the official Dwayne Wade <<<<<< you thread

How is D'antoni supposed to sort out a rotation with the current Lakers team? Remember to take all the injuries they dealt with this season. The team was not good enough this season, that has nothing to do with D'antoni.

^ That. IDK what their record was when he got the job but they were in a hole. Combined with the injuries, figuring out how to best use Dwight and Kobe.

He didn't do a perfect job but he shouldn't be made scapegoat either.

There were better coaches out there, but afaik the Lakers weren't looking at guys like McMillan(who I think could've done well).

It was basically between MDA and Sloan with all the demands that Jackson made/wanted.

VendettaRed07 wrote:Its not like a person in Phil Jacksons position would go on twitter throwing Kobe or the current lakers coach under the bus for making a wrong decision. It already happened so theres no point in saying anything about it from his stance.

If a coach wanted to he could bench Kobe the entire game. That the coachs job, and a player isn't going to tell them what to do. I can think of a lot of coachs that wouldn't have let that happen. Kobe is a warrior, and of course he is going to play as many minutes as he can, but its not his job to be responsible like that. Its the coaches, and I still just think that it was really a bad decision to over work him to such an alarming degree. Maybe the injury he got wasn't directly caused by it, but well never know. And something of that sort was bound to happen when you play a guy his age that much. Especially at his position.

The first part. Yes he absolutely would. That's Phil's MO. Read his book: http://www.amazon.com/Last-Season-Team-Search-Soul/dp/0143035878 Most of the whole book is throwing Kobe and Shaq under the bus.

Second part we're going to have to agree to disagree. Certain players like Kobe/MJ, the great ones, have earned the right to set some of their own rules. That's the way it goes. A coach could sit Kobe for an entire game, sure. But that wouldn't end well for them unless there was a damn good reason, and fatigue isn't one of them(not for a full game at least).

When Kobe gave Mike Brown the deathstare, I think everyone knew he was finished. I think he was done the next day. Kobe has pull in the Front Office.

It was a lose/lose for MDA. Play Kobe pushing for the playoffs, he gets hurt, and it's the coaches fault. Rest him, and the first loss from that is the coaches fault.

D'Antoni was in a very difficult position; playing from behind in the standings, having no bench, imperfect personnel for his system, injuries, etc. Having no bench in general forces you to play your starters a ton(ie Portland for most of the season), so does playing from behind in standings. I just don't think he really had much of a choice.

Dirk Nowitzki Appreciation Post

Just got to 25,000 points.

Amazing player. Who just went out there and played, whether he was 100%, 90% or 75%. He rarely complained or whined about the talent around him.

Never played with a superstar near his own level, yet still got the 2011 Mavericks a Championship. Won MVP, won a 'ship. He did it all basically.

He's likely going to end up top10 all time in scoring.

The one legged fadeaway is the most unstoppable shot of this era

Best shooting 7 footer OAT



[u]

Le Samourai wrote:

The Franchise wrote:I think Kobe can back like Dominque did, I know there is a difference in millage but still.

Dominque said he trained for like 9 months twice a day, everyday just to prove everyone wrong.

Kobe will do something equally insane I am sure.

From what I read Dominique's was a partial tear while Kobe's is a full tear, which may have an impact on the recovery process. He may work his ass off, but at this age I don't know if it's reasonable to expect too much.

He has the skill to score points - I have no doubt about that - but a further reduction in his lateral quickness and explosiveness (which he just regained) will really limit what he can do on the court.

That's something I think will torture him more than anything.

As for D'Antoni - I don't blame him for the injury - but I do blame him for not sorting out his rotations early and for the fact the team had to make this type of push so late in the season just to get in the playoffs.

....and I think he should be fired. Someone good at defense and who will run the offense through the bigs - I really can't think of anyone specific.

Dont know how bad Dominques was, but he was out for 12 months so im going to guess it was roughly as bad.

With the difference in todays science and medicine, I wouldnt rule out Kobe regaining his level. Would he loose athletic ability? Maybe..but really he wasnt going on that anyway.

