The NBA

[Growsonwalls]

Bubba Wallace Needed Help. Michael Jordan Took it Personally.

Ok great headline by NYT. And good for MJ.

[emmawoodhouse]

17 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

Another day, another ominous injury report: A. Davis is getting an MRI for something related to his Achilles. Hopefully it's not a tear. Those are the worst.

EYA: I'm stealing this from reddit. This is clever:

 

AD's injury turns out to be a calf strain, not achilles. He will be re-evaluated in 2-3 weeks.

[Growsonwalls]

More MJ news: he took the lack of healthcare personally.

[xaxat]

From a distance, NBA broadcasters are trying to make the audience feel close to the action

 

[xaxat]

I was listening to BBC World radio news this morning. They covered an African basketball tournament where Loul Deng is coaching one of the national teams. They referred to him as an "NBA legend" and I can't figure out if that is zealous pride for a native son or some kind of shade.

Edited February 20, 2021 by xaxat

[cambridgeguy]

I think they probably meant it sincerely.  A 14 year career and 2 all star games is above average and his only competition for best player born in South Sudan is Manute Bol.

[Growsonwalls]

While everyone marvels at Kevin Durant and John Wall coming back so strong from an Achilles tear, DeMarcus Cousins is getting waived by the Rockets who did guarantee his contract (so he will get paid). But it's not expected that another team will pick him up. So another case of a career-ending Achilles injury 😞 

[Lamb18]

Timberwolves pulled a stunner Sunday night/Monday morning. They fired Ryan Saunders after Sunday night's loss (not that big of a surprise) but first thing I heard Monday morning was that there is a new head coach, not an interim, but a new coach from another team, the Toronto Raptors. He is Chris Finch. I hope he's good for the team. His experience looks good. He's coached with a lot of teams in NBA, also coached European basketball and other non-NBA basketball experience. 

Does anyone know anything about how Chris Finch is as a coach, good or bad?

[grommit2]

4 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

Timberwolves pulled a stunner Sunday night/Monday morning. They fired Ryan Saunders after Sunday night's loss (not that big of a surprise) but first thing I heard Monday morning was that there is a new head coach, not an interim, but a new coach from another team, the Toronto Raptors. He is Chris Finch. I hope he's good for the team. His experience looks good. He's coached with a lot of teams in NBA, also coached European basketball and other non-NBA basketball experience. 

Does anyone know anything about how Chris Finch is as a coach, good or bad?

Hi Lamb18. 
His resume certainly says he knows how to coach.  According to Wikipedia:
Finch was a D3 All American with defense as his forte.
Played pro in England and Germany.  
Coached 1st in England, British B-ball League coach of the year in 1999
Moved to Germany to coach, fired for a 4-13 start, not sure of the year.
Moved to Belgium 2005 to coach Euphony Bree, won their only Belgian basketball championship
Changed Belgian teams, made it to the finals.
2009 took the NBA D-League Rio Grande team to 1st place in the western conference, for the first time, ultimately won the league championship.
Assistant with the Houston Rockets in 2011. Well-regarded for his offenses. 
2016 over to Denver.  Associate Head Coach.
2017 to Toronto, assistant coach.
2021 to Minnesota as head coach

 

[Growsonwalls]

A Davis has dropped out the All Star game and Devin Booker is replacing him.

[xaxat]

Why the hell does the media think anyone cares what washed up, shadow of his peak as not one of the best soccer players in the world, Zlatan thinks about LeBron?

[emmawoodhouse]

32 minutes ago, xaxat said:

Why the hell does the media think anyone cares what washed up, shadow of his peak as not one of the best soccer players in the world, Zlatan thinks about LeBron?

It's a Eurotrash thing, I suppose. I didn't get him dissing LeBron at all. 

[Growsonwalls]

Kevin Durant got into a little twitter scuffle with Kashdoll about who gets to be "the real KD":

 

[Magog]

7 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

Kevin Durant got into a little twitter scuffle with Kashdoll about who gets to be "the real KD":

I'm trying to find a damn to give about this nonsense & so far I can't find any. 

Those Warriors are playing the Lakers tonight on ESPN & I'm certain that they'll find a way to root for both of their favorite teams. 

[emmawoodhouse]

9 hours ago, Magog said:

I'm trying to find a damn to give about this nonsense & so far I can't find any. 

Those Warriors are playing the Lakers tonight on ESPN & I'm certain that they'll find a way to root for both of their favorite teams. 

Oh, the Warriors aren't in ESPN's favor anymore, but they WILL fellate Steph. Frankly, with the season he's having, he deserves it. 😁

[Raja]

On 1/25/2021 at 8:24 AM, Growsonwalls said:

Also Lebron had Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen in Miami, Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, and Anthony Davis in LA. 

