Built Ford Tough

If New Orleans didn't make the Jack and Okafor/Ariza trades, I could agree that they may be able to finish around .500, assuming Gordon plays 70+ games and Davis is able to make an immediate impact. However, since they dealt those three guys, never really replaced them and look to be playing Davis at the 5, I don't see them being that good this year. They've got a lot of flexibility heading forward which was clearly Benson's goal after taking over the team, but the team's record will likely suffer as a result of those moves with flexibility in mind. Oh yeah, also playing Austin Rivers at the point is another huge reason why I'd be shocked if the Hornets are going to be close to .500. Sacramento would need Cousins to blow up, Evans to regain his rookie season form and Robinson to immediately become a 16/10 type of threat in order for them to reach their "expectations". So I find them highly reaching what Slam thinks they will highly unlikely as well. They must be really high on the chances of Sacramento's young players taking a fairly large step forward because they really didn't do a whole lot this offseason to warrant thinking they'd make a huge jump. I really like what Golden State did this offseason as I mentioned in another thread. If they can stay healthy, I think they may be able to finish above .500 by a couple games and sneak into the playoffs. Of course, with Curry, Lee and Bogut, they could easily end up having 150 games lost due to injury between just the 3 of them, which would obviously eliminate any chance of them making the playoffs. New Jersey is all about how quickly they can develop chemistry. I'm a bit skeptical on how well Williams and Johnson will be able to work together since Johnson's game is so iso oriented. That doesn't exactly scream perfect compliment to a ball dominant point guard. Deron is also going to have to play a lot better than he did last season, although I'm not worried about that. It is completely understandable why he didn't set the world on fire last season given everything that happened with that team and who he was playing with. Lastly, with Toronto I think that is pretty accurate in terms of my expectations. If you look at them from an 82 game standpoint last season, their winning percentage projected them to be a 28.5 win team and that was with Bargnani out for more than half the year, adjusting to a new coach and more defensive oriented system and trotting out D-League plays for much of the final third of the season. Fields, Ross and Valanciunas, while not being huge impact players, should be an upgrade over the likes of Jamaal Magloire, James Johnson and Gary Forbes so maybe between the three of them they could add 2 wins to the Raptors total from last year. The real difference maker is Kyle Lowry. I'd like to think he will flourish in Casey's system and should have a fairly large impact on the team. Combine that with (hopefully) a healthy Bargnani and an improved DeRozan and I think it isn't too far fetched to think that Toronto could win between 35-40 games next year. A team that I'd have in there to replace the Kings or Hornets would be the Wizards. I think they'll be in a fairly similar situation as the Raptors. I won't get as far to say that they'll be in the playoffs for sure, like the Raptors, I can see them flirting with one of those final playoff spots. I'd also throw in the T'Wolves. Not that I think they'll make a huge leap, but I can see them finishing around .500 and considering where they were last season, I think that would be a bigger jump than either the Hornets or Kings will make.

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1271154/D_Fav_QA_Malone_medium.PNG What do you think the biggest thing that Favors could learn from Malone would be?

http://sulia.com/channel/utah-jazz/f/4d866fc7-62a1-468b-a91d-8899d6f2b44f/?source=twitter#

5 minutes into the game and Valanciunas is already on the bench with 2 fouls. To be fair to him, the last call on Turiaf was an absolute joke. The ref claimed he hit Turiaf in the face on the shot, but the replay showed that Val's hand was a good foot from Turiaf's face. It is a shame since he got off to a solid start. Had 4 points on 2-3 shooting including a very nice skyhook in the post over Turiaf for an And 1 (missed the free throw, though).

Same deal as Landry.

Wasn't that obvious when they renounced his rights? Really, who cares? The guy isn't good and with DeRozan, Ross, Fields, Kleiza and Anderson occupying the 2/3 spots he would get garbage minutes anyways. With his ego, he'd probably throw a huge fit because of that. Good for Weems for getting a 3 year deal. He'll carve out a nice career for himself in Europe but if he doesn't drastically change his game, he'll never have an impact in the NBA.

Well, personally, I'm shocked at what happened in the Lithuania/Nigeria game. Jonas Valanciunas picked up 3 fouls in 11 minutes. :o In 24 minutes he has picked up 6 fouls. Dude is going to struggle a lot during his rookie season.

