NBA 2011-2012 Season Thread 2

Off Topic
121

[quote]MattyXL wrote:

[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:

[quote]MattyXL wrote:
Lin Detractors will have something to sink there teeth into now. [/quote]

meh.

my guess is that it’s been like some of us have been alluding to; he’s not as good as his short stint thus far, and he’s not as bad as he was in the heat game. the truth of Lin probably lies somewhere in between.

top 5 PG? LOL
“elite” guard? LOL

like i said, maybe not even a starter come playoff time or next season. an NBA player? yes.

the point is, let’s see what he can do over time. and in that sense, the heat game is no more meaningful than his good (short) stretch.

yeah yeah…i know…i haven’t watched him play yet. but i know “elite” pg’s do not get cut twice and materialize out of the d-league. does. not. happen. [/quote]

I never said he would be an elite point guard, I said and still say he could be a quality starting point guard on a playoff team. I do not think its fair that one horrible game cancels out his excellent string of two weeks of games…thats not fair. Just as its not fair to conclude that he is the messiah pointguard of the knicks. saying that his stretch has been simply good is really downplaying his stretch albeit short was a great stretch that was never accomplished in NBA history, whether he returns to being bench fodder or NBA Jorneyman, it will not take away that his stretch of games was a great not a good one.

I also think coming from an astute basketball person such as yourself (not being sarcastic) you should watch a few games of him before judging him based on the minds of past NBA scouts and GMs.

BTW there have been plenty of players that have had excellent NBA careers that fell through the cracks… such as

John Starks
Brad Miller
Gilbert Arenas
Anthony Mason
Mehmet Okur
Nate McMillan
Raja Bell
Darrell Armstrong
Jose Calderon
Ben Wallace

Most of the guys on this list werent even drafted! So it happens.

I do not think any
[/quote]

respectfully, you pretty much restated what I said, you just used different words.

and with respect to your list of players, I reiterate that “elite pg’s” do not get cut twice and materialize out of the d-league. i stand by that statement. you didn’t say “elite pg”, but someone else did.

122
123

The dunk contest last night was truly awful. I remember being a kid and looking forward to it for weeks back when it had guys like Vince Carter, T Mac and Jason Richardson and no stupid fucking props. I realize everything possible has already been done, but who cares if we see the same dunks over again? A teammate to throw you the ball is fine, but when we’re riding motorcycles on to the court and bringing Kevin Hart on to do a fucking skit it just makes me cringe.

Plus Orlando’s crowd is really bad too. I see why Dwight wants to leave.

124

That had to be the worst dunk contest I’ve ever seen.

125

[quote]overstand wrote:
The dunk contest last night was truly awful. I remember being a kid and looking forward to it for weeks back when it had guys like Vince Carter, T Mac and Jason Richardson and no stupid fucking props. I realize everything possible has already been done, but who cares if we see the same dunks over again? A teammate to throw you the ball is fine, but when we’re riding motorcycles on to the court and bringing Kevin Hart on to do a fucking skit it just makes me cringe.

Plus Orlando’s crowd is really bad too. I see why Dwight wants to leave.[/quote]

You forgot the part where Kenny Smith being some sort of MC is awful. It was awful when he did it last year as Blake’s personal assistant/announcer, and it was more awful this year when he did it for everyone. There were a few solid dunks, but it was a terrible show overall. Shaq said what everyone was thinking at the end(I wonder if someone scolded him for basically calling the show he was just a part of shitty) when he pleaded for the superstars of the league to step up and get back into the contest. I don’t even give a shit if Lebron(just an example) is the best dunker in the league(he isn’t), his star power and charisma are what matters.

126

[quote]overstand wrote:

Plus Orlando’s crowd is really bad too. I see why Dwight wants to leave.[/quote]

haha yeah and in Miami too. I think a lot of them just want the basketball to end so they can go to the club.

127

Here’s how I would fix All Star Weekend:

  1. Get a sponsor to offer $1 million prize money for the dunk contest. To get into the contest, a player has to submit a 1-2 minute video and fans can vote the top 4 in. No props, no bs skits, just dunks. Winner is determined by a panel of former winners.

  2. 1 on 1 challenge, also with a $1 million prize. Let each team send a representative and they play first to 11, gotta win by 2 in a bracket style tournament. Hand checks allowed. Maybe do a division type thing with based on height, like 6’5 players and up in 1 tourny and players shorter than 6’5 in another. Watching 7 footers dominate short guards would be lame.

