I agree. You won't find a bigger Thibedeau fan than me. I think he deserves coach of the year with the way his team is still dominating without the MVP candidate. As soon as he came to the Bulls they were instantly one of the top defensive teams in the league.
Yep, and last season they had the best record in the league in spite of Boozer missing 23 games and Noah missing 34. They have had the best record in the league over the last two seasons in spite of significant injuries to key players. I've also been very impressed with what Vogel has gotten out of his young roster, both last season and this. BNM
This team, with this roster, wouldn't win a title if James Naismith, John Wooden, and Red Auerbach all came down from Heaven and took over the team in a colloborative effort.
Untrue, and there you go again making up your own windmills at which to tilt. I certainly criticized him, but by last spring, I completely stopped doing so and embraced his strengths, while ignoring his obvious weaknesses. It was actually fun, and I've pretty much been the same way about all the players since then.
Frank Vogel wouldn't have made the playoffs last year if Indiana was in the Western Conference, and would struggle to do so this year. His team was 37-45 last year, yet are playing well this year. By well, I mean better than expected.
Right, you were secretly Andre Miller's biggest fan. Sure you were PapaG, sure you were... I'm not going to bother posting links to all the threads where you bashed Miller. I don't have that much free time. No one has that much free time. BNM
I don't deny bashing him. I also didn't do it for two entire seasons, as you claim I did. Meanwhile, you've been bitching about Nate for how long now? At some point last season, I decided to just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Hello, time to buy a clue. Do you even follow the NBA? The Pacers were 20-18 last season under Vogel, after starting 17-27 under Jim O'Brien. I'd say Vogel has done pretty damn well considering the trainwreck he inherited. BNM
I like him too, but 20-18 would have people calling for the coaches head here. Oh wait, that's already the case. I do like what Indiana's doing, though. Bird brought in KP, there is stability within their organization, and their owner doesn't seem to have the emotional age of a 13 year-old. On a side note, would it kill you to stop posting "Do you follow the NBA?" to every poster who doesn't agree with you 100%? If the idea is legitimate discourse, mocking fellow posters who obviously follow the NBA isn't a great approach. I was wrong on Vogel's record last season. You corrected me, which I appreciate.
Bullshit. You STILL bash Miller every chance you get. Denying it makes you a liar. I used to be a big Nate supporter, I started to have my doubts about two years ago when we started to piss away games we should have won (8 or 9 point leads with ~3 minutes left, at home, against teams with worse records). I started to see a pattern of unimaginative, easily defended, ineffective play calling (all ISOs, all the time) with the game on the line that has only gotten worse over time. But, I really didn't start to want Nate gone until the Phoenix series when he completaly failed to make ANY adjustment when Alvin Gentry put Steve Nash on Batum in game 2 of that series. With the WORST defender in the series guarding a much taller, more athletic player, Batum's scoring and FGAs both declined dramatically compared to game 1 when he was being guarded by Grant Hill. Gentry made an adjustment after one game. Nate had 5 games to counter, and didn't. With 6 months to think about it, Nate FINALLY made the Suns pay for trying to hide Nash's poor defense. In the opening game the following season, Nate FINALLY had Batum post up Nash. Batum destroyed him and the Blazers blew the Suns out. BNM
PTLDPLATYPUS, Good crap man! I've stopped watching the Blazers almost completely because of the shit ownership who sticks it to the loyal fans here and doesn't care enough about this team to even get a GM while shot calling this same team out of Seattle: to a coach who couldn't find his own ass with both hands and a spot light! The ones that I have watched Ptown has been CRUSHED on the boards both sides, unable to do a simple 3 on 1 break, an offense no one can figure out yet AGAIN, and if you're hanging your hat on McMuffin grooming Ridnour and Lewis I'd simple say how relevant are those guys today to a championship team? Hmmm... As for your lack of ACC info since you clearly are not from there.... Nate and Coach K have been doing summer camps for kids on tobacco road together long before Coach K or McMuffin ever got the nod for the Olympics, I know, my brother and sister both played in them... Further they both have ties with NIKE and Uncle Phil here so ya might want to