NBA

[Guest EYJAYJAY]

is it yi or the chinese gov't? the same thing happened with yao, but once the chinese found out that yao was going to houston, they didn't say anythign, cuz they knew he would be a marketable commodity. don't forget, yao had to go back to china every year and do a bunch of publicity stunts because china wanted him too. in fact, last summer was the first summer he didn't play for them(i think he was coming off injury so they "let" him off). don't play yi, the kid probably just wants to play, its the gov't thats playing a bigger role, because they want to send the right image and make sure he's marketable so the chinese look good. they've been holding him back for a couple of year, until they felt he was ready for the big time.

no wait, their name confused me. i was talking about their PG not yi. the coach criticized their PG whatever the dude's name is.. he was trying to get drafted but his coach said he isnt nba ready and the government got pissed and defensive about the coach's comment.

[Guest plusone]

^ if they don't pursue Lewis, see him going to the Rockets.That's were he wants to end up in the first place, but if I was Lewis, I would stick w/ the Sonics since him and Durant would be a killer duo.Plus if for some insane reason the Sonics end up at Oklahoma City, just imagine the publicity that they would get since Oklahoma is a huge sports town.

Houston doesn't have cap though, so I'm thinking Orlando looks like a big possibility.

[RiderKamen]

I think he's talking as a whole ... The team changed drastically ... With like Lebron, Jordan, etc, it was a one man change with some small changes around them.

With the Blazers and Sonics, pretty much half their team seemed to have changed.

Yep that's what I ment.

Usually it would take a organization more than 2 hours to change a entire team lol

[Guest han.]

wow, a trade by isiah thomas that actually makes sense for the knicks. the knicks give up channing frye and steve francis for zack randolph, fred jones, and dan dickau. what a total steal for the knicks. they practically gave up nothing, with the emergence of david lee and the glut of guards they have. i guess the blazers didn't really need randolph since they had lamarcus aldridge and now greg oden but surely they could've gotten more in return for a 20 and 10 guy like randolph, despite whatever offcourt problems that are sure to come with him. i think either the knicks or the celtics will win the atlantic division, depending on how the trades work out for both teams.

i think it was a mistake for both seattle and golden state to trade their star players. surely they could've gotten a lot more in return for an all-star like ray allen instead of just a rookie, delonte west, and wally szcerbiak. with rashard lewis probably leaving, it would've made sense to have ray allen stay at the shooting guard position and have kevin durant fill in rashard lewis's position. now they're going to have to completely build around just durant. the same with jason richardson, golden state could've gotten a lot more for him than just a rookie. what steals for boston and charlotte though.

i agree that chicago should've gotten a low post scorer instead of joakim noah but looking at the highlights they showed of noah, most of his points were scored mostly on dunks and stuff like that, which is basically what tyrus thomas does to get his points. thomas doesn't really have a low post game but he manages to score in double figures when he gets decent minutes so hopefully noah will work out for the bulls.

zach randolph for a worthless channing frye and washed-up stevey franchise? the blazers made all the right choices on draft day except that horrible trade. the knicks are still going to suck. talk about no team chemistry, randolph and curry are going to end up taking up each other's space. and they still have the biggest bunch of rejects running their back court. starbury, nate robinson and jamal crawford? isiah thomas just shot himself in the foot. again.

i actually like the seattle trade. ray allen isn't getting any younger, he's becoming more and more of a catch-and-release type shooter because he's losing that quickness guards need to create shots for themselves. i personally see a huge future for kevin durant. the sonics had it real easy picking him as their draft pick. i mean, this kid is so talented on so many different aspects of the game, all he really needs to do is bulk up a bit. szcerbiak is a solid player who would fit well with the rest of the roster and delonte west is pretty decent, considering he'll be coming off the bench for ridnour/watson. the sonics front court isn't half bad either, chris wilcox and nick collison carried their own weight this past season. with the addition of jeff green, i think the sonics have a bright future ahead of them. i actually think it was a bad move on the celtics part, sure they get an all-star type player, but i really can't picture pierce/allen working together to actually help the team win. it didn't make sense that the celtics said no to jermaine o'neal, a type of player they do need whereas they accepted ray allen, a type of player they really don't need.

