2015-2016 NBA Regular Season - MDA to HOU - All-NBA - Harden snubbed - Anthony Davis is broke

^^^ Jerry West was Jedi-mind tricking everyone that offseason. Convincing Shaq to come, getting teams to pass on Kobe until he found a team that he could trade with and convincing Vlade to go to Charlotte.

Goran Dragic on Suns: ‘They’re not like Miami, San Antonio, those teams that are really loyal’

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Eleven months have passed since Goran Dragic blindsided the Phoenix Suns with a trade demand – not enough time for him to completely find his bearings with the Miami Heat, but more than enough for the situation he left behind to already settle into rubble.

Dragic is too concerned with his own adjustments in helping Miami regain a spot among the Eastern Conference elite to be overly consumed with the situation in Phoenix. But he has his own theory for why a franchise that seemed so promising is suddenly foundering, based on his own experience with the Suns.

“It feels like they’re always changing something,” Dragic told Yahoo Sports. “They’re not like Miami, San Antonio, those teams that are really loyal when they find something.”

Dragic still has fond memories of his time in Phoenix – six seasons spread out over two stints – and is especially grateful for the opportunity the Suns provided after he chose to return for his second run with the team. They put the ball in his hands and allowed him to use his jet-ski speed and creative improvisations to earn third-team All-NBA honors during a surprising 48-win season in 2013-14 that now looks more like a mirage with the passing of time.

While claiming “no regrets” about his Suns tenure, Dragic remains disappointed by the ending, which he claims was the result of too much tinkering – primarily at point guard, a position the 6-foot-3 Slovenian had already proven he could handle. Dragic made it work after the team traded for point guard Eric Bledsoe in July 2013 and helped the Suns emerge as that overachieving darling. But Dragic was pushed away further from the ball – and inevitably, the team – the following season, when the Suns added another ball-dominant guard, Isaiah Thomas, in July.

“Me and Bledsoe, we built really great chemistry together, we played well and the whole team did. Everybody expected that we’re going to get some big guys that we thought we needed, but they did another move, they bring in a point guard and it was tough,” Dragic told Yahoo. “I was a little bit frustrated. It was tough, especially for me, because I was playing off the ball all the time, and I was guarding [small forwards]. That was tough for me, but they did what they did.”

Eventually, Dragic determined that he couldn’t commit to a team that didn’t appear sincerely committed to him, despite public and private declarations from general manager Ryan McDonough and coach Jeff Hornacek claiming otherwise. He used his leverage as a pending free agent to force a trade-deadline deal to Miami
“It’s always tough when you beat your expectation and you win 48, 49 games and you expect the next year to win 50, 55 games,” Dragic told Yahoo. “But I feel like we still had a good team, but I felt, I don’t know, the chemistry was not there like the year before.”

The Suns don’t have the NBA’s worst record this season, but they have arguably been the worst team in the league over the past two weeks. Phoenix has lost nine straight games, including a home defeat to Philadelphia and an embarrassing road loss to the Kobe-less Los Angeles Lakers. During the free fall, Markieff Morris was suspended two games for throwing a towel at Hornacek; two of Hornacek's top assistants were dismissed; and Bledsoe – the team's best player – sustained a season-ending knee injury.

And on Friday, amid all of that turmoil, the Suns will welcome back Dragic, who noticed the fissures in the structure and got out before the unseemly collapse.

“I always believe when you find some pieces that you leave those pieces [alone]. But then you upgrade the other positions. Like San Antonio is doing. They always have the Big Three, but then it’s a good team. They always find another player at another position, so they’re always good. But that’s not my call,” Dragic told Yahoo, with an uncomfortable chuckle. “I was just there to play basketball. I tried to do my job.”

Bledsoe, Morris, Alex Len, P.J. Tucker and Archie Goodwin are the only players remaining from when Dragic was in Phoenix. The Suns used dealing Dragic as a chance to again remake the roster as they got rid of Thomas and used a valuable trade chip – a top-three-protected pick from the Los Angeles Lakers – to acquire Brandon Knight at the deadline. They later split up the Morris twins, dealing Marcus to Detroit to clear cap space in a failed attempt to land LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency. And the addition of Tyson Chandler has not yielded much. Dragic is sympathetic to the plight of his former teammates.

