The NBA Thread

sahomerrocks said:
You don't have to do this. Jokic won his 2nd MVP in a row. The Sixers have massively win their minutes in the playoffs when Embiid plays.
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Yeah that's not really the point though. The point is that this thread is full of people who shit on Jokic. The eject point for me was a back and forth with a user who I had a long history of sharing music and getting along with who scoffed at the idea of Jokic winning his first MVP and then said the Nuggets would never win a title with him as their best player.

Then I circle back around because the Nuggets are finally sort of healthy (covid aside) and see the same thing was happening right before he won his 2nd. + snarky remarks about how the DJ signing was meant to milk Jokic's +/- (as opposed to because he came bundled with Bruce Brown).

Like who has had more talent around them during their careers? Embid and its not close. Dude has played with 3 different all-stars. Jokic had a half season of Murray finally playing like one and then the dude tore his ACL. Yet it's pretty easy to make the argument that Jokic has had more playoff success.

Anyways, I'll drop it but it's disappointing...

As to this season my big takeaways so far are:

The West-
A) The Suns regular season demise has been overblown but with Paul's decline, I'm not sure I trust them come playoff time even with Bridges leap.
B) Will Hardy is a hell of a coach.
C) Billups seems to be too and Grant is playing the best ball of his career.
D) Unless the Warriors sell of their youth the West is wide open
E) I think Towns + Gobert could work but the team needs more shooting and a real PG. Russell sucks. And on top of that, the chemistry issues (for now) are real.
F) Bruce Brown and KCP were phenomenal pickups for the Nuggets. And some of their kids are ready now (Bones, Braun). However, Murray is only his old self for a quarter or two at a time and while MPJ's shot is back to being butter and his IQ is improved however his athleticism around the rim is noticeably sapped.

East--
A) The Bucks and Celtics are the team to beat
B) Too many Heat look their age
C) Cleveland is gonna be good longterm but Garland and Mitchell still need to figure out how to play together
D) No real opinion on the rest of the East. I watch way more of the West, but I'd be curious for thoughts on the Sixers.
 
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sahomerrocks said:
Yeah no one likes watching fouls
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I think you meant to say "nobody likes to watch flopping". Which is why that clip was snatched off one of the most upvoted r/nba threads of the entire week (6.5k upvotes) and was labled "a compilation of Embid drawing suspect fouls against the Timberwolves"

Top voted comments include:

"7 foot James Harden"

"Crazy how many players use their face to brutally attack Embids hands and elbows".

"This is a 7 foot tall big man, arguably strongest in the league next to Giannis, and he is flopping like Chris Paul or Marcus Smart. Absolutely pathetic."

"The moment Harden and Embiid accidentally collide and reflexively double flop will cause a tear in the space time continuum".

"Damn that was gross, couldn’t even make it half way through".

For the record, I don't blame Embid or think it takes away from his dominance. But I do think it's another example of officiating being a black mark on the league.
 
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DownIsTheNewUp said:
I think you meant to say "nobody likes to watch flopping". Which is why that clip was snatched off one of the most upvoted r/nba threads of the entire week (6.5k upvotes) and was labled "a compilation of Embid drawing suspect fouls against the Timberwolves"

Top voted comments include:

"7 foot James Harden"

"Crazy how many players use their face to brutally attack Embids hands and elbows".

"This is a 7 foot tall big man, arguably strongest in the league next to Giannis, and he is flopping like Chris Paul or Marcus Smart. Absolutely pathetic."

"The moment Harden and Embiid accidentally collide and reflexively double flop will cause a tear in the space time continuum".

"Damn that was gross, couldn’t even make it half way through".

