NBA February 2014 Game Thread AKA Lance Stephenson's "Unforgiven"

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 24, 2002
48,214
I was going to go with "Lance Stephenson Unchained" but figured it would offend quite a few folks.  Apologies for even thinking of it...
 
Anyhow, its February 3rd and Durant scored 31 points on 11-21 shooting.  Lather, rinse, repeat...
 

Sox and Rocks

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 16, 2013
5,826
Northern Colorado
Just watched my Nuggets steal one from LAC with a last second shot from Randy Foye.
 
Surprising fact: the local telecast said it is Foye's first career game winning shot.  That seems crazy, considering he has been in the league for 8 years and a decent player (especially scorer) during that time.  I wonder if they're wrong.  
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 24, 2002
48,214
Cross posting here because I am not a mod and more importantly, because this thread features the subject of this post.   And its February.  Yeah!
 
 
jon abbey said:
Lance Stephenson hit one of the sickest shots I've ever seen tonight, this doesn't quite capture it (you can't see it go cleanly off the very top of the backboard), but wow:
 
https://vine.co/v/Maeqn6mwji9

 
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 24, 2002
48,214
Meanwhile the Charlotte Hornbobs are smacking the Golden State Underperformers by 16 points with three minutes left to play in the third.  
 

Blacken

Robespierre in a Cape
SoSH Member
Jul 24, 2007
12,152
Two things:

1) Jermaine O'Neal is still playing.

2) Jermaine O'Neal should not be playing.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 24, 2002
48,214
Blacken said:
Two things:

1) Jermaine O'Neal is still playing.

2) Jermaine O'Neal should not be playing.
 
3)  What Jermaine O'Neal is doing can not, under any circumstances, be defined as "playing".   He was actually good before he tore his geriatric-ass wrist like any elderly person involved in vigorous activity like walking, using the bathtub, or fixing pudding.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Cleveland needs to do something drastic, being blown out by the dreadful Lakers in your own building (88-62 right now) is a coach killing game. I'd say they should fire Mike Brown, but i have no idea why they hired him to begin with. 
 

TheYellowDart5

Hustle and bustle
SoSH Member
Apr 16, 2003
9,276
NYC
jon abbey said:
Cleveland needs to do something drastic, being blown out by the dreadful Lakers in your own building (88-62 right now) is a coach killing game. I'd say they should fire Mike Brown, but i have no idea why they hired him to begin with. 
 
A Lakers team that started the game with eight healthy players, lost Nick Young after 20 minutes, and is currently using a six-man rotation because Chris Kaman fouled out.
 
Also, the Lakers' bench:
 
 

TheYellowDart5

Hustle and bustle
SoSH Member
Apr 16, 2003
9,276
NYC
And the Lakers are now down to five healthy players, with Farmar getting hurt. Robert Sacre, who fouled out, gets to stay in the game.
 

soxhop411

news aggravator
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2009
46,278
TheYellowDart5 said:
And the Lakers are now down to five healthy players, with Farmar getting hurt. Robert Sacre, who fouled out, gets to stay in the game.
“@JasonLloydABJ: Well this is new. Lakers apparently don't have healthy sub, so Sacre stays in. But it counts as a technical every time he commits foul”
 

MakMan44

stole corsi's dream
SoSH Member
Aug 22, 2009
19,363
Timberwolves keeping up with the Thunder even without their two best players. They're playing over their heads right now but it's still nice to see them at least keeping pace with the best team in the west.
 

beezer

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 9, 2009
594
Rudy Pemberton said:
Pardon my ignorance, but what's the rule? That you can keep a player who has fouled out in the game but it's a technical every time they commit additional foul? Why don't teams more routinely so this, then?

Or does the fact that they don't have anyone else factor in? I'm baffled.
 
Correct, its only applicable when you have no available healthy players remaining to replace the player who fouled out
 

Nick Kaufman

protector of human kind from spoilers
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 2, 2003
13,410
A Lost Time
Regarding Cleveland. A couple of days ago there was a leaked story from Luol Deng saying he was flabbergasted by how disfunctional things were there and how ton of things were happening that the Chicago coaching team wouldn't stand for.

It's a shame. They ve got tons of talent and if they could get some order in that place, there's a lot of players who could flourish.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
jon abbey said:
Cleveland needs to do something drastic, being blown out by the dreadful Lakers in your own building (88-62 right now) is a coach killing game. I'd say they should fire Mike Brown, but i have no idea why they hired him to begin with. 
 
"The Cleveland Cavaliers have fired general manager Chris Grant, league sources tell Yahoo Sports."
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 2, 2006
22,345
Philadelphia

Kliq

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 31, 2013
22,673
Great finish in Orlando  tonight: http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400489613
 
Magic GM and Worcester native Rob Hennigan deserves a ton of credit for setting the foundation for a promising future for Orlando. First, he improbably won the Dwight Howard trade, despite not getting Bynum back in return and everyone ripped him for it. He has built a team with a cache of promising young players (Vucevic, Oladipo, Tobias Harris) and capable yet undervalued players (Aaron Afflalo). They are entertaining to watch, yet still bad enough to sink into a good draft pick this year and also have cap space to work with, along with the Florida sun and a beautiful new arena. Great job so far.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 24, 2002
48,214
Oladipo's extra effort getting the rebound made that whole play possible.  He really is impressive for a rookie and if he improves from outside he is going to be a very good player.
 

