Nba

kev_s88

anyone else looking forward to the start of the new NBA season tomorrow night???

and am i the only one who thinks the Celtics are gonna be way too good with Pierce, Allen and Garnett???

Mikeyt086

Yes and No.

Yes i am looking forward to it, and no, your not the only one who thinks the Celtics will dominate.

Its about time KG got a championship, he carried the TWolves for far too long and i cant wait to see him in full flow for Boston.

phil

If the Spurs and Pistons have shown anything in the last few years, it's that having stars on your team doesn't guarantee you a championship. However, the calibre of the ones on the Celtics... they look awesome. Garnett has been getting some serious assists (triple double or close to it stats for him) due to the double teaming and his passing out of the post is immense.

Celtics look good, but I'd still see it as too early to judge them yet. The supporting cast there is weak... Looking forward to the new season, definitely one of the most competitive in recent times. Wish Kobe would get the fupp out of LA as well, that story is going on way too long. Think it might be too late at this stage though.

Kinetic^

I wouldn't be surprised if the Celtics make a few more moves before the trade deadline passes tbh.

I'm not sure about who's going to win it tbh, I'd really like to see the Suns win it as they're one of the teams I love to watch and with the added maturity of Grant Hill (wrap him in cotton wool though ) I think they've a good shot. Spurs, Celtics, LeBron, Bulls & Mavs are all the main contenders tbh. Miami should be re-building atm, Shaq is dead weight now.

If Arenas stays healthy the Wizards will make a good run in the playoffs too.

kev_s88

anyone see the games last night???

spurs off to a good start, keeping up their dominance.

felt kinda bad for the lakers.great comeback and 45 points from kobe but they went down by to points to the rockets.just shows how screwed the lakers are if they lose him!!!

Kinetic^

Felt very happy that the lakers lost. Anyone who has Kobe on their team, I want to see lose!!!

Lafortezza

The only weak point I can see for the Celtics is
1) the point guard: Rondo is not that experienced and hasn't been shown to be very solid over the last few seasons. His outside shot (from free throw line to 3's) is not consistant and with the Big 3 getting double teamed alot he needs to knock it down at a good %.

2) Injuries, if one of the big 3 (especially KG or Pierce) get a bad injury then the Celtics drop to a .500 team, making the playoffs but getting beaten by any of the other big teams. They just dont have enough strength in depth so survive an injury crisis.


I'd like to see the Suns go far this year. The Spurs-Cavs finals last year were pretty boring tbh, the Suns always play v entertaining basketball which would be better to see.

Honestly though I can't see anyone beating the Spurs over 7 games, they are just too good.

Kinetic^

lafortezza wrote: »

Honestly though I can't see anyone beating the Spurs over 7 games, they are just too good.

I've said this time and time again, with that bogey suspension in game 5 last year, it FUBAR'd the suns. I think they would've taken the series had that not happened.

nerak31

Does anyone know what tv station has the NBA this year as sky sports don't seem to be showing it & setanta won't have it till the 2008/09 season.
Cheers

kev_s88

might be able to get some of it on NASN. not sure though

phil

It's not worth paying for NASN to get NBA coverage as the coverage is minimal. Have a look into NBA TV!

Kinetic^

nerak31 wrote: »

Does anyone know what tv station has the NBA this year as sky sports don't seem to be showing it & setanta won't have it till the 2008/09 season.
Cheers

NBA on sky usually appears in the new year after the NFL season. It's annoying but understandable at the same time as most of the games before then won't be anything to write home about. After the superbowl you'll start to have discussions etc. about the NBA playoffs so it's the right time to start coverage tbh.

nerak31

thanks for advise. Does anyone know how to get NBA TV in Ireland

moneyman

Kenny 5 wrote: »

NBA on sky usually appears in the new year after the NFL season. It's annoying but understandable at the same time as most of the games before then won't be anything to write home about. After the superbowl you'll start to have discussions etc. about the NBA playoffs so it's the right time to start coverage tbh.

No, Sky don't have the rights to the NBA this year, they gave them up and are focusing on NFL. They never started picking up the NBA after new year, the either have it from the start or not at all.

NASN also don't have the rights, emailed them about it and they cost is too high, might be picking them up next year though.

So no NBA coverage at all, bit ridiculous really. Have no idea how to get NBA TV in Ireland, I seriously doubt it's possible.

Kulgan

Hey I have watched a few games this week from stream links on rojadirecta.org Some matches need a program but most are direct links and fairly decent quality.

That link and direct streams are often linked on soccer forum but mod here please edit if its not allowed.....

Lafortezza

I think streaming links are ok. Torrents are a no-no.

