NBA 2012: Running thread

Here's where that dunk began.

 

We all love the Doc, but as an all-around player he's not in Kobe's league (and speaking of leagues, let's not compare the ABA to how competitive the NBA has been in Kobe's career).

But anyway. The reason I love Dr. J's dunk on Cooper isn't just for how cool it was (love Coop ducking out of the way), but for Chick's call of it.

Part of the greatness of Chick: How many other announcers have the signature call for an opposing player?

 

When the ABA was around, there were about as many teams combined as there are in the NBA now. There weren't any Europeans, but otherwise it's hard to see why the 21st century is totally more competitive than that era. Roughly the same number of players selected from roughly the same talent pool.

 

I had the pleasure of hanging with Dr. J one time for about 4 hours after a celebrity golf round (I was with some attractive ladies, Dr. J loves the ladies) and I asked him, "what is your most memorable moment? (reverse finger roll behind backboard against Mark Landsburger, throwdown over Cooper, etc.)

His response, "they're all the same to me."

Blew me away. BTW, humongous hands.

 

Population of the country was 100,000,000 fewer in Dr. J's time than it is today.

Combine that with the international players available, and the talent pool is not even close to being even.

 

Could go on the college hoops thread but being there are shots of Dr. J on this page ...

http://96xrocks.com/jacksonville-colleges-daniel-skinner-has-ridiculous-dunk-against-tjc-video/

 

Is Shaq back? No, but his struggles at the foul line are! Steve Nash, the best free-throw shooter in the history of the NBA, had a couple pointers for Lakers teammate Dwight Howard, who is at 47 percent and falling.

Howard's response, of course, was that people need to quit bothering him.

"My mind cannot get clouded with everybody telling me how to shoot a free throw. I just have to go up there and shoot it my way and not get caught up in what everybody else is saying, because that's when I miss."

No kidding. What good would it do for the guy to change anything about his free-throw routine? It's working to perfection!

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/8724580/los-angeles-lakers-dwight-howard-shuns-free-throw-pointers-kobe-bryant-sees-root

 

Howard is a great talent but I really didn't want him coming to the Lakers.

Who cares if he puts up 28 and 16 with 5 blocks (or similar numbers) through 44 minutes if teams are going to do what the Rockets did the other night: foul him 10-15 times in the final 3:30.

It's total bunk basketball, but hey, it worked. The Rockets came back to win because they extended the game by making Howard clunk one after another.

What's the point of having the studliest stud in the league if you can't have him on the floor at the end?

 

No one will ever convince me that you are serious with the bulk of the stuff you write here.

 

ESPN's pregame team of Magic, Simmons and Jalen is pretty strong.

 

Simmons does well in that format.

 

In the past, he was able to make up for his free-throw struggles in other ways, namely on the defensive end. While he's putting up decent block numbers, he does not seem to be the disruptive defensive force he once was, which definitely negates some of his impact late in games.

Even if he keeps shooting 48% or whatever it is from the free-throw line, that's still almost a point every time down the floor. The Lakers are allowing 1.03 points per possession right now, so he either needs to get his FT% up to at least 51.5%, or the Lakers simply need to be better late in games on the defensive side of the ball. I think the latter is more likely in the long run.

I think that will come as he gets more comfortable with the team and gets more of his strength and mobility back from the back surgery. I don't think the Magic with him were abysmal or anything close in late games. He's just not 100 percent right now.