Dilemma: Who do I choose for NBA League Pass?

Miami is out.  They’re on every week anyway, but besides, I just don’t enjoy watching them play.  (Unless it’s the Finals, of course.)  The Lakers too are out, because of Bryant’s injury.  The strange irony of the backlash I received from citing Kobe Bryant as the league’s most overrated shooting guard in a 5-on-5 some weeks ago is that I actually like Bryant and moreso, really like watching him play.  But despite what they’re saying, who knows when he’s back and more importantly, at full strength.  Maybe he beats the odds, but hey, we’re talking about one of five available slots here.  You can’t waste a slot betting on a 35 year old’s health, man.  You guys know that.  Let’s keep moving.

I’m intrigued by Brooklyn, but again, not enough.  I always did like Deron Williams but I’m almost expecting Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to look more like Gary Payton and Karl Malone in their Lakers’ 2004 roles (e.g. old) than like any other geriatric duo that went ring-chasing and actually succeeded.  But I do like the move.  When you’re over, you gotta go all in.  And Joe Johnson’s contract is the definition of “over.”  You can’t just pay a fringe All-Star $20million/annual and then cite fiscal responsibility in an effort to somehow manage the cap.  But we’ll move on.  There’s no one in the Atlantic Division that I’m taking.  I’ll read about the Knicks’ title chances in every national rag (and will chuckle) but no thanks on watching.  By the way, while we’re here, did Carmelo Anthony really get a first place MVP vote?  Really now?  And Sam, if you’re for some reason reading this, I love you and best of luck, but I’m not watching your team.

Rockets are obviously in.  That’s the whole point of getting this.  Spurs?  God no.  That’s great that you guys have managed to defy reality and the aging process, but I age about a year every time I watch you guys play.  I just don’t do boring basketball.

The Pelicans are my it team next year for reasons I’ve already gone into, but I’m going to set them in my ‘maybe’ category for now.  I loved the offseason they had, but from a viewer standpoint, neither ‘Reke Evans or Jrue get me excited and I don’t pay to watch big men.  But man, that team is going to be good.  (By the way, as an aside, if Anthony Davis develops as projected, how long is Houston’s window until we can say the Pelicans are in their class?  I say one year.)

Okay, so now we’re looking at the Central and Bulls are definitely in, even if it takes Derrick Rose some time to shake off the rust from wearing a suit all year.  Two questions: has there ever been a more laughably undeserving MVP and secondly, has there ever been a more spectacularly entertaining player than Rose?  I can’t think of a more tragic injury than a guy like that who earns his bread counting on that extra tenth of a second difference going down and potentially losing that forever.  They say you lose nothing, but when you’re talking about that degree of an extreme, there has to be some give, right?  Let’s hope not.  Speaking of captivating, Cleveland also is in, even though Kyrie Irving is guaranteed to miss about half the season.  Can you tell I like point guards?  The Cavs will be a lock here after Lebron does the logical thing next summer and goes back.

So far, I’m at Houston, Chicago, and Cleveland, with two slots still open.  Indiana is going to come out of the East but did anyone become more fantastically overrated last summer than Paul George?  Look, the guy is tremendous.  One of the best two-way players in the league.  But fans and media have to stop overrating players on the basis of playoff performances.  It’s not smart analysis nor smart projecting.  Same thing with Kawhi Leonard.  And Chandler Parsons and Pat Beverley.  Just because a guy played well in extended circumstances where your attention was more intensely focused upon him (i.e: their game was the only one on) doesn’t mean that you can throw out other mitigating factors (i.e.: that out of the field of other NBA players, there aren’t guys who, if placed in that same position if given the opportunity, would have produced similarly.)  In fact, I’d argue that projections/salaries based on playoff performances are one of the biggest managerial missteps out there.  Anyone remember Austin Croshere some ten years ago who played his way to a nice deal after putting up numbers in the Finals against a Laker team with no ’4′?  I didn’t think so.  Now, having said that, what a strong playoff performance does tell you, is that a guy has the mental makeup to respond to pressure and adversity.  And I guess there is some value to that.  But I don’t think that’s enough to overcome the balancing factors.  If you look good for five games against a good matchup, it’s not telling me enough to make a financial decision.  The bottom line is that George is tremendous.  But I’ve seen some places where people argued he was in the upper echelon near Harden territory and that’s just absurd (or perhaps overt contrarianism?).  Come back to me when he can create a shot.