“I wish them all the best,” Dragic told Yahoo. “I already went through the season with only [25] wins … and it’s not pretty. Most of the guys, we’re really competitive and you want to win a lot of games. And when you get to that mix where you don’t win [in] like 10 games in a row, that’s really tough. That’s really tough. Everything is worse. In your personal life. Everything. I always say I’m hurting sometimes, have a lot of injuries. But if you win a game, I feel great. But if you lose the game, those injuries, they come up. I don’t know how to explain it, winning is such a unique thing.”

Dragic sought that “unique thing” in Miami, where Pat Riley has built a franchise that has been stable and consistently good over the past two decades, with only four non-playoff seasons during his reign with the organization.

“That’s why I didn’t hesitate to sign in free agency, because they are always on top,” Dragic told Yahoo. “They are always looking at that big picture to win a championship. I still remember that year with the Suns, when we made the [conference finals in 201. That was one of the best moments in my career and I want to feel that again, to be in the playoffs and to be a contender."

lawdog1 said:

^^^ Jerry West was Jedi-mind tricking everyone that offseason. Convincing Shaq to come, getting teams to pass on Kobe until he found a team that he could trade with and convincing Vlade to go to Charlotte.

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I just watched the sole man 30 for 30 and seemed like Sonny Vaccaro had a lot to do with the Nets (and other teams) passing on Kobe. I guess he put out a fake story about Kobe leaving to Italy if he were drafted by the Nets. Sonny had a great relationship with Kobe so teams believed him.

I knew about the fake Italy threat but I never knew it was Sonny's doing until last night. Really good 30 for 30 if anyone hasn't seen it.

Fan earns 1-year NBA ban after shining light in James Harden's eye

Utah Jazz fans have come up with some creative ways to distract opposing free-throw shooters in the past, but one Utahn's high-tech technique backfired in a big way on Monday night.

As Houston Rockets star James Harden was preparing to take a free throw with his team trailing the Jazz, 76-68, at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Monday, whistles blew and Harden suddenly stopped, looked up to his left and signaled to the stands. For a second there, it looked like he was about to throw the ball into the seats.



What was the All-Star shooting guard so ticked off about? Apparently, a fan was shining a light in his eyes to throw him off. From Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle:

“Some guy was lasering me,” Harden said. “I saw it the first time and I thought it was a picture being taken. I went to the foul line again and it happened again. The referee (Tom Washington) caught it before I did. That’s the first time that happened to me.”

The unexpected and unwelcome light-shining sparked a stoppage in the game as arena ushers and security searched for the unofficial and unwanted sixth man.

"In the end, it was a fan with a flashlight who was found to be the culprit, according to a Jazz official," wrote Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune after the game. "The fan was escorted out of the arena and will receive a one-year ban from NBA arenas."

On one hand, I'd be down with a longer ban than a year for trying to blind a dude. On the other, it'd probably seem a little crazy to adopt longer bans for shining a light from the stands than for leaping out of the bleachers and literally running onto the court in the middle of a game. (A modest proposal: longer bans for both!)

In any event, when play resumed after an LED-inspired interlude of about two minutes, Harden missed his second free throw. Congratulations, Lightbringer. Hope that was worth a year-long heave-ho.

After trailing a Jazz squad playing without injured starters Rudy Gobert, Dante Exum, Alec Burks and Derrick Favors by as many as 15 points with 4 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter — oh, those Rockets! — Houston scratched its way back into the proceedings with a quarter-closing 12-5 run in which Harden scored all 12 Rocket points. Harden would add nine more in the fourth quarter, as the Rockets clamped down on the short-handed and tired Jazz to take a two-point lead with just under two minutes remaining.

A minute and a half later, with Houston still clinging to a two-point lead, Harden got one hell of a karmic repayment for that third-quarter lasering indignity:

After rejecting a screen from forward Trevor Booker, Jazz point guard Trey Burke drove left into the lane, getting a step on Rockets defender Trevor Ariza and barreling down the middle of the floor As Rockets center Dwight Howard stepped up to stop the ball, his man, Utah reserve Jeff Withey, snuck behind him along the baseline for a dump-off pass. Burke hit him, and he rose up for a dunk that would knot the game at 91 ... except Withey missed, thanks in large part to Harden crashing down from the corner, and into his back. (Houston forward Montrezl Harrell sure seemed to clock Withey in the chops on his attempt to block the shot, too.)