For the record, I don't blame Embid or think it takes away from his dominance. But I do think it's another example of officiating being a black mark on the league.
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r/nba has been doing their best to cape for Ben Simmons tonight in an L against the Sixers without 3/5 of their starters and no doubt best players, Tobias Harris returning from injury, and PJ Tucker not scoring for his 4th straight game in >30 minutes per game.
 
sahomerrocks said:
r/nba has been doing their best to cape for Ben Simmons tonight in an L against the Sixers without 3/5 of their starters and no doubt best players, Tobias Harris returning from injury, and PJ Tucker not scoring for his 4th straight game in >30 minutes per game.
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Jokic literally got punched in the face last night to no call. One of three or four blatant non-calls. They happen EVERY game because opponents know he gets a shit whistle. Maybe he should start diving onto the ground anytime a defender runs by him?

 
Everytime we (Warriors) play the Grizzlies I dislike them more and more (Except Adams of course, impossible to hate that guy). Real nailbiter of a game last night but we pull through again. Poole just really really needs to up his bbiq, if not for the gamewinner he's be getting absolutely dragged today.
 
DJSJ said:
Everytime we (Warriors) play the Grizzlies I dislike them more and more (Except Adams of course, impossible to hate that guy). Real nailbiter of a game last night but we pull through again. Poole just really really needs to up his bbiq, if not for the gamewinner he's be getting absolutely dragged today.
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Poole has been relatively horrible this year and the season seems like it's going to come down to how he does in the playoffs, but we at least have seen him elevate his play from what we saw last year. The west is wide open and as long as Steph is healthy, there's a high ceiling but it seems like they really need to rely on Poole as a secondary and lead bench creator.
 
sahomerrocks said:
Poole has been relatively horrible this year and the season seems like it's going to come down to how he does in the playoffs, but we at least have seen him elevate his play from what we saw last year. The west is wide open and as long as Steph is healthy, there's a high ceiling but it seems like they really need to rely on Poole as a secondary and lead bench creator.
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If the Nuggets can stay healthy, and MPJ can keep his head in the game after what happened with his brother, there are only a couple of teams I fear and Golden State is definitely one of them.

Sixers might be too for matchup reasons. Saturday will be interesting.

Side note, the Grizzlies are paper tigers unless they make a move. Their half court offense is atrocious which will matter when the game slows down.
 
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sahomerrocks said:
Poole has been relatively horrible this year and the season seems like it's going to come down to how he does in the playoffs, but we at least have seen him elevate his play from what we saw last year. The west is wide open and as long as Steph is healthy, there's a high ceiling but it seems like they really need to rely on Poole as a secondary and lead bench creator.
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Can't say I'm too confident about our chances this year with how our bench is preforming. You got Kuminga/Looney (depending on the starting lineup), Poole, Divencenzio and a whole lotta guys who I just can't trust in playoff basketball. But if the big 3 ball out you never know.

The next step for Poole is to really start absorbing the basketball knowledge he needs from the team vets. He's obviously talented, but needs to know when and when not to shoot, foul, pass etc. He's decision making really needs to improve.
 
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DJSJ said:
Can't say I'm too confident about our chances this year with how our bench is preforming. You got Kuminga/Looney (depending on the starting lineup), Poole, Divencenzio and a whole lotta guys who I just can't trust in playoff basketball. But if the big 3 ball out you never know.

The next step for Poole is to really start absorbing the basketball knowledge he needs from the team vets. He's obviously talented, but needs to know when and when not to shoot, foul, pass etc. He's decision making really needs to improve.
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I hated the Wiseman and Kuminga picks the minite they happened. Drafting low IQ "tools" players at the top of the draft is almost always a bad idea. It sucks for you all cause you'd be selling low, but I think you all are gonna have to if you want to win 4 series.
 
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DownIsTheNewUp said:
I hated the Wise and Kuminga picks the minite they happened. Drafting low IQ "tools" players at the top of the draft is almost always a bad idea. It sucks for you all cause you'd be selling low, but I think you all are gonna have to if you want to win 4 series.
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Kuminga's been amazing the last couple months, we're not trading him lol. Ever since he locked in on defense he's become the new Igoudala on that end of the floor. Easily one of the bright spots of this season.

