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Got my sack ready for the Celtics

Hahaha... Okay, -.500 it is!

@Bryan

Since they have Griffin (a home grown okie) by default you have to wait till below .500 (if you are not an oklahoman go straight to the nearest bridge) to do something drastic.

Maybe we should wear sacks on our heads to the next game.

*that night - not tonight

@dwill
Thanks, I wasn't quite sure. By the way. What is protocol for the Clips game? If we lose, do I jump off the nearest bridge tonight, or wait until we go below .500?

@Greg
personally, if I were Brooks, I'd play big for at least 10 mins a game. Get Aldrich, Ibaka, Green, Durant and Westbrook on the floor together... then let Durant drain 3's all night the way he did against zone defenses in FIBA. And post him and Green up on opposing wings. I can't see how opposing teams would stop it. And we would still be plenty quick and STUPID long on the defensive end.

It's a different look, at least.

@Bryan

is it an odd hour or even hr?

even hr. panic

odd hr. no panic

I forget, am I supposed to be panicking or not?

Ideally, a championship team is built around three star components. Right now we for sure have two, Westbrook and Durant. Most have thought Harden is that third piece, some think Ibaka. But even if Harden does have star-potential, does it really make that much sense to build your roster around three perimeter players? To me, it makes much more sense to build around a point guard (Westbrook), wing (Durant), and a post player (player X).

I'm not giving up on Harden, he's still a fantastic talent and I think he'll be a legit starting 2-guard at some point. But still, if he's one of the three core players, then how can you expect serious improvement in the frontcourt? I like Ibaka a lot as a player, but I'm still skeptical that he's capable of being the third core palyer.

This is why I wouldn't have a problem with flipping Harden/Green for Love. Unfortunately, it seems very unlikely. It's not a Presti move, he won't blow up the roster. There is still the chance, and potentially a good one, that Durant evolves into a PF down the line. And in that case Durant would be the post player we'd be building around.

@Dave
I'm not a fan of unilateral statements like "no one has the right to question..." If anyone has an argument against the way the team is built, run, coached, whatever, I think should feel comfortable being able to voice it. That said, if you're gonna voice an argument, it should be a well-reasoned one with supporting evidence or at least a credible theory; blind accusations without a well-reasoned argument behind them don't really move the discussion much.

@Mark!

I would kill to have Love on this team.

@The DON
It seems that the blood has not returned to your head from your other extremities that often receive extra blood flow while you watch basketball games.

First Rule of Thunder Club:
In Presti We Trust

Steve Alexander at Rotoworld saying he heard a rumor about a possible Love for J.Smith swap.

whats crazy is last year was a MONSTER jump for this team. 23-59 to 50-32. A reasonable improvement for the team would have been high 30s low 40s, something like 38-44. Still a good 15 game improvement.

but they jumped at least a year ahead of schedule if not two (end of the season if a few games would have went the other way Thunder have home court). Now people want coaches changed, key players traded, RW to take over for KD. I think key things to shoot for this season are 50 wins, playoffs, make it to the second round.
Heck if they draw the lakers again I would take another 6 game series to them (though it would be icing to win on a buzzer beater in game 7). Last year was ridiculous, movies could be made over it.

1. Nobody has the right to question Presti. All he's done has been brilliant so far. Well...maybe he could have drafted better (Green, Harden), but it's a very good young team and they're still flexible financially. Also, this is the last season he can easily create huge cap room or make a big trade. Next year, he'll have to extend Westbrook and Ibaka, so why not make a big move this year for a great young player? They played 3 sub-par games (still ending up 2-1), but Presti has this club in a great situation.

Let's see if he takes advantage of this opportunity.

2. Unfortunately, Brooks is really messing things up. They're still getting crushed on the boards. He needs to bench Green/Krstic and play a frontcourt of Aldrich/Ibaka. The rest of the team is 21, 22 years old. Put these 2 21 year old talents next to them and let them grow. He also broken down Harden mentally. I'm starting to worry he might be overrated. Adams used to do the D, and that's pretty much the only thing they were ever good in. I hope Brooks wakes up.

