The Los Angeles Lakers!!!

[CoachZ]

Yeah but what kind of Klay will you be getting coming off that injury. And with no Durant you need him on both ends of the court now more than ever. I don’t think Russell is a good fit in Golden State. His pick and roll style with Brooklyn is not a fit for the Warrior style offense. And like you mentioned defensively he is subpar.

You will get a lesser version of Klay in most cases, even though ACL is not an issue as it used to be before. Still, he is for me after Kawhi and George probably the best SG/SF defender in the NBA when we are talking about superstars. There are some great defensive specialists. The thing with Klay is that even with physical limitations, he can get his points with same efficiency. Due to his off-the ball movement and quick release.

I think that Russell has made tremendous strides as a player. Yes, the Warriors are not as PnR heavy as other teams, but that was also exaggerated due to amount of ISO given to Durant. Kerr is a smart coach, who will see the potential in Russell running the PnR and guys like Steph and Clay moving off the ball. That could be completely unstoppable. The main issue in the Playoffs for years has been Steph Curry for the Warriors. When he takes the full load as a primary ball carrier, he gets abused phisically and offensively he struggles a lot. Russell is a much bigger guard and letting Steph play off the ball more will be fantastic for him in the playoffs.

[CoachZ]

It’s simple. You take the total efficiency number of the team. Then you divide what the individual player had and you get the percentage. For example. A team combined for 120 total efficiency. Player A had an efficiency of 30. So that’s 25% of the team pie. I only counted wins because honestly that’s all that matters especially in the playoffs.

I think that Daryl Morrey and Bob Myers are having a heart attack somewhere now

[usagre]

I think that Daryl Morrey and Bob Myers are having a heart attack somewhere now

I cross checked a couple of them and they were correct so I am gonna assume the whole list is correct.
Honestly I think it’s pretty accurate. A lot of my preconceived views were validated by it. I always thought 2003 Spurs Tim Duncan was enormously about him, with young Ginobili and Parker not yet what they would become. Obviously you don’t see the powerhouse great teams here and that makes sense, too much balance to go around between Magic Lakers, Bird Celtics and recent Golden State Warriors. Dwyane Wade 2006 was all about him with Shaq not the Shaq of younger days and that is illustrated here as well. No Kobe anywhere here all makes sense. Very inefficient volume scorer and a second banana during the Shaq championships. Like you said it’s hard to quantify stuff but this is as close as you can get.

Ps. Those two have other issues.
Morey how to get out of the awful albatross Chris Paul contract, and Myers is busy perfecting his fake crying routine. He’s trying to incorporate some actual tears in it.

[usagre]

Here are some more numbers in trying to weigh different championships. Using the same formula here is the greatest difference between the #1 and the #2 player on a championship team.

Tim Duncan ‘03 +21.5%
Shaq. ‘00. +14.7%
Olajuwon. ‘94. +13.1%
Moses Malone ‘83. +11.7%
Jordan. ‘97. +11.4%
Jordan. ‘93. +10.2%
LeBron. ‘13. +10.1%
LeBron. ‘12. +9.6%
Dirk. ‘11. +9.1%
Larry Bird. ‘84. +9.0%

[Jazz]

Ps. Those two have other issues.
Morey how to get out of the awful albatross Chris Paul contract, and Myers is busy perfecting his fake crying routine. He’s trying to incorporate some actual tears in it.

Ha, well said.

[eshmawi]

Cannot wait for season to start.

[usagre]

Poor DeMarcus Cousins, torn ACL during offseason. That guy is cursed. His career is now destined to take the Derrick Rose path. And has also repeatedly missed out on a big pay day.

[CoachZ]

Poor DeMarcus Cousins, torn ACL during offseason. That guy is cursed. His career is now destined to take the Derrick Rose path. And has also repeatedly missed out on a big pay day.

That dude has no luck. First he was poorly labeled as a problem in Sacramento, now injuries, the game has changed. Poor Cousins. I would've paid a lot of money to see him banging in the early 2000s. That would've been a sight...

[usagre]

That dude has no luck. First he was poorly labeled as a problem in Sacramento, now injuries, the game has changed. Poor Cousins. I would've paid a lot of money to see him banging in the early 2000s. That would've been a sight...

Yeah you know he’s cursed when he goes to Golden State and somehow doesn’t get a ring out of it. Then he signs with Lakers who along with the Clippers appear to be the favorites and now he gets injured again. Just not meant to be for that guy.

[Straight forward]

Clippers all the way this season, IMO.

[FredJ]

PHOENIX (AP)—Five months apart, the Los Angeles Lakers have consecutive victories in Phoenix.

The first sent the Lakers to the NBA finals and an eventual championship. This one gave Phil Jackson his 1,100th victory, something only four other coaches have accomplished.

“It’s just a number,” he said, “but it’s kind of overwhelming how many it is.”