Wiseman may not be panning out the way people hoped but he was still 100% the right pick at the time. There was absolutely no point in drafting Lamelo, another guard, when we have Steph Klay and Poole. He'd be getting the minutes Divencenzo is now, and probably less as a rookie. GP2 was a big part of last season's championship and he would have played far less if we were allocating minutes to another developing guard. LaMelo's getting his minutes in Charlotte and that's great for his development, it's what would have been great for Wiseman and obviously much better than the tough position he is now, on a veteran "win now" team.

Wiseman's prone to stupid mistakes but I really think it's situational. He either needs to play a lot more in the G league or go to a young bad team where he can get his reps. I think it's a little unfair to him at this point to keep him where he is, but trading him would involve "selling low" so I can also why our FO would be extremely hesitant to do that. It's a tough situation.
 
DJSJ said:
Kuminga's been amazing the last couple months, we're not trading him lol. Ever since he locked in on defense he's become the new Igoudala on that end of the floor. Easily one of the bright spots of this season.

Wiseman may not be panning out the way people hoped but he was still 100% the right pick at the time. There was absolutely no point in drafting Lamelo, another guard, when we have Steph Klay and Poole. He'd be getting the minutes Divencenzo is now, and probably less as a rookie. GP2 was a big part of last season's championship and he would have played far less if we were allocating minutes to another developing guard. LaMelo's getting his minutes in Charlotte and that's great for his development, it's what would have been great for Wiseman and obviously much better than the tough position he is now, on a veteran "win now" team.

Wiseman's prone to stupid mistakes but I really think it's situational. He either needs to play a lot more in the G league or go to a young bad team where he can get his reps. I think it's a little unfair to him at this point to keep him where he is, but trading him would involve "selling low" so I can also why our FO would be extremely hesitant to do that. It's a tough situation.
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Kuminga is atheltic as hell and has definitely picked it up defensively. He's also shooting .288 from deep on nearly 2 shots a game and I don't see much hope for that improving to the 35% clip you need since his FT% is under 70%. He has improved as a playmaker which is important. The ideal model for him is probably a worse playmaking (Denver version) Aaron Gordon, but he's got a long ways to get there and your stars are exiting their prime.

I think your assesment is correct on Wiseman. I hated, hated the pick at the time. He needs reps that you guys can't give him because he's so low IQ that he struggles in your system.

And that's kind of the point with both guys-- Myers, for whatever reason, moved away from drafting high IQ / skill guys and I think that's why the attempt at emulating the Spurs model is failing.

Players I would have taken over Wiseman (at the time)- Haliburton, Okongwa, Lamelo (BPA and you could have traded Poole). That said, it's looking like a rough draft and Haliburton's the only one you should be really longing for.

The Kuminga year is more complicated because Giddey went off the board right beforehand and it wasn't a particularly strong draft. But you're telling me you wouldn't rather have Wagner or even Trey Murphey?

I dunno- The Nuggets and Memphis have been the best drafting teams in the NBA over the past 5-10 years and both teams have placed a premium on IQ, skill and BPA instead of fit. But drafting raw athletes that have underdeveloped skills and IQ goes deeply against my drafting philosophy, so maybe I'm biased.
 
DownIsTheNewUp said:
Players I would have taken over Wiseman (at the time)- Haliburton, Okongwa, Lamelo (BPA and you could have traded Poole). That said, it's looking like a rough draft and Haliburton's the only one you should be really longing for.

The Kuminga year is more complicated because Giddey went off the board right beforehand and it wasn't a particularly strong draft. But you're telling me you wouldn't rather have Wagner or even Trey Murphey?
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You're right, maybe trading down would have been the best move, but we the public aren't privy to those dealings so for all we know Myers could have been trying to orchestrate one but couldn't make it happen, we'll never know. Haliburton would have been better...still a 4th guard but he's a big one, we could have made it work. Only reservation is that he's best being the primary playmaker with the ball in his hands, so maybe he wouldn't have thrived in out system. we'll never know.

I probably still would've taken Wiseman over those guys. The center spot has been our weakest position for years and I would've taken the chance to get a post playmaker at that position.
 
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