2012/2013 NBA season thread

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

And the Heat are effectively a lock to get into the Finals again next year thanks to the pathetic East. Vince McMahon is jealous at that guarantee of a good ratings number.

Hopefully Derek Rose comes back healthy, and maybe the Bulls can add one or two pieces. The same goes with the Pacers, I think eventually they could beat the Heat with Wade's injury issues.

But the Celtics are done, and I don't think the Spurs can get back to the finals next year with the age of their big three. The Lakers won't challenge anyone next year, neither will the Grizzlies or Nuggets without adding major star power. That leaves the Clippers and Thunder who I have zero confidence in beating the Heat with how their teams are currently built.

Damn... probably like a 80% chance the Heat repeat unless James runs into injury issues. So utterly predictable...

[SHOGUN]

Gotta give credit to James... he was clutch and I see why he is the reigning MVP. =

[OILFAN #81]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

I mean how can the Heat be one of the best teams ever when their opponent gave the Finals away? San Antonio will regret losing this one for a while, they definitely should have won both game 6 and 7.

Gave the finals away? LMAO. Does LeBron James get zero credit again? He was amazing in games 6 (4th quarter and OT) and 7 hen his team needed him the most. LeBron James is the games best player right now easily.

Originally Posted by fleury

#### James, #### Bosh. Spurs lost this game themselves.

Actually, the better team won the series. San Antonio is an amazing basketball team and have a great bunch of players like Duncan, Parker, etc. But LeBron took over game 7 and made huge clutch shots. It's one thing to not like LeBron which is 100% fine, but to say the Spurs lost to the best team in the NBA themselves makes zero sense.

[trackercowe]

I honestly don't have much of a problem with the Heat winning, I did last year, but now we all knew it was coming this year, and probably next year as well. But like SCD it's going to be tough to watch the media slurp all over LeBron for the next few months, and call him the greatest player ever, most clutch, and all that other crap. James still has a long way to go. He's one of the all-time greats without a doubt, but even James knows he's not quite there just yet. Rings are how you measure greatness in the NBA, and not really individual achievements or awards.

And no don't give me that Robert Horry crap. Simply put if LeBron does want to pass Jordan he needs to at least match him with 6 rings (probably needs 7). He's in the 15-20 range right now. One more gets him in the conversation for top 10. Four rings would put him in the top 10. Five rings puts him in the top 5, and in the discussion with Jordan. Then if he get six in maintaining this level of excellence then he's 1/2 with Jordan. But for now he's only 1/3 of the way there, so please hold back the slurpage for another couple championships at least. This is just my general opinion obviously, but I have heard a bunch of people in the know say he needs those six/seven rings before you can really say he's the greatest ever regardless of individual feats.

[darklord700]

The three-peat Lakers with Kobe and Shaq will beat this Heat team but a win is a win. How Riley deal with Wade and Bosh's contracts for the next three years will be interesting to see. They took a pay cut to come together but now it looks like the Heat will overpay Wade and Bosh for the next 3 years.

Wade is un-tradeable but Bosh should have suitors. I'll be very suprised if Bosh isn't traded sometime next year.

[Hockey_Ninja]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

I honestly don't have much of a problem with the Heat winning, I did last year, but now we all knew it was coming this year, and probably next year as well. But like SCD it's going to be tough to watch the media slurp all over LeBron for the next few months, and call him the greatest player ever, most clutch, and all that other crap. James still has a long way to go. He's one of the all-time greats without a doubt, but even James knows he still has a long way to go. Rings are how you measure greatness in the NBA, and not really individual achievements or awards.

And no don't give me that Robert Horry crap. Simply put if LeBron does want to pass Jordan he needs to at least match him with 6 rings (probably needs 7). He's in the 15-20 range right now. One more gets him in the conversation for top 10. Four rings would put him in the top 10. Five rings puts him in the top 5, and in the discussion with Jordan. Then if he get six in maintaining this level of excellence then he's 1/2 with Jordan. But for now he's only 1/3 of the way there, so please hold back the slurpage for another couple championships at least. This is just my general opinion obviously, but I have heard a bunch of people in the know say he needs those six/seven rings before you can really say he's the greatest ever regardless of individual feats.

