2014-15 NBA season (or, will the Sixers go 0-82?)

[jro]

Don't insult Thibs that way. If I were the Wiz, I'd use the torn-up shreds of Randy's contract as packing material to send Thibs gifts.

Honestly, I think he would make an incredible college coach. Seems like he wore out his welcome in Chicago because while guys will run through a wall for him, they eventually tune him out. Since most college "student-athletes" don't last more than two years any more, they would never get an opportunity to get sick of him.

He also runs his guys to death, both in practice and for far too many minutes per game, even when the front office tells him not to.

What I'd like about him in Denver is that he makes defenses better, period. And defense isn't something the Nuggets have been good at in a long time. Granted, the personnel isn't the same (he'd probably hate/kill Faried), but I'd still like to see what he could do with Nurk.

 

[100proof]

I don't rate Whitman highly, but head to head when it counted, Whitman has out coached Thibodeau.

If your entire sample size is one first round playoff series where Rose was out and Noah was hampered, I hardly consider that outcoaching. His Bulls teams won 45+ games every year with pretty much no help from their best player the last 3 years and it was all done on defense. I thought Randy had a great playoff stretch this season (and the Wiz likely would've beat the Hawks if Wall hadn't gone down) but all along he's been kind of a budget version of Thibs: great motivator and gets better defensive play out of B and C-level defenders but a terrible offensive play-caller.

The Number of head coaches that are worth the money is incredibly small. And those guys aren't going to leave their current spots. That much is obvious. I think that recruiting a college coach is typically riskier than a nba assistant coach, because of the control disparity between college coaching and professional coaching. It might only work in very young teams where egos aren't established.

Agreed on all counts but I was talking about Thibs being a college coach (as his allegedly authoritarian mindset is likely a better fit for the college game) and not the Bulls potentially hiring Hoiberg.

 

[evil wasabi]

If your entire sample size is one first round playoff series where Rose was out and Noah was hampered, I hardly consider that outcoaching. His Bulls teams won 45+ games every year with pretty much no help from their best player the last 3 years and it was all done on defense. I thought Randy had a great playoff stretch this season (and the Wiz likely would've beat the Hawks if Wall hadn't gone down) but all along he's been kind of a budget version of Thibs: great motivator and gets better defensive play out of B and C-level defenders but a terrible offensive play-caller.



Agreed on all counts but I was talking about Thibs being a college coach (as his allegedly authoritarian mindset is likely a better fit for the college game) and not the Bulls potentially hiring Hoiberg.

The comparison stands because the Wizards that beat the Bulls had a really shallow bench and lacked key components to make a real run. Going into the playoffs, experts unanimously picked the Bulls because of Thibodeau.

 

[100proof]

The comparison stands because the Wizards that beat the Bulls had a really shallow bench and lacked key components to make a real run. Going into the playoffs, experts unanimously picked the Bulls because of Thibodeau.

The quality of the Wizards bench (which yes, was shit last year) doesn't change the small sample size. Experts also thought that Noah was 100% at the time. Guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

If your point was that Thibs is overrated, I'd likely agree. He's not a great offensive schemer (even when Rose was healthy, there were a ton of isos and "just let Rose do his thing" in clutch situations), he apparently isn't good at managing minutes and people won't really know if he's any good until he has a complete team for an entire season (though the only regular season he did, his team won 60+ games and was well on their way to the Finals) but you're comparing him to Randy Wittman who, until this playoff run, was a running gag in the NBA. His offensive sets are legendarily terrible, his teams have never won more than 46 games in the shit Eastern Conference (which happened this year) and his playoff accomplishments are beating a gassed, injury-depleted Bulls team last year and the below-.500 after the All-Star break Raptors this year with three top-5 picks and three proven veterans (when Nene is healthy) as their first 6 rotation players. Do you really think Randy Wittman could've coached that Bulls' roster to 48 wins this year and in to the 2nd round of the playoffs (and being one missed illegal timeout call away from going up 3-1 on the Cavs)? Cuz I don't.

 

[evil wasabi]

Not to argue further, but on paper the Bulls should have handled the Cavs in 6. Something went wrong and I am looking at the head coach first.

 

[Normdog]

 

[Fritz]

It sucks the cavs have so many injuries. I really wanted to see both teams at full capacity go at it. This doesnt bode well for Irving, 23 and already dealing with knee BS, hopefully he doesnt go the way of Brandon Roy. Oh well, warriors in 6.