why was it a bad idea to trade j. rich? he was hobbled by injuries all of last-season and made a big push during the end of the regular season and the post-season. besides, the warriors already have a strong back court, now that monte ellis proved himself to be a real baller. and i would like to think the star on the warriors is b. diddy, not j. rich. the italian guy, belinelli isn't too shabby of a player either. the warriors needed to size up in the front court and guys like al harrington, stephen jackson, and matt barnes aren't exactly willing to get down and dirty in the paint. brandan wright could be molded into a solid post player and he runs the floor well, which fits perfectly with the warrior's style of offense. biedrins also just has his break out season so i think the warriors are looking towards the right direction.

what i did not get was why the bull chose joakim noah. i can't picture this guy fitting anywhere in the bulls team. i expect this guy to be traded somewhere real soon. and his shooting form should ban him from the nba all together, it's uglier than shawn marion's. but he's got heart, which is probably a huge reason why he was so coveted in this year's draft.

the lakers drafted two guards and pau gasol's younger brother. i swear the drafting of the two point guards has jim buss' name written all over it. especially the chinese guy, who i've never even heard of before the draft. i'm sitting here asking myself why in the world the lakers would pick javariis crittenton over somebody like josh mcroberts. crittenton's style of playing doesn't even fit in the triangle offense that phil jackson runs and mcroberts was the toughness inside the paint the lakers were lacking. these guys don't even have range, which the lakers also lack.

from the looks of it right now, the lakers are going to be in a draught for the next decade, starting from when kobe bryant opts out of his contract at the end of next season.

kg please come to the lakers.

[Guest thelivinlegend21]

the lakers drafted two guards and pau gasol's younger brother. i swear the drafting of the two point guards has jim buss' name written all over it. especially the chinese guy, who i've never even heard of before the draft. i'm sitting here asking myself why in the world the lakers would pick javariis crittenton over somebody like josh mcroberts. crittenton's style of playing doesn't even fit in the triangle offense that phil jackson runs and mcroberts was the toughness inside the paint the lakers were lacking. these guys don't even have range, which the lakers also lack.

from the looks of it right now, the lakers are going to be in a draught for the next decade, starting from when kobe bryant opts out of his contract at the end of next season.

kg please come to the lakers.

are you sure McRoberts was tough when he was at Duke? i seem to remember him playing at the top of the arc most of the time, and being more of a face-up player rather than a true post-up bigman. verify with me please, because you have me doubting myself. i mean, his passing abilities would definitely help in the triangle, but the guy's not going to solve the Lakers' talent issues. he'll be nothing more than a Luke Walton replica, which might not be too bad actually, just that it won't solve issues. Jason Smith seems a more reasonable pick over McRoberts. but i agree that Javaris Crittenton was not the solution. drafting another PG was not smart.

[Guest plusone]

the lakers drafted two guards and pau gasol's younger brother. i swear the drafting of the two point guards has jim buss' name written all over it. especially the chinese guy, who i've never even heard of before the draft. i'm sitting here asking myself why in the world the lakers would pick javariis crittenton over somebody like josh mcroberts. crittenton's style of playing doesn't even fit in the triangle offense that phil jackson runs and mcroberts was the toughness inside the paint the lakers were lacking. these guys don't even have range, which the lakers also lack.

to be honest, the lakers took crittenton because he was the best player available at 19. crittenton also has triangle experience and is a great player, although he is a few years away. there really wasn't an instant impact guy left in the draft and josh mcroberts was definitely NOT the answer. 19 was WAY too high for him; and i'm not sure about mcroberts being tough. one of the biggest knocks on josh mcroberts was that he was too soft, unassertive, and lacked leadership skills. he's definitely athletic, but last thing we need is another power forward that likes to dance around the perimeter.

sun yue though... O.o

derrick byars!

[Guest huangmeixi]

i cant find the link to it anymore, but i was surfing on nba.com and found the article. im sure i wasnt seeing things. their action towards the coach and yi's attitude is no surprise to me though cuz the chinese government sure has some huge ego and national pride and had pretty much brain washed their citizens to have the same pride (a ton of chinese international students came to my school this year and i defintely experienced that). players shouldnt have a say in where they want to be in drafts, otherwise, drafts wouldnt exist in the first place. yi pulled a steve francis and i got no respect for that dude

I think the brainwashing citizens comment comes off as a bit offensive. I think like Korean (and don't tell me there's no Korean pride), the Chinese have just experienced a lot to be proud of very quickly, so yeah, it's understandable there's ego.