  3. Get rid of the Shooting Stars challenge.

Edit:

  1. Never let Florida host anything ever again

  2. Kenny is banned from All Star Weekend

128

[quote]therajraj wrote:
That had to be the worst dunk contest I’ve ever seen.[/quote]

I was impressed by Jeremy Evan’s double dunk over the guy in the chair, but pretty much everything else was weak. Paul George’s Larry Bird sticker-to-reverse would’ve been good if it would have went down earlier.

The 3-point shootout was also disappointing. It was cool to see K. Love win, but the 2nd round and tie breakers were not to the caliber I would hope to see.

I’m glad no one else can stand Kenny Smith though. Shaq is terrible, too.

129

[quote]overstand wrote:
Here’s how I would fix All Star Weekend:

  1. Get a sponsor to offer $1 million prize money for the dunk contest. To get into the contest, a player has to submit a 1-2 minute video and fans can vote the top 4 in. No props, no bs skits, just dunks. Winner is determined by a panel of former winners.

  2. 1 on 1 challenge, also with a $1 million prize. Let each team send a representative and they play first to 11, gotta win by 2 in a bracket style tournament. Hand checks allowed. Maybe do a division type thing with based on height, like 6’5 players and up in 1 tourny and players shorter than 6’5 in another. Watching 7 footers dominate short guards would be lame.

  3. Get rid of the Shooting Stars challenge.

Edit:

  1. Never let Florida host anything ever again

  2. Kenny is banned from All Star Weekend[/quote]

LeBron said something similar about the $1 million dollars. But there would be public backlash if that money went into the winner’s pockets. Instead, have the $1 million dollars but let it go to the winner’s charity of choice. Of course the other charities would receive something too.

130

[quote]overstand wrote:
Here’s how I would fix All Star Weekend:

  1. Get a sponsor to offer $1 million prize money for the dunk contest. To get into the contest, a player has to submit a 1-2 minute video and fans can vote the top 4 in. No props, no bs skits, just dunks. Winner is determined by a panel of former winners.

  2. 1 on 1 challenge, also with a $1 million prize. Let each team send a representative and they play first to 11, gotta win by 2 in a bracket style tournament. Hand checks allowed. Maybe do a division type thing with based on height, like 6’5 players and up in 1 tourny and players shorter than 6’5 in another. Watching 7 footers dominate short guards would be lame.

  3. Get rid of the Shooting Stars challenge.

Edit:

  1. Never let Florida host anything ever again

  2. Kenny is banned from All Star Weekend[/quote]

There are very real problems with your 1 and 2 suggestions. First, there is a risk of injury, more pronounced in your suggested 1 on 1 game. For a million dollars, one of two things happen. It still won’t attract the players that people REALLY want to see, b/c after taxes it’s about 500k or so and a fraction of what the big stars earn. So, you’re looking at 2nd and 3rd tier guys that would really be interested and that’s not what the fans want. And, for 1m, those guys would go hard, and the risk of injury there is real. The league doesn’t want that either.

As for suggestion 1, we don’t need videos and such. The fans know who can dunk and who they want to see. They want the Lebrons, etc. And those pricks think their too special to participate. Either require them to participate AND up the ante like you suggested, or scrap the contest altogether. Sadly, the dunk contest “jumped the shark” long ago and is no longer a source of pride among the players. Perhaps it’s due to the increased athleticism across the entire league that the title has lost its luster. And again, for the superstars to “go hard” on the dunk contest, there IS a risk of injury.

The league AND players do not want to get injured at All Star Weekend.

It IS watered down though and it DOES suck. Thankfully, the game itself is not as bad as the NFL’s pro bowl.

131

[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:

[quote]overstand wrote:
Here’s how I would fix All Star Weekend:

  1. Get a sponsor to offer $1 million prize money for the dunk contest. To get into the contest, a player has to submit a 1-2 minute video and fans can vote the top 4 in. No props, no bs skits, just dunks. Winner is determined by a panel of former winners.

  2. 1 on 1 challenge, also with a $1 million prize. Let each team send a representative and they play first to 11, gotta win by 2 in a bracket style tournament. Hand checks allowed. Maybe do a division type thing with based on height, like 6’5 players and up in 1 tourny and players shorter than 6’5 in another. Watching 7 footers dominate short guards would be lame.

  3. Get rid of the Shooting Stars challenge.

Edit:

  1. Never let Florida host anything ever again

  2. Kenny is banned from All Star Weekend[/quote]

LeBron said something similar about the $1 million dollars. But there would be public backlash if that money went into the winner’s pockets. Instead, have the $1 million dollars but let it go to the winner’s charity of choice. Of course the other charities would receive something too.[/quote]

that’s silly. they pocket millions now and there is no backlash from the public. the public is apathetic. the public only cares when they whine. if you want to motivate them, get the big names and have them go hard, it’s done with money, not money to charity.

