NBA 2018/2019 thread

[DolphinSki]

Ha. 1979 - so I can rag on the Millenials freely. ;-). Although in truth that was always tongue in cheek, except in NBA terms some of those old school coaches wouldn’t be as effective with this generation (not always a bad thing).

Haha I figure we all appear to be a little older due to all our posts being so curmudgeon-y

[54-46]

Dubs 15-7 last 4 Finals. Won a few road games but Toronto is no joke. Dubs should be playing like they need to win Game 1.

[DBdude]

i think KD has played his last game as a warrior

[TahoeJ]

i think KD has played his last game as a warrior

You could be right. In pro sports they always use this medical language of a "strain" to make it sound like less of a big deal, but that still means he tore his calf muscle, it just wasn't a complete tear.

Toronto is certainly no joke - I just don't think home court makes that big of a difference in this series. FWIW, Toronto is one of Curry's favorite places to play. There are certain courts that just suit different players. He doesn't seem to play well at the Staples center, for example, although LA night life could be a factor there (even when the Lakers / Clippers suck, they have a really good record on Sunday afternoon games at home).

[cinnepa]

capella for love
harden for lebron?

espn officially lose it?

[plugboots]

capella for love
harden for lebron?

espn officially lose it?

Officially?

[54-46]

capella for love
harden for lebron?

espn officially lose it?

Houston said to be willing to trade (nearly) anyone to reconstruct roster. Maybe Morey is panicked and is afraid he won’t be able to afford a GI Joe with a Kung Fu Grip.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uI4fVgVVpiw

[EWG]

Also I’m 100% here for the upcoming Draymond/Drake beef.

+500. Outstanding point.

[DolphinSki]

Personally, I'm here for the Smashmouth/Drake beef.

https://twitter.com/smashmouth/status/1132730834253799424

Bay Area "celebrities" really coming out of the woodwork for this one haha

Honestly, just hopng for a good 6-7 game finals. It would be cool if Toronto won too. I just really don't want to see a sweep or easy series in the Finals again.

[neufox47]

Go Canada!

[TahoeJ]

The Lakers are the only team dumb enough to take on that CP3 contract... but it makes sense in the LeBron tradition of forcing your franchise to take on bad contracts with players he likes.

[Rock Knocker]

The Lakers are the only team dumb enough to take on that CP3 contract... but it makes sense in the LeBron tradition of forcing your franchise to take on bad contracts with players he likes.

I refuse to discount the dumbness of the Knicks.

[DolphinSki]

I don't understand the Laker's win now mentality when Lebron has 4 years left on his contract and they have (had) plenty of young talent. Is it Lebron driven? Any trade for CP3 would be a mistake.

Boogie is active for tonight's game, does he get any playing time?

[TahoeJ]

I don't understand the Laker's win now mentality when Lebron has 4 years left on his contract and they have (had) plenty of young talent. Is it Lebron driven? Any trade for CP3 would be a mistake.

Boogie is active for tonight's game, does he get any playing time?

Because LeBron likely retires after that 4th year (three years left on his deal), if his body holds up that long. He turns 35 towards the beginning of next season and has a crazy number of miles on his legs when you include all of those playoff games. So they should be in win now mode.

Boogie will likely get in there for a bit. How long will probably be a "see how it goes" scenario.

[SkiCougar]

Houston said to be willing to trade (nearly) anyone to reconstruct roster. Maybe Morey is panicked and is afraid he won’t be able to afford a GI Joe with a Kung Fu Grip.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uI4fVgVVpiw

that's now getting a lot of radio play in Houston as the rockets are not denying and cant talk much before the end of the season. imo, the rockets are stuck with the harden iso ball until he's past his prime as he's too hard to move and so is cp3.

imo, Houston and Oklahoma city have the same problem; their ball dominant guards are too ball dominant unlike golden state and Portland whose guards share the wealth.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Lakers have plenty of young talent.

No. They don't. If Ball, Kuzma and Ingram weren't in LA, nobody would talk about them.

[DolphinSki]

No. They don't. If Ball, Kuzma and Ingram weren't in LA, nobody would talk about them.

Two of those guys were top 2 picks and Kuzma was the steal of the 2017 Draft. Sure, they get more coverage because they're in LA (just like Brown and Tatum in BOS) but that's arguably still the best core of 21-23 year olds in the league.

