Which championship team doesn't recognize who their stars and role players are? I agree it generally isn't verbalized in the press but nothing to see here imo.Brickowski said:
2014 Non-Celtic Offseason News and Rumors
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Also no one as bad at 1/2 of the game as Harden is should ever say or even think anything like that, no wonder no one wants to play with these two assholes (which Zach Lowe said a few weeks ago in his column).
Edit: I overstated a bit, but still, very unusual for Lowe to write something like this:
"The Rockets do, too, but there is an undercurrent around the league that Harden and Howard don’t represent the most appealing duo of teammates for any star who has lived within ultraserious professionalism."
http://grantland.com/features/2014-nba-free-agency-winners-and-losers-houston-rockets-chandler-parsons/
Edit: I overstated a bit, but still, very unusual for Lowe to write something like this:
"The Rockets do, too, but there is an undercurrent around the league that Harden and Howard don’t represent the most appealing duo of teammates for any star who has lived within ultraserious professionalism."
http://grantland.com/features/2014-nba-free-agency-winners-and-losers-houston-rockets-chandler-parsons/
Isn't Beverley the very definition of interchangeable though? Who on this Rockets team outside of Howard and Harden aren't easily replaceable? The problem they have is that many of these guys need to be UP-graded nevermind interchanged.BigSoxFan said:
Beverley is interchangeable insofar as most non-stars are. He's a solid player though.HomeRunBaker said:
I agree that he's solid. I don't feel he has any illusions that he's more than a role player though. The only player who possibly did was Parsons by his exit comments......everyone else remaining in Houston has to recognize they are role players on Howard and Hardens team.bowiac said:
I guess the question if if there's an internal dynamic where the team knows that these comments are just basically directed at Parsons for over-rating himself, or if they are as dismissive as they seem to be toward all of their teammates. If so...I have to think it's destructive and also just stupid -- maybe they want to look across the state to the team that just won a championship led by a finals MVP who during the regular season averaged a pedestrian 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and was helped mightily by a journeyman whose reg season #s were a superstar-ish 9 points and 4 rebounds per game.
Reducing roles to stars and roleplayers is to really pancake the variety of contributions necessary to win a championship. Harden and Howard sure seem to be clueless (not to kiss LBJ's ass, but can you imagine him saying this? No, to the contrary he's out their campaigning for the parts he thinks are key getting his team(s) over the hump).
Reducing roles to stars and roleplayers is to really pancake the variety of contributions necessary to win a championship. Harden and Howard sure seem to be clueless (not to kiss LBJ's ass, but can you imagine him saying this? No, to the contrary he's out their campaigning for the parts he thinks are key getting his team(s) over the hump).
I sense it was in response to Parsons comments which is why I don't put any weight into this affecting anything with the Rockets. They are a flawed team with the statement and a flawed team prior to it.Tony C said:
I do however view the Spurs and the Pistons as exceptions to the rule as history does favor teams with 1-2 elite stars surrounded by role players. I mean they same Spurs team with the same system hadn't won jack the prior 6 years.....let's not forget that.
Are we talking contenders or Championships? There have been a bunch of teams over the past 35 years who made it to the Conference Finals without elite stars i do agree however the only 3 teams that come to mind winning Championships since the 70's are the Piston, Mavs three years ago and last years Spurs. All those other Spurs championships had elite players in their prime with some role players sprinkled in.BigSoxFan said:
If we're talking breaking through to win a Championship these are certainly exceptions since the large majority of titles went to those teams with elite stars, over 90%.
Michele Roberts, a litigator in Skadden Arps' Washington DC office, has been elected head of the NBAPA.
Interesting hire---she's regarded as one of the best white collar criminal attorneys around, but that's a long way off from the kinds of things she'll be doing in this role. A very talented person, so wouldn't bet against her figuring out how to do this well...and certainly not someone who screams 'must settle' in the next labor negotiation.
I expect that her skills will translate. Curiously (1) she got her JD at Boalt, as did Billy Hunter, and (2) she graduated from Wesleyan a year after Bill Belichick.
This page (hat tip Soxfan) gives a bit of her bio: https://www.skadden.com/professionals/michele-roberts
Obviously tough to judge but at a minimum:
1: sure sounds like she brings a professionalism that has obviously been lacking.
