melo
If you haven't done it already, you probably shouldn't bother
buying a Carmelo Anthony Denver Nuggets jersey.


The Denver Nuggets

The 2009-10 team wasn't the Enver Nuggets of the past, but they ranked a "meh" 16th in the league with a Defensive Rating of 107.5.

For the record, the league average was 107.6.

However, the Nuggets were a pretty strong offensive squad -- 3rd in Offensive Rating at 111.8 points per 100 possessions -- and they led the league in free throws per field goal attempt (.290). Still, this team had problems even before losing George Karl left the team to have cancer treatments. And I'm not just talking about Kenyon Martin's knee injury and cattle brand sexy lips tattoo.

Outside of Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups and Nene, Denver simply wasn't all that talented (relative to contending teams) and the front office had squandered away all their cap space. There weren't many ways for last year's squad to get better. Or this year's squad for that matter.

Still, the Nuggets used their full mid-level exception on Al Harrington over the summer. Which should help, I guess. Oh, and they picked up Anthony Carter and Shelden Williams for the veteran's minimum. Those were decent bargain moves. Unfortunately, Martin is still on the mend and the Birdman is out with a knee injury of his own. Believe it or not, both of those guys were reasonably important.

However, Denver's biggest problem is the money they failed to spend, specifically what they offered Anthony in the form of a three-year contract extension.

As Tourettes Guy would say: The Nuggets are going to be out of the butt and into the f*** if they don't lock 'Melo into an extension. Which probably isn't going to happen. Ever. By all accounts, Anthony wants out of Denver. For all we know, he may be dreaming of teaming up with Amar''''''e Stoudemire and Chris Paul in New York. Whatever the case, Denver will most likely lose him one way or another, which radically increases the probability that he'll be dealt before February's trade deadline (assuming the Nuggets haven't somehow morphed into contenders).

If 'Melo finishes the season in Denver, the Nuggets will probably end up in the mid-to-upper 40s in terms of wins. If he doesn't, they'll finish in the mid-to-upper 40s in terms of losses. A trend that will likely continue unless they flip Anthony for some serious talent...something that rarely ever happens when a superstar is traded.

All of which means Nuggets fans will soon be joining a support group with Cavaliers and Raptors fans. I know it sucks, folks. Just hold hands and cry it out. It'll get better some day. I promise. (But not really.)

The Minnesota Timberwolves

At 15-67, the 2009-10 T-Wolves were the second-worst team in the NBA, barey ahead of the 12-70 Nets. And remember: New Jersey was one of the worst teams in league history.

Minny ranked 29th in Offensive Rating (ahead of only the Nets) and 28th in Defensive Rating (in front of only the Warriors and Raptors). I could quote many other factoids that highlight their woeful inability to play the sport of basketball -- like the fact that they had a worse point differential than the Nets and went freaking 2-27 after the All-Star break -- but let me just sum this up by saying the Timberwolves sucked serious hind end. I doubt anybody on last year's team will get the taste of sour ass out of their mouth for many years to come.

So how did GM David Kahn try to "fix" this mess over the summer? By giving away All Jefferson for nada and waaaaay overpaying for Darko "Manna from Heaven" Milicic ($20 million) and Luke Ridnour ($16 million). Holy crap, man! Why did owner Glen Taylor bother to fire Kevin McHale is he was going to let Kahn flush hundred dollar bills down the toilet one-by-one?!

That said, Kahn wisely hung onto Kevin Love, signed Nikola Pekovic (a talented overseas prospect) and Anthony Tolliver, and acquired Michael Beasley for a couple meaningless second round draft picks (read that: "for nothing"). Unfortunately, a small handful of moves that could be rated as "mildly kinda-sorta okay" won't change much on this moldering cess pool of a team. The reality is, a monkey could log onto ESPN's Trade Machine and immediately poop out a better team than this.

This team might be able to win 20 games or so. That's their ceiling.

Sorry, Minnesota fans.

The Oklahoma City Thunder

This young team is going to be really good for years to come. Which must feel like a groin punch to Seattle basketball fans everywhere. When their Sonics were raped away from them, at least they could take some solace in the fact that the team was terrible. Now? They're a top four team in the Bestern Conference.