And yet, no foul was called, leaving Jazz fans — and players — pretty stunned.

"I was pretty surprised," Withey said after the game, according to Falk of the Tribune. "I felt a lot of contact, but the refs kind of let us play the whole game, so I don’t know. I don’t want to say too much about it."

“All 10 players on the floor stopped," said Jazz swingman Rodney Hood after the game, according to Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News. "I think everybody on the floor assumed it was going to be a foul, but it wasn’t and we had to come down and foul at that point.’’

Booker fouled Rockets veteran Jason Terry, who missed the back-end of his two free throws, giving Houston a 92-89 lead and giving Utah one more chance. On the ensuing play, Hood — just one day removed from the birth of his first child — rose up for a potential game-tying 3-pointer, only to be fouled by Harden in the act of shooting. The refs did call that one, sending Hood to the line for three freebies ... but he missed the last one, which the Rockets rebounded, holding on for a 93-91 victory and snap a four-game losing streak. Harden led the way with 30 points on 9-for-25 shooting, seven assists, five rebounds and one block (albeit with an unsightly eight turnovers) in 42 minutes.

The no-call on Withey loomed large in the two-point defeat, to the point that local media sought an explanation from the officials ... only to come away empty-handed, according to Andy Larsen of KSL.com:

After the game, I was informed that it was possible to ask the referees to comment on the play, through a "pool reporter." The process is this: the media requests to speak with the crew chief of the officiating staff about a specific play or plays during the game. Then, the team PR officer of the media making the request and the pool reporter go and knock on the door. The referees are notified about the request, and can choose to either accept or decline the interview request.

I went through the process, acting as the "pool reporter," about two plays that occurred: the aforementioned Withey non-call, and the foul call on Hood at the end of the game. We knocked on the door, and the referees told us that they would not be answering questions about the plays, and that was that.

While the refs declined to address the play, Jazz head coach Quin Snyder did, refusing to bemoan harsh fate or blind zebras for the end of his team's two-game winning streak.

“In the end, it’s not one thing,’’ he said, according to Sorensen of the News. “I don’t think one call was the game. I don’t think one missed jumper was the game. I don’t think one free throw was the game. It’s easy to look for those things, I do it too. I don’t think it helps us get better to fixate on anything."

You'll be shocked to learn that everything about that play seemed totally kosher to Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who improved to 13-12 since taking over for the fired Kevin McHale.

"[Harrell] had a great blocked shot," Bickerstaff said, according to Feigen of the Chronicle. "A lot of people here were crying about it. It looked good to me."

No word yet on whether anyone shined a laser in his eye.

This is kind of random but I keep waiting for Kawhi's shooting to come back down to Earth a little bit, and he's still out here shooting 52/50/89 while being an absolute game-changing nightmare on defense. The top 5 talk earlier in the season wasn't far off. It's incredible how good this guy is.

JD617 said:

This is kind of random but I keep waiting for Kawhi's shooting to come back down to Earth a little bit, and he's still out here shooting 52/50/89 while being an absolute game-changing nightmare on defense. The top 5 talk earlier in the season wasn't far off. It's incredible how good this guy is.

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it'll happen when it matters most like game 7

at trying to blind a player

xbiker47 said:

at trying to blind a player

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Forreal...was it a flashlight or one of those high powered laser pointer things? Couldn't really tell from article. If it was one of those high powered laser pointers that can easily cause serious eye injury and a year wouldn't be long enough.

JD617 said:

This is kind of random but I keep waiting for Kawhi's shooting to come back down to Earth a little bit, and he's still out here shooting 52/50/89 while being an absolute game-changing nightmare on defense. The top 5 talk earlier in the season wasn't far off. It's incredible how good this guy is.

