dgambill

How do the Celtics guard Embid in the post? Baynes/Horford will be missed terribly on defense and the boards...not to mention Morris too. They lost a lot of toughness....but perhaps Celtics go small ball and just try to run people into the ground with Kemba, Tatum, Gordon, Brown, and Kanter. They should have some nice bench help with a spark plug like Edwards off the bench to pair with a defender like Smart and Romeo and Williams on the wings. I just think they didn’t address their bigs sufficient enough but who knows...they still have trade chips to flip for a better big.

I wouldn’t even be surprised to see Allen start...why do you think he will sit? Jordan is there to guard Embid and other traditional centers like Drummond who Allen has struggled against. Jordan is older...they both avg about 26 minutes a game last year and old bigs will need their minutes monitored..Jordan won’t effect Allen as much as you think. I agree Jordan wasn’t necessary but sometimes you look at who you have to go through in the playoffs and Embid at Philly will be a tough out who aren’t going anywhere. Nothing wrong with some more veteran leadership. Could they have used that for someone else...sure but the team has wing players...a big 4/5 was always going to be the need.

I think this is saying week 1 these are the rankings. As the season progresses who knows as there will be injuries, trades, and trying to form chemistry. For example,..PG is coming off two shoulder surgeries and Kawhi plays about 60 games a year. Clippers will NOT be a #1 seed. They will rest both those guys a lot. HCA isn’t that big a deal. You do realize Jarrett Allen is still on the team? He and Jordan will split time like most bigs do except now Allen will get to feast on backups. That said I do agree they will struggle with Kyrie leading that team.

Sounds like the old Knight. Bird hunting and fishing....I’m sure there will be no shortage of offers pouring in all over the state to hook him up.

Since I’ve moved away I haven’t been to Assembly Hall since the renovations...is there like a hall of champions or something where the championship trophies and busts or plaques are? Maybe name it the Bob Knight hall of champions...has to be something? I mean there is no way they will rename the court after him even though other schools have made changes before. Whatever the case coach should have a bigger presence hopefully.

OKC is trying to pull a Celtics style rebuild. Notice these picks aren’t for next year etc...they are mostly 4-5 years out when the Clippers and Rockets would likely have lost their stars and drop in talent. They still plan to flip Paul at some point it appears. I still think the team desperate to make a move or risk losing its star is Minnesota. KAT won’t wait for too long missing the post season until he like Davis forces his way to a big market. I think trade Wiggins plus expiring in Teague plus more draft picks with Culver their future should pretty well work and that would allow Minnesota to upgrade at the point and have KAT, Covington, and Paul a good nucleus. I also think Paul would fit well with the Nuggets but his contract would kill their cap but think his veteran leadership would work well with their young stars. Trade Harris and their trade exceptions that equal 18 million and that would probably do it plus a pick or two. Anyways OKC is setting up to have a ton of lottery picks in about 5 years and could do a massive rebuild or trade those for quality players....question is can Presti keep his job long enough to use the picks.

Yes....a bad one.

https://www.scnow.com/sports/article_099ac9d4-f8f5-518c-9214-e921f0847987.html A good article that captures Knight perfectly imo. A great teacher of the game...in a profession full of great recruiters Bob was a great coach because he was a superior teacher.

I do think something there should be named after him...understandable the floor and building is already taken. Bob Knight media room??? Lol the irony!!

He also taught History....but overall an educator of young men...funny thing is I imagine he taught those young men more about life and preparing for success then all those other professors combined. I will say....it’s been a long time since I’ve found much of anything meaningful to my life from a journalist. Long time.

Basketball renaissance in Indiana. Honestly IU, Butler, Purdue, ND if we can keep our own there is more than enough for everyone and for each uni to really benefit from that class. I think all our teams will see real results out of that class in a few years and these kids will lead several of our state teams to NCAA success. (Just hope IU gets the pick of the litter).

Yeah..not sure how he fits on a contender...could be a team that just wants to make a splash and put butts in the seats...ala Knicks.

Durant bolted because he was sick of the ball sticking in his point guards hands. Let’s be real...I played point and I can tell you from years of experience that guys liked playing with me because I would sacrifice my scoring to set them up. I was a darn good shooter myself but they recognized how hard I worked to make it easy for them. Shooters and scorers love to play with unselfish players and play where the ball moves freely and offense doesn’t stagnate. It was reported through that season Durant was growing upset with the amount of shots and lack of ball movement with Russ. Even in that series Russ was taking as many if not more shots than anyone on the team. Durant is a diva for sure but he wanted to play on a team that he knew Everyone was a willing passer. Heck the MVP of the league took a back seat to him...deferred to him for the betterment of his team. Russ doesn’t defer to anyone. Sure he gets a lot of assist but that is also because the ball is always in his hands. He is basically Carmelo Of point guards. Ball dominant guards are hard to play off of because you don’t feel involved in the offense. Hard to get comfortable in the game when you get so few touches. Yes they both choked it away (they both shot horribly the last few games and GS got super hot from 3 with Klay and Steph both) but in the end Kevin leaving had a lot to do with Russ.