I think Yi has a lot of potential since one of his major weaknesses is lack of strength and that's easy to remedy cause Yao bulked up really quick in the NBA it seems, but being so arrogant is still not the way to go for someone who was such a risky pick.

I just remember reading an article about the coach's comment regarding Sun Yue in which the Chi govt tried to play it safe by supporting both cause they need the coach but they also didn't want to anger sun Yue. They need both cause they are trying to not have friction in their Olympic team.

As it is I'm suprised Sun Yue got drafted so high, especially with that derisive comment by his own coach. I didn't think he'd get drafted at all.

what i did not get was why the bull chose joakim noah. i can't picture this guy fitting anywhere in the bulls team. i expect this guy to be traded somewhere real soon. and his shooting form should ban him from the nba all together, it's uglier than shawn marion's. but he's got heart, which is probably a huge reason why he was so coveted in this year's draft.

Seriously? I didn't know that heart could get you somewhere on the draft. Still it's cool three Florida guys got into the top ten, especially when the draft was so deep.

[Guest res0nate]

Noah was a terrible pick, I forgot to address that in my previous post.

Yi is going to be an avg player; nothing that'll make you go "wow." Better yet, no ones even 100% sure about his age. That's awesome.

[Guest flipdragn]

the knicks are still going to suck. talk about no team chemistry, randolph and curry are going to end up taking up each other's space. and they still have the biggest bunch of rejects running their back court. starbury, nate robinson and jamal crawford? isiah thomas just shot himself in the foot. again.

i actually like the seattle trade. ray allen isn't getting any younger, he's becoming more and more of a catch-and-release type shooter because he's losing that quickness guards need to create shots for themselves. i actually think it was a bad move on the celtics part, sure they get an all-star type player, but i really can't picture pierce/allen working together to actually help the team win. it didn't make sense that the celtics said no to jermaine o'neal, a type of player they do need whereas they accepted ray allen, a type of player they really don't need.

why was it a bad idea to trade j. rich? he was hobbled by injuries all of last-season and made a big push during the end of the regular season and the post-season. besides, the warriors already have a strong back court, now that monte ellis proved himself to be a real baller. and i would like to think the star on the warriors is b. diddy, not j. rich. the italian guy, belinelli isn't too shabby of a player either. the warriors needed to size up in the front court and guys like al harrington, stephen jackson, and matt barnes aren't exactly willing to get down and dirty in the paint. brandan wright could be molded into a solid post player and he runs the floor well, which fits perfectly with the warrior's style of offense. biedrins also just has his break out season so i think the warriors are looking towards the right direction.

i think the knicks are going to be pretty decent this season. they were floating around .500 and the 7th or 8th seed for a little while until isiah thomas got that contract extension. i guess that made him lose focus or something but the knicks turned back into the knicks they were under larry brown after that. what i'm saying is the potential for them to be decent is there, they just have to cover up some weaknesses and zack randolph covers up their lack of rebounding big men. david lee can't do it all by himself and god knows eddy curry won't help him.

i think paul pierce and ray allen can coexist together because pierce has been begging for some help and now that he has an all-star caliber player in ray allen on his team, he'll be more willing to share the ball. he's also getting slightly old so i think he'll do what it takes to win, like get in shape. was it just me or was he a little plump this season? i wouldn't have traded delonte west though. rajon rondo and sebastian telfair can't fill that position as well as west could have.another reason the celtics could be good this season is the progression of al jefferson. he's just going to get better this season and that'll really help with some inside scoring. and it wasn't the celtics that said no to jermaine o'neal, it was the other way around. it seems that no one wants to play for the celtics, like jo, shawn marion, and kg.

so just because t-mac and yao ming were hobbled by injuries 2 seasons ago, should the rockets trade them too? i realize richardson isn't the same caliber type player they are but i think you see my point. it's not like he decided to make his play decline, he couldn't help it. like you said, by the end of the season and in the postseason, he was back to normal and he should be during this season. i don't know how a backcourt of just davis and ellis would work. ellis seemed to fall out of favor with don nelson in the postseason. he didn't really play much in the dallas and utah series. and i agree that davis is now the star of the team but richardson is the very close second in command. maybe the trade will work out for them, but i'm just saying that the warriors could've gotten a more proven player in return than a rookie.

