Schedule Leaks
by Ziller on Jul 26, 2008 11:10 AM PDT
38 comments
The 2008-09 regular season schedule should be coming out this week. Here's one preliminary slice of news, though, from The Oklahoman:
This season the Mavericks and Sacramento Kings are the only two Western Conference teams that will make only one trip to Oklahoma City.
That means there will only be three games against the Un-Sonics, which stinks because a) that's about an easy a win as you can get, and b) the Royal Court Dancers really love Oklahoma City.
There will be three other teams from the Northwest and Southwest divisions the Kings will see only three times, and it won't be the Hornets, Nuggets, Wolves, or Mavericks (last season's three-fers). That leaves these candidates: Jazz, Trail Blazers, Spurs, Grizzlies, Rockets.
<crosses fingers, whispers "JazzSpursRox JazzSpursRox">
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We had better see the Grizzlies, Mavericks, Timberwolves and Blazers 4 times this year.
Mavs are sliding and the Grizz, Mavs and Blazers are easy wins.
BOOK IT!
by kingme18 on Jul 26, 2008 11:20 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Blazers are easy wins?
Are you stuck in the 05-06 season? Blazers are good now…very good
by Spiegel on Jul 26, 2008 1:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Experience Buddy
Greg Oden is still a rookie and we won 3 of 4 last year. I think we can take 2 against them here at Arco.
The Blazers were mediocre except for a 12 game streak they had spanning Dec. and Jan.
BOOK IT!
by kingme18 on Jul 26, 2008 4:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Nothing is easy against Portland
I haven’t seen anyone picking the Kings to finish ahead of the Blazers this year. If you think Oden is just another Rookie, think again. Assuming he’s healthy, he will dominate the key for the next 15 years on both sides of the court. Plus they have Fernandez (another strong ROY candidate and possibly the best international player not already playing in the NBA), Bayless and one more year of experience. Portland is on the way up. In 2 years, they’ll probably be NBA champions. Good luck to ya’all – but you are absolutely wrong about easy wins against Portland.
by BlazerNation on Jul 26, 2008 6:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Good thing you're not biased
Any crystal ball gazing on Odom’s play for the next 15 years is ludicrous. He might just as easily turn out to be another Sam Bowie. Hopefully he will be able to avoid injuries and you are right.
by coolcatreportdotcom on Jul 26, 2008 6:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree with your general point…except it’s Oden, not Odom (another team, another player). Plus I don’t think it’s not ludicrous to speculate. Players of his calibre are very rare, and even if he is only 60% of what they project him to be, he’s going to make an impact. I really only have one concern about Oden…that is his health. If he remains healthy, he WILL be a major force.
by BlazerNation on Jul 26, 2008 6:34 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
When Oden was drafted Dave (BE Dave) made a comparison
Of Oden to Russell, and Roy to Cousy, or he implied it actually, and I think the comparison is spot on. Russell didn’t make the Celtics a winning team, just a champion. Oden might be that good, but it’s too early to say that next season is when Oden starts to dominate.
Either way, you can’t assume a team will be dominate until they are.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. It's simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get tangled, you tango on
by pookeyguru on Jul 26, 2008 7:37 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
However...
What are the chance’s of the Blazer being bad? They are just stacked with young talent. Even if GODen sucks there’s still so much talent and potential there.
Ziller posted something about firing Peaches. The Maloofs need to go a step further and kidnap Pritchard for us. The man’s a genius.
by vfettke on Jul 26, 2008 7:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
He also has Paul Allen's money too
Paul Allen’s money goes a long way spent wisely.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. It's simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get tangled, you tango on
by pookeyguru on Jul 26, 2008 8:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Pritchard
Talented, and perhaps a future GM of the year (an award that I believe Petrie has won twice). But can we please, please wait for the Blazers to make it to the playoffs and maybe even win a series before we canonize him? Also, let’s see what he does when he has to rebuild a team coming off an almost decade long run of success, as opposed to stepping in after the team has hit bottom and started to climb again. Remember, last year was Pritchard’s first year. Roy and Aldridge were already in the fold. Greg Oden was the man’s first pick. Life is a lot easier when you start your career with Aldridge, Roy and the #1 pick. And the fact that his owner has deep pockets doesn’t hurt him either.
