2014-2015 NBA thread

[Rowand44]

Don't forget Miller too. And maybe the corpse of Ray Allen.

Completely forgot about Miller.

[thxfrthmmrs]

Those guys definitely have more upside than what the Heat were trotting out there, but the Heat role players were more versatile and fit Lebron better than any of the guys you just named.

 

So you know how rebounding is one of the few advantages Bulls had over the Heat in the past? Well Varejao averaged 14 rebounds per 40 minutes last year, and Thompson was close to 12 per 40. Love is probably the best rebounder in the league. And now that we effectively replaced Deng with Dunleavy and Mirotic is not much of a rebounder at the 4, we will not even have that advantage against this version of the Cavs.

 

While these pieces fit Lebron differently, I wouldn't say they are worse fit.

[bmags]

No way. MAYBE the last year with Wade becoming old man Wade, but no way from 2010-2013 when Wade was at near-prime. People completely undervalue Bosh too. He's a damn good player who was forced into a really weird role for those Heat teams.

 

Agreed, Bosh/Wade were better basketball players at doing the little things that help win. Their defense was stifling.

[southsider2k5]

No way. MAYBE the last year with Wade becoming old man Wade, but no way from 2010-2013 when Wade was at near-prime. People completely undervalue Bosh too. He's a damn good player who was forced into a really weird role for those Heat teams.

Bosh is a player to watch this year. It will be interesting to see how the Miami offense changes and how much of a bounce back he has.

[southsider2k5]

So you know how rebounding is one of the few advantages Bulls had over the Heat in the past? Well Varejao averaged 14 rebounds per 40 minutes last year, and Thompson was close to 12 per 40. Love is probably the best rebounder in the league. And now that we effectively replaced Deng with Dunleavy and Mirotic is not much of a rebounder at the 4, we will not even have that advantage against this version of the Cavs.

 

While these pieces fit Lebron differently, I wouldn't say they are worse fit.

 

As long as we have Gibson and Noah, you will have one of the best rebounding teams in the NBA.

[Rowand44]

No way. MAYBE the last year with Wade becoming old man Wade, but no way from 2010-2013 when Wade was at near-prime. People completely undervalue Bosh too. He's a damn good player who was forced into a really weird role for those Heat teams.

Wade has been old Wade for at least two years now. If Kyrie is healthy and is who I think he is I like Cleveland's big 3 better than Miami's.

[Boogua]

So you know how rebounding is one of the few advantages Bulls had over the Heat in the past? Well Varejao averaged 14 rebounds per 40 minutes last year, and Thompson was close to 12 per 40. Love is probably the best rebounder in the league. And now that we effectively replaced Deng with Dunleavy and Mirotic is not much of a rebounder at the 4, we will not even have that advantage against this version of the Cavs.

 

While these pieces fit Lebron differently, I wouldn't say they are worse fit.

I don't think rebounding is more important than position flexibility, defense, and floor spacing. Thompson and Varajeo are extremely limited range wise on offense and Thompson isn't a great defender. Varajeo is extremely injury prone and is also limited offensively (I can't imagine how bad the offense might look with him and Thompson on the court at the same time).

 

 

[Boogua]

As long as we have Gibson and Noah, you will have one of the best rebounding teams in the NBA.

+1

[Balta1701]

So you know how rebounding is one of the few advantages Bulls had over the Heat in the past? Well Varejao averaged 14 rebounds per 40 minutes last year, and Thompson was close to 12 per 40. Love is probably the best rebounder in the league. And now that we effectively replaced Deng with Dunleavy and Mirotic is not much of a rebounder at the 4, we will not even have that advantage against this version of the Cavs.

 

While these pieces fit Lebron differently, I wouldn't say they are worse fit.

Mirotic may not be known as much of a defender, but basically the Bulls are replacing Boozer's minutes with a combination of Mirotic, maybe more Gibson, and Gasol. Adding in another 7 footer could certainly fill some of that in.

[bmags]

The cavs have a whole bunch of players who have never played elite TEAM basketball. The cavs were a mess but everyone liked their individual pieces. Love probably is close but again was never in that fully meshed team.