The ONLY player I think sort of dragged an entire team to the finals was the 2009/2010 Lakers, where Kobe Bryant dragged a motley crue to the ring.

How about Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas 2010/2011? Jason Kidd was playing out the end of his career and he had a couple of folks averaging mid double figures. Which seem less than Pau Gasol and one of  Andrew Bynum's better years

[Danny Franks]

23 hours ago, Magog said:

Those Warriors are playing the Lakers tonight on ESPN & I'm certain that they'll find a way to root for both of their favorite teams. 

As if anyone but the Lakers have ever been the favourites of sports journalists who aren't from Boston.

Meanwhile, the Knicks are currently 4th seed in the East, for reasons that pass understanding but are quite enjoyable nonetheless. RJ Barrett is really growing as a player and Julius Randle is looking like a superstar, while Immanuel Quickley is cementing himself as the new Jeremy Lin (but hopefully with more longevity).

[Growsonwalls]

13 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

As if anyone but the Lakers have ever been the favourites of sports journalists who aren't from Boston.

Meanwhile, the Knicks are currently 4th seed in the East, for reasons that pass understanding but are quite enjoyable nonetheless. RJ Barrett is really growing as a player and Julius Randle is looking like a superstar, while Immanuel Quickley is cementing himself as the new Jeremy Lin (but hopefully with more longevity).

Not to mention the injury-wrecked Derrick Rose is having a sort if Indian summer and playing pretty well. I actually can't believe hes still in the league.

[Growsonwalls]

More mid-season coaching turnover: the Hawks just fired Lloyd Pierce.

[xaxat]

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a photo of a fifties era "basketball" game where the players were using boxing gloves.

Looks like the Russians turned it into an actual sport.

 

[Magog]

3 hours ago, xaxat said:

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a photo of a fifties era "basketball" game where the players were using boxing gloves.

Looks like the Russians turned it into an actual sport.

 

This look very entertaining. Frankly, I wanna see Stephen Curry try to survive in that type of game.

Besides, it looks way more fun to watch & enjoy than the upcoming All Star Game on Sunday Night.

[cambridgeguy]

Quote

The ONLY player I think sort of dragged an entire team to the finals was the 2009/2010 Lakers, where Kobe Bryant dragged a motley crue to the ring.

Kobe had Pau Gasol and intermittently useful players like Lamar Odom, Metta World Piece, Derek Fisher, and even Andrew Bynum.  Plus as great as Kobe was he SUCKED in game 7 (6/24 FG) and would have gotten a lot of crap for that if LA hadn't pulled it out

[AimingforYoko]

Take a bow T-Wolves!

[xaxat]

Allen Iverson of the 2000-2001 Sixers averaged 33 points per game on their way to the Finals. Aaron McKie was next with 15 per. The rest of the starting lineup was a 34 year old Dikembe Mutombo, Eric Snow and Tyrone Hill. 

That's dragging your team to the finals.

[DoctorAtomic]

Iverson was *great* that year. They even beat LA once in the Finals. 

[cambridgeguy]

5 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Iverson was *great* that year. They even beat LA once in the Finals. 

Yeah, and that was the only game LA lost in the entire playoffs.   I think we tend to forget this now but the 2001 Lakers were the only true playoff juggernaut.  The 2000 Lakers were toast until Portland choked away Game 7 of the WCF.  The 2002 Lakers needed a Robert Horry miracle, some ahem, questionable officiating in game 6, and every Kings player not named Mike Bibby treating the ball like a hot potato in Game 7 to get into the finals.  A few bounces and Shaq/Kobe only get one title together.

[DoctorAtomic]

49 minutes ago, cambridgeguy said:

The 2000 Lakers were toast until Portland choked away Game 7 of the WCF. 

To be fair, I think Portland laid in hard to the hack-a-Shaq, and Shaq drained just about all his free throws to put the game away. 

[Growsonwalls]

There's an article about Damian Lillard in The Athletic. He's had a tough year personally. Here's a run-down.

[Magog]

Why should I even remotely give a damn about this NBA All Star Game Draft tonight for the game on Sunday Night? I didn't care about it last year & I'm not seeing much of a reason to care about this year.

[xaxat]

The 2001 Finals also gave us this classic moment.

I didn't catch this live, but Candace Parker straight up murdered Shaq on Tuesday.

"That Tennessee math!"

[Growsonwalls]

Shaq sucks. I don't think he;s a bad guy or anything but he's definitely a real Norma Desmond. I also think his game would not really be effective today. Big centers like Joel Embiid have FT% that hover around 80%. Shaq's 50% and change free throw percentage shooting was a problem in his time and would be a bigger problem today. I just don't like his sourpuss attitude on Inside the NBA. 

[AimingforYoko]

Blake Griffin to sign with the Nets.