@The DON

From a Seattle Times article shortly after Presti's hire:
Presti is far from a dictator. His motives, according to those who work with him closely, are caring for the players and building the base for a franchise he hopes will become a consistent championship contender — much like his roots with San Antonio, which has won four NBA titles.

"But there isn't a manual," said Presti, who did bring Sonics coach and close friend P.J. Carlesimo and player-development assistant Brian Keefe from San Antonio. "P.J. and I have talked about this before; we don't want this to be a San Antonio West. We feel good about the direction and good about the people on board. We've taken a lot of steps and are pleased about where we are, but we still haven't played a game."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nba/20039789...

@The DON
Why would you believe this? What has Presti done (or not done) to lead you to this conclusion?

The fear of this team plateauing at 'very good' is real, but I'm more scared of ownership not willing to pay the dollars to bring the talent to put us over the top than I am of anything on Presti's end. Presti's played it conservatively, but I believe it's always been with a championship as the end goal.

In my opinion, if Presti would have been satisfied with a decent but never great team, he'd have kept Ray Allen instead of trading him in 2007. Blowing up the team was the best path to future contention.

@Mark!
Agree with you, I think Mayo is the odd man out here. So next year their lineup should be:
PG Conley
SG Henry
SF Gay
PF Arthur
C Gaasol

That always leaves hope for any Thunder fans who still want Thabeet? LOL

Gotta think Memphis will cut bait with Mayo before they let Gasol walk.

They tried to trade Mayo last season for Monta Ellis.

They drafted Xavier Henry.

They already looked up two perimeter players (Conley + Gay) on long term contracts.

Don't get your hopes too high on Gasol.

@The DON
To your first point, I think it is way too early to make that kind of assumption. And to your second, why would he use those terms? This team hasn't made it out of the first round of the playoffs, so why would championship be discussed? There's already unnecessarily high expectations put on this team, why would Presti (of all GMs) want any additional pressure put on the team?

The plan from the beginning has been to build this team up from the ground PATIENTLY. Just because they exceeded expectations, doesn't mean this process should be streamlined (that's when mistakes happen).

Marc Gasol -- so nice. Tee this up for us Memphis.

I wish to repeat a thought of mine that I posted a day or two ago.

I am starting to believe Presti is not committed to winning a championship first and foremost. Not that he wouldn't like to, but his primary objective is to consistently field a competitive team like the Jazz, Mavs, etc.

He has never to my knowledge used the term championship or mentioned winning it all.....ever (please feel free to correct me by posting a link to an interview of his that disproves what I said)

He seems content with just being a competitive team and from my perspective he is too in love with his own picks to make the ballsy moves that will be necessary to make us championship contenders

Either what I said is true or the ownership just isn't giving him a budget big enough to construct a contender

@Sammy
Completely agree. That's the problem. Here's the writing on the wall to prove your point:

"According to Broussard, Memphis wanted to lockdown Conley after watching him play in the preseason and the first few games of the regular season."

Conley was a mistake, no doubt. If we could grab Marc Gasol, we would be a killer team...

@Greg
Oh, and hey, not trying to say you're defending the contract or anything. I know we both know it's dumb. I guess my point is using Conley's preseason and first three games as justification for the contract doesn't really do much to leaven Heisley's idiocy; imo, it actually just serves to further define its depths.

@Sammy
I still think you're missing my point. He's better than you give him credit for, but the Grizzlies are still retarded for giving him an extension when over 90% of his class was not extended.

@Greg
Handing out extensions on the basis of a preseason and the first three games of the season is... not a smart way of doing things.

@Sammy
Did I say the contract was justified? Not even close. He'll never live up to his draft pick. My point was that he came back this season a better player and it shows. It's not as if he's never had the talent or potential.

