Curry going off..

Actually forgot Anthony Davis was on the floor.

Actually forgot Anthony Davis was on the floor.

 who is Ish Smith? he’s got 11 pts in the first quarter and played very very well on the offensive side of the ball.. Curry finished the first with 24 pts..

 who is Ish Smith? he’s got 11 pts in the first quarter and played very very well on the offensive side of the ball.. Curry finished the first with 24 pts..

 with all this, 39-35 after the first.. The Pelicans are keeping it clsoe while Davis didn’t really have an impact in the first.. Jrue, Tyreke, Babbit, Asik and that high afro guard inactive.. They could be good with Alvin Gentry this year.. They are a playoff team.

 with all this, 39-35 after the first.. The Pelicans are keeping it clsoe while Davis didn’t really have an impact in the first.. Jrue, Tyreke, Babbit, Asik and that high afro guard inactive.. They could be good with Alvin Gentry this year.. They are a playoff team.

Davis struggling big time. Also I know Barnes turned down 16 mil per and bet on himself this season to show he was worth more but if I am him I’m on my phone right now with warriors gm saying I accept. Dude was garbage first half.

Basically I’m a hater and I only notice the negative

Davis struggling big time. Also I know Barnes turned down 16 mil per and bet on himself this season to show he was worth more but if I am him I’m on my phone right now with warriors gm saying I accept. Dude was garbage first half.

Basically I’m a hater and I only notice the negative

 29-points, 6-assists, and 4-3pointers at the half. I have Curry on my fantasy team and when I looked at the stat line I thought the game was over and wondered why it ended so early because that’s higher than his projected averages.

  Pelicans are only down by 10 so it could continue to be competitive which would keep him in the game. Also Davis has shot 1-9 and Gordon 3-11. I don’t see that continuing. I’m not a betting man but if I was I would bet they round out those FG percentages with a strong second half. I hope that keeps the game close.

The sweetest thing about this is. That guy that picked Davis ahead of me is probably in tears right now. 

 29-points, 6-assists, and 4-3pointers at the half. I have Curry on my fantasy team and when I looked at the stat line I thought the game was over and wondered why it ended so early because that’s higher than his projected averages.

  Pelicans are only down by 10 so it could continue to be competitive which would keep him in the game. Also Davis has shot 1-9 and Gordon 3-11. I don’t see that continuing. I’m not a betting man but if I was I would bet they round out those FG percentages with a strong second half. I hope that keeps the game close.

The sweetest thing about this is. That guy that picked Davis ahead of me is probably in tears right now. 

 Curry has every right to be more selfish given his efficiency. Dude only plays 32mpg and still put up video game numbers. Imagine if he played 40 and had even more of a green light. Could average 30 easy.

 Curry has every right to be more selfish given his efficiency. Dude only plays 32mpg and still put up video game numbers. Imagine if he played 40 and had even more of a green light. Could average 30 easy.

llperez…It’s the first half of the first of 82 games… I think Barnes has a little bit of time to prove he’s worth more.

llperez…It’s the first half of the first of 82 games… I think Barnes has a little bit of time to prove he’s worth more.

33 and 7 with 9 minutes left in the 3rd. He could drop 70-points and 12-assists if New Orleans forced him to in order to win but he’s gonna win this sometime in the 3rd if they don’t respond soon.

33 and 7 with 9 minutes left in the 3rd. He could drop 70-points and 12-assists if New Orleans forced him to in order to win but he’s gonna win this sometime in the 3rd if they don’t respond soon.

 Andrew Bogut playing the perfect game so far. Top 5 C in the L.

6-6 FG

5 rebs

5 assts

2blks

0 turnovers

18mins

 Andrew Bogut playing the perfect game so far. Top 5 C in the L.

6-6 FG

5 rebs

5 assts

2blks

0 turnovers

18mins

 Curry has such a smooth, efficient game & it fits perfectly in the system they’ve built in Golden State… He’s confident but unselfish & he is the unquestionable leader of that Warriors team & that team is an absolute Buzz-Saw…

 I’m not saying the Warriors will win it all this year, but they are all young & they are only going to get better… They will be in the mix every year for the next 5 years – 7 years… I think we are seeing the growth of an All Time great career in Steph Curry.

