***Official NBA Thread***

[duffer]

Oi duffer, what's the goss on where Tyler Hansborough will go? Easily the most complete player I saw play in the NCAA this year behind Griffin. Haven't seen any talk about him.

He's a dominant player at college level. Most scouts however aren't sold on how many of his qualities easily translate to the NBA level. He isn't a great rebounder, isn't very athletic, too small to be an NBA centre and his feet are a tad too slow to guard most PF's. Would be a liability against a lot of teams defensively.

I think he could be a solid 6th man or bench player in the league though. He's the hardest working player I've seen for a long time, ultra competitive, nice touch and hook shot, seems very coachable so should find a role on some team for most of his career. Heard the Bulls were very high on him at #16 but he could drop anywhere to the early second round depending on what team want at the time.

I like him a lot though, just expect him to be similar to JJ Reddick. College superstar but a role player in the pro's.

 

[Anil]

And Anil aren't you a Kobe fan? Big lol at trying to paint Dwight as being a dirty player when Kobe and others on the team have been involved in more than their fair share of elbow throwing and rough play.

i don't remember kobe breaking any sinuses or jaws or whatever...as for rough play, everyone does it in the playoffs, breaking bones go beyond rough play...

 

[duffer]

Kobe's thrown a lot of elbows and forearms that could've easily broken something but luckily didn't. Just because Dwight's a bigger bloke shouldn't count against him in that regard. Just let em play, I hope the announcers and refs stop being big blouses for this series.

 

[Anil]

I wouldn't call the lakers a complete team by any stretch of the imagination. They probably have more weapons than orlando but they're still reliant on their best two players showing up for them to win a playoff game. They've had sporadic support from others but for me they don't have a consistent post up threat against Howard and their point guard play is very mediocre nowadays.

i said as complete as i have seen in a while...fisher doesn't play like a true point guard and is pretty much a perimeter shooter but he is a pretty solid defender and canny player and contributes in a lot of intangible ways..in any case, bryant plays point pretty good....they have a good center(bynum), exceptional power forward(gasol), two good to very good small forwards(odom and ariza), a brilliant shooting guard+point guard+point forward+clutch shooter+finisher package(bryant), the bench hasn't played as well this year but a group of walton, odom, vujacic, farmar, brown et al is pretty solid and has been productive...they don't really have a glaring weakness composition-wise and talent-wise and that's why they blow most teams away when they are on....their issue has been that they have been blowing hot and cold throughout the post-season and that could cost them in the finals if that trend continues...

 

[Anil]

Kobe's thrown a lot of elbows and forearms that could've easily broken something but luckily didn't. Just because Dwight's a bigger bloke shouldn't count against him in that regard. Just let em play, I hope the announcers and refs stop being big blouses for this series.

just let 'em play if someone's jaw or nose is broken? i don't think penalizing that kind of stuff is soft...and you are the one who brought in the comparison between the two, why don't we judge him when bryant actually breaks someone's bones...?

 

[duffer]

Lol @ Walton actually being expected to contribute. Fisher has been hurting them a lot more than helping this year and Brown is a pesky defender but erratic scoring wise. Bynum has had a grand total of 1 good game all playoffs. Still overly reliant on two players and hoping Ariza and Odom do something. Can't see how that is even arguable, it's been the story of their entire playoffs.

 

[duffer]

just let 'em play if someone's jaw or nose is broken? i don't think penalizing that kind of stuff is soft...and you are the one who brought in the comparison between the two, why don't we judge him when bryant actually breaks someone's bones...?

Hitting someone and not being strong enough to break anything doesn't make it better than hitting someone and breaking something. Just pointing out that you shouldn't be labeling other players dirty when your own one has plenty of previous in that regard.

 

[Anil]

Lol @ Walton actually being expected to contribute. Fisher has been hurting them a lot more than helping this year and Brown is a pesky defender but erratic scoring wise. Bynum has had a grand total of 1 good game all playoffs. Still overly reliant on two players and hoping Ariza and Odom do something. Can't see how that is even arguable, it's been the story of their entire playoffs.

what is the point in singling out walton? he is a bench player who plays maybe 10-15 min a game, what do you expect from him? and what is the problem with relying on their two superstars for a huge chunk of the scoring? when they play well like in that final game against denver, the scoring is very balanced, in that game they had 5 players in double figures and most of the team contributed one way or the other....

 

[duffer]

You listed him as part of the group who can contribute something and I responded. Notice how I mentioned all the other players you mentioned straight after him as well. Please tell me where I said it was a problem with relying on one superstar and another All-Star level player all the time?

Just refuting how complete a team they are. If anything the Magic are the deeper team who've been getting strong performances from quite a few players as opposed to just 2 of them. The point was that LA need Kobe and Pau to carry them if they are to win the series and I don't see how that is refutable.

