NBA 2016-17 Season Thread

[GwillMac6 20,663]

Season starts tomorrow night with ring night for the Cavs when they play host to the knicks on TNT. WOOOOOO!!!!!!! LeBron is back in my life and I could not be more happy!!! The late game is the best game of the day. Spurs at Warriors on TNT with the debut of Kevin Durant on the warriors.

[augolf1716 21,101]

Magic fan we suck

[GwillMac6 20,663]

22 minutes ago, augolf1716 said:

Magic fan we suck

Finally hired a competent coach though! thats got to be exciting and give yall hope. Vogel is the real deal.

[augolf1716 21,101]

5 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

Finally hired a competent coach though! thats got to be exciting and give yall hope. Vogel is the real deal.

true....... finally

[GwillMac6 20,663]

Just now, augolf1716 said:

true....... finally

first one since SVG who I firmly believe is one of the best coaches in the NBA. dude has built the pistons back to relevance from the ground up. Magic have talent just need to put it to use and do NOT make stupid trades like trading tobias harris for scraps and NOTHING.

[augolf1716 21,101]

Just now, GwillMac6 said:

first one since SVG who I firmly believe is one of the best coaches in the NBA. dude has built the pistons back to relevance from the ground up. Magic have talent just need to put it to use and do NOT make stupid trades like trading tobias harris for scraps and NOTHING.

We're one of the best at that

[GwillMac6 20,663]

Just now, augolf1716 said:

We're one of the best at that

Did yall get any picks in that trade back or was it just a washed up expiring contracts of Brandon Jennings and Ilyasova??? A true salary dump if I have ever seen one.

[augolf1716 21,101]

41 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

Did yall get any picks in that trade back or was it just a washed up expiring contracts of Brandon Jennings and Ilyasova??? A true salary dump if I have ever seen one.

This explains it

When the Detroit Pistons completed their workout Tuesday afternoon, Tobias Harris and Stan Van Gundy sat at a table in their practice gym. They stared at a laptop computer screen while it played video clips of Harris' defense from recent games. Van Gundy occasionally pointed at the screen as he explained to Harris what Harris needs to improve.

Harris and Van Gundy now share a goal: trying to earn the Pistons' first playoff berth since the 2008-09 season.

Yet they also have something else in common. They are Orlando Magic cast-offs. The Magic fired Van Gundy in May 2012 after five seasons as their coach, and the Magic traded Harris last month to the Pistons after three years with the team.

On Wednesday night, Harris will play against the Magic for the first time since the deal.

"I'm not mad at Orlando for the trade," Harris said Tuesday. "Actually, if I was to sit here and be upset, that would be selfish, wouldn't it? All they did was put me in an amazing situation. Truthfully, I thank them for that. I mean, I loved my time there, but business is business, and I think being here has been great for me."

Scott Skiles discusses the Orlando Magic's 107-96 loss to the Boston Celtics in this postgame video

So far, the trade has worked out better for Detroit and Harris than it has for Orlando and the two veterans Orlando received, forward Ersan Ilyasova and Brandon Jennings.

While the Pistons have posted a 10-7 record since the deal, the Magic have gone 6-12. Indeed, Magic officials hoped the additions of Ilyasova and Jennings would help stabilize the roster in the short term, spur the team toward the playoffs and open time for Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon and Mario Hezonja.

But from the Magic's perspective, the deal always went beyond short-term goals. You can make a convincing argument that Harris, despite his strong work ethic, had reached his ceiling as a player and that the Magic roster meshes better without him.

Victor Oladipo discusses the Orlando Magic's 107-96 loss to the Boston Celtics in this postgame video

Moving Harris also has possible beneficial long-term implications for the Magic.

Because Harris is in the first season of a four-year deal worth a total of $64 million, and because Jennings will be a free agent and only $400,000 of Ilyasova's salary for next season is guaranteed, the trade will give the Magic more money to spend this summer on the free-agent market.

The Magic can open up to $45 million in salary-cap space for July if they make a bunch of procedural moves. It should be noted, however, that the franchise has no guarantee it will be able to lure a high-quality free agent. Many other teams will have cap space, and the demand for top-notch players will far exceed the supply.

The Pistons — especially Van Gundy, who is the team's president of basketball operations as well as the coach — see Harris as an essential member of their young nucleus, which also includes 25-year-old point guard Reggie Jackson and 22-year-old All-Star center Andre Drummond.

