Roy Hibbert on KD and LeBron working out: “Guys do it in a lot of places, like Los Angeles, Miami. Last summer I had the opportunity to work with Tim Duncan. It’s more common than you think. Personally, I couldn’t do it, because whenever I work out with someone, I’m trying to study their tendencies so I can beat them next time I play them. LeBron and Durant hang out all the time; fans are loyal and they get a little upset when they hear those things, but they need to realize that both are pushing each other really hard to be better.”
Henry Abbott of TrueHoop with something I’ve thought about myself: “Remember when we were kids and people got all worked up if you wore dress shoes or high heels on the gym floor? Nowadays, VIPs, officials, media and the like scramble all over NBA floors wearing whatever they like on their feet. There are dogs, and even horses and motorcycles in timeouts and halftimes. And I’ve never seen anybody complain. What’s that about? Is the finish better now? Is it because there are people to clean up the scuff marks? Were they just totally nuts to yell at as so much back in school? In any case, worlds are colliding, probably for the worse. An invite to Warriors Media Day includes this: “We ask that EVERYONE attending Media Day wear flat bottomed, non-marking shoes (preferably tennis shoes or shoes with a similar bottom).”
Thunder blogger Alex Roig on the last roster spot: “I’d say it’s a two man battle between Hollis Thompson and DeAndre Liggins. These two players are both long, which fits into the Thunder’s DNA, with Liggins being more defensive minded, and Thompson being more of a 3-point shooter. With so much of the offense being predicated on dribble penetration, the team would probably benefit from another shooter on the team. So, I would give the nod to Thompson, with Orton, Liggins, and Rautins leading the Tulsa 66ers the NBDL title.”
James Harden could serve you chicken on Thursday.
Seattle’s City Council approved a new arena.
Sportige on KD’s improvements: “And it’s the ability to bring a team together, and take over a game when it matters the most. He’s shown it at every stage in the playoffs except the finals. He’s shown it with the national team in the world championships in 2010 and the Olympics in 2012. Three months ago, against a better LeBron James in the NBA finals, Durant took a step back. He didn’t play badly, he just wasn’t great. And that’s where the Thunder need Durant to reach – greatness, not as much in the regular season where there’s plenty of talent to spread the scoring around, as in the biggest moment, the biggest stage. Being a Finals MVP, and being the player that simply rises above the rest with more than his scoring in the final series of the season.”
NBA reactions to last night’s Monday Night Football disaster.
So, I'm going to assume that most Raising Cane's employees make a maximumum of $8/hour. What does a James Harden make for his hour?
And will his 2nd job in Edmond be enough to convince the Beard to accept less and sign in OKC?
@D@nny last year it was #NOROSCOES now it's #NORAISINGCANES
Anyone else think it's pretty funny that Mark Cuban is up on the "expensive heat" lingo?
I think that a player like Kobe, Wade or Durant are much harder to come by than a shaq, lebron or howard.. Dudes like lebron shaq or howard are dominant players that can carry you on their backs and win you 50+ and get you far in the playoffs but IMO but are much harder to win a ring with..I think a player like Kobe or Durant who are legit closers are easier to build around because they can close out teams and take over in the 4th, You give them enough talent and i'll they'll take you to the promise land... I'd build my team around Kobe , Wade or Durant rather than Shaq, Lebron, Howard or even Duncan IMO,,what yall think?
@kennygee90 I would put lebron in with durant and kobe, however, big men win championships, with the exception of the pistons, all of the titles won had an all star or superstar PF or center.
@f5alcon what i meant was you can put an all star around Kobe and he'll win a ring, Shaq needed a superstar next to him, same with lebron..and duncan would've faced more problems, if the lakers would've rebuilt around Kobe quicker
@kennygee90 @f5alcon Kobe doesn't have a weakness? Not once in his entire career has he been as efficient and effective of a scorer as Lebron or KD these last two years. He's also been a below average outside shooter for his career. And that's without "intangible" faults like ball dominance at the expense of better shots/more efficient teammates.
Kobe has had a great career, one of the best, but everybody has flaws. Look at what happened to the Lakers when Shaq got shipped out, they dropped out of the playoffs and to first round fodder until Memphis gave them Gasol. That was with Kobe in his prime. Shaq single handedly made the Magic viable contenders and carried Kobe to his first 3 championships. Lebron consistently carried scrubs in Cleveland into the playoffs and even to the finals.
