Jordan Independent - NBA - Comments

Could the Celtics win it in

Mathias Baden — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:06:10 -0500

Could the Celtics win it in four? Yeah. Will they? Who knows?

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

If I had watched any of the

Brandon — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:24:54 -0500

If I had watched any of the games, I might have been crying conspiracy after the Lakers beat the Spurs to advance to the NBA finals last night. But I didn’t watch, so I guess I can only assume that there was no referee interference in order to bring the marquee match-up that the NBA has likely been salivating over for years – the Lakers v. the Celtics – to fruition.

I read somewhere that the difference between the NBA and a lot of other professional sports leagues is that a good majority of NBA fans believe there is a conspiracy to put big-market, big-name teams in the finals at the expense of small-market clubs, and also that the fans still love the sport despite this conspiracy. I totally buy into that. I think the NBA has wanted the Lakers v. the Celtics since the Lakers started winning early in the season. But I guess that’s OK with me as long as the Celtics - one-time home of Larry "Legend" Bird - blow them away.

I don’t know what you’re

Brandon — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:58:06 -0500

I don’t know what you’re talking about with the snooze comments. Watching the Spurs and Hornets battle it out over seven games has been exciting, and it was a thriller to see Garnett and the Celtics go to seven games, too. This has been a pretty interesting year for the NBA playoffs.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Mathias Baden — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:47:54 -0500

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Yeah, I watch. And after the first 5 minutes or so, when the Hornets led 12-6, I was bored out of my mind by the lousy Spurs. There is nothing interesting about drawing fouls and taking open 10-foot jump shots. Here's to another snoozer, I mean Spurs playoff run. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

Seriously!?!? That was it?

Brandon — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 09:13:49 -0500

Seriously!?!? That was it? Wow, what a great draft night, McHale! According to ESPN analysts, you picked up a guy who needed to become stronger and work on his shooting, and college role player. Where’s Kobe? Where’s the blockbuster trade? Where is any player that should give the fans of the Minnesota Timberwolves hope that they won’t be Garnett-free and in the lottery again next year?

Is it any wonder I prefer the San Antonio Spurs to my hometown team? They know how to play the game of basketball from the court all the way up through team administration.

Here’s my solution for the

Brandon — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 08:13:50 -0500

Here’s my solution for the Wolves: they should become the team where all disgruntled players from other teams come to play.

The starting five, as I see it in this scenario, would include Kevin Garnett at power forward, Paul Pierce at small forward, Pau Gasol at center, Kobe Bryant at shooting guard, and Chauncey Billups at point guard.

That’d be a championship contender for sure.

The talk with the Lakers

mittens — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:41:14 -0500

The talk with the Lakers sounded like a terribly raw deal. A handful of guys who aren't the go-to players on the team for KG who IS the go-to star. Like it or not, KG is the core of the Wolves. If he does get traded to whatever team it may end up being, they need a prospect who could be THAT guy or a top 5 or 6 draft pick that McHale won't go and waste on some clunky big man. Regardless of what happens, the next season or four won't be good for the T-Wolves. It's time to wheel and deal and see what they can get in way of picks and prospects for the "talent" they have.

The wolves have gone too far

goldengopher — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:42:58 -0500

The wolves have gone too far down the road to turn back now and not trade KG. I don't like the trade talks because Kevin Garnett is a superstar that works hard every game and never takes a night off. He also conducts himself in a professional manner off the court, something that is rare in the NBA.

Whatever happens with this trade, especially if the wolves go young, attendance will drop and I expect years of rebuilding.

But yeah, lets get rid of T-Hud, Jaric, Blount, and Davis. I have no problem with that.

Sounds like the wolves have until Friday to make a deal, I hope that McHale can't pull the trigger.