MakMan44

stole corsi's dream
SoSH Member
Aug 22, 2009
19,363
Back to back games the Wolves could have won and faltered in the 4th. Kevin Martin fractured his thumb yesterday and Love suffered a contusion to his quad so it's not like they were expected to win tonight. Still, it seems like the their destined to miss the playoffs, again.
 

terrynever

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 25, 2005
21,717
pawtucket
Wow. You would think the new commish might want to have a talk with Philly's owner pretty soon.
 

soxhop411

news aggravator
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2009
46,278
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OTR0Dk1ae0g[/media]
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Thaddeus Young has a -45 +/- right now, 21 minutes played. 
 
Edit: 82-33 right now, wow. 
 

deconstruction

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 27, 2006
3,663
Hanover NH
jon abbey said:
Thaddeus Young has a -45 +/- right now, 21 minutes played. 
 
Edit: 82-33 right now, wow. 
 
And he's the only Sixer with more than one FG. Actually, with 5, more than the rest of the team combined. 
 
WHA
 

Blacken

Robespierre in a Cape
SoSH Member
Jul 24, 2007
12,152
Marreese Speights has entered beast mode.

Yeah, him.

While wearing an "I GET TO EAT ALL THE ICE CREAM" grin.

He is getting MVP chants at Oracle.

I can't stop watching this assault on decency.
 

Blacken

Robespierre in a Cape
SoSH Member
Jul 24, 2007
12,152
THREE BLOCKS FOR SPEIGHTS

AND HE DIDN'T TRY TO EAT THE BALL ONCE
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 24, 2002
48,214
I tried with all my might to dislike Mo Speights but the lumpy guy is simply irresistible.  He can still be maddening at times but he really does try.  Career high for him tonight against the Philadelphia 70-game losers as he scores 32 on 12-15 shooting including a deep three.    
 
The Sixers have lost by a combined total of 88 points the past two nights.  You have to wonder why they even spend money to fly the guys dressed as NBA players from Philadelphia all the way across country at this point.
 

Curtis Pride

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 25, 2005
1,374
Watertown, MA
The Sixers have the worst defense in the league going against two of the better offenses (LAC #2, GS #10) on the road in back to back nights. They also have one of the worst offenses in the league, and in both games they shot significantly worse than their season average, probably because they were the road team. The force of Billy King is strong in this one.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Jeff Van Gundy brought this up recently on a Sunday game, but it's been bugging me all year: the NBA really needs to figure out a fix to the following, fairly common situation.
 
The ball goes out of bounds off team A, but it's because team B has fouled. Refs have often dealt with this play by just giving the ball to team A instead of calling the foul, but the problem with that under the new system is that the replay gives the ball to team B. The obvious answer is to have the refs call the foul, but what would be better is to give them the leeway to look at the replay and confirm the initial call, meaning if it was a foul that caused the ball to go off team A, team A should be allowed to keep the ball. This easily could flip the outcome of a big game or two this year, it almost just turned the POR/OKC game (though I'm not sure if Batum fouled Durant or not on the play in question). 
 

Jed Zeppelin

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 23, 2008
51,333
Woj on Chris Grant:
 
Trade discussions:
Beyond selecting Kyrie Irving with the No. 1 overall pick in 2011, Grant made one draft mistake after another. Eventually, he spent his final months on the job calling teams and offering those overvalued young players in preposterous deals for marquee talents. LaMarcus Aldridge. Anthony Davis. Andre Drummond. Eventually, few executives had the inclination to listen to Grant's pitches on one-sided deals.
 
 
Courting Lebron from afar:
Within the Cavaliers, the belief was that Grant was searching for a way to cross Valanciunas off the list and draft a player that he believed to be a safer bet: Texas' Tristan Thompson. What's more, Rich Paul, James' childhood friend and player agent now, represented Thompson.
 
 
A man of principles:
Grant passed on Connecticut center Andre Drummond in the 2012 draft, because he didn't want to pair two such unpolished offensive players as Thompson and Drummond together, sources said. Grant had always warned player agents that the Cavaliers would never a select a player who didn't come and work out for the franchise. Only Grant did just that when he took Syracuse guard Dion Waiters with the fourth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft.
 
 
Who??????:
Bennett's penchant for late-night pizza runs at UNLV, one of the factors contributing to his weight issues, were well known with other teams who had closely researched him. If Cleveland hadn't selected Bennett with the No. 1 overall pick, there was a strong chance that he would've dropped to the back end of the top 10 – or even further. Within hours of the draft, Bennett's agents were calling teams further back in the draft lottery, trying to secure a landing spot for him. Only the Cavs surprised everyone, selecting Bennett – who did have a season-best 19 points and 10 rebounds on Tuesday night – with the first overall pick.
 
 

MakMan44

stole corsi's dream
SoSH Member
Aug 22, 2009
19,363
LeBron is nuts. Hits a fade away 3 pointer to win it against GS, who were down 21 at one point but had just taken the lead with 14 second to go. 
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 24, 2002
48,214
I mean, it was a fucking fall away three pointer from the left side of the floor with Igoudala conducting open heart surgery.   How do you stop that, aside from twisting the laws of physics?
 

TheYellowDart5

Hustle and bustle
SoSH Member
Apr 16, 2003
9,276
NYC
DeJesus Built My Hotrod said:
I mean, it was a fucking fall away three pointer from the left side of the floor with Igoudala conducting open heart surgery.   How do you stop that, aside from twisting the laws of physics?
 
The saddest part is that it overshadowed Steph Curry turning Mario Chalmers' ankles to dust three separate times on one drive on the layup just before LeBron's three.