Scratch that, Thames was dealt as well. I'm thinking that AA has some sort of deal lined up or something because there is not room in the BP for all of the arms they have down there right now. Or maybe I'm just hoping since I hate the Snider trade, haha.

Travis Snider just got pulled from the game in the bottom of the 7th inning and was shaking hands with everybody in the dugout. Obviously, he has been traded. I don't know where and will hold off on making any comments about the potential deal, but I will say that it sucks to see him go. I know he hasn't lived up to the expectations of many people, but I've always liked him. Hopefully they got something good in return and I also hope to see Snider rake wherever he goes. EDIT: He was traded to the Pirates. At first glance, I hate this trade. Trading a potential middle of the order bat who is an above average defender in left for a reliever? Stupid. I know the chances of him actually being a middle of the order bat are probably too optimistic given what he has done at the major league level, but I still hate this trade, especially since Snider was never given a fair shot in the bigs. I really hope I'm wrong, but I this looks like an absolutely terrible deal for Toronto. EDIT #2: And perhaps even worse, Thames was just removed from the Vegas lineup and will be heading to Toronto. Ugh.

http://sulia.com/source/S-245111/ Replacing Scal as the designated cheerleader. If you ask me, they are downgrading.

What does that have to do with him having a broken jumper? Are you suggesting the bone spurs were the reason for his poor shooting in SL? If that is the case, what is the reason for his poor shooting at Duke all year?

Love this signing for Golden State. They really needed to add a reliable big off the bench, especially since you just know that at least one of Lee and Bogut will get injured at some point in the season. You can't rely on young, inexperienced guys like Jeremy Tyler and Festus Ezeli or the corpse of Andris Biedrins. A lineup of Curry/Thompson/Barnes/Lee/Bogut with Landry, Jack, Rush (can't see them letting him walk) and Jefferson off of the bench is really solid. I'm not guaranteeing playoffs since there are so many question marks with injuries (Curry, Lee and Bogut), whether Thompson can duplicate his play to end the season and how productive a rookie Barnes will be, but if things go right for the Warriors this year they are going to be a good team. This has been a nice offseason for them.

Check here whenever you are looking for a game (or, any Olympic event). http://www.ctvolympics.ca/viewers-guide/index.html All games or events that aren't being televised should be on that website. As for the game, I missed it as I was at work, but from what I've read it sounds like he played solid on offense, but ended up in foul trouble (surprise, surprise) which limited his playing time. I guess he was really struggling with Argentina's quick and precise passing and it resulted in late rotations and foul trouble. However, despite that, he finished with 6 points and 5 rebounds in 13 minutes and from the sounds of it, Lithuania played better with him on the floor than off of it. They were down by 2 points when he left the game for the last time in the 1st half and then were down by 12 when he came in for the first time in the 2nd half. It really is a shame that he is always in foul trouble because not only is he the best Lithuanian big man, but he is arguably the most important player on the team.

You are acting like he is guaranteed to fail. Why is getting your foot in the door way too big of a gamble for Vaughn? I could understand if he was hired with the expectation of getting the team back to the Finals or something, but the realisitic expectations for the Magic this upcoming season will be very, very low once Howard is dealt. Any positives will likely reflect very well upon the job Vaughn does as a coach. I know it isn't an exact comparision but like at Dwane Casey last year. His name was rumored for a couple of jobs (like Vaughn) but he missed out on one (Houston to McHale, like Vaughn missing out on a few jobs this year) until he was hired by a rebuilding team with low expectations (Toronto for Casey, Orlando for Vaughn). Nobody expected anything from the Raptors with many people predicting them to be a bottom 3 team in the league. Casey ends up completely changing their identity as a defensive pushover, getting them to be an average defensive team and also managing to guide them to the 8th worst record even with Bargnani, Bayless and Calderon (arguably the Raptors 3 best players last year) missing at least 10 games (and in Bargnani's case, more than half the season). He is now viewed as one of the better young (in terms of head coaching experience) coaches in the league. Like I said, I know the comparision isn't exact since Casey had previous head coaching experience with Minnesota, but who's to say that Vaughn can't have a similar year as Casey did? Sometimes the best option for rookie head coaches is to come into a situation where there isn't a lot of pressure and expectations. I just don't see the logic behind this being a poor career decision for Vaughn. Sure, he may end up in over his head but that would be the case regardless of what team he is coaching. I'm not trying to be condescending or anything like that, I'm just having a hard time grasping your thought process here.

