I'm sure most people will prefer to talk about the sub-par basketball like the ACC and Big East, but I love to watch the highest level in the world play.

Time to get this started with some preseason games beginning and less than 20 days until the season kicks off.

I'm a Knicks fan so basically it's going to be ONE more season of before the great free agent class of 2010.

Post some questions, thoughts, predictions, etc.

10/8/2009 10:53:41 AM

Dejuan Blair's first preseason game - 16 pts, 19 rebs

sure, it's preseason, but there is no reason he should have slipped to the 2nd round

10/8/2009 10:55:47 AM

I think we're finally gonna get the Lakers/Cavs matchup in the finals this year

I wonder if J.J. Hickson will gel and become a part of the Cavs rotation, probably not

10/8/2009 10:55:49 AM

It kinda sneaks up on you, doesn't it

Seems like just weeks ago Kobe and Dwight were playing for the title

Now it starts all over again

I'm most looking forward to the dunk contest FINALLY doing what they should have done years ago...amateurs vs professionals

10/8/2009 10:56:46 AM

Predictions:

The Lakers don't make the finals.

The Blazers will be knocking on the door.

The Thunder will be the most intriguing non-playoff team of my lifetime.

The Clippers will make a strong push for the playoffs.

The Magic will be better than last year, but won't make the finals again.

The Raptors wheeling and dealing in the off-season will not pan out. They miss the playoffs, lose Bosh in free agency and two years from now Toronto fans can't believe they're paying Turkoglu $10 million a year.

The Celtics get too much credit all year long and then are rolled in the second round of the playoffs.

The Wizards make the playoffs. Gilbert Arenas gives up (thank god) his all business attitude by the all-star break.

The Knicks regret not drafting Brandon Jennings and are bummed after signing Bosh as their only marquee player in the offseason and proceed to lose in the first round of the playoffs for the following five years.

The Pacers play five white guys at once. Their 1,500 fans get to feel non-threatened and unentertained simultaneously.

LeBron wins the the MVP, the title and stays in Cleveland. Shaq will take more credit than he deserves, but no one will mind because he's so damned charismatic.

Chris Paul inspires many "greatest point guard of all time" debates, until Derrick Rose reminds them that Paul's not even the best point in the league today.

Ron Artest either impregnates or assaults a Lakergirl. Possibly does both.

Elton Brand never gels with the Sixers, but they make the playoffs. Iverson does flourish with the Grizzlies, but they continue to suck.

10/8/2009 12:35:24 PM

Quote :

"I'm sure most people will prefer to talk about the sub-par basketball like the ACC and Big East, but I love to watch the highest level in the world play."

10/8/2009 12:44:41 PM

another prediction, speaking to that^


JJ Redick and Adam Morrison will sit at a bar trying to convince whoever will listen that college basketball is a superior product to the pros. They will be wrong, but they will ultimately get laid by some anonymous, bleached skank.

10/8/2009 1:07:51 PM

Quote :

"The Magic will be better than last year, but won't make the finals again. "

yeah, too bad they blew that game 6 against the Lakers in the Eastern Conference Finals

10/8/2009 1:23:18 PM

watched Suns vs. Warriors last night:

Stephen Curry is gonna have a long rookie season.

Anthony Randolph is impressive, but tries to do way too much.

Channing Frye is a perfect fit for the Suns. He's like when they had Tim Thomas a couple years ago. Of course, Frye appears to put in more than 50% effort every time he's on the court.

Its too bad, but Steve Nash continues to look over the hill.

10/11/2009 1:04:18 PM

Quote :

"Daniel Green, G DNP RIGHT GLUTE CONTUSION"

LOL... What happened Danny?

10/18/2009 10:48:08 AM

Hornets upset Lakers in West finals in 6. Bobcats in 7 over Cavs in East.

Hornets vs. Bobcats in Finals, Hornets in 7.

Ok, just kidding. I really think it will be Lakers vs. Cavs for real this time. Cavs in 6.

[Edited on October 19, 2009 at 12:17 PM. Reason : .]

10/19/2009 12:14:45 PM

does anyone think it was a good idea for the Lakers to give up Ariza for Artest?

