NBA Season 2013-2014 (Sep.) FIBA World Cup

To the tune of "dead ant, dead ant..." a la the Pink Panther theme:

Durant, Durant
Durant, Durant, Durant, Durant, DuraaaAAA ntadabadabow

Pacers sign Bynum for the rest of the season

Seems like a solid use of a million bucks. Backup center, with 2 championship rings.

Yeah, I can't hate that. He might suck, but he'll only have to suck for about two minutes a game.

And the sentiment on twitter, and even in the article, is that it's better than letting the Heat have him.

EDIT: Although in today's interview with Larry Legend, he disagrees:

"I've heard that but we don't do that. We don't have the money to throw around to bring guys in and let them sit on the bench just because somebody else wants them. I don't know who came up with that, but that's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
Stele wrote:

Pacers sign Bynum for the rest of the season

Seems like a solid use of a million bucks. Backup center, with 2 championship rings.

Quoting this one instead of the latter.

Its a pure move to grab him to prevent the Heat no matter what legend says.

2 championship rings? and no knees.

I'd be shocked if he has any impact at all for the Pacers.

And then they have a disgruntled guy in the locker room and earned a reputation as a team that will promise one thing and do the opposite. That's not a good thing for a team that, historically, has had trouble signing free agents.

Then there's the issue that the heat probably wouldn't have signed Bynum anyway. They already have a tonne of injury prone players and reclamation projects.

If you put together a team that gives 18 3s to a Lakers team that ends the game with Wesley Johnson, Ryan Kelly, Steve Blake and Kendall Marshall as the only active players, then I think you probably ought to get fired.

Out of a f*cking cannon.

Not into the sun. The sun would resent that.

Just the ocean.

That must have been one hell of a game since two Lakers fouled out and they only had 7 players to begin with. I understand sitting Nash on the back to back games but you only have 8 players. You can spare him for a few minutes. I guess it doesn't matter as they won but...

I know you guys are crying rivers out there, but it is really awful to be a Laker fan this season. There has got to be better coaches out there and better GM's. I do not like the way Gasol has been treated at all. I don't understand how anyone could be consistent with all that crap floating around regarding trade rumors. I really hope he lands somewhere good.

plus: Mike Brown has a job, why?

plus: Mike Brown has a job, why?

Exactly, the GM is not the primary problem in Cleveland.

1.)

IMAGE(http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/19esyqw1zokqpjpg/ku-xlarge.jpg)

2.) A visual metaphor for this Knicks season:

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BfwvDdkCQAE8Lzh.jpg:large)

LeapingGnome wrote:
plus: Mike Brown has a job, why?

Exactly, the GM is not the primary problem in Cleveland.

Mike Brown isn't a great coach, but he's not in the bottom 5 in the NBA.

The first problem is the guy who drafted Dion Waiters (reach), Tristan Thompson (defensible, but reach), and Anthony Bennett (insane). And hired Mike Brown.

mindset.threat wrote:

I'm not sure how true this is, but a coworker just mentioned the following: if the Cavs fire Mike Brown, he'll draw paychecks from the Cavs and Lakers, while coaching neither. If the Cavs fire Brown, they'll pay both Brown and Byron Scott while neither coaches the team. What a mess.

At least they're set from an entertainment standpoint. I mean, I assume that's why Captain Comic Sans drafted him.

IMAGE(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Tony_Bennett_in_2003.jpg)

I'm not sure how true this is, but a coworker just mentioned the following: if the Cavs fire Mike Brown, he'll draw paychecks from the Cavs and Lakers, while coaching neither. If the Cavs fire Brown, they'll pay both Brown and Byron Scott while neither coaches the team. What a mess.

Edit: in October of 2012 the Cavs picked up the 2013-2014 option for Byron Scott, so yes, he's still getting paid. In May of 2011 the Lakers signed Brown to a 3 year contract...but was the contract voided when he signed with the Cavs? This has been a good way to waste time on a Friday afternoon.

Also, just to poke more fun at the Cavs, guess who #2 is in this first season stats comparison.

G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% 2P 2PA 2P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
37 0 442 43 149 .289 7 37 .189 36 112 .321 30 44 .682 32 63 95 10 16 7 32 71 123

G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% 2P 2PA 2P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
57 3 817 94 243 .387 0 1 .000 94 242 .388 70 99 .707 63 135 198 43 16 26 43 105 258

Pacers on ESPN again tonight. I could get used to this nationally televised stuff.

