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2016 NBA OFFSEASON


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2 hours ago, goodhelmet said:

Listening to Pop's press conference yesterday got me choked up. In basketball, the only other player/coach combo that I think meant as much was Russell and Red. 

I imagine you could put the Sloan/Malone/Stockton trio in there as well, but that's about it. . .

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On 7/11/2016 at 9:44 PM, goodhelmet said:

Rings matter. It's why LeBron bringing a championship to Cleveland will change the discussion when he ends his career. It's why Barkley and Malone aren't usually included in these conversations. It's why people almost universally put Russell above Wilt. Finals MVPs matter which is why I have Tim over Kobe. I don't think All star appearances matter if that helps. 

Barkley and Malone don't have rings because they had the misfortune of playing in the same era as the single greatest player in the history of the sport. Discounting their careers because of that is silly.

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Not sure if I should put this here or elsewhere but The Basketball Tournament has started up again. It is a total blast and very surreal but great.

The first game I saw was between something called Team Fancy against The Talledega Knights. The Knights had Josh Boone and Gary Forbes. Team Fancy was supposed to have Russ Smith and Javale McGee (!) but both no-showed (maybe because of NBA Summer League). But they did have some decent former college guys in Vincent Council and Corey Stokes. It was one of the craziest basketball games I've ever seen. The Knights were up 16 with five minutes to go before Team Fancy came storming back on a rampage. They had it down to 2 with under a minute left when one of the worst no-call travels I've ever seen happen. They ended up losing by 3. Just a brutal no-call, but still an awesome game.

I just saw a team of Pittsburgh alum (Lavance Fields, Brad Wannamaker) tear up a bunch of D-3 level guys who are playing for a cancer charity. And I also just saw a team of a lot of Kansas guys coached by the Morris Twins (yes) play a team put together by a popular Sixers blog that featured Flip Murray, who legitimately now has a greying beard and also played with a broken hand.

Headed back to watch the three nightcaps: A Villanova alum team is taking on Bucknell. Syracuse's team is playing a decent put-together team and the finale are my La Salle Explorers (mostly dudes from the Sweet 16 team with a few others) taking on a Temple alum team with Khaliff Wyatt and Dionte Christmas.

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I saw one of the most remarkable games I'll ever see today at TBT. The Villanova team only dressed five. One of their guys (Scottie Reynolds) went down and separated a shoulder and had to leave the game. (I only went to the second half of this game and just missed the injury.) So Nova played Bucknell 5-on-4 for about 12 minutes of gametime. It was absolutely unreal and Corey Stokes went off. They had the lead with 17 seconds to go before Bucknell finally escaped.

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I went back for some more TBT last night. I was only going to go to the Syracuse/Temple game. However, I arrived early enough to catch the end of Pitt/Bucknell. Bucknell apparently mounted a 15-point comeback to take the lead late (I heard the crowd when I was getting my ticket). I walked into the gym and was right at the baseline when Levance Fields made this ridiculous scoop shot at the buzzer to tie it up, which prompted the Pitt roster to go nuts with a few fans joining the frey. OT was great and Pitt ended up sealing the win.

Syracuse/Temple was also an awesome game. Cuse had the lead most of the game but couldn't shake Temple. Temple had a chance to tie/win at the buzzer but Khaliff Wyatt's one-handed push shot rimmed out, which is the ultimate in Temple basketball. Also of note: The reunion team rosters are a bit iffy. Cuse's starting guard went to Purdue. He played for them last year, too. Temple had two guys who were from a D-3 school.

The Super 16 is all in Philly this year. There are some really fun teams. There's a VCU reunion team that I know will be of interest to a lot of people here -- it has most of their Final Four team. There's also a Gonzaga team filled with people on their teams over the years who disappointed you when you picked them in your bracket. There's also a Bradley reunion team led by Patrick O'Bryant.

There are also these strange teams that I have no idea how they were put together and have dudes like Marshall Henderson floating about. One has a starting backcourt of Jason "White Chocolate" Williams and Mike Bibby. Glad to see their friends after their controversial trade in the early 00s.

This thing truly is incredible. It has the great combination of weirdness AND a family reunion thing but the quality of play is also really friggin' good. They get at it. I mean, Cuse played their 2-3 zone. I think I saw five games this weekend on par with any Sweet 16-type thriller, including the 5-on-4 game.

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That second Denzel buzzer beater in the summer league final was nuts. He looked done like dinner then freed himself up with that sweet spin and hucked it with a second left. 

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10 hours ago, sabremike said:

Pete Vescey just followed me on Twitter, so yeah that's the highlight of my day!

You might as well close that account now, you've peaked. *googles Pete Vescey*

Edit: His twitter feed can be amusing, good call.

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Woj is reporting that the NBA is on the verge of pulling the All-Star Game from Charlotte, with New Orleans as the most likely replacement.  I feel bad for the fans in Charlotte, but good on the NBA for taking action.

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