 

[mojoween]

So the players didn’t want to play in the ASG for a myriad of reasons, and yet still had their families travel to Atlanta to be there.

I watched highlights of the three point contest and apparently should have watched from the beginning, because the scoring was beyond my comprehension.

[Growsonwalls]

I'm surprised they'd pick up Blake Griffin. His body has been wrecked by injuries. And they already have a functional 5 in DeAndre Jordan.

[BetterButter]

NBA probing use of antisemitic slur by Heat's Leonard during Twitch stream

[mojoween]

I don’t know if this is giving Leonard the benefit of the doubt or not, but he is 29 years old.  I think it’s entirely feasible that he has heard that word used as an insult before, but he truly had no idea what it was in reference to.  I’m almost two decades older than he is so I do know why that word is terrible, but is it beyond possibility he didn’t?

With that said - ignorance is bliss, but it won’t stand up in court. So he does need to have consequences come his way.

[NUguy514]

4 hours ago, mojoween said:

I don’t know if this is giving Leonard the benefit of the doubt or not, but he is 29 years old.  I think it’s entirely feasible that he has heard that word used as an insult before, but he truly had no idea what it was in reference to.  I’m almost two decades older than he is so I do know why that word is terrible, but is it beyond possibility he didn’t?

Except that when people use that slur at all, they use it very specifically in reference to Jewish people.  I'll turn your first sentence around a bit; age is not an excuse: he's 29, so he should know what words mean, especially if he's going to use them as insults.  Frankly, I think he does and did have at least some knowledge of what that word meant, and he's lying about it to try to save his nearly $10 million per year salary face.

[doodlebug]

Joe Tait, longtime radio voice of the Cleveland Cavaliers has died at age 83.  He was with the team from its inception until his retirement in 2011.  He also called play by play for the Indians for several seasons before deciding to concentrate on basketball.

WHAM with the right hand, Joe!

https://www.nba.com/cavaliers/features/tait-farewell-210311

[chediavolo]

Is there a thread on  Primetimer for “the inside Story” 4 part special? 

[Lady Whistleup]

Jimmy Butler doesn't know what "coalesce" means, bless his heart.

[NUguy514]

1 hour ago, Lady Whistleup said:

Jimmy Butler doesn't know what "coalesce" means, bless his heart.

That was sad.  I once used the word "effectuate" when talking to two close friends, one of whom went to Berkeley and the other of whom went to Vassar, and the Berkeley friend asked me what that meant (I'm not sure my Vassar friend knew either).  I told him it meant to cause to happen, and he said, partly to yank my chain, "Why didn't you just say that?"  I replied, "I used exactly the word I meant to use."  He took that in good humor.  I kind of wish the reporter had said something similar to Butler, who was much more obnoxious than my friend was.  It's not impressive not to know what "coalesce" means and then to try to shame someone who says it to you, Jimmy.

[Lady Whistleup]

Jimmy wasn't a one-and-done player. He spent four years in college (one year in junior college, three at Marquette) and has a degree in communications. So him getting so offended at "coalesce" was sad.

[xaxat]

Dame Time was hella fun last night.

[AimingforYoko]

Well damn, this sucks: Former NBA center Shawn Bradley paralyzed in bicycle accident.

All best wishes to him and his family.

[Magog]

LeBron James sprained his right ankle last night against the Hawks (the Lakers lost btw) & he will be out for a while. Frankly, its nothing to worry about & he will be fine.  Its not like he will be out for the rest of the season. 

I'm sure that those fools on ESPN & on FS1 are freaking out about this non-story since on an everyday basis, they both can't seem to keep his name out of their mouths. 

[Lady Whistleup]

1 hour ago, Magog said:

LeBron James sprained his right ankle last night against the Hawks (the Lakers lost btw) & he will be out for a while. Frankly, its nothing to worry about & he will be fine.  Its not like he will be out for the rest of the season. 

I'm sure that those fools on ESPN & on FS1 are freaking out about this non-story since on an everyday basis, they both can't seem to keep his name out of their mouths. 

Depends on the sprain. Some sprains are worse than bone fractures. I had a sprain that didn't heal for maybe six months. Several torn ligaments. Even today it's not the same. I used to be able to run about 10k every day. Now I can no longer do that. 

[Lady Whistleup]

Heartbreaking season-ending injury for LaMelo Ball. He was for sure going to be ROTY too.

[emmawoodhouse]

RIP Elgin Baylor. 😢

[Lady Whistleup]

19 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

RIP Elgin Baylor. 😢

"Damn RIP" is trending on twitter and when I clicked on the trending topic I found out. How sad 😞 What a legend.

[cambridgeguy]

An all time great with horrible luck - he never won a championship thanks to the Celtics and the game after he retired was the game the 71-72 Lakers started their 33 game win streak.