New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season

[JackD201]

OKC has blown out the Dubs not once but twice this year. Both meetings. If styles make fights.....could they be the Marquez to the Dub's Pacquiao, Frazier to their Ali?

 

[jadis]

OKC has blown out the Dubs not once but twice this year. Both meetings. If styles make fights.....could they be the Marquez to the Dub's Pacquiao, Frazier to their Ali?

Very could be, Jack, in local parlance - 'contra-pelo'. Just like Utex to Toyota in the local pro league of the 80s. One way to beat the Warriors is sheer offensive power, and Thunder got 3 who can explode anytime and even at the same time, like PG with 38 and RW with 34. Melo, zero.

 

[JackD201]

Curry's interview, suggests it was OKC's length that was the culprit. OKC is notorious for steals and deflections and this just might be what disrupts the dub's usual offensive flow. Adams is a total beast too making the dub's "center by committee trio" look pretty bad.

I'm a wee bit too young to remember Utex bro LOL

 

[WLVCA]

The west gets even tighter as the Warriors get blitzed at home by OKC

Meanwhile Lakers win their 3rd straight quite easily against the Suns

Is it me or do others think the Lakers are playing so much better without Lonzo

When Ball was first injured the Lakers struggled. Looks like they figured out how to play without Lonzo and have been doing quite well recently.

 

[jadis]

I'm a wee bit too young to remember Utex bro LOL

LOL. Sometimes I forget that when chatting basketball, I tend to go back as far as I can remember and that can be waaay back. LOL

Anyway, just one bit of 'Greatest Games' of my time then, in our own PBA league (patterned after the NBA - with ex-NBA players and guest NBA referees) - Toyota was up by 4 with 14 seconds to go in a title clinching game. The confetti and banners were all over the sidelines, then with a blink of a eye, an easy Utex basket and a bad pass by Toyota plus a silly foul sent the game into OT and U-Tex won in OT and sent the game into a decisive game in which they won to clinch the title. I was literally on the floor with my siblings (all Toyota fans) pounding my fist on the floor during the last 14 seconds of agony. The funny thing is, I never did that as a Celtics fan. LOL

 

[WLVCA]

Looks like the Lonzo Ball era may be short lived in LA. Lakers just traded for Cavaliers Isaiah Thomas.

Clarkson and Nance to Cavs. Channing Frye and 2018 1st round pick to Lakers also.

 

[Steve Williams]

Wiw

I could care less about Ball but Clarkson is terrific

 

[Steve Williams]

Just checked. Lonzo wasn't part of the deal

IT will be coming off the bench

 

[WLVCA]

Just checked. Lonzo wasn't part of the deal

IT will be coming off the bench

I didn't mean that Lonzo was traded for IT - just that the Lakers are firing a warning shot across his bow.

If I were Lonzo I wouldn't feel too good about having an All Star quality point guard on the roster.....especially if I had a mouthy father who was making my bosses mad.

Sorry if my comment wasn't clear.

 

[jadis]

Looks like the Lonzo Ball era may be short lived in LA. Lakers just traded for Cavaliers Isaiah Thomas.

Clarkson and Nance to Cavs. Channing Frye and 2018 1st round pick to Lakers also.

I didn't see that coming, from the rumor mills. And now I read that IT may seek a buy out from LA if he is made to come off the bench. Cleveland has added Rodney Hood and George Hill too. D-Rose, Wade and J Crowder are out of Cleveland.

 

[Steve Williams]

IMO having been a Lakers fan for my entire adult life, I feel the Cavs got the better of the trade

IT has done nothing on the Cavs team so far to impress but if the trade is to be made, I would have traded Ball and had IT as the starter and kept Clarkson as the 6th man in

 

[jadis]

IMO having been a Lakers fan for my entire adult life, I feel the Cavs got the better of the trade

IT has done nothing on the Cavs team so far to impress but if the trade is to be made, I would have traded Ball and had IT as the starter and kept Clarkson as the 6th man in

I feel the same way too, Steve. Cleveland, to no surprise, found out that IT is a defensive liability, as many suspect and that is one reason why I could not see IT as our PG if we were to make a run a the title. Cleveland got great athletic talents in Clarkson and Nance. And they only gave up their own pick next year. And by the way, IT's contract ends this June. I'm not sure if LA wants to sign him long term and he is due a max deal.

 

[WLVCA]

Looks now like the Lakers were just trying to create cap space for next year - they can create as much as $69 million next summer - that's two max players.

They do not intend to keep IT beyond this season so Lonzo can rest easy - my earlier thought was incorrect apparently.

 

[Steve Williams]

Looks now like the Lakers were just trying to create cap space for next year - they can create as much as $69 million next summer - that's two max players.

They do not intend to keep IT beyond this season so Lonzo can rest easy - my earlier thought was incorrect apparently.

if they aren't going to keep him then why trade for him? I don't get it

 

[Mike Lavigne]

if they aren't going to keep him then why trade for him? I don't get it

cap space with ending contracts, and Cleveland needed to be rid of him.....for roster synergy. he does not fit the way they want to play. and might not yet have fully recovered from the hip thing.

and IT, a Seattle native, UW legend and favorite Son, needs to be 'featured' offensively to be worth a big contract, never going to happen on a 'Magic Johnson' team.....and was never going to happen in Cleveland with LaBron there chasing titles.

he could end up back in Cleveland if LaBron leaves, which would be ironic. he thrived in the Eastern conference with Boston. too much defense played in the Western Conference.

 

[WLVCA]

The Lakers weren't thinking about this year's team but positioning themselves to sign two big stars this summer. They are making a Jerry Buss style move to build a championship quality team.

This article in the LA Times explains their strategy better than I can.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/la-sp-lakers-cavaliers-trade-20180208-story.html

Edit: IT is in the final year of his contract and will be a free agent this summer

 

[Steve Williams]

understood and thanks for the explanation

 

[jadis]

Agent says Isaiah Thomas won’t come off the bench, Magic Johnson calls Lonzo Ball the Lakers’ starting PG

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/agent-says-isaiah-thomas-won-161125483.html

There's a report on ESPN that IT has been talking a lot (Boston - Brink's truck), Cleveland (Lue didn't adjust on defense) and he better not talk too much in LA. The guy averaged 28 ppg last season and that's no small feat. Boston's offense was centered on him being the go to scorer, shoot first, drive first, then assist if opportunity comes out. With Cleveland, LeBron wants to play PG, so IT is a 2 guard, fighting off screens for catch and shoot, as Lebron is trying to show he is an assist man or 'get my team mates' going man. In Boston, that 2 guard man was Avery Bradley, so IT will have one hell of an adjustment to make if he had to fit in Cleveland, but apparently, Altman said enough is enough. There was even a report that said in his stay with the Cavs, IT's best friend was Dan Gilbert. But this is the NBA, things happen.

 

[WLVCA]

The Clippers were in Detroit last night to play Blake Griffin and the Pistons. I expected the Clippers to lose this game.

Surprisingly, the Clippers won 108 - 95, blowing the Pistons out in the 4th quarter 31 - 15 after a tight game for the first three quarters.

Blake stormed off the court and into the Pistons locker room as soon as the final horn sounded and didn't shake hands with any of the Clippers players or coaching staff.

 

[Steve Williams]

and we awakened today to see the West the tightest it's been all season with but a half game separating the GSW and the Rockets.

It should be a sprint to the finish and the Rockets look well prepared to win the west