2014-15 NBA Season

[MrSaigon]

You've got to listen to Jeff Van Gundy on Lowe's latest podcast explain his ASG philosophy. Draymond Greene needs to be in because it would be ridiculous for the Warriors to only have two all stars. DeMarcus Cousins should not be in because if he was really an all-star he would coax his teammates to an above .500 performance.

Look, I honestly don't hardly care. I couldn't tell you the last ASG I sat down to watch. But this is a pretty fascinating listen.

[jim]

You at the game thrill?

[Jocephus]

You at the game thrill?

some drunk buffoon run on the court or something?

[Maclowery]

Hadn't checked in to this thread in awhile, too busy reading realgm's massive arguments over how to fix this wreck of a Bulls team. I've had the opportunity to watch much of their four last nationally televised games, and I did not enjoy myself at all. I have been a Butler fan since the start, and am really happy to see him do better than I'd ever expected. Mirotic is a joy to watch when he's given the chance. That said, I am completely tired of Derrick Rose. Here is my response to the "Why are the Bulls losing" thread:

[SHOW]

feel gross at how much my opinion of Derrick Rose has changed this season. His off-court attitude, his on-court play, and his massive contract have made me lose a lot of my passion for his game, and my hopes at what he would become in his post-injury career.

I probably fall into a common subset of Bulls fans. Although I was well on my way to becoming a big Bulls fan before the 1.7% ball, Rose absolutely pushed me into really following them again on a nightly basis, as I had in my youth in the Jordan era. I was steadfast during his first injury. Seeing the second one occur live on TV was one of my worst sport-viewing moments of my life. Before this season, I was becoming skeptical of his return to top-5 point guard play, and more than a little irritated at all the off-court see-sawing. Is he hurt? Is he confident? Is anyone on the same page?

Anyway, long story short, I have gone from a big Rose fan to where I am this season. I just don't enjoy watching him on the court. I can't stand all these pull up 3s. I roll my eyes every time I see him drive the ball down the court, see 4 non-moving teammates, waste 10 seconds, then pass to Gasol for a half-assed post up. On defense, his guy beats him time and time again. He is on-court attitude seems to mirror mine when I am closing down my work. I'm gonna work as well as I need to get the job done, but I can't wait to be out of there.

Not Thibs or FO, but Derrick Rose is my main target for why we are losing. His terrible job as a star PG has negatively affected everything else we're seeing on the court. Unfortunately, I can see no fix coming except from Derrick Rose himself. He's untradeable, and playing more Kurt or Brooks instead of Rose doesn't help either. Like many others are saying, he needs to drive and kick, drive and kick, drive and kick, or else get his hands off the damn ball and let the offense flow.

Too long, didn't read: Rose needs to stop going 7-26 and do more 6-11 with 8 assists and ten trips to the line.

[stlouie_lipp]

I never thought I'd say this, but the Bulls really miss Mike Dunleavy. I'm not going to panic until he comes back. The NBA is all about the playoffs.

[33anda3rd]

Too long, didn't read: Rose needs to stop going 7-26 and do more 6-11 with 8 assists and ten trips to the line.

I feel like that's really hard for him right now because he's not finishing at the rim, opposing teams know he's not finishing at the rim, and they're not bothering to send him to the line. He hasn't earned back the kind of respect that gets you fouled a lot. Part of it is he's taking way too many threes.

That Lakers game the other night was a hot mess. 2nd worst team in the NBA on a 9-game losing streak who just lost their star player, who already lost their best young player for the year (that was an ugly injury to watch on TV), and without their chucker of a spark-plug had them down double-digits at the half. For an elite team, that's inexcusable.

It's realllllllly easy for Butler to score right now. 581 TS%. 21.1 PER. He's effective. He makes things happen. When he has the ball, you're happy. Talk about getting to the line: his FG:FT ratio is under 2:1. He gets to the line.

Rose, sheesh, about a third of his FG attempts are threes. His FG:FT ratio is closer to 5:1. Five to one!

When we have a game like we did against the Lakers and Rose is scoring 17 pts on 26 FG Attempts, and Butler is scoring 35 pts on 17 FG attempts, the problem is as clear as the noses on our faces: Butler needs more usage, Rose needs less.

[33anda3rd]

You've got to listen to Jeff Van Gundy on Lowe's latest podcast explain his ASG philosophy. Draymond Greene needs to be in because it would be ridiculous for the Warriors to only have two all stars. DeMarcus Cousins should not be in because if he was really an all-star he would coax his teammates to an above .500 performance.

Look, I honestly don't hardly care. I couldn't tell you the last ASG I sat down to watch. But this is a pretty fascinating listen.

Good listen, thanks. I do disagree with JVG. Sacramento is 2-10 without Boogie. Sure, 15-19 with, but the impact when he's gone is you go from ok to abysmal. He's a top-10 player and I think top-10 players are All Stars. There's a national showcase for the very good guys on great teams in the playoffs. If Draymond goes in what about Speights? A better, more exciting player IMO. Green is elite defensively, sure, but he also turns it over a lot for a guy with a 16% usage factor. JVG's argument that a guy like Green is harder to find than a "guy who puts up numbers" I'm not sure I agree with. You can find a lot of 6'7" guys who will work and hustle on D, not so many who hang the kind of numbers guys like Cousins put up.

It's weird that JVG is willing to carve out an exemption for KD but not Boogie. I've heard the logic, that he's not an All-Star because his team doesn't win, and I'm not all-in on Boogie because he's kind of a pouty baby, but he has All-Star talent, and in a game that's gonna be won like 159-150 I want to see him. I'd especially like to see him glare at Curry for taking a too-deep three. That would be pretty hilarious and high-quality TV from an exhibition-game standpoint.

[thrill]

You at the game thrill?

Yeah. I went to that [expletive] game. The game sucked but it was fun being downtown when it was hopping for once, rather than the post-apocalyptic wasteland it usually is. All the super bowl stuff was cool.

[MrCrowesGarden]

End the Knicks massive losing streak, end the Hawks massive winning streak. This Pelicans team has to be about as schizophrenic as they come.

[33anda3rd]

They're a lot of fun to watch. I wish there were more nationally televised Hawks games the last few weeks, I'm bummed that I don't have League Pass and can't check them out, but I can see a ton of really really really boring Lakers and Thunder games right now.