It sounds like you are an LA fan, which is fine, but it also seems to have colored your perception of the facts. Lebron-Shaq-Howard are better players than Kobe-Wade-Durant. Simple human scarcity says there are fewer people that ever lived with the physical size/talent of Lebron-Shaq-Howard, and the fact that those three were/are also incredible basketball players is moreso unique. Numbers back up that being a "closer" is both overrated and skewed by perception. Kobe isn't even a great closer, he's just closed well some of the hundreds of times he was given the opportunity. No one seems to remember all the (very numerous) times he failed to close.
We all tend to see the players we like in the light we want them to be. If you are a Kobe fan, you question everyone else when LA loses and give him generous praise when LA wins (regardless of his true individual game). Lebron haters and lovers are the same way. KD lovers will always talk about how he drew defensive attention and is a great leader, even when he shoots poorly and adds little in other areas. KD haters (and there will only be more as he goes along) will continue to point to his lazy defense no matter if OKC wins the championship.
The fact is, there are a handful of transcendent players at any time. Having one gives you a leg up on a championship. But having any one guarantees nothing. You can't win a championship with just Kobe, just Wade, or just Durant. You can't win with just Lebron, just Dwight, or just Shaq either. Jordan never won alone, nor did Magic, Bird, or Russell.
@f5alcon give Kobe in his prime, wade and Bosh and he would've won both rings hell if the Lakers had a prime Kobe they would've beat OKC last year...Yea Kobe needed shaq cause no one else on the Lakers could create his own shot at the time..Kobe doesn't have a weakness, he just needs a great team around him like any star..what im saying is you can interchange alot of parts around Kobe and he can still win, I dont think you can do the same with Shaq, cause he played on great teams before Kobe and lost
@kennygee90 lebron made the finals twice with a team of scrubs, kobe needed shaq who was the best center at the time or Pau who is one of the best PFs. If you switched them, I don't think the heat would have won a title with kobe last year, maybe not even at his prime kobe. Kobe is a great finisher but he needs somebody else to fill in his weaknesses.
@kennygee90 Considering all of those players have either won or have been to the Finals, I'd build my team around any of them.
@Arent @kennygee90 Wade and Kobe have only won with big men dominating the opposition. Durant hasn't won. The "closer" is a relatively unsupported idea.
@kennygee90 I was a big shaq fan, until he became a tool, and yeah he was a lazy player, he could have been GOAT if he put the work in.
@senseandsenescence @Arent I know what it means..You'd have to be a Laker fan to realize how bad it was sometimes..Shaq can be one of the laziest players you'll ever see..There's a reason we lost in 03 to the spurs and it was him..Yea he was a good defender overall..but you wont realize it when a team pick n'roll's you to death in the 4th quarter of a playoff game and you lose..I didnt say shaq was a bad defender
@kennygee90 @Arent You have no idea what a defensive rating is. It is how many points are scored against the team over 100 possession while the player is on the floor. If Shaq were truly horrible at defending anything his defensive rating would be a lot lower.
@senseandsenescence @Arent shaq and defensive ratings is a little misleading..shaq was a great post defender but used to be a liability on defence cause of his horrible pick n' roll defence ala bynum..teams played it all game long to take advantage of shaq's laziness and slow feet..
@kennygee90 @Arent Shaq had the 4th highest defensive rating of anyone that played more than a handful of minutes and was something like 7th on rebounding%. As they say defense wins championships.
Pau had an amazing TS% and a DRtg that compared favorably to Dwight Howard and LeBron. Definitely pretty dominate.
@senseandsenescence @Arent Gasol wasnt a dominating big man, he was a skilled one..shaq wasnt dominant while he was on the Heat either
@kennygee90 Did you watch this year's playoffs?
@senseandsenescence I think Lebron won because his team was just much better and made better adjustments, not because he closed OKC out..If OKC would've made the games close I think Durant would've closed them out...if this was a Durant at 27 he would've beat the Heat IMO..his really young, dont forget that
@kennygee90 @OBoymuzik @senseandsenescence Lakers/Kings is a pretty dubious example bro
@kennygee90 @OBoymuzik @senseandsenescence I think a very important thing to note here is that being the most dominant for any three quarters should trump being the most dominant for any 5 minute stretch. Games appear to be won at the end when the score is close, but games are only close by playing strong until that point. You say Lebron is the best for the first 3 quarters, but yet he was also statistically the best in the 4th as well. I think people remember his failures with more clarity than his successes, but that shouldn't diminish that he succeeded more than anyone else.
@OBoymuzik @senseandsenescence im not trying to make him look weak, Lebron is the most dominant player other than shaq in the first 3 quarters, that ive ever seen.. Im just saying its harder to win a ring with him rather than Durant..cause once you find a closer you can fit other parts around him and he'll win..Its harder to build a team around shaq or lebron if you dont have a closer
@kennygee90 @senseandsenescence i agree with what you're saying about durant but i don't think you're giving lebron enough credit.
