The 2015-16 NBA Season

[BeemerBoy]

No offense to member from Miami, but the city is one of the worst sports towns in the United States. They are full of front runners.

 

 

Haha. We arn't bad sports fans in South Florida. We just can't be bothered to make it to games on time..

Yes, "we" are. The only true, loyal sports fans from South Florida are natives who grew up with the Dolphins and Canes. From the late eighties to the mid-90's, most SoFla natives wisely evacuated, thus leaving the tri-county area basically a territory full of transients and northern transplants - most of whom have no true allegiance to any South Florida team.

 

Add the fact that there's 1,000 different things to do besides blowing your money on overpriced sporting events, and you have one of the worst pro sports towns in the United States....full of front runners who are virtually clueless about sports anyway. Raptor6 was correct.

[mcjaco]

You could make an argument that Alonzo Mourning was a big name guy.

 

Yes. A big name guy. You don't retire a number for a "big name guy" that plays for your team a couple of years.

 

I'm still not sold on the the Heat being contenders. Mike Miller??? MIKE MILLER?! You've got to be kidding me.

 

As a Bulls fan, I'm loving the three dolts duping the Bulls for Miami. Gar Forman is using all this cap room to gather up a lot of above average players now to fill the roster. Brad Miller is in talks to resign. JJ Redick should be a Bull by the end of the week, because of the way the structured the contract. I'm actually excited about this season!

[Jew]

The Heat aren't going to get anywhere without a center.

[808Freq]

No offense to member from Miami, but the city is one of the worst sports towns in the United States. They are full of front runners.

 

 

Haha. We arn't bad sports fans in South Florida. We just can't be bothered to make it to games on time..

Yes, "we" are. The only true, loyal sports fans from South Florida are natives who grew up with the Dolphins and Canes. From the late eighties to the mid-90's, most SoFla natives wisely evacuated, thus leaving the tri-county area basically a territory full of transients and northern transplants - most of whom have no true allegiance to any South Florida team.

 

Add the fact that there's 1,000 different things to do besides blowing your money on overpriced sporting events, and you have one of the worst pro sports towns in the United States....full of front runners who are virtually clueless about sports anyway. Raptor6 was correct.

 

I wasn't really disagreeing with him. It was only a joke you'd get if you go to a lot of Heat games, I guess.

 

But very accurately put about the South Florida 'fan' situation. The fact is, a lot of people down here are big sports fans.. just not of the teams down here in South Florida. Besides the Phins, which have always owned Miami, I'd argue the 2nd most 'rooted' for team down here are the Marlins... Something you'd never guess if you saw their shitbox of a stadium. Very good TV numbers. Nobody wants to go sweat in 100 degrees for 3 hours.

 

It could be worse though, they could play in the warehouse my Rays play in

 

And I'm very very humored by the comments of "The Heat dont have enough to be contenders" while the freaking Cavs just made it to the ECF. BTW, the Heat will have a few centers on the roster, don't worry

 

ECF

1. Bulls(Heat)

2.Heat(Bulls)

3.Orlando(Maybe Milwaukee?)

 

WCF

1. Thunder(Lakers)

2. Lakers(Thunder)

3. Suns(homer pick- Or maybe something else off the wall like the Clippers)

 

Speaking of the Clippers.. I think it's interesting how nobody really wanted to talk about what would happen if Bronbron went to the Clips. They'd instantly be as good/better than the Lakers.

 

1. Baron Davis

2. Eric Gordon

3. Lebron James

4. Blake Griffen

5. Kaveman (owns pussies like Gasol)

 

That's kind of scary. Though 4/5 would probably be injured by the All Star Break.

That's enough rambling for now

[Wes]

Those lists don't make any sense.

[ParkTrips]

I'd argue the 2nd most 'rooted' for team down here are the Marlins... Something you'd never guess if you saw their shitbox of a stadium. Very good TV numbers. Nobody wants to go sweat in 100 degrees for 3 hours.