 

I'm guessing Cavs will look very beatable in nov/dec and we'll all laugh and then they'll dominate late as Lebron pulls them up to the level.

 

Then we will justify how Bulls grit will overcome and then get sadly beaten down as Kevin love throws a perfect full court outlet pass to a streaking Lebron for a windmill dunk and we'll say "Oh man won't Rose-Butler-Durant-Gasol-Noah be so SICK next year".

 

This day sucks.

[thxfrthmmrs]

As long as we have Gibson and Noah, you will have one of the best rebounding teams in the NBA.

 

We will be against rest of the league, but in a 7 game series against the Cavs, if we can't win the rebounding battle against a more talented team, we are in trouble.

 

I don't think rebounding is more important than position flexibility, defense, and floor spacing. Thompson and Varajeo are extremely limited range wise on offense and Thompson isn't a great defender. Varajeo is extremely injury prone and is also limited offensively (I can't imagine how bad the offense might look with him and Thompson on the court at the same time).

 

The only point I can agree on is Varejao's health. I think what he does on the court is being severely under appreciated here. On top of his rebounding, he is a grinder and energy player like Noah, and does a lot of little things for his team. He can do a lot more for the Cavs than Halsem.

 

And if you are talking about floor spacing, Love has just as much range if not more than Bosh. Thompson while limited in terms of range, won't do worse than Birdman in this department. They brought in Miller and Jones, Allen could be on the way. Irving is a can shoot lights out, and Waiters isn't too bad himself. They have ENOUGH floor spacing for Lebron to operate on paper.

[Chisoxfn]

I think the Cavs are better then those Heat teams but I also think some of the other top teams in the league are better too, including the Bulls, then the league was those years the Heat won titles.

[thxfrthmmrs]

The cavs have a whole bunch of players who have never played elite TEAM basketball. The cavs were a mess but everyone liked their individual pieces. Love probably is close but again was never in that fully meshed team.

 

I'm guessing Cavs will look very beatable in nov/dec and we'll all laugh and then they'll dominate late as Lebron pulls them up to the level.

 

Then we will justify how Bulls grit will overcome and then get sadly beaten down as Kevin love throws a perfect full court outlet pass to a streaking Lebron for a windmill dunk and we'll say "Oh man won't Rose-Butler-Durant-Gasol-Noah be so SICK next year".

 

This day sucks.

 

I second this. They have more talent on paper, but it will take them time to adjust and play as a team. But there is no reason to assume they can't.

[southsider2k5]

The cavs have a whole bunch of players who have never played elite TEAM basketball. The cavs were a mess but everyone liked their individual pieces. Love probably is close but again was never in that fully meshed team.

 

I'm guessing Cavs will look very beatable in nov/dec and we'll all laugh and then they'll dominate late as Lebron pulls them up to the level.

 

Then we will justify how Bulls grit will overcome and then get sadly beaten down as Kevin love throws a perfect full court outlet pass to a streaking Lebron for a windmill dunk and we'll say "Oh man won't Rose-Butler-Durant-Gasol-Noah be so SICK next year".

 

This day sucks.

 

I think you are right on there. You will see a lot of growing pains, more out of Love than anyone else. I think the Cavs are still beatable, but it has more to do with having some faith that it will take some time for them gel, versus the Bulls actually being more talented or anything like that.

 

I'm still not sold that they can play playoff defense for a seven game series. That might be their Achilles heel.

[Jake]

Love's health remains a big wildcard

[Jenksismyhero]

The cavs have a whole bunch of players who have never played elite TEAM basketball. The cavs were a mess but everyone liked their individual pieces. Love probably is close but again was never in that fully meshed team.

 

I'm guessing Cavs will look very beatable in nov/dec and we'll all laugh and then they'll dominate late as Lebron pulls them up to the level.

 

Then we will justify how Bulls grit will overcome and then get sadly beaten down as Kevin love throws a perfect full court outlet pass to a streaking Lebron for a windmill dunk and we'll say "Oh man won't Rose-Butler-Durant-Gasol-Noah be so SICK next year".

 

This day sucks.

