Rondo's had individual games in the PO's where he's looked like a superstar, but true superstars are guys that bring that level consistently. I'm not trying to overrate Curry, either. Steph is NOT MJ, Kobe, Bron, or Wade by ANY means. But as a first option type player, he's a much higher level than Rondo. Yes, I admit, if I already have stars and need an elite role player, I go with Rondo. But that's my point (no pun intended). Rondo's a really good ROLE PLAYER. Curry's a star, and an MVP caliber player. Don't get it twisted, cause that's different from a guy like Lebron, Kobe, or Wade. Those guys are GENERATIONAL type talents, in their primes of course.
EPIC Games Tomorrow, Primarily... Washington @ New York - The Wiz Need to INTRODUCE Themselves to Most of the Country by Making an Example of the Knicks 2Morrow...Even if Melo Goes for 35+... Oklahoma City @ San Antonio - No Doubt Pop will REST Key Players, Be a Complete DICK to the Sideline Interviewers & 99.999% of People Watching will Looooooooooove It...Regardless, if Durant is Able to Play, OKC WINS...If Not, they WON'T... Cleveland @ Miami - Heat Fans NEED to Show Proper Respect to THE Best Player in the History of their Franchise...We'll See if they Do...Not Surprised Bosh has Hinted @ NOT Playing This Game... Lakers @ Chicago - Bulls KO 1... Golden State @ Clippers - Just your Run-of-the-Mill FANTASTIC Regular Season Meeting, Between Western Conference POWERS... REED:bears:
They are going to start Smith, D-Mo, who has been playing outstanding this year, will lead the second unit. He really flourished when Dwight was out as heis natural low post scorer, when he's playing along side Dwight, he has to be more perimeter oriented. That's if D-Mo even stays, I hear PHX wants him in any potential Dragic trade. That has been the hold up. I personally wouldn't give him up. We will all see how that shapes up, I'll say this, if Smith can return to form, and I think he will, this Rocket team will be scary, even without Dragic. The addition Brewer and now Smith pushes the Rockets to #1 in team steals and blocks. Yes Harden of all people is a contributor at 2.0 steals per game and 1.0 blocks.
Take NY/LA OUT of the Mix & it's Pretty Good... The League KNEW Both Teams Would Absolutely SUCK this Season, yet they Gave them Christmas Day Slots Anyways...Even WITH Carmelo & Kobe, NY/LA are BARELY Competitive... Clearly, this is PANDERING to Both Cities & Coasts, but @ SOME Point You have to Lean Towards QUALITY of Games OVER Repping NY/LA, just Because... REED:kidcool:
Westbrook is Singlehandedly WORKING the Spurs Right Now... 24pts, 9dimes, 4boards and 4stls, 2 Minutes Remaining in the 3rd Quarter...76-71 OKC... REED:bears:
That he did. But I don't think OKC is built for the long haul. That iso ball won't get it done when Durant and Westbrook wear down from shouldering the burden for a whole season.
Because then they both can be the focal point of .500 teams. Truly be the superstars they deserve to be. So, when one or the other goes out for an inevitable injury, the team can completely collapse into winless basketball.
Yeah but if they get the right coach and learn to pick and roll properly, they can be damn near unbeatable.
Nice debut by Josh Smith. He's good at doing the dirty job. Morey should take it easy now though. It's not good to keep adding new pieces during the season. You don't want the team to spend too much time adapting to new players. By the time the playoffs come, they all need to be clicking.
I doubt Durant won't test the FA waters next time. He will opt out. If OKC don't win in the next two seasons, he will surely look elsewhere. Plus, as good as both Westbrook and Durant are, they haven't found a winning formula apart from taking turns in scoring the ball.
