#hoopstalk

🏀 🧠 🔥 💬 🚨

Ever stop to think 🤔 why **zones** became a thing in the NBA? 🏀🧠

There’s strategy, control, and mind games behind it! 🔥

Oh man - it’s on. In a big way.

I watched four straight games yesterday - and it was amazing.

Good to see OKC getting a couple of tidy wins early, Russ pushing from game one. Sabonis has had some nice touches too... and happy to see Steven Adams back after missing those pre-season games. He had some solid finishes at the rim in the crunch time against Phoenix (I think they might be my least favourite team this year...) and making those all important free throws when it counts. Good lad. Maybe we should all be friends?

Golden State opening night. Well one thing is clear - it’s a new season, and things are going to be different this time around. Good to get the 24-0 monkey off their back right out of the gates haha... disasterous. I wouldn’t be surprised if they put a monstrous streak of wins together later in the season though, but no one wants to open on a loss. Larriors and all that. Power to the Spurs - they look excellent, and man Kawhai is looking strong. I love his points shoulder muscles. Nice to see Durant’s post up offense at times (mostly when he makes it), which is a bit of a new offensive option for us, and enjoying his over all presence on the court. I think Klay Thompson is going to have a blinder this year, just needs to get it going.

Mo Buckets is ripping up for the Clippers this year. I’m sad to see him go, but looks like he’s a good fit with Doc Rivers, and he’ll be appreciated there. They have a tidy looking bench in the works... ‘HERE COMES AUSTIN RIVERS...’

Damian Lillard is looking dangerous. I just always worry that an injury might destroy his career at any moment - but hot dang is he exciting to watch.

Already had 2 results spoilt for me via Facebook, so I’m thinking I will have to abstain from reading the news and social media until the end of the day after I’ve watched all the games I’m interested in. 

The TAB account took a bit of a hammering on the opening days : )

Good couple of days coming up with Golden State v Portland / OKC v Clips, and then the big one GSW v OKC Nov 3.

I’m giddy as a school kid over here : )

Hey MS!

Well we are getting closer and closer to tip off for real - only 10 days to go. I’ve got the TAB account topped up and ready to roll. Not gonna make the mistake of guessing rugby outcomes this time - stick to the truth I reckon ; )

I’ve been enjoying watching the pre-season outings. Generally watch the first half and then skip to the final scores, which means I’m quickly learning some of the new faces and line ups in the league. Bit a bit of an issue watching the last two GSW games though...

... The hell is this?! You can’t create a real-deal super team and then not cover their pre-season games... I can watch the 76ers play Washington if I want - so I’ve got that going for me I guess... grrrrrr

Now I’m on the topic of issues... what is this?!

Still... not as bad as this one...

ewwwwwww.

This year I’m gonna watch all the GSW games, and keep an eye on:

OKC - love me some Westbrook / Adams

Rockets

Trailblazers

Knicks

Spurs

Cavs

Clippers

Jazz

Mavs

Bulls

and then any other interesting match ups. Will be interesting to see how the Timberwolves do this year too ; )

Trust the process.

JB!

I am pumped to be talking hoops with you again man, gotta love that feeling of anticipation with a fresh season just around the corner. This one’s a little weird for me with a few players that I grew up watching heading into retirement. Tim Duncan, who I got so much joy watching over the years. He was so consistently dominant I almost took it for granted and thought he would keep playing till the 2049-50 season. Kevin Garnett is gone too and of course no more Kobe but what a way to go out - firing till the end. Just hope these guys stay involved in the game in some way in the future.

As far as the offseason transactions go there’s obviously only one we need to discuss... You know I’m not sad or bitter about KD going, all last season I started to get used to the fact that he might leave, sort of like you can feel like a relationship is coming to an end but you kind of ignore it because you like watching the same shows together. Also he has been slowly turning into the league’s new villain which has been pretty odd to watch. You know I love me some Westbrook so I can’t wait to see what he does this season.

You got to feel pretty happy with how the Dubs have tooled up going into this year. KD, Klay and Steph just seem too powerful but hey you never know they may buckle under their own weight. Their bench is a little weaker but when you add a weapon like Durant I don’t think that will be their downfall.

