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****The Official 2014-15 NBA Thread****

Discussion in 'Other Sports Forum' started by schmolioot, Jul 7, 2014.

  1. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Fifth?
     
  2. Limbo

    Limbo Mad Stillz

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    This afternoon is huge. Always like to kick off a road trip with a W, but here we're talking about a real actual WIN STREAK for this team. Grab a win from the injured Thunder while they're in some turmoil...then you get a (rare) legitimately do-able road back-to-back in MIL and BOS. A win today in OKC would mean 4-straight, and would really keep momentum going, and lord knows this team has struggled all year to get on any kind of roll.

    Now's the time! The way Dragic has handled good PGs recently has me excited about our prospects against Westbrook. Dragic and Chalmers tag-teaming that defensive assignment and funneling him into Whiteside...this is not a horrible matchup at all. Let's go.
     
  3. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    My bad, fourth.

    And yeah we have a shot today but it's going to be back and forth similar to the Portland game.
     
  4. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Not looking good for that.

    It's frustrating when the Heat look this awful.
     
  5. dolfan32323

    dolfan32323 ty xphinfanx

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    Amazing the difference Whiteside makes on this team.
     
  6. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    horrendous field goal percentage today lol we couldnt make anything. Oh well.. At least the Pacers lost yesterday.
     
  7. schmolioot

    schmolioot Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Everything is chalk so far. The next two against Mil and Bos are the important games on this trip.

    Get those and we're pretty close to wrap a spot up
     
  8. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Hear something about separate interviews where Kevin Love admits that he and LeBron aren't exactly the best of friends, and that he wouldn't pick LeBron for MVP.
     
  9. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    I think he is already in LA. Might even help the Cavs in the long run.

    Some players get in that situation as a support player and excel. Bosh came into Miami an average defensive player and we later learned that he was an elite defender because he was forced into the role. He also developed his 3 pt. shot. Love has not adjusted to his role and is still the same mediocre defender.
     
  10. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    Hes definitely headed west in the offseason. Lol gave up Wiggins for nothing
     
  11. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    That Dan Gilbert sure knows how to manage his team though :lol: that wouldve never happened here.
     
  12. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    In both interviews he also very explicitly said he's staying in Cleveland this offseason.

    Somehow that part didn't make the headlines...
     
  13. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    Trying to remember another star approaching free agency that came out and said he was staying. Aldridge this year? Maybe CP3 a few years back? Did Wade? Seems like almost everyone leaves things open. Even Melo refused to come right out and say he was staying when everyone knew he was.

    I know it's fun to say Love is leaving - but why would he opt-out of this deal and give up his Bird Rights just to bolt to LA or Boston for a 1-year deal before signing the max when it explodes in 2016? It doesn't really make any sense.
     
  14. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Love has also always had more limits athletically then bosh and many others. Theyre different players. Love is a 4 not a 5. Bosh can play either but is a harder matchup at the 5 because of his wingspan and versitility. Love is better served in the post but can definitly go out and hit the 3 when you dont pay attention but he should be seeing that as a secondary part of his game. Love has a good compete level and he maximizes his talent, hes just not the athlete some players are. He is still a very good player who can be a part of a great team imo.
     
  15. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    "I can't see why I would leave here."

    Somebody said this before he left as well....
     
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  16. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Dont sleep on the knicks. Phil is one of his icons and he would fit pretty well between melo and either Okafor or towns. Id personally rather wait for durant but i wouldnt be surprised if they went in this direction though i do think he fits better with Towns.
     
  17. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    My guess is that Love will make it into the 2016 FA pool one way or another.
     
  18. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    BTW, I have now watched Okafur 6 times this season....he blows.
     
  19. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    BTW, Dwyane Wade was named EC player of the week.
     
  20. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    Yeah but like...he didn't also say "I plan on being a Heat either way" either.

    All of the stuff that "says" he is leaving is body language or quotes taken out of context while simply ignoring all of the time he says "YES I AM GOING TO OPT-IN."
     
  21. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    No one really believes much of what athletes say because they say things as a blanketed statement to cover their own ***. The only ones ive ever reallybelieved were carmelo because i knew his attachment to ny and his desire to see this through, and cp3 because of "the toast"
     
  22. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Say wha!?!?!?!?!?!
     
  23. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    Right - and he'd have to give up Bird Rights to go sign a 1-yr deal with LA or Boston this offseason, right? Who else has max space? hard to believe he'd leave a good team and give up Bird Rights to go do that.

    So the Cavs have this year and next to figure it out with him.
     
  24. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Knicks have max space this coming offseason and next. 76ers do... i believe the spurs could be close if TD retires. Theres a few attractive spots
     
  25. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    It'd have to be attractive enough to warrant losing the Bird Rights cuz there's no way he signs a multi-year max this offseason with the cap increasing so much in 2016. And other than the Spurs not sure why he'd go to Knicks / 76ers this offseason.