@OBoymuzik @senseandsenescence I just think Durant wants that moment and thats what he plays forLebron doesnt,..when games get tight in close games you want your star to carry you in the back and win you the game..Lebron won cause Durant hasn't reached that level YET..If this was Durant at 27, I think he could carry OKC to a ring in the 4th quarter..I've seen it done with Kobe before and i can tell Durant has that fire in him..There were times with Kobe especially in the 3peat where he'd completely take over a 4th quarter and lead great comebacks or close out teams that were equally as talented or even more like the Kings..When Durant reaches that level and you actually see it as a fan for yourself, I'm sure you'll change your mind..
@kennygee90 maybe you should try to use a stat, not espn narratives when trying to make arguments.
@kennygee90 @senseandsenescence I think Lebron kind of pulled a fast one last year. I laughed at him all those games in the regular season he dished off to Haslem for the last shot, or let Wade try some impossible shot. He did it until the 2nd round when he hit Chalmers for a missed game winner against the Pacers and then stopped. From then on he was good at the end of games.
I think Lebron is more predictable than Durant in the 4th quarter but that doesn't make Durant better.
@senseandsenescence You can use all the stats you want but i've seen this guy shrink in the moment enough times to know his not one...I'd take Durant over him any day of the week in the 4th quarter right now
@kennygee90 The fact that you actually think LeBron is a bad "closer" or even that you need a "closer" to win a championship is truly laughable.
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/sports/nba/nba-analysis-tendency-overrate-closers-and-clutchness
@senseandsenescence Yes they won cause of that, but you think if harden would've showed up and the games were seriously close in the last 3 minutes durant can close it out? I've seen Kobe do it to countless teams , who play better the whole game only for him to take over in the 4th and close them out...When Durant hits his prime you'll realize what i'm talking about..
@kennygee90 The Heat won because LeBron was dominate in the post. When OKC doubled he hit the open man for three. Wade was about the fourth reason we lost.
The idea that someone "closes" games is largely manufactured. All superstars can do it with varying degrees of effectiveness, but some are intelligent enough to know that the team concept is better than 1 v. 5 most of the time.
@cleandoe I saw the light last night and have the solution to your stats problem. It will take a lot of work to properly calibrate, but once calibrated will be easily calculable from comments and likes only.
One person who might benefit from last night's debacle: David Stern. His iron-fisted management (or mismanagement) of the NBA doesn't seem quite as bad today.
But, man, it's not a good time to be a major league commissioner: Goodell (heavy-handed tyrant, who, on behalf of his owner-bosses, is managing to tarnish the image of the most marketable league); Stern (heavy-handed tyrant, who, on behalf of his owner-bosses, managed to further tarnish the image of the NBA at a time when the product was better than ever); Selig (cotton-headed ninny muggins); [insert name of NHL commissioner] (seemingly helping to make an unpopular sport less popular).
@divisadero Gary Bettman is the NHL commissioner. 3rd work stoppage during his tenure including 1 cancelled season. If it weren't for Canadian and US NE hockey passion, there would be no league to speak of.
@ThunderBelize @divisadero Yeah, hockey fans don't exactly love Bettman. Aren't really a huge fan of his Sun-Belt expansion teams either
@Arent @ThunderBelize I obviously don't follow hockey very closely, but from what little I've seen, it has the potential to be hugely compelling. And, yeah, even as a casual observer, it seems wrong to take hockey franchises from Canada and plant them in places like Florida. (That said, I'm originally from San Jose, and the Sharks are very popular there. So it is possible to market hockey in regions in which hockey is not a native sport.)
@cemitten
What is your email?
Send it to cleandoeDT@gmail.com if you don't want it on here
@cemitten
Wait ou_sas. You can't see the poll if you're not signed in.
Are you?
@cleandoe @cemitten I am, but I forgot, I have two accounts that got set up 5 years apart... and the only difference is an underscore. Switched accounts, found it, voted.
@cleandoe @cemitten Good call.
@cleandoe cemitten gmail.
@cemitten
Sent.
@cemitten @cleandoe auction is going to be interesting in such a large league.
@cleandoe i'm just awful at them.
@cemitten why?
what is wrong with an auction?
@cleandoe an auction, seriously? I'll go ahead and take last place.
@cleandoe I belatedly realized I gave up far too much anonymity with my username on here. Never expected to comment so much. Oh well.
@cemitten @cleandoe
Yes, Clark, I think you might've . . .
