NBA Regular Season 2010/2011

padraig_f

Starts on Tuesday with the Heat against the Celtics, great game to kick things off.

I was looking at International League Pass, looks great value at €116 for the year. Seems to be the same product the NFL uses, which is excellent. Live games in HD, plus on-demand archive of all games. I noticed there's a free preview of the service 'til November 1st, which will cover the opening few days of the season.

Tom Fiat

Thanks for this.
I plan to attend many Heat games this year.
Cant with til we meet the Majics and whip them goodo.

Da GOAT

may stay up for the celts vs heat. heat look vulnerable, go celts.

frostie500

Da GOAT wrote: »

may stay up for the celts vs heat. heat look vulnerable, go celts.

Where is this being shown? I know ESPN showed some preseason games but I cant see anything on their schedule for regular season games

Da GOAT

ill watch on nba.coms broadband.

look up adthe.net for the game but video quality wont be great.

padraig_f

Da GOAT wrote: »

ill watch on nba.coms broadband.

yeah see the OP, international league pass is free until Nov 1st.

should be a great atmosphere tonight with both teams wanting to put down an early marker. though I'll be rooting hard against the Heat, think I'll be secretly looking forward to watching the offensive fireworks.

big season for the Celtics too, I thought watching the playoffs last year, it was their last real chance at a championship, but with some decent off-season acquisitions, possibly not. will be interesting to see how they fare tonight against many peoples' favourites for the title.

Lafortezza

Who do people think will win the East? West? And then overall?
MVP?
Rookie of the Year?

I'm going for Lakers/Boston in the W/E, and Lakers to win it all again, only thing that can stop them is bad injuries.

Durant for MVP, Blake Griffin for Rookie.

Stab*City

Cant wait for tonight!!

Kinetic^

That's good value for the pass but game times are what would put me off from buying it. It would mean only getting to watch games at the weekend for me.

ButtersSuki

lafortezza wrote: »

Who do people think will win the East? West? And then overall?
MVP?
Rookie of the Year?

I'm going for Lakers/Boston in the W/E, and Lakers to win it all again, only thing that can stop them is bad injuries.

Durant for MVP, Blake Griffin for Rookie.

I'll take Durant for MVP - LeBron will have to share the ball so his chances drop. His points will go down, boards will be about the same but his assists will likely go up from 8.6 (frightening thought). Think he's damaged his reputation too much though to three-peat as MVP. I think Durant is going to the next level after his displays in the World Championships where he was awesome.

Rookie of the Year - tough call between Griffin and Wall. I think Griffin is a better player now and will prove to be a better player long-term BUT John Wall will have a lot more of the ball being the PG, is on a weaker team and is far more likely to stay healthy than Griffin (particularly with the way he plays). So I'll hedge my bets and say if they play the same no. of games it's Blake Griffin and if not it's John Wall.

I'm pretty sure Lakers won't win it all again - just too hard to go to the Finals that many years in a row and perform. I do think Boston have a great chance, the Heat will be there or thereabouts (unfortunately). Hard to look beyond those 3 but I'll say Boston to win it all and maybe Oaklahoma for the Western Conference - that's my wildcard.

Sea Devils

padraig_f wrote: »

big season for the Celtics too, I thought watching the playoffs last year, it was their last real chance at a championship, but with some decent off-season acquisitions, possibly not. will be interesting to see how they fare tonight against many peoples' favourites for the title.

I can't wait to see how the Celtics integrate Shaq on their team. He's one of the worst pick and roll defenders of all time and he'e joining a team thats the best I've ever seen in this regard. Somethings gotta give.

joemcg18

I'd say durant for the mvp and i think demarcus cousins will get the rookie of the year

Carcharodon

Was my thread not good enough for you people :pac:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055993030

Looking forward to the game tonight, I think the Celtics could go all the way this year if they stay healthy, Jermaine O'Neal is a great addition and this is a postseason team more than anything so I expect them to go deep.

Durant looks good for MVP at the moment and Wall will probably get Rookie unless Griffin can really dominate but I think NBA would lean toward Wall even if Griffin is the better player.

Not sure if any of the West teams can take the Lakers down, Thunder have the potential to do it but it will be a big ask.

Da GOAT

all games are available to rewatch days later, even better is you can skip the adverts.

padraig_f

Carcharodon wrote: »

Was my thread not good enough for you people :pac:

hehe sorry, I thought that one was intended for the off-season, feel free to merge them.

predictions....wouldn't like to see either of them in the finals but Lakers to beat Miami.
with Lebron having to share the ball more, Durant for MVP.
Not seen any of the rookies play yet.

eagle eye

Woohoo Celtics take out the Heat.:D Super opening night. I got to admit it was surreal looking at Shaq in a Celtics uniform and kinda sad to see Eddie House in a Heat uniform.

Anyways we let LeBron do this thing but shut down Wade. Great start to the season. Super performance from Pierce and Garnett.

bonkers

what are the options for watching nba from ireland..
can i just stream them from nba.com?

heat are just warming up, dont think celtics were ever going to lose that tonight

Carcharodon

padraig_f wrote: »

hehe sorry, I thought that one was intended for the off-season, feel free to merge them.

predictions....wouldn't like to see either of them in the finals but Lakers to beat Miami.
with Lebron having to share the ball more, Durant for MVP.
Not seen any of the rookies play yet.