Detroit’s my WTF? sleeper where anything can happen.  I mean, seriously, Brandon Jennings and Josh Smith…together?  What could possibly go wrong?  But on that point, has anyone in recent history been more underrated and unappreciated than Josh Smith with respect to reputation vs. team success.  This is a guy who consistently, at worst, has been the second best player on a team that has made the playoffs every year (and also advanced), yet we talk about him as if he’s this generation’s Derrick Coleman.  This is a man who makes serious, serious contributions on the basketball court.  So this could really work, especially if Drummond makes the jump (Drummond or Anthony Davis, who do you have?), but again, too risky when I have just two slots left.  But yeah, this is my candidate for a Golden State type meteoric rise, while at the same time, my candidate for a midseason mutiny with rumors that player X attacked player Y in the workout room with a medicine ball.

No one in the Northwest.  I don’t like watching the Thunder play.  Something to do with Westbrook, I guess.  And no one in the Southeast either.  Is there a more pathetic looking division in basketball?  Wall looked good though, but please man, fix your shot.  It’s really not that hard, especially when you can do like…everything else.

Clippers and Warriors round it out.  Two notes here: Chris Paul is the most historically underrated superstar of his generation and one of the most of all-time especially considering I’ve seen amateur discussions where people have actually placed Gary Payton and John Stockton above him.  Some of that is just romanticization of the past but much of that is just ignorance.  You walk into a bar and tell people you’d take Chris Paul over Magic Johnson, and you’d get laughed at…and that shouldn’t be the case.  Just compare the numbers, with special attention placed upon each respective player’s best year where Paul, in ’09, posted a PER of 30, WS/48 of .292 and an offensive rating of 124, compared to Magic’s ’87 when he had a PER of 27.0, WS/48 of .263 and also posted an offensive rating of 124.  (Keep in mind that those oRTG’s are unadjusted where Magic was flanked by Hall of Famers while Paul had David West.)  The career averages also point in favor of Paul.  I’m not saying there aren’t known issues with PER and win shares but those metrics are really all we have to compare players from different generations.  (RAPM isn’t of much use here because play by play data wasn’t available before this decade and those 90′s rankings are based upon more inaccurate box score calculations.)  My point is this: I’m not saying Chris Paul is the greatest point guard of all-time (though Daryl Morey kind of implied that, putting him in his all-time starting 5 in an AMA on Reddit last year), but there’s a serious discussion and we haven’t even touched on the fact that Magic played on some of the most talent-heavy rosters in history.

Second point: Curry.  I think Bill Simmons made the point that Curry stands alone as the absolute “turn on the TV” guy in the league right now where I could be on Twitter and see my timeline explode and nonchalantly think, “oh, he’s doing it again” with “doing it again” meaning dropping 30 points in a quarter.  But the thing about Curry, like Hakeem Olajuwon, isn’t so much that he’s great–both are obviously great–but that they are doing things that we have not previously perceived in our overall basketball gestalt.  Do you know what I mean?  For instance, Kobe is great, but I’ve seen that with Jordan and guys like McGrady etc.  Irving and Rose are fun but I saw Iverson, Hardaway etc.  We’ve never seen a guy shoot 3′s off his own dribble or shoot floater 3′s (like he did in the playoffs).  We’ve never seen this stuff, so, while it’s not like it’s impossible, we just didn’t know it was possible because no one had done it and that makes it look all the more visually appealing.  We love sensory novelty.  And that’s why the Warriors take the last of the five precious slots in our League Pass exercise.

