NBA Season Thread 2013-2014

NufcNavan

PizzamanIRL wrote: »

Coasting my arse. But they do have another gear that will go into in the playoffs.


Just checking the results of last night. ATL v MEM - I see Atlanta only lost by 3 points even though Memphis had 20 more shot attempts. Oh and Memphis only had 1 free throw in the whole game. Strange.

Grind City.

Paully D

Mirotic seems to be indicating that he's going to stay in Europe beyond this season - "this will not be my last Copa del Rey" is what he told reporters after their quarter final win last night.

Damn. I really thought we'd have a good chance of getting him over during the offseason, but it's not looking too good.

Out of interest, how do these things work? Is there a time limit on getting him over? He's under contract with Madrid until 2016, but can they extend this if both parties agree? Is there anything the Bulls can do to "force" him into leaving?

As an aside, why do some players prefer to stay in Europe as opposed to coming to the NBA? Surely the NBA is the dream? Is it a money thing, or a combination of other factors too?

ButtersSuki

Paully D wrote: »

Mirotic seems to be indicating that he's going to stay in Europe beyond this season - "this will not be my last Copa del Rey" is what he told reporters after their quarter final win last night.

Damn. I really thought we'd have a good chance of getting him over during the offseason, but it's not looking too good.

Out of interest, how do these things work? Is there a time limit on getting him over? He's under contract with Madrid until 2016, but can they extend this if both parties agree? Is there anything the Bulls can do to "force" him into leaving?

As an aside, why do some players prefer to stay in Europe as opposed to coming straight to the NBA? Surely the NBA is the dream? Is it a money thing, or a combination of other factors too?

In short, there's nothing they (Chicago) can do if he decides to stay in Europe. Look how long it took Portland to get Sabonis and Chicago to eventually land Toni Kukoc when they did - I do realise those references may be too old for some of you newbies on here but stay with me!

Yes, believe it or not money is a big factor. Euro players can get A LOT more money in the early years of their careers than they can in the NBA - this has always been the case even going track to late 80's and early 90's when Drazen Petrovic and a lot of the great European players (particularly former Yugoslav/Croatian players and Russians) could make way more money in Europe than they could in the NBA and is still the case. The problem with the NBA system is unless you go Top 5 as a rookie, you can not really "git paid" until you're in year 3 or 4 of your deal. I'm not saying you're on chump change - but it's all relative. If you can get €4m in Europe or less than a million in the NBA, well some guys will take the (short-term) cash.

Look at a guy like Theo Papaloukas. For years he was the best player in Europe and had pretty much every NBA team chasing him but he just choose to stay here on stupid money and live his dream. And he could play - anyone who saw him pretty much single-handedly dismantle the US in the 2006 Worlds would know he'd have been an All Star in the NBA easily. He was like a slower Magic Johnson.

The there's fame etc. - I think people in Ireland and the UK genuinely fail to understand how big the Euroleague is and how big stars Euroleague players are in their own countries/cities etc.

And climate etc. If you're playing basketball for say Real Madrid or FC Barcelona and you're living in a cosmopolitan city with a nice climate and have money, fame, laydeez etc. OR you can go and ride the pine in freezing Minnesota and be a nobody some would take option A over B 99 times out of 100 there. Chicago is a cold city - it could genuinely be something like that, you just never know.

Atmosphere: I've said it plenty of times in the Basketball Forum - if you've ever been to a Euroleague game (even a pool game, not just the Final Four), you've likely been shocked at the atmosphere. It's crazy, but brilliant, and way more intense than an NBA game. The fans REALLY go for it. NBA games are pedestrian by comparison.

Number of games: in the NBA you play 82 regular season games. In Europe with domestic leagues you might play 30 in a really busy season and maybe another 6-12 Euroleage games. So you could conceivably get 4 times the money for a third the number of games etc. BIG FACTOR.