  & even though I am Definitely guilty of not giving them enough credit last year – I really grew to respect them through the playoffs & I won’t under-estimate the team or Curry – especially as a Leader – again….

 Curry has such a smooth, efficient game & it fits perfectly in the system they’ve built in Golden State… He’s confident but unselfish & he is the unquestionable leader of that Warriors team & that team is an absolute Buzz-Saw…

 I’m not saying the Warriors will win it all this year, but they are all young & they are only going to get better… They will be in the mix every year for the next 5 years – 7 years… I think we are seeing the growth of an All Time great career in Steph Curry.

  & even though I am Definitely guilty of not giving them enough credit last year – I really grew to respect them through the playoffs & I won’t under-estimate the team or Curry – especially as a Leader – again….

Festus Ezeli looks very good… He looks more athletic and quick off of his feet. His lower body looks strong. 

GSW’s depth is just ridiculous. 

Festus Ezeli looks very good… He looks more athletic and quick off of his feet. His lower body looks strong. 

GSW’s depth is just ridiculous. 

 kind of surprised that nobody mentioned perkins…he went 5-5 scoring 10 pts…he has never shown those types of moves in his career..lol

 kind of surprised that nobody mentioned perkins…he went 5-5 scoring 10 pts…he has never shown those types of moves in his career..lol

Curry is a super human…That guy just doesn’t freaking miss…

Harrison Barnes? Not as good a player as his 2014 post-season made us believe he would be  

Curry is a super human…That guy just doesn’t freaking miss…

Harrison Barnes? Not as good a player as his 2014 post-season made us believe he would be  

 Anthony Davis finished at 4-20 but he started 1-15 or 1-16.  Who was guarding him?  How did they slow him down?

They have even less guys than I thought they did. 

I can see them falling behind the 8 ball pretty quick.

The Warriors are elite.  The ’96 and ’97 Bulls were the only teams with 65 plus wins in back to back seasons.  I thought they were and I wondered if the Warriors could win that many games again.  I am sticking with 61-63 wins for them.  There aren’t many teams though that Golden State can’t figure out.  A nearly ideal Big Three when Steph, Klay, and Draymond all have it going.  The scary part is that even if only ONE of those guys really has it going, they are nearly unbeatable.  

I basically only caught the Bulls-Cavs game.  I like what Mirotic did.  He really showed up.  D Rose basically did what he had to do.  Lots of talent on that team with Jimmy Butler, Noah, and Pau perhaps their best 3 guys now.  Their backup point guard play with Aaron Brooks was atrocious.  They need a pass-first team leader running the second unit.  I think they should try to get Aaron Craft if has been cut.  

I am not sure whose "team" it is.  I think it is just a TEAM.  Rose, Pau, Noah, Mirotic, Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, Snell, and Doug McDermott.  They have lots of talent.  A good mix of guys and a balanced team that can score, shoot, defend, and rebound.  They have some good athletes too.  I like what Doug McDermott showed.  That’s a big key for them.  I think they never really replaced what Kyle Korver gave them.  McDermott can be that guy now.  

The Superstar question usually boils down to who can you go to in crunch time?  Can this guy give you 30?  Well, Pau, Butler, and Rose can all go off.  Then those guys can do some things on both sides of the ball.  NBA champs have historically had at least one superstar on the roster.  Here is the thing though: they didn’t all actually have superstars in their PRIME.  Some of the guys were a bit over the hill, or maybe not quite in their prime yet.  The 1998 Bulls had a past prime Jordan and Rodman.  The 1999 had a David Robinson on the decline and a rising Duncan.  The 2014 Spurs had a declining Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili with a rising Kawhi Leonard.  You could also say that either Kobe had peaked by 2010 or Dirk had peaked by 2011 when the Mavs won it.  Superstars usually hold out better than other guys so they can give you more mileage even if they still aren’t in peak form.