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Total comments: 35
  • Stephen says 10 months ago

    DrewinAbilene,

    There are actually two different League Pass formats.

    One is Cable based,try calling your cable company and see if they offer it.(In LA service reps weren't able to offer it til just before season started.)

    It's been $179 for the season,and it's a one-time charge(altho cable companies usually offer a payment spread over several cable bills option).

    Most cable systems that offer it will have a free preview for the first two weeks of season. You might instead try flipping thru the higher channels on your cable to see if it's there once the season starts,if it is you can go ahead and order LP if you like what you're seeing.

    The cable version offers EVERY NBA game that is not nationally televised.

    There is also an Internet version that limits you to 5 teams. For this you need a decent Internet connection and you watch via your computer.

  • Drew in Abilene says 10 months ago

    I don't have anything other than basic cable, so I only get occasional games on ABC. With that in mind, I'll try to narrow down who to get on League Pass...

    Definite

    1 Rockets are obviously the number one pick.

    2 Portland will be next up, since my friend from Oregon is chipping in to pay for the service so we can watch together.

    Probable

    3 Heat probably wouldn't be most people's choice if you've got cable, but I want to be able to watch LeBron be LeBron this year.

    4 Golden State fits the bill, both because they're a young and exciting team on the rise, and because they're now a team I enjoy rooting against based on being a Houston fan.

    Wildcards

    5 Lakers are a definite possibility, because I also love to watch them lose. This season gives me a great opportunity to see that happen much more often than I'm used to.

    6 Minnesota has a really good collection of talent, and I'd love to watch them put it all together after so many injury ravaged seasons.

    7 Clippers are my final possibility, just because watching CP3 and Blake play together is so much fun. It'd also be nice to scout them a bit before a possible match-up in the playoffs.

  • RollingWave says 10 months ago

    Also I should note that if you look at how they play last year, it's probable that they'll be pretty ugly to watch this year regardless of how much they win or not, their pace was among the leagues worse (29th) despite being a young team. they gave up relatively few points but their defense efficiency was ugly, and they traded their relatively efficient PG for.... an inefficient one who's good at defense.

    So never mind the part where they 'll overlap a lot with Houston, there's also the part where they'll just play a lot of ugly style basketball.

  • RollingWave says 10 months ago

    It might take some time, but it will work sooner or later. Don't forget how skinny Noah and Garnett were their first few years.

    I personally feel that way too , more or less in this day and age if Chris Bosh can play Center then it's not a huge stretch to think that Davis can too.

    (but the scary thing is even Bosh is nearly 10 pounds heavier than Davis.)

    But you see the point, if they can't have both Davis and Anderson on the floor at the same time that's a major problem.

  • rockets best fan says 10 months ago

    Ill go ahead and take this off topic because I have a differing opinion on "basketball the way its supposed to be played." I see you have the notion that we all watch for different reasons to, so this is no way bashing you. I am one of the guys that likes to watch amazing physicality. I love watching Lebron slam it home, or blocking a lay up coming from behind, or DeAndre Jordan posterizing Brandon Knight. It may be more flashy than Pop's brand of basketball, but both are effective. Given that, I find the Spurs terribly boring to watch. It is an amazing feat that they continually put themselves in the position to win, regardless of how old and worn out they seem at times. The object of the game is to win though, and both styles can get that done, but only one is fun to watch when they lose! Just my 2 cents though, and I can understand why people like to watch them do their thing.

    Honestly at this point I'd watch any NBA team just to see some basketball.

    I can understand this point of view, but I'm different when it comes to basketball. I am a basketball fanatic. I can watch Charlotte play Philly. fast, slow I watch it all........funny I'm not like that with football or baseball, but basketball? oh yeah......I love this game. of all sports basketball is my personal favorite.

