New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season

[jadis]

Amazing defensive perfromance by the Spurs. They have shut down the Clippers.

Maybe Pop worked at the DoD before?

If the Spurs winning ways continues, they will most likely go thru Houston, Warriors and James to repeat. No mean feat.

 

[JackD201]

Phil, if you were Pop, who would you put Leonard on? Irving or James?

 

[jadis]

Phil, if you were Pop, who would you put Leonard on? Irving or James?

Tough one, Jack. But I would put him on Irving. Irving should be limited to like 10 or 15 a game and not 25 to 30. Boris on James, James is a given to score all he wants as no 1 man can stop him.

 

[jadis]

And the popular saying in San Antonio, IN POP WE TRUST.

I bet James wouldn't want too see Pop and the Spurs for it will be his third straight year to see them. And the Spurs systematically pulverized James and the Heat last year that no matter what James did, Heat would still lose.

 

[jadis]

Clippers take back home court. CP3 taking over. Austin Rivers with 16 points on 7-8 shooting, making papa proud - at the right moment too!

Going to be an exciting best of 3 for these 2. Will the defending champions survive the Clippers attack? We know enough not to bet against them in times like these.

 

[WLVCA]

....and I had to miss seeing the game. We have visitors from out of town so I had to do all the local tourist crap today.

At least the Clippers won. Series would have essentially been over if not.

Now its best 2 out of 3 with 2 home games for the Clips.

 

[jadis]

....and I had to miss seeing the game. We have visitors from out of town so I had to do all the local tourist crap today.

At least the Clippers won. Series would have essentially been over if not.

Now its best 2 out of 3 with 2 home games for the Clips.

Yes, 2 home games feel good for the Clippers though they have to keep in mind that Spurs play well on the road, last year at Miami they won both games 3 and 4. The key is to have Clippers reserves contribute double figures to sustain a lead or keep them close while the starters get some rest. Austin should come out big again.

 

[jadis]

One severe underdog is giving a good fight. Brooklyn Nets has tied the series with Eastern top seed Atlanta. Deron Williams rose up and scored 35 points. Kyle Korver, just like he did in Chicago, couldn't come up with the clutch shots for Atlanta despite scoring 16.

 

[JackD201]

Phil did you see what Olynyk did to Love? That looked more like a Detroit play than a Celtic one. Sign that guy up for MMA.

 

[jadis]

Phil did you see what Olynyk did to Love? That looked more like a Detroit play than a Celtic one. Sign that guy up for MMA.

Yeah Jack. They were in an arm lock, and Kelly sort of wanted to throw down Love with his stronger and younger arms. Kelly was suspended 1 game for that. That was a painful one for Love. And more importantly, it put the free agent targeting of Love by Ainge in peril, as I read in some Celtics blog.

 

[jadis]

And Jason Kidd and the Bucks are not kidding. Beating the Bulls in Chicago to narrow the gap at 2-3. Can tie it up home. And I thought the East would be boring. We'll they are, but not that boring.

 

[jadis]

Love's stint with the Cavs takes an abrupt end with free agency in the midst. A very unfortunate arm wrestling episode had him dislocating his shoulder. Upon second look via replay, I think Olynyk did have some intention to twist Love's shoulder and I am disappointed at such a dirty tactic from this young sophomore. It doesn't belong in the NBA and I had been quite vocal about Wade doing such things in the past. Hope Love recovers well and soon.


Kevin Love expected to miss remainder of postseason, according to General Manager David Griffin

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2015/04/kevin_love_expected_to_miss_re.html

 

[WLVCA]

Its a shame that Kevin Love was injured and will miss the rest of the postseason. I've watched the replay and wasn't certain whether Olynyk's intention was to injure Love.

I don't think Love and LeBron meshed perfectly and there appeared to be "tension" in their relationship. Could have been that Love was "the man" in Minnesota and ranked third behind LeBron and Kyrie on the Cavs - playing a role similar to Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat behind Lebron and Wade.

I thought Love would opt out next year and head to the Lakers but this injury will make that more difficult for him. The way this is shaping up, perhaps the Lakers can sign Love and Rondo to more reasonable contracts for next year and start their rebuild.

Moving on....Clippers and Spurs play at Staples tonight in game 5 of their series. My opinion is that the winner of this pivotal game will take the series and I hope that it is the Clippers.