The Cavs are ok.  LeBron can’t go as hard as he used to.  Also looks like he has a Larry Bird Type Back Issue too.  One thing that irked me last night was he literally fought his teammates for an uncontested defensive rebound.  Then you look at a guy like Magic or Bird, they pass to their teammates and get them open layups, while they also take the tough shots themselves.  LeBron takes the easy layups for himself, and kicks out to guys for tough jumpers.  If the defenders miss an assignment then LeBron can make the game easy for himself.  Didn’t see him making the game easier for his teammates last night.  I think D Rose did a better job in that regard, kinda.  Being a guy who draws attention and then scoring when he had too.  And the ball still moved even with D Rose being a fairly mediocre passer.  Oh, and back to LeBron, he basically cherry picked for a break out dunk earlier in the game right?  Then the Cavs have the last possession, LeBron gets his layup blocked by Pau Gasol.  Then on the last ditch effort he doesn’t inbound the ball, and does he run away from the inbounds pass?  Not sure what that last play was about…  

The Cavs still have some issues.  Kevin Love had a good game stat wise but it still doesn’t look like he and LeBron are on the same page.  I mean it is a LeBron Cavs team.  LeBron does his thing.  Stuffs a stat sheet, Mo Williams jacks up shots, and entitled undersized power forwards roam the inside (see Boozer, Carlos, and Thompson, Tristan).  Then he turns former stars into one dimensional decoys (Antawn Jamison and Kevin Love).  And it’s not like you can’t guard LeBron anymore.  There are enough 6’7/6’8 long, athletic wings who can, at the very least, stay in front of him.

In terms of balance and star power, the Bulls have a really balanced roster in their top 7 or 8.  They are a bit like the Warriors in that sense.  Couldn’t name the guys at the bottom of the roster but their money guys are all good.  With a 7 or 8 man playoff rotation, the Warriors are at the top of the heap, but the Bulls look pretty good for an East team.  I wanna see how Miami looks too.  Lots of balance at the top of that team, but probably a bit deeper.  

Back to Anthony Davis one last time.  A couple of years ago AD had a great year.  Then last year he bumped up his points a bit, but other than that his overall stats were fairly similar.  This year I think he can give you maybe 26 and 12.  But, not sure if he ever gets you 30 a night or 15 boards a night.  So, incremental improvements from here.  Then would that be enough?  Can Incrementally Improved Unibrow even get this Pelicans Mash Unit into the playoffs?

For my money, I go after LSU guy Ben Simmons.  Go after Dennis Shroeder, trade their older contracts, umm, I mean, players to make the core a bit younger and a lot cheaper.  Yesterday I opened up the good old ESPN trade machine and did a 4 way nearly 20 player trade.  In the end what happened was the Pelicans shipped out Tyreke, Jru Holiday, and Ryan Anderson but ended up with Dennis Shroeder, George Hill (don’t ask), Jason Thompson, Kent Bazemore, Shelvin Mack and some other guys.

Shroeder is the hyper kinetic, frenetic speed demon who can run with AD.  Eric Gordon is that volume scoring wing that you always need.  George Hill forms a good three guard rotation.  This trade also gets them Thabo Sefolosha who can work as a 3 and D guy still.  They also get James McAdoo.  Not sure he is on the market, but I like his length and athleticism, especially next to Anthony Davis.

At best, the Pelicans need to tweak their roster.  At worst, they basically need to blow it up.  Trade or waive everyone not named Anthony Davis and then see what happens.  

Hmm, maybe they should go after guys who like to party.  Go get Demarcus Cousins (I am assuming he likes to have a good time).  Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson, and Omer Asik might be something that the Kings like.  Heck, give ’em back Tyreke Evans too.  I like the Davis-Cousins combo already, especially after a Saturday night home game.  Then, hey, what about Jru Holiday to the Rockets for Ty Lawson?  

So that is the team: Davis is your first option, Cousins is your second option.  Lawson runs the offense, and goes on beer runs (basically the same thing, right?).  Dante Cunningham is the forgotten role player who is kinda bouncy and kind of ok in the rebounding department.  Alexis Ajinca is still long and tall.  Good third big.  Quincy Pondexter looks like your starting wing and a 10-12 point a night guy.  Nate Robinson might be the guy you keep.  Not sure.  Ish Smith is a 3rd string point guard in a 4th string point guard’s body.  But, I mean, just pass the ball to Anthony Davis and/or DeMarcus Cousins.

Then you go out and get a guy to coach those two Wildcats.  Heck, what about former Kentucky Wildcat coach and current red suited pimp Rick Pitino.