To be clear, I like what Pritchard has done. But this genius thing has got to stop.
SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!
by section214 on Jul 26, 2008 8:08 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
That too Section
My point about Paul Allen’s money is simple. Go to South Lake Union in Seattle, and it has shades of Paul Allen’s billions everywhere. A guy with that much money, and is willing to use it, pretty much can do anything he wants. That’s why Allen’s ownership of the Blazers has been, and pretty much will be, fairly unique on just about every level. (He’s also made alot of money as owner of the Blazers which is an important overlooked. He’s owned the team for 20 years, which is rather long for one guy to own a team. It makes money far less important.)
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. It's simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get tangled, you tango on
by pookeyguru on Jul 26, 2008 8:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, Oden, Sorry
Health, ability to stay out of foul trouble, this is the NBA (not college), etc. No doubt he has a lot of talent, but a lot of guys have had that and not totally succeeded in the league. I hope he stays healthy and gets acrack and fulfilling your vision.
by coolcatreportdotcom on Jul 26, 2008 11:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Plus, we’re all biased one way or another, right? (GRIN)
by BlazerNation on Jul 26, 2008 6:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Not for nothin'
Didn’t Artest dominate Roy last year?
If we assume that Artest is gone, then maybe the Kings don’t take 3 of 4 from a Blazers team sans Oden, Fernandez, & Bayless.
We also don’t know how Dallas is going to play with Kidd getting more time to gel with Dirk, Howard, etc. . . . so I’d call that a toss up between the two.
Personally, I’d rather take my chances with an extra game against Portland because while they’re stacked with talent, they still haven’t put it all together yet. Even though Dallas has had some rough exits from the playoffs, they’ve still made the playoffs how many years in a row now?
by smgmatt on Jul 27, 2008 11:39 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Dallas vs. Portland
The Mavs were 29 games better than the Blazers last year. 29! I’ll take a 4th game against Portland as opposed to Dallas, at least for this year.
SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!
by section214 on Jul 27, 2008 11:50 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Data Error
The Mavs were 10 games better than Portland last year, compared to 35 games better the year before.
by coolcatreportdotcom on Jul 27, 2008 2:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yep
I mistakenly looked at the T-Wolves record. The rest of my statement stands.
SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!
by section214 on Jul 27, 2008 2:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm curious
Now that the Sonics have moved to OK City, how would the conferences be restructured? Would there be one less team in the north west and one more team in the southern division?
by CloudyEyes on Jul 26, 2008 2:03 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Hopefully we get 2 Spurs and Jazz at home and just 1 on the road.
BOOK IT!
by kingme18 on Jul 26, 2008 4:44 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
What is this? Some new
SoCal gang talk? Oklahoman – OK L.A. Ho Man. This is how we should respond to any Laker fans that come here talking trash.
Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott
by Kfan in Korea on Jul 26, 2008 5:50 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Give us the harder schedule this year
we aren’t competing anyway. Easier schedule next year or the year after would be more useful.
Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott
by Kfan in Korea on Jul 27, 2008 12:10 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Huh?
We aren’t competing? I don’t give damn if this team is suppose to rebuild, in turmoil or whatever. But I will NEVER support a team that doesn’t compete and have no purpose.
Getting ping pong balls are NOT lottery. If we aspire the team to overachieve again then we’ll have to compete even harder. Losing to any sub .500 team more than once is just unacceptable.
BOOK IT!
by kingme18 on Jul 27, 2008 2:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Huh?
Not competing for a championship.
Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott
by Kfan in Korea on Jul 27, 2008 2:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
We aren't competing
So let Shawes smash and struggle to contain Duncan, let JT learn how to be a three-shooting big from the best (Dirk), let Douby get real NBA burn, let Martin torch the best defenses in the league, let Shelden bang with Men – not boys, let Beno stare at greatness and try to pass through it or score on it. Besides, it’s Bobby’s perogative.