The Lakers spoiled the Suns’ home opener 114-106 on Friday night behind Lamar Odom’s 18 points and 17 rebounds in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finalists.

Kobe Bryant scored 25 points and Pau Gasol had 21 in the Lakers’ eighth victory over Phoenix in their last 10 meetings. No coach has reached 1,100 victories faster than Jackson, who did it in 1,560 games, winning 11 championships along the way, with some help from Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Bryant, among others.

“He’s something else, what he’s been able to accomplish,” Bryant said. “I can’t think of any coach who has accomplished what he’s accomplished in any sport, outside of John Wooden.”

Grant Hill scored 21 points, Robin Lopez had 18 points and 14 rebounds and Jason Richardson added 17 points for the Suns, playing on consecutive nights after beating the Jazz in Utah on Thursday. In three of the last five regular-season games against the Lakers, Phoenix was playing moviebox for the second night in a row.

Goran Dragic added 15 for Phoenix. Ron Artest scored 14 points for the Lakers, while Derek Fisher and Matt Barnes(notes) added 11 apiece.

The last time the Lakers played in Phoenix, on May 29, they finished off the Suns in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals. This season’s Suns have added three new players and lost a significant one, Amare Stoudemire, who signed with the New York Knicks.

The Suns did not come away discouraged.

“I felt coming off the back-to-back, we played hard and competed,” said Hill, who also defended Bryant most of the night, “but the Lakers, they’re champs. We played hard, but we just lost to a better team.”

Coach Alvin Gentry had a similar reaction.

“We just had a couple of little missed shots, a layup here, a layup there, and they would come down and make a big shot,” Gentry said, “and, like I said, that’s why they’re the world champs.”

Los Angeles took control with a 19-6 run over the last 3 1/2 minutes of the third quarter and first 2 1/2 of the fourth.

Shannon Brownstole Dragic’s pass and scored on an emphatic breakaway stuff to cap an 11-3 Los Angeles run to end the third quarter and the Lakers led 87-79.

Barnes’ 3-pointer to start the fourth stretched the run to 14-3 and the Lakers led 90-79. Barnes made another one, from the corner on a pass from Gasol, to put Los Angeles up 95-82 with 8: 48 to play.

With Bryant on the bench, the Phoenix reserves cut it to 97-91 on Dragic’s 3-pointer from the top of the key with 7:08 to play. Then Bryant returned the Lakers held off the last gasps of the Suns.

“We’re very fortunate here,” Bryant said. “We’ve got a couple of guys that can just stop momentum, me and Pau. Whenever it got close, we just went to one of us.”

It was tied at 76 after Hedo Turkoglu, who struggled through most of his debut in Phoenix, made a driving layup, but the Lakers scored the next nine, the last on Steve Blake’s 3-pointer to make it 85-76.

Los Angeles finished the first half with an 8-2 spurt to lead 57-50. Bryant started the run with a 3 and Derek Fisher finished it with another.

NOTES: The other coaches to reach 1,100 wins are Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan, Don Nelson and Lenny Wilkens. The Lakers play six of their first eight games at home. … The Suns had won eight straight regular-season home games. … Phoenix’s starting guards, Steve Nash and Richardson, were 2 of 11 from the field in the first half and 9 of 27 overall. … Artest made 3 of 4 3-pointers in the third quarter.

The Lakers are my favorite team.

[usagre]

The Lakers are three road wins away from accomplishing something that no team in the history of the NBA has ever been able to do. 17 consecutive road wins. At Indiana, Milwaukee and Portland. The Indiana game in my opinion will be the hardest. The Lakers are currently a little banged up and might be looking ahead to Milwaukee. If they get by Indiana they won’t lose to Milwaukee.

Looking back to my conversations with fellow members back in the summer I am starting to believe that their arguments were more wishful thinking than what they actually believed.

[Straight forward]

Looking back to my conversations with fellow members back in the summer I am starting to believe that their arguments were more wishful thinking than what they actually believed.

Personally I'm surprised how good Lakers are. The record of theirs. Wasn't a schedule a little bit friendly, as for Indiana f.e.? However, still have Clippers as favourite to win it all. But you were right that Lebron will still be very good. Now, you, and other fans of him should pray that's sustainable, a minor injury can change things at such age.

[usagre]

No AD and Kuzma against Indiana in their building with a trip to Milwaukee on the horizon will probably spell defeat and put an end to the remarkable 14 game road winning streak by the Lakers. Kind of disappointing that either way the projected Lakers-Buck matchup had both kept winning would have put two great streaks up against each other and led to the immovable object vs the irresistible force kind of thing.

[Buckalis]

Clearly a better team than the Lakers circus they were playing against, the Bucks although with Bledsoe sidelined due to injury, had a much easier than what the final score suggests win over the Lakers making a clear statement on which team is the boss of the league this season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo proved beyond any denial that he is the world's best basketball player.