NBA 10-11

[Maclowery]

Watched the Bulls opener tonight. Some of the absolute worst official bias I've ever seen. It was just awful. I had to have watched a dozen plays that were blatant non-fouls called, or blatant OKC calls not called. Not just Durant - Jeff freaking Green had multiple favorable calls in the first half. Jeff Green!

Not that the Bulls didn't deserve to lose in that second half. Rose had a stunning first half, attacking the basket at will. Then in the 2nd half, he decided instead to jack up any half-open jumper he could, missing most of them. Thibodeau inexplicably played Bogans for 36 freaking minutes tonight. Brian Scalabrine played significant time. James Johnson played alright in the preseason and was a DNP-CD. Omer Asik kicked ass in the preseason and got 5 minutes. Brewer played just as terribly in this game as he did in the preseason, so no one was surprised there.

The only positives I took out of it were Noah working his ass off, as usual, and Taj Gibson doing a great job in Boozer's stead. I guess the fact that we kept it close through 3 quarters of stunningly bad officiating, no Boozer, Brewer and Korver apparently hurt or something, and Rose falling apart, should be something positive to take away.

Oh, and screw you CJ Watson. This isn't a playground game, nor a Golden State Lets-Try-For-135-Points game. Set up an offense. Pass the ball. You're a point guard, you aren't playing 21. Prick.

[Socnorb11]

It was nice to see George Karl come back to the bench after his cancer treatments. And watch the ovation he received. And see the Nuggets beat the Jazz, 110-88.

+++

[thrill]

Lebron was out of the game from the 9:07 mark to the 7:22 mark in the 4th quarter. He left the game for a minute and a half, and played the last 7 and a half minutes of the game. I do not see the issue here. The coach gave him a minute and a half breather so he would be rested for the final stretch of the game. There is no story here.

Soc, I'm not talking about whether or not Spoelstra was right to sit him at that moment. I'm not even talking about how many minutes I think LeBron should play. I'm talking about how if Erik Spoelstra wants to be the long-term head coach of the Miami Heat, sometimes he's going to have to ignore his better coaching instincts and let LeBron and Wade dictate to him what happens in the game. I'm not saying that's right or smart in terms of win's and losses. I'm saying if he wants to keep his job, he needs to realize he's not in charge. He's behind Riley, Wade and LeBron in the chain of command.

Oh, and screw you CJ Watson. This isn't a playground game, nor a Golden State Lets-Try-For-135-Points game. Set up an offense. Pass the ball. You're a point guard, you aren't playing 21. Prick.

I miss Kirk.

[Socnorb11]

I see the point you're making now, thrill. Sorry.

Yeah, it will be interesting to follow the dynamics of that team.

[MrSaigon]

You really think Mavs #2? I haven't been that impressed with their offseason, what do you see that looks so good?

Their offseason was last year's trade deadline, but beyond that, it's more what the other teams in the west didn't do. I think it's a little early still for the Thunder, the Spurs are old, the Suns have a roster of soft, small forwards, the Nuggets are going to lose Carmelo, the Rockets are intriguing but Yao could be dead, the Blazers are overrated by their fans (sorry, Sai) and too dependent on injury prone dudes, the Jazz are a mystery because they've lost so many old hands to the Bulls and Al Jefferson sucks on defense and the Mavs are experienced. The West is weaker and almost by default they are that high.

Internet Blazers fans are the worst. Absolutely. Blazers fans are cool. Games at the Rose Garden or at the bar are always fun. We even do reasonably well with all the jackass transplat Lakers fans. But the Blazers fans in cyberspace are entirely insufferable.

Simmons new ESPN idea:
"ESPN Rip City" -- Wall-to-wall Blazers coverage delivered in the most ingratiating way possible for those soccer mom fanatics from Portland. That's right, gushing hyperbole about every Blazer combined with vitriolic attacks on every media member who dares to cross them! Running features include, "Brandon Roy vs. Michael Jordan: Closer Than You Think," "Why Wesley Matthews Was a Bigger Summer Signing Than LeBron" and "Oden vs. Durant: This Isn't Over Yet."

The thing is, he is hardly exaggerating. And he's always bagging on them too, so I'm sure he's always hearing it from them. If any NBA writer says something as innocuous as 'the Blazers still look like a first round and out team,' Blazers fans online lose it and send them 10,000 emails. And you truthfully still can't say the Blazers f'd up the Oden draft on their forum boards. A few people will see reason there, but most people will rail against you. And I don't even mean people defending the original pick, as I will do, but I mean people will still say they'd rather have Oden right now.

[thrill]

I'll say a couple things about the Blazers. First, I love them because I love when small market cities have awesome fan bases. I've always wanted to go to a game there. I think they're just a great fan base and a good franchise. I also think there's no reason they can't be contending for the 2-4 seed in the West if they are all healthy. I just think between Camby, Roy and Oden there's too much injury risk.

[MrSaigon]

The Blazers have a lot of good pieces. It will be an interesting year. This team will be excellent if Oden can be healthy. If not, they will still be pretty good, but ultimately I think they will need to make some changes to take it to the next level, mostly Aldridge, who is good but super soft (Griffin-9 offensive boards last night) but will work great if Oden is in the middle. Also they have the contracts of Miller and Pryzbilla to move in trade this year. I could see Portland finishing anywhere between 2 and 7. But it will be a fun year.

[stlouie_lipp]

ESPN has hit an embarrassing low point with their pregame coverage of the Heat/Magic game. This is why I only watch that channel for national games that I can't get anywhere else. God, I hate ESPN.

[jim]

Derrick Rose is becoming one of my favorite athletes in sports. He's getting more exposure and we are getting a chance to see the person a little more, and he seems incredibly grounded. I know not to read much into these snippets, but you can't help but really like the guy when you see him interviewed. Last night when they asked him about his signature line of shoes for Adidas that came out, he said something like he couldn't believe it because when he was a kid he couldn't afford those kinds of shoes, he had to get his from Payless.

[thrill]

Derrick Rose is becoming one of my favorite athletes in sports. He's getting more exposure and we are getting a chance to see the person a little more, and he seems incredibly grounded. I know not to read much into these snippets, but you can't help but really like the guy when you see him interviewed. Last night when they asked him about his signature line of shoes for Adidas that came out, he said something like he couldn't believe it because when he was a kid he couldn't afford those kinds of shoes, he had to get his from Payless.

Then he did this.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peMAk1NW ... r_embedded][/youtube]