THE 2015 NBA PRE SEASON THREAD: BEST WISHES TO LAMAR ODOM

[hometownhero]

 
Whats going on in here?

the inevitable after free agency.....gonna be a long 3 months

 

[junglejim]

 
Now you fools are just spinning it into something that its not.

Why didn't they make it to the finals in 2013? 2014? Oh yeah...because they made no improvements to their 2012 roster.

Because KD missed 50 games in 2014 and Russ missed 40 in 2013

 

[silverbackhoney]

 
Because KD missed 50 games in 2014 and Russ missed 40 in 2013

How many playoff games did they miss?

 

[julius wrek]

J. MichaelVerified account‏@JMichaelCSN

Wall expected Pierce to leave DC or retire and said his 5yr $80M looks like a bargain compared to likes of Reggie Jackson #WizardsTalk #NBA

 

[IATT]

 
Now you fools are just spinning it into something that its not.

Why didn't they make it to the finals in 2013? 2014? Oh yeah...because they made no improvements to their 2012 roster.

westbrook got hurt the 2nd game of the playoffs in 2013.. the thunder were the number 1 seed in the west

2014, ibaka got hurt right before the western conference finals.. thunder still won 2 games vs the spurs

 

[bhzmafia14]

Having Steph's ankles be mush in his first few years and signing him for 4/40 helped big time. Do they even have Iggy without that? Unlikely.

They've had a roster equipped to compete for a title the past few years and have been stifled by injuries each year. I really don't know what you and JPZ want people to say.

man c'mon now we got to go all the way back and talk about how the warriors got curry on a steal of a contract?

the roster equipped to compete for a title is due to their drafting. we are arguing about whether their FO is good outside of what they did 7-8 years ago. maybe it was coaching for okc. maybe it was injuries (still no guarantee they win if healthy). but, i'm currently talking about the lack of improvement from their team outside of the guys they drafted. what impact moves have they made to put them over the top? what took them so long to fire a coach that was over playing veterans? why did it take a big injury year to acquire some sort of depth/talent to go alongside their star players?

I find it interesting that as much as we make fun of Lebron for walking to the Finals in the East we bash certain teams in the West for never making it out. The reality of the West is that it's a gauntlet and a team like the Clippers or Thunder may never make it out. But they are still very very good teams that will give anyone a run for their money. Game 7's are likely. It takes a toll on any West team to make it to the Finals. For all we know the Thunder/Clippers will make it out and the Warriors don't make it for another 4 years. The Spurs big 3 might never win again. Who knows.

I do agree with this.


I know people hate using the Spurs, but the Spurs could have very well been in the same boat as OKC. Sure they added talent through the draft, but they also added quite a bit of talent through free agency and trade. Hell, they traded George Hill (their 6th man in the last season as a Spur) for Leonard. A draft pick, but they took a risk. Added Diaw through free agency? Danny Green? Of course LMA.

I mean OKC is still good just because of how well they drafted. I don't think anyone is saying they are not a contender because their FO is bad. This team should be good enough to win it all, but I think their FO does have plenty of faults. Their drafting saved them in a lot of ways because everything else IMO has not been good.

 

[junglejim]

.

 

[rck3sactown]

Midas well go after Ryan Hollins.

Add free agent Ryan Hollins to the list of centers that Dallas is looking at, source said. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle recently called Hollins.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) July 14, 2015

 

[junglejim]

 
westbrook got hurt the 2nd game of the playoffs in 2013.. the thunder were the number 1 seed in the west

2014, ibaka got hurt right before the western conference finals.. thunder still won 2 games vs the spurs

This.

 

[silverbackhoney]

Actually, KD Played 81 games in 12-13 and 13-14 and Russy played 82 in 12-13 and 46 in 13-14

 

[japanair21]

Add free agent Ryan Hollins to the list of centers that Dallas is looking at, source said. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle recently called Hollins.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo)

July 14, 2015

View media item 1627918
We had the doofus once. Why would Rick do that?

 

[silverbackhoney]

westbrook got hurt the 2nd game of the playoffs in 2013.. the thunder were the number 1 seed in the west

2014, ibaka got hurt right before the western conference finals.. thunder still won 2 games vs the spurs

Was this a result of Scott brooks?

