The NBA Thread

[Barry Egan]

The "NBA League Pass" is free for the next few days on nba.com.  Good stuff!

http://www.nba.com/leaguepass/online.html?cid=nba46

[jbissell]

The "NBA League Pass" is free for the next few days on nba.com.  Good stuff!

Thanks for the heads up.

[Gilly]

If you have cable or satellite, it's free for a week or two as well. My local cable provider doesn't have it in high def otherwise I would probably pay for the season. #1st world problems

[Barry Egan]

What's infuriating is that local games are blacked out online, which would be understandable, except that here in DC all local games are only broadcast on cable. So if I don't have Comcast but spend the 150 bucks for an online season pass, I can enjoy every game from every team EXCEPT the Wizards.

 Is there a way to make my IP address show up as Utah?  My hibachi is not pleased.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0EgQdXd4xI[/youtube]

[Gilly]

I don't like it either, but the local station pays good money for the rights to air those games and commercial space is sold based on ratings shares. So, it's not going to change anytime soon. The NBA will always black it out, but maybe the stations will stream online down the road. But, online streaming is looking like it might have a price attached to it in the near future.

[ben]

Brandon Jennings!  I had no idea he was supposed to be this good. 

Go Bucks!

[jbissell]

Brandon Jennings!  I had no idea he was supposed to be this good. 

Go Bucks!

No kidding. The Knicks have to be kicking themselves.

[Gilly]

Everybody says that about the Knicks but I think everyone who picked before the Bucks except maybe... maybe the Clippers will be kicking themselves. I mean the Knicks made a bad pick but I think the Wolves would rather have Jennings than Flynn right about now... they just might not be kicking themselves as hard.

[jbissell]

Everybody says that about the Knicks but I think everyone who picked before the Bucks except maybe... maybe the Clippers will be kicking themselves. I mean the Knicks made a bad pick but I think the Wolves would rather have Jennings than Flynn right about now... they just might not be kicking themselves as hard.

But Flynn is still highly regarded. Jordan Hill? Not so much.

[Gilly]

I suppose. But, I can't believe that so many GM's didn't have a better read on this kid. I wonder how many high schoolers are going to try the route he took now.

[nec13]

Brandon Jennings!  I had no idea he was supposed to be this good. 

Go Bucks!

No kidding. The Knicks have to be kicking themselves.

The Knicks had no intention of taking Brandon Jennings, as Donnie Walsh barely spent any time scouting him. The player they desperately wanted was Stephen Curry. When Golden State took Curry with the #7 pick, the Knicks went with their second choice, which was Jordan Hill.

However, the Knicks problems run a lot deeper than just one botched draft pick. Since the departure of Ernie Grunfeld, the Knicks have been the most ineptly run franchise in the sport. Just look at their inexplicable free agent signings (Jerome James, Jared Jeffries, etc.), terrible draft picks (Michael Sweetney, Frederic Weis, Channing Frye) and nonsensical trades (Eddy Curry, Q-Rich, Marbury). Their abysmal play should surprise no one. Unfortunately for them, there is very little chance that things improve in the near future.

[jbissell]

terrible draft picks (Channing Frye)

Funny that Frye has turned into a solid outside shooting big man in Phoenix.

And of course the Knicks problems run much deeper than this particular draft, but it's one of the first mistakes made in the post-Isiah era (where the whole mess basically started).

[nec13]

You make a valid point about Channing Frye. The Knicks really never gave him a chance to succeed.

Regarding your second point, I don't necessarily agree with the assertion that the Jennings non-selection is the first bad decision of the post-Isiah era. The Jordan Hill pick looks bad now, but by the end of the season, it may not be so egregious. I think it's too early to make any type of definitive judgment on Hill because he has barely played. Moreover, when he has seen playing time, he has been decent. He doesn't have the ceiling of a Brandon Jennings, but he definitely has the potential to be a good NBA player.

And I think the Knicks problems began during the Scott Layden era. Layden poured the gasoline. Isiah lit the match.

[Gilly]

I don't know, Jordan Hill might not be bad, but players that are never given the opportunity turn into role players at best in most cases. It's way too early, but it says something that the worst team in the league isn't giving him much of a chance yet. NBA teams need to start using the D-League for players like Hill. When you draft a player knowing he needs to develop, why not play him in the "developmental league" instead of letting him waste away on the bench? It happens all the time because teams are afraid to send their 1st round picks to the D-League. Or, the league should make a rule like the NHL where you can draft a players rights and allow him to stay in college (even though NHL teams don't really want their players to stay in college but that's only because they have established minor league systems).

[buffcoat]

The Clippers aren't scheduled to stop kicking themselves until February 2028, and that's if they don't do anything NEW that's stupid.