factor that in before asking why Dawkins isn't sitting on the bench next to coach K at the Olympics? If you're satisfied with McMuffin great! To each his or her own... You are exactly the kind of fan PA wants... one the will show up and cheer for a inferior product while he strokes you for season tickets and 10 dollar beers. Geez PA and Sterling seemed to have switched roles and the fans haven't figured it out yet! That's what I'm amazed at! Nate is a 500 coach for a owner who's comfy with par, while waiting to get out! It doesn't matter if you think I'm right or wrong.... The proof is in Nate's last 5 years and what he's not accomplished as a coach? This team wont see a championship till PA is long gone, and Nate will never lead them out of the second round if he can get them there..... So to get excited over this poorly run franchise is a waste of everyone's time! I'm a Duck, we have a well run organization that's proud to rep Oregon! Can't say the same for Mr. Sonic and the Seachickens owner! Great teams are well run from the top down. Now look at the Blazers, is there really a question anymore? If you guys are content with one and done, continue to banter, but I'll bet it'll be the same arguements next year because they've been the same arguements for the last five years on this board or fanhome or wherever, and nothing has changed except this team has lost all of its foundations pieces except for LA, who I bet now wishes he hadn't signed a new contract here! A coach and an owner need to identify with their players and I sense a real disconnect between both and that's showing on the court. You wonder why top free agents don't come here? Look who's running the show? Laters.....
Batum's shoulder was killing him. Could reportedly barely lift it over his head vs Phoenix. And he had trouble in the post vs Ellis last night. Let's not pretend he's polished in the post game. He still looks very robotic.
Not if the team started 17-27. Taking a team that was 10 games under .500 and leading them to the playoffs never got ANY coach fired. I only use it when someone makes a stament that's so incredibly wrong I honestly wonder if they do follow the NBA. Anyone who watched the NBA last season KNOWS Vogel completely turned around the Pacers' season. It was one of the bigger stories of the year. BNM
Nah, you post it to get a reaction. The Pacers were never 'one of the bigger stories' of last year, either. You follow the Pacers. It was a big deal to you. A 37-45 team in the Eastern Conference was never one of the stories of the year. A team that went from 10 games under .500 to 8 games under .500 with a new coach isn't a big story. Anthony and Stoudemire going to NYC. Big story. Jerry Sloan retiring/Deron Williams to NJ. Big story. The Big Three in Miami. Big story. Derrick Rose becoming a superstar. Big story. The Pacers were a big story ... to Pacer fans, I suppose.
Yet he still scored 18 points on 7-13 shooting when Grant Hill was guarding him. With Nash on him, he would not have required a polished post game to score effectively or efficiently. He could have simply caught the ball, turned and shot over the much smaller Nash. Batum has always had a high, quick release on his jump shot. Against Nash, he would not have needed anything like an up and under or drop step. Just square up and shoot. Nate said he thought about it, but didn't have the confidence in Nic to try it. Why not at least try it and see how the kid responds. I guess that was the most frustrating part for me. When you have a mismatch, why automatically assume it's going to fail? Why not at least try it a couple times and see if it works. If you try it and it doesn't work, try something else, but at least try it. BNM
The Pacers going from 17-27 to 20-18 was a big story. Maybe you weren't paying attention, but others were. They also gave the Bulls a surprisingly competitive first round series. Maybe you missed that, too. Did you watch the Bulls/Pacers series? It was a very entertaining series. The Bulls obviously had more talent, but the Pacers played them extremeley tough for the first four games. Both teams were very well coached and it was a fun series to watch. BNM
And that was before he went down with a hurt shoulder in that series. He hurt it at the end of game 2 and was never the same.
You said "one of the bigger stories of the year". They lost 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs. They were an afterthought. Although if you check the playoff thread from last year, you'll see that I posted frequently about that series. Here is SI's list of the biggest stories of 2011 in the NBA. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/ian_thomsen/12/25/nba.top.stories.2011/index.html Do you watch the NBA? Calling the Pacers "one of the bigger stories of the year" is silly, isn't it?
