Taking bets on the NBA All Star game tonight!

[SHAFT]

Get yer bets in!

- East is -4

- O/U is 284.5

1:1 bets, bet up to 20m. I'd do cash bets too if you're interested in it

[Drew]

I'll take the East -4 and the under for 1 million each.

[SHAFT]

thats a bet good sir

[SHAFT]

You pussies have 20 minutes to bet

[Drew]

Can we have a bet on whether or not Nikki Minaj is lip syncing?

[SHAFT]

I say yes and she sucks

this shit is awful

[uppitygoon]

I'll take the under for 2m and the east for 1m

[SHAFT]

Thats a bet!

[SHAFT]

Drew for East -4 for 1m, under for 1m
uppitygoon for East -4 for 1m, under for 4m

[uppitygoon]

make that 4m on the under, there's no friggin way they each score ~140

[SHAFT]

make that 4m on the under, there's no friggin way they each score ~140

okee doke

[Drew]

So you're really rooting for the West and a score-fest Shaft.

[SHAFT]

looks that way. i live in la and more points means exciting so thats nice

[SHAFT]

Is the Blake griffin the best ginger in the history of sports?

[SHAFT]

It doesn't get much better than that! Is anyone shocked lebron screwed up with 2 seconds left?

[Latrinsorm]

Andre Iguodala looks like he's playing on 8 foot rims. The speed and ease with which he rebounds and dunks is astonishing. It makes sense now that someone could think he was a #1 guy if they weren't paying too much attention.

It's extremely confusing how Durant isn't scoring 30+ points a game. Lethal shooter, those crazy arms and herky jerky moves, and when he decides to explode straight at the basket he's just gone. Friggin' Westbrook, man.

Kevin Love looked like he belonged. Roy Hibbert... didn't.

What odds would you have given me if I bet Paul Pierce would have more blocks than LeBron, Wade, and Hibbert combined?
It doesn't get much better than that! Is anyone shocked lebron screwed up with 2 seconds left?How does Kobe shoot free throws with his hands wrapped around his neck? lol

My favorite part was Thibs leaving Dwight Howard in in an obvious 3 point shooting situation. It's a testament to how great a player Rose is that the Bulls are a borderline contender with such a boob for a coach.

[SHAFT]

Kevin love is a top 3 PF. I took him at 9 in the first round of my fantasy league and he has delivered.

Lebron is the best player in the league right now and if the heat don't win this year it'll be sad.

Durant would score 30+ if he didn't have Westbrook. But the fact he has Hardin and Westbrook makes the thunder so good. Ibaka too

[DoctorUnne]

The boob turned the Bulls from a mediocre defensive team into the best defensive team in the league just like he did the Celtics. He's got the Bulls within 1/2 game of the best record in the East even though Rose has missed a third of the season. They're 9-3 in those games.

The fact that LeBron didn't even take that final shot was absolutely hilarious. He'd been hitting absurd threes all night. If there was ever a situation that demanded he take the final shot that was it. Heck it was even a meaningless All-Star game so he would have drilled it I'm sure.

You could see how much shit Kobe gave him for it and deservedly so.

[Drew]

I'm working on a conspiracy theory that Thibodeau drew up the final play in the All-Star game so that LeBron would inbound the pass because he knew Kobe would give him shit about it and all the talk shows would discuss it ad naseum; further shaking his confidence from last year's finals debacle. He knew that if LeBron hit the late game winner that it might inspire him over the second half of the season and he's already seen LeBron in killer mode in last year's conference finals. The Heat and LeBron are in peak form right now and the only question left is "has LeBron lost the closing touch?". Thibs took away his chance for him to prove it in a nationally televised game and LeBron probably won't get another chance until the playoffs start with the way the Heat are playing.

[Atlanteax]

I'm working on a conspiracy theory that Thibodeau drew up the final play in the All-Star game so that LeBron would inbound the pass because he knew Kobe would give him shit about it and all the talk shows would discuss it ad naseum; further shaking his confidence from last year's finals debacle. He knew that if LeBron hit the late game winner that it might inspire him over the second half of the season and he's already seen LeBron in killer mode in last year's conference finals. The Heat and LeBron are in peak form right now and the only question left is "has LeBron lost the closing touch?". Thibs took away his chance for him to prove it in a nationally televised game and LeBron probably won't get another chance until the playoffs start with the way the Heat are playing.

and then top it off with LeBron instead being mocked for the ridiculous turnover... when he could had feasibly just dribbled it in for a 2 to tie (or pull up and shoot the 3).

[SHAFT]

Lebron has never had the closing touch, never mind losing it. He's the anti Kobe.

[Latrinsorm]

The boob turned the Bulls from a mediocre defensive team into the best defensive team in the league just like he did the Celtics. He's got the Bulls within 1/2 game of the best record in the East even though Rose has missed a third of the season. They're 9-3 in those games.I'm not convinced coaches have that much impact. Let's look at Coach Thibodeau's career, shall we? He was an assistant coach for the Spurs from 1993 to 1994, 76ers from 1995 to 1996, Knicks from 1997 to 2003, Rockets from 2004 to 2007, Celtics from 2008 to 2010. I have taken the liberty of preparing a graph of each team's DRtg+ (a ratio of its DRtg to league average) including 2 years before and after Thibodeau:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v456/johnnyoldschool/NBAThibs.jpg
Here's what I see:
-the Spurs were better before and after he left, pretty inarguably. I'm willing to give him a pass here because he had just started NBA coaching, though. (And no, since you ask, the Timberwolves don't count as an NBA franchise.)
-the 76ers improved the first year, then had the worst defense in the league, then got much better two years after he left... when they acquired Theo Ratliff.
-the Knicks were already an elite defensive team, and mysteriously got much worse on defense when Patrick Ewing and Marcus Camby left and Thibodeau was still an assistant coach.
-the Rockets were bad, then acquired Yao Ming and got better, then Thibodeau and got even better, then ditched Thibodeau and were still about as good.
-the Celtics show a huge improvement in his first year... but with the previous observations, doesn't it make more sense to credit that to the simultaneous acquisition of Kevin Garnett?
-the Bulls mirror the Rockets in the sense that Joakim Noah is an elite defensive big man, was already on the team, and the team was already trending better on defense.

I'm open to suggestions! Tell me how we can interpret this data so that Thibodeau is a defensive genius or a master motivator or whatever, and not just in the right place at the right time.

[Kembal]

make that 4m on the under, there's no friggin way they each score ~140

I'm certain someone's regretting this right now.

[DoctorUnne]

Tell me how we can interpret this data so that Thibodeau is a defensive genius

The last three stints are the most relevant and the most conclusive. I would expect his impact to increase over time as he gains coaching experience and look at the jump in each of the last three teams when they hired him.

I would argue with the exception of KG he helped turn those players into the defensive players they are. In addition he acquired other defensively-minded players and instilled a defensive philosophy into his teams that remained even after his departure.