Sporots

[bao]

Gotta love the sports world all going into panic mode now that the Lakers are 0-2. It's a 2 game losing "streak" at the beginning of the season. Everything is going to be fine. Just give them like 30 games or something. Sheesh.

Yeah, it reminds me a little of what happened to the Heat two years ago. People know that it is not that easy to turn over half the roster and adapt the system to new personnel in one season -- and they say as much -- and then freak out when the team gets out of the gate slowly. By the time the Heat lost in the finals, people were up in arms because EVERYONE said they would walk to a championship at the beginning of the season, even though most smart basketball writers were surprised they even made it that far.

In short, the Lakers will struggle for awhile, but they'll be fine come playoff time. The west is a little watery with Harden off the Thunder, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Lakers don't win the first or even the second seed. I will be surprised if they're not in the finals, though.

And OKC may a horrible mistake letting Harden go. Even if he's not a top 20 player (I think he is), he is definitely the only top 30 player in the league who actually likes playing third banana ...

[JDiddy]

Gotta love the sports world all going into panic mode now that the Lakers are 0-2. It's a 2 game losing "streak" at the beginning of the season. Everything is going to be fine. Just give them like 30 games or something. Sheesh.

Yeah but they were 0-6 in the pre-season so really they're on an 8 game losing streak!

But yeah, it's a crazy overreaction.

[Toddler]

They were actually 0-8 in the preseason, BUT they were 1-4 in the summer league. That's right, 1!

[Couldn'tThinkOfaName]

Watching the OKC-Spurs game right now and I'm pretty sure Reggie Miller invented "New No-Nos".

[JDiddy]

That Spurs/Thunder game was fun as hell last night. I've never cared for the Spurs as a team but I absolutely love watching Tony Parker. The way he faked out Westbrook on that last shot was great.

Also Eric Maynor's 3/4 court shot to end the third was great and I can't shake the sound that erupted from Marv Albert's mouth when the shot went in.

[jesterobobman]

The Orlando magic are undefeated and will win the title. Early season trends always completely hold for the entire season.

Also,
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/ey...rom-tim-duncan

And

http://ballerball.com/2012/10/30/ste...ed-everything/

I'm glad the team I'm a fan of is ridiculous.

[TimBuktu]

Is this where I admit I'm a stupid idiot about Harden and Lin?

[bao]

Congratulations if you bet that a foreigner would be the first player to get cited for flopping. Unfortunately, you probably had to bet ten to win a buck.

[JDiddy]

Is this where I admit I'm a stupid idiot about Harden and Lin?

At least they're only paying Lin 5 and a half mil this year. It doesn't go to 15 mil til year 3. Now if you wanted to say they paid too much money for Omer Asik then I highly doubt anyone would argue against you. They still have a ton of cap room for next year too. Maybe Howard will opt out and they won't fail to get him this time!

[jesterobobman]

At least they're only paying Lin 5 and a half mil this year. It doesn't go to 15 mil til year 3. Now if you wanted to say they paid too much money for Omer Asik then I highly doubt anyone would argue against you. They still have a ton of cap room for next year too. Maybe Howard will opt out and they won't fail to get him this time!

I would argue this point. He's not good offensively, but he's a beast defensively. He didn't play much, but that might have a bit to do with Noah. He's not worth 15m a year, but the contract is 25m over 3 years, and the payments are bigger later(Reducing the value from the Rockets perspective). Lin isn't worth 15m a year either, but 3 years 25m is a good deal for the Rockets.

The Rockets are fun to watch though, and There is a chance that Lin-Harden will start the ASG together for years (Asian vote in Houston) and it's entirely possible that Harden will deserve it.

[Trial]

I would argue this point. He's not good offensively, but he's a beast defensively. He didn't play much, but that might have a bit to do with Noah. He's not worth 15m a year, but the contract is 25m over 3 years, and the payments are bigger later(Reducing the value from the Rockets perspective). Lin isn't worth 15m a year either, but 3 years 25m is a good deal for the Rockets.

