2011/2012 NBA Season

1

Lazarus had been mentioning the lockout on the old thread, but with it finally resolved no harm to set up a new thread for the upcoming season. And what a season it plans to be. Kicking off on Christmas Day, with backbreaking schedules in the offing as the Association attempt to get the season completed in the shortened time frame.

Typically an NBA season is 82 games, but as a result of the lockout this year sees a 66 game schedule. And in that schedule all 30 teams will be asked to play on 3 consecutive nights at least once, something not asked of sides during a typical season, but this season will see triples taking place on 42 occasions in total. During the shortened 98-99 season, also because of a labour dispute, the sides were asked to play 64 triples.

Rumours doing the rounds that the Lakers want to do some recruiting, with the quite astonishing trio of Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose and LeBron being mentioned. Were they to get that three, you could quite conceivably put a fork in the upcoming 10 years or so. Iā€™d have my doubts about their abilities to get all three, but two, or even one would be a huge recruitment, and it is the Lakers after all. There were also stories that Rondo was to be traded by the Celtics as they sought to try refresh their aging line up, Would be gutted to see them lose him though.

2

The Lakers are also being linked with Dwight Howard and Chris Paul.

3

Do Sky Sports have all the NBA games or are they on ESPN too?

4

ESPN show them all. Dont think SKY have any of it unless something changed.

5

The games in London were cancelled as part of the reschedule.

6

Ah lovely. Donā€™t have Sky Sports but I have ESPN alright.

7

Watching my beloved Celtics and the Knicks live in ESPN now. 4 points in it with 6 minutes remaining

8

Rondo has been excellent tonight. 31 points and 12 assists. This is going down to the wire, one point in it with 2 and a half minutes in it

9

Knicks win by 2 :shakefist:

Paul Pierce was badly missed. Camelo Anthony was excellent for the Knicks

10

Weā€™ve laid down a markerā€¦ Go Knicksā€¦

11

Looking forward to the Lakers v Bulls later on.

Bulls are my fancy to win it out.

12

Bulls will win fuck all, take away Derrick Rose and they are a high school team, King James will lead the Heat to the promised land this summer. He put in an exhibition earlier tonight in the rout of the champion Mavsā€¦

13

Bit late for that. He needs to do it when its most needed. Winning or losing one game in NBA means fuck all, its all about making sure youā€™re in the play offs, and then performing at the highest level. LeBron went missing quite a bit in the Finals when most needed. He has alot to prove.

14

:rolleyes: first game of the season? Despite the issues last year they still came within 2 games of winning the whole thing. And that was with a completely new team gelling, I canā€™t see anyone getting within an asses roar of them this year, there are a lot worse 9/4 shots out there. The thing about the Heat is they have another legit superstar in D Wade, and Bosch is a serious operator too, they donā€™t always need King James to be the main man, although this year I expect him to take it to another level.

He has f-all to prove, just look at the Cavs record last year and compare it to the year before when James was there. He was effectively a one man team for the previous 5 or 6 years, heā€™s stil only 26, (Michael Jordan was 28 when he first won a championship), make no mistake, heā€™ll win plenty of rings and go down as an all time great yet.

15

He may well, but he hasnā€™t yet. Thats the point. He has massive points to prove, he has all this talent but doesnā€™t produce on the biggest days.

16

Nah, he always produced on the big days up to last seasonā€™s finals, Dallas and Dirkā€™s time had just come is all. Hasnā€™t reached his prime yet, MJ not winning a ring til he was 28ā€™s a telling stat. But this season, donā€™t rule out my beloved Knicksā€¦ yawl heard it here 1st. Meloā€¦

17

Excellent Thread :clap: No better than the USā€™s No 1 Sport deserves :pint:

Lebron was up to his old tricks last night, did a disappearing act once the lowly Warriors launched their comeback from being 17 down and when he eventually did resurface it was to miss an open 3 in OT to tie the game. Better news for Heat was the return of Dwayne Wade who put up 34 though he still ended up on the losing side. Their game @ Clippers tonight should be informative. Meanwhile Kobe Bryant dropped 48 against Pheonix. Kobe is one who could never be accused of going missing when it matters and his purple and gold outfit have been lazily written off by manyā€™s the mug.

Bulls are also flying and Dallas are slowly picking it up after an abysmil start. Thunder are on track but the jury is still out on Westbrook and Durant as a title winning combo. Knicks and Clippers have the rosters but have struggled so far to find the team ethic. Surprise packages Nuggets, 76ers and Blazers have also imressed so far and of them Iā€™d predict Portland to go furthest. They might have lost Brandon Roy but Aldridge and the woefully under-estimated Gerald Wallace are playing out of their skins.