Kinetic^

moneyman wrote: »

No, Sky don't have the rights to the NBA this year, they gave them up and are focusing on NFL. They never started picking up the NBA after new year, the either have it from the start or not at all.

NASN also don't have the rights, emailed them about it and they cost is too high, might be picking them up next year though.

So no NBA coverage at all, bit ridiculous really. Have no idea how to get NBA TV in Ireland, I seriously doubt it's possible.

Ah ffs, what a joke!!!!!!!! Just have to DL and watch matches now :mad:

If you've got good quality streaming links then post them in here.

Eddie-B

i wish they didnt give it up! they never actually had good matches on though in fairness!!!! everytime i want to see the all star game they have it so i hope they still do that.


Anybody else seen Jamario Moon for the raptors? that man got ultimate hops.

Rookie of the year candidates? yi? or is it only durants to win?

jimmay

For those of you interested this is a response I got from Setanta regarding NBA TV coverage. I also sent the same exact message to two different official NBA departments but have had no response. The first section is my letter then their response. If anyone has more info please post.
_____________________________________________________________


There is currently a huge gap in the market regarding a lack of NBA
coverage. NBA TV is currently unavailable through any providers in the
UK and Ireland. There is minimal coverage of the NBA here despite an
expanding global emphasis on international fanbase particularly in the
UK including a recent NBA exhibition game in London and the planned
opening of an NBA London office. Channel 5 currently shows 1 live game
per week. Sky sports have no programming at the moment with possible
pick-up later in the season.

This is very unfortunate for fans like myself who may I add would
happily pay for a service were it available, as it makes it very near
impossible to follow developments and stay up to date with happenings.
I just thought I would bring this to your attention in the chance you
may deem it in your interest to investigate.

Regards,

Jim
______________________________________________________________

Dear Sir

Thank you for your e-mail and please accept my apologies for the delay
in response.

NASN currently does not have a rights agreement with the NBA for games
or programming. The NBA rights situation is quite complicated in Europe
and involves numerous territories where the NBA already has rights deals
in place.

Also, the new worldwide rights deal that ESPN (owners of NASN) recently
signed with the NBA does not take effect until the 2008-09 season, as
ESPN is currently in the last year of their existing contract with the
NBA, the likelihood of NBA programming appearing on NASN for the 2007-08
season is very remote.

However, if this situation changes, then NASN will certainly enter into
discussions with the NBA regarding programming for the 2007-08 season.



If further information or assistance is required, please call our
Customer Services team on the number below. Our lines are open from
8.00 am to midnight, seven days a week.

Yours sincerely

Michael McIntosh

phil

Can't you pay for NBA TV coverage now to watch games online?

jimmay

I dont really know about watching games online, I looked it up but nothing really stood out...if anyone knows any good links/info to watching online please post. Obviously I would prefer 2 watch on tv but still wud be better than the 30 sec clips on nba.com

Kinetic^

phil wrote: »

Can't you pay for NBA TV coverage now to watch games online?

You need to be in america to get it afaik!!!!

kev_s88

www.myp2p.eu has some good NBA streaming

jimmay

kev_s88 wrote: »

www.myp2p.eu has some good NBA streaming

I think I came upon this site before...have u used it yourself? If so is it user friendly?

How the hell is NBA TV available in Iceland and not in Ireland and the UK??
Have a look at the list of lucky countries who have NBA TV... http://www.nba.com/nba_tv/NBA_TVrsquos_International_T-143140-466.html
What is going on?!

Kinetic^

Boston are the only team left with single digit loss (30-5). Pretty good chance of getting to 70 wins but don't want to talk too soon.

moneyman

Kenny 5 wrote: »

Boston are the only team left with single digit loss (30-5). Pretty good chance of getting to 70 wins but don't want to talk too soon.

They've had two losses in their last few games. Not that it means anything, but I wouldn't put money on it. The Mavs were in a great position to do it last year but were 3 games off in the end. Teams off to a hot start usually drop a few at the end.

phil

The Spurs and Pistons both know what it takes to win and it's not 60+ wins in the regular season. Ask the Mavs last year.

Fair enough, it shows they're a top calibre team. But are they a championship team? hard to say. Back to back losses to the Wizards this week with absolutely no answer for Caron Butler. This has happened in a few of their losses.

Celtics lack real depth. Big baby has shown elements of being a decent role player and Rondo looks like he could develop into a decent point guard (but not a great one), the lesser known Allen and Eddie House are below average. They all have worked quite well up to now, but that's mainly because on the offensive end if they struggle they've got a post up, a penetrator and a shooter to bail them out. Since Ray Allen was out, the celtics haven't quite looked the same. one or two players stood up, but overall, the rhythm was lost for a few games.

That said, very few teams have an answer for Garnett and that celtics v.s. Pistons match a few weeks ago shows they can match up to the Pistons. I just don't think over 7 games in the playoffs that experience and bench will tell.

