NBA Season Thread 2013-2014

Dublin Red Devil

Timberwolves-Spurs Game in Mexico City Cancelled Due to Arena Fire

Dublin Red Devil

Mad respect for the Portland Trail Blazers. Rip City go No.1 in the west.

Wouldn't mind watching 7 games of Finals basketball between Blazers and Pacers this season.

PizzamanIRL

walrusgumble wrote: »

Paddy power has an advanced accumulator of 4/1 for nuggets,spurs,Detroit,clippers to win

To good to be true? Clippers record at Atlanta is poor ( but so was Portland's in la till recently) Atlanta nearly bet spurs, but have one.day less.

Could Cavs n bynam stiffle nuggets and end their good run .Robinson might be out

Even though it's the bucks,Detroit and consistentancy don't match.

You jinxed it.

walrusgumble

PizzamanIRL wrote: »

You jinxed it.

Hardly

, I was pointing out that this would not be a good bet. I thought it might raise some discussion and people could get some pointers

I was convinced that Atlanta would beat La "F"lippers, and I was not the only person too.(made some dosh from that) I taught Cavs would give Denver and an injured Robinson a run for their money. While I thought Denver might squeez it, I was not one bit surprised that Cavs would win

Their seems a trend that once you do 7 straight, start preparing to back a team to loose at any time (depending on the team and schedule)

Dublin Red Devil

Strugglebowl 2013 BKN vs NYK

Nuri Sahin

Well I had a near flawless betting night last night betting on singles, 5 out of 6 bets came in after the Spurs game was cancelled. Denver was my losing bet though, got pulverized on the glass by Bynum and Varejao. Didn't help that Ty Lawson had an absolute stinker too. Shot like 1-9, scoring 4 points or something crappy like that.

Anyway, I don't try to overhype regular season form, because anyone with half a clue who's been watching the NBA for a few years at the very least knows that regular season doesn't define the season, it can help shape it (seeds), but that's it. In saying that, the Blazers while somewhat fortunate last night if you watched the game are playing some great stuff. They have now beaten the Spurs, OKC and Pacers. Always said last year when watching them that their bench was poison. T A lot of teams have average to poor benches, but the Blazers one was one of the worst if not the worst in the league. Credit to the FO, they fixed that mostly during the off-season and low and behold, look at them now. .Also chuffed for LA as he been overlooked in the past by fans at least.

OKC were grand in the first half, but if anyone saw Coach Nick's vids, well they just made some silly errors late on to lose the game.

Nuri Sahin

Oh, and some Rose had his first presser today since the injury. Well, he isn't ruling out a post-season return. Leaves the Bulls in an odd spot in terms of whether tanking is a legit plan of theirs this season, or should they try and get into the playoffs. I'll be honest, I'd go with the former, but that's just me. Given how crap the East is overall, a shoddy enough record might see them in the Playoffs anyway!

“If I'm healthy, and the situation is right – I'm playing,” he said, adding that he'd only come back if he felt he was ready – a situation not unlike last year's postseason saga.

"If I'm healthy, and my meniscus is fully healed, of course I'll be out there playing, but if it's something totally different and the outcome is not how I would want it to be, there's no need," he said.

Rose tore his right meniscus on Nov. 22 at Portland and had surgery performed by the Bulls team doctor a few days later. After tearing his ACL last year, rehabbing all offseason, and then suffering the latest injury, Rose was asked whether he thought he could return to his explosive form.

Rose says he doesn't think his game will change despite the injury. "That's the way that I play."

padraig_f

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Oh, and some Rose had his first presser today since the injury. Well, he isn't ruling out a post-season return. Leaves the Bulls in an odd spot in terms of whether tanking is a legit plan of theirs this season, or should they try and get into the playoffs. I'll be honest, I'd go with the former, but that's just me. Given how crap the East is overall, a shoddy enough record might see them in the Playoffs anyway!

I kind of suspected this when they came out the day after the surgery and said he was out for the season. It just seemed too soon to make that determination, when the forecast for that injury was 3-4 months (= March).

The Bulls were criticised for how they handled Rose's possible return last season, never ruling him out, and it leading to speculation all through the season and into the playoffs. So I suspected the 'out for the season' statement this time may just have been to knock any speculation on the head.

Tanking might be a better strategy long-term, but I want him back this season if he's healthy. There are no guarantees about the future and you can't afford to be throwing seasons away.

