every road team sells out when MIA or OKC are visiting

Doug getting misty.

I am clearly biased about the state of play in the NBA. If this is what the public wants, have fun. I'd rather watch a league that is competitively balanced, that is driven by the quality of the actual game instead of two or three superstars, and has player acquisition guidelines that allow for teams to improve relatively quickly.

If you don't have a superstar and you can't draft in the top five (god help you if you do have a top pick in the top five during a shitty draft class, like we did with Evan Turner), and your city isn't in a major media market, then your team is going to be stuck in mediocrity for a long time.

People in DC have all but given up on the Wizards EVER improving. There's no draw for free agents to come to DC, there aren't any major tax breaks like Florida, it's not a major media market. You can take that formula and apply to at least half the teams in the NBA.

Again, perhaps the fan base doesn't care and are happy with just watching the two or three best stars. Seems like an odd way to appreciate a sport, but I guess I'm just out of touch.

a lot of us think the individual games are really, really good. team offense and team defense are the best they've been in the 15 years or so I've been watching

I think only liking a sport for the chance that your team will win a trophy, like a heck of a lot of people seem to do for football and baseball, is the odd way to enjoy a sport

what does 'quality of the actual game' mean?

Wouldn't know. Haven't seen it in so long.

Luzinski's Gut wrote:Yes, because the fans of the 25 teams that have no shot every year really care about those two stars.

Youseff wrote:bad league with two of the most dynamic stars in all of sports in the last 30 years. STFU

yeah Lebron & KD are very popular. my enjoyment of sports doesn't need to be municipality based for me to enjoy it.

I kinda would like the sixers to be good, idk

Also, it's a bit weird to think Washington and Philadelphia have no long-term chance in a league where 2 of the 3 best teams are in Oklahoma City and San Antonio.

if you're not hyped for the nugs/warriors and clippers/grizz, i don't even know

Houshphandzadeh wrote:also about to have some awesome playoffs like they do every year

as frustrating as this year was, I don't know how much blame the organization deserves. it really comes down to Bynum's knees

Yep. I dunno. This season might be a good thing long term. Get us out of purgatory/mediocrity and give us a shot at a full on rebuild. Jrue and Thad are on really reasonable contracts.

Houshphandzadeh wrote:Opening Night was a blast!

it was

sorry I said STFU, LG. I just get hyper-sensitive and protective b/c so many talk smack on the NBA. wears on my nerves, ya know?

Soren wrote:

Houshphandzadeh wrote:also about to have some awesome playoffs like they do every year

as frustrating as this year was, I don't know how much blame the organization deserves. it really comes down to Bynum's knees

Yep. I dunno. This season might be a good thing long term. Get us out of purgatory/mediocrity and give us a shot at a full on rebuild. Jrue and Thad are on really reasonable contracts.

is it safe yet to say Jrue and Thad should probably be first on the trading block if we're not giving the Bynum thing another shot or pursuing some other course for contention? if we're rebuilding, they're the only ones who would 1) bring us any real significant return B) minimize wins

Polar Bear Phan wrote:Also, it's a bit weird to think Washington and Philadelphia have no long-term chance in a league where 2 of the 3 best teams are in Oklahoma City and San Antonio.

And 3 of the 5 teams that follow them are in Denver Memphis and Indy.

td11 wrote:if you're not hyped for the nugs/warriors and clippers/grizz, i don't even know

And OKC-Houston

Houshphandzadeh wrote:

Soren wrote:

Houshphandzadeh wrote:also about to have some awesome playoffs like they do every year

as frustrating as this year was, I don't know how much blame the organization deserves. it really comes down to Bynum's knees

Yep. I dunno. This season might be a good thing long term. Get us out of purgatory/mediocrity and give us a shot at a full on rebuild. Jrue and Thad are on really reasonable contracts.

is it safe yet to say Jrue and Thad should probably be first on the trading block if we're not giving the Bynum thing another shot or pursuing some other course for contention? if we're rebuilding, they're the only ones who would 1) bring us any real significant return B) minimize wins

I don't know. What do you get for those two guys in the best case scenario? If we trade them we're looking at dog shit teams with no one to root for in the immediate future.

the return for Jrue is pretty hard to speculate. he's an all-star but not really elite, but instead of being on the block right before he needs his extension, he's on an awesome deal. I can't think of many precedents. I'd think you can get quite a bit for him from a team ready to go except for point guard. the Jazz, maybe? Kanter or Favors and a bunch of picks?

I'm just saying, keeping him precludes "a shot at a full on rebuild." he and Thad keep us out of the top five in the draft and may even send our pick to Miami so they gotta figure something out

Houshphandzadeh wrote:the return for Jrue is pretty hard to speculate. he's an all-star but not really elite, but instead of being on the block right before he needs his extension, he's on an awesome deal. I can't think of many precedents. I'd think you can get quite a bit for him from a team ready to go except for point guard. the Jazz, maybe? Kanter or Favors and a bunch of picks?

I'm just saying, keeping him precludes "a shot at a full on rebuild." he and Thad keep us out of the top five in the draft and may even send our pick to Miami so they gotta figure something out

I get what you're saying, but I can't imagine the team doing that to the fans.

^ I agree

Eddie Jordan to Rutgers heh