Totally off topic, but hopefully that will change in 2 years.

[Josh Linn]

Those lists don't make any sense.

 

Especially considering he put the Suns 3rd in the West. Without Amare I can't see them doing too much. The Turkoglu experiment is going to end really badly IMO.

[Jew]

And I'm very very humored by the comments of "The Heat dont have enough to be contenders" while the freaking Cavs just made it to the ECF. BTW, the Heat will have a few centers on the roster, don't worry

 

I don't think anyone is saying they don't have enough to be contenders. Everyone is saying they don't have enough to be CHAMPIONS. Sorry if that wasn't clear. Doesn't being in the Eastern conference automatically qualify you for the playoffs?

 

I'm sure they will have a couple of washed up veteran centers on their roster, but I can also be sure whomever they sign isn't going to able to hang with the leagues best...

[Wes]

Those lists don't make any sense.

 

Especially considering he put the Suns 3rd in the West. Without Amare I can't see them doing too much. The Turkoglu experiment is going to end really badly IMO.

 

No Boston in his list, which is funny cuz they were like one quarter away from winning a championship. There's the age argument, but everyone made the age argument last season and they murdered the Cavs and the Magic. They still have the big three and Rondo. Meanwhile he thinks the Bulls are gonna be in the ECF just cuz they added Boozer??? A team that was 20 games back from first place last season and a dude who tends to fade in the playoffs.

 

Meanwhile the WC somehow suddenly is missing Portland, Denver, and Dallas. Portland and Denver had super bad luck last season, but those are both fucking solid teams. Dallas will have had more time to gel and probably won't have to face San Antonio in the first round.

[808Freq]

Those lists don't make any sense.

 

Especially considering he put the Suns 3rd in the West. Without Amare I can't see them doing too much. The Turkoglu experiment is going to end really badly IMO.

 

No Boston in his list, which is funny cuz they were like one quarter away from winning a championship. There's the age argument, but everyone made the age argument last season and they murdered the Cavs and the Magic. They still have the big three and Rondo. Meanwhile he thinks the Bulls are gonna be in the ECF just cuz they added Boozer??? A team that was 20 games back from first place last season and a dude who tends to fade in the playoffs.

 

Meanwhile the WC somehow suddenly is missing Portland, Denver, and Dallas. Portland and Denver had super bad luck last season, but those are both fudging solid teams. Dallas will have had more time to gel and probably won't have to face San Antonio in the first round.

 

First of all, they were 1-3 seeded lists. Not everyone can make it. Yeah, weird, no Boston. It's almost like they were an older team showing their age before turning it on in the playoffs. Or wait, before the start of the playoffs last year, I'm sure you were calling Boston all the way as they limped into the playoffs. What's wrong with calling the Bulls for the ECF? They were one of the strongest up and coming teams last season with a mostly terrible coach (Sorry Vinny). Their main weakness was no presence by a formidable big man. Yeah, adding Boozer wouldn't do anything to help their chances, you're right. You might not agree but to say the Heat Bulls Magic in some order in the East doesn't make sense is kind of silly.

 

In the west I left Portland Denver and Dallas out of the top 3 which included the Lakers and Thunder.. again.. that doesn't make sense? Sure all those teams will probably make the playoffs, but how can you say it doesn't make sense when all I practically switched out from absolute reality was PHX with Dallas (And remember, Phx was close to the finals last year, too

 

 

The Suns were a homer pick, as I admitted. And so what if I called PHX ahead of teams like Portland.. I mean how many years in a row will this be the 'year portland is gonna start killing everyone'? I'm tired of worrying about Portland only to have them suck ass and not live up to their potential. Dallas is Dallas, and therefore is mostly irrelevant come playoff time, no matter what the seed. And Denver.. well, you could argue Denver for 3rd seed I suppose, but PHX seemed like the better choice to me. There really is no "Turk Experiment" going on. PHX wanted to ditch Barbosa, and BC wanted to drop Turk. It worked out for both teams.. but he's hardly a guy the Suns will be 'building around'. I mean.. where the heck is he even going to play? The 3? the 4? Knowing stupid Sarver, he thinks because the guy is 6'10" he can play in the post as a 4. Phx has like 5 SF's on the roster. Something has to give.. I wouldn't be surprised to see PHX make another move.

