The 2015-2016 Derek Rose Broke Something so it's time for the NBA thread

[Eli]

The underlying point that Derek Rose needs to be healthy to be explosive to be effective is valid and all, but Cal's "Derek Rose has a low pain tolerance" comment along with Rose's response of "Meh, I love Cal" and the implication that Cal is basically right is all just another super awful chapter in this saga. 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/john-calipari-on-derrick-rose---he-doesn-t-have-a-real-high-pain-threshold-194736749.html

My avatar is just meant to live forever. What a depressing fall from the most deserved MVP award ever.

[InternetApex]

The underlying point that Derek Rose needs to be healthy to be explosive to be effective is valid and all, but Cal's "Derek Rose has a low pain tolerance" comment along with Rose's response of "Meh, I love Cal" and the implication that Cal is basically right is all just another super awful chapter in this saga.  

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/john-calipari-on-derrick-rose---he-doesn-t-have-a-real-high-pain-threshold-194736749.html

The best thing I can say about Rose is that he seems like the kind of guy who will remain steadfastly removed from public life once he retires. So we can count on never seeing or hearing from/about him when he's done playing. His next contract will be a mid-level deal with some team that won't care much about trying to promote him as a star and that team will not be in Chicago where he was born and raised and worshipped by hundreds of thousands of fans.

Someday this will all end quietly and cleanly and we'll have our basketball watching lives back.

[InternetApex]

The underlying point that Derek Rose needs to be healthy to be explosive to be effective is valid and all, but Cal's "Derek Rose has a low pain tolerance" comment along with Rose's response of "Meh, I love Cal" and the implication that Cal is basically right is all just another super awful chapter in this saga. 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/john-calipari-on-derrick-rose---he-doesn-t-have-a-real-high-pain-threshold-194736749.html

My avatar is just meant to live forever. What a depressing fall from the most deserved MVP award ever.

Quality stickpoke but a few years tardy. Dwight Howard might have a fan left who still cares to argue about it.

[Eli]

The underlying point that Derek Rose needs to be healthy to be explosive to be effective is valid and all, but Cal's "Derek Rose has a low pain tolerance" comment along with Rose's response of "Meh, I love Cal" and the implication that Cal is basically right is all just another super awful chapter in this saga. 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/john-calipari-on-derrick-rose---he-doesn-t-have-a-real-high-pain-threshold-194736749.html

My avatar is just meant to live forever. What a depressing fall from the most deserved MVP award ever.

Quality stickpoke but a few years tardy. Dwight Howard might have a fan left who still cares to argue about it.

It was admittedly pretty lame, but I'm rarely in this thread so hey.

[PenFoe]

29 dudes drafted before Jimmy Butler in 2011. 

And this is actually a pretty strong draft.

Kyrie Irving
Derrick Williams
Enes Kanter
Tristan Thompson
Jonas Valančiūnas
Jan Veselý
Bismack Biyombo
Brandon Knight
Kemba Walker
Jimmer Fredette
Klay Thompson
Alec Burks
Markieff Morris
Marcus Morris
Kawhi Leonard
Nikola Vučević
Iman Shumpert
Chris Singleton
Tobias Harris
Donatas Motiejūnas
Nolan Smith
Kenneth Faried
Nikola Mirotić
Reggie Jackson
MarShon Brooks
Jordan Hamilton
JaJuan Johnson
Norris Cole
Cory Joseph

[InternetApex]

29 dudes drafted before Jimmy Butler in 2011. 

And this is actually a pretty strong draft.

Kyrie Irving
Derrick Williams
Enes Kanter
Tristan Thompson
Jonas Valančiūnas
Jan Veselý
Bismack Biyombo
Brandon Knight
Kemba Walker
Jimmer Fredette
Klay Thompson
Alec Burks
Markieff Morris
Marcus Morris
Kawhi Leonard
Nikola Vučević
Iman Shumpert
Chris Singleton
Tobias Harris
Donatas Motiejūnas
Nolan Smith
Kenneth Faried
Nikola Mirotić
Reggie Jackson
MarShon Brooks
Jordan Hamilton
JaJuan Johnson (!)
Norris Cole
Cory Joseph

If we re-drafted today I'd only take Kawhi and Klay ahead of Jimmy. Kyrie's checkered injury history makes him a no-no.

[Saul Goodman]

29 dudes drafted before Jimmy Butler in 2011. 