We'll get a good indication if the Bulls trade any starters. If Deng and Boozer are still there at the end of January, my guess is they hope that Rose makes a return this season.

buyer95

Knicks playing with some energy tonight, but the lack of points in the paint is a worry. Lopez keeping Brooklyn in the game. Stat defense on him is absolutely abysmal, I don't think he can play in the second half. The ball is moving a bit better on the perimeter which is a positive. I look for Melo to put the Knicks on his back in the 3rd and try and blow this open. For all the positives, the nets are still well in the game. A sloppy opening few minutes in the 3rd, and I could see us falling apart... Side point: Just subscribed to BT Sport, the game looks fantastic in HD, beats the dodgy streams anyway!

Dublin Red Devil

Looking back on my pre-season predictions, Which were in no particular order.......

Heat
Pacers
Bulls
Nets
Knicks
Pistons
Cavs
Atlanta

Pacers and Heat will still be 1 and 2
Chicago should still make the Playoffs despite losing Rose
Nets and Knicks have been terrible. But for some reason I still think the Knicks will find a way to recover.
Pistons and Atlanta should be safe to stay up there
Boston have been better than I anticipated. If Rondo returns they should make the playoffs
That's 7 spots (taking out The Nets)
Who gets the last spot? Unfortunately it probably will be Washington. Here's hoping the Cavs pick up the pace.


Thunder
Clippers
Rockets
Warriors
Spurs
Grizzlies
Denver
T Wolves/Portland

I stand by all my West predictions except for one change, Portland stand alone. Take out the T Wolves

Nuri Sahin

Well, that was an interesting night... with the Nets and the Heat being blownout.

Dublin Red Devil

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Well, that was an interesting night... with the Nets and the Heat being blownout.

I feel the key to that Heat lost was on the boards. Chicago out-rebounded Miami 49 - 27

ButtersSuki

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

I feel the key to that Heat lost was on the boards. Chicago out-rebounded Miami 49 - 27

Yup, Chicago one again show the blue print for beating Miami. Scary how easily Chicago got inside and got second chances.

On form (and I kow it's early and anyone can get injured) Indiana must be licking their lips in the East as they have the team to beat anyone (incl. Miami) this year. And they'll l,Ely have one court advantage against Miami which could be crucial.

The Knicks Nets game was just awful. I watched it but it was painful viewing. Nuri, did you get a ticket?

Dublin Red Devil

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Yup, Chicago one again show the blue print for beating Miami. Scary how easily Chicago got inside and got second chances.

On form (and I kow it's early and anyone can get injured) Indiana must be licking their lips in the East as they have the team to beat anyone (incl. Miami) this year. And they'll l,Ely have one court advantage against Miami which could be crucial.

The Knicks Nets game was just awful. I watched it but it was painful viewing. Nuri, did you get a ticket?

Yeah I believe there is no team in the East to stop the Pacers now. Miami will be our number one contender. But in a 7 game series I'd be quite confident of a Pacer victory.

BQQ

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

I feel the key to that Heat lost was on the boards. Chicago out-rebounded Miami 49 - 27

Miami have been beaten up on the boards in virtually every game this season.
They're among the worst in the league for rebounding.

The key was only one team played defence.
Miami's defence went missing. Bulls shot 50% from the field and 52% from 3-point range and they're not a great shooting team. Lost count of the wide open looks they got.
Added to that Miami were held to 41%, which is 10% short of their season average.

Nuri Sahin

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Yup, Chicago one again show the blue print for beating Miami. Scary how easily Chicago got inside and got second chances.

On form (and I kow it's early and anyone can get injured) Indiana must be licking their lips in the East as they have the team to beat anyone (incl. Miami) this year. And they'll l,Ely have one court advantage against Miami which could be crucial.

The Knicks Nets game was just awful. I watched it but it was painful viewing. Nuri, did you get a ticket?

Unfortunately not, man. Suffice to say I was regretting it soon into the game given the Knicks looked like last season's Knicks(due to Nets being beyond dreadful for sure) and it was basically a home Knicks game! Must have been a 60-40 split in favour of Knicks fans last night at the Barclays at the very least. Dare say 70-30.

Agree with you on the game from a neutral point of view, it was car crash TV though. Nice to see Shumpert (I'm very high on on him) playing well again, likewise seeing Melo be more of a facilitator. Glad my bet on them came in too!

