Any hoops fans on this board? I am excited for the new season to start on Tuesday the 25th as I can't wait and see if my faves the Cleveland Cavs repeat and how LeBron does this season. It will also be interesting to see how the Warriors do all season with Kevin Durant now on board. Will they have the best record in the NBA again? Can't wait to find out! Should be a fun season.

Abdul said:

I'm most interested to see how OKC looks without Durant, I've felt for the last two seasons that Westbrook is the alpha dog of those two, should be fun!

Oh yes, OKC should be interesting to watch, especially after Durant criticized them after he signed with GS. We will see if any of that bad blood boils over, lol.

Empress said:

Yes, very excited about this upcoming season. Go Raptors!!! And to be perfectly honest, I hope we don't see the Cavs, OKC or GS in the finals. They are all great teams, but we need a new team to take the championship this year.

They are all very strong, but with sports, you never know who can pull out a major upset. The East is an easier conference, but the West is a much harder.

Damn. I've had Cubs fever for a while, so I almost missed the start of the NBA season. I'm the one that usually makes these NBA tipoff threads, so I'll start here.

The Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians are headed to the World Series, and the NFL is hitting the midpoint, with the New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings leading their respective conferences, but another NBA season is upon us. The huge news last season was Lebron James leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to an NBA title over the heavily favored Golden State Warriors, thus ending a title drought in the city on Lake Erie that lasted over 50 years. This has resulted in a major change in the NBA landscape as I will explain below.

Cleveland Cavaliers - The Cavs shocked the world last season by coming from a 3-1 deficit to claim the NBA title after defeating the Golden State Warriors, who finished with the best regular season record in NBA history after winning 73 games. Lebron is back, and so are most of the supporting cast, though Matthew Dellavedova has moved on to Milwaukee. They are favored to at least return to the NBA Finals, though the Toronto Raptors may be the one team that can stop them.

Golden State Warriors - The Warriors won an NBA record 73 games last season, yet a playoff injury to Stephen Curry made them vulnerable, as they had to come from behind in the Western Conference Finals to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder and then lost in seven games to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals after being up 3-1 in the decisive series. This led to them trading Andrew Bogut to Dallas and signing Kevin Durant as a free agent. The Warriors are probably once again the prohibitive favorites to return to the NBA Finals and the likely favorites to win the NBA title this season.

Oklahoma City Thunder - Speaking of which, after Kevin Durant signed with Golden State as a free agent, it was rumored that Russell Westbrook would be on his way out of OKC after the end of this season, but surprisingly he re-signed a long term contract with team, thus keeping them competitive and hopefully allowing them to sign a key free agent or drafting a potential superstar down the road.

Toronto Raptors - The Raptors took a huge step last season, getting to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Cavs in six games. Their backcourt of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan led the team to their best season yet, but can they get past the Cavs to get to the finals without a notable frontcourt presence, or will they trade for someone in mid-season?

San Antonio Spurs - A new era is about to transition in the Alamo city, as legendary forward Tim Duncan retired after the end of last season, and Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are in the twilight of their careers. Nevertheless, they still have rising superstar Kawhi Leonard and an All Star veteran in Lamarcus Aldridge, plus a solid young point guard in Patty Mills. While they probably won't make it to the NBA Finals, they will probably be competitive enough to make it to the playoffs.

Los Angeles Clippers - The Clippers looked like they were on the verge of finally getting past the second round of the playoffs last season, but then injuries to both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin in the playoffs sunk their title hopes. This season may be their last best chance to make a title run, as a lot of contracts will be up after this season.

Boston Celtics - The Celtics made a huge move with their still young talented squad last season by getting to the Eastern Conference semifinals, and a lot of experts consider them a dark horse to possibly make it to the NBA Finals, particularly if the Cavs stumble and they can get past the Toronto Raptors. They also added forward/center Al Horford to their roster.

New York Knicks - The Knicks made the most dramatic moves in the offseason, trading for Derrick Rose and signing Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee, and Brandon Jennings to join Carmello Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis. The big question is whether Rose can be even halfway as good as he was in his prime prior to his several injuries, and the same can be said for Joakim Noah. If they are, this could mean a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Portland Trail Blazers - The Blazers lost Lamarcus Aldridge to the Spurs last season but gained scoring with the backcourt play of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. But do they have enough weapons to make a run deep into the playoffs?

Indiana Pacers - The Pacers returned to playoff contention after getting back Paul George from what looked like a career ending injury in 2015 and the rising play of Myles Turner plus the addition of Jeff Teague from Atlanta. But do they have enough weapons to make a run deep into the playoffs?