 

*edit* Couple things I noticed after this post.. Mentioning Boozer fading in playoffs, while mentioning me leaving Dallas off my lists - the ultimate NBA chokejob..And the Bulls added Boozer & Korver!!!

[mcjaco]

^ Actually Vinny is a pretty good coach. He got a lot more out of the Bulls than most of us here anticipated. He sucked the first year, which is funny because no remembers after their amazing series with Boston. Last year he started to really figure it out with his rotations, and play calling.

 

Yes, the Bulls added Korver, and it looks like Redick, with Orlando agreeing to terms with Q Richardson. They're also in talks with Josh Howard, Brad Miller, and their 2008 pick from Turkey is coming over. Some even footer with "Kukoc" like skills. They'll be better, but I don't think Finals ready.

[BeemerBoy]

I wasn't really disagreeing with him. It was only a joke you'd get if you go to a lot of Heat games, I guess.

 

But very accurately put about the South Florida 'fan' situation. The fact is, a lot of people down here are big sports fans.. just not of the teams down here in South Florida. Besides the Phins, which have always owned Miami, I'd argue the 2nd most 'rooted' for team down here are the Marlins... Something you'd never guess if you saw their shitbox of a stadium. Very good TV numbers. Nobody wants to go sweat in 100 degrees for 3 hours.

 

It could be worse though, they could play in the warehouse my Rays play in

Yeah, I'm pretty familiar with the whole showing up late thing. The thing is, I can't really fault anyone who's living in a large metropolitan area for doing so. Most of the time, it's working class professionals who have to deal with leaving work, possible family-related stuff, and then also putting up with South Florida traffic and parking at the game. So taking all that into consideration, it's understandable why many people tend to show up a little late. I imagine L.A. is pretty similar.

 

That's a tough call about the "2nd most rooted for team" down there. The MarliN do actually have a secretly larger fan base than most would imagine, but the Heat have been pretty consistent for the last decade or so, and it's the "sexier" ticket option of the two, even though their home is right down the street from the old Miami Arena. Also, I wouldn't necessarily call Joe Robbie Stadium a "s**tbox of a stadium." It just wasn't designed as a baseball stadium, and never even considered to host a team until the Orioles played an exhibition there in the early '90's, and got the wheels turning in Huizenga's head.

 

You're right about most fans not wanting to go sweat in 100 degree heat for 3 hours though. Truth is, most MarliN fans live in north Broward, and south Palm Beach counties, so the stadium has always been an inconvenient pain in the a$$ to consistently attend games at. And as I mentioned to Joe the other week, I'm not sure their new home will improve things very much.

 

With the Heat poised to be a solid contender for at least the next five years or so, the Phins and Canes headed in the right direction, and the Panthers insignificant, the MarliN have an uphill battle. Sure, when the new joint is opened they'll draw big numbers just like they did in their first few years of existence. However, after the newness wears off, they'll once again struggle with attendance.

 

 

No one thinks the Hawks, with their re-signed "superstar who doesn't give a damn about the home fans," will win the title? The Hawks? Anyone?

[Hotlanta]

No one thinks the Hawks, with their re-signed "superstar who doesn't give a damn about the home fans," will win the title? The Hawks? Anyone?

 

For me the Hawks exist for one reason: I get to go to a Lakers game once a year.

 

I know a lot of fans of different teams like to complain about their ownership situation, but nobody has it worse than the Hawks/Thrashers. David Stern should be hanged for allowing the team to be sold to a hundred thousand clowns.