Butler has been a malcontent everywhere he has been. Is not an elite shooter (worse than PG by a good bit) so a downgrade as a #2 and elite players don’t really like playing with Westbrook. Durant bolted..Victor had his worst season...PG gave up...two huge egos I don’t think fit. Best option is to go to a desperate situation...to me that is Minny (have to shake up that roster to keep KAT around and haven’t been able to even get in the playoffs with this roster)...and the Knicks. Knicks are a disaster but need a star to bring people in to keep interest or risk losing even more the spot light to Brooklyn. NY just needs to get to the playoffs...it isn’t even about winning a championship now...they need to win to show free agents it’s a place that just needs some pieces to get over the top...right now no one will go there because it looks like a sh!t show. I don’t know who can take on that contract and build anything around it and honestly I don’t know if Westbrook’s play is something you can win it all with but one team needs a shake up and the other needs attention/relevance and at least him throwing up triple doubles will entertain the masses. Heat...I don’t see it working. They don’t have cap space or picks or pieces to land him...just like Paul and Wall are untradable Westbrook is going to be hard to move and get good value.

If anybody should have known what Harden was capable of it was OKC. They had him of course it’s their fault. They should have moved Ibaka and other expensive pieces and built around the 3 stars with vet minimums etc. That is why I hare people saying oh we have to trade Myles or Sabonis. You keep your stars when you are small market and build around them. Too hard to acquire them. This was before the time of guys forcing their way out. Worst case scenario is you move Westbrook...they just didn’t have the vision that say GSW had...who held on to their shooters no matter what. GS had to pay the same tax that OKC has...they just got more bang for their buck and spent wisely. OKC was signing guys like Ibaka and Adams to huge contracts instead of putting that money to winning basketball. Everyone could see Harden was special...certainly Houston could. He was being misused as a 6th man because Westbrook was so ball dominant. Rico probably would even say keep the shooter playmaker in Harden and move Westbrook and he would be right....because even Durant had issues with Westbrook leading to him moving on and now so did Paul George. Stars think they want to play with him...then they realize the ball doesn’t move in OKC. Westbrook is the problem.

How did they have Serge Ibaka, Westbrook, Durant, Harden, Sefalosha, Collison, Reggie Jackson, and Derek Fisher and have basically let them all go at this point and nothing to show for it. It’s like a perfect example of how a small market can build a title contender and also how to squander one.

I think Westbrook fits best with an elite pick n roll big and surround them with shooters. Westbrook is a Slasher. His shooting is not good. Honestly I think it would be hard to win a championship with him unless you surround him with even bigger stars and that’s hard to find. If Minnesota could put him with KAT that might work. Not many stars want to play with a ball dominant pg...I think Minnesota will lose KAT soon anyways so they should go all in and try something. I could see Knicks trying something and honestly that would make sense. They are forever away from rebuilding and they need to sell tickets...put a star there and try to find some shooting to put along side him and a pick n roll partner. I really don’t know what OKC plans to do with him...his contract is next to Paul’s worst in the NBA and yet he is a star who you want to get something for. He definitely won’t land them what George did.

I thought it was interesting the Warriors convinced WCS to join them for minimum. How that works I don’t get it...but they are quietly building a nice team...at least maybe a7-8 seed. If they could just land a legit defensive 3-d wing to guard the Lebrons/Kawhi they might make some noise...especially if Klay comes back late in the year.

I think Juwan can improve but he looked lost out there in the game I saw. He doesn’t have 3pt range and he was standing around the arc. He is too small to work in the post and not a good enough shooter for outside just yet. He has to specialize or something. He has intangibles to be a Crowder or Carroll or PJ Tucker but he has a lot of work and effort to get there.

I think they have like a MLE @5.5 million which would be there major signing then rest min contracts other than they can go over cap to re-sign their own that are FA like Rondo and Lance.

That team desperately lacks shooting. They have a lot of work to do. I imagine they make more moves or especially at the trade deadline. Can we trade them McDermott?? Lol

As for who I would like to see get Kawhi..... the Warriors lol....just to hear all the complaining lol. Be hilarious to see him sign for like the MLE. Honestly anyone but the Lakers.

The thing with the Pacers is absolutely you could flip Collison one of the best 3pt shooters in the league and Joseph probably the best defensive point guard for young players or second rd picks. Young and Bogs also we’re on last year of their deal and very affordable and could easily get you a late first for a playoff contender. You can’t tell me say Philly or maybe Denver wouldn’t have thought about making a move for Bogs. Moves could and should have been made in favor of a youth movement. Clippers did it and still made the playoffs!

Celtics still have room to land another difference maker. What would you think of Cousins? They are going to need another big to go against Philly. With Kyrie and Rozier both gone they probably can’t rely on Edwards to back up the point so a backup point guard or do you think Smart can play that role. They have plenty of wings. Do you want them to bring back Morris to play the 4? I definitely don’t think they are done. I think they make at least one big trade whether it’s in the offseason or during the regular season.

New York Knicks destroy the claim that only big markets get free agents. They had two max openings and ended up with Portis and Randle lol. How many years did the Clippers waste away. Poorly run teams no matter the market aren’t going to win free agents over...cheap teams aren’t going to...yes there are some small markets that will have to work a little harder or be more creative but they can still make big moves.