Sorry, Seattle fans.

Last season, the Thunder won 50 games behind a solid defense (9th in Defensive Rating) and Kevin Durant's offense. The biggest concern for this team is the fact that they didn't do much of anything during the offseason. Instead of overspending for a free agent, management held onto their cap space, stockpiled draftees and draft picks, and acquired Mo Pete.

Okay, well, that's foward thinking. Or something. But the "tread water" approach rarely works for championship caliber teams, and it's hard to imagine it doing much for the Thunder.

That said, Oklahoma City did sign Durant to a five-year contract extension, and for all we know this kid could blow up again this season. If Durant plays like an MVP on steroids, the Thunder could certainly win another 45-50 games, qualify for the playoffs, and give some team a scare in the first and/or second round.

However, 2010-11 could also be a rude awakening for this team on the rise. I mean, will the Thunder stay as healthy as they did in 2009-10, when four of their five starters played all 82 games and all nine rotation players played at least 73? Will they be able to stand up to all the sky-high expectations now that opposing teams will be gunning for them? Can Kevin Durant really make a Second Leap right after last year's First Great Leap? Aren't we making a lot of assumptions about a team that overachieved and didn't improve at all over the summer?

The Thunder are getting a lot of buzz. But me, I'm wary. Very wary.

The Portland Trail Blazers

Ttttthhhheeee Trrrraaaaaaaiiiiillll Bllllaaaazzzeeeerrssss aaaarrrree aaaaa sllloooooowwww ttteeeeaaaaam.

Seriously.

Last season, Portland ranked dead last in Pace Factor, averaging a feeble 87.7 possessions per 48 minutes. You'd think they were using canes and walkers or something.

You want their offensive formula? The Blazers isolate Brandon Roy, crash the boards, and take care of the basketball. That's what they do. It's actually really similar to what the Atlanta Hawks did with their iso-Joe offense. And I guess it worked well enough: Portland ranked 7th in Offensive Rating at 110.8 points per 100 possessions.

But, honestly, that system isn't going to win many playoff series. Sure enough, the Blazers were eliminated in round one by a well-balanced Phoenix Suns team.

Don't get me wrong, people. I'm not naysaying the Blazers. Just point out some facts, which most people just discard anyway. On the up side, Portland is young, deep and very talented. And don't forget: The Blazers managed to win 50 games last year despite an ongoing series of freaky-freak injuries, which included Joel Przybilla blowing out his knee twice (the second time while taking a shower) and coach Nate McMillan

What's more, the Blazers have $15 million in expiring contracts (assuming they don't pick up team options on Jerryd Bayless, Rudy Fernandez and Nicolas Batum), two first round draft picks and trade bait in Fernandez (who wants off the team and could be considered a difference maker by potential contenders around the trade deadline).

You're telling me this team can't get better? You're telling me that, assuming nobody suffers a major injury, that they couldn't win 50-55 games? Or put up a serious fight in the playoffs? And if Greg Oden stays healthy...

...buh...buh...buhbwahahahahahaha!! I keed, I keed. That's not going to happen.

Sorry, Blazers fans.

The Utah Jazz

During the offseason, Utah took a big hit when they lost Carlos Boozer, who's now busy being injured for the Bulls instead of the Jazz.

Still, they pulled of a major coup by getting Al Jefferson for next to nothing. Big Al can almost certainly cover most of what Boozer gave them: Namely, 20 points, 10 rebounds, and a porous defense that consists of either reaching matador-style or simply hacking first and asking questions later.

This highlights Utah's biggest problem: Interior defense. Asking Boozer and Mehmet Okur to protect the painted area is like handing Lindsay Lohan a bottle of Jack and a bag of drugs and asking her to keep them safe. It ain't gonna happen. And it didn't. Therefore, the Jazz had to rely on a slap-happy defense that ranked second in personal fouls (1,859) and a league-worst in opponents free throws per field goal attempt (.269).

