Official NBA 12-13 season thread

[SAIYANS]

Cherry-picking stats is fun. This statement works fine as applied to Asik and Lin but to classify Harden by his number of starts is pretty Blue.

His numbers were horrid vs LA and Miami in the two series he matched up with starters more than bench players too. He dominates benches, see SA and Dallas series but a starting wing owns him on both ends statistically when he faces them see Kobe Ron Wade Bron via synergy.

He isn't a max player, which is why OKC wouldn't go 15m per year; yet Houston will pay over that like with Asik and Lin thus making it a stupid decision from their front office. Harden can't even defend at an average level, let alone score at one vs real defense is starters. It makes no sense especially with the flopping and Reggie miller rules added which is how he beat second units to get points.

 

[PHX]

He obviously isn't a max player but if any type of team is gonna make sense for them to take that risk it makes sense for the Rockets who need to give their fans some kind of hope and try and go the young talented player route and they needed Harden's popularity from a business standpoint to boot.

 

[SAIYANS]

He always had one or both KD or Russ drawing attention for him, and Lin and he both are nowhere close to having the O or D they provide. Both guys being turnover prone doesn't help either

Harden's 1942 minutes last year. Of those minutes:
63% were played with both Westbrook and Durant.
12% were played with Durant (but not Westbrook).
3% were played with Westbrook (but not Durant).
22% were played with neither Westbrook nor Durant vs second units .

 

[PHX]

No shit but who knows how good he can be when he is given the ball as the guy. You don't know until you see it which we are about to for a full season for the first time.

 

[SAIYANS]

He obviously isn't a max player but if any type of team is gonna make sense for them to take that risk it makes sense for the Rockets who need to give their fans some kind of hope and try and go the young talented player route and they needed Harden's popularity from a business standpoint to boot.

Popular how? He has one endorsement with skullcandy and KD got him that admittedly. Lin despite not being that good and overrated is worth his cash, Asik deal was stupid but that happens to every tall guy who is labeled C, but there is no basketball or business justification for 5yrs/80m for Harden. These same dumbass deals led to people crying during a lockout about amnesties, stretch clauses, and revenue sharing to bail our the dumbass inept fos of teams who make bad business and basketball decisions like maxing out guys who shouldn't be getting 10m per

 

[SAIYANS]

No shit but who knows how good he can be when he is given the ball as the guy. You don't know until you see it which we are about to for a full season for the first time.

It's not that hard to see he struggles vs good defenders on both ends and unlike manu or lo doesn't have the skill to always go left anyhow when you sit on that hand from the Miami and LA series.

That back court to steal from Shaq might as well be called BBQ chicken cause they gon get that ass eaten up nightly. Lowry or Dragic really made more sense next to Harden. Martin, Mayo, or Joe made more sense next to Lin. It's mind boggling how neither guy has one skill that compliments the other on either end and will have so much money tied up into them since Harden will be maxed and Lin is a poison pill deal much like Asik

 

[PHX]

Popular how? He has one endorsement with skullcandy and KD got him that admittedly. Lin despite not being that good and overrated is worth his cash, Asik deal was stupid but that happens to every tall guy who is labeled C, but there is no basketball or business justification for 5yrs/80m for Harden. These same dumbass deals led to people crying during a lockout about amnesties, stretch clauses, and revenue sharing to bail our the dumbass inept fos of teams who make bad business and basketball decisions like maxing out guys who shouldn't be getting 10m per

 

[Showtime]

Asik has played well in the preseason thus far and will probably be worth the money he is getting. He will do exactly what was expected of him which is to rebound and play defense at a high level.

 

[SAIYANS]

Asik has the beat chance of bing worth the salary because bugs are naturally overpaid. Thing is his foul rate in the real season has to drastically change and we have to see if e can handle extended minutes for a full season. Still was a dumb deal though considering they went the poison pill route with him too over making an offer to Hibbert and wasted all offseason mostly on Dwight.

 

[Notorious]

They wouldn't have gotten Hibbert so what's the point of wasting their time?

Asik is worth his contract. 8 mil a year for a guy who has a very good chance of being top 5 in rebounding if he plays starter minutes and Asik is also a highly underrated defender. Considering how bigs get paid nowadays, Asik is not overpaid.

If you want to look a big that's overpaid, look at Denver paying JaVale McGee 11 mil a year to backup Kosta Koufos.

 

[Notorious]

They wouldn't have gotten Hibbert so what's the point of wasting their time?

Asik is worth his contract. 8 mil a year for a guy who has a very good chance of being top 5 in rebounding if he plays starter minutes and Asik is also a highly underrated defender. Considering how bigs get paid nowadays, Asik is not overpaid.

If you want to look a big that's overpaid, look at Denver paying JaVale McGee 11 mil a year to backup Kosta Koufos.

 

[SAIYANS]

Karl is a dumbass. They did this years ago where they paid Nene big money to backup Camby and Kenyon cause Karl wouldn't start him. The fo eventually had to erase Karl's stubbornness by trading Camby away for pennies. McGee is better than Asik

 

[SAL]

How can you say Harden isn't a max player when statistically he's top 20-25 at least and a pretty smart dude working for the Thunder was ready to offer him everything just shy of the max?

 

[SAIYANS]

They would have offered 15m per if they thought he was a max guy. Hey had no problem giving Russ, KD, and Ibaka their respective maxes. With Harden they said you aren't worth the extra 2mil per year. I tells you how he was values, which is right IMO. KD is without a doubt the best guy they have. Westbrook is better than Harden, better rebounder, better defender by leaps and bounds, better scorer, and better 4th quarter performer just doesn't handle media well. Ibaka was the third out essential peace of that team, he was the guy on Dirk, Pau, and the like; Bosh was just too mobile, athletic, and skilled compared to the other three.

He's over glorified like Jeff Green. He is not a max player in the league when he can't defend his position. He struggles vs Kobe, Bron, MWP, Iggy, Joe, Wade, George, and Manu on the year. How can you justify 5/80 for a guy who shat the bed how he did and has no history of even playing as the second option consistently let alone first and lacks overwhelming defense, offense, or playmaking? The guy spent almost 80% of his time last year with one or both KD and Russ getting doubled to get his numbers and the other 20 vs second units he beat up on. I just don't get how you get 15+ mil a year based off what he has done. That is worse than paying Joe Johnson like ATL did or TMac like Orlandodid to leave Toronto because at least they showed they could start for prolonged periods, ball, and were better skilled and more athletic

 

[Big Red Jericho Punk]

George Karl dumbass? Oh god what a dumb statement.

Hey West coast/Midwest/Southern basketball fans, here is the last of the two part NBA preview I'm doing for the site I write under. Every team is covered with playoff predictions, season award predictions and NBA finals pick. Check it out. Yes its pretty predictable but I explain everything.

http://tjrsports.com/articles/2012-...iew-predictions-nba-finals-pick-awards-too--2