NBA Basketball 2006-07: The Thread Part III

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I have to quote that guy below and say "Wow. Wowie wow wow wow."

Christopher-Walken.jpg
 
the NBA & the media is sooooo desperate for LeBron to be "Jordan-like"

saw the highlights, read the reviews... great performance, don't get me wrong. but if scoring 25 straight points in a playoff game once puts him on a jordan like level, where do we put reggie miller? was he jordan like, too? can we have a sliding scale of playoff greatness? like a video game... first you have to pass reggie and jerry west, then you can be compared to michael, magic and larry? and if you can eclipse them, then if you top all them you get to take on bill russell?
 
The 25 straight points in my mind is actually kind of a bad thing.
It shows that nobody else on the Cavs is willing/able to step up late in a big game.
Jordan always had guys like Paxson or Kerr willing to take the open jumper if MJ drew a crowd, the Spurs have Big Cheap Shot Bod, Tony Longoria and Flopper who will respong if Timmay is blanketed....if Lebron has a bad night or a bad stretch late in a close game, the Cavs are cooked.
Hughes or somebody has to be able to step up if they want to win a title.
 
Hewson said:
The 25 straight points in my mind is actually kind of a bad thing.
It shows that nobody else on the Cavs is willing/able to step up late in a big game.
Jordan always had guys like Paxson or Kerr willing to take the open jumper if MJ drew a crowd, the Spurs have Big Cheap Shot Bod, Tony Longoria and Flopper who will respong if Timmay is blanketed....if Lebron has a bad night or a bad stretch late in a close game, the Cavs are cooked.
Hughes or somebody has to be able to step up if they want to win a title.

Exactly. The Spurs are a much more complete team. LeBron needs more people to step up. Otherwise, the Cavs will be swept.
 
haha you said the cavs can win the title

san antonio losing to cleveland would be a much bigger upset than the lakers losing to detroit, and the lakers were better than san antonio is now

i still have to put my money on detroit to win the series... but they're just proving again why they piss you off so much. that layup that lebron hit to put cleveland up... he got by the 1st line of D and the rest of the pistons just stood still... i mean look at 'em

lebronwinninghoop.jpg


4 pistons just watching lebron win the game. how about someone sends him to the line there?? god knows he can't hit free throws... if he could they may have won in regulation (another reason why his performance, while stellar, is not "jordan-like." jordan would have iced it in regulation)
 
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Headache in a Suitcase said:
haha you said the cavs can win the title

san antonio losing to cleveland would be a much bigger upset than the lakers losing to detroit, and the lakers were better than san antonio is now

i still have to put my money on detroit to win the series... but they're just proving again why they piss you off so much. that layup that lebron hit to put cleveland up... he got by the 1st line of D and the rest of the pistons just stood still... i mean look at 'em

lebronwinninghoop.jpg


4 pistons just watching lebron win the game. how about someone sends him to the line there?? god knows he can't hit free throws... if he could they may have won in regulation (another reason why his performance, while stellar, is not "jordan-like." jordan would have iced it in regulation)

This would not have happened in Utah.
You have to earn your points.

I do hope the Cavs upset Detroit.

dbs
 
No one has anything to say about Billy Donovan going to the Magic?

I'm pretty excited about it and really don't think he'll end up a bust like most other college coaches making that transition.
 
LemonMacPhisto said:
No one has anything to say about Billy Donovan going to the Magic?

I'm pretty excited about it and really don't think he'll end up a bust like most other college coaches making that transition.

Two words: Rick Pitino.
 
LemonMacPhisto said:
No one has anything to say about Billy Donovan going to the Magic?

I'm pretty excited about it and really don't think he'll end up a bust like most other college coaches making that transition.
Rick Pitino
John Calipari
Billy Donovan

All very similar, dark, slick hair, expensive suits, ties to New England.
If you are a Magic fan, be afraid, be very afraid.
 
