NBA Chatter Thread

[Carp]

Agree on the latter two players.

Those moves felt like moves for the sake of making moves because they didn't get Dwight. I said it at the time, but I felt like they were building a team in the mold of the Atlanta Hawks when they had Crawford, Johnson, Horford and Smith - a team that would be entertaining and would be competitive, but wouldn't be anywhere near good enough to even sniff the finals.

They should've just sat tight and kept the cap space and gone after a legit star or player that could truly make them better going forward.

They should build that team around Williams and Lopez. That is just an excellent starting point...I am not so much down on Johnson, but Wallace is just not a guy who should get that money. He is like a Marion type that has trouble scoring, can defend some, but is never going to be a building block.

 

[Carp]

Nets To Hire Jason Kidd
June 12 at 1:35pm CST By Zach Links

The Nets have reached agreement with Jason Kidd on a deal to become the club's next head coach, a source tells John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The former guard will get a three year deal from the Nets to man the bench just weeks after announcing that his playing days are through.

Fred Kerber of the New York Post reported earlier today that the Nets had an offer in place for the future Hall of Famer and it seems that the two sides didn't need much time to shake hands on it. It has been said for a long time that the Nets were eager to make a big splash with their head coaching position and this certainly accomplishes that goal.

Kidd takes over for interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo, who was fired less than 24 hours after the Nets were eliminated in the first round by the Bulls. The longtime coach was rather successful with the defensively-challenged Nets as they tallied a 35-19 regular season record under his watch. However, it wasn't good enough when coupled with their seven game ouster in the first round.

It has been reported that Kidd will be required to assemble an experienced staff to help him overcome the learning curve of being an NBA head coach. Strangely enough, former Nets coach Lawrence Frank has reportedly been tapped to be the Kidd's lead assistant to help him in his first season on the bench.

The ten-time All-Star spent six seasons with the Nets and most notably led them to the NBA Finals twice in a row after a lengthy playoff drought. While the Nets were runners-up to the Lakers and Spurs, Kidd finally won a title with the Mavericks in 2011.

It will be interesting to watch how Kidd does for a number of reasons but the most compelling part of it will be to see how he deals with player discord given his reputation as a coach killer. Of course, star point guard Deron Williams has been given the same tag by many observers, though he has denied having a hand in Jerry Sloan's retirement in Utah and expressed surprise and disappointment after Avery Johnson was fired in Brooklyn.

An announcement is expected to be made later this week and no later than the weekend, according to Mitchell's source.

 

[Bob Roberts]

Really? They weren't Kidd-ing about this whole thing.

 

[1bigfan13]

Do you guys agree with this assessment?

The Heat are not a great team nor do they play great basketball, they just have great games and great moments. Just like the other night when they beat down the Spurs, they look crazy good when everything clicks. But they have too many moments in games where they go into a lull, and they are almost guaranteed to have a poor game or two in every series.

Losing game 1's for this team comes as no surprise anymore.

For as great as the collection of talent is, they don't really dominate. And even if you knew you'd get their very best, would you honestly pick them to beat any of MJ's Bulls, Magic's Lakers, Kobe and Shaq's Lakers, Larry's Celtics? How about the 2000's Spurs in their prime?

I just don't think they are sound enough all around or consistent enough to be considered a truly "great" team.

I think the supporting cast was better the previous two years. Wade was still healthy and Bosh hadn't been relegated to being a 6'11" two-guard.

I think that's the biggest difference. Bosh and Wade's level of play has slipped and as I mentioned earlier Lebron, for some unknown reason, has reverted back to his passive days. Which is weird considering how aggressive he played in the Indiana and Chicago series. He took 21 shots last night but you never got the feeling that he was dictating the flow and pace of the game.

I agree with your statement that these Heat teams probably wouldn't beat the best teams of the 80s and 90s. I believe the biggest reason they'd struggle against those teams is their lack of size and rebounding. All those teams you mentioned, aside from Jordan's Bulls, had Hall of Famers at the PF/C positions. We saw how Roy Hibbert ate the Heat up. Hibbert's a nice player but he looked like David Robinson playing against Miami's defense.

Could you imagine Haslem and Chris Anderson trying to corral Shaq, McHale, a young Duncan, Parrish, & Jabbar. Those guys would put up 30 a night if they wanted to, while dominating the boards.

 

[Texas Ace]

Really? They weren't Kidd-ing about this whole thing.

 

[Texas Ace]

Nets To Hire Jason Kidd
June 12 at 1:35pm CST By Zach Links

The Nets have reached agreement with Jason Kidd on a deal to become the club's next head coach, a source tells John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The former guard will get a three year deal from the Nets to man the bench just weeks after announcing that his playing days are through.

Fred Kerber of the New York Post reported earlier today that the Nets had an offer in place for the future Hall of Famer and it seems that the two sides didn't need much time to shake hands on it. It has been said for a long time that the Nets were eager to make a big splash with their head coaching position and this certainly accomplishes that goal.

Kidd takes over for interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo, who was fired less than 24 hours after the Nets were eliminated in the first round by the Bulls. The longtime coach was rather successful with the defensively-challenged Nets as they tallied a 35-19 regular season record under his watch. However, it wasn't good enough when coupled with their seven game ouster in the first round.

It has been reported that Kidd will be required to assemble an experienced staff to help him overcome the learning curve of being an NBA head coach. Strangely enough, former Nets coach Lawrence Frank has reportedly been tapped to be the Kidd's lead assistant to help him in his first season on the bench.