As for that coach in that mold, outside Lionel Hollins noones comes to mind off the top of my head. But I got to say, no matter who the coach is, they are going to suck at defending quick teams who run, especially those with athletic powerforwards with a jumper, Pau just cant guard them.

Dirk

His championship to me cemented his place as the 6th best powerforward

Duncan, Barkley, Mchale, Garnett, Malone (maybe not in this order) and then comes Dirk.

Offensively he is right there with any of them.

T-Mac got signed by the Spurs today for the rest of the year.

First thing I thought of is, if they lose in the first round it's going to be hilarious unfortunately. But it would be cool to see T-mac get past the 1st round.

Spoiler:

I gotta say first of all, im real happy for TMAC, one of my favourite players of all time.

Second though, Jalen Rose predicted this about 3 months ago..him joining a playoff team as a 10th man sort of thing...cant remember who, someone from Grantland, laughed...seems he was right.

A little scared of the Spurs getting dumped first round now though

In terms of impact, he can facilitate an offense still, playing a sort of point forward role. Still a superb passer.

Cant defend like Jackson did for them, but he can hit shots and is still capable of getting hot.

I saw him just before going to China with the Hawks I think...he still got game.

Yeah idk what its worth but he averaged 25 7 and 5 in China.

If someone told me last summer that Kobe would be out with an injury but T-Mac would be playing in the playoffs I would have laughed til I cried.

dmize wrote:

My best friend in high school was a huge T-Mac fan - I ended up posted the picture and tagging him in it :rotf:

I love T-Mac, I really hope Spurs make it out of the first round...can you imagine how he would feel if they found a way to lose?

How hilarious would it be for the Spurs to lose in the first round now


They might have to put T-Mac on suicide watch if that happens

I feel bad for TMac, not that he didnt get out the first round, but how much flack he has taken from it. I understand it, but its really not his fault.

Every single series, his team were the lower seed and both with the Magic and the Rockets, it was him plus spare parts for nearly every series.

But more than that, his numbers went through the roof in the playoffs.

Magic 01: 33.8, 6.5 and 8.3

Magic 02: 30.8, 6.3 and 5.5

03: 31.7, 6.7 and 4.7

Rockets 05: 30.7, 7.4 and 6.7

07: 25.3, 5.9 and 7.3

08 : 27, 8.2 and 6.8

I'm happy for T Mac as well. Really hoping the Spurs go far now

Although I've always had a soft spot for the Spurs anyway.

The Franchise wrote:I feel bad for TMac, not that he didnt get out the first round, but how much flack he has taken from it. I understand it, but its really not his fault.

Every single series, his team were the lower seed and both with the Magic and the Rockets, it was him plus spare parts for nearly every series.

But more than that, his numbers went through the roof in the playoffs.

Magic 01: 33.8, 6.5 and 8.3

Magic 02: 30.8, 6.3 and 5.5

03: 31.7, 6.7 and 4.7

Rockets 05: 30.7, 7.4 and 6.7

07: 25.3, 5.9 and 7.3

08 : 27, 8.2 and 6.8

Mostly true. IMO they should've beat Utah in 2007 though. T-Mac and Yao healthy w/ Battier vs D-Will, Boozer an co.

I mean they did have Rafer Alston trying to guard D-Will/Fisher. But Okur had to guard Yao as well. And they had to alternate Fisher and WIlliams guarding T-Mac, should've been another huge advantage. Utah had the better overall team true, but I felt they should've won that series.

I look at the boxscore and saw Boozer put up 41/12/6 in game 2? What. The. Hell. I don't remember the game but Okur must have set up camp around the 3 point line all night long to pull Yao outta the paint and exploit Hayes. Only explanation I have for that one.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/10/john-walls-season-turned-around-after-emeka-okafor-got-in-his-face/

'Mek

Say whatever about Okafor's contract but you know what you're going to get from him, and he's a leader who's not afraid to tell you what others won't. I'm sure Wall's rarely, if ever had someone question him/call him out. Sometimes young players need that.

edit: props to Emeka for lobbying for AJ Price too. He's a solid backup PG. I'd love him backing up Rondo on the Celtics.

dmize wrote:

The Franchise wrote:I feel bad for TMac, not that he didnt get out the first round, but how much flack he has taken from it. I understand it, but its really not his fault.