  • timetodienow1234567 says 10 months ago Good point. I like that point of view too. It's that way in football too. I liken Peyton Manning to the Spurs. Some people think its boring to watch him because he doesn't run like Cap/Rg3/etc... but he puts on a clinic out there and I like watching him play.

    I know I'm in the minority when it comes to liking to watch good execution. But, we are all different.
  • blakecouey says 10 months ago

    Most people think the Spurs are boring because they play good basketball. I've found that some people want to watch Derrick Rose try a "sick" finish in traffic rather than a Spurs player(Tony Parker) draw help defenders in the paint and then pass out to the open man.

    I'm not like that. I actually like watching basketball the way it's supposed to be played. It's why I hate watching Kobe play. Shooting the ball when you're double/triple teamed is idiotic and just seems stupid to me. But others like the excitement factor that watching a stupid play brings. So to each his own.

    We all watch basketball for different reasons.

    Ill go ahead and take this off topic because I have a differing opinion on "basketball the way its supposed to be played." I see you have the notion that we all watch for different reasons to, so this is no way bashing you. I am one of the guys that likes to watch amazing physicality. I love watching Lebron slam it home, or blocking a lay up coming from behind, or DeAndre Jordan posterizing Brandon Knight. It may be more flashy than Pop's brand of basketball, but both are effective. Given that, I find the Spurs terribly boring to watch. It is an amazing feat that they continually put themselves in the position to win, regardless of how old and worn out they seem at times. The object of the game is to win though, and both styles can get that done, but only one is fun to watch when they lose! Just my 2 cents though, and I can understand why people like to watch them do their thing.

    Honestly at this point I'd watch any NBA team just to see some basketball.

  • BrentYen says 10 months ago

    Might not be a good analogy, but it is just like lots of ppl who love to watch crashes in auto racing while claiming they are racing fans.

  • timetodienow1234567 says 10 months ago

    Most people think the Spurs are boring because they play good basketball. I've found that some people want to watch Derrick Rose try a "sick" finish in traffic rather than a Spurs player(Tony Parker) draw help defenders in the paint and then pass out to the open man.

    I'm not like that. I actually like watching basketball the way it's supposed to be played. It's why I hate watching Kobe play. Shooting the ball when you're double/triple teamed is idiotic and just seems stupid to me. But others like the excitement factor that watching a stupid play brings. So to each his own.

    We all watch basketball for different reasons.

  • Sir Thursday says 10 months ago

    The joys of International League Pass mean I don't have to make this decision, but assuming I did, I think I'd choose the following:

    1. Rockets. No explanation necessary.
    2. Timberwolves. Ricky Rubio means they're always worth watching. Add a (hopefully recovered) Love and Pekovic to the mix and you've got the makings of a really fun team. Given that they're probably going to be on the cusp of playoff contention, there will be some added stakes to a lot of their games (particularly down the stretch) that should add some spice to the precedings.
    3. Pacers. I was championing them all last year and I will continue to watch them this season, especially since they've added Scola to their team. I'm fascinated with how they do such a good job of frustrating their opponents, and I think watching them will help me improve my understanding of defence generally.
    4. Wizards. It might be a trainwreck, or it might be awesome. Even without Okafor, I think they'll do well and it's always fun to watch a team start to find its legs. The Washington announcers have always sounded fantastically depressed in previous years, and I'm hoping that the changing circumstances might just result in some optimism. John Wall on form is really fun to watch - I remember him turning into a human blur a couple of times playing the Rockets, it was ridiculous. Bradley Beal should be fun too.
    5. Warriors. My parents live in the Bay Area at the moment so it's worth keeping up with the team, particularly since they are likely to continue to be ridiculously entertaining. Hoping we get a continuation of the feud from last year, it'll be fun to watch. Just have to hope Curry's ankle continues to hold up.