@cleandoe @cemitten Cemitten aka The Tiebreaker
@OBoymuzik @cleandoe @cemitten
This is like the swing vote on Survivor. Btw, that would be a great topic for a time when there's nothing better to talk about: Which DT poster(s) would last the longest on Survivor? Who would be the schemers? the bosses? the final four? the million-dollar winner? the fan favorite (consolation)? the first to go? :)
@BallSoHarden
Sustainable success . . . hmmmm . . . where have we heard that before? :) That really is the most important thing health-wise. The folks who aren't of that mindset likely will have put everything back on before the holdiays are over. Keep us posted and good luck!
@ThunderChick2010 It's not as serious as you think. And the competition isn't very stiff. I should ease my way to victory. I have done BL where I worked out like crazy. This time, I want to focus more on eating habits and sustainability. It's more about the goal than winning everyone's 10 bucks. Now if it was1K bucks....
@BallSoHarden
And btw, I'm not a doctor . . . I only play one on DT.
@BallSoHarden
My advice? (Like you asked!) For purposes of the contest--if you're serious about winning--3 days/week is good, but not enough. I'd go with 5-6 days/week and lower the intensity somewhat (brisk walking with short spurts of jogging or some challenging hills). If you're exhausted, you're working too hard. Higher frequency and duration at lower intensity might serve you better. :)
@ThunderChick2010
I believe we are ending it right before Thanksgiving. It's a pretty short time period. I need to lose some weight anyway, so it was a good trade-off. A trip to Vegas would be much more of an incentive. However, we are just doing a $10 buy-in. Pretty weak. You are right on with "better choices, more often". I am starting to just try and do something that is sustainable. i.e. instead of trying to run 5 days a week (and get worn out after a month), I exercise 3 times a week. I may be in better shape running 5 times a week, but I usually end up way too exhausted or suffer a small injury from trying to be a track star. A reasonable workout is what will enable sustainabilty.
@BallSoHarden @ThunderChick2010 What ever you try to do, weight loss wise, make sure it's a change you can commit to long after you've lost the weight. It makes no sense to give up carbs until you lose the weight, then let yourself get back on them as soon as you're there. It has to be a lifestyle change you're comfortable with. That's why portion control probably works better than just cutting out X.
@BallSoHarden
What's your timeframe on the contest? I actually won an 8-month local BL contest several years ago although I didn't have a major amount to lose. (Won a trip to Vegas!) The main reason I came out on top--or bottom--was that nearly everyone else dropped out as the contest went along. I'm definitely a tortoise rather than a hare and it's worked for me. Just remember: better choices, more often. It's the only way to keep it off.
@ThunderChick2010
Lost 3.5 lbs my first week. Was most likely due to over-indulging before initial weigh in. I'm not counting carbs, but I am trying to stick to the low carb diet. I have eaten mostly chicken/pork with a variety of veggies for most meals. I do feel the difference - I dont feel as crappy post-meal. I also did "insanity" the morning before weigh in.
@BallSoHarden @ThunderChick2010
But I like my carbs . . . and I don't believe in counting . . . so more complex carbs, more often. How's your deal going, BSH? Is amputation looking feasible?
@ThunderChick2010 No More Carbs!
@Tronchaser @OBoymuzik @cleandoe @cemitten
Hey Tron, I thought of you last night as I was eating a bunch of carbs. :) I've been a little lax in the offseason--too much play and not enough work--kinda like James Harden, but minus the strip club/yacht party aspect. Anyway, you've inspired me to do better! :)
@ThunderChick2010 @OBoymuzik @cleandoe @cemitten I would win, TC. Sooooo obvious.
@ThunderChick2010 @cleandoe @OBoymuzik @cemitten Survivor is just a real life version of the old board game Diplomacy. The sweetest tongue with the sharpest knife usually forged the strongest alliances, dictated the action and stabbed their puppet in the back for the win!
@cleandoe @OBoymuzik @cemitten
Agree. Ou_sas would definitely win--kind of a younger version of Bob Crowley who won several years ago. He'd have some competition from the Richard Hatch-like justin. TaoMaas, Jooseppi, El Prez, Old Man Game would be crafty players. Bryson would last a long time, mainly because he's so young and athletic. OBoy would be cleverly pulling the strings behind the scenes while appearing to be everyone's friend. Of course, you couldn't take your eyes off Jax either. I think MisterJohnsonOKC, OkcBaby, and Lost Ones would go down in flames rather quickly. Okay, back to work . . .
@ThunderChick2010 @OBoymuzik @cemitten
ou_sas would win. Crow would come close.
I'd be in the high middle. You wouldn't win but we'd spare you, Kate Upton
@ThunderChick2010 @cleandoe @cemitten we had it already, dynamictrio won