And this is actually a pretty strong draft.

Kyrie Irving
Derrick Williams
Enes Kanter
Tristan Thompson
Jonas Valančiūnas
Jan Veselý
Bismack Biyombo
Brandon Knight
Kemba Walker
Jimmer Fredette
Klay Thompson
Alec Burks
Markieff Morris
Marcus Morris
Kawhi Leonard
Nikola Vučević
Iman Shumpert
Chris Singleton
Tobias Harris
Donatas Motiejūnas
Nolan Smith
Kenneth Faried
Nikola Mirotić
Reggie Jackson
MarShon Brooks
Jordan Hamilton
JaJuan Johnson (!)
Norris Cole
Cory Joseph

If we re-drafted today I'd only take Kawhi and Klay ahead of Jimmy. Kyrie's checkered injury history makes him a no-no.

This. Except my reasoning was "because I've heard of them," so I'm glad you said it.

[PenFoe]

29 dudes drafted before Jimmy Butler in 2011. 

And this is actually a pretty strong draft.

Kyrie Irving
Derrick Williams
Enes Kanter
Tristan Thompson
Jonas Valančiūnas
Jan Veselý
Bismack Biyombo
Brandon Knight
Kemba Walker
Jimmer Fredette
Klay Thompson
Alec Burks
Markieff Morris
Marcus Morris
Kawhi Leonard
Nikola Vučević
Iman Shumpert
Chris Singleton
Tobias Harris
Donatas Motiejūnas
Nolan Smith
Kenneth Faried
Nikola Mirotić
Reggie Jackson
MarShon Brooks
Jordan Hamilton
JaJuan Johnson (!)
Norris Cole
Cory Joseph

If we re-drafted today I'd only take Kawhi and Klay ahead of Jimmy. Kyrie's checkered injury history makes him a no-no.

Kawhi for sure.
Klay is probably a push for me with Jimmy.

Kemba is a much, much better pro than I thought he'd be, but I'd put him 4th and Kyrie 5th.

[InternetApex]

29 dudes drafted before Jimmy Butler in 2011. 

And this is actually a pretty strong draft.

Kyrie Irving
Derrick Williams
Enes Kanter
Tristan Thompson
Jonas Valančiūnas
Jan Veselý
Bismack Biyombo
Brandon Knight
Kemba Walker
Jimmer Fredette
Klay Thompson
Alec Burks
Markieff Morris
Marcus Morris
Kawhi Leonard
Nikola Vučević
Iman Shumpert
Chris Singleton
Tobias Harris
Donatas Motiejūnas
Nolan Smith
Kenneth Faried
Nikola Mirotić
Reggie Jackson
MarShon Brooks
Jordan Hamilton
JaJuan Johnson (!)
Norris Cole
Cory Joseph

If we re-drafted today I'd only take Kawhi and Klay ahead of Jimmy. Kyrie's checkered injury history makes him a no-no.

Kawhi for sure.
Klay is probably a push for me with Jimmy.

Kemba is a much, much better pro than I thought he'd be, but I'd put him 4th and Kyrie 5th.

I guess because Klay is solid contributor on a title-winning team and Jimmy is kind of the last man standing in Chicago, I'm going to risk overrating Klay. His skill set is pretty hard to come by but I could be talked out of it. Kemba over Kyrie again, could make sense, Irving's defense and injuries have to downgrade him. What a great draft class.

[PenFoe]

Whoa.

[InternetApex]

Whoa.

HOLY SHIT


So many layers to this onion.

On the surface: HOLY SHIT a team with a three-game lead for the #1 seed in its conference has fired its coach halfway through his second season. In his first season he "coached" a team with over 80 turnover from the previous year to an appearance in the NBA Finals. In those Finals, without its second and third leading scorers, the team won two games against an historically dominant opponent, a feat that looks even more impressive given the Warriors current mushroom-stamping of the NBA and it's record book.

Beneath that layer however, the team is 1-5 against plausible Conference/NBA Finals opponents GSW, SAS, Toronto and Chicago. And the last loss to the Warriors laid so many failures bare that it seems impossible to believe they could turn them around in time to make another realistic run at a title. So, why not bring in a new coach to shake things up and focus on the offensive spacing and shooting woes and defensive flaws the team has?

