Top storylines of the upcoming 2011-12 NBA season

[insidehoops]

Just to remind yourself of who finished strong and weak in the East and West, take a look here: http://www.insidehoops.com/standings.shtml

And then share what you say are the most interesting storylines of the upcoming NBA season.

Remember, there's lots of interesting stuff beyond the top couple of teams and stars. Plenty of stuff to develop, with both good and bad teams as well as the coaches, and more. Rookies as well.

So, what are you looking forward to seeing develop?

[D-Wade316]

Same story as before. Will Lebron finally win his first championship?

[Meticode]

Out of everything happening in the West I'm interested in seeing how the Lakers do. Phil Jackson is gone. They pretty much have the same team as last year, it'll be interesting to see if they're worse, the same or better than the year before and it'll be interesting to see if the triangle offense gone from the system and Mike Brown bringing defensive coaching to the team.

I think the Lakers signing Mike Brown was a bad idea. When his tenure in Cleveland he got the wins, but not the important ones in the playoffs. He'd be a excellent defensive coach for any team in the NBA, but him as head coach is a mistake.

[DevilsAssassin]

Same story as before. Will Lebron finally win his first championship?

/thread

mods, lock this shiit up

[Clutch]

I want to see the real Knicks-Heat rivalry for years to come.

I'm also curious how John Wall will develop,how Jimmer will work out for the Kings and did the Knicks take another steal of the draft with Iman Shumpert.
Also it will be interesting to see Lakers with Mike Brown and how will the Nuggets play this season without Melo (I think they overachieved after the trade).

Plenty of other things,these first came to my mind.

[Clippersfan86]

1. If the Clippers can finally become a legit team.

2. If Blake Griffin will have a dominant second year.

3. How Mike Brown will fit with the Lakers.

4. If Dallas' championship run was a fluke.

5. Can Miami win the championship already?

6. Kyrie Irving.

7. Which teams have improved the most and declined the most.


Just some off the top of my head.

[Yung D-Will]

1. Rick Adelman + RIcky Rubio+ Derrick Williams if Rick can bring both of them too their full potential then it'll define his legacy even more

[Clippersfan86]

1. Rick Adelman + RIcky Rubio+ Derrick Williams if Rick can bring both of them too their full potential then it'll define his legacy even more

Oooo forgot that one. Definitely will be one to watch.

[28renyoy]

1. If the Clippers can finally become a legit team.

2. If Blake Griffin will have a dominant second year.

3. How Mike Brown will fit with the Lakers.

4. If Dallas' championship run was a fluke.

5. Can Miami win the championship already?

6. Kyrie Irving.

7. Which teams have improved the most and declined the most.


Just some off the top of my head.

I'm hoping these are in order of your personal preference, noone gives a flying fvck about the Clippers

[Clippersfan86]

I'm hoping these are in order of your personal preference, noone gives a flying fvck about the Clippers

Besides the Miami Heat Blake Griffin was the story of the NBA last season. You better believe people care what the Clippers do.

[28renyoy]

Besides the Miami Heat Blake Griffin was the story of the NBA last season. You better believe people care what the Clippers do.

You're so delusional it's ridiculous. Lakers going for a 3peat/Kobe #6, Melo/Amare joining the Knicks, Dirk finally winning a ring, LeBron back to Cleveland, etc. were all much, much bigger stories

[Shepseskaf]

1. Rick Adelman + RIcky Rubio+ Derrick Williams if Rick can bring both of them too their full potential then it'll define his legacy even more
For me, one of the main early storylines will be finding out if Rubio is even an NBA-caliber player.

[Clippersfan86]

You're so delusional it's ridiculous. Lakers going for a 3peat/Kobe #6, Melo/Amare joining the Knicks, Dirk finally winning a ring, LeBron back to Cleveland, etc. were all much, much bigger stories

Not according to news analysts. How often was Blake Griffin on ESPN/NBA.com etc? I'm not delusional at all. I think Blake Griffin+the Clippers are going to be one of the most talked about things this season again. I wasn't ranking them in order... I was just throwing out all the ones I could think of. Obviously Dirk winning a ring wouldn't of been a story line till the very end of the playoffs.