    By the way, there's an important factor that you must consider when picking a team to follow, and that's quality of announcers. There's no way in hell I'd pick Boston, for example, because having to listen to Tommy Heinsohn for more than a couple of minutes makes my ears bleed. Similarly I'm pretty down on the Nuggets announcers so they're out. On the other hand, the Nets and Magic have very good analysts in the booth and those are points in their favour (although ultimately it wasn't quite enough to bump either of them up to the threshold where I'd pick them). Cleveland and Toronto have colour analysts with a very pronounced schtick that may or may not be your cup of tea - worth bearing in mind.

    I can't believe Rahat said he wouldn't put up the Spurs because they are boring! Hasn't every right-minded blogger spent the last couple of seasons trying to dissuade people of that notion? Outmoded stereotypes and all that. Avoid them because Sean Elliott is often quite biased, or because Tim Duncan's blank stare makes you uncomfortable, but because they're boring?! Doesn't make sense.

    ST

  • avn80 says 10 months ago

    Rahat,

    I thought people in Houston aren't able to watch Rocket games through League Pass because they would be blacked out since Comcast has the rights to air it in Houston.

  • blakecouey says 10 months ago

    Rockets, Warriors, Pistons, Cavaliers, and Bulls. I'd put the Heat in there except for the reasons you listed that they're on normal channels every night anyways. I like the Pistons more than the Clippers, but if I had CSN(which I dont) I would probably add them or Minnesota in their place. I figure the guys in NY and Brooklyn will be fun to watch but not worth my money when put up against the ones I really want to watch.

  • timetodienow1234567 says 10 months ago My teams would be, along with the rockets

    1) Detroit
    2) Celtics
    3) Mavs
    4) Cavs(due to my fascination with Tristan and his switch of shooting hands)
    5) Heat
  • Jeby says 10 months ago

    I would take the Lakers with my second LP slot every time, only because of the hate-watching factor. I have a rooting interest in every one of their games (against them).

    As for picking the Bulls...I'm not sure I would. Like the Heat, they will have enough national TV appearances for me to get a chance to marvel at Derrick Rose if I'm so-inclined. Honestly, if I had to pick just one Eastern Conference team to watch, it would be the Pistons. Drummond, Smith, Monroe and Jennings have the talent to be a brutally great, young team. They could also be a train wreck. If they are as good as they could be, you want to be on that bandwagon early. If they are a train wreck, then that will just be fun.

  • 2016Champions says 10 months ago

    I think the problem is can Davis play long term at C? I've heard mix answers to this. if he can't the Pelicans will be pretty ugly

    It might take some time, but it will work sooner or later. Don't forget how skinny Noah and Garnett were their first few years.

  • RollingWave says 10 months ago

    yeah overall for 5 teams you want to make sure you cover 5 division at least so there's less crossover of teams

    hmmm, with that in mind I'd adjust it to...

    Atlantic : everyone sucks or is boring so no team.

    Central : Detroit

    South East : Washington

    Pacific : Sac Town

    SW : Hou

    NW : I guess Minnie, Rubio and Love should be fun.

  • Buckko says 10 months ago I would go with blazers over minny
  • Rahat Huq says 10 months ago

    that's fantastic advice stephen. but i didnt take NO.

  • Stephen says 10 months ago

    Rahat,
    Also,do you really want to pay to watch Boozer play?

  • Stephen says 10 months ago

    Since I get LP on my cable and I live in LA I get all the Rocket games.

    Which doesn't stop me from giving free advice :)
    Rahat,
    Take Cleveland over Chicago. You'll still get 4 games against Chi,Indy and Detroit,plus at least 8 more games from your other teams. You know Chi and Indy will get at least 10 National games-and against better teams,do you really wanna watch Chi against Phoenix or Atlanta? So that's at least 20 games for Chi and Indy.
    Houston obviously.
    While you're going for both GS and the Clips,I'd recommend taking just GS for the same reasoning as Cleveland,knowing that the Clips are definitely going to air Nationally a ton.(And the Rockets play the Clips 4 times-one on NBA-TV.)
    You're taking NO-and I think they have a ways to go before they're contenders.
    As you're a fan of PGs I'd recommend using your last slot on Portland or Minn. Lillard is a fascinating young PG and Rubio can amaze,and if he ever gets any kind of outside shot... And they're two teams that won't get a lot of National games.