Well, the problem as many see it is that LeBron himself, now with the odometer rolled up past the sublime to the ridiculous, isn't adjusting his own game to the limits imposed upon him by father time. At this point in his career, the fact that he hasn't developed a more dominant post game - given his extraordinary strength and passing ability is beyond belief. He'd prefer to play point forward and dribble out the clock until he has to take a shot from beyond the arc where his percentages have fallen inexplicably into a deep dark hole into which no sunshine ever gleans.

So reward him with the head coach that he wants? Run the system that he prefers? Promote a coach that has even less head coaching experience than the international weirdo that was in place? This would never have happened in Miami, where the organization was run from the top down and LeBron knew that when he left. If this team does not improve dramatically - and that won't be in wins and losses but in advanced metrics, overall team chemistry, credible performances against the league's top teams - LeBron's second tenure in Cleveland will look not just like a failure, but sort of embarrassing. It's all vindicated by just one championship. But his critics who said he was power hungry and self-centered will have ammo for the rest of their lives if this fails. Those who questioned his tenacity and fortitude are greatly mistaken. But the others, who correctly pointed out that his gigantic ego could cost him a chance to pursue the lofty heights of the NBA's top tier all time elite, now have him in their cross hairs.

And I really can't argue with them.  

[PenFoe]

Whoa.

HOLY SHIT


So many layers to this onion.

On the surface: HOLY SHIT a team with a three-game lead for the #1 seed in its conference has fired its coach halfway through his second season. In his first season he "coached" a team with over 80 turnover from the previous year to an appearance in the NBA Finals. In those Finals, without its second and third leading scorers, the team won two games against an historically dominant opponent, a feat that looks even more impressive given the Warriors current mushroom-stamping of the NBA and it's record book.

Beneath that layer however, the team is 1-5 against plausible Conference/NBA Finals opponents GSW, SAS, Toronto and Chicago. And the last loss to the Warriors laid so many failures bare that it seems impossible to believe they could turn them around in time to make another realistic run at a title. So, why not bring in a new coach to shake things up and focus on the offensive spacing and shooting woes and defensive flaws the team has?

Well, the problem as many see it is that LeBron himself, now with the odometer rolled up past the sublime to the ridiculous, isn't adjusting his own game to the limits imposed upon him by father time. At this point in his career, the fact that he hasn't developed a more dominant post game - given his extraordinary strength and passing ability is beyond belief. He'd prefer to play point forward and dribble out the clock until he has to take a shot from beyond the arc where his percentages have fallen inexplicably into a deep dark hole into which no sunshine ever gleans.

So reward him with the head coach that he wants? Run the system that he prefers? Promote a coach that has even less head coaching experience than the international weirdo that was in place? This would never have happened in Miami, where the organization was run from the top down and LeBron knew that when he left. If this team does not improve dramatically - and that won't be in wins and losses but in advanced metrics, overall team chemistry, credible performances against the league's top teams - LeBron's second tenure in Cleveland will look not just like a failure, but sort of embarrassing. It's all vindicated by just one championship. But his critics who said he was power hungry and self-centered will have ammo for the rest of their lives if this fails. Those who questioned his tenacity and fortitude are greatly mistaken. But the others, who correctly pointed out that his gigantic ego could cost him a chance to pursue the lofty heights of the NBA's top tier all time elite, now have him in their cross hairs.

And I really can't argue with them.  

[PenFoe]

Not to go all Mercury Morris in here, but I'll be a little sad when the Warriors break the Bulls' all-time single season record for wins.

They have to go 28-5 the rest of the way (.848%) when they've been at .918% so far this year.

In theory they could rest a bit the last week of the season with a small lead over the Spurs, but barring a Steph injury, 72-10 looks awfully shaky right now.

[InternetApex]

Not to go all Mercury Morris in here, but I'll be a little sad when the Warriors break the Bulls' all-time single season record for wins.

They have to go 28-5 the rest of the way (.848%) when they've been at .918% so far this year.

In theory they could rest a bit the last week of the season with a small lead over the Spurs, but barring a Steph injury, 72-10 looks awfully shaky right now.

And they will have traveled more miles than any other team in NBA history according to a comment I heard on an ABC telecast. If that's correct, they're truly the most dominant regular-season team of our lifetime. I don't know what the old Celtics teams were like but they're just ridiculously good.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Then we'll just have to hang our cat on the fact that they averaged 70.5 wins over 2 successive seasons.

*Coughs on knuckles, brushes chest*