NBA 2010/2011 thread.

[NBAfan]

The season has started!
Here's to a good season.
I hope the Mavs do much better this year.

 

[shadowplay]

Here's to the Raptors and Cavaliers making the play-offs.

 

[Azale]

Just a little bit on the upcoming season for the Spurs and their front office strategy...

Spoiler :

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27TH, 2010
On achieving immortality through not dying

New season, new narrative. And with this season, there is that monster metanarrative creeping around the league: the Miami Heat. The Heat, as a story, are more imperial than meta. That story has one of those manifest destiny, send small pox to the Indians agendas going on. The Thing has a bloodlust, I tell you.

But there are all sorts of cool storylines with the Spurs, some more obvious than others.

I’m still trying to get my hands around the Spurs’ more nuanced narratives. Or, more precisely, I’m still reading, waiting for the subplots to take shape. But there is little subtle foreshadowing afoot, and I’m beginning to sense a counter intuitive plot twist on the horizon.

Woody Allen was once asked what it felt like to achieve immortality through his art. Allen’s response: “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.” His response could, with a slight shift in application, be echoed by any basketball player. In this way, there is little difference between great filmmakers and great players.

As a basketball player, Tim Duncan is dying. And while immortality is already his, so is death. He’s on the clock. And this puts the Spurs are on the clock, or so the thinking goes.

But the Spurs’ front office is already up to something new, building the story to a conclusion on one front and pushes it forward on another. Namely, the Spurs have a little youth movement going on. The team is simultaneously gearing up for a final push within the Duncan era and transitioning away from the built-around-Duncan Spurs. It’s a clever game.

George Hill, DeJuan Blair and Tiago Splitter are not superstars. But they’re young and wonderfully complimentary. There isn’t a team in the NBA who couldn’t use them. The question is whether any of the three can become a core player.

In the event of an NBA lockout next season, this season may be Tim Duncan’s last. He has an early termination option this summer, and his contract expires in July 2012. Manu Ginobili is locked up until 2012-13. Richard Jefferson’s contract is a problem child, but the Spurs long term cap is otherwise healthy.

From another angle, consider this: DeJuan Blair’s 2012-2013 deal is for a mere $1,054,000.

The Spurs are well-positioned to continue in the land of the living. And while no one expects them to compete for a championship every season for the rest of our lives, neither is their reason to believe they’ll drop off the map. Even after Tim Duncan retires, the Spurs can continue a playoff team.

At the start of yet another championship-or-bust San Antonio Spurs season, the storyline isn’t just about whether Tim Duncan’s supporting cast is strong enough to push the Spurs back into the Finals. There is the longer term question of whether the Spurs’ young core can reach their potential. Now is the time determine whether Blair, Hill, and Splitter have what it takes to shoulder the weight of transition. Obviously, the Spurs will have to add a substantial piece or two to that core. Blair, Hill and Splitter can’t do it alone. But can they become the sort of players to whom one passes a baton?

Note the suspense. Enjoy the intrigue. Embrace the tension.

The next chapter begins tonight.

Starting five and bench:

PG Tony Parker / George Hill / Garrett Temple
SG Manu Ginobili / James Anderson / Gary Neal
SF Richard Jefferson / Bobby Simmons / Alonzo Gee
PF Tim Duncan / DeJuan Blair / Matt Bonner
C Antonio McDyess / Tiago Splitter

Some thoughts:

-we are really old in the starting five (duh)
-Alonzo Gee is going to replace Simmons as the backup early in the season, I think
-we actually have some real depth, and it's not full of guys collecting social security either
-5th in the West

 

[Dachs]

I wish I had a team to follow.

 

[NBAfan]

Pick someone other then the Heat or Lakers.

 

[Azale]

I wish I had a team to follow.

I thought you were going to bandwagon the Thunder like everyone else

I would just jump on the Clippers, if for no other reason than to hate on the Lakers nonstop.

 

[Dachs]

I dunno, something about bandwagoning makes me feel dirty. And rooting for the Clips would mean rooting for Blake Griffin, which is rooting against John Wall, and I don't really want to do that.

 

[Azale]

Why the love for John Wall. Just be a Wiz fan then.

 

[Dachs]

I like the dude, just can't stand the franchise

ANYWAY this is not "help Dachs find an NBA team" thread. How long until the Heat get their act together and start playing better than they did against Boston?

 

[downtown]

Prob about 2 weeks. The Big Three haven't really had any practice time together.

I'd be worried about the Spur's Wing Depth if I was you Azale, given Park and Manu's injury histories. George Hill is the only non scrub on that list.

 

[Azale]

Prob about 2 weeks. The Big Three haven't really had any practice time together.

I'd be worried about the Spur's Wing Depth if I was you Azale, given Park and Manu's injury histories. George Hill is the only non scrub on that list.

I'm always worried about the Spurs' wing depth. I think James Anderson will be serviceable though.

EDIT: What the hell, Vinny Del Negro is the Clips coach?

 

[Dachs]

EDIT: What the hell, Vinny Del Negro is the Clips coach?

 

[downtown]

CAVS WIN CAVS WIN CAVS WIN

Cleveland 1-0
Boston 1-1
Miami 1-1

Lebron who? lol

 

[Archbob]

LBJ needs to cut down on turnovers.

But whats really pissing me off is that Luis Scola is totally dominating in Fantasy.

 

[D'Artagnan59]

Celtics-Thunder playoffs, Celtics win in 6.

WHAT A SURPRISE, D'ART IS ROOTING FOR NEW ENGLAND SPORTS (actually, this is the only sport where I'm not a teamslut).

 

[Azale]

Are you sure you don't want to root for the Lakers too, just in case the C's start losing?

 

[D'Artagnan59]

Nah, the Lakers bore me. The only other team I feel any remote bond with is the Sacramento Kings, believe it or not.

 

[Archbob]

I only really pay attention to NBA right now because of Fantasy.

I'm proposing a trade at the moment.

I trade away:
Kevin Durant

I get:
Pau Gasol
Russel Westbrook


I hope he takes it.

 

[Zack]

I hate the Heat even more than I hate the Spurs, which is saying a lot. I was practically ecstatic at their loss to the Celtics, and giddy when the C's went and lost to the Cavs the next night! TAKE THAT LEBRAT!!

I only really pay attention to NBA right now because of Fantasy.

Who plays fantasy basketball? ...

 

[Dachs]

I'd say that the only team I legitimately hate in basketball is the Celtics, as part of the whole "I loathe Boston sports" thing.