I agree. Lebron still has a way to go but he could possibly do it. Especially with the team he has.

[moon]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

And no don't give me that Robert Horry crap. Simply put if LeBron does want to pass Jordan he needs to at least match him with 6 rings (probably needs 7). He's in the 15-20 range right now. One more gets him in the conversation for top 10. Four rings would put him in the top 10. Five rings puts him in the top 5, and in the discussion with Jordan. Then if he get six in maintaining this level of excellence then he's 1/2 with Jordan. But for now he's only 1/3 of the way there, so please hold back the slurpage for another couple championships at least. This is just my general opinion obviously, but I have heard a bunch of people in the know say he needs those six/seven rings before you can really say he's the greatest ever regardless of individual feats.

I think the 15-20 is pure garbage as mentioned in this thread and the 4 rings to get into top 10 is silly, but there is no way that he is the top guy ever right now and I don't expect that many legit media will be saying that he is. May be a few guys looking to get publicity for it, but since the biggest d-bag for that Skip Bayless was down on him all series tough to imagine even he will do it for ratings.

[darklord700]

Bosh has zero point and the Heat still won. Ginobli had a decent night and still looked like a tool. The MPV for Game 7 was Battier for the Heat and Leonard for the Spurs. After the once in a life time Game 6, Game 7 felt like a let down.

[OILFAN #81]

tracker, where do you put Wade then? He has 3 rings already.

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by OILFAN #81

tracker, where do you put Wade then? He has 3 rings already.

I'm actually a pretty big Wade fan, and I feel he's just as clutch as LeBron in must win situations. Unfortunately he just doesn't always show up throughout the course of the season, and can be a ghost on occasion: In part due to injuries, and also now that he plays second fiddle to James.

He's pretty much Scottie Pippen to Michael Jordan at this point, and that's probably where I'd put him. He did also win one title as the key player on that team, so that elevates him above Pippen in a way. Scottie made the top 50 of all-time, so Wade is obviously there too. Maybe 30ish right now, but I can't see his body holding up if his quest is to win 3-4 more titles playing with LeBron.

Wade also should get some credit for his willingness to play second fiddle to LeBron, and especially for persuading Bosh and James in coming to Miami. You rarely see star players in the NBA doing that sort of thing, as elite players usually hate handing over the lead to someone else. So he should get some kudos for that, even if it has nothing to do with the actual game.

[atb]

That was an amazing series. The way the teams battled throughout game 7, basket for basket, was just awesome.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by OILFAN #81

Gave the finals away? LMAO. Does LeBron James get zero credit again? He was amazing in games 6 (4th quarter and OT) and 7 hen his team needed him the most. LeBron James is the games best player right now easily.



Actually, the better team won the series. San Antonio is an amazing basketball team and have a great bunch of players like Duncan, Parker, etc. But LeBron took over game 7 and made huge clutch shots. It's one thing to not like LeBron which is 100% fine, but to say the Spurs lost to the best team in the NBA themselves makes zero sense.

LeBron gets credit to be sure, but of course a few Spurs free throw makes, a defensive rebound and a few less turnovers, all self-inflicted wounds, and the Spurs are champs. That's the difference between two close teams, so while you may want to give all the credit to Miami, the reality is San Antonio contributed to their own demise quite a bit.

And Wade has lost a lot of peoples respect the last few years as he's become one of the NBAs leading cheap shot artists. Great player but the crap he pulls sometimes makes him unlikeable.

[OILFAN #81]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

LeBron gets credit to be sure, but of course a few Spurs free throw makes, a defensive rebound and a few less turnovers, all self-inflicted wounds, and the Spurs are champs. That's the difference between two close teams, so while you may want to give all the credit to Miami, the reality is San Antonio contributed to their own demise quite a bit.