Of course, they ranked 5th in defensive rebound percentage and 6th in opponents turnover rate. And they did rank 10th in Defensive Rating. so it wasn't all doom and gloom on the defensive end. If the Jazz can stop hacking, they could be a top five defensive squad.

And there's not much wrong with them offensively. They were tops in percentage of assisted field goals (67.8) 4th in effective field goal percentage (.524), 4th in Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt (.252) and the 5th-best team in terms of turnover percentage (.142). That's a Jerry Sloan offense for you. It helps that Deron Williams is freaking awesome, and maybe the best or second-best point guard in the league.

On the downside, Okur is still recovering from a torn Achilles and Kyle Korver is playing for the Bulls, so Utah will begin the season minus their two best long-range shooters. That could hurt the offense. Plus, Al Jefferson -- who is still learning the system -- hurt his hand against the Lakers the other night. The team has little depth and less interior defense.

Still, this is the Jazz we're talking about. Sloan will get them to execute like crazy and play hard almost every night. They'll win 45-50 games and make the playoffs, where they'll probably make a first or second round exit. Unless they make some sort of deal to shore up their bench and/or add some beef up front, they won't be able to handle big teams like L.A. and Portland.

Labels: , , , , ,

49 Comments:
Blogger Dan B. said...
The Timberwolves do have one more thing working in their favor: they're dumping their version of the Triangle Offense. (I think we can all agree their Vaguely Triangular Shaped Object Offense was a complete and total failure.) So yes, they will suck, but at least they'll be running around more while they do it!

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
2010 Preseason records thus far, via Yahoo

Obligatory link 1 involving the more than average usefulness of preseason results to predict season results
Obligatory older link 2

Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, the Northwest is gonna be hella competitive. Conversely, the Pacific is such crappy crap. Bawful, if you weren't planning on doing the Pacific Division any time soon, can I write it up?

Anonymous Stockton said...
Jazz analisys:

Kyle Korver did have the best 3P% last season, but he didn't try that many shots. And we all know Sloan prefers a good layup than a so-so 3 pointer.
Jeferson is a BIG improvement over Boozer. At least he hacks, and may be a 50/50 chance he may injure Gasol in a playoff series. Boozer just let people drive to the basket withou at least pretending to play some D or muscling someone.
And let's face it: Boozer plays for $$. Jeferson is, for the first time, in a winning team. That means a lot in terms of motivation.
I also disagree the jazz are not deep. First, do not doubt sloan's ability to acreate solid role players (Raja Bell, Wesley Mathews). Second, guys like Hayward, Price, Kirilenko (IF healthy and counting on how his 1-time-per-year-cheating deal is working) and even Elson can make a decent 2nd unit.
To finish, there's always the F-Factor. Fesenko is mighty strong, and talented, yet he has a strong case of the ostertagitys. Meaning brain cells only activate for brief seconds.

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
"To finish, there's always the F-Factor. Fesenko is mighty strong, and talented, yet he has a strong case of the Fat."

FTFY, with the correct "F-Factor".

Anonymous Anonymous said...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OG6q7zo6uQ i dont care if its not about basketball this has to be linked on the main page somewhere

Blogger Murcy said...
well, Mr Bawful, I think you're leaving a small, yet significant thing out of your analysis: the Thunder got older, wiser, and have a hard and relatively competetive palyoff series against the evilest of Evils behind their backs. Learning the ropes in both the regular season and the playoffs IS important even if the "experience factor" is sometimes overblown. I think another year and another summer, training camp, preseason etc helped Ibaka, westbrook and co improve. and of course durant is freaking awesome. I actually think the thundr might be in for the second-best of the west with about 7 other teams. behind that disgusting anti-basketball thing in LA, it's just too close. are the mavericks too old? can the blazers stay healthy? will the thunder imrpove? is Morey THAT big of a genius? we'll see

Blogger AnacondaHL said...

Blogger Basketbawful said...
Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, the Northwest is gonna be hella competitive. Conversely, the Pacific is such crappy crap. Bawful, if you weren't planning on doing the Pacific Division any time soon, can I write it up?

