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NBA 2004 PreSeason Thread
- Thread starter Miguel
- Start date
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BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN! BOBCATS WIN!
Ninja Scooter
Member
Miguel said:
"Bullshit!"
BatiGOOOOOOL
Member
Duncan: "I've missed those post game showers, Big Dave. Tee hee..."
David: "Need some wood?"
Ninja Scooter
Member
damn, i don't care how much money NBA players get, I would cry if i had to play for the Hawks.
Ninja Scooter
Member
Miguel said:
Mihm and Kobe>Snaq and Wade
Ninja Scooter said:
That is crazy talk, all Mihm can do is rebound and block from the weak side.
Kobe looks strong so far. Lakers look a little sloppy offensively. Grant and Atkins gotta play better then that, they looked like garbage so far.
Wonder what kind of defense they will play this year, that will determine how well they will do this year. And for the love of God, no one drafts anyone that can shoot anymore. I am not even that good anymore and I can shoot better then half of the guys in the league. They need to stop drafting tall guys and pick some skill players (just a general thought for the league).
Cloudy said:When did Cook become a 3pt threat?
Cook could always shoot, his problem is defense and rebounding.
And Mihm is good off the bench, but we definitely need Vlade to start and give us 20-30 minutes a game.
Why isn't Kobe coming back? Cmon Rudy, we aren't watching this to see Chucky Atkins!
They need to keep both Brown and Bobbit. Both guys are nice and fast. Exactly what the Lakers have lacked for so long. Damn, not enough spots on the roster
And Lamar is much more aggresive with Kobe on the bench. That's the problem when your 2 best players like to dominate the ball..
And Lamar is much more aggresive with Kobe on the bench. That's the problem when your 2 best players like to dominate the ball..
Cloudy said:They need to keep both Brown and Bobbit. Both guys are nice and fast. Exactly what the Lakers have lacked for so long. Damn, not enough spots on the roster
And Lamar is much more aggresive with Kobe on the bench. That's the problem when your 2 best players like to dominate the ball..
Dude they have never played together before. It will take a few weeks for them to figure out how to run the offense. I just hope Rudy plans to have the Lakers play some defense this season.....
Cloudy said:Just a strain. He should be fine.
Charles Barkley is a jackass though. He'll eat his words soon enough....
:lol dude what do you expect? He is good friends with Shaq, of course he is going to diss Kobe. I love how Charles won't admit Kobe is a "great" player, he always says that is a "pretty good player". :lol
Ninja Scooter
Member
did you guys see Kobe waving at me? Thats our sign.
Lets make some predictions!
I predict that the Lakers will finish with the 4th seed and Kobe will become the GREATEST EVAR by winning a NBA title. The Heat will finish 3rd in the East and lose in the semis. The Lakers will beat the Pacers in the finals and Loki will say: Kobe > Jordan.
I predict that the Lakers will finish with the 4th seed and Kobe will become the GREATEST EVAR by winning a NBA title. The Heat will finish 3rd in the East and lose in the semis. The Lakers will beat the Pacers in the finals and Loki will say: Kobe > Jordan.
Ninja Scooter
Member
bionic77 said:
i predict that i will save Kobe's daughter from drowning in Newport Beach on a cold winter night and as a sign of graditude Kobe will invite me into his house and since my clothes are all wet he'll let me wear one of his old jerseys from Lower Merion while my clothes is in the dryer and as a personal favor we'll play a pick up game in his driveway.
Cloudy said:
Vlade is a great center, and you don't really need your Center to play great defense these days. There are only 2 centers out there that really need to be defended: Shaq who the Lakers won't meet in the playoffs and Yao who gets tired after 10 minutes, so yeah they will get burned from Yao for the first 10 minutes, but they have 38 minutes to catch up every game.
PF is a problem, but maybe Brian Grant can return to the days when he was good. Believe in the power of Kobe.
