Svosen and Cowboy22's NBA Draft/Offseason Thread (others welcome!)

[svosen]

"for whatever reason" ....

It's hard for me to remember now, having been over a year and a half ago since I saw him play. Seems like he was a pretty decent player. Certainly better than Kwame. Much better hands, fairly intelligent, good passer, reasonable stroke. Don't recall much about his defense.

But hey, if Mitch thinks he's good, that's enough for me

[svosen]

Smush Parker signed with the Heat... He might actually put together a good season; you never know. He's got talent, but he sure fell apart at the end of last season. Seems like a nice enough kid, so I hope he does alright.

[Cowboy22]

Looks like your KG to LA dream is pretty well dead with the huge trade to Boston. That's a trade that I think should work out well for both sides. Minnesota wasn't going anywhere even with KG, so adding some young talent and draft picks to build towards the future seems like a good move. And Boston probably becomes the instant favorite out East. Their lack of depth is a concern, but if Allen can stay healthy that's probably the best starting five in the conference. The only teams in the East who I can see maybe beating them are Detroit and possibly Chicago (the Cavs have an outside shot if LeBron goes off, but he'd have to really go off) They might even have a decent shot in the Finals, although that's where I see the depth problems catching up with them, especially against a team like SA or Utah. They're going to be screwed down the road, but I think a threeish year window where they should compete for the title is worth it.

[svosen]

I would agree with those assessments. Pretty frustrating that LA isn't actually doing anything this off season. I would imagine that Wade and Shaq are feeling about the same as Kobe is feeling.


I was going to post something awhile ago about the whole ref issue, but I couldn't bring myself to. It's almost too boring to bring up, but I had to at least mention it. Maybe "boring" isn't the right word. At any rate, I wish there had been something better happening in the NBA world. The KG trade was a nice diversion, but it was sadly not in my favor

[Cowboy22]

Yeah, the ref thing pretty much just bores me too. I can't seem to work up a real outrage about it, other than being disappointed that it wasn't **** Bavetta so that I could claim the Game Five of the '97 Finals was rigged (Eisley's three was good and Jordan pushed Russell dammit! ). It's a black eye for the league, but if it gets the NBA to fix it's officiating problems I actually think it could wind up being a positive in the long run, at least as far as the quality of the on-court product is concerned.

[svosen]

You must have meant "Richard" Bavetta, you foul-mouthed cretin

Yeah, I'm really hoping there are some positive adjustments regarding the officials. I would like to see the league allow interviews with officials, and I'd like to see the no-commenting-on-officiating rule reversed. It'd result in a gush of abuses to start with (similar to the gush of technicals we saw last year), but things would even out soon enough, and it would ultimately be good for the NBA. People would feel more of a sense of reality within the games if the league would simply concede that the refs are human and do actually make mistakes during games.

Might also usher in a new rule regarding replays (similar to the NFL, where coaches can challenge a call at risk of losing a time out). That'd be good, I think, and it wouldn't slow things down too much, as Stern insists it would.

[Cowboy22]

Haha, I didn't even notice that the word filter got that, that's pretty funny. Although I fully support his name being classified as foul language!

I'm not a real big fan of an NFL-style instant replay system for basketball. The game move too fast and I do think it'd break up the flow of things too much. Besides that, most of the really glaring stuff (mostly bad foul calls)are basically judgement calls, and I don't really see how something like that can be reviewed (which is why the NFL doesn't review stuff like holding or pass interference). The way they use replay now is fine with me. I'd just like to see some decent refs instead of all the ancient ones they have now who have been terrible forever (like the aforementioned D*** B******)

[svosen]

So I see that AK-47 (stupid nickname, but easier than trying to remember how to spell his last name) wants to leave Utah. You've had mixed feelings on him in the past, haven't you (could be great, but sort of falls short)? Would you rather see him go, or stay?

Deron Williams admitted to avoiding him last season, mostly because of AK's work ethic (first to leave the gym). Sounds to me like it'd be best for the team if he left.

Getting pretty close to training camp time, and the news on Kobe's been pretty quiet. Looks like he'll be checking in to Laker camp in Hawaii after all... Not too sure how I feel about this upcoming season. It'll either be mediocre or really bad in La La. *sigh*

[farfus]

Yep! My team sure is looking good so far, they are 3-0 ........... Mark Cuban is gonna be a dancing foo here in a few weeks...

[svosen]

You're relentless, Farf. A true champion of persistence.

Dare I ask: what does Cuban have to do with your favorite football team?