BQQ wrote: »

Miami have been beaten up on the boards in virtually every game this season.
They're among the worst in the league for rebounding.

The key was only one team played defence.
Miami's defence went missing. Bulls shot 50% from the field and 52% from 3-point range and they're not a great shooting team. Lost count of the wide open looks they got.
Added to that Miami were held to 41%, which is 10% short of their season average.

I don't want to take credit away from the Bulls performance last night, but they were out of this world offensively as the stats you mentioned point out. That won't happen too often you'd think. Miami settling for so many jump shots, especially LeBron was so frustrating (betting wise, though I did salvage it somewhat in play) too see considering his start in which he was so aggressive early doors and the Bulls had no answer for him. Really thought after the Pistons game and the Bulls being without Butler and Rose, Heat would win by 10 or so. Bookies cleaned up in general on that game!

BQQ

buyer95 wrote: »

Knicks playing with some energy tonight, but the lack of points in the paint is a worry. Lopez keeping Brooklyn in the game. Stat defense on him is absolutely abysmal, I don't think he can play in the second half. The ball is moving a bit better on the perimeter which is a positive. I look for Melo to put the Knicks on his back in the 3rd and try and blow this open. For all the positives, the nets are still well in the game. A sloppy opening few minutes in the 3rd, and I could see us falling apart... Side point: Just subscribed to BT Sport, the game looks fantastic in HD, beats the dodgy streams anyway!

Knicks were a team transformed. Really moved the ball and shared it around.
Bargnani took more shots than Melo. :eek:
Everyone got enough shots to get them going and they ended up shooting 57% as a team (albeit the Nets were awful).
If they can keep that up and get Chandler back, they can get right back up there.

BQQ

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Really thought after the Pistons game and the Bulls being without Butler and Rose, Heat would win by 10 or so. Bookies cleaned up in general on that game!

That's 3 poor efforts in a row from Miami.
And it's the starters who are struggling. Cole, Anderson and Beasley were behind the run that got them back to within 3 of Detroit.
Then Bosh and chalmers came back and Detroit pulled away again.
LeBron looks like he needs a rest.

I opposed them v Detroit. Thought there'd be a reaction last night, but they were worse again.
I'll look to be against them till wade reappears

iv not been following the nba long enough to remember but did kobe get the same hate lebron did for dictating who he went to in the draft or did nobody care because he didnt have a fan base invested in him

padraig_f

“The people in the city, there’s something when Miami comes to town,” said Noah. “You wake up in the morning you feel it, the people in the city they don’t like the Miami Heat. We don’t like the Miami Heat. It always feels good to beat them."

PizzamanIRL

padraig_f wrote: »

“The people in the city, there’s something when Miami comes to town,” said Noah. “You wake up in the morning you feel it, the people in the city they don’t like the Miami Heat. We don’t like the Miami Heat. It always feels good to beat them."

Some good old straight up rivalry. No sugar coating by Noah. Love it.

Nuri Sahin

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Yup, Clippers were a tad unlucky at times with their shots. CP3's jumper towards the end springs to mind with one possession in it. Pacers were just bricking 3 pointers it seemed for the last few minutes, bizarre. Anyway, my bet on the moneyline is in, thankfully!

Same old story for the Clippers.

Pitiful inside on both ends and too reliant on poor jump shooters.

Griffins having a poor season, teams are just sagging off him and letting him shoot that mid range jumper. While he has improved in it. Its still a poor possession.
Apart from getting him in transition, he's only really a middling PF with good ball handling.
He gets murdered by solid low block players.

Going to be another short pre season, I think this years team is by far the worst of the last 3 seasons
Can't get easy buckets, rebound defensively and too reliant on jumpers from below average shooters.

walrusgumble

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Unfortunately not, man. Suffice to say I was regretting it soon into the game given the Knicks looked like last season's Knicks(due to Nets being beyond dreadful for sure) and it was basically a home Knicks game! Must have been a 60-40 split in favour of Knicks fans last night at the Barclays at the very least. Dare say 70-30.

Agree with you on the game from a neutral point of view, it was car crash TV though. Nice to see Shumpert (I'm very high on on him) playing well again, likewise seeing Melo be more of a facilitator. Glad my bet on them came in too!