Javtokas fractured his foot about a month ago so Valanciunas may end up being the starting center for Lithuania. I'd actually be surprised if he isn't considering he is the only legit center on the roster aside from Javtokas. Lithuania opens up tomorrow against Argentina. Their full group play schedule is (all times PST) Sunday, July 29th vs. Argentina (2:15 PM) Tuesday, July 31st vs. Nigeria (6:30 AM) Thursday, August 2nd vs. France (1:00 AM) Saturday, August 4th vs. USA (6:30 AM) Monday, August 6th vs. Tunisia (3:15 AM) I don't have any idea what kind of television schedule they have. I'd imagine that the game vs. the Americans will be shown live, but other than that I have no idea.

Why is it a trap job? When the Magic deal Dwight everybody will write them off and, depending on the package, have little-to-no expectations for them. That makes any positives he accomplishes with the team a bonus. I really don't see how a rookie head coach getting his first gig with a rebuilding team will result in ruining his coaching career unless he absolutely tanks as a coach. If that is the case, it doesn't really matter what type of team he is coaching because he wouldn't be cut out for being a head coach anyways.

Wait a minute, I completely forgot that Miller (well, his contract) was traded earlier. He can't be dealt back to the Wolves for a year so I think Woj might've messed that part up. For what it is worth, a Phoenix beat writer is saying that Warrick is going to Minnesota, not New Orleans, which would make sense.

Lithuania played an Olympic tune-up game today against Iceland and while the numbers really don't matter considering it is Iceland (he did have 12/8 in 15 minutes I believe) check out this dunk he had.

Thoughts on this? PS: The Wolves are supposedly making a big push to bring Andrei Kirilenko back from Russia and this trade is supposed to help their push.

I love West's game when he has his head on straight. I think he is basically everything you want from a combo guard role player. Can shoot the ball, is good at getting in the paint, is a good defensive player, can handle the rock , play a little point and is fearless out there. I just really like his game and think this is a very good move to bring him back.

Ibaka is such an idiot on defense. Is that 4 goaltends for him already and the first half isn't over?

Like I said, I haven't watched on a consistent basis since June to July last year so I really don't have a clue how they are currently booking people. Prior to last night I hadn't watched an episode of Raw or Smackdown since before Wrestlemania probably. So if what you say is true about them having all of their heels booked as chicken shits, then yeah, I guess you are right. I would hope the WWE is smart enough to not go that route with Punk, though. As for him holding onto the title until the Rumble, I think that is a given based on how last night finished. They are clearly building towards a Punk/Rock match at the Rumble. I'd be willing to bet that Punk holds onto the title until the Rumble, drops it to Rock there and then Cena wins the Rumble leading to Rock/Cena II at Mania.

I really doubt Calderon cares about this move one way or another. If Calderon is still here come te start of the season, he is clearly not going to have to fight Lucas for minutes. He is simply a vastly superior player. I think this move has much more to due with them having insurance in case of an injury or a Calderon trade that doesn't find a point guard coming back. If all three of the current points are on the roster at the start of the year, it is clear that Lucas would be getting mop up and garbage minutes.

I haven't watched consistently since last summer but from what I gather, Punk has been the champion for a while now, yet he is still involved in second, sometimes even third, tier fueds, right? I don't think he has main evented a PPV this year despite being the champ all year and putting on some of the best matches every single night. If that is the case, it was a brilliant move if you ask me. Last summer he had a huge following when he was playing the "overlooked, disrespected star" role. He became champ, was the hottest star in the company and now, like I said above, he is playing second, sometimes even third, fiddle. I can easily see him going back to that character he was last June when he had that "shoot" promo and had everybody talking about him. Honestly, I think this may have been in the works even dating back to last summer. Remember when he was doing that "shoot" promo and he talked about Cena being a huge ass kisser and then said he was like Hogan in that regard? Then he made a comment about The Rock being the biggest and best ass kisser of all. Fast forward a year later and we find out that The Rock, after 1 match in 8 years, is going to be receiving a title shot at the 2nd biggest PPV of the year. Was this all part of a year long arc from the writers? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, I think it is awesome.

Officially signed a 2 year, $3M deal. The 2nd year is a team option. Definitely a lot better signing than what I first anticipated. I still don't like his game very much, especially if he is the backup point (as a 3rd string, I don't mind though) but considering I was expecting something stupid like 3 fully guaranteed years, I'm fine with this signing.