the lakers have just pooped their big-boy pants: 2012-2013 NBA regular season thread (part 2)

thats so weird that an nba would go to the gym

maybe no one will let him do enough shoulder presses and staring at himself in the mirror at the team facility

sometimes you just wanna do shoulder presses and stare at yrself in the peaceful company of strangers

I think it may have something to do with no women being at the team practice facility

team trainers are like you need to work on yr core to fix yr fucked up back so one day in the future you will maybe some day hit a three pointer and hes all shhh fine i vill go to different geem

he actually did injure his back from too much weightlifting IIRC

lol except the part where i made him russian

okc has kind of bailed on the concept of "offense"

its painful to watch atm

dirkin never retires

the awfulness of these OKC alternates cannot be overstated

smh @ dallas not realizing that they needed to foul until the ball got to durant

i haven't seen anybody talk about it, but bradley beal is playing really well as of late. 19-4-3 with 1.5 steals. 46% from the floor, 61% from 3 while putting in 2.8 3's/game. all through 8 games in january.

yeah he's picked it up. they've started going to him at end of games.

the awfulness of these OKC alternates cannot be overstated

― J0rdan S., Saturday, January 19, 2013 12:12 AM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i like them!

MAYO

maybe foul up 3 idk

ah durant took one dribble too much

dude durant why u dribble into traffic!!

carter really turned back the clocks on that slam over ibaka too

that was a really smart play, too. just took an easy 2 and extended the game instead of jacking some wild 3.

durant is 21/21 from the line tonight

K D

yo i don't even know who that dude was who just hit that shot for dallas

well kendrick perkins is really proving his worth in crunch time

yo i don't even know who that dude was who just hit that shot for dallas

― fiscal cliff paul (k3vin k.), Saturday, January 19, 2013 12:37 AM (47 seconds ago) Bookmark

is this an elaborate mike james/mike jones joke?

gawd, durant

whoa mike james, did not know he was still in the league

lol. i guess when you're signed for 10 days you might as well get your money's worth

That Mike James shot at the end of the game was so bad,

Anyone else see westbrook singing along to Die Young before the game? he looked so happy.

haha open mike james' basketball reference page and just feast on the variety of jersey colors and numbers

i thought we were done with him after he was cut by the wizards (!) a few years ago but i guess marc stein needs something to tweet about every january

it's probably best for alvin gentry that they let him pack it up, i randomly watched that team the other day and realized they have a bunch of players that i kind of like as an nba nerd, but that it's basically a roster made entirely out of what would be ok sixth-to-ninth men on playoff teams and not one top 50 player

there should be some kind of voluntary self-dispersal draft when something like the post-amare/nash collapse happens, like the suns should be able to hold a raffle for all their players, straight highest bidder, no more than one per team, and they can buy extra draft picks or something and just start completely clean

like jared dudley might be helpful for some other coach but he's just in the way of completely rebuilding there

Tons of xps-- feel like Harden's big talent w/r/t having successful outcomes on those drives (either w/ layups or FTs) is crazy footwork/body control. Most other players just aren't able run w/ that much speed at the basket w/o being completely out of control. Harden is somehow able to create enough space just in front of himself to make those drives worthwhile.

Eh, don't see how that matters that much; feel like years in league counts for more than a few years in age difference.
― ヽ（´ー｀）┌ (CompuPost), Friday, January 18, 2013 8:58 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

welp this is where youre going wrong then
― lag∞n, Friday, January 18, 2013 9:00 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Kinda immaterial to the TMac/PG stuff, but am I the only one who thinks that years-on-job mean more than age as far as player growth/development? Like, I imagine that high school -> pros guys like Kobe, TMac, Garnett, etc., could only make the jump because, generally, they matured physically a year or two younger than other kids, so it's kind of a wash? IE, the only time age really enters into the discussion is if a player is like 35+, where it's not a question of body development but more just of normal human deterioration. Just seems like actual NBA game reps / seasons being in NBA locker-rooms make a muuuuuch more dramatic difference as far as learning/growing someone's game compared to age difference.

Either way, always liked McGrady, and will pull for the Qingdao Eagles if they find themselves in the finals against Beijing. 祝你好运老鹰！对不起落后∞n，但保罗 - 乔治将优于麦蒂。

it's probably best for alvin gentry that they let him pack it up, i randomly watched that team the other day and realized they have a bunch of players that i kind of like as an nba nerd, but that it's basically a roster made entirely out of what would be ok sixth-to-ninth men on playoff teams and not one top 50 player
― questionable motor (agent hibachi), Saturday, January 19, 2013 3:19 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

OTM although I think they have a ton of 4th - 7th men on the team + a few prospects. They're not bad from a talent POV but yeah team filled w/ great complimentary players, not A+ ballers. Would support an NBA raffle #hoopideas.

Bob was tweeting late last night about how the suns brass apparently came out and said "we're supposed to be competing for the playoffs!" as their reasoning behind dumping gentry.

How deluded is a front office that seriously believes that roster playing in that conference is even slightly competitive. Like even the tiniest but competitive! Gentry had them over-performing if anything and was fired for it.

yeah wow that is outrageous

why not fire whoever picked Kendall Marshall

scrolling through the per rankings the first player who comes up is dragic at 70th! they have the 70th best per player in the whole league so why arent they in the playoffs of course

why not fire whoever picked Kendall Marshall
― Matt Armstrong, Saturday, January 19, 2013 6:27 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Don't talk about the Bakersfield Jam's starting pg like that.

@blazersedge Rockets GM Daryl Morey, in letter to White, says White apologized for misleading Rockets about his fear of flying prior to 2012 NBA Draft

@blazersedge In HBO interview, Rockets' Royce White says he would be "risking my life" by playing w/o mental health protocol http://t.co/sdFp7iYx

FWIW it's totally worth listening to that Hang Up and Listen episode w/ Royce. First and only time the whole situation seemed more like a dilemma for both sides rather than a WTFfest. Royce also comes off very wkiw/likable.

Kinda immaterial to the TMac/PG stuff, but am I the only one who thinks that years-on-job mean more than age as far as player growth/development? Like, I imagine that high school -> pros guys like Kobe, TMac, Garnett, etc., could only make the jump because, generally, they matured physically a year or two younger than other kids, so it's kind of a wash? IE, the only time age really enters into the discussion is if a player is like 35+, where it's not a question of body development but more just of normal human deterioration. Just seems like actual NBA game reps / seasons being in NBA locker-rooms make a muuuuuch more dramatic difference as far as learning/growing someone's game compared to age difference.

Either way, always liked McGrady, and will pull for the Qingdao Eagles if they find themselves in the finals against Beijing. 祝你好运老鹰！对不起落后∞n，但保罗 - 乔治将优于麦蒂。

― ヽ（´ー｀）┌ (CompuPost), Saturday, January 19, 2013 3:37 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

no man the older someone is the less likely they are to get dramatically better. there are exceptions but they are very much exceptions rather than the rule

(audio is better, but there's a transcript if you scroll down here)

poor lou will :-(

xp totally, but that drop-off doesn't start happening until you're in your mid/late 20s. Not to belabor it, but it seems more appropriate, esp. if it's early career-wise, to compare via years in the league (eg comparing their outputs in 1st year / 2nd year / 3rd year) rather via age (comparing at 19-yrs-old, 20-yrs-old, 21-yrs-old). The general point being that years-in-league mean way more, esp. from a comparative view, than general age.

hmmm best passing big man in the NBA?

conventional wisdom is marc gasol iirc?

poor lou will :-(

yeah i'm bummed. fully support the hawks dumping smith and tanking for a good pick.