 

[evil wasabi]

It sucks the cavs have so many injuries. I really wanted to see both teams at full capacity go at it. This doesnt bode well for Irving, 23 and already dealing with knee BS, hopefully he doesnt go the way of Brandon Roy. Oh well, warriors in 6.

It would be interesting if the injury to Irving creates a roster effect that the Warriors aren't prepared for, as most of the tape they have seen and prepared with has been when Irving was playing.

 

[dspoonrt]

It would be interesting if the injury to Irving creates a roster effect that the Warriors aren't prepared for, as most of the tape they have seen and prepared with has been when Irving was playing.

I think that's what happened tonight. The Cavs underutilized Dellavedova in game 1, and Curry wasn't ready for his defense in game 2. The Cavs also played better as a team in the second game. Tough win, but another good watch.

 

[jro]

Holy balls what a win for the Cavs. LeBron played like a champ- the reffing was awful, he had stiffs for teammates (the part of J.R. Smith could have been played by an untrained monkey), and he still wills the Cavs to a win.

edit: looks like the Nugs are going to hire Mike Malone. Second interview is today or tomorrow. That's a really good choice that I'd be quite happy with.

 

[outlaw_moon]

I was worried the Cavs might go down 0-2 but man what a win. I liked Lebron before, but now my respect for him has grown 10 folds. This is turning into a great series after all.

 

[Normdog]

 

[jro]

George Karl wants Ty Lawson on the Kings.

STOP TURNING DOWN the Faried and Lawson for Cousins deal, Sacramento!

edit: Karl "desperately" wants to get rid of Cousins. My guess is he'd do Cousins for Lawson and Faried in a heartbeat, but ownership and GM are like whoa there buddy.

 

[jro]

Interesting draft. I love Mudiay for the Nuggets, though Winslow is going to be really good, too.

Fuck Ty Lawson, also. Pretty sure I'm not the only Nuggets fan who can't wait to see his stupid ass shipped out of Denver.

 

[Kristian Meller]

Fuck UNC

Winslow slipped really far, but he ended up in a great situation in Miami. He can come right in and start at SF.

Cavs picked exactly what they needed and then traded him for nothing

 

[dspoonrt]

Cavs picked exactly what they needed and then traded him for nothing

I know. Typical Cleveland move. At least the Canton Charge will have a deeper roster this year.

 

[evil wasabi]

Fuck UNC

Winslow slipped really far, but he ended up in a great situation in Miami. He can come right in and start at SF.

Cavs picked exactly what they needed and then traded him for nothing

The Winslow drop in the draft should set off red lights for people. There was a lot of talk about his lack of upside before the draft, but that was only to explain why he wasn't a top 4 pick. I was surprised to see Orlando pass him up, but so far, I haven't heard anyone upset about not picking Winslow either, except maybe Knicks fans, who at least had the NHL draft last night to make things better.

 

[jro]

Goddamnit Ty Lawson.

New trade value = Austin Rivers. Seriously, fuck this guy.

 

[Kristian Meller]

It's the Carolina Way!

Seriously, UNC players get in a hell of a lot of trouble. And they suck a lot, these past few years.

 

[lolifoxgirl]

Summer league has been fun to watch so far. +1 to fuck ty lawson though, I read his ama and thought he sounded cool then he gets another deuce. At least hes cheap enough to be given to the kings for free assuming he doesnt get jail.

 

[jro]

Summer league has been fun to watch so far. +1 to fuck ty lawson though, I read his ama and thought he sounded cool then he gets another deuce. At least hes cheap enough to be given to the kings for free assuming he doesnt get jail.

He's gone, finally! Nuggets got roughly jack and shit from Houston in return, but whatever.

 

[Voodoohead]

i hope embiid will at least play one season in the nba ^^

 

[dspoonrt]

i hope embiid will at least play one season in the nba ^^

Maybe 2016-17. We'll see.

The Sixers are doomed for at least the next few years. There's tanking for draft picks, but what they've done seems far less calculated.

 

[lolifoxgirl]

The sixers have tanked enough at this point that their earlier lottery picks are going to be walking away on deals with other teams by the time they finish putting something together. They are clones of the old LA clippers.

 

[famicommander]

They should have traded Lawson at the All Star break last year.

He'll probably do well in Houston though, just because that's the worst possible outcome for the Nuggets.

At least they didn't toss Faried in too. I was worried they'd ship him away.