    If we're talking 2016 then yeah, if the team isn't winning titles and his role still looks like this I'll be worried.
     
  26. schmolioot

    schmolioot Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Well, Love is certainly going to opt out. Most likely just to sign a new 1 year deal with Cleveland for whatever the max is and then be a free agent in 2016.

    Dragic is going to do the same thing. He can double his salary for next year. No reason not to do it.

    But I don't think there's any chance Love signs long term with Cleveland right now. He still might, certainly, but not now.

    The real question is whether they even want him. Might be better off clearing the cap space. Sucks that you lost Wigging but had to go for the gusto
     
  27. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Saying you "plan on" being somewhere is not the same as saying you'll be somewhere. In fact it's a very intentional method of avoiding making a definitive statement. This is what made Nick Saban's exit so unique. The press had annoyed him so much that he decided he wasn't even going to couch his language, he just flat out said "I will not be the coach at Alabama". Kevin Love saying he "plans on" being at Cleveland isn't worth used toilet paper, IMO.

    No more than LeBron's statements about staying in Miami prior to his leaving Miami.
     
  28. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    Fair - tho I'd argue he's been much more definitive in his statements than LeBron was -

     
  29. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    What else is he going to say? Im going to be a Laker after the season is over? Come on lol how long have you been a Cavs fan? Your fanbase should know better than that after Boozer flipped the bird to your city on his way out.
     
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  30. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    Here's the thing - the cap explodes in 2016 and if Kevin Love leaves the Cavs this offseason, he's leaving his Bird Rights behind to sign a 1-yr deal somewhere else. Not even a long-term max, a 1-yr deal so he can maximize his value in 2016.

    LeBron and Dwight are the only guys that have left their Bird Rights on the table to sign with a new team, right?

    So you'd have to assume he hates it in Cleveland so much that he'd leave a team that is probably going to be in the ECF as its floor to join a team like the Knicks, Lakers, Celtics, 76ers.

    Maybe he does. But it would be pretty unprecedented for a guy to leave money and winning on the table to sign for less with a loser.
     
  31. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    My point is most guys say "I'm leaving my options open" or "we'll see after the season how I feel" or "I have to do what's best for my family." Pretending this is a boilerplate answer seems silly too (insert dig about LeBron leaving y'all high and dry.)
     
  32. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    Saying im leaving my options open is just as bad as saying youre leaving and causes distraction in a locker room that is headed to a second seed playoff berth..
     
  33. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    The closest he comes to a direct refusal is the word "no". Which isn't really quotable.

    Otherwise again I have to point to the power of negation. It's as much about what you don't negate as what you do negate. Let me ask you this. Say you're him, and it's pretty damn clear what these guys are getting after. And let's say that the REAL answer really is what you think it is, that Love is not even entertaining the idea of him leaving. Why wouldn't he say that? Why choose to answer in ways that say things like "I am a Cleveland Cavalier" (as opposed to "will be") or I "plan on" being a Cleveland Cavalier.

    Why do you go there if there's really no doubt in your mind? I think the answers say exactly what anyone should think they do, which is that he doesn't know if it's going to work out staying in Cleveland...but he doesn't really want to say that.
     
  34. Alex44

    Alex44 Boshosaurus Rex

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    Love may stay or he may not. It doesn't really matter.
     
  35. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    Alright let's flip this - because the burden of proof seems to be on me to prove he is staying. We're treating this like him leaving some sort of leeway in his quotes means he's gone for sure!!!

    The facts show that he would be giving up MILLIONS to leave, that he'd most likely be giving up playing for a winner (based on who has cap space this offseason), and his quotes all point to him staying. Again - Dwight and LeBron are the only guys to give up Bird Rights willingly.

    So what makes everyone so sure he's leaving? We're approaching this like he's already gone and ignoring every piece of evidence in front of us that points the opposite way. Can you give an argument why he's going to leave a winner, give up millions, to go to a team that there's no guarantee it's going to get better for him?

     
  36. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    Heat gonna end up in the 6th seed? Their schedule doesn't look terrible. Gotta hope you get Toronto and not Chicago, right?
     
  37. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    I rather have Chicago.... they've been our *****es the past 5 years in the playoffs, it shouldn't change especially with Rose out. Our backcourt is a matchup nightmare for them.
     
  38. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    Bulls are so weird. What an insane amount of talent and mediocre production. I realize injuries have killed them but jeez.
     
  39. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    I'm not a fan. He's limited and one dimensional.

    I prefer Towns.
     
  40. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    I'll take either...but Chicago is tailor made to lose to us. Besides..I want to give Mike Wilbon yet another disappointing season.
     

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