Houston Rockets - We know the Rockets can score with James Harden, but can they play any defense to make a run in the playoffs?

Utah Jazz - The Jazz finished just out of the playoff chase last season but may be the dark horse team to make the playoffs this year. But they will be without Gordon Heyward after the first two months of the season due to injury.

Atlanta Hawks - The Hawks took a step down after losing both Al Horford and Jeff Teague to free agency, but they did add Dwight Howard. But are his best days behind him?

Chicago Bulls - The Bulls missed the playoffs last season, thus ending the Derrick Rose era in the city. They added Dwyane Wade from Miami and Rajon Rondo, but is this enough to get them to the playoffs or just a transition phase to rebuilding?

Miami Heat - It was only three seasons ago that the Heat were in the NBA Finals with the big three of Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. But Lebron went back home to Cleveland, Wade went to Chicago, and Bosh may have had his career ended due to pulmonary and vascular issues. This was probably not the way they envisioned the end of the run of their big three.

Los Angeles Lakers - The Lakers had one of the worst records in the NBA last season, and they are not expected to be much better this season. Nevertheless, this is now the post-Kobe Bryant era, and the rebuild in is effect, with Luke Walton now taking over as head coach.

[Edited 10/23/16 19:56pm]

^^^^ Thanks for the breakdown analysis of all of the teams. Also, I don't really watch baseball, but as a Cavs fan, I am rooting for the Indians because not only have they lost at least twice in the world series over the last few years, but I think it would be so cool if they can keep the momentum going from the Cavs winning the NBA championship and it can bring 2 championships in the same year when the city of Cleveland beforehand was suffering a major championship drought. Let the games begin, I am so excited!

My Warriors aren't going to be concerned with getting a better winning record than last season...the main goal is to get that ring and nothing else. While folks are mainly hating on (yet still watching KD), I get the feeling that this season will belong to Klay Thompson. That man is a sniper on the court!!!

Aside from watching GSW, I'll be checking out the Chicago Bulls (I still have a soft spot for them) to see what they can do this season. I'm wondering if Wade and Rondo would actually be a benefit to assisting Butler with enough W's to make the playoffs.

I also want to see how the Knicks will do. I didn't really check them out in preseason but it didn't matter anyway because D. Rose was dealing with his trial and all. Now that that's over with, we get to see if there is really some playing chemistry between Rose, Melo and company.

The West has been stacked for the past few years, it'll be great to see some REAL competition for the Cavs in the East this season. I'm not a fan of LeBron and Cavs whatsoever. I'd love a team from the East come through and knock them out.

Either way, this season is going to be exciting to watch.

[Edited 10/24/16 4:59am]

Missmusicluver72 said:

Abdul said:

I'm most interested to see how OKC looks without Durant, I've felt for the last two seasons that Westbrook is the alpha dog of those two, should be fun!

Oh yes, OKC should be interesting to watch, especially after Durant criticized them after he signed with GS. We will see if any of that bad blood boils over, lol.

In all honesty, I'm loving seeing KD with GSW, but I just wish he could keep his mouth shut and let his performance on the court speak for itself. There's already no love lost between Westbrook and Curry, but now that KD there, man, the tension is definitely going to be present when they finally play. The pressure is on to see who will win the matchup. I know that Westbrook is going to be coming out of the gate like a raging bull, ready to dominate, but as history has shown, that's also been his achilles heel as well. KD will play as if nothing has happened. So we shall see.

Anyone notice that KD smiles a lot more now? I never saw him smile when he was with OKC. But for sure we will know, he will be getting a serious roar of boos throughout the season. Hell, I think all of GSW will, but oh well.

[Edited 10/24/16 6:15am]

The KD era in Oakland has begun. Surprisingly the Warriors got smoked at home tonight by the

San Antonio Spurs 129-100. It was as ugly for the Warriors as the score indicated. The Spurs opened the post Tim Duncan era in style as Kahwi Leonard showed the NBA that it isn't gonna be about just Lebron, KD, and Curry for MVP talk this year. The Warriors will bounce back but they ran into a buzzsaw tonight. Who the fuck is this Jonathan Simmons kid for the Spurs? Shit this cat balled out on defense and offense. He scored 20 points on 8 for 13 shooting. The Spurs just seem to find talent on trees. If these guys stay healthy they will definitely pose a threat in the West this season. Leonard had 35 and Aldridge dominated the paint with 26 points.

