). Optimistic for Smart's future development, though.

As much as I like to be super rough on the Celtics, I think you're being overly harsh here. Smart and Amir Johnson are NBA caliber starters. Sullinger COULD be if he gave a shit and got in shape. He has great post moves. David Lee was a good add this year too. The nice thing is that I don't have to root against them for draft purposes anymore, since their own pick doesn't matter anymore now that the Nets picks are all starting to kick in.

[D.o.S.]

Oh, and your post adds on to the fact that we have a starting 5's worth of power forwards, at least two of which are looking to get paid this summer.

Smart's defense is starting caliber, but his offense is far from it (particularly considering how deep the 1 spot is today), which is why we have the abomination that is Evan Turner on the team -- to run the offense, even though he doesn't seem to actually play the sort of basketball Stevens wants to emphasize, because he's garbage without the ball but isn't good enough with it to justify his usage on a passable team.

It's great I'm really excited for another year of 40-ish wins and maybe one playoff victory. Color me stoked.

[bigchiefbc]

Oh, and your post adds on to the fact that we have a starting 5's worth of power forwards, at least two of which are looking to get paid this summer.

Smart's defense is starting caliber, but his offense is far from it (particularly considering how deep the 1 spot is today), which is why we have the abomination that is Evan Turner on the team -- to run the offense, even though he doesn't seem to actually play the sort of basketball Stevens wants to emphasize, because he's garbage without the ball but isn't good enough with it to justify his usage on a passable team.

It's great I'm really excited for another year of 40-ish wins and maybe one playoff victory. Color me stoked.

I think it will end up being in the 45-47 range, but you're right about the 0-1 total playoff wins.

[D.o.S.]

I really believe that we overachieved at the end of last year but it's a tricky thing to measure as far as teams that clearly didn't give a shit and teams that were trying to secure playoff position.


But.This guy is the guy who is one of the best players on the laundry we cheer for:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy98SUO8WVo[/youtube]

[pelliott]

The nice thing is that I don't have to root against them for draft purposes anymore, since their own pick doesn't matter anymore now that the Nets picks are all starting to kick in.

I honestly think if they can't land a major trade this year they should just tank (again, but really commit this time) and get as many lottery picks as possible including their own and the Nets picks. Following that model the Thunder did, only you don't trade your third star to a rival team, gives a better shot at a contender than just taking this roster of mostly mediocre talent to the first round every year. I think there's some decent talent in Boston, but it's gonna be hard as hell to build a contending team with the way they're built.