The one guy I would also like to mention coming into this year is Paul George. I get the vibe that he is going to put up some great numbers this year, watching him work against the Raps in the playoffs was scary.

Few pre-season games tomorrow to discuss including the Thunder’s 1st outing.

So here we go, I can’t wait.

June 27th, 2013- Todays the day of the NBA draft, a day that marks the beginning of a new era of young, talented, and 'potential-to-be' one of the greats. Each year, this day brings excitement and uncertainty to every basketball fan, whether it be the players involved, the team, the organization, and even the fans. Today is the day of the top recruits heavily looked at throughout the year(s) of their college basketball careers

The Cleveland Cavaliers have the 1st overall pick in todays draft, what they decide to do with it has brought many fans to a nervous state of mind. Many have the Cavs taking highly coveted Nerlens Noel with the 1st pick, but others have the Ukranian Center from Maryland, Alex Len. There have also been many trade speculations that have gone through the media such as the T-Wolves getting an offer for Kevin Love (other players involved) and as well as the Orlando Magic involving Aaron Affalo. This is simply an opinion, but if i were the Cavaliers GM, I would trade down to one of the top 5 teams in exchange for a big man (Okafor assuming he states he'd resign) , that teams pick (3rd pick), and a wing player (Martell Webster perhaps?). The Wizards are giving up a lot in this but the Cavs would most definitely have to include other players for this trade to happen. However, this gives the Cavs 2 bigmen in the paint (Okafor and Varejao) with their young talents who can learn from them (Tristain Thompson and Tyler Zeller), another wing player who has shown potential of holding his own in the 12-13 season, and the 3rd pick to land a SG in either Victor Oladipo or Ben McLemore, as they are very weak depth wise at the SG position with Wayne Ellington and Daniel Gibson under contract this offseason. 

Next up is the Orlando Magic, who have the 2nd overall pick in this years draft.  Just looking at this teams roster on paper seems like they have LOTS of potential to be one of the up and coming surprise teams. With Hedo Turkoglu being a free agent, I don't see the Magic picking up his contract after the "contributions" he's brought to this team. The Magic have shown that they DO in fact have players who can contribute. Although the team finished last in the league, keep in mind, the Magic were without Glen Davis for the majority of the season. With Glen Davis playing, the team was 11-11, a .500 team. Im not saying Orlando would have finished .500+ with Glen Davis playing, but certainly they would have finished the season with a much better record than the 9-51 record they ended with. There have been many trade rumours that the Magic have been trying to deal Aaron Affalo but I just don't see the point in it. He's a great asset to have who has shown he can score for this team, especially now that JJ Redick is gone from taking away from his minutes. The Orlando Magic is one of the young teams to watch for with Jameer Nelson, Affalo, Tobias Harris, Vucevic, and Big Baby starting. The only position their quite weak on is SF, although Tobias Harris has shown flashes of what he can do, their depth at that position is lacking. The Orlando Magic should be looking to draft a SF in this years draft and what better player to draft than Georgetowns Otto Porter Jr.  If Jacque Vaughn can develop these young studs into role players, watch out for the Orlando Magic in the next couple of years.  

The Nations Capital, the Washington Wizards...Oh boy..This team has A LOT of work to do in the coming years. They were lucky to jump up into the top 3 of this years draft. Although they finished 23rd in the league, they need to restart this make-over of a team. The Wizards have a good front court duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal to play with but their backcourt needs to change. Although my belief is that Victor Oladipo should be a top 3 pick, I don't see the Wizards drafting yet another guard when they're so heavy on guards already. The Wizards need to focus on drafting a big man, even though i haven't seen much of UNLV star Anthony Bennett nor Alex Len of Maryland, the Wiz' needs to draft 1 of the 2. Secondly, they need to focus on resigning Martell Webster who could become a free agent this summer, he's shown that he can play, and in my opinion putting him in with Beal and Wall at SF would help this team with a spot up shooter. 

Today is a big day for teams on the rebuild, with quite a bit of talent in this years draft, it is critical for at least the top 10 teams make the right move (obviously). A day where new stars are born, a new era of youths changing this game. Although I had none of these guys picked in the top 3, due to what teams need, the following players have lots of potential and are in my opinion some of the best prospects with futures: Victor Oladipo, Trey Burke, and C.J McCollum.