Van Gundy points out his team has gone 10-5 since Harris was elevated to the starting lineup.

"Offensively, we've improved," Van Gundy said. "He's played very well and very efficiently for us. I think guys enjoy playing with him. He's unselfish. He moves the ball. But, and this is true of all of our guys, he's got to do a lot better job at the defensive end of the floor."

Harris' play on defense was a recurring problem in Orlando, too. During his initial year and a half with the Magic, he was known as a ball-stopper on offense, although that diminished this season.

One danger for the Magic is that Harris will blossom with the Pistons. He is only 23 years old, after all.

In Detroit, he benefits from playing alongside Jackson and Drummond. Harris' scoring average has risen from 13.7 points per game in Orlando this season to 16.6 points per game in Detroit, and his 3-point accuracy has improved from 31 percent in Orlando this season to 38 percent in Detroit.

Harris even looks a bit different.

At practice Tuesday, he wore a red headband that made him look younger than he looked in Orlando.

Afterward, he beamed from ear-to-ear when he talked about being in a playoff race for the first time in his career.

"It's exciting," Harris said. "It's what you play the game for."

Van Gundy holds his players to a high standard, just like Magic coach Scott Skiles does. But Van Gundy can be more demonstrative on the sidelines than Skiles is.

"SportsCenter" recently aired a highlight from a game the Pistons were losing badly. In that clip, Van Gundy screamed during a timeout after his players had been awful on defense.

"He knows he can coach me, and he knows he can scream in my face," Harris said Tuesday. "But I think there's a mutual respect, because at the end of the day, when he is screaming, I'm not really hearing how loud he talks. I'm hearing what he's saying and the message. I think anytime you're a player, you've got to be able to listen to that and to hear that and to understand where it's coming from. At the end of the day, it's all coming from him trying to better me as a player."

Van Gundy has liked Harris' potential for years, and he's starting to learn about Harris as a person, too.

"I like him," Van Gundy said. "He's very professional in what he does. He comes in and gets his work done every day. He's a good teammate. [He] does not seem to be a guy who's about his numbers or anything else. He seems to be a guy that's about winning and his teammates."

Harris said he still watches Magic games on NBA League Pass and has been in touch with former teammates, including Fournier, Victor Oladipo, Dewayne Dedmon, Devyn Marble and Andrew Nicholson.

Harris' transition to the Pistons was helped, in part, by his prior experience.

In 2012, the Milwaukee Bucks sent him to the Magic at the trade deadline in a multi-player deal.

On Tuesday, Harris acknowledged he felt a strong desire to play well against the Bucks in his first few games against them.

But he stopped short of saying the same thing about Wednesday night's game against the Magic.

If the Magic's decision to trade him hurt his feelings or baffled him, he's not letting on.

Asked if the deal was difficult to understand, Harris responded, "You don't ask questions. You just go with the flow. That's kind of how I look at it. You just keep on pushing. It's the NBA. It's a business. Things happen. Decisions happen that have to be made.

"At the end of the day, [as a player] it's about, how can you get better? What can you do to make yourself the best you can be? And I think I'm in a great situation here, and that's why I don't ask questions. In a good situation, if I dwell on the past and try to figure something out, it'll just be blocking out all these positives I have right here."

[weathergeakal 283]

I am a hawks and we dont play till Thursday. I am really scared that Dwight Howard will mess up. Like how he has done at  the Rockets and the Lakers. He was great as a magic player but once he left. 

[augolf1716 21,101]

9 minutes ago, weathergeakal said:

I am a hawks and we dont play till Thursday. I am really scared that Dwight Howard will mess up. Like how he has done at  the Rockets and the Lakers. He was great as a magic player but once he left. 

Good luck you'll need it

[GwillMac6 20,663]

30 minutes ago, augolf1716 said:

This explains it

When the Detroit Pistons completed their workout Tuesday afternoon, Tobias Harris and Stan Van Gundy sat at a table in their practice gym. They stared at a laptop computer screen while it played video clips of Harris' defense from recent games. Van Gundy occasionally pointed at the screen as he explained to Harris what Harris needs to improve.

Harris and Van Gundy now share a goal: trying to earn the Pistons' first playoff berth since the 2008-09 season.