On what happens to his rights? They lose them unless they can get him to commit to either joining before they expire or getting him to extend in the meantime. After that he'll become a free agent and can sign for anyone - and here's the crucial part - for however much money he can command.

It could all be a bargaining chip though on his part to get more money from the notoriously tight-fisted Chicago franchise. Who knows what's going on behind the scenes?

Look at the amount of European players who play a couple of years in the NBA and just decide to go back to Europe. There's a lot of individual reasons for all of these thing. Some guys just prefer Europe. Personally, if it were me and had I been good enough, it would all be about the NBA and proving yourself against the best players in the world. But not everyone thinks like that.

padraig_f

Paully D wrote: »

Mirotic seems to be indicating that he's going to stay in Europe beyond this season - "this will not be my last Copa del Rey" is what he told reporters after their quarter final win last night.

Damn. I really thought we'd have a good chance of getting him over during the offseason, but it's not looking too good.

I'd take the comment with a grain of salt. Not that I think he was being insincere, but it's sometimes easy to say things like that after a game.

I was excited about getting him this summer as well. I was watching the draftexpress video, and he looks perfect for what the Bulls need...stretch 4, take the scoring load off Rose and also stretch the floor with his 3-point shooting, for Rose to attack the paint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjaHc9Vp9wU

Did you see Chad Ford said if he was going in this year's draft he'd be a top 6 pick? Pretty high praise given the strength of the draft.

Paully D

Great post Butters, very informative and I appreciate the extremely detailed reply. It's a hell of a risk for teams to burn draft picks on prospects that they might spend years chasing and never get them to the organisation.

I really hope we get him soon Padraig. Like you say, he's exactly what we need. A 54% 3 point range shooter, 63% from 2 point range, who will see Rose become even more dangerous. The problem for me is that he's probably not going to improve much more staying where he is. Not that he's going to regress or anything, but the sooner he comes over the sooner he can get to that next level if things work out.

Boozer should be amnestied and the front office should be doing whatever it takes to get him over in the summer. Kidnap him if needs be, but just get him over no matter what it takes :pac:

If he doesn't come over, and presuming Boozer is amnesited, what would you do? Melo would be the biggest name on the market but I don't know about giving him a max deal given his age and I don't think he'll leave New York, that said if he joined I'd be happy. Lance Stephenson?

padraig_f

Paully D wrote: »

If he doesn't come over, and presuming Boozer is amnesited, what would you do? Melo would be the biggest name on the market but I don't know about giving him a max deal given his age, that said if he joined I'd be happy. Lance Stephenson?

Go hard after Melo probably. Think he's a pretty good fit too, the criticisms of him are mitigated on the Bulls...e.g. lack of defensive effort (good team defense), and wanting the ball in his hands on the offensive end isn't a major problem because we don't have many who DO want the ball in their hands on the offensive end. Like Noah is happy playing defense, rebounding, setting guys up. Gibson as well. I think they might be happy to save effort on the offensive end to concentrate on what they're best at.

Stephenson I'm not such a fan of. I heard he's improved this year, but haven't seen him that much since the playoffs last year, when I wasn't that impressed. They're saying he could get $10m/year, which would scare me. Wouldn't be a big fan of that option.

Think Mirotic + mid-ranking 2-guard is my favourite option though.

Nuri Sahin

@WojYahooNBA: The Detroit Pistons have fired coach Mo Cheeks, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.

Should fire their GM too.

Jennings and Smith. Smh.

Nuri Sahin

There's a campaign in Motor City to have Sheed take over... yeah.

Elsewhere right now, Perkins is destroying the Knicks. He's made not 1, but 2 shots!

PizzamanIRL

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

There's a campaign in Motor City to have Sheed take over... yeah.

Elsewhere right now, Perkins is destroying the Knicks. He's made not 1, but 2 shots!

Perkins with the 100% accuracy!

On the coaching thing, people just want iconic players to coach when they're finished playing, whether they know how to coach or not. Then you get a Jason Kidd situation.