The ten-time All-Star spent six seasons with the Nets and most notably led them to the NBA Finals twice in a row after a lengthy playoff drought. While the Nets were runners-up to the Lakers and Spurs, Kidd finally won a title with the Mavericks in 2011.

It will be interesting to watch how Kidd does for a number of reasons but the most compelling part of it will be to see how he deals with player discord given his reputation as a coach killer. Of course, star point guard Deron Williams has been given the same tag by many observers, though he has denied having a hand in Jerry Sloan's retirement in Utah and expressed surprise and disappointment after Avery Johnson was fired in Brooklyn.

An announcement is expected to be made later this week and no later than the weekend, according to Mitchell's source.

I like Jason Kidd, but I can't see this ending well.

WTF are they thinking? Deron Williams was said to not respect Jerry Sloan, but yet he's going to follow every word Kidd tells him?

 

[Carp]

I like Jason Kidd, but I can't see this ending well.

WTF are they thinking? Deron Williams was said to not respect Jerry Sloan, but yet he's going to follow every word Kidd tells him?

Who is Jerry Sloan to Deron Williams? An old guy who used to play in the NBA a million years ago. Now Kidd on the other hand...I bet he grew up idolizing him and played against him for years. He'll definitely be more relateable than Sloan.

 

[Simpleton]

That Russian has no idea what he's doing.

 

[Bob Roberts]

Man, I am so old. I remember the Sports Illustrated with the profile of the incoming freshman sensation, Jason Kidd

 

[Deuce]

Shabazz Muhammad appears to be dropping on draft boards. He was always a sure fire lottery pick and at one point considered top 3 or 5. Now nbadraft.net has him going #17 to the Hawks.

He's a major headcase, but I'd still love to see the Celtics grab him at 16. They need talent no matter the ego.

 

[Texas Ace]

Rumors have it that Spoelstra is thinking about starting Miller over Haslem at SF and get this.....Lebron at Center defensively.

WTF?

I know Miller is on fire, but he is a big time defensive liability and this move could have unintended consequences. Sounds like a bit of desperation to make such a drastic change in the lineup so soon into the series.

 

[Carp]

I go back and forth on him. I don't think he as good as advertised, still solid, but the thing that bothers me most is that he just checks out when the ball is not coming his way.

 

[Deuce]

Duncan will have a field day with this on the offensive end.

 

[Texas Ace]

Duncan will have a field day with this on the offensive end.

Lebron is amazing, but for as talented as he is, he's just too small at 6'8 to defend Duncan.

 

[Deuce]

If I were Pop, I would counter with Duncan and Splitter on the court together the entire time Spoelstra has that lineup in.

 

[Carp]

Rumors have it that Spoelstra is thinking about starting Miller over Haslem at SF and get this.....Lebron at Center defensively.

WTF?

I know Miller is on fire, but he is a big time defensive liability and this move could have unintended consequences. Sounds like a bit of desperation to make such a drastic change in the lineup so soon into the series.

Haslem has not really given them that much, so I don't think it is that big of a deal. Lebron can guard Duncan, he'll just have to be smart.

They need a shooter out there though because Wade will not even take a 15 footer now. Oh...and that dipshit leaves his feet so much without having anyone to pass to it is ridiculous.

 

[Texas Ace]

Haslem has not really given them that much, so I don't think it is that big of a deal. Lebron can guard Duncan, he'll just have to be smart.

They need a shooter out there though because Wade will not even take a 15 footer now. Oh...and that dipshit leaves his feet so much without having anyone to pass to it is ridiculous.

I think the leaving the feet thing is too much of a habit for him to break at this point.

He's such a flopping bitch that he always looks for the slightest bit of contact to draw a foul. To his credit, he has one of the best pump fakes in the game, but instead of using it to get a good shot off, all he does with it is look for a foul.

He tried that on Duncan the other night but Duncan was disciplined and the first time resulted in a turnover/double dribble, and the 2nd time resulted in a turnover which led to fast break points.

Healthy or not, he just isn't the same player he used to be.

 

[Carp]

I actually like the way Bosh came out in the last game. Yeah, he missed shots, but he still showed confidence enough to take them. Wade on the other hand will not take any kind of outside shot.

 

[Texas Ace]

I actually like the way Bosh came out in the last game. Yeah, he missed shots, but he still showed confidence enough to take them. Wade on the other hand will not take any kind of outside shot.

Win or lose this series, I think the Heat would be better off building around Lebron and Bosh and getting solid, consistent players that can make them a more solid and consistent team all around, as opposed to 3 stars with a bunch of old/inconsistent/average players around them as they've done for the last 3 years.

Bosh actually plays well when Wade isn't around. He's got the talent, and I think not having to keep finding ways to get him involved along with better one on one coaching would benefit him greatly. With all 3 guys, it prevents them from having a natural offense. They just seem to always have problems getting everyone involved because doing just that seems forced. They don't let things come naturally - it's almost like they force things because they feel they have to.

Getting rid of a declining and oft-injured Wade would eliminate this problem. Lebron is your main man and option #2 is always Bosh.

I think this team with this big 3 will not win another championship after this year under this current structure. It's the big 3 plus a bunch of inconsistent average players, and that's all they can afford with so much cap being eaten by their stars.

 

[Carp]

No one is going to want Wade though. They are stuck with him until he is gone. They need to hang onto some of their draft picks and fill out the end of their bench with players. They could have had Armett Moultrie, Festus Ezeli, or Draymond Green, but chose to trade the pick. Young legs like that could have really helped them this year.