FW_Hoosier

Not the NBA, but Nick Zeisloft just went 12-15 (!!!) from three in a game in the Lithuanian Basketball League. Judging from the title of this video, that was a team record. Absolutely unbelievable shooter.

LeBron is basically the GM of that team. He’s the one essentially forcing them to leverage their future by signing a bunch of aging vets to ridiculous contracts so they can “win now,” while giving them no assurances about what he’s doing beyond the current season. If he had committed to the franchise beyond this season, they likely would have kept Kyrie. I don’t really think a player is obligated to be loyal to a franchise, but like BGleas said, he’s pretty much held the Cavs hostage. He has no one to blame but himself for how that roster is currently constructed.

But would Pop want to put up with LeBron’s primadonna act? Doesn’t really seem like his personality would mesh very well with the Spurs’ culture. And I’m not sure a great player like Kawhi (about whom there’s already been rumblings of a disconnect) would be all that thrilled to play second fiddle to LeBron. As great as he is, I feel like the way things have unraveled in Cleveland make him seem like a pretty toxic teammate, and he doesn’t have many more years of playing at a peak level left. Kyrie looks like a total genius for getting out from under his shadow now.

But is Miami really a championship contender with Lebron? I don’t see it. Washington would be interesting.

Totally agree with everything you said. Seems pretty clear LeBron is gonna be getting out of Cleveland as fast as possible after they lose in the playoffs. Question is, where does he go? I don’t really see many situations that are going to allow him to compete for a title. Maybe Houston, San Antonio, Philly?

Troy sprained his MCL at the end of November and wasn’t able to play until about two weeks ago. I think he’s just getting his legs back in the G League.

Edit: Hoax

I’m at the Bulls-Raptors game right now. OG hasn’t had much of an impact, 3 rebounds and that’s it. On offense, he runs to the corner and stands there while Lowry and Derozan run the show.

Bryant scores 1 point in 4 minutes in his first NBA game with the Lakers.

He’d probably be bringing more than Johnson is.

Now Vic goes cold. Not looking good for the Pacers.

Why aren’t PG and Melo taking it to the rim? Indy isn’t that big inside and they’re settling for a bunch of terrible jumpers.

PG wilting back in Banker’s Life. Vic looks like the better player right now, although he’s not having a crazy game so far either. Sabonas also looks good. Active on the glass and just had a nice post-up score.

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2017/12/11/16763180/victor-oladipo-paul-george-trade-indiana-pacers Vic weighs in on the vicious debate raging at HSN, lol

Anyone see RoJo on any draft boards lately?

Hard to write this off as a fluke anymore. Vic is becoming a legit NBA superstar.

Seems like DeRozan and Beal are the only other Eastern Conference SGs in the discussion with Vic. Of those three, DeRozan is the leader in PPG, APG, FT%, and FG%. Vic is the leader in SPG, BPG, 3P%, and eFG%. Beal is just barely the leader in T/OPG, although he’s averaging slightly more PPG than Vic. They all have pretty similar stats up to this point, but I would say that it goes: 1. DeRozan, 2. Vic, 3. Beal at this point. There’s an argument to be made for Vic at #1 though, considering how efficiently he’s scoring, how well he’s shooting from three, and what he brings on defense.

Awesome to see Vic becoming the best player he could possibly be. I should have expected it, as that’s exactly what he did at IU. The kid is just driven. He’s not gonna waste an ounce of his natural talent.

You know I’ve been on your side in the PG debate. I just turned on the last 3 or 4 minutes of that game last night, and Melo seemed to be much more involved in the offense, while PG was pretty invisible. Just giving my thoughts on that one stretch of the game I watched, no axe to grind. Interestingly, Melo and PG have pretty much identical stats through the first 10 games. Either way, the Thunder have really been struggling to start the season.

Just watched the end of the Thunder’s loss to the Kings. PG with an awful game - 4/16 from the field and totally invisible in crunch time, except for the three he bricked with less than 30 seconds left. Watching that game, it seems that Melo has established himself as the clear #2 on the Thunder. Meanwhile, it looks like Zeller is still rounding into form coming off his injury. This clip gave me Trevor Mbakwe flashbacks. https://streamable.com/sz1jz

Really interesting read. Cool to see Yogi in the cover photo, and good for JBJ for getting mentioned. I wonder if the Dee Brown mentioned in the article is the former Illini player? I loved that Illinois team, glad to see he’s done well for himself. Interesting idea about the “redshirt contracts.” It seems like that would work in theory, but I think the exposure provided by big time college basketball would still attract most of the high-level talent. Not a bad idea though.

And I never said the PG teams were better than those teams.

You guys are right, getting beat down in the first round by the Pistons and Knicks, losing in the first round to mediocre Celtics and Hawks teams, and missing the playoffs entirely were very impressive performances by the 90s Pacers teams that didn’t make it to the ECF. Definitely way more successful seasons than the PG Pacers teams had.

The PG Pacers teams were eliminated by a historically great Heat team 3 years in a row, and took them to 6 or more games every time... Meanwhile the 90s Pacers teams were eliminated by a historically great Bulls team once. Who really had the tougher road? But hey, if you want to discount two of the eight great seasons the Pacers have ever had in the NBA because you hate the player that got you there, you do you. I’m glad you guys are happy he’s gone, but it’ll be a while before you’re ever that good again.

Lol see, you say he’s a top 15-20 player, then turn around and say the teams he was on were overrated and he never did anything for the Pacers. That is PG bashing. He was largely responsible for 2 of the 6 division titles the Pacers have ever won in the history of the franchise, and 2 of the 8 trips they have ever made to the conference finals. Saying those Pacers teams were not among the best Pacers teams ever is pretty ridiculous. And sorry, no one cares about the ABA. The Pacers do not come close to reaching back-to-back conference finals without PG, much less taking the Heat to the brink. Saying PG was never the reason the Pacers won anything in the playoffs is just wrong, and exactly the type of biased PG bashing I’m talking about.