  • myjohnlai says 10 months ago

    Miami Heats stands out with many of their interesting players on the bench. If one of those players ever come back to half of their prime, the team will be one of the most entertaining team in history.

    Knicks without Lin, Jared Jeffery, Steve Novak, Landry Field and with fat Felton is plain boring.

    Chicago is definitely the team to watch because they have so many flashy players. How can you focus just on Rose alone? They went to playoff w/o Rose, did they?

    The Lakers is still very entertaining with D'Antonio. He's the most underrated coach. They have a decent team put together in the off-season. Koby won't be able to recover in time and that gives lots of opportunity for the rest who is dying to prove themselves. Hope Antonio can find another Linsanity. That's not impossible. I'm just surprised that they don't pick up Jared Jeffery.

  • pimpfriedrice says 10 months ago

    Golden State, Cleveland, Denver, New Orleans, and Indiana are a solid five. The Knicks, Nets, Clips, Heat, Lakers, Thunder will be interesting to watch (for various reasons) but they'll be on cable all the time. Indiana may also be in that category. I would personally pick Washington over Indiana, but that's the John Wall fan in me.

  • RollingWave says 10 months ago

    Without Okafor I think they will miss the playoffs.

    maybe maybe not, because Nene is really a center they're playing as PF and part of the problem last year was that they ran an excessive amount of Okafor + Nene lineup that killed their spacing especially early in the season when Wall was out and Beal was sucking.

    Now with Okafor and Singleton out they are probably forced to play small ball with Webster / Ariza / Porter / Rice as their front line which might actually be better in terms of making the playoffs because they have the man to really run like the Rockets did last year (in terms of regular season it's usually easier to make it as a great offensive team instead of defense). Rice / Beal / Wall especially sounds really really exciting in transition.

    Rahat, I also suggest you to consider the Kings in terms of an entertaining trainwreck team that might surprise like Detroit.

  • Alituro says 10 months ago

    Being a much bigger fan of the Rockets, versus the NBA as a whole, I'd be concentrating on the WC teams that are potentially on the rise: GSW (of course), Wolves, Pelicans, and Grizz (I know they've already arrived).. I already know what to expect out of Spurs and Thunder, so no real need to watch more of the same. I have a feeling GSW has taken a step back this offseason with the Iggy trade and I know that's a huge debate right now. Since the Jazz are not as detestable as they were in the past, and the Lakers being just pathetic, I think GSW is the new team for Rockets' fans to hate. With Love healthy and NOLA putting together some nice young talent, the Wolves and Pels will be interesting to watch. I just like the way the Grizz play ball, with Conley at the helm and the big-boy ball down low. I don't think the Clippers will gather the wins they are projected to, and If the Rockets weren't needed to be the #5 on the Pass, then the Clips would be. I think there will be some chemistry issues there with Doc in town. Paul maybe not willing to cede total control after calling plays for a couple years and Doc likes his control. Also I think BG and DJ are a little young, (maybe dumb) and free-spirited to play within the structured system that Doc introduces. The pick-up game style we saw form Lob City, is about as good as your gonna get from that squad, I believe. If you tug on their reins, they will probably resist. Maybe I'm just hoping for some relevant drama to emerge from Hollywood next season.

  • timetodienow1234567 says 10 months ago CP3 is underrated because he underperforms in the playoffs. I think talent wise he's the best PG ever, but I would rather have Magic/Stockton because they were more consistent. I don't usually agree with the rings argument, but it does play a factor in determining all time greats.
  • timetodienow1234567 says 10 months ago

    I kind of want the Wizards now that I'm thinking about it.