[28renyoy]

Not according to news analysts. How often was Blake Griffin on ESPN/NBA.com etc? I'm not delusional at all. I think Blake Griffin+the Clippers are going to be one of the most talked about things this season again. I wasn't ranking them in order... I was just throwing out all the ones I could think of. Obviously Dirk winning a ring wouldn't of been a story line till the very end of the playoffs.

When people think of things that happened last season, how far down the line does the breakout of Blake Griffin come? It's behind Rose as well

[Jasi]

How will Ettore Messina do.

The Knicks in their first Melo+Amare full seasons.

KD's first MVP.

[bagelred]

1. Will Dwight Howard get traded before the deadline?

2. Will Chris Paul get traded before the deadline?

3. Will Deron Williams get traded before the deadline?

4. Basketball

[Deuce Bigalow]

Some Laker ones

Mike Brown
Kobe passing Shaq for 5th on the alltime scoring list (728 points behind)
How Kobe and Pau will bounce back from last season

[305Baller]

Miami will be bounced in 2nd round and the coach will get fired.

The media expectations will be overblown.

That said, they will rebound to win 3 straight titles.

[demons2005]

Clippers acquire CP in an attempt to perform a superteam and his ego and playing a system that isn't custom-built for him results in his exposure as a cancer and empty state phony, leading the Clippers straight to the lottery despite a Gordon/Griffin/Jordan base.

[Nero Tulip]

-The players who got some play time overseas are going to dominate the beginning of the season

-Batum candidate for MIP :rockon:

-Laughing at the Nuggets who still have their best players playing in China :lol

-Is Dirk going to be a candidate for MVP again? Last season the only reason he wasn't considered is because of his reputation as a loser.

[RRR3]

Miami will be bounced in 2nd round and the coach will get fired.

The media expectations will be overblown.

That said, they will rebound to win 3 straight titles.
Why is Pat Riley gonna take over? :lol

[rosonviyavong]

For me it's ...

Derozan development
Young Thunder
Are the Lakers still in it?
Grizzlies hopefully not hungover from their amazing year
Rookies

[Fiasco]

How many alley-oops will DWill and BGriffin complete in their first year together?

[Meticode]

How many alley-oops will DWill and BGriffin complete in their first year together?
...

[Wally450]

Can the Celtics make one more push for a championship

[DMV2]

1. Can the first full season post-Sloan Jazz make the playoffs.

2. The Nets last season in New Jersey. Good riddance!!!!!

3. Can the Grizzlies make it to the WCF?

4. Could the Knicks surprise everybody in the East like the 1999 Knicks did when the last shortened-season lockout occurred?

5. Will LeBron quit in the playoffs for 3 straight seasons?

[Clutch]

1. Can the first full season post-Sloan Jazz make the playoffs.

2. The Nets last season in New Jersey. Good riddance!!!!!

3. Can the Grizzlies make it to the WCF?

4. Could the Knicks surprise everybody in the East like the 1999 Knicks did when the last shortened-season lockout occurred?

5. Will LeBron quit in the playoffs for 3 straight seasons?
:roll: :roll: :roll:

[Fiasco]

...

:roll:

[cuad]

Provided that Dalembert and Marcus Thornton both return:

The Sacramento Kings rise from the ashes.

[Meticode]

:roll:
Dude, I'm so confused rightnow OMG! :eek:

[Fiasco]

Dude, I'm so confused rightnow OMG! :eek:

Haha. I'm just taunting the Nets fans. There was this one article last year that mentioned D-Will wanting to play with the Clippers.


Just as the Jazz was starting to worry about Williams, who is said to be looking at Dallas, the Clippers or Knicks in 2012. Williams had reached the point with Sloan in the past several weeks where he asked to be traded, according to sources. The Jazz wouldn't accommodate him, but did get a laundry list of complaints from its top player, who had grown tired of Sloan's rigid approach to coaching, dependence on veteran players and what Williams considered to be his outdated demands.

source: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/orlando-magic-coach-stan-van-gundy-jerry-sloan-dwight-howard-happy-article-1.138854

[I.R.Beast]

1a. Can MAVS do it again?
1b Will LebRon Cost Miami a ring Again?
3. How Much has Kobe declined?
4. The Knicks become Powerhouse in the East?
5. Will Deron Williams lead Nets to playoffs(not that wrist is healthy)?
6. Grizzlies, contender or 1 year wonder?