*sings* You're nobody till somebody, er... signs some talent to your team. *sings*

edit: Good grief it looks like only 2 players can score on the Cavs. (the PG at 20 ppg and a PF at 17 ppg) Something is really wrong when your best small forward and shooting guard are only averaging 10 ppg.

mindset.threat wrote:

I'm not sure how true this is, but a coworker just mentioned the following: if the Cavs fire Mike Brown, he'll draw paychecks from the Cavs and Lakers, while coaching neither. If the Cavs fire Brown, they'll pay both Brown and Byron Scott while neither coaches the team. What a mess.

Edit: in October of 2012 the Cavs picked up the 2013-2014 option for Byron Scott, so yes, he's still getting paid. In May of 2011 the Lakers signed Brown to a 3 year contract...but was the contract voided when he signed with the Cavs? This has been a good way to waste time on a Friday afternoon.

Nope, Lakers are still paying him.

OT between the Pacers and Blazers. What a lovely way to spend a Friday evening.

B Dog wrote:

OT between the Pacers and Blazers. What a lovely way to spend a Friday evening. :)

Yeah that was awesome. Glad we came out on top. I could watch a Pacers-Blazers Finals series this year and be pretty happy. Should have had it in 2000 and got Reggie the ring he deserved.

Wow. George Hill had 37 points. Lillard really needs to be hidden on defense. I guess they didn't do enough to hide him.

Wow. The grand unified theory of Paul George.

If Pippen's PER + Duncan's DWS + James' net rating = Paul George, then how many seasons until he becomes the NBA's best two-way player? (Trick question: He already is.)

Paul George is better than Lebron? Uh yeah...

Is LeBron a 2? I thought 2 was shooting guard?

LeapingGnome wrote:

Paul George is better than Lebron? Uh yeah...

By the numbers, on both ends combined yeah.

Don't worry he'll prove it in May.

fangblackbone wrote:

Is LeBron a 2? I thought 2 was shooting guard?

Wait. What's the nature of the question? LeBron is usually playing 3/4 while taking on a lot of playmaking duties of a typical PG (allowing Mario Chalmers to roam around like BJ Armstrong or John Paxson). And yeah, 2 is typically a shooting guard. What's the context, though? Was this something in that article?

LeBron is whatever he goddamn well wants at any given moment and he does a lot to show why the 1-5 positional system is silly in today's NBA--there are plenty of forwards who defend from the 2 to the (small ball) 5 and a number of guards (point and shooting) who can defend from the 1 to the 3. James's defensive assignment is 1 to 5 depending on the team and the situation, his offensive role is "anywhere".

And when he's on, he's still the best player in the world. But you can tell he isn't bringing it every night this year, and that's not unexpected--so if you are looking at the numbers, George appears better (and that isn't taking anything away from George, I love watching the Pacers play and George has plenty of room to improve even past where he is now).

Stele wrote:
LeapingGnome wrote:

Paul George is better than Lebron? Uh yeah...

By the numbers, on both ends combined yeah.

Don't worry he'll prove it in May. ;)

Yeah. I think if you like basketball you should be listening to podcasts with Zach Lowe or reading everything he writes on Grantland. He's dove deep into the analytics end of things and the drum he beats the most is that basketball is played on 2 ends of the court. That sounds pithy and obvious. And we know that teams will frequently "hide" someone worth hiding if he's that valuable or disruptive offensively. But genuine 2-way players are becoming more valuable and more obviously valuable and I think this is a good trend. Think of the best players of all time and chances are that even if they weren't all defense 1st team they could still play defense. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were both effective enough defensive players. Bill Russell was, of course, Bill Russell. And almost criminally underrated at this point, if that's possible.

They said two-way player, meaning offense and defense. Not the '2' position.

Stele wrote:
LeapingGnome wrote:

Paul George is better than Lebron? Uh yeah...

By the numbers, on both ends combined yeah.

Don't worry he'll prove it in May. ;)

He is like 25th in PER. I think he is better than many of the guys above him but come on... If the Pacers were offered Lebron for George they would ask where do I sign. Same for Durant.

Ed Ropple wrote:

And when he's on, he's still the best player in the world. But you can tell he isn't bringing it every night this year, and that's not unexpected--so if you are looking at the numbers, George appears better (and that isn't taking anything away from George, I love watching the Pacers play and George has plenty of room to improve even past where he is now).

Even by numbers Lebron is much better. PER: 29 vs 21. Wins added: 18 vs 10. True Shooting %: 66% vs 57%

Just the old school stats:

26.8 PPG, 6.5 APG, 7.1 RPG, 1.5 SPG
vs
22.5 PPG, 3.4 APG, 6.4 RPG, 1.8 SPG

Don't get me wrong, George is very good and is improving tremendously each year. But he is not better than Lebron, on either end of the floor.