The 2018-2019 Around the NBA thread

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Klay Thompson is a better shooter than Larry Bird.

That’s an interesting comment. Klay plays in an era where he’s given free reign and encourages to put up as many 3s as possible. I wonder what bird would have looked like now or even then if the consensus thinking was as it is now.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Bird was a great player but he’s way overrated because he’s white.


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I’m thinking you didn’t see Larry play a lot. I hated the Celtics and everything to do with them. But I went to college in Boston and so had to see bird all the friggin time. He was absolutely incredible. He got you exactly what you needed when you needed it. Assist? Got it. Steal? Got it. Basket? Got it. Rebound? Got it. For one of the most unathletic people I’ve ever seen play in the nba he was absolutely a master on the court. Your statement makes me think you downgrade him just because he’s white.

 

[devilalum]

I’m thinking you didn’t see Larry play a lot. I hated the Celtics and everything to do with them. But I went to college in Boston and so had to see bird all the friggin time. He was absolutely incredible. He got you exactly what you needed when you needed it. Assist? Got it. Steal? Got it. Basket? Got it. Rebound? Got it. For one of the most unathletic people I’ve ever seen play in the nba he was absolutely a master on the court. Your statement makes me think you downgrade him just because he’s white.

No, he was really, really good but a lot of Celtic fans will tell you he was the best or top 5. I just think he’s overrated by certain people.


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[AzStevenCal]

No, he was really, really good but a lot of Celtic fans will tell you he was the best or top 5. I just think he’s overrated by certain people.

Okay but if that's your standard for overrated, what star isn't? I don't have him in the top 5 of all time but had it not been for his shortened career, he might well have made it. Some guys are winners, that's Bird in a nutshell.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

No, he was really, really good but a lot of Celtic fans will tell you he was the best or top 5. I just think he’s overrated by certain people.


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I’m not a Celtics fan and it would be tough not to rate him highly. It’s human nature to succumb to recency bias, but I think you’d have to consider him among this group:

MJ
Magic
Bird
Lebron
Wilt
Russell
Duncan
Kareem

Maybe Shaq and Kobe

 

[95pro]

watch at the 4:18 mark, something we see all the time today. The step-back shot.

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[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

watch at the 4:18 mark, something we see all the time today

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Yeah I hated him back in the day, but my god was he great. Imagine him as our power forward right now . . . we would be a contender in a year.

 

[Western Font]

I mean aside from maybe saying he wasn't top 5 all-time but rather top-10, what would you even argue? One thing is that he was always willing to try stuff, and he probably bought himself a lot of free crazy shots because he was also making a lot of crazy passes.

 

[Krangodnzr]

No, he was really, really good but a lot of Celtic fans will tell you he was the best or top 5. I just think he’s overrated by certain people.


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I saw a comparison between LBJ and Bird a few years back that showed that Bird actually put up BETTER numbers during the same point in their careers. Bird was just such a good all around player.

 

[95pro]

I saw a comparison between LBJ and Bird a few years back that showed that Bird actually put up BETTER numbers during the same point in their careers. Bird was just such a good all around player.

yeah I saw the comparison too. I was pretty amazed by it probably because I didn't watch enough bird in my younger days. Too bad his back gave him fits. Bird is more clutch for sure, and also not a little winey flopping beach.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Bird was a great player but he’s way overrated because he’s white.


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One of the most foolish comments I have ever seen on a message board. This is a comment that Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, and many many other players would violently disagree with.

 

[devilalum]

One of the most foolish comments I have ever seen on a message board. This is a comment that Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, and many many other players would violently disagree with.

You never lived in Massachusetts. Those idiots think Bird is the son of god.


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[AzStevenCal]

You never lived in Massachusetts. Those idiots think Bird is the son of god.

Same in Arizona, I know I heard Son of a something or other every time he came to town and stole our lunch money.

 

[1tinsoldier]

damn, that Bird mix gave me goosebumps.
it's heartbreaking to consider how far from that kind of basketball we are today
it could be argued that players like Jordan and Wilt could be more dominant
but no players ever had more heart or were smarter than Magic and Bird on the court
and that translated most spectacularly in their passing
(oddly, imo, it never translated to either's careers in NBA management)

we talk about our rookies and others learning to play with fire
and they might
but Magic & Bird had it in college
and were overflowing with it
from day 1 in the NBA to the day they retired

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

You never lived in Massachusetts. Those idiots think Bird is the son of god.


