NBA Chat With Susan Bible 10/15/11

Please join Susan Bible for her NBA Chat each Saturday at 11:00 am EST.   Susan is a Newlines Editor and a member of the fantasy team at HOOPSWORLD.  She covers the Oklahoma City Thunder and the NBA at large.  Drop in your questions now.

  1. john

    Hi Susan!
    I read all the chats on this site and enjoy them very much. One thing that i wanted to ask your opinion about was i have not seen 1 word about Pau Gasol being mentioned in top power forwards/Centers in the nba. Why is that i mean 2 rings/ 3 finals( he had one bad year in the playoffs and no one even mentions him anymore its all about Dirk this and that. Dont get me wrong Dirk is amazing but how many Power forwards have that on their resume? not to mention he was a beast in Memphis.
    Thanks
    Go Thunder!

    • Susan Bible

      You’re right; Dirk is getting all the accolades right now and they are well-deserved. After reading your question, I googled Top Power Forwards and found Gasol listed with regularity. He has moved down on the list for sure, though. I’m not a huge fan of rankings because they’re so subjective and a lot are based on the most recent feat. Gasol’s career 18.8 ppg/9.1, along with the rings, should speak for themselves.

  2. Ren Mana

    Would it be better if the heat would just trade LBJ away to get some decent players to fill in other positions? Because I believe that Wade should be the star of the heat, and with LBJ, D-Wade seems like he’s not. Plus, with LBJ away, Bosh will get more touches and he’ll get a better role on the team as the no.2, or even the no.1 scorer on the team. What do you think?

    • Susan Bible

      With all due respect, no. That team has two stars now, and Wade thankfully doesn’t have to carry the load anymore. I maintain it’s still, and will always be, Wade’s team, but what team wouldn’t want LBJ? As much grief as they got, they ended up with 58 wins last season (second-highest in the Eastern Conference). They blew through the postseason eliminating three teams, each of whom won only one game in their series, and ended up playing for the national championship. Injuries hurt them, but Haslem will return. Miller too. Weaknesses are at the center and point guard positions which I believe they will address; either internally or by finding serviceable players.

  3. Annalet G. Moor

    If Tracy Mcgrady is to be signed by any team in the league, what team do you think would sign him?

  4. Jono

    hey susan,
    what do you think HEAT’s Big 3 can work on like specifically(like wade shooting, bosh defence and rebounding and lebron handling pressure etc)and also what do you reckon the guys from OKC can work on?
    thanks:)

    • Susan Bible

      LeBron: FT%, clutch (handling pressure like you said), turnovers

      Wade: FT%, turnovers

      Bosh: rebounding, blocks, FG%

      Durant: clutch, FG%, three-point %

      Westbrook: turnovers, three-point %, decision-making, FG%

      Ibaka: nerves, FG% passing/hands, FT%

      Harden: confidence (although that did improve), three-point %, FG%

  5. Grant

    Hi Susan, love the chats. Any word on what aspects of his game Blake Griffins been working at during this extended off season?
    Also what sort of stat lines do you predict for him next season? if he gets his free throws right I’m seeing a significant ppg surge at the least.

    • Susan Bible

      I’ll tell you, if this basketball thing doesn’t work out, the comedy world would gladly accept him. Dude is hilarious. Have you seen all the Funny or Die clips and talk show spots. It’s funny that I didn’t even know this side of his personality, that is, since I’ve been following him in Oklahoma for some time.

      As far as his offseason work, he has been devoted to his shot. He mentioned mid-range, pick-and-roll and face-up shooting as specifics. He had better be working on free throws, too. His .642 average last year was disappointing.

      Let’s look at a partial stat line last season:

      FG FG% FT FT% ORB DRB REB BLKS TO PF PTS

      8.5 .506 5.4 .642 3.3 8.8 12.1 0.5 2.7 3.1 22.5

      Free throws and blocks are what jump out. Maybe around 25.0 ppg and at least 1.0 blocks.