I don't want to take credit away from the Bulls performance last night, but they were out of this world offensively as the stats you mentioned point out. That won't happen too often you'd think. Miami settling for so many jump shots, especially LeBron was so frustrating (betting wise, though I did salvage it somewhat in play) too see considering his start in which he was so aggressive early doors and the Bulls had no answer for him. Really thought after the Pistons game and the Bulls being without Butler and Rose, Heat would win by 10 or so. Bookies cleaned up in general on that game!

I would cut LeBron a bit of slack, he has back pains and is in serious need of rest. I know he will never chicken out of a game if a bit injured but that was a reason I didn't put money on Miami. The Orlando and Bobcats games, which they won, put warning signs that Heat were due a loss, Detroit did it. I am raging I didn't put a fiver on Bulls, simply because of (a) superior rebounding, (b) no way in hell would the crowd let them loose (I thought they would go as far as assaulting the Miami players with rough house tactics (c) great home record against Miami, and one of few teams that could give Heat a blood nose . They were 19-5 !!! (which showed how much faith PP had on them.

PP had a 4-1 treble for Knicks, Clippers and Miami. while i was not convince with clippers, I thought even if they did win, Bulls might ruin it (knowing my luck) Seems a handy way of eliminating who is going to win or be risky bet lol

Anyway a nice 4-1 on Knicks winning by 11+ (more hope than anything) I see what you mean about staying away from accumulators!

walrusgumble

gilberto_eire wrote: »

Same old story for the Clippers.

Pitiful inside on both ends and too reliant on poor jump shooters.

Griffins having a poor season, teams are just sagging off him and letting him shoot that mid range jumper. While he has improved in it. Its still a poor possession.
Apart from getting him in transition, he's only really a middling PF with good ball handling.
He gets murdered by solid low block players.

Going to be another short pre season, I think this years team is by far the worst of the last 3 seasons
Can't get easy buckets, rebound defensively and too reliant on jumpers from below average shooters.

He is insanely overrated. Some would think he is motoring well since he is scoring well. Even his rebounding is down. Worse is the fact that he is probably a shoe in for the All Star game. Time to pick a US Star Team v NBA International Stars and have a meaningful game! (pie in the sky)

walrusgumble

Nevaeh Nervous Lip wrote: »

iv not been following the nba long enough to remember but did kobe get the same hate lebron did for dictating who he went to in the draft or did nobody care because he didnt have a fan base invested in him

I think people were a bit put out that he went straight from High School. His announcement that he was going straight in (which is not uncommon btw) was funny. He was wearing these really stupid glasses over his head

The media coverage wasn't as big then either

D2D

Kobe returns on Sunday against the Raptors

Paully D

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Oh, and some Rose had his first presser today since the injury. Well, he isn't ruling out a post-season return. Leaves the Bulls in an odd spot in terms of whether tanking is a legit plan of theirs this season, or should they try and get into the playoffs. I'll be honest, I'd go with the former, but that's just me. Given how crap the East is overall, a shoddy enough record might see them in the Playoffs anyway!

padraig_f wrote: »

I kind of suspected this when they came out the day after the surgery and said he was out for the season. It just seemed too soon to make that determination, when the forecast for that injury was 3-4 months (= March).

The Bulls were criticised for how they handled Rose's possible return last season, never ruling him out, and it leading to speculation all through the season and into the playoffs. So I suspected the 'out for the season' statement this time may just have been to knock any speculation on the head.

Tanking might be a better strategy long-term, but I want him back this season if he's healthy. There are no guarantees about the future and you can't afford to be throwing seasons away.

We'll get a good indication if the Bulls trade any starters. If Deng and Boozer are still there at the end of January, my guess is they hope that Rose makes a return this season.

Thought similar regarding Rose's length of absence. I posted the below the day it was confirmed, although I did feel I was probably straw-clutching:

Part of me wonders if the Bulls have said it's a season-ender to remove any of the ambiguity that regarding a possible return like last season and to have no pressure on him to return, but maybe there's a slight chance?

If nothing else, I'm sure the Bulls will have learned from the poor handling of the situation last time around.

Padraig has it spot on, we'll learn more by seeing if any starters are traded.

Nuri Sahin

Nuggets looking like right dirt up in Boston.

And now it's a 6 point game, somehow.

Dublin Red Devil

Come on Bucks. Wizards are due a beating

Nuri Sahin

Mr. John Wall taking over, ladies and gentlemen.