Just joking with you,it is all the one sure, it is just good to see a bit of activity on the basketball form anyway.

Miami v LA finals is likely but at the same time it is just as likely that it won't happen, especially in the East, I think the Celtics will be a very hard team to beat in the postseason, plus Howard and Orlando are that bit more experience although I am not sure if they will get enough out of Carter.
Bulls should improve this year and be competitive in the playoffs.
It is kind of top heavy in the East with the rest being similar to last year, Wizards might be one to watch and the Knicks should improve a lot.

In the West you have Lakers being top dog again probably, the Thunder could well make the finals I think but might be a year too early to win it.
I think the Jazz could do well this year with Al Jefferson, Portland will be good again but are missing something again I would presume, Rockets have some quality players and could do well depending on Yao, Dallas and Spurs should be consistent.
Clippers might be a team to watch to make playoffs, Kings are putting together a nice team but a long way away to competing.
Not much else happening in the West, Phoenix might struggle as could Denver and New Orleans.

ButtersSuki

Great to see the Celtics win; not so great to see them blow an 18point lead to almost losing the game.

Miami weren't bad considering Wade played 3mins prior to this game and in many ways the most important part of the team is out until after the All Star Game - Mike Miller. Yeah Miller is not a starter but he is they key in making this experiment work. Why? Because every team needs a guy who can drill a wide open 3 pointer when the marquee player (in this case players) are double and triple teamed (look at the Lakers going after Steve Blake, the Bulls in Championship years with Kerr and Paxson, Hornacek with the Jazz....I could keep going). It's the inside-outside threat that is pretty much impossible to defend. One analyst I read last week said losing Miller drops Miami from a 70win team to a mid-50win team - that's how important the guy is. It's not about the numbers (he'll never score 30 a game), it's the threat.

Hate to say it but LeBron was good BUT that was a charge, not a block by Pierce.

Sea Devils

I only watched the first half and 4th quarter so I missed LeBron's outburst in the 3rd. On one hand, they looked God awful offensively and did nothing to quiet the "can Wade/LeBron play together" talk...bu in fariness their first real game together was against one of the two most cohesive teams in the league, and against the best defensive team I've ever seen in their house. It's no surprise they lost.

Bosh as a third option looks HORRIBLE though. I've always felt that your 3-5 options on the court have to contribute off of the ball, and he's really not an off the ball player either. I think he's more of a concern than whether or not Wade/LeBron can coexist, IMO.

Lafortezza

I definitely agree about Bosh. He will play like and put up numbers similar to of average Power Forwards in this league (even though he's a great player) just because he will get alot less touches of the ball playing beside LeBron/Wade.
After Wade/LeBron the Heat don't need a great 3rd scoring option, they need someone who can bomb 3pters (Miller) and they need some big men who can rebound and make layups. Bosh's offensive skills will be wasted and his passing/defensive skills aren't amazing. He's no Kevin Garnett when it comes to help defence.

I think Miami will destroy the weaker teams in the league, just by sheer force of offence from Wade/LeBron, but they will really struggle against teams like BOS/LAL/ORL/SAS/OKC who have quality big men, excellent team defences and efficient offences.

ButtersSuki

lafortezza wrote: »

I think Miami will destroy the weaker teams in the league, just by sheer force of offence from Wade/LeBron, but they will really struggle against teams like BOS/LAL/ORL/SAS/OKC who have quality big men, excellent team defences and efficient offences.

Totally. Said it when the team line-up was announced. they will "put the hurt" on some teams but may not be able to cope with some of the tougher teams - kinda like Arsenal in the Premiership sometimes.

And on Bosh - he was the big fish in a small pond and now finds himself a distant and clear No. 3 in Miami. Team chemistry could become an issue....here's hoping anyway!

another interesting enough game tonight, boston - cleveland, how will they react to losing that player and what does the future look like for them and also chicago - oklahoma on espn uk will be a good one

Carcharodon

Bulls v Thunder
Portland v Clippers
plus I will have to watch some Warriors v Houston
and try and squeeze some World series in

ButtersSuki

Celtics lose to Cleveland?!!!!! Looks like it's going to be one of those seasons for the C's!

Sea Devils

I wouldn't be too concerned about that if I was a C's fan. . Part of the reason that they were able to make the run they made last year was because they didn't go full tilt during the regular season and they're not going to have the energy or focus in every game. That's important for most teams, but not for champions, IMO.

Oat23

Great comeback from the Bulls, down by 21 at half time and we won 101-91, outscoring the Pistons 34-9 in the 4th quarter. Derrick Rose with 39 points.

Derrick for MVP!

Kinetic^

lafortezza wrote: »

Durant for MVP, Blake Griffin for Rookie.

I can see it going this way too. Looking forward to seeing what Griffin does this year.

ButtersSuki

Interesting article from Sports Illustrated on Celtic's turnovers and Rondo's part in them:
http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2010/10/28/pointing-the-finger-for-bostons-to-problem/

Sea Devils

RIP , Maurice Lucas

padraig_f

Sea Devils wrote: »

RIP , Maurice Lucas

Before my time as a player but I recently started reading Halberstam's 'The Breaks of the Game' and the stories about Lucas are the early highlight of the book. Seemed like a great character.