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If he had brought our suns multiple championships we would have the same thoughts.

 

[devilalum]

If he had brought our suns multiple championships we would have the same thoughts.

Another thing that drives home my original point is this. Old white guys from Boston will actually argue that John Havlicek was a better player than Bill Russell.


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[BC867]

I suspect something along the lines of 2005 Steve Nash but with lock down defense.

We don't need a superstar Point Guard. Just a decent role-playing distributing one -- neither an inexperienced one, one playing out of position or one past his prime. One who can keep up with his counterpart on defense as well. It is not all or nothing.

There have been various suggestions made on ASFN for quite some time. The only ones that matter are the Suns Front Office in trading for or signing one.

But first the man at the top of the money chain has to decide if he wants to win or just count his money and mis-hire and turnover key personnel season after season.

Isn't that what it has all come down to?

 

[Hoop Head]

So Fultz is a bit more broken than the "yips" or whatever some assumed he had. Apparently this can be treated with physical therapy but who knows when, or if, he'll ever return to being the sort of player that he was in college.

Say what you will about his time in college but he played well enough to be a high lottery pick. Perhaps #1 overall was a bit much but he was a good college player who had talent that should have helped him have a decent NBA career.

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[Mainstreet]

The Rockets waive Danuel House.

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[AzStevenCal]

Another thing that drives home my original point is this. Old white guys from Boston will actually argue that John Havlicek was a better player than Bill Russell.

I'm not trying to be snarky but only a fan that didn't watch the two play would be alarmed that some fans might think Havlicek was the better player. He was the best wing defender in the game, capable of facing off against almost any opponent regardless of position. And he was about as clutch as the game has ever seen. IMO, Russell gets either ignored on the greatest lists or overrated, Havlicek just gets ignored. To me, Russell is top 10 and Havlicek is top 20 all time, that kind of difference will almost always have supporters on both sides.

In addition to his match-ups with Wilt, much of Bill's rep comes from the fact the Celtics kept winning championships. But what about Havlicek? He made the All NBA team 11 times and the all defensive team 8 times to go along with his 8 rings. And some of those rings came in a much expanded league without the benefit of the great Celtics players such as Cousy, Sharman, Russell, Jones, Heinsohn, Sanders and others that dominated the 8 or 9 team league from the mid 50's to the late 60's.

 

[AzStevenCal]

We don't need a superstar Point Guard. Just a decent role-playing distributing one -- neither an inexperienced one, one playing out of position or one past his prime. One who can keep up with his counterpart on defense as well. It is not all or nothing.

There have been various suggestions made on ASFN for quite some time. The only ones that matter are the Suns Front Office in trading for or signing one.

But first the man at the top of the money chain has to decide if he wants to win or just count his money and mis-hire and turnover key personnel season after season.

Isn't that what it has all come down to?

Right now, maybe that's all we need but today's game is a lot easier if you have a serious threat handling the ball most of the time.

 

[BC867]

Right now, maybe that's all we need but today's game is a lot easier if you have a serious threat handling the ball most of the time.

'Understood. 'Just waiting for the start of the baby steps.

 

[Russ Smith]

More details starting to come out on the Hoiberg firing. Apparently he had completely lost control of the clubhouse, several people saying players were openly defying him, LaVine in particular but even a guy only recently called up from the G League was openly critical. Hoiberg had heart surgery more than 10 years ago to have a mechanical aortic valve inserted because his own valve was failing. Part of that process apparently is that he had to learn to control his temper and emotions because getting angry elevates his heart rate and is bad for his health.

So he's not just a "nice guy", he's a nice guy who's doing it for health reasons and apparently it reached a point where the players just decided he was the nice uncle who would let them do anything.

 

[Mainstreet]

After waiving Danuel House, the Rockets sign him to a two-way contract. The Rockets added Gary Clark.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/251837/Rockets-Sign-Danuel-House-To-Two-Way-Deal

 

[Hoop Head]

Maybe the Suns are waiting for the Rockets to actually waive Melo? Dare I say he might help. That's how far we've fallen. With Melo we wouldn't be scoring 9 points in the 1st quarter. I'm surprised by that stat about how this is the first time in the shot clock era a team has been held under 10 points in the 1st quarter in back to back games. That's worse than last year 30-40 point blowouts to start the year. We still lose by 30-40 but we just get a head start doing so.