Oh, I was hoping ya would. When do you want to publish it, tomorrow or Monday?

Blogger Will said...
If this isn't the definition of bawful, I don't know what is.
http://detnews.com/article/20101021/OPINION03/10210362/1127/rss13

Blogger Basketbawful said...
well, Mr Bawful, I think you're leaving a small, yet significant thing out of your analysis: the Thunder got older, wiser, and have a hard and relatively competetive palyoff series against the evilest of Evils behind their backs. Learning the ropes in both the regular season and the playoffs IS important even if the "experience factor" is sometimes overblown. I think another year and another summer, training camp, preseason etc helped Ibaka, westbrook and co improve. and of course durant is freaking awesome. I actually think the thundr might be in for the second-best of the west with about 7 other teams. behind that disgusting anti-basketball thing in LA, it's just too close. are the mavericks too old? can the blazers stay healthy? will the thunder imrpove? is Morey THAT big of a genius? we'll see

I hear what you're saying. I do. But you know, everybody said the same thing about the New Orleans Hornets a few years ago, after Chris Paul led 'em to a tie for the best record in the West.

Look what's happened since.

I'm just saying, young teams are very enticing because Americans fall in love with potential. But that team is almost certainly going to suffer a major injury this season. Teams won't sleep on them this year. Kevin Durant didn't get to rest this summer. They didn't do anything to improve in any area. It's just hard to imagine them randomly improving based on these factors, regardless of the added experience.

But I could be totally wrong.

Blogger Dan B. said...
If this isn't the definition of bawful, I don't know what is.
http://detnews.com/article/20101021/OPINION03/10210362/1127/rss13


...Son of a bitch. That is truly bawful, Will.

Anonymous Stockton said...
"To finish, there's always the F-Factor. Fesenko is mighty strong, and talented, yet he has a strong case of the Fat."

Hey, not everyone can have 95%muscle!!

I know, I know... you're afraid of loosing one of the WotN masters... but still, you can always fill the void with a "best of Ostertag" compilation, a "Curtis Borchart's basketball achievements" post, or keep track of the mighty Kostas Dufous.

Blogger Murcy said...
"I'm just saying, young teams are very enticing because Americans fall in love with potential"

hey good for me, I'm European :D on the other hand, I believe OKC has way more talent than that NOH team did. yes, one injury to westbrook or durant can ruin their whole season. just like any other team's (and yes, I know you know this). I do think they will improve because of the players' natural improvement. I don't, however, think they will win at least until they get a couple of decent big man. and, jeff green, you don't count.

Blogger Unknown said...
I actually think the thundr might be in for the second-best of the west with about 7 other teams. behind that disgusting anti-basketball thing in LA, it's just too close. are the mavericks too old? can the blazers stay healthy? will the thunder imrpove? is Morey THAT big of a genius? we'll see

Ahh, I can smell the butthurt from here. Can't help but smile.

I'm probably less wary about the Thunder than bawful seems to be but despite Durant being an absolute monster (and an absolutely likable one at that), the element of surprise with them is over and with all the buzz surrounding them, there's a big target on their backs that might just be bigger than their youthful enthusiasm. Remember that for all of Durant's skill, he was nearly completely shut down in the playoffs and once LA finally realized "Hey, this Westbrook guy is pretty good, we'd better actually defend him", he was greatly slowed down as well. Even taking an extra year of experience and maturity into account, I don't think the Thunder will be able to live up to the high expectations the media is setting.

Blogger chris said...
WOW. Amazing Craptors photo alert, courtesy of Dan B. via JE Skeets's Twitter feed:

http://fatshawnkemp.com/post/1352679916/i-dont-really-know-how-to-caption-this-photo

Which of course, begs for this Youtube clip.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Curse your accurate report on the Jazz.

Blogger Unknown said...
The Thunder will be good, but I can't shake the feeling that their missing one key ingredient before they can hit that next level. Some people say Cole Aldrich is that guy, but while he'll be a serviceable big man, it usually takes big guys two to three seasons before significantly contributing to a team.