2: maybe it's just stereotype, but someone who has been called D.C.'s "finest pure trial lawyer" would imply to me someone who is more than willing to confront rather than just go along.
All tea leaf reading for now and I never have a particular interest when it comes to millionaires vs billionaires fighting over pots of gold, my only concern is if there is a greater or lesser possibility of a strike. One would have to guess more, but only time.....
Obviously tough to judge but at a minimum:
1: sure sounds like she brings a professionalism that has obviously been lacking.
2: maybe it's just stereotype, but someone who has been called D.C.'s "finest pure trial lawyer" would imply to me someone who is more than willing to confront rather than just go along.
All tea leaf reading for now and I never have a particular interest when it comes to millionaires vs billionaires fighting over pots of gold, my only concern is if there is a greater or lesser possibility of a strike. One would have to guess more, but only time.....
One could argue she's a perfect fit in this role fighting white collar crime. All kidding aside this appears to be bad news for the fans. She isn't going to lay down based on her background while all but assures a work stoppage as these owners are certainly not going to give in.PedroKsBambino said:
Popovich, Spurs hire first female Assistant Coach, Beckie Hammon
The article also notes that the Clippers (and Doc Rivers) have had a female assistant video coordinator sitting on the bench during Summer League play.
The article also notes that the Clippers (and Doc Rivers) have had a female assistant video coordinator sitting on the bench during Summer League play.
Woj with the scoop on a significant development:
Shawn Marion leaning towards signing with Cleveland for the $1.4M veteran's minimum exception.
Marion is nowhere near what he was as a player, but he was still playing starter's minutes in Dallas and would be a huge coup as a backup in the James/Love frontcourt.
Shawn Marion leaning towards signing with Cleveland for the $1.4M veteran's minimum exception.
Marion is nowhere near what he was as a player, but he was still playing starter's minutes in Dallas and would be a huge coup as a backup in the James/Love frontcourt.
I'm not sure how much Marion has left, although I'd imagine he'd improve substantially in a 15 MPG type role.
bowiac said:
Why is that? He played ~30 min a game last year, played 76 games and was basically at his career averages in offensive efficiency. Defensively Dallas was pretty bad last year so its tough to judge Marion in that regard, but I'm not see any glaring signs that he is falling off a cliff.
I didn't watch too many Mavs games, so take this with a grain of salt, but as I've become more and more familiar with the adjusted plus/minus stats, I've started taking them a lot more seriously. He's a guy who has rated poorly the last few years (well below average), in particular because he's become so limited offensively. In the numbers, you can see this coming out a bit with his usage plummeting last year to to 15.7%, but his efficiency didn't increase proportionately to compensate. He's not an inefficient scorer, but he doesn't take many shots. His shot selection has also changed, he took 23% threes last year, which is well up from his career averages.wutang112878 said:
It's also telling to me that the Mavericks are letting him go without no real interest in holding onto him.
The numbers are the numbers, there's no arguing that. But I would say the guy is miscast. He's 35 and he was a full time starter for the Mavs and he was 3rd in minutes per game for them. That shouldnt be something you have a 35 year old doing. When you're 35 you should see a decrease in usage but it doesnt always have to coincide with an increase in efficiency. It really just means that when Marion takes ~1 less shot a game, he is just about as efficient, thats not terrible and we are talking about 1 shot a game. I dont see the concern with taking the 3s because he was hitting 35.8% of them (compared to 31.5% the previous year) and it looks like that was a team-wide trend because the Mavs went from taking 19.9 a game to 22.9 a game.
Considering all that and his age, while you should want an upgrade over him as a starter but he wasnt half bad in that role. Now if you move him to a bench role, which is what he clearly should be playing at this stage in his career, and he puts up those numbers and you pay him less than $2M, well now you just found yourself a bargain.
Considering all that and his age, while you should want an upgrade over him as a starter but he wasnt half bad in that role. Now if you move him to a bench role, which is what he clearly should be playing at this stage in his career, and he puts up those numbers and you pay him less than $2M, well now you just found yourself a bargain.