10/19/2009 1:59:03 PM

talent wise - yes
chemistry wise - hell no

overall - no

10/19/2009 2:56:24 PM

I was watching the Nuggets-Lakers game on TNT last night. DJ Mbenga got 7 blocks and Josh Powell scored 15 as Denver was playing like it was the middle of February. The only noteworthy thing from the game was Doug Collins hair. Thankfully, he's abandoned the mid-life crisis coiffure, giving up the bleached blond for the more distinguished gray. I wonder if he traded in the Ferrari, too.

10/23/2009 6:25:35 PM

Quote :

"does anyone think it was a good idea for the Lakers to give up Ariza for Artest?"

is this a joke or are you just refferring to the "now vs later" factor? Everyone knows ariza is younger but if even ariza were to blossom to his full potential down the line he would leave for more money anyway.

Gaining Artest makes LA probably the best defensive team in the league. They could go big and have kobe artest lamar gasol and bynum in the game. is that sick or is that sick?

10/23/2009 10:39:33 PM

Lawson is getting the same crap calls he did in college.

10/24/2009 12:43:06 AM

i was so surprised he had 30 tonight. looks like he's gonna be an absolute force in the nba.

10/24/2009 1:09:07 AM

lol

Decent backup point guard

10/24/2009 1:13:08 AM

Some predictions from me:

Sacramento will continue to fucking suck.

The Hornets will not win a game by more than 15 points at any point in 2009.

Hasheem Thabeet will lead the Grizzlies in blocked shots and games fouled out.

Dallas' window will officially shut. Nowitzki can't wait til 2011... and probably won't.

Dwyane Wade will fall down. A lot.

Jamal Crawford will either be the reason Atlanta makes a leap or the reason Atlanta makes a tumble.

Washington will finish 8th in the East and draw Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs. Again.

Denver will top 130 points five times by All-Star weekend. They might do that by MLK weekend.

Detroit will regret signing Villanueva slightly more than Milwaukee will regret losing him.

Portland will deal Andre Miller for 30 cents on the dollar. It will not happen on the trade deadline.

Stephon Marbury will eat vaseline on justin.tv after every Knick win.

A Texas team will miss the playoffs. My prediction is Houston.

Shaun Livingston will gain about 5 pounds.

The Clippers will remain moderately healthy.

10/24/2009 4:40:13 AM

Did anyone see Ty Lawson's line last night? Granted, the Lakers played their second team most of the game but still, that is a sick game he had.

10/24/2009 10:27:59 AM

^you mean what we were just talking about 2 posts ago?

10/24/2009 10:30:39 AM

Didn't read thread. My bad.

And yes, he will be a good NBA PG once Billups is done (which will probably be 2 years or less).

10/24/2009 10:33:57 AM

Opening night

on TNT right now

10/27/2009 8:35:16 PM

nice way to kick it off. rondo thought he was gonna get a fast break dunk on lebron lol



[Edited on October 27, 2009 at 8:43 PM. Reason : .]

10/27/2009 8:41:55 PM

pretty decent game for opening night. I thought I'd be a little more hyped for this game, but it just reinforces my feelings about nba regular season games

10/27/2009 8:44:38 PM

^ yep

10/27/2009 10:36:04 PM

helluva block

10/27/2009 10:59:25 PM

wasn't impressed with the Cavs last night at all. they really need to get some other guys involved on offense. LBJ can't carry them every night, and Shaq did not impress me

i also think the Clippers would have won last night if Blake Griffin was playing. though i guess that would be negated if Gasol was playing as well.

good to have the NBA back.

10/28/2009 12:22:12 PM

yeah I feel like the same Cavs team shows up every year, no one steps up into the #2 role behind Lebron, especially when LBJ is on the bench.

I dont like that Anthony Parker guy, he played the 2nd most minutes behind Lebron, and he did put up a decent statline, but he made some big mistakes in key situations. Most notably, out of the timeout near the end of the game when Lebron passed it to him for an open 3 and Parker mishandled the ball, losing it out of bounds. I cant wait til Delonte West comes back

10/28/2009 12:32:27 PM

I wouldn't read too much in the Cavs right now. I think they made some good acquisitions, and they should be in good shape especially if Parker gels with LeBron and Gibson picks up his game. Shaq and Z are basically 1/2 a big man at this point, 20-25 minutes a piece. I think they may regret keeping Varejao over Gooden though. He blew several open dunk/layups set up by Shaq passing out of the double team. His hands are so terrible, he has to hesitate before any shot. Maybe Hickson gets more time with Shaq?

