2014-2015 NBA Season Thread

[daBronzeBomma]

Kevin Durant's out indefinitely with a fracture in his foot, could be as long as 8 weeks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones_fracture

Bradley Beal is also out for 2 months with a broken wrist

Man, that sucks. Then again, Kevin Durant should be back well before Christmas Day, when the NBA spotlight season really begins. It shouldn't affect the team too negatively in the long run:

But why can't I help picturing teammate Russell Westbrook's reaction when he heard the news:

[Hiromi]

It goes beyond just recovery time, this is the same injury Brook Lopez has trouble with, it has the potential to be a reoccurring one.

[daBronzeBomma]

Who are your Top 5 at each position going into the 2014-2015 NBA Season?

Mine go like this as of today, which is fourteen days (a full 2 weeks) away from Opening Night on Tuesday 28th October 2014:


PGs
5. Derrick Rose
4. Tony Parker
3. Stephen Curry
2. Russell Westbrook
1. Chris Paul

SGs
5. Manu Ginobeli
4. Klay Thompson
3. Kobe Bryant
2. Dwyane Wade
1. James Harden

SFs
5. Andre Iguodala
4. Kawhi Leonard
3. Carmelo Anthony
2. Kevin Durant
1. LeBron James

PFs
5. Dirk Nowitski
4. LaMarcus Aldridge
3. Kevin Love
2. Blake Griffin
1. Anthony Davis

Cs
5. Tim Duncan
4. DeMarcus Cousins
3. Joakim Noah
2. Marc Gasol
1. Dwight Howard

What's yours?

[4sake Baned]

Who are your Top 5 at each position going into the 2014-2015 NBA Season?

Mine go like this as of today, which is fourteen days (a full 2 weeks) away from Opening Night on Tuesday 28th October 2014:


PGs
5. Derrick Rose
4. Tony Parker
3. Stephen Curry
2. Russell Westbrook
1. Chris Paul

SGs
5. Manu Ginobeli
4. Klay Thompson
3. Kobe Bryant
2. Dwyane Wade
1. James Harden

SFs
5. Andre Iguodala
4. Kawhi Leonard
3. Carmelo Anthony
2. Kevin Durant
1. LeBron James

PFs
5. Dirk Nowitski
4. LaMarcus Aldridge
3. Kevin Love
2. Blake Griffin
1. Anthony Davis

Cs
5. Tim Duncan
4. DeMarcus Cousins
3. Joakim Noah
2. Marc Gasol
1. Dwight Howard

What's yours?

PGs
10. Jameer Nelson/ Ricky Rubio
9. Michael Carter Williams/ Elfrid Payton
8.Ty Lawson/ Kendall Marshall/ Nate Robinson
7. Mike Conley/ Brandon Jennings
6.Deron Williams/ Kyle Lowry/ Jeff Teague
5. Rajon Rondo/ Eric Bledsoe
4. Tony Parker / Damian Lillard
3. John Wall/ Kyrie Irving
2. Stephen Curry/ Derrick Rose
1. Chris Paul/Russell Westbrook

SGs
11. Tony Allen/ Jimmy Blutler
10. Dion Waiters/ Eric Gordon
9. Gerald Green/ J.R. Smith
8. Joe Johnson / Wes Mattews
7.Kevin Martin/ Breadley Beal /Andrew Wiggins
6.Goran Dragic/ Lance Stephenson
5. Jamal Crawford/Arron Affalo
4. Klay Thompson /Dwyane Wade
3. DeMar DeRozan/ Monta Ellis
2. James Harden / Paul George ( if he could play)
1. Kobe Bryant

SFs
10. Nick Young/Trevor Ariza
9. Vince Carter/Tyreke Evanes
8. Andre Iguodala/ Gordon Hayward
7.Nicolaas Batum/Chandler Parsons/Josh Smith
6. Jabari Parker/ Thaddeus Young DeMar DeR
5. Luol Deng /Kawhi Leonard
4. Rudy Gay/ Paul George ( if he could play)
3.Kevin Durant
2. Carmelo Anthony
1. LeBron James

Cs/PFs
15.Marcin Gortat
14.Greg Monroe Jr./ Tyson Chandler
13. Zach Randolph/Brook Lopez
12. Pau Gasol/ Andre Drummond
11. Dirk Nowitski/Al Horford
10. Al Jefferson/Anothony Davis
9.DeMarcus Cousins
8. Dwight Howard
7.Marc Gasol
6. Joakim Noah
5. Tim Duncan
4. Chris Bosh
3. Kevin Love
2. Blake Griffin
1.LaMarcus Aldridge

[daBronzeBomma]

@ 4sake Baned:

- What do your slashes mean? That the two players are tied?

- Paul George is out for the entire upcoming season. Pacers will not rush him back, not even for the playoffs

- Do you really think that PFs and Cs are THAT interchangeable?

On a less serious note, y'all remember the short-lived Shaq-Yao generational rivalry of the Best NBA Centers (2002 - 2011)?



Shaq has always been listed at 7'1" and averaged 350 pounds during his playing days.