KD hanging in here to try get 1 more assist for the triple double. Might as well!

41-10-9

Nuri Sahin

PizzamanIRL wrote: »

Perkins with the 100% accuracy!

On the coaching thing, people just want iconic players to coach when they're finished playing, whether they know how to coach or not. Then you get a Jason Kidd situation.

KD hanging in here to try get 1 more assist for the triple double. Might as well!

41-10-9

Definitely. I think the thing is that people could always see Kidd as a coach, Sheed though is just asking for trouble. Be comical for all us non-Pistons fans anyway!

Durant exits with a 41-10-9 line. **** Scott Brooks.

PizzamanIRL

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Definitely. I think the thing is that people could always see Kidd as a coach, Sheed though is just asking for trouble. Be comical for all us non-Pistons fans anyway!

Durant exits with a 41-10-9 line. Not bad, not bad at all.

I wouldn't mind seeing it, just for the comical reasons like you say.

Yep KD showing Melo how it's done.

ButtersSuki

Wonder would Sheed break the coaching technical foul record to go his player one? :rolleyes:

Nuri Sahin

Bulls - Lakers on next, not sure if it's on BT Sport or not.

padraig_f

ESPN is giving us a referee seminar for this game, I guess they thought the on-court action wouldn't be too exciting.

Good to see Steve Nash back on the court anyway.

Nuri Sahin

padraig_f wrote: »

ESPN is giving us a referee seminar for this game, I guess they thought the on-court action wouldn't be too exciting.

Good to see Steve Nash back on the court anyway.

Needs more random Van Gundy rants tbh. I suppose it's early.

Bulls shooting very well so far.

Nuri Sahin

3 PG's out on the floor for the Lakers is killing the Bulls :pac:

padraig_f

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Needs more random Van Gundy rants tbh. I suppose it's early.

Got a good one on Boozer.

Simmons also had a dig at him in the studio, implying he might be faking his latest injury.

Bad night for Booze, who isn't even playing.

Nuri Sahin

Was hoping they'd keep it close, but Lakers third quarter woes is showing up. Do well to keep this within 15 come the end of the game.

Fair play to the Lakers thanks to errr.. Kaymen, dragging them into it. 6 point game with 1.28 remaining.

88-84 with 48.3 left.

PizzamanIRL

Kaman outscoring the entire Lakers starting 5.

Can't believe he's only 31. Poor chap. Looks 45.

PizzamanIRL

Nice read by Augustine. Game over.

Paully D

Didn't make that one easy for ourselves!

Dublin Red Devil

Good half from the Pacers in Orlando. 9pt lead going into the break. Lance back in business with 14 1st half points.

stuchyg

Don't know if everyone else is aware but with 5 euro in a bet365 account you can watch all the nba games live on their site.

Cheaper then league pass

Dublin Red Devil

Dangerzone. Orlando take the lead in the 4th

Dublin Red Devil

Oladipo on fire

buyer95

stuchyg wrote: »

Don't know if everyone else is aware but with 5 euro in a bet365 account you can watch all the nba games live on their site.

Cheaper then league pass

Paddy power have something similar, but you can't make it full screen when watching the game. Is that the case with365?

Dublin Red Devil

f.u.c.k

Dublin Red Devil

Nelson shouldn't be able to just call time out liker that just because George steals the ball of him. That was just a bytch move

BQQ

Really like watching Oladipo.
He still has a shot at rookie of the year IMO.

MCW is still the frontrunner, but Philly's early season form has nosedived.
They're currently 40pts behind the clippers before halftime.

There's still half the season to play and if MCW can't stop the freefall, maybe he shouldn't be the ROY.

Nuri Sahin

The 76ers almost lost by 76. Rallied(!) to lose by 45. Kudos to them.

Fun night in the NBA their game aside it sounds like. Look forward to catching the highlights later.