Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by C-Fan » 29 Apr 2014 09:42

So far, the Heat are the only team to have made it to the second round. They're also the only team to sweep. The way the Eastern series have gone, I would be SHOCKED if they don't make the Finals. If they do, they'll be the first team since the mid-1980s Celtics to make the Finals four years in a row. That's a bit deceptive though, since the past four years the East has been the weaker conference by far.

The most notable story of the first round to me is the Pacers implosion. They're now down 3-2 against the lowly Hawks, and I don't think they're going to survive. Even if they do squeak (squawk?) past the Hawks, they're not beating the Wizards. My prediction is the Pacers blow it all up in the offseason. New coach, no renewal for Lance Stephenson, and they'll trade Hibbert away for pennies on the dollar. What a disappointment.

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by C-Fan » 02 May 2014 08:40

This has to to be the best first round of the NBA playoffs of all time. There are three Game 7s on Saturday, which is something that has never happened before in NBA history. Depending on how tonight's games go, there is the potential for 3 more Game 7s. How amazing is that?

In the East I think the Heat have an 85% chance of winning the conference, and the remaining 15% goes to the Wizards.

Out West, who knows? I would favor the Spurs, followed by the Grizz, then the Clippers, with the Thunder juuuust behind them. But really, who knows?

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by Allan » 02 May 2014 11:57

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by C-Fan » 09 May 2014 07:43

Nice GIF!

Couple quick thoughts:

:arrow: Durant's MVP was well-deserved. Pretty insane offensive season, the advanced stats actually show he has a positive impact on defense, and he really rounded out into a multidimensional player this season. LeBron is still probably an overall better player, but Durant earned the award fair and square this season.

:arrow: I think the Spurs and Heat advance to their conference finals in 5 games each.

:arrow: I really don't know what will happen with Clipper-Thunder. I also don't know who would have a better shot against the Spurs.

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by C-Fan » 14 May 2014 07:46

5 days after my last post...
C-Fan wrote: :arrow: I think the Spurs and Heat advance to their conference finals in 5 games each.
I still stand by this. In Game 4 of the Heat series, the Nets played great, the Heat didn't show up except LBJ...and LBJ still won the game. Sometimes all you need is the best player on the court to win.
C-Fan wrote: :arrow: I really don't know what will happen with Clipper-Thunder. I also don't know who would have a better shot against the Spurs.
Clipper Thunder has been crazy. Game 4 felt so weird...the Thunder outplayed the Clips, but still managed to give away a huge lead and the game at the end. Then Game 5 plays out the exact same way, just with the roles reversed. Clips dominated the game, Durant couldn't hit anything, Clips are up 13 with 4 minutes to go, up 7 with less than a minute to go...and then Chris Paul melts down. It was just bizarre to see. So now the Thunder are in control, but who knows what happens.

I've basically stopped following what's happening with the Pacers, since it gives me vertigo. I've never seen a team pendulum so hard in either direction from day to day. They may still make the Eastern Finals, and they may even give the Heat a run for the money. But its been a nauseating rollercoaster ride so far.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a Spurs-Heat finals again. If we do, I think the Spurs would have to be favored since they have home court, and their team is more solid than last year. The Heat should come out of the East, but man, Wade looks old and there are nights where nobody shows up other than LeBron.

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by Asmus » 14 May 2014 08:58

Really appreciate the updates Ken even though I still try to read up elsewhere and watch recaps.

Do you think any big changes will happen with the Heat team if they don't win this year?

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by C-Fan » 14 May 2014 10:58

I think big changes will happen with the Heat even if they do win.

Bosh and LeBron are still in their primes, but Wade is looking worse each year. Bosh and LeBron were willing to take less money to come to the Heat, in large part because they wanted a championship. Regardless of what happens in June, they will have either 2 or 3 rings, and the ability to chase more money or a better team in the offseason. I think Wade stays put, since he wants to retire as the all-time franchise player of the organization, and also because people won't chase him as hard as LeBron or Bosh. But yeah, I'd be pretty surprised if the Big 3 are still in Miami next year. I could see Miami trying to flip Bosh for cheaper, younger assets to chase a couple more championships without him.

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by C-Fan » 15 May 2014 06:12

C-Fan wrote: :arrow: I think the Spurs and Heat advance to their conference finals in 5 games each.
And so it was. Now the question is, how much rest will they get before their next opponent joins them in their conference finals? I think that is a bigger question for the Spurs, since they are older and Parker got hurt. If the Thunder can close out the Clips tonight, that gives the Spurs less time to recover for their next matchup.


This is a really cool map/article, that used facebook data to map out geographically where fan bases for NBA teams are:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014 ... ports&_r=0

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by C-Fan » 19 May 2014 14:23

30 second Conference Final thoughts:

:arrow: I think the Spurs have to be favored, since Ibaka is out. If Ibaka could play, I'd give a slight advantage to the Thunder, but with him out I think the Spurs can win this in 5 or 6.

