NBA Roundtable: Week 3

Photo Credit: Dan Lippitt – Getty Images

1. This week Derrick Rose said he is resting himself not just for this season, but for the rest of his life. Should he be sitting at all and where do you stand on his comment?

Coldiron: I am fine with this for now. My problem is going to be in two years when he wants another max contract after playing so sparingly on this one.

DiSturco: He has the choice and personally, it might be the right decision. He needs to stay on the court and sitting a few times a week might be the way to get some value from him.

Marcellis: I’ve flip-flopped my opinion on this a few times. If a grown man says he wants to walk for the rest of his life, who has the right to say otherwise? But then I came to the conclusion that is what being a professional athlete is all about. You live your dream and life of luxury and leave it all on the floor until the end. Honestly, even without major injuries any athlete is going to have nagging injuries when they get older. This is something Derrick Rose can’t avoid.

Cameron: I think he certainly has the right to sit if he wants to keep himself healthy for the future. In fact, it might be smart, he just needs to know the ramifications and prepare for them.

2. It was a big wee for blow-out wins. Which was most impressive?

Coldiron: Dallas 123-70 over Philadelphia. Granted, Philadelphia is a glorified D-League team, but beating anybody by 53 points is insane.

DiSturco: The Dallas Mavericks had the most impressive win. Even with Philadelphia being winless, the Mavericks held them to just 10 points in the first quarter and 70 the whole game!

Marcellis: The Pelicans’ franchise record 48-point win against the Timberwolves was the most impressive. You don’t see too many young teams play a complete game like they did and just played beautiful basketball the whole night. The team shot 66.7 % from the field and made 15 threes! That was a straight clinic and the NBA should be afraid to play the Pelicans right now.

Cameron: The most impressive was Dallas over Philly. I know, I know, Philly is a horrible team but still, Dallas scored 123 points and held them to just 70! Any time that happens, no matter how big the talent gap is, the win is very impressive.

3. This week, rumors surfaced that Kevin Love had already decided to sign with the Lakers next year. By the end of the week Love himself said he has not decided. What should we make of the rumors?

Coldiron: A lot of this is misinformation and means nothing. Still, I watched Kevin Love extensively at UCLA. I got the impression he really loved it in California. Just from that feeling, I’ll go ahead and predict that if Cleveland doesn’t win the title this year, Love goes home to the Lakers.

DiSturco: These rumors are likely false and should be ignored. There may be a chance he leaves this offseason, were are around 10 games in! If the Cavaliers struggle, I wouldn’t be surprised if he heads over to LA (since he does love California). But for now, Love is in Cleveland and should focus on winning.

Marcellis: These rumors mean nothing, someone who has ties to the Lakers or any other team most likely started the rumor to create turmoil in Cleveland. The more the media has a chance to talk, then the more Kevin Love will actually think about is the plan of whoever created the rumor. We shouldn’t pay attention to free agent rumors anyways, as we saw with Chris Bosh who apparently never really wanted to go to Houston.

Cameron: It’s just a bunch of BS made up by the media to get us all fired up. Now, I’m not saying that I don’t think Love will leave, from what I’ve seen this year, his role hasn’t been that of a star and that might frustrate him. For now though, let’s just focus on watching them play.

4. New head of the NBA players Union Michele Roberts spoke publicly for the first time. What she had to say… well… can be recapped here. What is your initial takeaway from her comments?

Coldiron: Ms. Roberts and I do not see eye to eye. As it turns out, this week I wrote a big piece on this. My opinion can be found here.

DiSturco: I think she has brought up some good points, but a lot of what she said is bogus.

Marcellis : She had some good points here and there, I do agree that the players are taken for granted but the owners make the world go round. Don’t put too much thought unto this just yet we’re still talking a few years down the line before anything gets fishy. The NBA’s growth may solve the problem anyways as the salary cap is projected to increase drastically.

Cameron: Eh, not too bad but not too good either. It was nothing special. In the end, I feel that everything comes down to the owners, and they need to be the happiest because no matter how much more important the players are to the game and the organization as a whole, it can’t happen without the owner.

5. Meanwhile, the commissioner was talking about gambling. (read full article here). Where do you stand on legalized gambling in the NBA?

Coldiron: I am not in favor of it, but I think it’s inevitable.

DiSturco: I think gambling should be allowed in the NBA. People gamble a lot on sports and it is becoming more and more common.

Marcellis: Gambling has been a part of American History since the 1800’s days. If there is a good, fair, and though out system established I don’t see the problem. Hard to believe we will see any Pete Roses’ out there these days.

Cameron: I say as long as it’s legal and fair, why not? Better for people to do it legally than illegally.

AND 1: The Philadelphia 76ers (0-9) New York Knicks (2-8) and Los Angeles Lakers (1-8) all look horrible. Which team will lose the most games this year?

Coldiron: Two of the teams are actually trying to win. Philadelphia is so desperate to lose the most games that they will do anything they have to, even if they have to crash the team plane and replace all the players with walk-ons to do it.

DiSturco: I think the 76ers will lose the most games. The Knicks are not as bad as they are doing and will turn it around. The Lakers will continue to struggle, but there is a huge difference in talent between the Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

Marcellis: I believe the Knicks will somewhat turn it around, when Jose Calderon comes back and Carmelo Anthony starts getting into his groove again. Kobe will have a few hero mode games that will get the Lakers a few wins so I’ll have to go with the Sixers. Just like last year they have a D-league roster and sit down Michael Carter-Williams any chance they have no matter what the injury is. They have perfected tanking to a key.

Cameron: The Sixers for many reasons. First off, they have the least talent, giving them a big disadvantage from the beginning. Add onto that the fact that the Sixers have no competitive fire and are okay with losing, and you have a recipe for a disastrous season.