 

[jadis]

Moving on....Clippers and Spurs play at Staples tonight in game 5 of their series. My opinion is that the winner of this pivotal game will take the series and I hope that it is the Clippers.

My feelings too. 3-2 edge carries the momentum for the clincher. Austin Rivers is key. He needs to make shots when he comes in. Bib Baby and Turko can't seem to get going.

 

[jadis]

That's what you get for feuding with championship coaches.


Report: Lakers want Rondo, but only at a 'low price'
By Matt Moore | NBA writer
April 28, 2015 5:45 pm ET

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on...ort-lakers-want-rondo-but-only-at-a-low-price

Bleacher Report reports that while the Lakers are still very much interested in signing Rajon Rondo, the price tag for the former All-Star has seen the bottom drop out after his disastrous tenure in Dallas that ended with his bench, being shut down with injury, and Rick Carlisle openly saying he won't play for the Mavericks again.

So there remains a distinct possibility in today's space-and-shoot NBA that the Los Angeles Lakers will be the torchbearers for the old school and sign the pass-first (nay, pass-only) Rondo to a free-agent contract this summer.

But what should be made clear, according to team sources, is that Buss is not the believer he was earlier in the season when it comes to Rondo, and Kupchak is toting enough healthy skepticism that he sees Rondo as value only at a certain low price.

As a former flag-waving advocate of Team "Playoff Rondo still exists somewhere within him," I've had to face facts. That Rondo may be gone forever. Clashing with Rick Carlisle is one thing; Carlisle has had some issues with guys through the years, he has very little patience for nonsense. But Rondo has now clashed with Doc Rivers (championship coach), was traded from under Brad Stevens (widely praised), and clashed with Rick Carlisle (championship coach). Beyond his shooting limitations (which are massive) and his decision making (which is questionable), his ability to fit in with a championship organization is at the highest question.

That said, this is clearly a negotiating tactic. The BR piece promotes the idea that Rondo's camp has been the one promoting word that the Lakers will offer a max contract. This is clearly a response from the Lakers to lower the value and establish leverage. After all, if you're going to get a former All-Star, you might as well get him at the lowest possible price. Rondo might be damaged goods, but there is still potential in there. Is Byron Scott a good fit with Rondo? Doesn't seem like it. Is an aging Kobe Bryant and what is basically a second-year rookie in Julius Randle a good fit with Rondo? Doesn't seem like it.

But the Lakers can't be choosers here. They're beggars. They need talent, and they need it at every position and at nearly any price. They want to get out of this rebuilding toilet bowl? Rondo might give them a ladder. It's a risk, but then, when you look at what's left of their roster at this point, risks aren't so risky.

They have nothing to lose.

 

[WLVCA]

Great game. Spurs win by 4.

Duncan was the star of the game. Kudos to the old timer. He is amazing.

 

[jadis]

Tough loss by the Clippers. They went down fighting till the end. DeAndre has a crucial offensive interference in the last 5 seconds that could have put them up by 1. He had one such call earlier already. Too much energy maybe. Clippers missed like 16 free throws, I heard. Blake put up a great game, I like where he is now. Patty Mills as usual is a reliable bench player, pouring in 13. Wow, this is some great series. Hats off to both teams. To be a champion you gotta sack the champions, and San Antonio is a heavily fortified fort.

 

[jadis]

I used to think that the Hacking thing was always done by the weaker team, either trailing in the game, or generally the underdog. But now I see Pop utilizing it while leading, and they are to me, the deeper team and defending champions. The purpose now is disrupt and ruin any offensive flow by the Clippers, and to rattle their play calls to no play calls since they don't have any plays except to wait for DeAndre to miss his foul shots. You do that 3 or 4 consecutive times and the offense of the Clippers is in a confused state. The only thing left for the Clippers to do in the off season is to hire Chip Engeland and glue him everywhere Jordan goes, just like what Chris Webber did to his shooting coach.

 

[jadis]

I now realize the logic of the pro camp - that NBA players should make their free throws. But I believe there is bound to be a player or 2 in each team who can't make their free throws, percentage-wise.

Adam Silver says Hack-a-Shaq not entertaining, expects talk of change

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/1...ible-rule-change-eliminate-hack-shaq-strategy

 

[WLVCA]

Clippers win game 6 in San Antonio to force a game 7 in LA.

What a series - battle royale.