NBA starts Cavs vs Knicks.......finally back to the sport I love

The Bulls are utterly dominating Brooklyn. Great chemistry and fast break transition baskets. OK is showing that the loss of Durant may not be a big deal. This is looking like a great early NBA season. Surprised the Timberwolves are slow out of the block.

Carter Williams went down for four weeks with a knee injury and Valentine is going to get some play time. The second Unit with Carter Williams has been wasting other teams, but Valentine nailed a three after he went down and made some good passes. He could not have a better second unit in the NBA with Nikko, Doug, wade, Valentine, and this young center who is 22 who is Felcio who is doing a great job rebounding.

Wow... I'm really glad he's getting a chance this early. I was a bit discouraged after you described the rotations. It's going to be hard to keep him off of the floor after you and all of the fans see what he can do. Great draft choice... he's somebody that you can build a team around... even if they're role players. He's a winner.

I was impressed with Carter Williams defense. He is long and smothers smaller guards. However, Valentine played great defense. I liked what I saw, and with the Bulls leading the NBA in offensive points, that second unit is a critical part of the success. Four weeks of opportunity with this unit may seal his fate. He has great vision and made good assists. I have total new respect for both Rondo and Wade. Rondo got cast as the bad boy, but he works hard and he has the Bulls running where at times the ball never hits the floor as five passes and somebody has a layup. Wade I thought was pretty much on the downside of his career, but he put a move on a Brookyn player where the NY fans exploded in applause for D Wade, and although Rondo, Wade, and Butler are not getting historic points, they are only playing 25 minutes with the talent on that second unit. They are going 11 deep into the bench and had 7 players with double figures.......Valentine could not have found a better opportunity with Wade and Rondo on two year contracts.

Noah and Rose now with the Knicks got introduced to cheering from Chicago fans. I was glad to see if there were any boos they were overshadowed by cheers. Noah was hugely popular in Chicago, but Rose became less so with some of his words......still he was a great player before the injuries, and he has played well tonight. I think the Knicks and Bulls both will get better as the season goes into the winter. D Wade has made more 3s this season than he did all last year. He knew with Rondo, Butler, and him.......somebody was going to have to improve their historic 3s......this guy got a standing ovation in Boston for a fake out of a Boston player, and to think he has willed himself into a 3 point shooter to make the team better.....duly impressed.

I'll predict that LeBron gets another ring right now.  Warriors made a mistake acquiring Durant. They sacrificed team chemistry for star power at the expense of their bench.  Don't get me wrong, they will go deep in the playoffs.  But the Spurs are the new west contenders.  Nevertheless, Lebron and the Cavs will get another ring.  Quote me on this.

Here he is putting up the moves against the team that is quite literally the best in NBA history:

Bulls blow out the Magic tonight, and yesterday the Lakers beat the Warriors......OK and westbrook are taking no prisoners, and the Knicks are playing inconsistently. Cavs are playing great ball......Dallas is a train wreck. PK I hate to tell you with the Bulls blow out Valentine got almost a quarter of play, and with the bench warmers who are all trying to get more minutes and are only put in on a blow up, there is not good team play.....he did not look good tonight and forced some individual play. It is tough for a star college player to work a couple of years with limited minutes.

Well I am excited about kids basketball....I will have three of mine coaching Rec and a select  team.

2seaoat wrote:Bulls blow out the Magic tonight, and yesterday the Lakers beat the Warriors......OK and westbrook are taking no prisoners, and the Knicks are playing inconsistently.   Cavs are playing great ball......Dallas is a train wreck.  PK I hate to tell you with the Bulls blow out Valentine got almost a quarter of play, and with the bench warmers who are all trying to get more minutes and are only put in on a blow up, there is not good team play.....he did not look good tonight and forced some individual play.  It is tough for a star college player to work a couple of years with limited minutes.

It's a difficult thing to be pitted against pros. I was fortunate enough to be ready for college tennis... but it was like an entirely different game playing pros... and I never even got to the big show... though I played a few of them. He'll adjust... adapt... overcome... he has all of the tools and then some.

he has all of the tools and then some.

Agree. The one intangible that I have picked up is an incredible positive attitude. After an injury in the preseason, and then the acquisition of Carter Williams, he plays with joy.......that is a special gift.

Well I am excited about kids basketball....I will have three of mine coaching Rec and a select team.


I would give anything to be healthy enough to coach again. Very rewarding and to see kids who I coached come up to me as adults telling me how great their life is, and how much fun they had is the best. I specialized in getting kids who probably would not play even varsity ball in the games, and kids who would be stars in high school and college on the bench. I would usually take a weaker team and allow my weaker kids to play the majority of the game, and then let my better kids in to win, but only by a little bit. Kids on the winning team and the losing team all felt good, and that kid who was never going to be a star.....he or she went home feeling good. I just lost my high school BB coach who died at 93 and went on to coach at the university level coaching numerous NBA players. He taught me how to coach, and how to treat kids. A coach or teacher can change a kids life.