 

[Anil]

Hitting someone and not being strong enough to break anything doesn't make it better than hitting someone and breaking something. Just pointing out that you shouldn't be labeling other players dirty when your own one has plenty of previous in that regard.

that argument really doesn't cut it....if you are a shaq or a howard or a yao and if you are big and strong enough to break someone's bones, you should be even more responsible and aware while playing physical...and if you call bryant a dirty player, there are a lot of other players(all called elite defenders) who would fall into that category...

 

[duffer]

Haha, sorry but I didn't call him a dirty player. I just said you're being blinkered by criticising other players when your own hero is culpable of the same things. He's done it on more occasions than Howard has as well, just got lucky he didn't break someone.

 

[Anil]

You listed him as part of the group who can contribute something and I responded. Notice how I mentioned all the other players you mentioned straight after him as well. Please tell me where I said it was a problem with relying on one superstar and another All-Star level player all the time?

Just refuting how complete a team they are. If anything the Magic are the deeper team who've been getting strong performances from quite a few players as opposed to just 2 of them. The point was that LA need Kobe and Pau to carry them if they are to win the series and I don't see how that is refutable.

...and the magic can win without howard carrying them? turkoglu and lewis can win the odd game for them when their jump-shots fall(and even for that they need a howard double-team to get reasonably uncontested shots) but over a series, they are just as reliant on howard's significant presence in the paint on both ends...one team has two dominant players(bryant and gasol), two very good players(ariza and odom) and a deeper supporting cast and the other has one such dominant player(howard), two good players(lewis and turkoglu) and the role players are not as good(nelson is still a question-mark and alston is not a game-changer in any way)...i don't see any way the magic can be called a deeper team...

 

[Anil]

Haha, sorry but I didn't call him a dirty player. I just said you're being blinkered by criticising other players when your own hero is culpable of the same things. He's done it on more occasions than Howard has as well, just got lucky he didn't break someone.

but he is not culpable of breaking someone's bones...and as such can't be classified the same(at least not yet)...and are you saying that elbow-throwing players are a minority in the nba and bryant is part of that select group? that is not even close to being true, pretty much every tough player in the game does it....however jaw and sinus and nose breakers are in a distinct minority....

 

[duffer]

Ariza is fools gold if you're depending on him and Odom is just as likely to be ass as he is class on any given day. Orlando wiped the floor with Phily when Dwight was out and they've played well in a lot of games when he got into early foul trouble this season. Before you start calling Gasol dominant let's see him do it to a guy who can match his size like he got in the Finals last year.

The "supporing cast" you are refering to would be Sasha, Brown, Walton, Fisher and Bynum. Going by the playoffs so far if you're expecting them to give you consistent output you might be in for a shock. They've done close to nothing so far. Seen nothing to make me believe that Kobe and Pau need to carry them again.

And heh @ you getting so butthurt by someone criticising Kobe for anything. I'm just applying the same standard that you applied to Howard. The action was the same even if the end result was different.

 

[Sanz]

i don't remember kobe breaking any sinuses or jaws or whatever...as for rough play, everyone does it in the playoffs, breaking bones go beyond rough play...

Oh Common now. I am a big Kobe fan and want him to win but he gets away with a lot of elbowing stuff. Just because No one has had his nose broken doesn't mean Kobe doesn't elbow. He is as cheap as they come. All great players get away with elbowing and Kobe is a great player. Some of those aren't even called.

YouTube - Kobe Bryant Elbows Manu Ginobili

YouTube - Phantom Elbow - Kobe/Raja

YouTube - Kobe Bryant Elbow To Ron Artest Throat..NBA Playoffs Los Angeles Lakers vs. Houston Rockets

 

[Sanz]

what is the point in singling out walton? he is a bench player who plays maybe 10-15 min a game, what do you expect from him? and what is the problem with relying on their two superstars for a huge chunk of the scoring? when they play well like in that final game against denver, the scoring is very balanced, in that game they had 5 players in double figures and most of the team contributed one way or the other....

From what I hear Walton can be huge for Lakers, he understands Phil Jackson's triangle system better than anyone (haven't seen much of Lakers' this year to say if they still use that offense). He is a good contributor and IMO integral part of that team.

 

[Sanz]

If Lakers win this year, Kobe will be the first player since Jordan to win a Ring without a Dominant big man, which says a lot about the man.

 

[duffer]

Who was Detroit's dominant big man? They had a few good ones but no perennial All-Star level types like Shaq, Duncan or Garnett. Chauncey love.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

If Lakers win this year, Kobe will be the first player since Jordan to win a Ring without a Dominant big man, which says a lot about the man.

According to you, Wade did it.

 

[Sanz]

Who was Detroit's dominant big man? They had a few good ones but no perennial All-Star level types like Shaq, Duncan or Garnett. Chauncey love.

Ben Wallace. Very dominant on the boards and from what I can remember one of the best blockers. I think he is HoF bound.