bball

[Insidious Rex]

So is everyone pretty much agreed that Duncan is the best player in the league? Since Kobe is no longer taking as much of a load in LA you would think this was true. But Im thinking theres a guy in Minnesota who might be able to argue with this fact. So who do you say is the best currently?

[Lizra]

I couldn't call a "best" yet... In fact, my son has become rather obsessed with bball, and all his nonstop questions are wearing me out! He keeps asking me about trades, and why they happen, and money....ugh!
So what's up with Yao? Dean (my son) is also fixated on "the biggest" and wants to know about Yao. I haven't heard much about him of late. I can't wait for the all star game. My son thinks "tricks" are so cool. He'll really enjoy some of the contests. Gee I thought I got wacky during Pacer's games....can't match a second grader!

[Valandil]

Originally posted by Lizra

So what's up with Yao? Dean (my son) is also fixated on "the biggest" and wants to know about Yao.

I think I saw something funny about Yao a month ago... it was near Thanksgiving and a reporter asked him what he was thankful for. He replied, "Lebron James"

[Insidious Rex]

ok well to answer my own question Id have to say if i had one pick out of everyone it would be Kevin Garnett. Not saying Duncan isnt a fantastic player but Garnett has a slight notch above as far as leadership goes. He just amazes me with his desire too. Course if Duncan wipes up the rest of the league with his versatility on the way to another NBA title i may change my opinion.

oh! and also keep an eye on Zach Randolph in Portland. Still kinda under the radar but this guy can simply flat out play. Can score at will and rebound as well as anyone in the league. If Portland ever gets their collective head together Randolph could be the future of the NBA there. But hes got a ways to go to match Duncan or Garnett of course.

Originally posted by Lizra
I couldn't call a "best" yet... In fact, my son has become rather obsessed with bball, and all his nonstop questions are wearing me out! He keeps asking me about trades, and why they happen, and money....ugh!

cool! encourage that!! get him into a peewee fantasy league or something. i spend like 2 or 3 hours every day pouring over my fantasy team and who to play and who to pull and who to trade and all that. its great fun. great brain stimulation too Id strongly encourage it.

[Valandil]

Originally posted by Insidious Rex
ok well to answer my own question Id have to say if i had one pick out of everyone it would be Kevin Garnett. Not saying Duncan isnt a fantastic player but Garnett has a slight notch above as far as leadership goes. He just amazes me with his desire too.

??? Garnett's a 'fader'... at least that's all he has been to date.

[Insidious Rex]

Originally posted by Valandil
??? Garnett's a 'fader'... at least that's all he has been to date.

a fader? are you referring to his inhability thus far to get the T-wolves deep into the playoffs despite having amazing regular seasons? well i dont know if i can put all the blame on him for that. I mean he hasnt really had a good surrounding cast in his whole career there. I think they made an effert to really trim some of the fat from a squad that never could get it really rolling when it counted (DESPITE Garnetts herculaen efferts. dont you remember him killing himself when they played dallas in the series last year? i think he had a 38 pt/24 rb game at one point or something like that). I mean Cassell is just gonna help Garnett. You dont need your forward being your ball handler AND go to man. but i digress...

I was just saying as far as best player in the NBA goes Id have to favor Garnett at this point. Keep in mind this is irrelevant of who has won championships or not. But time will tell if Garnett can ever get the Timberwolves there or if he will end up going to another team to get that ring. I think you cant question his desire though.

[Lizra]

Originally posted by Insidious Rex




cool! encourage that!! get him into a peewee fantasy league or something. i spend like 2 or 3 hours every day pouring over my fantasy team and who to play and who to pull and who to trade and all that. its great fun. great brain stimulation too Id strongly encourage it.

Well, he plays for real at the Boys and Girls club. This is his third season, and he takes summer camp (we do live in Indiana Basketball capital of the world ) He is pretty good, (he's very good at soccer and baseball, and coming round in karate too, it's fun to finally enjoy sports, for the first time in my life! ) he's picked up a lot from his NBA game he plays on his GameCube. He's always trying the stuff he sees, and he's not shy on the court.
But what is this "fantasy" stuff anyway? I notice my husband does fantasy football, I was hoping it wasn't gambling!