Every single series, his team were the lower seed and both with the Magic and the Rockets, it was him plus spare parts for nearly every series.

But more than that, his numbers went through the roof in the playoffs.

Magic 01: 33.8, 6.5 and 8.3

Magic 02: 30.8, 6.3 and 5.5

03: 31.7, 6.7 and 4.7

Rockets 05: 30.7, 7.4 and 6.7

07: 25.3, 5.9 and 7.3

08 : 27, 8.2 and 6.8

Mostly true. IMO they should've beat Utah in 2007 though. T-Mac and Yao healthy w/ Battier vs D-Will, Boozer an co.

I mean they did have Rafer Alston trying to guard D-Will/Fisher. But Okur had to guard Yao as well. And they had to alternate Fisher and WIlliams guarding T-Mac, should've been another huge advantage. Utah had the better overall team true, but I felt they should've won that series.

I look at the boxscore and saw Boozer put up 41/12/6 in game 2? What. The. Hell. I don't remember the game but Okur must have set up camp around the 3 point line all night long to pull Yao outta the paint and exploit Hayes. Only explanation I have for that one.

I rememeber the series very well. Utah were the 4th seed I think, they were slightly better but it was close enough so we had a shot. I dont think we "should" have won, rather we "could have"

Skip couldnt contain Williams but Boozer was the biggest problem. In the end, we had Yao guarding him, just to keep him in the paint, but in those days Boozer was quicker than he is now, Yao couldnt stop him and gave up the jump shot.

Hayes could guard Boozer, the best post defender we had, he was great. Problem is he is 6 6, so if you leave him inside and Yao out on Okur, noone is protecting the rim for Williams.

And Battier was pretty much useless, he had no perimter scorer to defend.

Lawrence Frank, Byron Scott and Doug Collins all fired or let go today.

Calling it now, Stan Van Gundy will be the next coach of the Pistons

Sounds like a horrible fit.

Master of panic with a young team that needs all the belief and self assurance it can get.

Dont like him, always blaming someone else for his failures. His brother is fantastic, but Stan..meh.

Think Lawrence was right to get the boot, he didnt have much talent but he was still doing a pretty lousy job. Dont think he was getting the most out of Monroe, he didnt use Drummond anywhere near enough.

Collins cant handle the rigors of the NBA anymore, thats clear from his last 2-3 stops. 76'ers aint really gone forward either despite Holidays improvement..I know losing Iggy for nothing hurt but still.

Scott confuses me...he seems a good coach but everywhere he goes, it ends with either him rubbing someone the wrong way or something. Dont know if he deserved the boot, especially after losing Varejao but still.

The Franchise wrote:Sounds like a horrible fit.

Master of panic with a young team that needs all the belief and self assurance it can get.

Dont like him, always blaming someone else for his failures. His brother is fantastic, but Stan..meh.

Think Lawrence was right to get the boot, he didnt have much talent but he was still doing a pretty lousy job. Dont think he was getting the most out of Monroe, he didnt use Drummond anywhere near enough.

Don't agree whatsoever.

He's the best candidate for the team(I'd like JVG but would he come out of retirement). Young franchise center, which he's already proved he can develop. .640 winning percentage, .550 playoff winning percentage, has taken 2 different franchises to the ECF, actually within a game of taking 2 teams to the Finals.

I look at who's out there and none of them fit with the Pistons.
McMillan I like, but his slow and boring play combined with his PG killing system is a no(thats the last thing they need for BK). Sloan, okay I can get behind that, but how long does he have left? PJ won't coach unless he's gets a FO gig as well. Kelvin Sampson, meh.

The genius of Bill Simmons at work yet again:

His top 50 NBA trade value assets(50-39):
50. Greivis Vasquez
49. Jimmy Butler
48. Chandler Parsons
47. Klay Thompson
46. Andre Drummond LMAAAOOOO
45. Enes Kanter
44. Jonas Valanciunas
43. Kenneth Faried
42. Tobias Harris
41. Derrick Favors
40. Jrue Holiday
39. Demarcus Cousins

Harris, Favors, Kanter, Valanciunas more valuable than Drummond. No. And it's so stupid I'm not even going to entertain the argument of why it's stupid.