    Without Okafor I think they will miss the playoffs.
  • Rahat Huq says 10 months ago

    I kind of want the Wizards now that I'm thinking about it.

  • timetodienow1234567 says 10 months ago I think Dallas will be interesting.
  • RollingWave says 10 months ago

    I think the problem is can Davis play long term at C? I've heard mix answers to this. if he can't the Pelicans will be pretty ugly

  • 2016Champions says 10 months ago

    vlju.jpg

    As you can see there, the Pelicans offense was at its best with the Davis-Anderson front-court. And with the upgrades the Pelicans have made at PG and SG, the Pelicans are going to be a force on offense next season. Defensively they might be middling especially against teams with a bruising dominant center (increasingly rare), but for what it's worth Davis is eating a lot of pizza lol

  • 2016Champions says 10 months ago

    A big reason I think Pelicans are going to be so entertaining is because they traded Robin Lopez away so that they can play Davis at center. With Ryan Anderson spacing the floor, it's going to be extremely hard to stop the Holiday-Davis pick and roll.

  • 17LQ says 10 months ago

    Being an international subscriber means I can watch all the games! (Provided if the internet is stable enough)

    But if I were to choose 5

    1. Rockets - For Dwight, Parsons, Linsanity and James' beard

    2. Warriors - For Iggy, Barnes and Splash Bros

    3. Cleveland - For Bennett, Irving and Bynum's hair.

    4. Pelicans - For Evans, Holiday, The Brow and the team's new logo.

    5. Wizards - For Beal, Wall and Potter.

    Magic's Dipo and crew looks promising, but they just lack stardom that makes me wants to catch their game.

    Bobcats looks intriguing. A lot of good undeveloped players but the team just somehow looks destined to lose.

    Celtics are good, too, especially if Green can channel his inner LeBron (like the game where he went off for 40+ points against LeBron) every night.

  • Cooper says 10 months ago I think the pistons I'd watch them just to see Drummond block shots into the upper deck now they have smith and BJ to throw on the fire, is stuckey still around there? wizards and wolves will be very entertaining this year great Pgs with pretty good supporting cast interested to see who fits/doesn't get injured and all probably won't have much national TV games. Sac would be worth the watch because boogie and I have little idea about who they are going to start around him and Orlando will be sneakily good while obviously awful if they stick oladipo at pg, Harris and vuvecic put up some intriguing stats last year wonder if they can hold up.
  • RollingWave says 10 months ago

    I have 3 of the same and 2 different in SAC and ATL, I'm really intrigued by SAC in terms of a WTF team in that they clearly have more talent than their records, what happen this year with a (hopefully) competent coach and finally not the worst owners in the league? I'm intrigued, and of course watching Cousins when your not rooting for the team is funny. and I find their general style more entertaining than the Pelican's

    I'm intrigued by Atlanta in seeing what a change of system would do for them, they're dubbed as the permanent also rans in the playoff, but on the other hand, their average outcome in the last decade has been one of the best in the East...

  • 2016Champions says 10 months ago

    Chris Paul is the most historically underrated superstar of his generation and one of the most of all-time especially considering I've seen amateur discussions where people have actually placed Gary Payton and John Stockton above him. Some of that is just romanticization of the past but much of that is just ignorance. You walk into a bar and tell people you'd take Chris Paul over Magic Johnson, and you'd get laughed at...and that shouldn't be the case.

    This.

    As for the topic, Warriors and Pelicans are definitely on my league pass. Wizards are a maybe, I think John Wall is going to be a superstar this season and Beal will breakout. Not a big fan of OKC, I think they will win a lot of games but I don't like how they rely so much on iso's. I'm very interested in Memphis now that they're becoming more involved with analytics since the hiring of John Hollinger, and the firing of Hollins was a controversial move but I find the idea of Hollinger being more involved in coaching decisions to be very interesting. Wolves will be good if they're healthy, Rubio is a joy to watch. Clippers will be better too now that they have shooters, J.J. Redick is an underrated offensive player.