OT:Thunder v Hornets......

[THE HCP]

NOLA up 10-2 a couple minutes in! Go Monty/Jack!

 

[Driew]

I've been bandwagoning the hornets this season. Added them as one of my 7 teams during pre-season.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

It's Chris Paul vs. Pau Gasol for league MVP in the early going. My money's on Chris Paul proving his worth both by the method of agreement and the method of difference. That is, when he inevitably goes down for the season, the Hornets will enter a death spiral, like last year.

 

[THE HCP]

Nevermind!

 

[KingSpeed]

I hate both these teams. I'm watching Wizards/Heat.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Question about the Thunder: how soon before people realize that Westbrook is that team's MVP?

 

[RoyToy]

Question about the Thunder: how soon before people realize that Westbrook is that team's MVP?

Bingo.

When people were crowning Durant as the MVP last year I thought everyone was overlooking that Westbrook is the one that makes that team run. On offense Durant is a great scorer and that's it.

 

[THE HCP]

Westbrook is cold!!!!!!

 

[Nikolokolus]

Bingo.

When people were crowning Durant as the MVP last year I thought everyone was overlooking that Westbrook is the one that makes that team run. On offense Durant is a great scorer and that's it.

Since when is being "just" a great scorer on offense a knock? I mean, you could say he could do a better job of dishing the ball and you'd be right, but when he had a 60% True shooting mark why wouldn't you want him taking a ton of shots?

 

[MIXUM]

this is a disgrace that we have to talk about the thunder/hornets and not the blazers

 

[RoyToy]

Since when is being "just" a great scorer on offense a knock? I mean, you could say he could do a better job of dishing the ball and you'd be right, but when he had a 60% True shooting mark why wouldn't you want him taking a ton of shots?

Not a knock, just that he doesn't necessarily make his teammates better. He doesn't run that offense, Westbrook does. That was just my point.

 

[Blazinaway]

You root for Monty, I want N.O. to lose a lot of their games since we have their pick

 

[BGrantFan]

You root for Monty, I want N.O. to lose a lot of their games since we have their pick

Monty is on Team Jesus. There is no beating Team Jeebus!

 

[MickZagger]

Howard just got ejected for protecting one of his players after a hard foul. Thats why I always loved Howard. Remember last year with Charlie V?

 

[RR7]

You root for Monty, I want N.O. to lose a lot of their games since we have their pick

+1. If there were any more injuries we could endure, I'd worry about karma. As is, I'm rooting for Paul to get injured, so we get their late lotto pick. I care about my team more than anything, so if there's a way to make that pick better, that's what I am rooting for.

 

[illmatic99]

It's Chris Paul vs. Pau Gasol for league MVP in the early going. My money's on Chris Paul proving his worth both by the method of agreement and the method of difference. That is, when he inevitably goes down for the season, the Hornets will enter a death spiral, like last year.

CP3 is definitely on the list, but after him I'd put Dwight and Manu. Maybe Gasol after that.

As an aside, it's interesting to see that Monty's defensive techniques mimic Pop's rather than Nate's.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Howard just got ejected for protecting one of his players after a hard foul. Thats why I always loved Howard. Remember last year with Charlie V?

What he did was stupid. Armstrong immediately went to try to help Anthony up and apologize. Howard pushed Armstrong from behind while he was trying to help. Yeah, real cool.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

[video=youtube;ubaZaKwx8_U]

 

[illmatic99]

What he did was stupid. Armstrong immediately went to try to help Anthony up and apologize. Howard pushed Armstrong from behind while he was trying to help. Yeah, real cool.

The Heat actually lost a point from that whole scrum. Anthony missed the two flagrant FTs, the Wizards hit one technical FT, and then LeBron missed a three on that same possession.

It really was a worthless gesture by Juwan. Stupid foul by Armstrong, but he was clearly trying to help Anthony up.

 

[Nikolokolus]

What he did was stupid. Armstrong immediately went to try to help Anthony up and apologize. Howard pushed Armstrong from behind while he was trying to help. Yeah, real cool.

You're damn right it's cool. You may think it's a cheap shot, but it's actually more about sending a message ... it's especially good when it's your 9th man sending the message and getting ejected because it doesn't kill your team when they hit the showers early.

 

[THE HCP]

What are you fucking talking about!!!! THAT is exactly what this team is missing!

 

[MickZagger]

What he did was stupid. Armstrong immediately went to try to help Anthony up and apologize. Howard pushed Armstrong from behind while he was trying to help. Yeah, real cool.

Shit like that can be golden for a struggling team.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

I understand about sending a message and protecting your team. Who was he protecting? He shoved a defenseless player to the ground from behind.. That's not very tough. And the player was showed obvious instant remorse and was trying to help Howard's teammate when Howard pushed him to the ground.

 

[hasoos]

I understand about sending a message and protecting your team. Who was he protecting? He shoved a defenseless player to the ground from behind.. That's not very tough. And the player was showed obvious instant remorse and was trying to help Howard's teammate when Howard pushed him to the ground.

And the last time a team of nice guys won the finals was?

 

[MickZagger]

It was all about the message he was sending. If you are going to fuck with one of his guys, one of your guys is going to find himself on his ass as well. That kinda stuff is so underrated in sports, you act as a team. That wouldn't even be a storyline in the 80's and early 90's.

Shoot, it was fun watching Andre Johnson and Cortland Finnegan go at it yesterday throwing blows. I thought Goodell was right by not suspending either player. For as watered down as NFL is these days, I'm happy know one is going to miss a game for that.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Question about the Thunder: how soon before people realize that Westbrook is that team's MVP?

That didn't take long.

 

[MickZagger]

Hornets are coming down to earth as I knew they would, losing 3 of 4.

The Spurs are the best in the West.

 

[Ed O]

Hornets are coming down to earth as I knew they would, losing 3 of 4.

It is just a matter of time. Good news for the Blazers.

Ed O.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Question about the Thunder: how soon before people realize that Westbrook is that team's MVP?

More join the bandwagon:

Apparently his jumper never cleared customs on the flight back from Istanbul, because Durant is shooting only 26.7 percent on 3s -- barely half the 45.6 percent he converted from the shorter line in Turkey -- and 41.9 percent overall. He shot 7-for-22 on Monday night, and several of the misses weren't even close. At the end of the third quarter, for example, he isolated for a 3-pointer that would have been dead on, if only the basket had been 2 feet higher and 3 feet to the left. Earlier in the game he was left wide open -- I mean wiiiiiide open, all by himself -- beyond the 3-point line and shot an air ball. As a result, a funny thing happened. Russell Westbrook, who was a distant second banana last season, has taken over down the stretch of games. On Monday night, for instance, Westbrook made nearly every key offensive play in the fourth quarter. He finished with 25 points and 11 assists, one of which set up Durant's only basket of the period. While Durant leads the league in scoring, Westbrook is on his heels at seventh, plus he's seventh in assists. Overall, he's been superior to Durant as a go-to guy this November, with a slightly higher usage rate and far greater efficiency through the first 18 games. And as for my MVP suggestion, consider this: After outplaying New Orleans' Chris Paul on Monday night, Westbrook is third in the league in player efficiency rating behind Paul and Orlando's Dwight Howard. And if you factor in minutes played, the league's top mark in estimated wins added belongs to -- yes -- Russell Westbrook.

So... OKC now has two players better than any on the Portland roster? Sigh. Still, could be worse - I could be a Sonics fan.

 

[RoyToy]

Hornets are coming down to earth as I knew they would, losing 3 of 4.

The Spurs are the best in the West.

Tough road trip for them against some rough teams. Unless they start tanking at home they'll be right there in the thick of things.