[Guest GDlovesBEE]

What I'm hearing is that Yi will not sign with the Bucks.

He says he wanted to go to a city with a larger Chinese population. He ain't too familar w/ our city - something about the fact that he never saw enough Milwaukee games while in China; I guess because Milwaukee's not "big" enough for him..?

[Guest plusone]

He says he wanted to go to a city with a larger Chinese population. He ain't too familar w/ our city - something about the fact that he never saw enough Milwaukee games while in China; I guess because Milwaukee's not "big" enough for him..?

not big enough for the chinese government's liking anyway.

[Guest effudee]

man golden state got rid of jason richardson wow. just wow.

Charlotte acquires Jason Richardson and the draft rights to Jermareo Davidson from Golden State in exchange for the draft rights to Brandan Wright.

man, im still hurting. they just traded away the heart and soul of this team. it better not be in vain. i hope jrich becomes an all-star like the rest of the ex-warriors lol

[Guest han.]

i think the knicks are going to be pretty decent this season. they were floating around .500 and the 7th or 8th seed for a little while until isiah thomas got that contract extension. i guess that made him lose focus or something but the knicks turned back into the knicks they were under larry brown after that. what i'm saying is the potential for them to be decent is there, they just have to cover up some weaknesses and zack randolph covers up their lack of rebounding big men. david lee can't do it all by himself and god knows eddy curry won't help him.

i think paul pierce and ray allen can coexist together because pierce has been begging for some help and now that he has an all-star caliber player in ray allen on his team, he'll be more willing to share the ball. he's also getting slightly old so i think he'll do what it takes to win, like get in shape. was it just me or was he a little plump this season? i wouldn't have traded delonte west though. rajon rondo and sebastian telfair can't fill that position as well as west could have.another reason the celtics could be good this season is the progression of al jefferson. he's just going to get better this season and that'll really help with some inside scoring. and it wasn't the celtics that said no to jermaine o'neal, it was the other way around. it seems that no one wants to play for the celtics, like jo, shawn marion, and kg.

so just because t-mac and yao ming were hobbled by injuries 2 seasons ago, should the rockets trade them too? i realize richardson isn't the same caliber type player they are but i think you see my point. it's not like he decided to make his play decline, he couldn't help it. like you said, by the end of the season and in the postseason, he was back to normal and he should be during this season. i don't know how a backcourt of just davis and ellis would work. ellis seemed to fall out of favor with don nelson in the postseason. he didn't really play much in the dallas and utah series. and i agree that davis is now the star of the team but richardson is the very close second in command. maybe the trade will work out for them, but i'm just saying that the warriors could've gotten a more proven player in return than a rookie.

you just failed to mention the sorry excuse of a back-court the knicks have. and i think that's being generous.

regardless of ray allen's caliber, there are just some things a player cannot avoid, like aging. ray allen is more of a spot up shooter than anything now, i just don't think he has the juice in his legs to create space for himself. but who knows, maybe pierce/allen was exactly what the celtics needed. but after throwing their season this past year, i don't think ray allen is enough to compensate for the sorry excuse for a season they had. and it was the celtics who killed the trade that would bring jermaine o'neal to boston. why they'd take ray allen instead, i guess we'll just have to wait and see. but i still don't understand it.

t-mac and yao are irrelevent in this case because like to said, j.rich doesn't compare to them. teams make trades hoping to fill in spots where they feel they are lacking. and it was obvious that the warriors lacked an inside presence. biedrins alone just doesn't cut it in the west. but yeah, i do agree the warriors could have done better, but then again chris mullen seems like he knows what he is doing. look at what he's done to that team already.

[Guest EYJAYJAY]

I think the brainwashing citizens comment comes off as a bit offensive. I think like Korean (and don't tell me there's no Korean pride), the Chinese have just experienced a lot to be proud of very quickly, so yeah, it's understandable there's ego.

I think Yi has a lot of potential since one of his major weaknesses is lack of strength and that's easy to remedy cause Yao bulked up really quick in the NBA it seems, but being so arrogant is still not the way to go for someone who was such a risky pick.

I just remember reading an article about the coach's comment regarding Sun Yue in which the Chi govt tried to play it safe by supporting both cause they need the coach but they also didn't want to anger sun Yue. They need both cause they are trying to not have friction in their Olympic team.