  6. Greg

    Hey Susan, I think that your Oklahoma City Thunder needs more of a pure point guard than just a mere playmaker. Westbrook clearly needs to be taken of the ball but not traded; and Harden is a more willing passer than westbrook but still is a combo gurad. Do you think Maynor can play starter minutes?

    • Susan Bible

      Could not disagree more. Maynor is the ideal backup point guard, love the way he comes in with his militant touch and quiet confidence. But Westbrook is the point guard, combo though he may be, of this team. The days of every team having a pure point guard are over. Westbrook logged 8.2 average assists last year which tied Kidd at eighth in the league (and he was fourth in total assists). Equally impressive was his Assist Percentage (estimate of the percentage of teammate field goals he assisted while on the floor) which ranked sixth in the league. Per 36 Minutes, Maynor is still below Westbrook at 7.1 apg.

  7. justin

    I think the thunder blew it, with the Perkins trade. i think they should of used there cap space this summer (once it finally starts)on Marc Gasol. I would of hands down named the Thunders the Champs. with Perkins im not so sure. His past injuries concern me.

    • Susan Bible

      The jury’s still out. If he returns slimmer (goal was to lose 15 pounds) and healthy (he was at 65% last season; reports indicate 100% now), we’re going to get a different look. Now, looking at his recent history, Perkins really hasn’t lost much time due to injuries. In 2006-07 he played 72 games, in 2007-08 he played 78 games, in 2008-09 he played 76 games and in 2009-10 he played 78. Not bad really. What OKC needs is the 2009-10 Perkins when he averaged 10.1 ppg, 7.6 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and .602 FG% in just 27.6 minutes.

  8. justin

    Do you think if the Thunders had Tyson Chandler last year. They would of been the Champs?

    • Susan Bible

      That’s an interesting question. OKC came close to signing him a couple years ago; of course, they passed based up medical advice they received. But it’s also very difficult to answer because if they had signed him, they may not have brought Ibaka over when they did…they may have drafted differently…they wouldn’t had as much money to sign others such as Maynor and Sefolosha. So, I don’t think it’s clear to say they would have won with him.

  9. dyrese

    im a knicks fan and i watch the highlights ftom the lockout league and iman shumpert is like a westbrook type guard but he is underrated ?your thoughts on it

    • Susan Bible

      I’m with you. He’s looks like he’s better than people know. In these recent games, I’m seeing defense, mid-range jumpers, steals, scoring. I’ll be watching him. Think how he’ll benefit from the wisdom and experience of Mr. Billups.

  10. simon

    will we see the nba during christmas?

    • Susan Bible

      I have no idea. Some days I think “yes”; others “no”. Sorry, I wish I knew.

  11. Borne

    Now its official…Mcgee’s on court low IQ translates well off court…with a statement like that….my question is who r the other active player with good skill/athleticism and very low IQ

    • Susan Bible

      In his defense, McGee tweeted this earlier: “I never said anyone is ready to fold! Media always wanna turn it!” J.R. Smith has to win the title.

  12. simon

    finish this line: dwight howard will have ________ defensive player of the year awards when he retires.

    • Susan Bible

      Let’s see he has three already (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11) and he’s only 25 years old. I’ll say seven?

  13. Steven

    It is great that we can talk about the players, however, the fans are sitting here waiting for a real business model so that they can enjoy the entertainment. That is the reality of all this.
    Contract has come to an end, players had a great deal, now just like the NFL , NHL, it is time to have a new deal. In reality , they can keep negotiating to minimize their losses or guess what. We, the fans can watch other levels of basketball and a lot of people will be out of a job. So a plague on both houses

    • Susan Bible

      No argument here. Get a deal done and let’s play ball.

  14. simon

    if the magic didnt lose their 08,09 team and jameer was healthy how many rings could they have had up to last year?