Yao was listed at anywhere from 7'4" to 7'6" and averaged about 300 pounds in his playing days.

So, Shaq was in China for an NBA pre-season game last week and met up with his old pal Yao and took a pic together:



Does that look like 3 to 5 inches of height difference? No way, looks like way more than half a foot of height differential!

Either Shaq has significantly shrunk or Yao has significantly grown!

Is Yao really 7'9"?

I don't remember them being that different in size ...

[emac1790]

@ 4sake Baned:

- What do your slashes mean? That the two players are tied?

- Paul George is out for the entire upcoming season. Pacers will not rush him back, not even for the playoffs

- Do you really think that PFs and Cs are THAT interchangeable?

On a less serious note, y'all remember the short-lived Shaq-Yao generational rivalry of the Best NBA Centers (2002 - 2011)?



Shaq has always been listed at 7'1" and averaged 350 pounds during his playing days.

Yao was listed at anywhere from 7'4" to 7'6" and averaged about 300 pounds in his playing days.

So, Shaq was in China for an NBA pre-season game last week and met up with his old pal Yao and took a pic together:



Does that look like 3 to 5 inches of height difference? No way, looks like way more than half a foot of height differential!

Either Shaq has significantly shrunk or Yao has significantly grown!

Is Yao really 7'9"?

I don't remember them being that different in size ...

The height listing is always shaky. IIRC Barkley was listed at 6'8". He's closer to 6'4". Likewise, Shaq is most likely 6'10".

[Hiromi]

I suspect some possible forced perspective going on in the bottom picture. We saw them play against each other for years and the difference never seemed that big.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

lol, the 76ers roster

I swear "Ronald Roberts" isn't a real person. And who knew that Keith Bogans was still around.

[Hiromi]

You really have to admire this, the 6ers are putting more thought into losing than most teams do for the opposite, I mean it's like their analytic guys are really getting into this.

The Bill and Jalen NBA preview is starting again(Bill's suspension's up), get ready to laugh at Bill's number one pick that'll turn out to be absurdly wrong by the end of the season
http://grantland.com/2014-bill-and-jalen-nba-preview/

[Hiromi]

Steve Nash is injured again, it's really sad that Steve Nash of all players has turned into a keep getting them checks guy.

[emac1790]

You really have to admire this, the 6ers are putting more thought into losing than most teams do for the opposite, I mean it's like their analytic guys are really getting into this.

The Bill and Jalen NBA preview is starting again(Bill's suspension's up), get ready to laugh at Bill's number one pick that'll turn out to be absurdly wrong by the end of the season
http://grantland.com/2014-bill-and-jalen-nba-preview/

Ugh! Videos? That means I have to hear his dumb voice? No thanks.

[emac1790]

The return of white chocolate?

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/ba...icle-1.1975266

[daBronzeBomma]

The height listing is always shaky. IIRC Barkley was listed at 6'8". He's closer to 6'4". Likewise, Shaq is most likely 6'10".

I'm gonna go with the forced perspective giving a false impression idea. Lots of NBA guys lie about their heights (Charles was often listed at 6'6", but he was only a bit above 6'4"), but Shaq is one of those guys whom I believe is the height he says he is: 7'1". Yao's listed height always varied, anywhere from 7'3" to 7'6". It's just a weird picture.



On a different note, Kobe Bryant was just publicly ranked as the 40th-best player coming into the 2014-2015 season on ESPN's NBArank list.

I know Kobe isn't what he used to be, that he is no longer in his physical basketball prime, not at age 36. And I know he has seriously injured himself TWICE since April 2013 and basically missed a whole season last year. And I know Father Time is ultimately undefeated.

But I have a hard time believing that there will be thirty-nine (39!) NBA players right now who will have better overall individual stats than him this year. Maybe 19 players better than him right now at the most, but not 39! Right?

Or maybe I just don't want to admit that even Kobe has gotten old, because that kinda means admitting I've gotten old too (I'm 38, about 2 years older than him).

How many active NBA players are older than Kobe Bryant right now? Can't be that many ...

[Hiromi]

Kobe's 15th all time in minutes played and second among active players(only behind Ray Allen) and coming off two major injuries, combine this with the fact that he's playing on an awful team where he'll be expected to carry a substantial load again, and I don't really have a problem with him being that low. The league's a treadmill and Kobe's on the back end of it. Tim Duncan's the only 35+ year old I can think of off the top of my head that'll be ranked higher than him. edit: Oh and Dirk too.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

lol, the 76ers roster

I swear "Ronald Roberts" isn't a real person. And who knew that Keith Bogans was still around.

Magnificent, isn't it? This promises to be a roster where you literally can't tell the players apart without a program, and probably still can't WITH one.

You really have to admire this, the 6ers are putting more thought into losing than most teams do for the opposite, I mean it's like their analytic guys are really getting into this.

Well, if you're going to tank, then, by God, put all your effort into the task! And GM Sam Hinkie has certainly done that with the collection of mutts, has-beens and never-weres he's assembled.