We aren’t competing, so the give the kids the best damn basketball they’ve ever seen. This is the NBA, not summer league – if we want them playing with all-rookie teams, we could send ‘em to the NBDL. I’m all up in Kfans bandwagon, waving banners and frothing saucy.
Mikki Moore in the skills challenge! - LPA
by iashwash on Jul 28, 2008 9:10 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
You mustAYS be
competing for every game. 06-07 is why the fans started to drift away. No just the losses, the team gave up! I think we lost by 20 or something to Indiana at ARCO! I was at that game and the fans were pissed!
You always try to win every freakin’ game. Doing anything else just creates a culture of failure.
Now, that doesn’t mean you might make some roster moves that insure you’re also building/developing ie trading MM or something like that to find out if SWilliams and JThompson can play…
But the team on the floor BETTER try to win every game.
eternal skeptical optimist
by lietothegirls on Jul 28, 2008 9:19 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!
Kevin Pritchard has Chuck Norris tied up in the trunk of his car.
by otis29 on Jul 28, 2008 9:36 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I wonder if lieto has ever read Ball Four....
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. It's simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get tangled, you tango on
by pookeyguru on Jul 28, 2008 10:53 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
competing
Kfan is saying we aren’t competing in the sense that…brace yourselves…the Kings are not going to be all that good this season.
It is not to say that the players aren’t trying. He’s advocating that we put the hungry players in the game. The guys who want to play.
Never forget: I am a complete idiot
by Exhibit G on Jul 28, 2008 9:45 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Exactly
There are very few people on the list who are saying they don’t want us to try and win every game. What they are saying is that realistically we don’t have a chance of being a title contender, and we probably have almost as small a chance of making it to the playoffs. So focus the coaching, trading, offense, etc on building a team that will succeed in the next couple of years. I’m not talking about tanking. I’m talking about team management.
One thing to be aware of though. While experience is good for young players, getting embarassed is not always. You want to bring the youngs in gradually so they can build up their confidence and get better. It would be foolish to think that starting JT and Shawes every night will automatically make them better players more quickly.
"Being loquacious and being right aren't necessarily always the same."
GP, the man, the myth, the legend, puts the smackdown on Reggie
by SavageBeast on Jul 28, 2008 9:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
BY the way LTTG I am agreeing with what you are saying
There is some tinkering to see who works well together and seeing what the new guys can do with extended minutes. But the team on the floor is playing to win.
"Being loquacious and being right aren't necessarily always the same."
GP, the man, the myth, the legend, puts the smackdown on Reggie
by SavageBeast on Jul 28, 2008 10:10 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree with that
That’s why I’ve advocated moving Artest, Thomas and Moore since they’re easier to move than any other players on the roster that the Kings would be willing to trade (Miller basically). But I think Brad Miller is the type of veteran player who would help Hawes grow into his role, and JT too, but Artest won’t help Hawes in any way in his development. Chances are Brad can and will. That’s why keeping him, until Hawes is ready to take over full time is a smart move. (Shelden and JT are probably more ready to play more minutes now than Shawes it thought. It’s worth remembering both are older players.)
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. It's simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get tangled, you tango on
by pookeyguru on Jul 28, 2008 10:56 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
While experience is good for young players, getting embarassed is not always. You want to bring the youngs in gradually so they can build up their confidence and get better.What? How can you say such a thing? Look at the shining example of Kwame Brown!
Never forget: I am a complete idiot
by Exhibit G on Jul 28, 2008 12:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yes
All I was saying is I’d prefer the easier schedule when we have a better chance to do something with it, in a year or two.
Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott
by Kfan in Korea on Jul 28, 2008 1:38 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
That's a fallacy to me
Good teams beat other good teams anyway. It comes down to matchup’s in the playoffs, and the regular season tends to be about how a team is playing and what juncture in the schedule it’s at. I imagine that won’t ever change.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. It's simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get tangled, you tango on
by pookeyguru on Jul 28, 2008 1:48 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
mavs and kings two teams D Stern has a vendetta for.. With the kings shitty management I can understand im starting to hate the kings.
by LivesInSac on Jul 29, 2008 12:51 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
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