Btw, Kobe missed like every layup he took today, weird, usually he is a great finisher.
Cloudy said:
Shaq still fears Kevin Willis after he bitchslapped his then fat ass during the 2003 playoffs.
DMczaf said:
:lol What, the WNBA Storm aren't enough for them?!?
BatiGOOOOOOL said:
Duncan: "I've missed those post game showers, Big Dave. Tee hee..."
David: "Need some wood?"
:lol
golem said:
Obviously they're trying to build up the newest, most dynamic duo in the east as much as possible. Besides, game 2 featured the Clippers...that's about as bad.
BTW, when's Malone expected to make a decision?
Fighting words, indeed
McGrady irked by Magic GM's latest comments
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistor.../bk/bkn/2862643
ORLANDO, FLA. - Finally, Tracy McGrady made a suggestion that John Weisbrod can appreciate.
Weisbrod, the Magic general manager who traded him, had described McGrady as a selfish, underachieving malingerer. Weisbrod, whose only previous GM experience was with a minor-league hockey team, had said that he knew Steve Francis was his kind of guy when Francis slugged Amare Stoudemire.
So finally, after taking verbal shots from Weisbrod for months, McGrady said what he would like to do to the Magic general manager.
It had become time to drop the gloves.
"When you look at some of the comments that he made, you kind of don't want to take the high road," McGrady said. "You kind of just want to grab him by the neck and choke the ... out of him."
McGrady's homecoming tonight will not be that eventful. He said he would choose to remember that he wanted the trade to Houston and was obliged.
But McGrady said Weisbrod had reneged on their agreement to part amicably.
"That's very unusual, especially when you call me and tell me that you're going to take the high road," McGrady said. "Over that whole course of the trade, the GM contradicted himself. First he said I wanted to leave. Then he came back and said, 'Tracy is not my type of player.' Which one is it?
"I really didn't worry about that. I took the high road. I was saying how well they treated me and how much I loved playing there for four years and that everything was cool. But I didn't appreciate how everything went down. You tell me you're going to take the high road and then blast me like that? It just shows the difference in organizations.
"I'm pretty sure the management or organization here has some dirt on Steve. But they didn't go that way. They kept it professional. They didn't put his business out there with issues they probably had with him. That's the difference between this organization and the organization back home."
Negativity a surprise
Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy has refused to even hint at dissatisfaction with Francis, Cuttino Mobley or Kelvin Cato, also traded to Orlando, arguing their play last season made them attractive enough for the Rockets to land McGrady.
But Van Gundy said that Weisbrod has been so outspoken in his criticism of one of the seven players in the deal, it might establish a track record in his first year as a NBA general manager.
"I am surprised at how publicly negative their management has been," Van Gundy said. "It shows any player that when they make a decision to move you, you can expect the same treatment."
Weisbrod, attending the NBA Board of Governors meeting, was unavailable for comment on Friday. But there is no disputing that he has been critical of McGrady as, at the least, not his kind of player.
After the deal was completed, Weisbrod praised McGrady's talent but said that McGrady did not work hard enough or have the qualities to make the most of that ability.
"It's not too dramatic to say that he's the most physically gifted player to ever play the game," Weisbrod said. "I think he's more talented than Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
"It's about do you want to work. I'm about players with intangibles. I say that only because my favorite guys are guys with intangibles.
"Guys that want to cover Kobe Bryant. Guys that when you look in their eyes, you know you've got a game on. Maybe he'll develop into that, but I don't think he's that now."
Change necessary
This week, he described McGrady as a problem that could not have been solved with other changes.
"It would be fair to say it was a mutual decision," Weisbrod told ESPN.com. "I would be lying to say I was anxious to have Tracy back.
"Basketball is a team game, and he had developed an attitude of the organization eating out of his hand. It was tough to imagine that, no matter what pieces we changed around him, that we were going to be able to change the culture of this team with him on the team.