:arrow: Heat lost game 1, and they have to do some winning on the road to take the series. I think they can do it. Heat in 7.

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by Asmus » 19 May 2014 23:54

I saw most of Game one. I've never liked Paul George but I was really impressed by his defense. A classic footbag mistake is to play on your heels and I feel like this translates well to basketball. Pacers were more on their toes in this game.

Lance Stephenson is so good! I would like seeing him in NY. :)

I agree with you on who will go on to the finals. I hope it will be Thunder - Heat though. What's up with Westbrook? One month he is injured and the next month he is a dominant force. Very entertaining to watch as well.

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by C-Fan » 21 May 2014 13:01

Asmus wrote:

Lance Stephenson is so good! I would like seeing him in NY. :).
Lance is a high school legend in NYC, so the Knicks would love to have him. Lance is also in a contract year, so somebody is going to pay him this summer. I have a feeling it won't be the Knicks though. He had an insanely fun game 2.

Asmus wrote: What's up with Westbrook? One month he is injured and the next month he is a dominant force.
He had a pretty slow start this year. It is great to see him back at full speed again.

Draft lottery happened last night. The notable news was that the Cavs won the 1st pick, despite having only a 1.7% chance of doing so. This is significant for a few reasons:

:arrow: The 2013 draft was universally regarded as weak. That said, the Cavs still totally wasted the #1 pick on Bennet. The 2014 pick is so good though, that even the Cavs shouldn't be able to fuck this one up. I think they should go with Embiid, though they may end up trading the pick plus some young players to snag Kevin Love.
:arrow: Because the Cavs jumped up in the lottery, it knocked down two teams. The Magic dropped to #4, which is bad because the three top picks are considered better than the rest in this draft class. The other team that dropped in the draft were the Pistons, who went from #8 to #9. That's horrible news for them, since that means their pick now goes to Charlotte since it was only top 8 protected. The 8th pick in this draft is definitely going to be better than whatever pick the Bobcats have next season.
:arrow: Now that the Cavs have the top pick in the draft, they are much more enticing a location for coaches, GMs, and free agents. The Cavs organization is still incompetent, but if you can have Kyrie plus Embiid/Wiggins/Parker, plus some young pieces...it looks a lot better today than it did yesterday.

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by C-Fan » 22 May 2014 08:02

It's a classic mistake in the playoffs to read too much into a single loss, or even a 2 game stretch. That said, I think the Thunder are in deep, deep trouble.
C-Fan wrote: :arrow: I think the Spurs have to be favored, since Ibaka is out. If Ibaka could play, I'd give a slight advantage to the Thunder, but with him out I think the Spurs can win this in 5 or 6.
Spurs in 5 is looking likely to me. The question now is: who lines up better against the Spurs in the Finals? The Heat or the Pacers?

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by C-Fan » 30 May 2014 09:27

A lot has happened since the last post. Game 5 of the Heat-Pacers was amazing...the last 3 minutes where they were just trading improbable 3s, West's missed FTs, LeBron's chasedown block...what a game. Spurs-Thunder has been kinda meh to watch. Every game has been a blowout for either team, which isn't that fun to watch. At this stage, now that Ibaka is back and relatively healthy, I really can't call it either way.

I am very confident though the Heat close out the Pacers in tonight's game 6. If the Finals end up being a rematch of Heat and Spurs, I think I like the Spurs' chances. Homecourt, better depth than last year, and the Heat are basically a year older and its hard to say anybody is better on that team than they were last year. My real hope though is that the Thunder manage to force a Game 7 in the West, sneak into the finals, and then we'll have a rematch of the Finals 2 years ago. That'd be sick.

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by C-Fan » 13 Jun 2014 06:21

Heat are down 3-1 now, and 2 of the 3 remaining games are in San Antonio. This looks very, very grim for Miami. The last two games Miami lost at home, in blowouts.

Prediction? Miami loses in 6, then regroups over the summer by poaching Carmelo from the Knicks. Sounds crazy, but I think it might happen.

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by C-Fan » 16 Jun 2014 12:37

Well, season is over now. Spurs won their 5th championship...all with Duncan and Poppovich. I didn't even watch Game 5, but I'm not surprised it was also a blowout. Going into the Finals I had favored the Spurs because they were basically the same team as last year, only their bench was better and Parker wasn't injured. The Heat on the other hand weren't able to upgrade their bench (Beasley and Oden were total busts, and they amnestied Mike Miller), and everybody was a year older. Wade looked better this year than last year, but that wasn't going to be enough.

So what happens now? Very interesting question for both teams.