I guess part of me would be

Brandon — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:58:40 -0500

I guess part of me would be OK with trading Garnett now, too. As much as I don’t think the Wolves will get anything near the right value in a trade, I like Garnett enough that I want to see him win a championship. Realistically, that’s not going to happen in Minnesota without some miraculous circumstances in the next year or two.

Of course, team-wise, I’m a San Antonio fan myself.

I didn't know you are much

bhall09 — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:27:07 -0500

I didn't know you are much on an NBA fan, but I think you are right on.

I am actually in the group that says it might be time to trade Garnett and start over. Although, these recent rumors with the Lakers aren't very good. Unless the Wolves get a good young player, another top 5-10 pick, and some cap space it isn't worth the deal.

However, your idea to sign Billups (and tutor Randy Foye at PG) is a good one. They can draft a good G/F who can defend, like Corey Brewer. That might be a good start.

But I am ready to turn the corner if that is what they choose to do. It isn't just KG. Ricky Davis, Mark Blount, Troy Hudson, Marko Jaric, all need to go too. The Mike James stuff should have only been the start.

(Brian Hall is the Sports Editor for the Jordan Independent and Shakopee Valley News, and can be reached at bhall@swpub.com.)

I think that it's Kevin

mittens — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:22:40 -0500

I think that it's Kevin McHale's ultimate goal to systematically ruin whatever slim chance that the Timberwolves had at a championship and leave behind a legacy of a mediocre team that, in nearly twenty years, has only come close to any level of success once.

Well, I was pretty close,

Brandon — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:16:04 -0500

Well, I was pretty close, anyway. I thought LeBron could give a little more fight than that, but the Spurs were great at shutting him down. Now it’s on to NBA trade speculation and the ESPN.com trade machine. The site (http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/trademachine) allows you to pick up to four teams and see if salaries would work under the cap for player trades, which comes in handy every couple of days or so when Kobe Bryant decides he wants out of LA again and again and again.

My favorite trade so far is a four-team deal with Indiana, Dallas, the Lakers and Minnesota. In this imaginary deal, the Wolves pick up Bryant from LA and Devon Harris of the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks pick up Randy Foye from the Wolves and Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown from LA. The Lakers Jermaine O’Neil from Indiana and a few other smaller players including Marko Jaric from Minnesota, while Indiana gets Dirk Nowitzki and parts.

It’s never going to happen, but I’d be happy if it did.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is

Mathias Baden — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:22:55 -0500

Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is the matchup everyone wanted to see, and it's proved disappointing so far -- at least LeBron has. If you're going to be the King, you've got to propel your team to scoring 80-plus points. I'd be surprised if the Cavaliers make it to the sixth game now. I'm pretty sure the odds are against them even doing that, let alone winning the championship.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

Iverson vs. Carmelo, you

Mathias Baden — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 15:25:12 -0600

Iverson vs. Carmelo, you mean? Don't you think they'll fistfight for scoring ops? Anyway, because of the last fistfight, you won't see the two of them together for a while. But a month from now, look out.

You know, I really hate trades like that, where a team sheds a humungous salary or a bad attitude (or both) for basically nothing. The Chicago White Sox, for example, have been the recipients of a number of trades that went their way for no good reason.

Teams like my almost-beloved Wolves never catch any breaks. Geez, if they wanted an Andre Miller (old) or a Joe Smith (they must not know how mediocre he is), we could have given him any of our old or mediocre players. Or all of them, which is probably why we blew this trade for A.I.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

It's done. ESPN is reporting

bhall09 — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 14:48:59 -0600

It's done.

ESPN is reporting that Iverson is going to the Nuggets for Joe Smith (I am sure all the Wolves fans who wanted Iverson love to hear that), Andre Miller and two first-round pick in 2007.

I would have liked to see AI go to the Wolves, but a great deal for the Nuggets. They hardly had to give up anything. That is very nice for them.

Not to mention, the fact that I come from Denver, I really like this deal. AI and Melo on the same team. OUCH. Good luck scoring if you are anyone else on the team.