I still can't see the Celtics actually taking the East or the Championship this year. The playoffs will be interesting though. If the Celtics actually show some steel and muscle though, I'd be surprised. Next year however, providing the core of the team stays together, will be more interesting after they can get some of their role players playoff experience.

yabadabado

alrite ppl.was just thinking about sky not having nba coverage anymore it makes it a pain trying to follow the league.ten years ago there was more coverage C4 had a weekly show and showed the finals aslo tg4 had a program afew years back.do people think the nba have priced them outta the market coz i think there is as much NBA fans about now as there ever was

phil

I can pretty much keep up-to-date by going to ESPN (which I'd visit daily)
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage

After that, I don't see too many full matches.

Phil.

WHIP IT!

yabadabado wrote: »

alrite ppl.was just thinking about sky not having nba coverage anymore it makes it a pain trying to follow the league.ten years ago there was more coverage C4 had a weekly show and showed the finals aslo tg4 had a program afew years back.do people think the nba have priced them outta the market coz i think there is as much NBA fans about now as there ever was

Like you said yab, you could see more ball on tv ten years ago than you can know, it's ridiculous... I used to follow basketball religiously when I was in school but have hardly watched any in the last six-eight years, was hoping to get back into it. The fact there's none on TV makes that pretty difficult!

Watching Georgetown-Syracuse on NASN at the min, that will have to sate me for now!

So, c'mon guys - what have I missed in the last seven or so years!?

Kills me to see Shaq's numbers these days. He was my hero when I first got into basketball...

Rodman, Reggie Miller, Mitch Richmond, JR Rider (purely for the highlight realms), 'Nique Wilkins, Sir Charles, Larry Grandmama Johnson, Hakeen Olajuwon, the Reignman Shawn Kemp, Penny Hardaway... showin my age now I guess! Also, I was a big fan on John Wallace, who was drafter by the Kniicks in late 90s, purely because he was huge for Syracuse when they surprised everybody and reached the final four about 8/9years ago. He didn't make much of an impact when he made it to the L but he was spectacular that March. I always used to trade for him in the old NBA SNES games even though he sucked!

Never a big KG fan in his formative years, or AI for that matter, but I guess KG has grown up some since I've been away... I remember Pearce when he came into the league, he plays hard... nice to see Boston have a team worthy of his talent now...

Who else is out there to look out for now then? Aside from the obvious - Labron, Vince Cartet etc...

phil

Apart from highlight reels, Carter and the Nets aren't doing much. They're not even Carters Nets either, Kidd is the star on that team I'm afraid.

Phoenix Suns - Nash, Marion and Stoudemaire, formidable three players, all all-stars with a decent few role players beside them. Play up tempo basketball, brilliant to watch when they're on form.

Boston Celtics - Best regular season record this year. Ray Allen, a shooter, and KG and Paul Pierce who you know are the big team here.

Spurs - Timmy Duncan, Manu Ginobli, Tony Parker. Core of the team have won a few championships at this stage. Experienced, crafty and can play you anyway.

Orlando Magic - Like Shaq? Go watch some Dwight Howard footage on youtube. The guys a beast. Rashard Lewis on a big contract there with some decent players on the team, but still won't progress far into the playoffs this year.

Detroit Pistons - Like the Spurs, in that they play as a team, know how to win and can do it inside and out. Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton - again all all-stars.

LA Lakers - started off very shakily, mostly due to Kobe trade rumours. Jordan Farmer , Luke Walton and Andrew Bynum starting to shine alongside Kobe. Bynum being out injured recently means they have no legitimate low post threat and if he stays out for the rest of the season, they'll probably do very little in the playoffs.

Toronto - Chris Bosh being the franchise player here, another top class big man, although very different from Dwight Howard. No other all-star players here, but some above average players in TJ Ford, Anthony Parker and Calderone not forgetting Bargiani.

Wizards aka Jordans last team - Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas are the two stars here. Arenas is out injured though, but again, another player to watch out for.

Golden State Warriors - Baron Davis & Stephen jackson are the mainstay of this team. Like the Suns, they play an up-tempo style of game and Davis regularly takes over games. Fun team to watch and caused a big upset beating Dallas last year.

Dallas Mavericks - another team like the Spurs and Pistons which is full of quality. Dirk Nowitzki, a 7 foot German is the main go to guy, but they've surrounded him with some serious players.. Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Devin Harris and Jerry Stackhouse the other main players.

New Orleans - Real surprise team, and Chris Paul the PG is simply amazing. Drafted in 2005, he's a new player but already putting up huge numbers at the 1.

Cavs - not much to talk about here apart from LeBron. Varajao is helping them since he struck a deal, but LBJ is the focus.