REED's Posts Show him to Be a "Westbrook Guy"...Having Said that, OKC is a Championship Caliber Team w/the TANDEM of Westbrook/Durant... Yeah, they DOMINATE the Ball, but if they Went to a Pick & Roll/Pick & Pop Style of Play, they'd EASILY Co-Exist & Get their Usual #'s... REED:kidcool:
REED Actually Thinks Durant Might Leave 1st... Even BEFORE his Injury & BEFORE Westbrook Having an MVP Caliber Season, Durant Had the Washington Wizards in the BACK of his Mind... If OKC Doesn't Bring Home a Ring in the Next 2 Season's, Coupled w/Washington Continuing to Fall SHORT of the Finals, REED Could Easily See Durant Going Back Home to DC, & a LESS Challenging Eastern Conference... TONS of Basketball to Be Played Before Then, Though... REED:kidcool:
There's SOMETHING to Be Said for Being IN the Fight Though... Think about it, Only Sooooo Many Teams Have the Privilege of WINNING an NBA Championship...Since '99, the Last 16 Seasons, Only 6 Different Franchises have Brought Home the Larry O'Brien Trophy...San Antonio (5x), Lakers (5x), Miami (3x), Pistons, Celtics, Mavericks... That's IT!!!...Professional Basketball is a gREEDy Ass Sport, in Terms of Championships... OKC's Right There @ the Doorstep, it's just HARD as Hell to Break Through that Door...& More Importantly, there's NOfuckingGUARANTEE Things will Get Easier, if You Split Durant/Westbrook Up...OKC HAS a "Winning Formula", in REED's Opinion, they Just Need to Push a Bit HARDER to Bring Home that Ring... REED:kidcool:
Was Anybody Else as SICKENED by the Bron-Wade Lovefest, as REED Was???... To his Credit, Wade Played w/Something to PROVE...But Bron was PASSIVE as Hell, in REED's Opinion & Took EVERY Opportunity to Be Overly NICE to DWade...Fuck That... REED:baa:
Very Quietly, the San Antonio Spurs are STRUGGLING... Their 18-13 Record is as BAD as Any they've Had in the Duncan Era, After 31 Games...Moreso, they've LOST 7 of their last 10 & Sit 7th in the West, Currently... Pop's Been Doing his Usual Thing, DNP'ing "Injured" Players Left & Right, but it May Actually Be HURTING the Team, this Season...Before Looooooooooong, Pop's Gonna have to PLAY his Best Guys, Even his OLDER Guys, A lot EARLIER than he'd like, Just to SECURE a More Advantageous Playoff Seed... Sure, the Spurs COULD Win Another Championship as a 4th/5th Seed, but it BEHOOVES Them to have Home Court Advantage in as MANY Series as Possible... REEDance1:
Bron will simply NEVER have that Jordan/Bird "edge" to him. It's just not in his DNA. Those guys wouldn't give a shit if their mother was on the opposing team, they took no prisoners. Bron's not like that. Never has been. Never will be.
I don't think they're really THAT motivated to win another, tbh. Last year, it ALLLLLLLLLLL about getting revenge on the Heat. That was their ENTIRE motivation all year long. Now that they got that revenge......... ehhh I wouldn't say they're "satisfied", but they're clearly not as motivated. Duncan's still a good player, and every few games he shows flashes of the vintage Duncan, but he can't carry em anymore. Parker's been injured, and is getting older, and the Bald Flopping Fuck Ginobli has been breaking down for sometime now.
Ok, let's stop going overboard here. Westbrook is having a monster year, but he is NOT as good as a healthy Durant. I wish people would stop even hinting at that. Durant fell off in the playoffs last year, however, his reg season last year was historically good. Better than any reg season WB will ever have.
Yeah, Jordan was Pretty CLOSE w/Guys like Oakley, Ewing and Barkley, but it NEVER Stopped him from Kicking their Teams Asses ON the Court...Nor Did Jordan Outwardly EXHIBIT Any Friendly Gestures Towards Them, DURING Games... Magic & Isiah Used to Be THE Best of Friends & Would Exchange Kisses On the Cheek @ Center Court, yet 1nce the Ball was Tipped, it was ALL Business...REED Vividly Recalls an NBA Finals Game, where Isiah Drove the Lane Only to Get DROPPED on his Ass, Courtesy of a Magic Johnson FOREARM to the Chest...Teammates of Both had to Keep Them from Going AT Each Other, Shortly Afterwards... It's FINE Being COOL w/an Opponent, but Show that Shit AWAY from the Court...Play the Game HARD & Have Dinner w/the Motherfucker Later, or Something... The Worst Part about Bron is he was the 1 INITIATING All the Niceties...Wade Played Along, but Wade's 1st Objective was to Play INSPIRED Basketball & WIN the Fucking Game...In the End, it Made Bron Look WEAK, in REED's Opinion, Similar to Sugar Shane Mosley Offering Up MEEK Glove Touches, as Vernon Forrest was Whipping his Ass... Worse, Bron & Wade Laughed & Giggled like School Girls, Immediately After, Covering their Mouths as if a Boy they Like Passed By...THEN, Bron Left Some Gay Ass Tweet about Wade Being his "Bro to the End", or Some Shit, Accompanied by a Pic of Both... It was SICKENING...Honestly, REED Found Michael Sam's Cake Scene w/his Boyfriend, LESS Offensive... REED:red:
That's Actually a GOOD Point, 1 REED Never Considered... Not Only Did the Spurs Hope to Win a Championship this Past Summer, they WANTED a RE w/the Heat, for that Championship...If Some Team OTHER than Miami Made it to Last Season's Finals, the Spurs Still WIN it, but they Likely Don't PLAY @ the Insane Level they Played, vs. the Heat... They RIGHTED the Wrong, the Heartbreaking Loss of the 2013 Finals...Now, they're Getting Every Opponents BEST Game, Throughout this Regular Season... REED:kidcool:
Worst case scenario for OKC is that don't win a title before both Durant and Westbrook leave, the owner decides he's too cheap to keep the team and sells it to Chris Hansen who brings that franchise back to Seattle