Meanwhile the world champion Cavs opened their season with new jewelry and a win at home

against the new look New York Knicks. I'm excited about watching my 76ers this season despite

the injury to rookie Ben Simmons. It seems like my guys are always snakebitten but I'm still excited to see Joel Embiid to finally take the court after 2 years of rehabbing injuries and other young talent like Jalil Okafor and Dario Saric. The 76ers open their season tomorrow night at home against the Russell Westbrook led Oklahoma City Thunder and the pit bull is ready to show that OKC wasn't just the Kevin Durant show.

Let's go Philly !

[img:$uid]http://i246.pho.../img:$uid]

phunkdaddy said:

The KD era in Oakland has begun. Surprisingly the Warriors got smoked at home tonight by the

San Antonio Spurs 129-100. It was as ugly for the Warriors as the score indicated. The Spurs opened the post Tim Duncan era in style as Kahwi Leonard showed the NBA that it isn't gonna be about just Lebron, KD, and Curry for MVP talk this year. The Warriors will bounce back but they ran into a buzzsaw tonight. Who the fuck is this Jonathan Simmons kid for the Spurs? Shit this cat balled out on defense and offense. He scored 20 points on 8 for 13 shooting. The Spurs just seem to find talent on trees. If these guys stay healthy they will definitely pose a threat in the West this season. Leonard had 35 and Aldridge dominated the paint with 26 points.

Meanwhile the world champion Cavs opened their season with new jewelry and a win at home

against the new look New York Knicks. I'm excited about watching my 76ers this season despite

the injury to rookie Ben Simmons. It seems like my guys are always snakebitten but I'm still excited to see Joel Embiid to finally take the court after 2 years of rehabbing injuries and other young talent like Jalil Okafor and Dario Saric. The 76ers open their season tomorrow night at home against the Russell Westbrook led Oklahoma City Thunder and the pit bull is ready to show that OKC wasn't just the Kevin Durant show.

Ahh man. That game last night between GSW and the Spurs was straight up embarrassing. It was almost just as stressful to watch as The Walking Dead's season 7 opener. OMG. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The thing is though, KD is the one who showed up on the court, Curry was ok, but he played underwhelmingly knowing what he can do and Klay, did Klay party too much the night before or something? I was so pissed that I didn't finish watching the 4th quarter. The Spurs showed up and showed out. Simmons and Aldridge....yeesh. Can't really fault them at all, they played like fuckin' kings and owned the court. My team got a hell of a road ahead and it ain't going to be easy. It's a huge difference without that strong line of benchmen we used to have. However, its only game 1, and if we're going to fuck up a few times, then now is the time to do it. It can only make us a stronger and better team.

In other fuck up news, what happened to the Knicks last night? Seems they forgot it was a game too.

I am hoping for some competition in the East though. It's been quiet far too long. The Bulls play tonight so I'm going to check them out and see how they do.

[Edited 10/26/16 4:26am]

missfee said:

phunkdaddy said:

The KD era in Oakland has begun. Surprisingly the Warriors got smoked at home tonight by the

San Antonio Spurs 129-100. It was as ugly for the Warriors as the score indicated. The Spurs opened the post Tim Duncan era in style as Kahwi Leonard showed the NBA that it isn't gonna be about just Lebron, KD, and Curry for MVP talk this year. The Warriors will bounce back but they ran into a buzzsaw tonight. Who the fuck is this Jonathan Simmons kid for the Spurs? Shit this cat balled out on defense and offense. He scored 20 points on 8 for 13 shooting. The Spurs just seem to find talent on trees. If these guys stay healthy they will definitely pose a threat in the West this season. Leonard had 35 and Aldridge dominated the paint with 26 points.

Meanwhile the world champion Cavs opened their season with new jewelry and a win at home

against the new look New York Knicks. I'm excited about watching my 76ers this season despite

the injury to rookie Ben Simmons. It seems like my guys are always snakebitten but I'm still excited to see Joel Embiid to finally take the court after 2 years of rehabbing injuries and other young talent like Jalil Okafor and Dario Saric. The 76ers open their season tomorrow night at home against the Russell Westbrook led Oklahoma City Thunder and the pit bull is ready to show that OKC wasn't just the Kevin Durant show.

Ahh man. That game last night between GSW and the Spurs was straight up embarrassing. It was almost just as stressful to watch as The Walking Dead's season 7 opener. OMG. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The thing is though, KD is the one who showed up on the court, Curry was ok, but he played underwhelmingly knowing what he can do and Klay, did Klay party too much the night before or something? I was so pissed that I didn't finish watching the 4th quarter. The Spurs showed up and showed out. Simmons and Aldridge....yeesh. Can't really fault them at all, they played like fuckin' kings and owned the court. My team got a hell of a road ahead and it ain't going to be easy. It's a huge difference without that strong line of benchmen we used to have. However, its only game 1, and if we're going to fuck up a few times, then now is the time to do it. It can only make us a stronger and better team.