Spurs

:arrow: Duncan. He played great this year, but he's still really old. If he decides to retire this summer, that'd be nice...going out on top, having won championships in the 90s, aughts, and 2010s. But really, why retire? His health isn't bad, Kawhi and the bench have developed enough that Duncan doesn't have to carry the team, and there's no reason to think they won't have a shot at the title next year. I'm guessing he tries again next year.

:arrow: Popp. Cemented his legacy as the best current coach in the NBA, and #2 behind Phil Jackson in this generation. I'm guessing he'll retire whenever Duncan does, but who knows.

:arrow: Kawhi Leonard. Due for a big contract this off-season. Spurs should be smart enough to lock him up, and I'd be very surprised if he isn't back as the franchise cornerstone.

Heat

:arrow: LeBron. Basically has two options. Stay in Miami, or leave for another contender. If he stays in Miami, the Big 3 need to all opt out, restructure their contracts, and use the extra money to get more help. LeBron played great in the finals, but he didn't have nearly enough help, especially on defense. This won't be easy. Even if LeBron does jump ship and join a contender, he still probably needs to take a pay cut to ensure his team is strong enough. LeBron is now 2 for 5 in the Finals. I don't know that we should read that much into that stat. Jordan was 6 for 6, Duncan is 5 for 6, Kobe is 5 for 7, and Shaq was 4 for 6.

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by Asmus » 16 Jun 2014 23:28

Thanks for the update Ken. I really enjoy reading all your posts. Good fast way to get an overview.

I hope you keep posting in here in the off season.

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by C-Fan » 18 Jun 2014 09:33

Thanks Asmus! I definitely will. I'll weigh in on the draft after I get back from the honeymoon. I think the biggest 3 storylines of the offseason are going to be:

:arrow: Where does Kevin Love go, and how much will the Wolves get for him? It sounds like Boston is the front runner here, as they have the most assets to offer. It'd be cool if the Suns made a play for him. In any case, Love isn't going to be a T-Wolf next season, so don't be surprised if he's involved in a draft day deal.

:arrow: What happens to the Big 3 in Miami? It will all depend on LeBron. If LeBron leaves, then don't be surprised if Bosh does too. If LBJ stays, I think all 3 stay.

:arrow: Possibly related to the above: what happens with Melo? I know everybody thinks he's going to leave, but if he does that'd be a TON of guaranteed money he'd be leaving on the table. But if Melo leaves, then its rebuild time in NYC, and they'll be making moves to try and get Durant in a couple years.

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by C-Fan » 08 Jul 2014 07:39

Quiet offseason so far, but I think that's because everybody is waiting until LeBron, Bosh, and Melo announce where they are going. Dominoes will drop after that. So far, the biggest signings of the summer have been:

:arrow: Kyrie got a max contract from Cleveland. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of this move. I know he's been an all-star, but his teams don't win, he doesn't show much leadership, and his defense is embarrassingly bad. I just don't think he was worth $90M over 5 years.

:arrow: Gortat re-signs with DC for $60M for 5 years. He's a good 2 way center in a conference that lacks them. I liked this move.

:arrow: Kyle Lowry re-signs with the Raptors. I liked this move. He's their best player, and was probably the best guard in the East all season. No issues with this.
C-Fan wrote: :arrow: What happens to the Big 3 in Miami? It will all depend on LeBron. If LeBron leaves, then don't be surprised if Bosh does too. If LBJ stays, I think all 3 stay.

:arrow: Possibly related to the above: what happens with Melo? .
So the latest news on this is that all 4 have now opted out of their contracts and are free agents. The Rockets have offered both Melo and Bosh max contracts, and I think it's likely one of them goes there. If Bosh bites on the Rockets offer, I think its possible Melo joins LeBron and Wade with the Heat. I expect something big will happen in the next couple days.

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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by brianbear » 31 Jul 2014 09:17

Oh boy, what a nice thing to talk about. Well, there has been some crazy stuff happening.

I like the future for the cavs now, and if they land this Kevin Love deal they will likely make it the finals.
The bulls are looking pretty darn good now too, gasol and noah will eat up boards (I imagine a good amount of offensive) like mad and be a pain to score on in the post or to drive on. On top of that maybe derrick rose will actually stay healthy. and buckets the rookie kid could do pretty well his first year me thinks.

Of course, I am very interested in what Kerr will do for the warriors. The lack of bigs worries me, but they are young, fast, athletic, and can shoot like maad. If we could only get someone like anthony davis hah. that guy is gonna be a beast and a half this season too bad he is on the pelicans.

Spurs are still gonna be a f'in machine. The boring machine the never loses. Oh well, I think they only have a couple more more years if that.
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Re: Ken and Asmus talk about the 2014 NBA Season

Post by Asmus » 31 Jul 2014 23:49

Bulls are gonna be epic! Rose looks healthy to me here: http://instagram.com/p/rAhSz3Rh3R

Looks like it's gonna be a long rough year for my Knicks even though they resigned MELO DA GAWD!

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