 

[jpzx]

"When completely healthy they've been right there for the title every year" ≠ The Thunder front office has done well in the past few years putting talent around KD/Westbrook

 

[junglejim]

 
Actually, KD Played 81 games in 12-13 and 13-14 and Russy played 82 in 12-13 and 46 in 13-14

They lost to a Spurs team that ran through everyone in the playoffs in 2012, whats your point?  Were the Heat terribly run because they lost to the Spurs?  I don't know what about Russell missing almost 40 games in 13-14 is funny though.....

 

[captainsneakerhead23]

We started off having a subpar conversation, now we're just making zero sense at all, gotta love it

 

[junglejim]

"When completely healthy they've been right there for the title every year" ≠ The Thunder front office has done well in the past few years putting talent around KD/Westbrook

Almost making the playoffs without the MVP of the league means there is talent around them....

 

[johnnyredstorm]

We started off having a subpar conversation, now we're just making zero sense at all, gotta love it

NT

We know drama

 

[dacomeup]

man c'mon

now we got to go all the way back and talk about how the warriors got curry on a steal of a contract?

the roster equipped to compete for a title is due to their drafting. we are arguing about whether their FO is good outside of what they did 7-8 years ago. maybe it was coaching for okc. maybe it was injuries (still no guarantee they win if healthy). but, i'm currently talking about the lack of improvement from their team outside of the guys they drafted. what impact moves have they made to put them over the top? what took them so long to fire a coach that was over playing veterans? why did it take a big injury year to acquire some sort of depth/talent to go alongside their star players?
I do agree with this.


I know people hate using the Spurs, but the Spurs could have very well been in the same boat as OKC. Sure they added talent through the draft, but they also added quite a bit of talent through free agency and trade. Hell, they traded George Hill (their 6th man in the last season as a Spur) for Leonard. A draft pick, but they took a risk. Added Diaw through free agency? Danny Green? Of course LMA.

I mean OKC is still good just because of how well they drafted. I don't think anyone is saying they are not a contender because their FO is bad. This team should be good enough to win it all, but I think their FO does have plenty of faults. Their drafting saved them in a lot of ways because everything else IMO has not been good.

I mean, if yall are going to mention what other teams were able to do, then it makes sense to mention why they were able to do it, no?

What years did they miss out on the moves to put them over the top? The past 3 playoffs have been riddled with injuries. They believed that they could compete for a title with their roster at full strength, and they weren't able to do that. 

How much of them not adding salary was on Bennett and not on the FO? Was he trying to keep Brooks and avoid having to pay 2 coaches? I'm not needling the FO with blame for stuff that I'm not sure about, especially with a notoriously cheap owner. 

 

[silverbackhoney]

They lost to a Spurs team that ran through everyone in the playoffs in 2012, whats your point?  Were the Heat terribly run because they lost to the Spurs?  I don't know what about Russell missing almost 40 games in 13-14 is funny though.....

Because they went to the finals the year before and have been trending downward every year, healthy KD and Russ or not
They've made 0 improvements from their finals squad. They've gone downwards. Bad. Front. Office.

 

[dacomeup]

Trading for Thabo, Perk, signing Morrow were all seen as good moves when they acquired these players. Who were they really supposed to add?

 

[IATT]

"When completely healthy they've been right there for the title every year" ≠ The Thunder front office has done well in the past few years putting talent around KD/Westbrook

roster without kd and westbrook:

ibaka, mitch, kanter and adams

singler and roberson (fully expect novak to be moved)

morrow and waiters

dj and payne

 

[junglejim]

Because they went to the finals the year before and have been trending downward every year, healthy KD and Russ or not

They've made 0 improvements from their finals squad. They've gone downwards. Bad. Front. Office.

They were the number 1 seed in 2012.  There isn't much a FO can do about bad luck in 2013 and 2014 due to injuries.

 

[a-friend]

[thread="629224"]i want to see okc stay healthy so we can find out what will be the excuse this year. [/thread]
no more brooks to blame everything on. very interested seeing how the offense will run this year. 

The excuse is covered if we don't win in 16'
He was signed to 70 mil a couple of days ago.

 

[johnnyredstorm]

I didn't watch the Twolves much last season but was Zach LaVine's defense that bad?

Worst DRPM at the 1 -4.34, worst RPM -6.87, second worst Diff% in the entire NBA (mininum 40 games and 7 shots against) 6.4

 

[jpzx]

Almost making the playoffs without the MVP of the league means there is talent around them....

Four wins more than a .500 team, this wasn't the Western Conference of year's past - but the ≠ meant that last year wasn't even what we're talking about until we went off on it as a tangent.