NBA 2013?14 Season

Lasch

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I guess I can agree once Kyrie shows signs of improving. All star break far enough into the season to judge?
 

Gaige

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All this Paul George MVP shit seems to have been a year or two premature lol.

Edit: How desperate the Pacers are for the #1 seed reminds me of the Bulls. It's so funny. Acting like games in December matter. I got news for them and everyone else: The Heat made the Finals without home court already. They're great on the road in the playoffs. This isn't even the real Heat team yet anyway, we'll have Oden in the playoffs.
 

Hippos

Silver Knight of the Realm
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All this Paul George MVP shit seems to have been a year or two premature lol.
You come at the king, you best not miss.
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Gilgamel

A Man Chooses....
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They better have Oden because Hibbert is giving them fits now. I think Indy might go into the playoffs the favorite.
 

Gaige

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I think you're the team to beat but this is some fanboy bullshit right here.
Not really, did you see Hibbert have his way with the Heat? The Pacers are the primary reason they signed Oden in the first place. I assume by the playoffs he'll be able to contribute some quality minutes.
 

Slaythe

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I'd bet money he plays less than 3 MPG in the playoffs. If he's even on the active roster.
 

Gaige

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So you think he's done then, at such a young age? Miami seems to be handling his rehab well. Ah well if that's the case I assume the Pacers series will go 7 games again =x
 

Slaythe

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He was always really productive when he played, but you're asking a lot for a guy to step in after three years away from the game straight into playoff basketball.
 

ham

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George is shooting so much more and at such a higher % than his career average I have a hard time believing it'll keep up

Chris Paul is absolutely in KD's league, nobody would start a franchise with him over KD, but it's Lebron, KD, Paul, then everyone else (Curry/George/Westbrook)

Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins are going to be top 10 players in the league by the end of the season probably. I hate to discredit Kevin Love, but he's been in the league a while now to have done absolutely nothing as far as wins go
 

Slaythe

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The last team Love played a full season on had Darko and Wes Johnson sporting starting minutes.
 

Gaige

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George is shooting so much more and at such a higher % than his career average I have a hard time believing it'll keep up
Ya that too. His efficiency is off the charts. I don't think Oden is going straight into playoff basketball, he has an entire year to get ready for it.
 

Slaythe

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Granger makes the team better, sure, but the question is how much? All he's really going to do is end up eating into the plus minutes Lance Stephenson and George already get which ends up a net wash for Lance and a net minus for George. Like ok, Soloman Hill probably doesn't have to play the 8 subpar minutes a game he does now and that's a good thing for them, but it's not as huge of a deal as it might seem at first glance.
 

Djay

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Oh, so we're talking about the 2015 playoffs? :p Sure, Oden might be ready by then.

Up to even two years ago Lebron had holes in his game that I thought could be exploited. But he's continued to work...developed a post game, but more importantly he developed an outside shot. The only strategy now is that Lebron is going to get his, so try to stop everyone else. The Heat could walk in with Lebron, Bosh, Allen, Slaythe, and myself as their only 5 players and have a shot at the title. He's a Top 4 All-Time player now.
I'm not going to do the analyst thing and pretend that I know what's going to happen in the playoffs. Miami was on the brink of being knocked out in both of the last two playoffs. We can't go back in time to put Hibbert or Duncan in at the end of those games...on the other side of the coin, there's no way anyone can predict how a 7-game series is going to end 5-6 months from now. I'm just going to enjoy that we have good basketball to watch again and watch the story unfold instead of trying to write it before it does.
 

Slaythe

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I think Miami without Wade puts a little too much on LeBron's shoulders. I mean, that team would still go far, but I'm not sure it could win a championship. They're obviously pacing Wade to the extreme though and he's still very much a great player when healthy. He's the x factor to me.

I agree about LeBron though. I don't really care about him as a person one way or another. I wish he would have stayed in Cleveland, but in all honesty that's his decision to make and not mine. I can certainly look past the hate and realize just how good he is though. Best since Jordan and he has no competition for that spot.
 

Djay

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It was always about HOW he left Cleveland more than that he did. I probably would have left too (management and coaching was horrible), but I wouldn't have made it the event he did...unless I was planning on staying.

I really think Wade has always been overhyped, so it's hard for me to say anything nice about him. That said, when I looked at his stats, I think I remember finding his assist and rebound totals to be higher than I thought they'd be. He's a better contributor than I initially gave him credit for. Objectively, I still don't think he's a Top-50 All-Time player. I think if you put his skill set in any other point in NBA history (IE, when they could play tougher man defense), he has a hard time getting minutes as a guard that's such a below-average outside shooter. I think he's dirty and that he gets bailed out by officials on his drives WAY too much.
But you're right that he does take some of the load off of Lebron...you can't really deny they've developed a bit of chemistry after Wade finally took the Robin role, as well. I'd argue Bosh is more important for the Heat than Wade is, though. Obviously, it's best to have all 3, but if I could only have 2? Give me Lebron and Bosh. Chalmers, Allen, Battier, Lebron, Bosh works. I don't think you can make a sustainable lineup without Bosh...unless Oden actually does come back healthy.
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Gaige

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I guess I'm just optimistic about Oden because everyone knows the Trailblazers training staff is garbage. Look at Brandon Roy. Miami actually has a good training staff and they're doing Oden nice and slow so I think he has a shot.
 

MAXPOWERS_sl

shitlord
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Yes, look at Brandon Roy. He did a lot when he left Portland and went to Minny.... Oh wait.

Granger will cut into SHills minutes as well as Orlando Johnson's minutes. Plus he can play spot minutes at the 4 if Indy wants to load up with shooters and have Mt Hibbert in the middle.