[Arroyo8]

what will happen to CP3 is one of the ones i'll be keeping an eye on

[Dbrog]

Interested in seeing if Blake can have a Duncan-esq second season. Not saying he needs to win a championship, but I think he has a real opportunity to elevate his game to top 5 status.

[33teeth]

Can any arena deal work out to keep the Kings in Sacramento.

Can Paul Westphal keep his job throughout the season? I'd prefer he's canned before play starts but I'm not sure who's available that would be good.

Will there be a higher rate of injuries with the potential lack of conditioning for some players and the compressed schedule?

[NugzFan]

I'm hoping these are in order of your personal preference, noone gives a flying fvck about the Clippers

fact.

:oldlol:

[NugzFan]

-The players who got some play time overseas are going to dominate the beginning of the season

-Batum candidate for MIP :rockon:

-Laughing at the Nuggets who still have their best players playing in China :lol

-Is Dirk going to be a candidate for MVP again? Last season the only reason he wasn't considered is because of his reputation as a loser.

we have one guy in china. jr and kmart are not nuggets anymore. nor were they when they signed. try again.

[SunsCaptain]

Based on this forum...

The number one story is:

Ricky Rubio.

Will he Succeed?

I say this without trying to spark conversation in here as well. Because we have a pretty good sized thread dedicated to Rubio right now. But I don't see anything else sparking as much controversy. All eyes are going to be on Rubio. He will be critiqued for every little flaw and praised for every assist or made shot.

All they media will start to come swarming back around him again. Especially if he starts off playing well and the team is winning games.

[e-LIMON-ators]

Will CP3 be the same player he was 2 years ago? Was the Lakers series a fluke because of a favorable match-up or did he regain his form? It's been two years since his injury and his fans have been claiming it takes 2 years to recover from his injury. He should be fully healthy now and will have no excuse if he plays the way he played last regular season. If he is the best pg in the league he should play like one for the whole season...not 1 6 game series.

Where will Howard play? He could basically go anywhere, its so evident he wants out and the magic will be stupid if they don't trade him during the season. If I was him I would go to the Western Conference. It's much easier to make the finals in the West now with all the superstars migrating to the east.

The evolution of D.Rose. We have heard almost nothing from Rose all summer. From the bits and pieces that I heard...he has been hard at work perfecting his shot, improving his conditioning and working on a post game. Will he make another leap this year like last year? How far can he take the Bulls and will it be enough to beat the Heat?

[RoseCity07]

I'm trying to figure out what the Nuggets are doing. JR Smith is playing overseas and last I heard he faked a knee injury. Wilson Chandler actually signed a deal overseas and I'm not sure if he'll be back until next season. I think Nene is a unrestricted free agent. I haven't heard much about Kenyon Martin but I thought he signed overseas. I'm wondering where are all the Nuggets players?

I'm also wondering about Kobe Bryant. Is his knee messed up? I heard there is degeneration but that he can play through it. I wondering if he got PRP injections. Either way I wonder how the Lakers are going to do next year. Is Paul Gasol still being emo over his girlfriend dumping him?

[Clippersfan86]

fact.

:oldlol:

One of most popular twitter trends in the world right now. CLIPPERS. 3rd most popular NBA trending last NBA season? Blake Griffin. You guys are really bitter. People obviously care about the Clippers right now when the media is talking BG nonstop.. and Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Chris Webber and crew are calling the Clippers their favorite teams right now etc.

Also look at the Hoopsworld chats every week. They are DOMINATED by Clippers questions since last year. The chat ends up being 30 percent Clippers related every week. Everybody wants to know what the Clippers are going to do. Or how they are going to screw up.

Nuggets and OKC fans are bitter small town folks.