Yet they also have something else in common. They are Orlando Magic cast-offs. The Magic fired Van Gundy in May 2012 after five seasons as their coach, and the Magic traded Harris last month to the Pistons after three years with the team.

On Wednesday night, Harris will play against the Magic for the first time since the deal.

"I'm not mad at Orlando for the trade," Harris said Tuesday. "Actually, if I was to sit here and be upset, that would be selfish, wouldn't it? All they did was put me in an amazing situation. Truthfully, I thank them for that. I mean, I loved my time there, but business is business, and I think being here has been great for me."

Scott Skiles discusses the Orlando Magic's 107-96 loss to the Boston Celtics in this postgame video

So far, the trade has worked out better for Detroit and Harris than it has for Orlando and the two veterans Orlando received, forward Ersan Ilyasova and Brandon Jennings.

While the Pistons have posted a 10-7 record since the deal, the Magic have gone 6-12. Indeed, Magic officials hoped the additions of Ilyasova and Jennings would help stabilize the roster in the short term, spur the team toward the playoffs and open time for Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon and Mario Hezonja.

But from the Magic's perspective, the deal always went beyond short-term goals. You can make a convincing argument that Harris, despite his strong work ethic, had reached his ceiling as a player and that the Magic roster meshes better without him.

Victor Oladipo discusses the Orlando Magic's 107-96 loss to the Boston Celtics in this postgame video

Moving Harris also has possible beneficial long-term implications for the Magic.

Because Harris is in the first season of a four-year deal worth a total of $64 million, and because Jennings will be a free agent and only $400,000 of Ilyasova's salary for next season is guaranteed, the trade will give the Magic more money to spend this summer on the free-agent market.

The Magic can open up to $45 million in salary-cap space for July if they make a bunch of procedural moves. It should be noted, however, that the franchise has no guarantee it will be able to lure a high-quality free agent. Many other teams will have cap space, and the demand for top-notch players will far exceed the supply.

The Pistons — especially Van Gundy, who is the team's president of basketball operations as well as the coach — see Harris as an essential member of their young nucleus, which also includes 25-year-old point guard Reggie Jackson and 22-year-old All-Star center Andre Drummond.

Van Gundy points out his team has gone 10-5 since Harris was elevated to the starting lineup.

"Offensively, we've improved," Van Gundy said. "He's played very well and very efficiently for us. I think guys enjoy playing with him. He's unselfish. He moves the ball. But, and this is true of all of our guys, he's got to do a lot better job at the defensive end of the floor."

Harris' play on defense was a recurring problem in Orlando, too. During his initial year and a half with the Magic, he was known as a ball-stopper on offense, although that diminished this season.

One danger for the Magic is that Harris will blossom with the Pistons. He is only 23 years old, after all.

In Detroit, he benefits from playing alongside Jackson and Drummond. Harris' scoring average has risen from 13.7 points per game in Orlando this season to 16.6 points per game in Detroit, and his 3-point accuracy has improved from 31 percent in Orlando this season to 38 percent in Detroit.

Harris even looks a bit different.

At practice Tuesday, he wore a red headband that made him look younger than he looked in Orlando.

Afterward, he beamed from ear-to-ear when he talked about being in a playoff race for the first time in his career.

"It's exciting," Harris said. "It's what you play the game for."

Van Gundy holds his players to a high standard, just like Magic coach Scott Skiles does. But Van Gundy can be more demonstrative on the sidelines than Skiles is.

"SportsCenter" recently aired a highlight from a game the Pistons were losing badly. In that clip, Van Gundy screamed during a timeout after his players had been awful on defense.

"He knows he can coach me, and he knows he can scream in my face," Harris said Tuesday. "But I think there's a mutual respect, because at the end of the day, when he is screaming, I'm not really hearing how loud he talks. I'm hearing what he's saying and the message. I think anytime you're a player, you've got to be able to listen to that and to hear that and to understand where it's coming from. At the end of the day, it's all coming from him trying to better me as a player."

Van Gundy has liked Harris' potential for years, and he's starting to learn about Harris as a person, too.

"I like him," Van Gundy said. "He's very professional in what he does. He comes in and gets his work done every day. He's a good teammate. [He] does not seem to be a guy who's about his numbers or anything else. He seems to be a guy that's about winning and his teammates."

