The NBA - basketball talk

AND breaking news - LeBron returns to Cleveland.

From a Heat fan: Thanks for the last four years, LeBron!!

I would have liked it if we three-peated, because that was our best chance at it, but a repeat alone is great, so I do hope LeBron gets at least one ring for his home.

edited 11th Jul '14 10:11:45 AM by Sledgesaul

Now people from Cleveland don't have to hate him (Seriously, talk to someone from Cleveland about Lebron. They hate him so much. Even the ones who have never watched a basketball game in their lives).

I'm guessing in Cleveland he's Easily Forgiven, while it's Miami's turn to be bitter an burn jerseys now.

Miami isn't that bitter, actually. They're disappointed, but the reactor is pretty muted from what I've seen.

Yeah the true Miami fans (I hate to be cliche but there are a lot of people that just like Lebron) are fairly decent. Meanwhile people from Cleveland still hate him...At least the ones I know. I'm fairly certain he would have to cure cancer for them to like him.

edited 11th Jul '14 1:01:35 PM by wuggles

Not really sure how I feel

On one hand, it's good for Cleveland.

But on the other hand, the way that Le Bron is coming back to Cleveland is akin to a girl leaving you for a new, rich boyfriend and only coming back to you because the boyfriend's company went under.

Because the heartless, merciless foreign conglomerate beat them so hard?

That was a humorous, if vulgar, article.

Looks like the Spurs curse is real after all.

Paul George with the Shaun Livingston/Kevin Ware-esque injury, and the intra-squad Team USA scrimmage is abruptly cancelled.

Then he comes back with the Deus Ex leg enhancements, after which Wade gets corresponding Deus Ex knee replacements...

Hope for Paul George, in the Story of Aaron Ramsey. This is relevant to me also personally because Aaron Ramsey is an Arsenal player.

edited 4th Aug '14 9:48:02 AM by entropy13

Who was the one that was hope for Derrick Rose? Penny Hardaway?

Fiba World Cup is officially over, and NBA preseason is coming in a month!

Derrick Rose didn't do to much damage in the tournament, but at least he looks healthy. I looking forward to watching the Bulls.

Pau Gasol apparently played well, and in a scheme that could have him working well with Rose.

Meanwhile in NBA news, Chauncey Billups retired. I for one would like to thank him for being such a great Piston. I hope they retire his number and he starts a good coaching career somewhere, if he wants. Preferably Detroit.

That would be so great if he did end up in Detroit. He and Sheed were my fave Pistons on that '04 title run.

Well-deserved bump because the pre-season is well underway.

Three notable news (for me at least): LBJ set up a screen for Norris Cole, Durant is out for around 2 months, and Dirk's unstoppable fadeaway just got a quicker release.

That sucks of KD especially coming off an MVP season, but at least he'll be back soon.

On the other hand, this is Westbrook's chance to show he can carry a team on his own.

Unfortunately the Mavs were unable to get the winner in the last minute, so the Spuds kept the 101-100 scoreline.

Oh right. Another year of that...
I've got a Dallas background and Dallas friends too, but the "Spuds" nickname got old a while ago.

Anyway, almost done with opening night!

I use the same nickname to the Spuds team in Tottenham, London. Just so happens that I support teams with local rivals with the same name. The Texas teams even roughly correspond to the top 3 London teams, albeit the American Spuds aren't bankrolled by a sugar daddy, they are like Chel$ki. Arsenal is like the Mavs because they still typically stay relevant ever since the turn of the century, while Houston is Tottenham (the London Spuds) because their period of success is but a memory, although to be fair 1990s is still more recent than 1970s...

edited 28th Oct '14 10:01:14 PM by entropy13

Wouldn't Arsenal be much more like the Spurs and Chelsea more like the Mavericks? Cuban's that billionaire bankroller, and the Spurs have been much more relevant since the turn of the century than the Mavs. They've won multiple championships, for one.

The only similarity between Chel$ki and the Mavericks is having a rich owner and the color blue. The Mavericks have only won the NBA title once, albeit they are always in the playoffs for much of the 21st Century (except for one season), Arsenal has always finished in the top 4 of the league, but haven't won it since 2004. And you forgot that Arsenal actually has much more in common with the Mavericks in terms of ownership...they also have an American (majority) owner. Albeit Kroenke already has the Nuggets. LOL

Multiple titles is not fit for comparison because all of the London clubs at least had won the league multiple times. In the case of the London Spuds and Arsenal, they even won the league several times prior to the existence of the Mavericks and the American Spuds (the Rockets too, for that matter). So the comparison focuses more on the "recent success".

The American Spuds is more like Chel$ki because their first championship is relatively recent (1999; Chel$ki's is 2006). But they then win several more after that. Although Arsenal is more successful in the 2000s compared to the Mavs, the Mavs' win was more recent (and they still got to the Finals in 2006; the 2011 win was their first, but they cannot be Chel$ki because they haven't won it multiple times afterwards) while Arsenal struggled to get the title since going unbeaten. The Mavericks likewise is struggling ever since 2011. To be fair 2004-2014 is a longer period than 2011-2014...

edited 28th Oct '14 10:55:08 PM by entropy13

According to the Chelsea and Arsenal criteria you actually stated in your first post, your comparison was backwards.