"Tracy would say, 'I had my 35 (points), what else did you want me to do?' "
McGrady seemed most offended at that last criticism, saying the Magic's 21-61 season was more painful than winning the scoring title could salve.
"He's entitled to his opinion. Whatever," McGrady said. "He's taken a lot of shots at the guys who are no longer with that organization. We didn't have a good team last year, and it was frustrating for all of us. Me, I did what I could do."
McGrady is not critical of the deal, believing Orlando might have helped itself. But he isn't praising Weisbrod for any improvement in the Magic.
"He didn't really do much," McGrady said. "When you trade somebody of my value, that has a high value, you're going to get something good back. I wanted to be traded so you're going to get something good back and they got Cuttino, Steve and Cato, an All-Star in Steve Francis, and Cuttino I think is a solid player (who is) going to be an All-Star. Cato is getting better."
Before contending that he wanted to move McGrady, Weisbrod had often said he would deal McGrady if McGrady could not assure him that he would not become a free agent after the 2004-2005 season. McGrady said he did not "trust" Magic management enough to offer that guarantee.
With three years left on his contract, but with an option to instead become a free agent after the season, McGrady said he would rather have a contract extension to remain in Houston. Sources with knowledge of the contract talks said this month that they have agreements on contract length, value and payment schedule and that it is in the hands of attorneys.
"I just didn't feel comfortable there, not at all," McGrady said. "I didn't trust the organization.
"But I'll take the high road. I've had my shots at him. That's over with. It's time to move on. I'm on a better team, a great organization, a great city so I'm happy, man."
There will be no showdown. Apparently, the high road does not lead to a fistful of Weisbrod's neck.
jonathan.feigen@chron.com
:lol
McGrady irked by Magic GM's latest comments
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistor.../bk/bkn/2862643
ORLANDO, FLA. - Finally, Tracy McGrady made a suggestion that John Weisbrod can appreciate.
Weisbrod, the Magic general manager who traded him, had described McGrady as a selfish, underachieving malingerer. Weisbrod, whose only previous GM experience was with a minor-league hockey team, had said that he knew Steve Francis was his kind of guy when Francis slugged Amare Stoudemire.
So finally, after taking verbal shots from Weisbrod for months, McGrady said what he would like to do to the Magic general manager.
It had become time to drop the gloves.
"When you look at some of the comments that he made, you kind of don't want to take the high road," McGrady said. "You kind of just want to grab him by the neck and choke the ... out of him."
McGrady's homecoming tonight will not be that eventful. He said he would choose to remember that he wanted the trade to Houston and was obliged.
But McGrady said Weisbrod had reneged on their agreement to part amicably.
"That's very unusual, especially when you call me and tell me that you're going to take the high road," McGrady said. "Over that whole course of the trade, the GM contradicted himself. First he said I wanted to leave. Then he came back and said, 'Tracy is not my type of player.' Which one is it?
"I really didn't worry about that. I took the high road. I was saying how well they treated me and how much I loved playing there for four years and that everything was cool. But I didn't appreciate how everything went down. You tell me you're going to take the high road and then blast me like that? It just shows the difference in organizations.
"I'm pretty sure the management or organization here has some dirt on Steve. But they didn't go that way. They kept it professional. They didn't put his business out there with issues they probably had with him. That's the difference between this organization and the organization back home."
Negativity a surprise
Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy has refused to even hint at dissatisfaction with Francis, Cuttino Mobley or Kelvin Cato, also traded to Orlando, arguing their play last season made them attractive enough for the Rockets to land McGrady.
But Van Gundy said that Weisbrod has been so outspoken in his criticism of one of the seven players in the deal, it might establish a track record in his first year as a NBA general manager.
"I am surprised at how publicly negative their management has been," Van Gundy said. "It shows any player that when they make a decision to move you, you can expect the same treatment."
Weisbrod, attending the NBA Board of Governors meeting, was unavailable for comment on Friday. But there is no disputing that he has been critical of McGrady as, at the least, not his kind of player.