[Valandil]

Originally posted by Insidious Rex
a fader? are you referring to his inhability thus far to get the T-wolves deep into the playoffs despite having amazing regular seasons? well i dont know if i can put all the blame on him for that. I mean he hasnt really had a good surrounding cast in his whole career there. I think they made an effert to really trim some of the fat from a squad that never could get it really rolling when it counted (DESPITE Garnetts herculaen efferts. dont you remember him killing himself when they played dallas in the series last year? i think he had a 38 pt/24 rb game at one point or something like that). I mean Cassell is just gonna help Garnett. You dont need your forward being your ball handler AND go to man. but i digress...

I was just saying as far as best player in the NBA goes Id have to favor Garnett at this point. Keep in mind this is irrelevant of who has won championships or not. But time will tell if Garnett can ever get the Timberwolves there or if he will end up going to another team to get that ring. I think you cant question his desire though.

Can't question his desire for money anyway. He effectively hamstrung the franchise by forcing them to shell out way too much money when time came to re-up his contract the first time around. He wouldn't even talk to them until they upped the ante from 100mil to 123mil... CRAZY! There's NO WAY the T-wolves can afford to surround him with anyone but utility players.

Besides, he sometimes gets the numbers, but he's never consistently been much of a fourth quarter man. That's what I meant by 'fader'.

[Lizra]

Can't pull it off in the fourth quarter? Sounds like the Jalen Rose story! Well, Timberwolves did something evil to the Pacers last week !

Pacers played the Rockets last night...WON!.... Yao and all. I heard a talking head call Ron Artest "The Manimal" I thought I'd die laughing! Artest did a nice backward dunk over Yao's head ....Jermaine O'neil got the "dunk of the night". "Manimal"

[Insidious Rex]

Originally posted by Valandil
Can't question his desire for money anyway. He effectively hamstrung the franchise by forcing them to shell out way too much money when time came to re-up his contract the first time around. He wouldn't even talk to them until they upped the ante from 100mil to 123mil... CRAZY!

well keep in mind that team owner Glen Taylor said at the start of this season: "He is worth every penny." And I mean if yer owner (who writes the checks) says yer worth it well who else counts? And he said this despite the hardships it caused the team (and the league) to make such a contract. And I think he has proven himself since then really. Furthermore, say what you want about his original contract but in October he actually reworked his contract extension so that he could HELP the T-wolves get more talent so they can win. Now thats showing somethng I think. Originally he inked a deal for $126 mil then he dropped a year and made it $100 mil which comes out to actually 5% less a year then the original contract. He could have held out for the same yearly base. Or he coulda just walked after years of frustration in Minnesota and the immense pressure of carrying that team and never making it deep into the playoffs. But he didnt. He told management Ill take less but get some talent in here because i want to win championships. And they tried to do this by getting Cassell and Sprewell, moves they probably couldnt have made if Garnett had insisted on breaking the bank and not caring about the teams future.

Besides, he sometimes gets the numbers, but he's never consistently been much of a fourth quarter man. That's what I meant by 'fader'.

well I think the jury is still out on this. Lets see what they do in the playoffs this year. Expectations will be as high as ever for him. Hes averaging more points and more rebounds then he ever has in his career. Things look promising. Should be exciting. I wouldnt want to face the T-wolves in the first round I can tell you that.

[Insidious Rex]

Originally posted by Lizra

But what is this "fantasy" stuff anyway? I notice my husband does fantasy football, I was hoping it wasn't gambling!

well its an excuse for males to play with numbers and sports at the same time like we so love doing. And to make us think we actually have a clue about how to run things which we dont. Basically you "draft" a team at the beginning of the year along with 10 or 12 other guys and then you go "head to head" against the other teams based on statistics compiled usually over the course of a weeks worth of games. When you do it you quickly realize its not JUST about the glamor boys and the big time scorers. They can hurt you if they turn the ball over a lot or if they have awful shooting percentages (I can offically state having Shaquille ONeal on my team is nice for points and rebounds and blocks but he KILLS me when it comes to free throw percentage! Same with Erick Dampier! Oy... And Baron Davis may score 40 points but when he takes 37 shots to get there it kills me!) anyway...