@Greg
Dude is getting paid $2m less per year than Rajon Rondo.

@Sammy
I think he's improved his dribble penetration and playmaking ability considerably. At least he's shown that in the pre-season and in the first 3 games. The real question is whether he can play consistently that way. But was it the right move by the Grizz? Absolutely not. Mayo and Gasol are still better players than Conley.

Mike Conley can’t dribble penetrate, isn’t a good playmaker, isn’t good at running a break, and isn't a good defender. He does shoot well from range. He’s basically a slightly richer man’s Steve Blake.

jhoan :mike conley has a ton of potential though!… the new jose calderon contract before the old one is even done.

Calderon's contract could be justified to some extent. When he signed it, the Raptors thought he was blossoming into an all-star. He was doing very well offensively, and they expected him to become a decent defensive player. Then, they got rid of T.J. Ford thinking that once Calderon was out of a platoon, he would deserve that kind of money.

Conley? He's barely good enough to be a rotation player, and no one is itching to get him in free agency. He provides nothing on either side of the floor. So, of course, Memphis needed to get him locked up the season before a projected work stoppage to a contract that could potentially be as large as max in the new collective bargaining agreement.

@shiki=4 seasons

Because Aldrich is a post defender with very little offensive game. At this point in Cole's career, learning how to be an offensive force at the Marc Gasol level is just beyond his abilities.

Why not hope Aldrich reach Marc' level?

I'm withholding excitement over a top 5 pick in 2015 until our 5th and 3rd picks live up to their draft position.

But I will put all of my excitement eggs in the Marc Gasol basket. Maybe it's a pipe dream, like Al Horford was, but you gotta have at least one... right?

@Sammy
Exactly right on both accounts.

Although, hot damn is the Marc Gasol dream alive and well. Replacing Krstic + Collison's minutes with Gasol would be so amazingly awesome.

After reading Matt Moore's twitter rant on the Conley signing, my mood has gone from ‘haha what a joke, Memphis is screwed,’ to legitimately depressed that such idiocy exists and inflicts this kind of harm on their fans. It's like how I felt during the darkest Bavasi-days times $45 million.

@AC
See Spurs when they drafted Timmy D !

Imagine though if that does turn into a top 3 pick.... That has potential to be so great. Getting a top draft pick on a team that already has a superstar in his prime (durant)

@ThunderHorn
Can't wait for that top 5 pick in 2015

Already trouble in Clipperland:

Some are wondering, after Eric Gordon said the Clippers have only played hard in one game this season, what the heck is going on out there. "I don't think anyone has the right to say we're not playing hard," [Vinny] Del Negro says after earlier saying Gordon's assessment is "pretty accurate." As he continues to talk, he sounds so far in over his head it's no wonder he's already drowning. The Del Negro error has begun, all right. He tells everyone, "we got good character guys," which goes to show you he read the team's $5 program for the game with the Spurs. The lead story in the program is, "For Clippers, C is for Character." If so, then why did the Clippers just pack it in after losing the first game of the season?

Read more: http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/nba?eref...

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Hiring Vinny D, Classic Donald Sterling.

dwill :are we trying to add another 3 pt specialist who can’t hit a 3?? #vaden
I’d rather have thabo out there until harden can start putting up some stats…..and when cook isn’t hitting we pretty much playing 4 on 5. Cook doesn’t cut or do anthing.

Considering Anderson is hitting 50% of his 3's I wonder if we will regret not taking him when we could have.

are we trying to add another 3 pt specialist who can't hit a 3?? #vaden

I'd rather have thabo out there until harden can start putting up some stats.....and when cook isn't hitting we pretty much playing 4 on 5. Cook doesn't cut or do anthing.

Conley gets 45 mil?

WTF? Why are NBA owners so stupid. You can't give out this type of money and then say "we are broke" during CBA negotiations. Owners need to run their teams like they do any of their other business ventures.

mike conley has a ton of potential though!... the new jose calderon contract before the old one is even done.