NBA Random News/Notes Thread 2015-2016

Also it's a win for the 70centers, maybe they planted the drunk Boston fan, that way they can suspend Jah for a game or two and help the tanking. Because everyone knew he was going to go off against us, probably getting them a W. Something they can't afford during their current quest.

 

Not NBA news per se, but may be next year if this guy is successful in making it back to the league. Tripod is still playing.


http://nypost.com/2015/11/29/greg-oden-has-jaw-dropping-chinese-basketball-debut/


Greg Oden has jaw-dropping Chinese basketball debut
By Mark W. Sanchez

November 29, 2015 | 2:35pm



Greg Oden in 2014. Photo: Getty Images
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Eight years after he was the No. 1 pick, three years after he was waived (for the first time), Greg Oden’s potential still turns heads. Even from China.

The 7-foot Ohio State product, grabbed by Portland ahead of Kevin Durant in 2007, dealt with surgeries and recoveries for his NBA entirety, a start-and-stop that never quite started. He has become a cautionary tale, a player so filled with potential but so lacking in health. With each knee surgery came a sigh, a what-could-have-been longing for the center whom Steve Kerr called a “once-in-a-decade player.”



But Oden insists his story still is being written, and he’s taken to the Chinese Basketball Association when no NBA team would take a flier. After one game with the Jiangsu Dragons, the NBA and its fans are reminded of just what a special talent he is.

Oden put up 19 points, 23 rebounds and four blocks in 17 minutes, an otherworldly performance in another world on Sunday. The Chinese league is not the NBA, of course — this is the same league Stephon Marbury dominated and players such as Steve Francis, Gilbert Arenas and Tracy McGrady made stops at — but still, that statline in a 79-76 win reminds of the optimism that once followed Oden wherever he went.




^^^ But in what alternate universe is that not an offensive foul?

The Buffalo native was unguardable at Ohio State. Teaming with fellow freshman Mike Conley Jr., Oden powered the Buckeyes to the national championship, where he put on a show of old-school, back-to-the-basket, big-man basketball. He poured in 25 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks, but Ohio State couldn’t overcome Florida, and Oden was bound for Portland with the No. 1 pick.


Then came the knee injuries. Then came the foot injuries. Then came a few more knee injuries. He had three straight years cut short by knee injuries — both right and left — and played just 82 total games in five years with the Trail Blazers.

He caught on with LeBron James and Miami in 2013-14, but looked a hobbled shadow of the player he used to be. As the Heat fell to the Spurs in the NBA Finals, Oden watched from the bench.

Now, the comeback tour, he hopes, beginning in China. It’s off to a good start.

 

He looks solid...

 

less thick, though...

 

You're calling that a flop? When a guy 40 or 50lbs less in weight who has position and gets the Oden or Shaq lowered shoulder and body block that sends them flying? There's flops and then there's physics. Not that I give a crap about the Chinese player or Oden or the Chinese league. Just sayin'.

 

Not as offensive as James Harden's beard and cluelessness on defense ......

James Harden is the laziest man in the NBA
By Tom Ziller  @teamziller on Dec 1, 2015, 8:29a 5

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015/12/1/9826354/james-harden-is-so-lazy-vine


Box out, man! There are cameras on you!

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Two weeks ago, the Rockets fired Kevin McHale amid an early swoon. As Mike Prada illustrated, the Rockets were teetering primarily because key players, including James Harden, weren't playing very hard, especially on defense.

It turns out that changing the coach didn't fix the effort issues, at least for Harden.

Clint Capela does a good job to challenge Ersan Ilyasova's layup and ... Harden just watches the carom bounce to Aron Baynes, who gets a bunny. This is 2013-14 James Harden, not the MVP runner-up we saw last year. The guy needs to get in shape or start meditating or something. This is not okay in the modern NBA. There are cameras everywhere and fans in Houston are near revolt.

This comes two days after Harden decided to let the Knicks blow by him on a fast break so he could argue with a referee despite being the last line of defense.

By the way, the Rockets were 4-7 when McHale got fired. Since then, they are 3-4. Progress?

(Vine by Mitya Ya, via The Dream Shake.)

 

"here's 20 bucks kid"

--Kobe

 

Okafor is that you?

 

Ah... if only he had a semblance of work ethic.

 

If Shaq had a work ethic of Kobe, we would be done with the GOAT talk.

 

If Kobe had Shaq's body, there would be no more records.

 

Wow Shaq with the moves back then.