And Wade has lost a lot of peoples respect the last few years as he's become one of the NBAs leading cheap shot artists. Great player but the crap he pulls sometimes makes him unlikeable.

No question San Antonio is an absolutely solid team and they deserve all the respect in the world. They are a classy organization for sure and pushed Miami to the limit. San Antonio could have won game 6 for sure, no question, but Miami could have just as easily have won game 1. When the series' is so close like it was, it's just a few possessions that make a difference. If Parker didn't make a clutch shot in game 1 then who knows what happens next.........but Parker did make the shot, just like Ray Allen made a clutch shot. I'm not taking any credit away from San Antonio, a tremendous organization and team. Tim Duncan could be the best power forward type player of all time. But to say San Antonio lost the series rather then Miami won it like some people said, isn't right at all. Miami was the defending champions, the #1 team in the regular season, and the favorite to win the finals. They were close to losing, but they pulled it out and that's what elite teams do. Miami is an elite team with two amazing superstars.

[Senator Clay Davis]

But it is pretty much right to put this one on San Antonio. One free throw or one rebound and we're talking about LeBron's awful play in the last two minutes of game 6 and how for 3 of the 6 games he was locked down. This one is 80% on San Antonio and 20% on Miami. Credit for not quitting, but San Antonio errors set it up for them. Its like the Maple Leafs in round one this year, Boston gets some credit but that's mostly a horrible collapse. Sometimes it is the other guy losing and not you winning.

[killer_carlson]

Yeah, this wont be remembered as a Heat win, it will be remembered for the spurs loss in game six. Three starters miss free throws in the last two minutes, odd substitutions by the coach, and very questionable pro miami calls on spurs shooters in crunch time.

Lebron played well in game seven, parker and ginobli threw the ball away too much. Duncan missed some layups. Too bad.

[moon]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

and very questionable pro miami calls on spurs shooters in crunch time.

They are only very questionable and pro miami calls if you are a SPurs fan or Miami hater.

Pretty much every neutral media member/NBA expert has said the calls were fine including a former NBA ref.

The worst non-call of all was the Manu travel anyways.

10 years from now this will be remembered as LeBron's 2nd championship long term him winning will easily trump any BS Spurs threw it away sentiments from bitter haters.

[SuperMatt18]

10 years from now nobody will remember the fouls or the missed free throws.

They will talk about:

1)Lebrons performance in game 6 and 7
2) Ray Allen's shot- that will be the lasting image in 10 years.

The talk about the missed free throws and "fouls" are just what the Lebron haters are using now to say he didn't deserve the win. That will be irrelevant in a week, let alone a year from now.

[Drake]

The only thing Chris Bosh has been able to put into a hole since the NBA Playoffs started (maybe other then his wife or some ho ) .

http://deadspin.com/congratulations-...ium=socialflow

[Drake]

Though the numbers were not quite as large as in 2010, Game 7 of the NBA Finals was still a massive television draw on Thursday night.

Game 7 of the Spurs/Heat NBA Finals drew a 15.3 final rating and 26.3 million viewers on ABC Thursday night, down 2% in ratings and 7% in viewership from Celtics/Lakers Game 7 in 2010 (15.6, 28.2M), and up 29% and 39%, respectively, from Pistons/Spurs Game 7 in 2005 (11.9, 19.0M).

Thursday’s game ranks as the second-highest rated and second-most viewed NBA game on any network since Bulls/Jazz Game 6 in 1998 (22.8, 35.9M), trailing only Game 7 in 2010. The Heat have now played in two of the three most-viewed NBA games since 1998.

Game 7 peaked with over 34.2 million viewers from 11:30-11:45 PM ET.

As should surprise no one, Game 7 was easily the most-viewed NBA game to ever involve the San Antonio Spurs, topping the previous high of 20.6 million for Tuesday’s Game 6.

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2013...final-ratings/

[fundmark19]

Doc rivers traded to clippers

http://t.co/5aLamsiEGe