[ballinhun8]

OMFG


NOBODY CARES ABOUT THE CLIPPERS



There I said what has been on every poster's mind. God damnit you f*ckin flood these boards with the constant threads about your team. You ever wonder why there is a backlash against your team from these posters? Cuz you won't shut the f*ck up.

It will be hilarious if they flop this upcoming season and see you run away like ashbelly and heat007 and all the other obsessed trolls.

[ballinhun8]

And

Rose was bigger then anything Griffin did last season. After the all-star break they didn't do anything of relevance.




And did you really call the city of Denver a small town???


Shows how much of a moron you really are.

[I.R.Beast]

Will CP3 be the same player he was 2 years ago? Was the Lakers series a fluke because of a favorable match-up or did he regain his form? It's been two years since his injury and his fans have been claiming it takes 2 years to recover from his injury. He should be fully healthy now and will have no excuse if he plays the way he played last regular season. If he is the best pg in the league he should play like one for the whole season...not 1 6 game series.

Where will Howard play? He could basically go anywhere, its so evident he wants out and the magic will be stupid if they don't trade him during the season. If I was him I would go to the Western Conference. It's much easier to make the finals in the West now with all the superstars migrating to the east.

The evolution of D.Rose. We have heard almost nothing from Rose all summer. From the bits and pieces that I heard...he has been hard at work perfecting his shot, improving his conditioning and working on a post game. Will he make another leap this year like last year? How far can he take the Bulls and will it be enough to beat the Heat?

LMAO....funny how he is still ranked as the best PG by many delusional fans...lol

[Clippersfan86]

And

Rose was bigger then anything Griffin did last season. After the all-star break they didn't do anything of relevance.




And did you really call the city of Denver a small town???


Shows how much of a moron you really are.

:roll: :roll: :roll: . You're raging hardcore. I have nearly 8k posts. I'm not going to disappear because a handful of people don't like me on a basketball forum. BTW yes Denver is a small town compared to where I'm from. It's all relative dude.

[baccano]

OMFG


NOBODY CARES ABOUT THE CLIPPERS



I don't know exactly where all this hate comes from, but for me, as a non-clipper fan in particular, they are very interesting and exciting, blake+gordon+jordan makes great entertainment.

[alenleomessi]

Same as last year - Miami Heat, Blake Griffin, Lebron cant win shit blablabla, Rose overrating will continue ... and stuff like that

[talkingconch]

I'm trying to figure out what the Nuggets are doing. JR Smith is playing overseas and last I heard he faked a knee injury. Wilson Chandler actually signed a deal overseas and I'm not sure if he'll be back until next season. I think Nene is a unrestricted free agent. I haven't heard much about Kenyon Martin but I thought he signed overseas. I'm wondering where are all the Nuggets players?

I'm also wondering about Kobe Bryant. Is his knee messed up? I heard there is degeneration but that he can play through it. I wondering if he got PRP injections. Either way I wonder how the Lakers are going to do next year. Is Paul Gasol still being emo over his girlfriend dumping him?
Kobe's knee is 100% healed reports say

[LJJ]

Will CP3 be the same player he was 2 years ago? Was the Lakers series a fluke because of a favorable match-up or did he regain his form? It's been two years since his injury and his fans have been claiming it takes 2 years to recover from his injury. He should be fully healthy now and will have no excuse if he plays the way he played last regular season. If he is the best pg in the league he should play like one for the whole season...not 1 6 game series.

I don't know what the hell you are smoking, but Chris Paul's last season was very good.

He took a team with bottom feeder type talent to a 55%+ record in the west. Save Lebron James, no player in the league could have done better with that roster.

[Clippersfan86]

I don't know what the hell you are smoking, but Chris Paul's last season was very good.

He took a team with bottom feeder type talent to a 55%+ record in the west. Save Lebron James, no player in the league could have done better with that roster.

Yup and Dwight possibly. I've been saying for a while nobody in the NBA matches the impact of Dwight, Lebron and CP3. Which is why I laugh when people were outraged that CP3 ranked 4th on ESPN's top players list. It's like people forgot just how good/impactful this guy is.