10/28/2009 8:41:34 PM

Enter DaJuan Blair, interested to see how he fits with the Spurs.

10/28/2009 8:43:40 PM

the camera guy at spurs/hornets could use a little zoom if he wanted...i dont need to see 5 rows of people at the bottom

10/28/2009 8:53:59 PM

Celtics take it all over the Lakers

10/28/2009 8:56:56 PM

Solid minutes and energy from Blair. The Spurs are scary deep, with a good go-to lineup for crunch time:

Parker
Manu
Jefferson
McDyess?
Duncan

They need to keep Parker and Duncan healthy though, since they don't really have viable long-term replacements for either one.

10/28/2009 9:09:09 PM

i'm loving time warner's free preview of nba league pass

10/28/2009 9:20:52 PM

Kevin Martin is NASTY




he'll be the only All-Star on that team full of scrubs (although I do like Tyreke Evans)

10/28/2009 9:22:57 PM

^Being a Kings fan, Martin is one of the few bright spots for them. I wasn't too big on the Evans pick up at first. I'm worried he's going to turn the ball over WAY too much.

Oh yeah, DeJuan Blair should have not fell to the second round. When he was drafted, I was like "the Spurs just stole another draft gem."

10/28/2009 9:37:48 PM

i still can't believe how much shaq is hacked without it being called.

10/28/2009 9:37:53 PM

Fat Sean May is getting a ton of playing time

are things that desperate in Sac-Town?

10/28/2009 9:38:58 PM

^Yeah, it's that bad.

10/28/2009 9:44:28 PM

and cleveland's 0-2 to start the season.

10/28/2009 9:54:39 PM

damien wilkins won the game for minnesota on a putback as time expired

10/28/2009 11:07:09 PM

Quote :

"Celtics take it all over the Lakers"

with no injuries, it will be much different this time. kobe can shutdown allen and artest can take away pierce. Last time, Kobe wandered on Rondo and Allen and Pierce went to work. Also, with Artest, Kobe and 3 big forwards on the floor, Allen will have to guard one of them. Artest can just post him up all day. Theres nowhere to help from onto Kobe like there was last time.

10/28/2009 11:31:31 PM

I don't think that there is any team that would be favored against the Celtics in a seven game series when they are rested and healthy. That being said, it's a long season and the odds of that happening are slim. It's kind of a moot point to argue right now but it will be interesting if the C's can hit the playoffs with a healthy Big 3.... and Rondo and Davis/Wallace.

10/29/2009 12:27:54 AM

Big debut for Ty Lawson... 17 and 7 off the bench.

Also, Pistons won comfortably with Gordon AND Hamilton each with 20+.

10/29/2009 9:38:33 AM

Gordon can roll out of bed and get 20 points

The key for them will be having enough size on the court to compete with decent teams

Villanueva plays like a guard, Prince weighs 180 and Ben Wallace died three years ago

The only significant beef they have inside is Maxiell

They're best bet will probably be to super small lineup of Stuckey, Gordon, Hamilton, Prince and Villanueva to have a chance against any of the top teams in the East



[Edited on October 29, 2009 at 10:03 AM. Reason : x]

10/29/2009 10:02:37 AM

Melo has the dunk of the year and we're two days in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlaNTCjld_A

10/29/2009 12:33:45 PM

Nash has got a little bit left in the tank...going by Baron Davis for the game-winning lay-up last night.

Quote :

""I went to the old-white-guy-at-the-YMCA shot and I was lucky to make something happen," Nash said. "

10/29/2009 12:53:58 PM

just great, 3 games in to the season and kobe's constant whining and bitching to the refs is already making me want to change the channel

10/30/2009 11:42:00 PM

the Mavs are humiliating the Lakers in LA

10/31/2009 12:21:23 AM