[ParkTrips]

The "fans" down here don't help, either. Unless bron or the Lakers are in town, they never sell out. Hell, they can't even sell out playoff tickets half the time. This city is a joke when it comes to supporting our professional teams year-round.

[Thrillride93]

Boston is the best team in the eastern conference. When Perkins is healthy hes one of the best centers in the league. KG is still an above average power forward. Pierce can light it up with the best of them Ray Allen is the second greatest shooter to ever play in the nba and rondo is an elite point guard. Jermaine O Neal is a great 6th man and Big Baby is clutch in the playoffs.

[mcjaco]

Boston is the best team in the eastern conference. When Perkins is healthy hes one of the best centers in the league. KG is still an above average power forward. Pierce can light it up with the best of them Ray Allen is the second greatest shooter to ever play in the nba and rondo is an elite point guard. Jermaine O Neal is a great 6th man and Big Baby is clutch in the playoffs.

 

Oh dear.

[Thrillride93]

What?

[808Freq]

No one thinks the Hawks, with their re-signed "superstar who doesn't give a damn about the home fans," will win the title? The Hawks? Anyone?

 

For me the Hawks exist for one reason: I get to go to a Lakers game once a year.

 

I know a lot of fans of different teams like to complain about their ownership situation, but nobody has it worse than the Hawks/Thrashers. David Stern should be hanged for allowing the team to be sold to a hundred thousand clowns.

 

I'm sure it was by mistake, but you misquoted there. I think that was beemerboy that said that, not me. David Stern sucks at life. Period.

[mcjaco]

What?

 

Exactly.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

If Chris Bosh was a superstar the Raptors should have atleast been a 8 seed everyear. I think in his tenure they made the playoffs 2 times.

IIRC, it was Bosh's rookie year they made the playoffs when VC was still there, so CB4 led them to one playoff berth.

[Homeboy23]

Well the Heat got a center. Probably not the one that they need though...Zydrunas Ilgauskas

 

sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5377012

[808Freq]

^ Actually Vinny is a pretty good coach. He got a lot more out of the Bulls than most of us here anticipated. He sucked the first year, which is funny because no remembers after their amazing series with Boston. Last year he started to really figure it out with his rotations, and play calling.

 

Yes, the Bulls added Korver, and it looks like Redick, with Orlando agreeing to terms with Q Richardson. They're also in talks with Josh Howard, Brad Miller, and their 2008 pick from Turkey is coming over. Some even footer with "Kukoc" like skills. They'll be better, but I don't think Finals ready.

 

Jaco, I agree about Vinny. I think he got railroaded a bit in Chicago. It may also be a case of a players coach on a team that needs a disciplinarian type? All I know is he worked his butt off for the PHX organization for years. He'll get another shot.. but at the end of the day, he was not an effective coach for the Bulls when it mattered most. Tibby is just what that team needed, and he is a lot to do with why I am picking them to be in the ECF.

[Jew]

Well the Heat got a center. Probably not the one that they need though...Zydrunas Ilgauskas

 

sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5377012

 

My point still stands.

[808Freq]

Jew, I'm interested.. which center would you like them to get that is available in FA right now? There arn't a ton of guys out there to even choose from as far as the 5 goes, irregardless of price.

 

Getting Big Z and pairing him with Pittman will probably be good enough for that team as it is.

 

I'm still laughing at all these people who are saying Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller, Big Z + roleplayers isn't enough to win in the East.

[Jew]

It doesn't matter who they get. They are still going to have issues matching up against the Celtics, Bulls, and Magic in the paint. Which, IMO, is going to help offset the advantage they get from their trio of all-stars. Big Z & Juwan Howard are about the best they could do, but it's still going to leave them with a nice big hole in their lineup at the 5. Ultimately, The Heat will still need to double team people down low as the only way to defend in the paint...

 

What they have now definitely makes them the trendy pick in the East, but I really don't think it makes them the clear favorites in the East. Not without proving anything at least. The Celtics core remains together and the Bulls look to be much better with their additions as well.