 

Ha, yep.

[bmags]

My only hope is Dion Waiters is a secret kryptonite to that team.

[Boogua]

We will be against rest of the league, but in a 7 game series against the Cavs, if we can't win the rebounding battle against a more talented team, we are in trouble.

 

 

 

The only point I can agree on is Varejao's health. I think what he does on the court is being severely under appreciated here. On top of his rebounding, he is a grinder and energy player like Noah, and does a lot of little things for his team. He can do a lot more for the Cavs than Halsem.

 

And if you are talking about floor spacing, Love has just as much range if not more than Bosh. Thompson while limited in terms of range, won't do worse than Birdman in this department. They brought in Miller and Jones, Allen could be on the way. Irving is a can shoot lights out, and Waiters isn't too bad himself. They have ENOUGH floor spacing for Lebron to operate on paper.

Besides shoot a jump shot.

 

Also, Birdman brings much more energy to the table than Thompson does. Thompson is way more talented, but Birdman fit that energy/defense role better than Thompson (Birdman is closer to Varejao than Thompson). The Heat didn't really have anybody like Thompson. Maybe Haslem, but Haslem had much better range.

 

The cavs also have no rim protector, which is a similar problem that the Heat had. The heat had a much better defense though.

[Jenksismyhero]

Wade has been old Wade for at least two years now. If Kyrie is healthy and is who I think he is I like Cleveland's big 3 better than Miami's.

 

Kyrie is so f***ing overrated. We'll see now once he plays against the big boys what a true star he'll be. He scored a lot of points on a s***ty team that relied on his scoring, but didn't WIN anything. He's played in about 2 meaningful games (NCAA Tourney) his entire career. He's getting rolled over by Rose and Curry at the USA scrimmages so far.

 

People have a circle jerk about him because he played well in a glorified exhibition game. Yawn.

Edited August 7, 2014 by Jenksismybitch

[Jenksismyhero]

Lets also keep in mind they have a rookie NBA coach. Yes, he's experienced, but he's never had to plan NBA playoff basketball which is all about adjustments. That's a big factor here too (even if at the end of the day talent wins out and they have the best player on the planet).

[Dick Allen]

Lets also keep in mind they have a rookie NBA coach. Yes, he's experienced, but he's never had to plan NBA playoff basketball which is all about adjustments. That's a big factor here too (even if at the end of the day talent wins out and they have the best player on the planet).

That's true, and the Love injury history which was posted earlier. The one thing as a Bulls fan that concerns me though, is LeBron's attitude. When the Heat got in trouble when Wade was Wade and they still had a roster that was viable, was when LeBron acted like a visitor in Wade's house and deferred far too much. I think that's out the window now.

 

It will be interesting to see how his weight loss plays into his performance.

[Rowand44]

Kyrie is so f***ing overrated. We'll see now once he plays against the big boys what a true star he'll be. He scored a lot of points on a s***ty team that relied on his scoring, but didn't WIN anything. He's played in about 2 meaningful games (NCAA Tourney) his entire NBA career. He's getting rolled over by Rose and Curry at the USA scrimmages so far.

 

People have a circle jerk about him because he played well in a glorified exhibition game. Yawn.

I don't think anyone gives a damn about what he did in the allstar game.

[2nd_city_saint787]

Kinda curious to see how the Bulls matchup with Waiters and Lebron when they're on the court.....Gotta have Butler or Snell on Lebron at least most of the time. Do they just let Waiters "get his" by putting DMD/MJD on him or go with a lot of Kirk or put Butler and Snell out there at the same time for the most part.

 

I like Rose on Irving, Noah on Love, and Pau on Verajo.

[greg775]

If you are Andrew Wiggins, is there any bright side to going to Minnesota? Is he supposed to jack up 30 shots a game and make a name for himself by averaging 20-30 points a game on a 10-win team?

What do you do if you are Andrew Wiggins stuck in Minnie?

[T R U]

Everyone said the same stuff when the Heat got together, and yet they went to 4 straight Finals and won two rings. I see no reason this will be any different, especially since this Cavs team is better than those Heat teams even when you consider the east is a little better.