So yeah its fun if yer into numbers and "control". Ive always been into board games and as i kid i used to read the box scores religiously and track stats daily cause i was obsessed like that. So its just an extention of that. I need my sports stats fix every day.

[Valandil]

Originally posted by Insidious Rex
Hes averaging more points and more rebounds then he ever has in his career. Things look promising. Should be exciting. I wouldnt want to face the T-wolves in the first round I can tell you that.

At first I was trying to figure out why you were so up on KG... but now I'm connecting the dots (I think). Didn't he play most of his HS ball in Maryland? I know he came here to Chicago for his senior year - before jumping directly to the NBA after HS. I knew he was from out east - and I'm thinking it was Maryland. Is that right? Was he in your area? Did you follow him then?

Well... best wishes on that. I'm just a bit afraid that the Lakers are putting together a juggernaut that will just demolish the field... and it grieves me immensely.

And the Bulls... they just keep on losin'...

[Insidious Rex]

Originally posted by Valandil
At first I was trying to figure out why you were so up on KG... but now I'm connecting the dots (I think). Didn't he play most of his HS ball in Maryland? I know he came here to Chicago for his senior year - before jumping directly to the NBA after HS. I knew he was from out east - and I'm thinking it was Maryland. Is that right? Was he in your area? Did you follow him then?

oh no Im just a basketball geek thats all. i have no good excuse im afraid. I think he grew up in South Carolina actually. I know Dean Smith was interested in him before he decided he would go straight to the pros. Could you imagine him playing for the Tar Heals? I think he would have been there when Jamison was there too. What a duo. And McGinnis. No I remember thinking he was a punk too when he came straight into the pros. At that point in time I was leary of kids who did that. How dare they eh? But I realize now it was kind of a silly way for me to think. If you have the talent why not? Who am I to tell a kid he cant get paid and that he has to go to school first. I only thought that way because i loved college basketball so and it seemed like for a while there we were losing our best prospects. but really its just a couple every year if that. and college hoop is still incredibly entertaining. so ive changed a lot since Garnett first came into the pros I must say.

Well... best wishes on that. I'm just a bit afraid that the Lakers are putting together a juggernaut that will just demolish the field... and it grieves me immensely.

I wouldnt be surprised. But they will still need to be vigilant to get past the San Antonios and the Sacramentos of the world. They are very dangerous ball clubs. And to think Sacramento is playing as well as they are WITHOUT Webber all this time. So fear not.

And the Bulls... they just keep on losin'...

at least the bulls have improved. Im a wizards fan. thats all you really have to say.

I think getting a player like Jerome Williams was a great pick up. hes one of these highly underated roll players you dont hear much about but who can do so much. keep an eye on him. hell have a few 20+ rebound games.

[Valandil]

Heehee! The Bulls cut a guy and pulled up someone from the CBA to replace him. In his first game (last night) the new ex-CBA guy leads the team in scoring! Of course it was another loss - this one to the lowly Heat.

Should we be replacing ALL these guys with CBA players? What kind of roster do the Bulls have anyway?

Wondering if John Paxson (new GM as of summer) will do some house-cleaning this coming off-season.

Maybe that'll change if Tyson Chandler comes off his injury well - but he's not back yet. Once he's back though - THEN we'll at least get to see what kind of a team we've actually got.

[Insidious Rex]

Well Im sure all the Laker Haters out there are pleased with the state of things for "America's Basketball Team". 3 of the 4 Laker super stars are down with injuries. Granted Shaq's and Kobe's shouldnt be long term problems and even Malone should be ok come playoff time but still thats a major major hit and they could drop some games that could really effect their playoff positioning.

Heres a question to the hoop fans out there (all 3 of us): Think that the Kings can win a title without Webber in their line up? Im simply amazed how well theyve played this year without him in the line up at ALL. Stojankovic is just simply unconcious if you give him even a sliver of room to shoot. Do you think bringing Webber back will actually disrupt their amazing chemistry? I know its silly to suggest that about your top player but its interesting to think about.