Unibrow. Cousins. Lawson. Pitino. Bourbon Street. Be there!

 Anthony Davis finished at 4-20 but he started 1-15 or 1-16.  Who was guarding him?  How did they slow him down?

They have even less guys than I thought they did. 

I can see them falling behind the 8 ball pretty quick.

The Warriors are elite.  The ’96 and ’97 Bulls were the only teams with 65 plus wins in back to back seasons.  I thought they were and I wondered if the Warriors could win that many games again.  I am sticking with 61-63 wins for them.  There aren’t many teams though that Golden State can’t figure out.  A nearly ideal Big Three when Steph, Klay, and Draymond all have it going.  The scary part is that even if only ONE of those guys really has it going, they are nearly unbeatable.  

I basically only caught the Bulls-Cavs game.  I like what Mirotic did.  He really showed up.  D Rose basically did what he had to do.  Lots of talent on that team with Jimmy Butler, Noah, and Pau perhaps their best 3 guys now.  Their backup point guard play with Aaron Brooks was atrocious.  They need a pass-first team leader running the second unit.  I think they should try to get Aaron Craft if has been cut.  

I am not sure whose "team" it is.  I think it is just a TEAM.  Rose, Pau, Noah, Mirotic, Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, Snell, and Doug McDermott.  They have lots of talent.  A good mix of guys and a balanced team that can score, shoot, defend, and rebound.  They have some good athletes too.  I like what Doug McDermott showed.  That’s a big key for them.  I think they never really replaced what Kyle Korver gave them.  McDermott can be that guy now.  

The Superstar question usually boils down to who can you go to in crunch time?  Can this guy give you 30?  Well, Pau, Butler, and Rose can all go off.  Then those guys can do some things on both sides of the ball.  NBA champs have historically had at least one superstar on the roster.  Here is the thing though: they didn’t all actually have superstars in their PRIME.  Some of the guys were a bit over the hill, or maybe not quite in their prime yet.  The 1998 Bulls had a past prime Jordan and Rodman.  The 1999 had a David Robinson on the decline and a rising Duncan.  The 2014 Spurs had a declining Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili with a rising Kawhi Leonard.  You could also say that either Kobe had peaked by 2010 or Dirk had peaked by 2011 when the Mavs won it.  Superstars usually hold out better than other guys so they can give you more mileage even if they still aren’t in peak form.

The Cavs are ok.  LeBron can’t go as hard as he used to.  Also looks like he has a Larry Bird Type Back Issue too.  One thing that irked me last night was he literally fought his teammates for an uncontested defensive rebound.  Then you look at a guy like Magic or Bird, they pass to their teammates and get them open layups, while they also take the tough shots themselves.  LeBron takes the easy layups for himself, and kicks out to guys for tough jumpers.  If the defenders miss an assignment then LeBron can make the game easy for himself.  Didn’t see him making the game easier for his teammates last night.  I think D Rose did a better job in that regard, kinda.  Being a guy who draws attention and then scoring when he had too.  And the ball still moved even with D Rose being a fairly mediocre passer.  Oh, and back to LeBron, he basically cherry picked for a break out dunk earlier in the game right?  Then the Cavs have the last possession, LeBron gets his layup blocked by Pau Gasol.  Then on the last ditch effort he doesn’t inbound the ball, and does he run away from the inbounds pass?  Not sure what that last play was about…  

The Cavs still have some issues.  Kevin Love had a good game stat wise but it still doesn’t look like he and LeBron are on the same page.  I mean it is a LeBron Cavs team.  LeBron does his thing.  Stuffs a stat sheet, Mo Williams jacks up shots, and entitled undersized power forwards roam the inside (see Boozer, Carlos, and Thompson, Tristan).  Then he turns former stars into one dimensional decoys (Antawn Jamison and Kevin Love).  And it’s not like you can’t guard LeBron anymore.  There are enough 6’7/6’8 long, athletic wings who can, at the very least, stay in front of him.

In terms of balance and star power, the Bulls have a really balanced roster in their top 7 or 8.  They are a bit like the Warriors in that sense.  Couldn’t name the guys at the bottom of the roster but their money guys are all good.  With a 7 or 8 man playoff rotation, the Warriors are at the top of the heap, but the Bulls look pretty good for an East team.  I wanna see how Miami looks too.  Lots of balance at the top of that team, but probably a bit deeper.  