Greg Oden arrested for punching girlfriend in face.
http://m.tmz.com/#Article/2014/08/07/greg-oden-arrested-woman-domestic-violence-nba
"It was a really awkward scene", said one witness. "There was blood everywhere and it was clearly apparent someone was seriously injured." Some are speculating Oden may miss the entire 2014-15 season recovering.
http://m.tmz.com/#Article/2014/08/07/greg-oden-arrested-woman-domestic-violence-nba
"It was a really awkward scene", said one witness. "There was blood everywhere and it was clearly apparent someone was seriously injured." Some are speculating Oden may miss the entire 2014-15 season recovering.
I agree with this. Like I said, I think he will improve significantly in a bench role.wutang112878 said:
You have to wonder about that quote from Oden. How often do you hear an educated person immediately own up to a serious crime. He sounds defeated.BigSoxFan said:
Seconded. His owning up to what he did and being accountable is a good thing. Unless you are his lawyer.Devizier said:
LOL at the "educated" comment. One year in college does not make anyone educated, much less one year in college for a stud basketball player.
Greg Monroe will sign a qualifying offer with the Detroit Pistons worth $5.5 million, reports USA Today.
— Brett Poirier (@BrettNBA) August 12, 2014
— Brett Poirier (@BrettNBA) August 12, 2014
Can Nick Young and JaVale be far behind?
The Xinjiang Flying Tigers are reuniting for Wizards trainwreck teammates Jordan Crawford and Andray Blatche. This can't possibly end well.
The Xinjiang Flying Tigers are reuniting for Wizards trainwreck teammates Jordan Crawford and Andray Blatche. This can't possibly end well.
Well, they've said they would pay him the max if the Suns agree to a sign and trade. The Suns have rejected this, and rightly so, because the last thing they need is a pu pu platter of MN's bad contracts.MakMan44 said:
Where did you see that? I've seen nothing credible as to the composition of MNs offer. It would certainly have to include Deng for Phoenix to be vaguely interested. Meanwhile, the Suns would have no interest in Barea or Williams, especially now that they appear to be on the verge of signing the other Dragic brother. There's Pekovic, but he's a terrible fit for the Suns' up tempo offense and also very expensive.nighthob said:
I have no idea what Williams is on Minnesota's roster, but the Timberwolves have about $18 million in expiring deals. There is zero need for the Suns to take even a single bad contract to make the deal work. I agree there's little need for a non-shooting PG on that roster with their offense, hence the reason that this probably works better as a three way. But even then it only works if there's a team that has any interest in Rubio and is willing to give the Suns something useful.
However, this is kind of irrelevant, as I suspect that they're hoping to pressure Bledsoe into signing their extension. Given his injury history accepting the QO is a huge risk.
However, this is kind of irrelevant, as I suspect that they're hoping to pressure Bledsoe into signing their extension. Given his injury history accepting the QO is a huge risk.
Isn't Rubio's contract in a way similar to Rondo and Bledsoe?
The teams aren't enthralled with signing this player to a long-term max deal and/or recognize their aren't teams out there who would pay the player max in a free market due to the depth of the PG position around the league.
It will be interesting to see how things play out with all 3 players. The agents certainly have their work cut out for them without much of a market for the player. I'd guess Bledsoe has the most leverage as he is such an explosive scorer he can play the 2 or a combo role whereas Rubio/Rondo are one-dimensional non-scorers.
The teams aren't enthralled with signing this player to a long-term max deal and/or recognize their aren't teams out there who would pay the player max in a free market due to the depth of the PG position around the league.
It will be interesting to see how things play out with all 3 players. The agents certainly have their work cut out for them without much of a market for the player. I'd guess Bledsoe has the most leverage as he is such an explosive scorer he can play the 2 or a combo role whereas Rubio/Rondo are one-dimensional non-scorers.
Well, the teams with cap space have shown little/no interest in him. They might be interested next summer if he signed a QO this year and they can have him at market rate rather than having to give him 4/63 now. Ultimately I suspect that the Suns win their gamble and he signs the extension. However, there is a complication in his case, namely that he's already had the meniscus removed in that knee of his, so given his size this may be his last big deal.
Bledsoe's agent couldn't find him a sign-n-trade so they end up negotiating quickly and finalizing a 5/$70m deal with the Suns per ESPN's Windhorst.
Hornets move quickly and announce Jeff Taylor will be excused from all team activities while his domestic violence case is investigated.