132

Exactly because they get paid so much now. It’s basically the rich getting richer and for what? You need $1 million dollars to motivate guys to dunk? It just sends wrong messages everywhere.

It’s also especially unfair considering they pay $10 000 to the winner of the amateur dunker contest, which has better dunkers than the NBA guys. There’s also guys in the NBA making less than $1 mil.

The NBA already has a bad image as a league filled with money grabbing thugs.

I actually think LeBron, D-Rose, Wade and BG (probably the only 4 All-Stars worth watching participate) would absolutely do it for charity.

133

[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:

[quote]overstand wrote:
Here’s how I would fix All Star Weekend:

  1. Get a sponsor to offer $1 million prize money for the dunk contest. To get into the contest, a player has to submit a 1-2 minute video and fans can vote the top 4 in. No props, no bs skits, just dunks. Winner is determined by a panel of former winners.

  2. 1 on 1 challenge, also with a $1 million prize. Let each team send a representative and they play first to 11, gotta win by 2 in a bracket style tournament. Hand checks allowed. Maybe do a division type thing with based on height, like 6’5 players and up in 1 tourny and players shorter than 6’5 in another. Watching 7 footers dominate short guards would be lame.

  3. Get rid of the Shooting Stars challenge.

Edit:

  1. Never let Florida host anything ever again

  2. Kenny is banned from All Star Weekend[/quote]

There are very real problems with your 1 and 2 suggestions. First, there is a risk of injury, more pronounced in your suggested 1 on 1 game. For a million dollars, one of two things happen. It still won’t attract the players that people REALLY want to see, b/c after taxes it’s about 500k or so and a fraction of what the big stars earn. So, you’re looking at 2nd and 3rd tier guys that would really be interested and that’s not what the fans want. And, for 1m, those guys would go hard, and the risk of injury there is real. The league doesn’t want that either.

As for suggestion 1, we don’t need videos and such. The fans know who can dunk and who they want to see. They want the Lebrons, etc. And those pricks think their too special to participate. Either require them to participate AND up the ante like you suggested, or scrap the contest altogether. Sadly, the dunk contest “jumped the shark” long ago and is no longer a source of pride among the players. Perhaps it’s due to the increased athleticism across the entire league that the title has lost its luster. And again, for the superstars to “go hard” on the dunk contest, there IS a risk of injury.

The league AND players do not want to get injured at All Star Weekend.

It IS watered down though and it DOES suck. Thankfully, the game itself is not as bad as the NFL’s pro bowl.
[/quote]

A million dollars for a single night of work isn’t chump change even to the highest paid super stars. Shaq suggested it and Ernie Johnson already asked Lebron if he would do the dunk contest for a mil and he said he would have to consider it, that’s why I posted that. Yes they could get injured, but they could get hit by a bus on the way to the arena too.

And I think fans need to vote, otherwise we wouldn’t have seen guys like Jason Richardson. He was never a superstar but he had some of the sickest dunks ever.

134

[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:

It IS watered down though and it DOES suck. Thankfully, the game itself is not as bad as the NFL’s pro bowl.
[/quote]

Lord, amen to that.

Kept thinkin of this while I watched part of this years dunk contest.

135

I’m watching the All Star game for the first time in years. Normally I just watch the dunk contest.

This game has absolutely no redeeming qualities.

136


People were making a big deal about how unemotive Derrick Rose acts, especially at All Star weekend.

137

600×935 95.4 KB

I wonder if he’s a socially awkward guy who doesn’t have the personality to enjoy the spotlight and fame.

138

[quote]therajraj wrote:
I wonder if he’s a socially awkward guy who doesn’t have the personality to enjoy the spotlight and fame.[/quote]

I would say he is just a quiet guy who plays basketball and happens to be really good. Hes not one to seek out the spotlight.

139

Yeah he is just a quiet guy. I think a lot of times we want our favorite athletes to be avatars of our ideal personalities. We project ourselves on to them and when Rose doesn’t smile or talk a lot we don’t like it. But that’s just who he is. I actually respect him for not making a fool of himself like Lebron there.

140

Pretty good read if you haven’t caught it yet today, about the Malice in the Palace from 2004.

Steven Jackson: I knew we had to get out of this arena before all these guys in the nosebleed seats got down to our section. That’s the felons, the guys that really don’t care about losing anything. If they come down there, somebody’s going to really get hurt.

Ha, that’s the felons… That’s where I used to sit.

http://www.grantland.com/story?id=7612311&view=full