[Lizra]

Hey! It couldn't happen to a nicer team. (Lakers) Phil Jackson (is that their coaches name? ) needs to get something together for his team. "Could" drop a few?!!
I know nothing of Webber, but when he comes back it might be confusing briefly, but if he's as good as you seem to think, I'm sure it will come together pretty darn quick. Having him come back might freak out the superstitious types.
Here's a question for you...how important is the coach? I'm sure than sounds dumb, but help me understand anyway. What's more important good players, or good coaching?

[Insidious Rex]

Originally posted by Lizra

Here's a question for you...how important is the coach? I'm sure than sounds dumb, but help me understand anyway. What's more important good players, or good coaching?

In the NBA? its not QUITE as important. Its still really important though. Id say theres about three or four coaches in the NBA that truly make a big difference as far as their team goes. And yeah Phil Jackson would definitely be one of those. Coaching at that level is more about being able to handle the egos and meld the massive talent that you have into something bigger then the sum of its parts. On the other hand there are some teams (and some owners) who no coach could really be long term succesful with. The Clippers come to mind. And the Wizards...

But in college basketball coaching is HUGE! Thats why you get legends like Dean Smith and John Wooden lasting decades and winning titles by the bushel. Currently I think Mike Krzyzewski is THE best hoops coach at ANY level. I hope he never jumps to the pros because his ability to impact a team directly would be so much more watered down and that would be a shame. Look what happened to Larry Brown.

[Lizra]

Larry Brown? Why...he became a great Pacer's coach!
So you don't think Phil Jackson's had a "easy" ride, resting on the laurels of Michael Jordan and Shaq and crew? What (if anything) are you looking forward to seeing at the all star bash/game?

[Insidious Rex]

Originally posted by Lizra
Larry Brown? Why...he became a great Pacer's coach!

yes one of his SEVEN NBA teams hes coached for now. Hes become this genius nomad who has issues with big name players. And no matter how good you are its really hard to win it all if you cant deal with personality as well as talent.

So you don't think Phil Jackson's had a "easy" ride, resting on the luarels of Micheal Jordan and Shaq and crew?

I dont think any coach would have been as succesful as Phil Jackson even if they had the same teams. Jackson is one of these rare coaches who has mastered the art of coaching BY coaching. He is so much more a better coach now then he was when he first started. And anyway I think Shaq (and many others) came to Phil BECAUSE of how good a coach he is. He WAS fortunate to get Michael when Michael was young. And Michael has as much to thank Phil about as Phil has to thank Michael about in my opinion.

What (if anything) are you looking forward to seeing at the all star bash/game?

ah just a whole lot of wild offensive playground stuff. and no defense of course. Lets see if the older guys give Lebron a hard time like they tend to do with all rookies.

[Valandil]

Originally posted by Insidious Rex
Well Im sure all the Laker Haters out there are pleased with the state of things for "America's Basketball Team". 3 of the 4 Laker super stars are down with injuries. Granted Shaq's and Kobe's shouldnt be long term problems and even Malone should be ok come playoff time but still thats a major major hit and they could drop some games that could really effect their playoff positioning.

Heres a question to the hoop fans out there (all 3 of us): Think that the Kings can win a title without Webber in their line up? Im simply amazed how well theyve played this year without him in the line up at ALL. Stojankovic is just simply unconcious if you give him even a sliver of room to shoot. Do you think bringing Webber back will actually disrupt their amazing chemistry? I know its silly to suggest that about your top player but its interesting to think about.

(the third of 'us 3' getting back into the discussion... )

The Bulls have just continued to be SO BAD it's hard to pay any attention to the league at large. I have sort of heard that the Kings didn't have Webber, and yet were playing well. It could go either way if/when he's back. If he wants to force them into changing what they've been successfully doing and focus things on him because he's "the star" - downhill spiral coming shortly. If he can make himself another part of what they're doing so well (whatever that is) - maybe they'll just get better and better.

Sometimes when a star is out - or (as we see often in college) moves on - the rest of the team rallies, and several people emerge as very capable players. The prevailing theory for some time has been that you need at least one player at the 'super-star' level in order to win a championship. I wonder if that's really the case though... or even if they're largely needed so that you'll 'get calls'...???

What I DO know is that we're set for a long, hard, cold winter in Chicago... for about the sixth straight year.