Get this guy off NBA Countdown.

article here:
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9186204/nba-trade-value-column-part-1

dmize wrote:

The Franchise wrote:Sounds like a horrible fit.

Master of panic with a young team that needs all the belief and self assurance it can get.

Dont like him, always blaming someone else for his failures. His brother is fantastic, but Stan..meh.

Think Lawrence was right to get the boot, he didnt have much talent but he was still doing a pretty lousy job. Dont think he was getting the most out of Monroe, he didnt use Drummond anywhere near enough.

Don't agree whatsoever.

He's the best candidate for the team(I'd like JVG but would he come out of retirement). Young franchise center, which he's already proved he can develop. .640 winning percentage, .550 playoff winning percentage, has taken 2 different franchises to the ECF, actually within a game of taking 2 teams to the Finals.

I look at who's out there and none of them fit with the Pistons.
McMillan I like, but his slow and boring play combined with his PG killing system is a no(thats the last thing they need for BK). Sloan, okay I can get behind that, but how long does he have left? PJ won't coach unless he's gets a FO gig as well. Kelvin Sampson, meh.

No Jeff aint coming back, especially for Detroit...but I was just saying.

Devolp a young center? Who? Howard? Hes growth was always going to happen...I think he should of done a better job with Howard...why isnt he a decent post passer? why cant he make any moves? They played inside out ball...

His winning % and all that is impressive, but with talent, many coaches could achieve similar things.

But his personality to me, its not a good one.

No, none of those names are impressive for the Pistons either and you could probably throw Mike Brown in there too but to me, Stan is just like the best fitting of a "bad" fitting bunch.

How about Brain Shaw?

http://hiphop365.com/report-man-sues-derrick-rose-for-missing-2013-season/

Seems legit. The guy has a case.

The Franchise wrote:

dmize wrote:

The Franchise wrote:Sounds like a horrible fit.

Master of panic with a young team that needs all the belief and self assurance it can get.

Dont like him, always blaming someone else for his failures. His brother is fantastic, but Stan..meh.

Think Lawrence was right to get the boot, he didnt have much talent but he was still doing a pretty lousy job. Dont think he was getting the most out of Monroe, he didnt use Drummond anywhere near enough.

Don't agree whatsoever.

He's the best candidate for the team(I'd like JVG but would he come out of retirement). Young franchise center, which he's already proved he can develop. .640 winning percentage, .550 playoff winning percentage, has taken 2 different franchises to the ECF, actually within a game of taking 2 teams to the Finals.

I look at who's out there and none of them fit with the Pistons.
McMillan I like, but his slow and boring play combined with his PG killing system is a no(thats the last thing they need for BK). Sloan, okay I can get behind that, but how long does he have left? PJ won't coach unless he's gets a FO gig as well. Kelvin Sampson, meh.

No Jeff aint coming back, especially for Detroit...but I was just saying.

Devolp a young center? Who? Howard? Hes growth was always going to happen...I think he should of done a better job with Howard...why isnt he a decent post passer? why cant he make any moves? They played inside out ball...

His winning % and all that is impressive, but with talent, many coaches could achieve similar things.

But his personality to me, its not a good one.

No, none of those names are impressive for the Pistons either and you could probably throw Mike Brown in there too but to me, Stan is just like the best fitting of a "bad" fitting bunch.

How about Brain Shaw?

What talent did Stan have? He had Dwight an a bunch of bums.. that he took the Finals. Rafer Alston(lol), washed up Rashard Lewis, JJ Reddick(before he knew what he was doing), Courtney Lee(him being their best player besides D12 should say a lot), Pietrus, Turkoglu and Gortat(whos effectiveness was limited by Dwight).

I don't care for his personality either much. But he's worth an interview to hear what he thinks of the roster, what he would do, etc.

Brian Shaw, I'm not sure about.