Harris said he still watches Magic games on NBA League Pass and has been in touch with former teammates, including Fournier, Victor Oladipo, Dewayne Dedmon, Devyn Marble and Andrew Nicholson.

Harris' transition to the Pistons was helped, in part, by his prior experience.

In 2012, the Milwaukee Bucks sent him to the Magic at the trade deadline in a multi-player deal.

On Tuesday, Harris acknowledged he felt a strong desire to play well against the Bucks in his first few games against them.

But he stopped short of saying the same thing about Wednesday night's game against the Magic.

If the Magic's decision to trade him hurt his feelings or baffled him, he's not letting on.

Asked if the deal was difficult to understand, Harris responded, "You don't ask questions. You just go with the flow. That's kind of how I look at it. You just keep on pushing. It's the NBA. It's a business. Things happen. Decisions happen that have to be made.

"At the end of the day, [as a player] it's about, how can you get better? What can you do to make yourself the best you can be? And I think I'm in a great situation here, and that's why I don't ask questions. In a good situation, if I dwell on the past and try to figure something out, it'll just be blocking out all these positives I have right here."

This reminds me what do you think of the dipo for ibaka trade? Hopefully ibaka has a good season then re signs with yall. He also only has 1 year left on his contract. I think he is the PERFECT big man though for vogels system. He will have a bounce back season.

[GwillMac6 20,663]

28 minutes ago, weathergeakal said:

I am a hawks and we dont play till Thursday. I am really scared that Dwight Howard will mess up. Like how he has done at  the Rockets and the Lakers. He was great as a magic player but once he left. 

He will def mess up all that great ball movement and team chemistry coach Bud has built through the years....... He does not know how to be about the team and not about himself.

[augolf1716 21,101]

5 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

This reminds me what do you think of the dipo for ibaka trade? Hopefully ibaka has a good season then re signs with yall. He also only has 1 year left on his contract. I think he is the PERFECT big man though for vogels system. He will have a bounce back season.

totally agree just got to resign him

[augolf1716 21,101]

5 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

He will def mess up all that great ball movement and team chemistry coach Bud has built through the years....... He does not know how to be about the team and not about himself.

Yep DH is all about #1

[GwillMac6 20,663]

Just now, augolf1716 said:

Yep DH is all about #1

Only coach who could reign him in a little was SVG and dwight of course wanted to run him off...... HMMMMMMMMMMMMM his numbers took a sizeable dip all the years svg was not his coach.

[GwillMac6 20,663]

Cavs won 117-88 on ring night. Bron had a triple double and Kyrie had a mesmerizing 29 points in 29 minutes.

[GwillMac6 20,663]

Warriors get SPANKED by the spurs in Kevin Durants debut 129-100.

[aujeff11 6,243]

5 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

Warriors get SPANKED by the spurs in Kevin Durants debut 129-100.

Give them time to develop some chemistry. Plus their shot was off all night other than Durant.

[GwillMac6 20,663]

7 hours ago, aujeff11 said:

Give them time to develop some chemistry. Plus their shot was off all night other than Durant.

I don't want to give them time to develop. I hate their guts and Durant is a beta little b%tch

[aujeff11 6,243]

31 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

I don't want to give them time to develop. I hate their guts and Durant is a beta little b%tch

Ummkay  

[GwillMac6 20,663]

40 minutes ago, aujeff11 said:

Ummkay  

I was always a Westbrook guy over durant. KD could not handle Russ alpha male.

[GwillMac6 20,663]

James Harden broke his career high in assists.. in the first half of the first game. Finished with 17 for the game. He is going to break the single game assist record IMO in MDA offense before the season is over.

[aujeff11 6,243]

On 10/26/2016 at 2:03 PM, GwillMac6 said:

I was always a Westbrook guy over durant. KD could not handle Russ alpha male.

[GwillMac6 20,663]

6 minutes ago, aujeff11 said:

bout time you commented been waiting on your world renowned  pettiness everyone warned me about over and over again with you!!! there supposedly is a focus group about your pettiness where you have traumatized people in here over it..........

[aujeff11 6,243]

1 minute ago, GwillMac6 said:

There supposedly is a focus group about your pettiness where you have traumatized people in here over it..........

I'll allow it for the time being. In the meantime, quit snapping at me like a coiled snake over nothing. Thanks bae