Back to Anthony Davis one last time.  A couple of years ago AD had a great year.  Then last year he bumped up his points a bit, but other than that his overall stats were fairly similar.  This year I think he can give you maybe 26 and 12.  But, not sure if he ever gets you 30 a night or 15 boards a night.  So, incremental improvements from here.  Then would that be enough?  Can Incrementally Improved Unibrow even get this Pelicans Mash Unit into the playoffs?

For my money, I go after LSU guy Ben Simmons.  Go after Dennis Shroeder, trade their older contracts, umm, I mean, players to make the core a bit younger and a lot cheaper.  Yesterday I opened up the good old ESPN trade machine and did a 4 way nearly 20 player trade.  In the end what happened was the Pelicans shipped out Tyreke, Jru Holiday, and Ryan Anderson but ended up with Dennis Shroeder, George Hill (don’t ask), Jason Thompson, Kent Bazemore, Shelvin Mack and some other guys.

Shroeder is the hyper kinetic, frenetic speed demon who can run with AD.  Eric Gordon is that volume scoring wing that you always need.  George Hill forms a good three guard rotation.  This trade also gets them Thabo Sefolosha who can work as a 3 and D guy still.  They also get James McAdoo.  Not sure he is on the market, but I like his length and athleticism, especially next to Anthony Davis.

At best, the Pelicans need to tweak their roster.  At worst, they basically need to blow it up.  Trade or waive everyone not named Anthony Davis and then see what happens.  

Hmm, maybe they should go after guys who like to party.  Go get Demarcus Cousins (I am assuming he likes to have a good time).  Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson, and Omer Asik might be something that the Kings like.  Heck, give ’em back Tyreke Evans too.  I like the Davis-Cousins combo already, especially after a Saturday night home game.  Then, hey, what about Jru Holiday to the Rockets for Ty Lawson?  

So that is the team: Davis is your first option, Cousins is your second option.  Lawson runs the offense, and goes on beer runs (basically the same thing, right?).  Dante Cunningham is the forgotten role player who is kinda bouncy and kind of ok in the rebounding department.  Alexis Ajinca is still long and tall.  Good third big.  Quincy Pondexter looks like your starting wing and a 10-12 point a night guy.  Nate Robinson might be the guy you keep.  Not sure.  Ish Smith is a 3rd string point guard in a 4th string point guard’s body.  But, I mean, just pass the ball to Anthony Davis and/or DeMarcus Cousins.

Then you go out and get a guy to coach those two Wildcats.  Heck, what about former Kentucky Wildcat coach and current red suited pimp Rick Pitino.

Unibrow. Cousins. Lawson. Pitino. Bourbon Street. Be there!

 Being in the UK, I’ve only seen highlights but Curry certainly had a great 1st quarter. He was looking then that he could possibly beat his best single game score of 54 from 2012/13 vs the Knicks.

I’d love to see Steph have a legit 25ppg plus season this year, he’d have had one last year but he was limited to 32.7mpg from 36-38 in previous seasons. This made sense as it allowed GSW to keep their main asset as fresh as they could for the play offs.

As regards Harrison Barnes, I think that he will likely remain with GSW as he would get the best contract there and retains a chance to add further titles. I don’t know if he’d now be seen as a possible centrepiece on a team, he may be able to be a main running mate whilst in GSW at best he’s 3rd option.

He is entitled to explore other options but I’d guess GSW would match any offers for him.

 Being in the UK, I’ve only seen highlights but Curry certainly had a great 1st quarter. He was looking then that he could possibly beat his best single game score of 54 from 2012/13 vs the Knicks.

I’d love to see Steph have a legit 25ppg plus season this year, he’d have had one last year but he was limited to 32.7mpg from 36-38 in previous seasons. This made sense as it allowed GSW to keep their main asset as fresh as they could for the play offs.

As regards Harrison Barnes, I think that he will likely remain with GSW as he would get the best contract there and retains a chance to add further titles. I don’t know if he’d now be seen as a possible centrepiece on a team, he may be able to be a main running mate whilst in GSW at best he’s 3rd option.

He is entitled to explore other options but I’d guess GSW would match any offers for him.