After the deal was completed, Weisbrod praised McGrady's talent but said that McGrady did not work hard enough or have the qualities to make the most of that ability.
"It's not too dramatic to say that he's the most physically gifted player to ever play the game," Weisbrod said. "I think he's more talented than Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
"It's about do you want to work. I'm about players with intangibles. I say that only because my favorite guys are guys with intangibles.
"Guys that want to cover Kobe Bryant. Guys that when you look in their eyes, you know you've got a game on. Maybe he'll develop into that, but I don't think he's that now."
Change necessary
This week, he described McGrady as a problem that could not have been solved with other changes.
"It would be fair to say it was a mutual decision," Weisbrod told ESPN.com. "I would be lying to say I was anxious to have Tracy back.
"Basketball is a team game, and he had developed an attitude of the organization eating out of his hand. It was tough to imagine that, no matter what pieces we changed around him, that we were going to be able to change the culture of this team with him on the team.
"Tracy would say, 'I had my 35 (points), what else did you want me to do?' "
McGrady seemed most offended at that last criticism, saying the Magic's 21-61 season was more painful than winning the scoring title could salve.
"He's entitled to his opinion. Whatever," McGrady said. "He's taken a lot of shots at the guys who are no longer with that organization. We didn't have a good team last year, and it was frustrating for all of us. Me, I did what I could do."
McGrady is not critical of the deal, believing Orlando might have helped itself. But he isn't praising Weisbrod for any improvement in the Magic.
"He didn't really do much," McGrady said. "When you trade somebody of my value, that has a high value, you're going to get something good back. I wanted to be traded so you're going to get something good back and they got Cuttino, Steve and Cato, an All-Star in Steve Francis, and Cuttino I think is a solid player (who is) going to be an All-Star. Cato is getting better."
Before contending that he wanted to move McGrady, Weisbrod had often said he would deal McGrady if McGrady could not assure him that he would not become a free agent after the 2004-2005 season. McGrady said he did not "trust" Magic management enough to offer that guarantee.
With three years left on his contract, but with an option to instead become a free agent after the season, McGrady said he would rather have a contract extension to remain in Houston. Sources with knowledge of the contract talks said this month that they have agreements on contract length, value and payment schedule and that it is in the hands of attorneys.
"I just didn't feel comfortable there, not at all," McGrady said. "I didn't trust the organization.
"But I'll take the high road. I've had my shots at him. That's over with. It's time to move on. I'm on a better team, a great organization, a great city so I'm happy, man."
There will be no showdown. Apparently, the high road does not lead to a fistful of Weisbrod's neck.
jonathan.feigen@chron.com
:lol
Poody said:
No, he really could always shoot. He just can't do anything else. His shots this year are still flat as heck. Not change. I watched him all of summer league last year and he was taking 3s and midrange shots all the time. No real difference... It's just now you see him more.
Err, no. McGrady has the most hangtime of any player since Jordan (and may even have a bit more; it's debatable), but he's nowhere near as explosive or quick. Or does only hangtime/leaping ability count as "athleticism" now? I guess Vince was more athletic than Jordan too then. :lol
You laugh? VC is the most athletically gifted player I've ever seen (well in the air anyway, he isn't as explosive on the ground these days), and that includes Jordan who I'd rank second. Vince has done things in the air MJ couldn't even dream of. And I've got the vids on my hard drive to prove it. For overall athleticism MJ has 'em all beat, but no one touches Vince for aerial ability. That's just the way it is.
Shinobi said:
Yes, Vince has done things Jordan couldn't, vertical-leap wise. McGrady and Jordan both have more hang-time than Vince ever did, pre- or post-injury. My point was about "overall athleticism", which you conede Jordan has them beat in, so we're on the same page.
Neither Vince nor TMac have the sort of explosiveness off the dribble or speed in changing directions that MJ had, which was my point.- Status