I love Durant, as he reminds me of Bird with a longer wingspan, and Westbrook is a stud, but I feel like they need one more guy, either another three-point shooter or just that no-nonsense defensive presence that the Lakers, Magic and Celtics have.

Blogger chris said...

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
Yep, I'll take Monday.

Anonymous Razvan said...
"they won't be able to handle big teams like L.A. and Portland."


Hahaha, so funny.

Blogger Will said...
Chris- so THAT's who the Craptors got from the Knicks in exchange for the Camby-man.

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
Sorbo - The 3pt shooting is fair, Jeff Green chucking it up doesn't really inspire teams to defend the perimeter.

But Thabo is definitely their defensive no nonsense guy.

Anonymous Hellshocked said...
On Utah:

The stats may not show it but Jefferson is a much better post player than Boozer. He might very well have the best post game of anybody in the league today. His problem (aside from any and all semblance of D, of course) has always been that he is a black hole who is both unwilling and unable to pass out of double teams. This worries me, but if Jerry Sloan can't cure him of this nobody can.

The biggest problem I see with Utah is that they got rid of their slashers. Brewer is in Chicago, Matthews is in Portland. They are going to be even more jump-shot reliant this season than last and that is not a good thing. As a whole, I feel they took a step back.

On Minnesota:

I said it yesterday and I will expose myself to ridicule once more today: I think Minnesota is going to improve quite a bit. Granted, it's hard for them to be any worse than they were last year but I think they'll be closer to 30 wins than 20. I've watched a few of their games during the pre-season (don't ask) and they've played with remarkable unselfishness. They pound the ball inside (that rookie Pekovic is gonna be one hell of a 15-20 minute a night player), make the extra pass and more often than not are trying to play a little D. Ridnour is hardly a stud but he is a point guard capable of running an offense which already makes him a huge improvement over anyone they had last year. Their problem, as ever, is the fact they are always less talented than the teams they are facing night in and night out. Overall though I have a feeling they will be slightly watchable, at least for basketball purists, this season.

Of course, given my powers of prediction it is far more likely that I'll be eating crow by Christmas.

Anonymous SirGirthNasty said...
Can anyone explain to me why Jerry Sloan still has a job? 20+ years prowling the sidelines and not a single championship? Sure, they make the playoffs with regularity, but what does that matter? Being a Jazz fan is an exercise in being a C- student.

Blogger Basketbawful said...
Can anyone explain to me why Jerry Sloan still has a job? 20+ years prowling the sidelines and not a single championship? Sure, they make the playoffs with regularity, but what does that matter? Being a Jazz fan is an exercise in being a C- student.

No. It's like being an A student who doesn't get named Valedictorian.

Realistically, every team Sloan has ever coached has had significant flaws. That's not Sloans fault. He gets the max out of his players.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
but the jazz's defense is based on hacking. hack enough and hope the refs get fed up enough to stop calling them so the game can end and they can get off work. it's like the move in baseball where the pitcher keeps shaking his head and throwing it to his first base man and then randomly throwing it right at the batter's body until the batter gets disgusted and wants to go home. if the jazz stop hacking, their defense will absolutely suck ass.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Responding to the general Thunder discussion but mostly to Adam.

The Lakers played great defense on OKC because they had the right personnel and because they were just a really good defensive team in general. People don't like to give the Lakers credit for defense because that doesn't fit the image of the team, but they were a top defensive team any time they vaguely tried to give a crap. Plus they were uniquely built to handle the Thunder. How many teams have Ron Artest to check Durant and Kobe to put on Westbrook? Most teams don't have one good perimeter defender, much less two. The Lakers have that plus two 7 footers at any given time who will protect the paint. Plus they had the benefit of Ron Artest being allowed to elbow Durant in the kidney every play under the guise of "tough playoff defense". So I don't think the Lakers "exposed" them so much as they just matched up really well.