The Rockets are fun to watch though, and There is a chance that Lin-Harden will start the ASG together for years (Asian vote in Houston) and it's entirely possible that Harden will deserve it.

The Rockets paying Asik and Lin more on their final years is irrelevant. The owner can see it as 25mil for Lin, altogether. Daryl Morey found a loophole and structured the contracts so that only the average counts against the cap. So for instance, Lin's salary on the books is 8.4/year. If NYK (or Chicago for Asik) had matched, then NYK (or CHI) would have to pay the 5-5-15 AND count it against their cap that way.

[Americas Team]

I think small markets are willing to give big final years because they can always trade expiring contracts to big market teams in need of cap relief. If Lin works out, and he seems really good to me, he's being paid market value. If he doesn't he becomes first round picks from the Nets or Lakers or whoever.

[isoS]

There's also all that Chinese jersey sales revenue to consider... It's like, Ka-CHING-CHANG-CHONG!

[JDiddy]

I would argue this point. He's not good offensively, but he's a beast defensively. He didn't play much, but that might have a bit to do with Noah. He's not worth 15m a year, but the contract is 25m over 3 years, and the payments are bigger later(Reducing the value from the Rockets perspective). Lin isn't worth 15m a year either, but 3 years 25m is a good deal for the Rockets.

The Rockets are fun to watch though, and There is a chance that Lin-Harden will start the ASG together for years (Asian vote in Houston) and it's entirely possible that Harden will deserve it.

He is a legit defender and rebounder, I'll give you that. He has no offensive game to speak of though, and he's raw. It's different from the Lin deal because we've seen that Lin can be a game changer and I think he's an All Star talent. As you mentioned, Asik had only seen limited time in Chicago (12.1 and 14.7 MPG his first 2 seasons) so giving him a deal where he makes 8+ million annually was a confusing move to me.

Speaking of potentially overpaid players, this was hilarious:

[isoS]

Better late than never Buss!

Under the circumstances it feels like D'Antoni is the only way to go. I mean, the lakers' D has been atrocious, but what coach can fix old slow guys, some of whom were never good at D? Howard is their only hope there, and his back isn't up for it at the moment. I say just let the horses run. We got firepower, and D'Antoni knows how to use it. He and Nash made a lot out of a little in PHX -- I'd love to see what they could do with the like of Kobe, Dwight and Pau. (Although again, age and slowness might hinder their ability to run like Phoenix did.)

[Americas Team]

Everyone at the Pho place in Inglewood think Phil is coming back. The triangle is a terrible fit for Nash though.

[TimBuktu]

Wolves are 4-1 without Love or Rubio.

[jesterobobman]

Anyone would think that adding Kirilenko and Budinger for Beasley and Wes Johnson would slightly help a team.

[isoS]

Everyone at the Pho place in Inglewood think Phil is coming back. The triangle is a terrible fit for Nash though.

I agree. Getting '04 Payton flashbacks. D'Antoni's system fits this roster best, but apparently he just had knee surgery and with a son in his senior year of HS he wants to take the year off.

If it is Phil, hopefully he'll have the wisdom to let Nash do his thing. Outside of Nash, who only plays 28 min ideally anyway, the triangle would be great (half the team knows it already, and it's designed to help bigs like DH get good looks).

[isoS]

One thing I'm surprised I haven't heard proposed is bringing Pau off the bench. When your starting five is that stacked with offensive firepower and your bench is that lame, doesn't it just make sense to move one of the starters to sixth man? He would end up getting the same minutes, but with the advantage of playing opposite the other team's second unit. Jamison or Hill would both be decent starting 4 options in his place -- in fact it might help Jamison, who is used to starting. Pau's a good soldier and wouldn't complain like some other stars might. Brown didn't have the balls and/or creativity to try this, but I could see Phil doing it. (After all, Phil was the one who moved Odom to the bench and got him a ring and a 6th man trophy by doing so.)