As it is I'm suprised Sun Yue got drafted so high, especially with that derisive comment by his own coach. I didn't think he'd get drafted at all.

well i suppose it was a bit offensive, so my bad. but just like you, i think they are acting too arrogant. they need to be like yao and be more humble, especially when they havent proven anything yet. i didnt even expect sunyue to be drafted, and i believe that they drafted him hoping to attract a bigger fan base. come on, china's top pg in LA?

i dont like how jrich got traded away... and i think jordan is out of his mind in bringing jrich to that team.

rockets also need another scorer.. to me, tmac aint what he used to be. his shooting is absolutely horrible, they need a more consistant shooter they can depend on to form and in-out combo with yao and that way they can free up room for tmac to HOPEFULLY be more efficient.

[Guest thelivinlegend21]

rockets also need another scorer.. to me, tmac aint what he used to be. his shooting is absolutely horrible, they need a more consistant shooter they can depend on to form and in-out combo with yao and that way they can free up room for tmac to HOPEFULLY be more efficient.

agreed. T-Mac's back is going to break at any time. rumor has it that they're pursuing Rashard Lewis. it's just a rumor, i know, but if it goes through with a sign-and-trade, i think that may give the Rockets a very solid line up with him occupying the 4 spot after losing Howard. having a defensive, scrappy guy like Chuck Hayes coming off the bench behind Lewis sounds pretty good. question is, what's Seattle going to ask for in return, since Lewis won't take a mid-level exception.

[Guest gary]

to be honest, the lakers took crittenton because he was the best player available at 19. crittenton also has triangle experience and is a great player, although he is a few years away. there really wasn't an instant impact guy left in the draft and josh mcroberts was definitely NOT the answer. 19 was WAY too high for him; and i'm not sure about mcroberts being tough. one of the biggest knocks on josh mcroberts was that he was too soft, unassertive, and lacked leadership skills. he's definitely athletic, but last thing we need is another power forward that likes to dance around the perimeter.

sun yue though... O.o

first of all, McRoberts is not athletic, which is why he went from late lottery to second round. He graded out as one of the more unathletic players at the combine. He had very little vertical, both standing and running, he was horrible slow in all the quick runs. His best attribute is his passing and IQ, which would be perfect in the triangle, but I also agree that McRoberts is not the answer. He actually needed a big man on his team to dominate the key, so he can roam around the middle of the court and pass and shoot, which is what he does best. You're right, he lacks leadership, he's always going to be a #2 on a team. As for NBA ready players available at 19, the Lakers could have taken Rudy Fernandez(still questions on his availablity and buyout) and Jason Smith, who is probably the most NBA ready player. Plus he would be perfect for the triangle, and open up a spot for kwame or andrew bynum to be traded. Unfortunatley, Jim Buss has fallen in love with players that have upside and is bringing down the franchise.

[Guest flipdragn]

you just failed to mention the sorry excuse of a back-court the knicks have. and i think that's being generous.

and it was the celtics who killed the trade that would bring jermaine o'neal to boston.

t-mac and yao are irrelevent in this case because like to said, j.rich doesn't compare to them. teams make trades hoping to fill in spots where they feel they are lacking. and it was obvious that the warriors lacked an inside presence. biedrins alone just doesn't cut it in the west. but yeah, i do agree the warriors could have done better, but then again chris mullen seems like he knows what he is doing. look at what he's done to that team already.

lol well if i was to even mention the knick's backcourt, i would've killed my whole argument that the knicks could be decent this season. the best i can come up with is that the knicks were at .500 at some point last season so i guess their backcourt was able to mesh somewhat well and maybe they can do that for a whole season. but i could be wrong and that whole team will blow up as usual.

i could've sworn it was the other way around but if you say so.

hmm...alright, i guess i see how the trade worked out for the warriors.

[Guest res0nate]

Kapono signs w/the Raps.

Vince stays in Jersey. Good for Jersey, they're still going nowhere.

[Guest han.]

Kapono signs w/the Raps.

Vince stays in Jersey. Good for Jersey, they're still going nowhere.

there's rumors going around that jersey is shopping jefferson for a big. jermaine o'neal probably, but i dunno exactly how that trade is going to work.

mitch needs to hurry and make a deal. i'm getting sick of waiting.

[cksdayoff]

Billy King, GM of the Sixers is still going hard after Yi or Noah.