Denver - AI & Melo. They've got a strong starting 5, but they don't seem to be able to overpower the top teams in the West. Will make the playoffs but won't get far. Carmelo Anthony probably one of the best small forward in the league (drafted with LBJ and Dwayne Wade)


Miami Heat - wouldn't even mention them apart from Dwayne Wade. He carried an ageing cast to a championship last year. Been out injured this year and they've been on a heavy losing streak since mid-December. Probably the worst record in the league.

Knicks -again wouldn't mention them except they've been so TERRIBLE. A bit like Dublin and GAA, basketball gets much more exposure in the States when NY are playing well.

Utah - Boozer, Deron Williams and Andrei Kirilenko. Did well last year, are very solid at the 1, 3 and 4 which makes them formidable. Boozer is a beast.

Sonics - terrible but have a rookie called Kevin Durant that's superb.

Portland - very young team. Have number 1 draft pick this year in Greg Oden. A 7 foot athletic bigman, heralded as the next best thing. He's out for the whole year. Brandon Roy is the star of this team and they've surprised a lot of people.

Houston - Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. McGrady is getting a reputation as a choker in big games. He's Vince Carters cousin. Athletic 2 guard, can really play when he wants to. Yao being a big chinese monster, but again, can underperform. Lot of people tipped them as this being their year, but so far, that's not working out for them at all. Seem to struggle in the playoffs bigtime.

I've left out loads, but that should help you catch up a bit

As far as I can tell, from when I was a kid, there's a lot better teams out there. Also, you'll notice the West has more title contenders than the East. It's gotten better this year with Boston getting better. Apart from the Celtics or the Pistons, you won't see too many people tipping any other teams from the East to go anywhere.

In the West, you got people throwing money on Dallas, Phoenix, San Antonio & Houston (although less and less Houston since the season got underway). You've got some other teams that can challenge these on any given day: Golden State, Portland, Denver, Lakers, Utah & New Orleans.

WHIP IT!

Thanks for that Phil, real interesting reading...

Big fan of JKidd and Nash for definite - love how they play...

Never cared much for Duncan, I always felt he had no personality (I think being bland is a prerequisite when you play for San Antonio, hence the Worm never fit in there!) even though he has serious game...

Also like what I see of Nowitzski so far...

phil

Of course Wade and the Heat won a championship in 2006, not 2007. D'oh!

Kinetic^

Another loss for Celtics last night, I don't think they can hold out for 70 tbh. :rolleyes:

Garnett's old team ain't doing great either, think they've the worst record in the league.

yabadabado

hey whip it that post with all them players really brings back memories i was a sonics fan(still am,man they r **** the last few years) loved payton and kemp

WHIP IT!

yabadabado wrote: »

hey whip it that post with all them players really brings back memories i was a sonics fan(still am,man they r **** the last few years) loved payton and kemp

Yeah they were real Showtime. The Glove, Payton, was a trash-talkin badass but he could flat out ball.

In an earlier post, I mentioned a book I read called the Jordan Rules (again, if you haven't read it - buy it today) and there's a great little story about Payton's early years in the L.

It was the Glove's rookie year, 1990-91, the year the Bulls won their first title. The Sonics had beaten the Bulls kinda convincingly in a pre-season exhibition game. Payton had played well, kinda bothered Jordan - who was largely disinterested at that time of year, in general - a bit... So Payton starts talking, starts jawing at MJ and says something like:

"Hey Jordan. I've got my money, I've got my millions, I'm buying my Ferraris, I'm buying my Testarosas too..."

"No problem," MJ replies "... I get em for free..."

Nice... Later that year, in a reg-season game, Jordan torches the Sonics and Payton in particular...

I can't believe it's so long since I followed the NBA so closely - hard to believe the likes of Richmond, Payton, Kemp etc were so long ago...

Edit: One player I missed from my little list is an old favourite - Clyde the Glide Drexler... Picked before Jordan in the 84 (?) draft too... He was like a 90% Jordan, same game... Carried Portland for many years, reaching a finals in 92 (Bulls win, second of three titles) and eventually got the ring he deserved with the Rockets and Olajuwon in 1995 (if memory serves me correct).

Liam90

if skysports were showing NBA this season, it would be Spurs vs Celtics tonight!:(

checkit043

anybody know where i could the heat and celtics this sat 9th june in a dublin pub?

Paully D

Interesting to read back on this

For Forks Sake

checkit043 wrote: »

anybody know where i could the heat and celtics this sat 9th june in a dublin pub?

I said this before on another thread, Irish licensing laws and NBA scheduling times are pretty much incompatible most of the time. That said, I sat down to watch BOS-MIA last night after i got home roaring drunk after a night out.