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it aint coming down that much. say he starts shooting at his normal clip from three which is a solid 37% the rest of the way, he'll still end up in the mid 40s
he has always been a .500 shooter overall

once they get aldridge all nice and settled... :x
with my W's hot start, my Spurs are being somewhat overshadowed with their own great play

xxpizzo said:

What I said about Stauskas was wrong. Regardless of my personal feelings, I definitely should not have singled him out, that was wrong … but Stauskas has played like **** the whole season …

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Noooooooooooo
Bruh I am dyiiiiing funniest **** ever

You can't convince me his dad isn't a-friend, you can't do it

Jimmy butler Evan turner rudy gobert and now Kendall marshall have earned their way into my top 5 just off the strength of quotes/tweets this season

Lol dude (first name is Brian) on Sportscenter going in right now on how it's crazy to say D. Green is top 10

"The system allows him to be.."

"He's a very very good player but..."

Ruh roh

Vincent Van Ho said:

Lol dude (first name is Brian) on Sportscenter going in right now on how it's crazy to say D. Green is top 10

"The system allows him to be.."

"He's a very very good player but..."

Ruh roh

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He spoke truth. He said "take him out of this system and make him your teams number one option you'll see a different player".

leemelone said:

xxpizzo said:

What I said about Stauskas was wrong. Regardless of my personal feelings, I definitely should not have singled him out, that was wrong … but Stauskas has played like **** the whole season …

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Noooooooooooo
Bruh I am dyiiiiing funniest **** ever

You can't convince me his dad isn't a-friend, you can't do it

Jimmy butler Evan turner rudy gobert and now Kendall marshall have earned their way into my top 5 just off the strength of quotes/tweets this season

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What were the quotes from the others?

lol at the hypothetical. well he does play in the system and will be for a long time

friscostylez said:

lol at the hypothetical. well he does play in the system and will be for a long time

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Yeah I don't think any team would make him the number one option. Scoring isn't even his strength. His all around game and winning mentality is what a team would want. Not his ability to score.

The Collector said:

friscostylez said:

lol at the hypothetical. well he does play in the system and will be for a long time

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Yeah I don't think any team would make him the number one option. Scoring isn't even his strength. His all around game and winning mentality is what a team would want. Not his ability to score.

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yeah i don't think anyone would argue with you but him not being a top 10 player because he ain't an elite scorer is dumb IMO

friscostylez said:

yeah i don't think anyone would argue with you but him not being a top 10 player because he ain't an elite scorer is dumb IMO

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Agree with you there. He does enough in all the other aspects of basketball to warrant praise. I'm not at top 10 yet but can't deny what's he's been doing as of late. My opinion is starting to change a bit.

friscostylez said:

The Collector said:

friscostylez said:

lol at the hypothetical. well he does play in the system and will be for a long time

Click to expand...

Yeah I don't think any team would make him the number one option. Scoring isn't even his strength. His all around game and winning mentality is what a team would want. Not his ability to score.

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yeah i don't think anyone would argue with you but him not being a top 10 player because he ain't an elite scorer is dumb IMO

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how many legit number ones are there?

sea manup said:

[thread="638376"]after watching that video, I'm never going to get food at taco bell again [/thread]
[thread="638376"] [/thread]
[thread="638376"] [/thread]

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So THAT'S the reason you're not gonna eat taco bell anymore ? Just driving by one of those and having the smell hit me makes me nauseous

JinKazama said:

xbiker47 said:

at trying to blind a player

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Forreal...was it a flashlight or one of those high powered laser pointer things? Couldn't really tell from article. If it was one of those high powered laser pointers that can easily cause serious eye injury and a year wouldn't be long enough.

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Definitely had to be one of those high powered ones, cause a regular flashlight from that distance isbt being seen at all

The Collector said:

He spoke truth. He said "take him out of this system and make him your teams number one option you'll see a different player".

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Wasn't this what people were saying about Kawaii early on too?

Storm2006 said:

What were the quotes from the others?

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Jimmy was acting like he was from some Brooklyn projects, making fun of Taj Gibson

Evan turner is hilarious and I had no idea . He has a handful of gems this season

Rudy g responded to an overweight twitter heckler and said he looked like Majin bu

DMan14 said:

how many legit number ones are there?

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can you define legit number ones for me