In other fuck up news, what happened to the Knicks last night? Seems they forgot it was a game too.

I am hoping for some competition in the East though. It's been quiet far too long. The Bulls play tonight so I'm going to check them out and see how they do.

[Edited 10/26/16 4:26am]

With a new coach and so many new faces, I'm not surprised at last night's outcome....Knicks looked out of sync.

Warriors will be alright, but they did lose some quality bench players during the off-season, and Bogut>>>>Zaza.

uPtoWnNY said:

missfee said:

Ahh man. That game last night between GSW and the Spurs was straight up embarrassing. It was almost just as stressful to watch as The Walking Dead's season 7 opener. OMG. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The thing is though, KD is the one who showed up on the court, Curry was ok, but he played underwhelmingly knowing what he can do and Klay, did Klay party too much the night before or something? I was so pissed that I didn't finish watching the 4th quarter. The Spurs showed up and showed out. Simmons and Aldridge....yeesh. Can't really fault them at all, they played like fuckin' kings and owned the court. My team got a hell of a road ahead and it ain't going to be easy. It's a huge difference without that strong line of benchmen we used to have. However, its only game 1, and if we're going to fuck up a few times, then now is the time to do it. It can only make us a stronger and better team.

In other fuck up news, what happened to the Knicks last night? Seems they forgot it was a game too.

I am hoping for some competition in the East though. It's been quiet far too long. The Bulls play tonight so I'm going to check them out and see how they do.

[Edited 10/26/16 4:26am]

With a new coach and so many new faces, I'm not surprised at last night's outcome....Knicks looked out of sync.

Warriors will be alright, but they did lose some quality bench players during the off-season, and Bogut>>>>Zaza.

True. But I'm actually rooting for the Knicks to get in sync and become a strong team even though I couldn't stand them during the Ewing/Oakley/Starks era. Speaking of Ewing, when is he going to be given the chance to be a head coach? I can admit that I don't know enough about his situation to get into specifics but I do know that he's been an assistant coach and now an associate coach for a while and I mean if they can give Derek Fisher (of all people) a chance, then why not Ewing? Perhaps timing?

Wow, what an opening night! The Cavs trounced the Knicks and the Spurs trounced the Warriors. Was expecting these games to be much closer since the Knicks added Derrick Rose and the Warriors added Kevin Durant, plus all the hype leading up to the games. Oh well, it was just game one of the season, so the chemistry has time to develop. Anyways, great night to be a sportsfan in Cleveland-Cavs winning and having their championship ring ceremony and the Indians winning game 1 of the World Series. Cool stuff! More games on tap for tonight and I am also interested in the Bulls with Dwayne Wade and Rajon Rondo now on the roster and OKC with Russell Westbrook leading the team without KD.

[Edited 10/26/16 7:41am]

[Edited 10/26/16 7:42am]

missfee said:

missfee said:

uPtoWnNY said:

With a new coach and so many new faces, I'm not surprised at last night's outcome....Knicks looked out of sync.

Warriors will be alright, but they did lose some quality bench players during the off-season, and Bogut>>>>Zaza.

True. But I'm actually rooting for the Knicks to get in sync and become a strong team even though I couldn't stand them during the Ewing/Oakley/Starks era. Speaking of Ewing, when is he going to be given the chance to be a head coach? I can admit that I don't know enough about his situation to get into specifics but I do know that he's been an assistant coach and now an associate coach for a while and I mean if they can give Derek Fisher (of all people) a chance, then why not Ewing? Perhaps timing?

Even if the Knicks get "in sync", at best they're a 38 win team (and will not make the playoffs). They don't bring it on defense & rebounding like they did during the 70s & 90s. They've been a mess under owner James Dolan and will continue to be.

I have no idea why Patrick can't get a coaching job. The man has paid his dues...what more does he have to do? Shit, Mark Jackson got a head coaching job.

Derrick Rose is already bitchin' about the triangle, and he's right......when will Phil wake the fuck up???? I'm fed up with his stubborness with this stupid triangle. That's why Pat Riley shits on him when it comes to coaching. Pat adjusted his system to the talent he had, but not Phil. He's going to fit square pegs into round holes just to prove to everyone how smart he is.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baske ... -1.2846261

[Edited 10/27/16 15:25pm]