2seaoat wrote:Well I am excited about kids basketball....I will have three of mine coaching Rec and a select  team.


I would give anything to be healthy enough to coach again.  Very rewarding and to see kids who I coached come up to me as adults telling me how great their life is, and how much fun they had is the best.  I specialized in getting kids who probably would not play even varsity ball in the games, and kids who would be stars in high school and college on the bench.  I would usually take a weaker team and allow my weaker kids to play the majority of the game, and then let my better kids in to win, but only by a little bit.  Kids on the winning team and the losing team all felt good, and that kid who was never going to be a star.....he or she went home feeling good.   I just lost my high school BB coach who died at 93 and went on to coach at the university level coaching numerous NBA players.  He taught me how to coach, and how to treat kids.   A coach or teacher can change a kids life.

My daughter was worried about taking a select team...I reassured her 80% of coaching is motivation....she has the ability and was asked to coach by the high school varsity girl and boys coaches. She has always had the determination and she will be able to instill that determination in the girls. This team will be beneficial to the high school.

Bulls just dominated the Trail Blazers tonight. Wade still has some gas in the tank.

I watched the Timberwolves beat Philly.....no big deal except the young talent and thibs coaching is going to turn this team into a playoff team by the end of the season.

The Bulls are playing late in Utah and lead by 9, but Utah is another Western conference team who may make the playoffs this year.  I like their young talent.

Valentine is getting good play time with Rondo, Carter Williams, and Doug out. He is gaining confidence, and some of the vets are feeding him with good assists where he is gaining confidence. He has a tough situation this year getting play time, but he is making the best of it right now. Just made a great three with good spacing and passing.

If I could pick two players to start a new team it would be valentine and green. They change the game.

The Warriors very well could have the best offense in NBA history. Tonight Curry was cold and they just made Boston look foolish. I think they are soft on defense, and interior lane protection, but if they are throwing up 117 point average this season......well it will be hard to out score them. They could be something special.

boards of FL wrote:

Phenomenal athlete . . . . unselfish and unreal sense of situational awareness on the court!

The Cavs are rated number 2 in the NBA power ratings currently with a surprising Clippers number 1 and golden state number 3. I was surprised to see the Bulls rated as number 8 because they still are very much a work in progress and have had injuries which seem to hamper their play. OK and Houston with the Spurs make up the top teams, but this seems to be the year of the point guard.

I will be watching tonight and Sunday as the Bulls complete their road circus tour. It is my understanding that this will be the last year where the bailey circus will be at the united center for ten days......that is a lot of road games to deal with at the start of the season.

I didn't realize the Clippers were number one. Doc Rivers is exceptional .

Clippers Bull game had the Bulls up by plus ten in the third which they closed to plus five to start the fourth. With thirty seconds Clippers up by two. Twenty seconds up by four. This game could not get much better. I note that the clippers have the number one power rating based in my opinion on a better depth than they have displayed over the last few years. They beat the Bulls in the last two minutes. Both teams are playing some great basketball.

The warriors again tonight averaged over thirty assists. There is some special basketball being played. The NBA product is getting more popular by the moment. So much talent and excellent team play. Now I have to endure another Bears game on Sunday......the NFL product cannot compare to the NBA. I do not know if it can get much better.

2seaoat wrote:The warriors again tonight averaged over thirty assists.  There is some special basketball being played.  The NBA product is getting more popular by the moment.  So much talent and excellent team play.  Now I have to endure another Bears game on Sunday......the NFL product cannot compare to the NBA.  I do not know if it can get much better.

Yes. It's very special. Splish splash. Splish splash. Just a bunch of role player spot up shooters with Kevin Durant. Very special. Such a special team we have there in San Fran.

But then we have the greatest player of all time. LeBron is going to completely jam on that team. Golden State made a big mistake roster wise. It looks good on paper, but they can't play big boy basketball. Once we get to the final that's big boy basketball. Golden State can't hang with big boy basketball.

For the first time in his career last year, James got the respect from a great many skeptics, myself included, but goat discussion are not even close, and, there is no sense talking about how great the Cavs are until they prove the same this year. I like what I have seen, but I think there are about eight teams who could win the whole thing. I love the way that the Warriors play, and role players are team players.......the proof will be in the pudding, but if James plays with poise like he did last year in the playoffs, he will be hard to beat.....but last year was the exception after years of choking. We will wait to see who shows up, but the Warriors failure last year was a mental failure, there is no team in the league which can generate offense like the warriors.