2006 - 2007 NBA Season Discussion Thread

[kidcolin]

I can't blame him... I sometimes forget suspensions are unpaid. That's a HUGE penalty for flipping the bird.

[ThaSaltCracka]

yeah if he said that, they should move him. They could get a something good for him right now. #1 pick, maybe some younger(lol) players. Swap him with Philly for AI. Team him back up with Mo Cheeks.

[Green Kool Aid]

Morewine,

I haven't seen enough of Randolphs to know this but,

Is he the type that gets lazy/frustrated with his teammates and has a tendency to give up on games (Vince Carter, Stephon Marbury)?

OR

Does this come down to the fact taht he's such a competitor it kills him to be playing on a losing team and he acts out like this sometimes (similar to guys like Artest, Iverson, Rasheed who I think are awesome).

[ThaSaltCracka]

based on previous seasons performances, it would seem to be the former, but his play this year is going against that.

[MoreWineII]

[ QUOTE ]
based on previous seasons performances, it would seem to be the former, but his play this year is going against that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah pretty much. I have absolutely no complaints about his play on the court other than he plays crappy defense. But the way he scores he can get away with that. I guess what it comes down to is that he seems extremely immature, even still. And if you read the police complaints in some of the stuff that happened with him over the summer and since then, some of it is pretty disturbing.

In fairness some of those stuff could be incorrect, but I tend to think where there's smoke there's fire.

Randolph has a pretty big contract. He also has a history of immaturity and questionable character. He's the type of player who dominates the ball, let's face it he's not a great passer.

What it comes down to is that I'm unconvinced he can keep this level of play going. It's like I'm at the blackjack table and I have a hot shoe. I keep upping my bet but I know eventually I'm going to lose. It's the same with Zach and right now while I've won 15 hands in a row with him I want to cash in my chips. This conflict with the team over the middle finger gives me a baaad feeling.

I think the pieces the team could get for Zach > Zach for this team.

Although I think on the proper team, with a proper veteran to reign him in, I think Zach could be an awesome piece of a very good team. I've always imagined him playing alongside Tim Duncan.

[tuq]

What is it with the Blazers that they keep acquiring malcontents? From what I understand during their entire history up until the mid-90s the city of Portland totally embraced the team and sold out every game for what, like fifteen straight years? Granted it was the Rose Garden and the capacity was like 12,888 or something, but it's still impressive.

Not to segue selfishly into the team I follow, but that's the one thing I like about the Suns, they simply won't tolerate that sht. Hell, Colangelo shipped Jason Kidd out for pennies on the dollar (Starbury) after he batted his wife around, and he was otherwise a model citizen. I'm not sure if I'd want a head case like Randolph if it gave the Suns a 40% better chance of winning the title this year.

[ThaSaltCracka]

Randolph was a draft pick. They have been working to get rid of some of the damage Bob Whitsett caused, but its a work in progress.

[MoreWineII]

Oh man it's a long story. I'm 29 now and when I was in my teens I remember the glory days. My dad's small business had season tickets and I got to go along to 10-15 games a season. I even got to go to one or two of these games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_NBA_Finals with my dad. Rip City, as cheesey as it was, was hard not to get into.

These are memories that are still crystal clear in my head, that I still get excited thinking about. These are the reasons that no matter how bad the franchise is, I can't stay away.

I had a whole long post written but what it comes down to is that Allen and Whittsit tried to rebuild without rebuilding. Instead of re-tooling through the draft they tried to re-tool through trades, remember 'Trader Bob' Whittsit? I don't think for a quite a period there, that the team had a top ten draft pick. Consecutive playoff streaks are nice, but they really hamper a rebuilding job. And as the risky players eventually backfired, as they usually eventually do, people just got turned off. Paul Allen's aloofishness (is that a word?) also turns people in this city off. He could do a lot towards goodwill if he'd come out publicly and say...something but he's real hermit-ish. But to be honest, Portland is a city full of trend-freaks and front-runners anyway, so it's easy to see why nobody goes to games anymore. Once the team is good again, they'll be back I promise. People would be there this year, but we're all sort of suffering from battered wife syndrome and we're afraid to trust again. If there are no more crazy implosions, attendance will go up next year - especially if the team has a good draft.

[kidcolin]

[ QUOTE ]
Randolph was a draft pick. They have been working to get rid of some of the damage Bob Whitsett caused, but its a work in progress.

[/ QUOTE ]

They've got a penchant for drafting malcontents as well, though.

[kidcolin]

Not sure if there are any Nuggets fans here, but this has to be the worst AI column I've thus far:

article

This guy comes off like an old grandpa.

[ QUOTE ]
Iverson is just too seriously peculiar for comfort, like the nutty uncle at the picnic. You try to keep him away from the folks you have to do business with during the week.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Following the truism that one great player is not enough, other good and some great players were added to Iverson in Philadelphia. He managed not to make anyone of them - the most recent example being Chris Webber - better. In fact, he made them worse.


[/ QUOTE ]

That last quote is just really, really bad journalism. Even the most casual of NBA fans can tell you that C-Webb was washed before putting on a sixers uniform. He makes it sound like AI is the reason for demise, rather than his glass knees.

If you want to have a no-on-AI stance, fine.. but at least put a little effort in and come up with something original.