U2@NYC said:


Exactly. The Spurs are a much more complete team. LeBron needs more people to step up. Otherwise, the Cavs will be swept.
If (still a big if), the Cavs get past the Pissed-ons, I see Lebron stealing a game and the Spurs winning in 5.
 
Yeah, the Pitino comparisons are scary.

What happened with Pitino in Boston that was so different than in New York?

Was he given too much power in the front office? Did he not change his college style to fit the NBA game? Was he just overrated in New York to begin with?
 
If I may make a sweeping generalization:

College really is mostly about recruiting well and getting players to fit your system. In the NBA you can't always get all the players you want, so you have to be more flexible, dynamic and creative with the team that you do have.
 
rick pitino had mild success with the knicks when he was just the head coach... his problem in boston wasn't his coaching, it was his GMing.

calipari is a douchebag. he's a hard ass. that doesn't fly in the nba. donovan is a more layed back kinda guy and is much more suited for the NBA.

larry brown certainly hasn't had an issue jumping back and forth between college and the nba.

donovan also played in the nba, all be it briefly and with limited success, whereas neither pitino nor calipari ever did. i wouldn't be that worried about wether or not he has any success... he can coach, he has the right personality. if he doesn't succeed, blame the GM.

and besides... he's a long island guy. he's destined to be great :wink: (yes, i am ignoring the fact that pitino, too, is from long island)
 
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Of course, let us call a spade a spade and say that if Boston had landed the #1 pick in 1997, we may well be singing Pitino's praises now the way we do Popovich. I mean, who was Popovich before Duncan? Now? People utter Popovich's name in 'Top 10 nba coaches of all time' lists.
 
I'm gonna add another one to the list. Tim Floyd. Here's one of the biggest problems to me. You can earn a college kids respect with a system and yelling etc. In the NBA, yelling and throwing clipboards doesn't fly with the "stars" of the league.

One of the reasons I think Donovan will succeed is because he is laid back. But I also think this because of how he gets his team to play together. A huge part of coaching in the nba has nothing to do with plays and drills, but the ability to get your team to co-exist. That's what happens when millions of dollars are thrown at young stars.

Orlando is a great fit for Donovan because right now it has good character guys. Too bad they have to give Detroit their first round draft pick.
 
Not that I hope that Donovan fails, but it would be nice if got fired from the Magic and decided to go coach his alma mater.
 
I'd be shocked if Donovan succeeded, just because of the lack of recent coaches that went from College to the Pros and did well. Been posted about already, but, recently, Calapari, Pitino, Krueger, Montgomery, etc, have failed. So I expect Donovan to fail. However, there has to, eventually, be another exception to this rule....maybe it'll be him.
 
It would have been very interesting to see what happened if Coach K took the Lakers job a few years ago and what type of impact his coaching success or failure had on future college coaches making the jump. I guess the coaching ego will always believe that even though everyone before me has failed, I'll be the guy that succeeds.
 
Agreed, we were talking about that at work after we heard about Donovan...how would Coach K have done in LA. I am glad that we'll never know, I do not like him very much, but his program does amazingly well and he should finish his career at Duke.
 
larry brown, stan van gundy, butch van breda kolff, cotton fitzsimmons... all have been succesful in both college and the pro's. jeff van gundy and lawrence frank were succesful college assistants. popovich was an assistant & a head coach at various colleges, big and small, before getting to san antonio.

it's been done before... there have been some high profile screw ups, but there have been many success stories that just don't get talked about as much. who knows which way donovan will go... i think he'll do well.


oh... and detroit just pissed away their legacy.
 
Headache, I said recent. Agreed that it's been done in the past, and will be done again. Not sure Stan Van Gundy qualifies as a success, though, he's clearly not a failure. Anyway, of all the recent, big-name college coaches, all have failed. I think that recent history aside, you might be right, he has the tools to do well. We shall see. Iavaroni is intriguing to me, really interested to see if all his studying and preparation translates into being a good head coach.

I was so pleased to see Rasheed get the boot and know that the game was over. Adios.
 
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