Responding to what bawful said about Thunder's non improvement. Their biggest improvement can come from within. They played Nenad Krstic entirely too many minutes and Serge Ibaka too few minutes. They've rectified this meaning that their interior defense will instantly improve. Jeff Green will improve, hopefully by not launching so many god-awful shots. It took them half a season before Scott Brooks figured out how to use Russell Westbrook. Once he cracked the code there the Thunder started winning way more games. So while they didn't make any huge personnel improvements (unless Cole Aldritch turns out to be a non-stiff), their internal improvements should be good for another handful of games won. For the record, Berri seems to think they're due for an improvement. Take that for what it's worth, he's usually right on the money when he's not bashing Kobe Bryant.

Anonymous JJ said...
SirGirthNasty:

Sloan gets Utah into playoffs year after year, even when he had subpar players. The man knows how to run a team.

Also, if you read Driven (Larry Miller's autobiography) and see what kind of man the Jazz owner was, you can see why he didn't fire Jerry Sloan.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Anonymous - the Jazz defense is based on hacking *now.* Which again, is due to a lack of personnel. Personnel that Sloan didn't hire, and probably couldn't anyway in a market like Utah. Back in their day, the Jazz had a very team-oriented defense that generated a lot of turnovers and rebounds.

I love the expectations here. Utah has arguably the smallest market in the league, and they are consistently in the playoffs and giving good teams very difficult times, and yet we want to fire the coach. Give this team half of the cash and draw power of LA, Miami or NY, and they'd be a powerhouse. But instead the Miller family and Sloan are going to stay loyal to their fans, recruit and hire players with integrity and few behavioral issues, and compete with the best. I'm not usually one for personal attacks, but you all are boners. I'll take Sloan any day with any team before any other coach in the league.

Blogger Unknown said...
@Anaconda - I forgot about Thabo, although he doesn't strick fear the way Garnett does. His a very good defender, but he might take away some of that team's offense. Maybe I mean they need a guy who can both defend well and be enough of an offensive threat, like an Artest or Ariza (although his FG% was not good last year). A Bruce Bowen-type, a defender who can contribute at the other end.

@SirGirthNasty. When Jerry Sloan leaves Utah, the team will go through a down period, because they are a small market team. It's because Sloan is there that Utah gets any players to stay in the first place. Without Sloan, or another highly successful coach, Utah would be just another Sacramento. (Sorry, Pauper fans)

Small market teams need three things to be successful: a very good coach, a very supportive fanbase, and a draft that produces one great player and several good players. You can control the first, build the second, and must luck out with the third. Sloan's never had that transcendant player (which would have to be drafted), although Stockton, Malone, and DWill are very close.

And when Sloan leaves, there's a good chance many players leave soon after. Don't be like Barney Stinson. New is not always better.

Blogger Cortez said...
"But instead the Miller family and Sloan are going to stay loyal to their fans, recruit and hire players with integrity and few behavioral issues, and compete with the best. I'm not usually one for personal attacks, but you all are boners. I'll take Sloan any day with any team before any other coach in the league."

What this guy said.

Blogger Dan B. said...
Okay, I don't have time to write a full post about this, but you need to check out this link: Dwight Howard is releasing an album. There are preview soundclips on that page, complete with kids singing backup vocals. Trust me, this will blow your mind. And possibly your ear drums.

Blogger Unknown said...
Anon: You're totally right about everything you said and I agree, but I didn't say (or at least mean to say if that's how it was interpreted) that the Lakers exposed a weakness of the Thunder, so much as the Thunder generated a lot of positive buzz by exploiting the Lakers' weakness until the Lakers finally figured out how to give a crap and put a stop to it.

Anonymous The Other Chris said...
@SirGarthNasty

Us Craptors fans would kill for such "mediocrity". C- is a big step up from.. well, there aren't really enough letters in the alphabet to accurately capture our craptacular-ness. Negative absolute Kelvin?

Anonymous ecco said...
sloan would have one several titels with stockton + malone, but do not forget that micheal jordon basicly fucked over a whole generation of superstars and did not let them get a ring.
if players and their very good teams like barkleys suns, stockton+malone jazz and sonics payton+kemp would have played at a different time they could all have wone multiple titles.

even hakeem would prolly be ringless if jordon didnt take that baseball timeout.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
I know this has nothing to do with the topic, but I was just wondering what NBA League Pass would offer me, as I'm in the U.K. Would I be able to get games that are on TNT, ESPN, etc? Or would they not go onto League Pass?