Also keep an eye on Ricky Rubio this year for the Wolves. Its his first year in NBA but superstar status looks destined for the diminuitive looking Spaniard. He could well be the Lionel Messi of the Hoops :barcasmile:

18

Bulls setting the pace in the East so far. Miami faltering as of late. Celtics have lost 5 on the bounce to slump to 4-8.

Oklahama City leading in the West but Lakers startign to find some form.

19

Knicks having another typical shit season, their huge investments in Amare Stoudmire and Carmelo Anthony making Andy Carroll and Nando Torres look like steals. Their record before Saturday was 8/14 and they since lost Anthony through injury and Stoudmire whose taking time off after his brother was killed in a car crash. What theyā€™ve gained in the meantime however is a couple of victories, mailnly due to one guy whose come practically out of nowhere(well, Harvard to be exact) Jeremy Lin.

He was sprung from the bench to record a 25 career high total against New Jersey on Saturday night and followed that with 28 against Utah two nights ago. Too early to say wether the lad is the real deal or if the knicks have turned the corner but heā€™s well worth keeping an eye on. Heā€™s the first ethnic Chinese to play in the league. Knicks play against the lowly Wizards @ Washington tonightLink for anyone interested

http://www.firstrowsā€¦ork-knicks.html

Below is a recap of his sensational breakthrough game against the Nets
http://www.youtube.cā€¦d&v=-7HzhtJaCo0

20

A mention for ā€œThe Truthā€, Paul Pierce, who passed the great Larry Bird on the Celticā€™s all time scoring list at the weekend. A phenomenal achievement from a truly alright sort.

http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2012/02/paul-pierce-larry-bird-celtics-all-time-leading-scorers-list.jpg

Even Larry Bird would admit that it was fitting to be passed by with a 3. With 10:23 left in the 3rd period Paul Pierce took a kick-out pass at the right elbow of the 3-point line, and poured in a trey that pushed him past Larry Legend into 2nd place on the Celtics all-time scoring list. The Pierce story is one of the most remarkable tales ever told in the city of Boston, but it tends to be forgotten due to the overwhelming era of New England sports that The Truth has been a part of. When you play in an era populated by guys named Brady, Papi, Pedro, and youā€™ve got teammates named KG & Ray, even a wonderful career like Pierceā€™s can get overlooked.

Imagine if Paul Pierce had been a lifelong Cleveland Cavalier, a Golden State Warrior, or even a Portland Trailblazer. What if a 13-year veteran played at a hall of fame level for one of these (or similar) franchises throughout the life of his career, while scoring over 21,797 career points and captaining a 66 win juggernaut that beat Kobe Bryant in the Finals in his lone MVP campaign? In many cities this resume would put Pierce on the townā€™s sporting Mount Rushmore. In Boston, he isnā€™t even the marquee player of his generation.

When speaking post game about his teamā€™s undisputed leader, coach Doc Rivers said of Pierce,

ā€œHereā€™s the part I wish people wrote more about Paul: Paul had a chance to leave us when we were bad. And instead of moaning that he wanted to go to a championship team, he stayed. And he said, ā€˜I simply want to be a Celtic and I trust that weā€™re going to win a title some day.ā€™ He had no reason to believe that, at that time. I mean, we were pretty awful. And to me, I wish people talked about his loyalty more, because I think thatā€™s special, especially in this day and time, when everybodyā€™s jumping from team to team.ā€™ā€™

When asked to reflect on what all of this means to him, Pierce offered the following,

ā€œJust having confidence in the ownership and, just knowing how great this franchise can be, knowing the history, knowing that once this franchise gets back to where it needs to be and if Iā€™m a part of it thereā€™s no other franchise like this in all of basketball. You knew eventually it would turn around. Iā€™ve just always been the optimist just knowing eventually ā€˜the next year, the next yearā€™ thatā€™s what I always kept saying to myself that it would eventually turn around and it took one summer for us to turn this thing around and Iā€™m just thankful that my patience was able to pay off.ā€™ā€™

In no way is any of this a moratorium on the life and times of Paul Pierce. The young man from Inglewood, California who played his college ball at Kansas still has plenty left in the tank. Winners of 5 straight and 9 of their last 10, the Celtics are again playing great basketball, buoyed by the play of their captain. Do they have enough to knock out Chicago or Miami this spring when the money is on the table? Probably not, but with Pierce at the helm theyā€™ll die trying.