I wouldn't mind if they gave a good assistant a coaching job. Give someone else a chance instead of just recycling these same coaches in and out of jobs, lol.

One of the assistants from the Heat I like, can't remember his name. Tizdale or something

izzy wrote:http://hiphop365.com/report-man-sues-derrick-rose-for-missing-2013-season/

Seems legit. The guy has a case.

If I was the judge I would fine that idiot for wasting my time

dmize I think your presenting it in a way which isnt really true, but sort of goes with your arguement.

Dont get me wrong, they werent hugely talented but Lewis was not washed up, he wasnt Seattle Lewis but far from washed up. Terkoglu was fantastic in that finals year, fantastic in the pick and roll and a great shooter, Pietrus was a very good man o man defender and you forgot Nelson, who played the regular season at least and played very well, knock down shooter and a competant passer.

Compare that unit plus Howard, Lee and limited Gortat minutes....which teams had more talent in the East? Boston and maybe the Cavs....they did well, but I wouldnt call it a special job by Stan at all.

For me, Stan is a middle coach. I wouldnt want him with an elite team and I wouldnt want him with a struggling young team..a mid level team looking for the playoff buts not a actual contender..yeah, he could do a decent job there.

I dont know the Pistons should look at, but in their position, im inclined to think going with an assistant may be better than someone like Stan.

The Franchise wrote:dmize I think your presenting it in a way which isnt really true, but sort of goes with your arguement.

Dont get me wrong, they werent hugely talented but Lewis was not washed up, he wasnt Seattle Lewis but far from washed up. Terkoglu was fantastic in that finals year, fantastic in the pick and roll and a great shooter, Pietrus was a very good man o man defender and you forgot Nelson, who played the regular season at least and played very well, knock down shooter and a competant passer.

Compare that unit plus Howard, Lee and limited Gortat minutes....which teams had more talent in the East? Boston and maybe the Cavs....they did well, but I wouldnt call it a special job by Stan at all.

For me, Stan is a middle coach. I wouldnt want him with an elite team and I wouldnt want him with a struggling young team..a mid level team looking for the playoff buts not a actual contender..yeah, he could do a decent job there.

I dont know the Pistons should look at, but in their position, im inclined to think going with an assistant may be better than someone like Stan.

I don't what know part isn't true... Jameer Nelson played less than half the year, he was done before the ASB iirc. And when he went down EVERYONE thought they were finished. When you get the finals with Rafer fkn Alston as your PG, you've done something right.

Lewis could still score but he was and is an atrocious defender(he was also a me-first chucker), Turkoglu was good, but wouldn't be a 2nd or even 3rd option on any contender(nor was Lewis for that matter, he was 2nd option in Seattle an that didn't work out too great).

Alston
Lee
Turkoglu
Lewis
Howard

w/ Reddick, Gortat, Pietrus

A streetballer, a rookie, and two 1-dimensional shooters around Dwight. They had Anthony Johnson(who? exactly) and Tony Battie getting 20 minutes a night.

Even with no KG, they had no business being in the Finals.

There's no coach out there that's really great at developing youth as far as I know. At least Stan'll play 'em.

McMillan - won't play rookies(why he'd be a good fit w/ LAL)
Larry Brown - won't play rookies
Jerry Sloan - hesitant to play rookies

As much as a new assistant should get a chance, maybe not the best choice for the Pistons. At this point they need a coach with a history of winning. They've been through like 5 coaches in 7 years. Plus Dumars is on the hotseat too, if he hires a failure again, he's surely finished. He wants an established coach.

an I love Shaq but the master of panic thing is completely overblown. That's typical Shaq, he'll attack anyone who he feels disrespected him. According to him Pat Riley is overrated as well.

I do question the ability of SVG to use both Monroe AND Drummond. I'm sure he could build around one of them but can he have success without a stretch 4?

If I was GM and the choices were Sloan, SVG, McMillan, Mike Malone, Doug Collins. I would have kept Lawrence Frank...

Arsenal, crucial must win game to get top 4.

Knicks play the Celtics

I don't think ill be able to sleep tonight