Someone help me please! :(

Also, long time reader of Bawful, absolutely love the site!

Anonymous Anonymous said...
One bright note for Denver: this is the last season they have Kenyon Martin and his massive contract. May his Range Rover be filled with hot, buttery popcorn every damn day.

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
ESPN's Marvel and NBA 2010-11 team crossover pics. This could make it's own post, actually. I like the Nets/Bobcats ones for featuring their owners.

Anonymous dave m said...
Hellshocked - I think you're absolutely right about the T-Wolves. They'll do a lot better than the 20 wins predicted above.

So I take it that the Lakers are generally regarded as some sort of evilness around these parts?

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
Anon - From what I heard, League Pass International gets the TNT/ESPN/etc. games because, well, the aren't "national" for you. Be sure to get the international version though. I don't know of this applies to Broadband only or not.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
My favorite part of the Marvel covers is the Craptors cover. Just like the rest of the league has no idea who those guys are, the rest of the superheroes can't figure out who they're supposed to be either. That's so funny I'm surprised the NBA allowed it.

Anonymous The Other Chris said...
Guys, I am sad to announce that the apocalypse is upon us.

The Machine and Maria Sharapova are engaged:

http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2010/10/21/maria-sharapova-engaged/?ncid=txtlnkusspor00000002

There are not words to express my disgust.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
This might sound rude, but I personally think that you must be on crack if you think Cavs, Raptors and TWolves are all going to win more than 20 games.

It ain't happening.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Pistons -Destination Doom ahahahaha

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Isn't Andre Miller's deal (8M) expiring as well? Portland has 23M expiring? That can't be right

Blogger Murcy said...
@AnacondaHL: OH YES YES YES. combining my two favourite things (probably), NBA and Marvel Comics. do I have to support the sixers now? they have deadpool on their cover. the funny thing is: I recognize nearly all or maybe all covers. comic book geeks unite!

Blogger Benway said...
I think the notion that Jefferson "replaces" Boozer is a very statsheet-based viewpoint that does not take into account the actual player(s) strengths/weaknesses.
I do agree that on D they are both hacking matadors so its a wash there, but on offense they are different players who get theirs in very different ways.
The lineage of Malone/Boozer hinged on a PF who could hit the spot up 15-18 footer off the pick & roll/pop consistently enough to pull his man out and allow space for the cutting backdoor wing action to happen.
Jefferson is much more of a traditional back to basket low post "5" offensively, occupying the low block, even warranting a double team there. He is not going to warrant any attention facing the basket from 12-18 ft out, so I guess the lament for loss of the athletic slashers can be minimized by the assurance that they'd just be slashing into Jefferson's back anyway.
But without Korver as a kick out, it puts much more importance on Okur as the only real shooter.
Not saying that Sloan can't adjust to this, but I think the Jazz will look much different on the court, and it will be interesting to see how they generate offense night in & night out.

Then this:
I myself root against the Lakers, but I think "abomination called basketball" is inaccurate. The Lakers are now, and have been for quite some time, a very entertaining & captivating team to watch/follow. They are not like the Spurs, who are good at basketball but about as entertaining as a Leno monologue.
Now Laker fans, on the other hand... mostly front running d-bag idiots who say things like, "It's not just Kobe, Paul Gasow is dope too," or even worse, the ones who tell you they are ACTUALLY FROM LA, as if I wasn't specifically just describing them in the first group.

/NoCal'd

Blogger Will said...
I think it's disgusting (and right in line with ESPN values) that the Hornet's cover doesn't focus on the team, but Chris Paul leaving the team.

Blogger Jared Crookston said...
I've got some higher hopes for Jazz defense this year, even with Jefferson in the middle. I think having a defensive oriented verteran in Raja Bell and Contract Year Kirilenko will be able to motivate the rest of the team to play some team defense.

And Jefferson is just giddy about being able to play for a team with a winning tradition, and he seems way more willing to do what Sloan tells him to do because of it.