I had Lebron's contract length off, still with 3 more years they could deal with a slightly longer-term vision than they seem to have. But yeah, it would be riskier given Lebron's age. Either way, I'm enjoying the dumpster fire.

[54-46]

...Either way, I'm enjoying the dumpster fire.

Goddamn right!

[TahoeJ]

Speaking of dumpster fires, Houston is trying to start one it seems. So Morey fires a bunch of D'Antoni's assistants... without consulting him... and today D'Antoni turned down a contract extension! lol... this is going to get interesting.

Seriously, how dumb is it to say everyone is available? No way is Harden going to be happy about that, and moving him isn't likely going to happen, so now you've pissed off your franchise guy?

If Houston was desperate to change things up - which they clearly are - the real move is to fire D'Antoni and hire someone like Alvin Gentry who understands the Warriors' ball movement offense. Houston has the types of players who could do well in a system like that. Obviously Harden isn't as scary of a threat from three like Curry so you won't have the same space, but still... they could do something similar with that roster, perhaps playing a bit more off Harden's driving ability.

[Danno]

that's now getting a lot of radio play in Houston as the rockets are not denying and cant talk much before the end of the season. imo, the rockets are stuck with the harden iso ball until he's past his prime as he's too hard to move and so is cp3.

imo, Houston and Oklahoma city have the same problem; their ball dominant guards are too ball dominant unlike golden state and Portland whose guards share the wealth.

Harden too hard to move? You are smoking some really good stuff if you believe that.

And even with Chris Paul on his team averaging 8.2 apg, Harden still averaged 7.5 apg, good for 8th in the league. Houston's problem isn't their offense or ball dominant guards or whatever, it's that they don't have a good enough team. Harden, Paul, Gordon, and Capela is a nice 4, but after that they just don't have enough to compete with the Warriors. Which is nothing to be ashamed of, that's the case for almost anybody. If we wipe the earth of the last 5 years of the Warriors, the Rockets probably have a title or two.

Speaking of dumpster fires, Houston is trying to start one it seems. So Morey fires a bunch of D'Antoni's assistants... without consulting him... and today D'Antoni turned down a contract extension! lol... this is going to get interesting.

Seriously, how dumb is it to say everyone is available? No way is Harden going to be happy about that, and moving him isn't likely going to happen, so now you've pissed off your franchise guy?

If Houston was desperate to change things up - which they clearly are - the real move is to fire D'Antoni and hire someone like Alvin Gentry who understands the Warriors' ball movement offense. Houston has the types of players who could do well in a system like that. Obviously Harden isn't as scary of a threat from three like Curry so you won't have the same space, but still... they could do something similar with that roster, perhaps playing a bit more off Harden's driving ability.

I think the "every one is available" is one of those CYA lines, and I doubt Harden is going to be pissed at it.

As for Gentry, I'm not convinced he would improve things (I doubt it). And I'm not convinced D'Antoni is the wrong guy. They're maximizing what they have, IMO, but they're just not good enough.

[TahoeJ]

Could have said the same thing about the Warriors in 2014 and they didn’t even have an MVP yet. Goodbye Mark Jackson, hello Steve Kerr, almost the same roster aside from Shaun Livingston, and suddenly you have a juggernaut.

It would be very interesting to see what Harden could do in a ball movement offense a la Popovich. He’s a great passer too. I don’t want this to happen of course but fully believe it’s possible. Morey is a little too caught up in analytics and needs to step back and appreciate the beauty and effectiveness of ball movement.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

that's arguably still the best core of 21-23 year olds in the league.

I strongly disagree. Any one of Doncic, Fox, Simmons or Tatum, among others, is worth more than all three Lakers player. The Lakers guys just aren't that good. The fact that they have three of them doesn't change much.

[54-46]

This ref crew calls way too many fouls. It’s fairly even, just too many

39 fouls in 3 quarters. Sucks.

[BmillsSkier]

Bay Area "celebrities" really coming out of the woodwork for this one haha

Too $hort isn’t dead?


And re: Drake

Does no one remember him threatening to kick the Cavs’ Kendrick Perkins’ ass, from behind his bodyguard, after the start of an Eastern Conference Finals sweep by LeeeeBron n co.?

You go gurl.

[SkiBall]

This ref crew calls way too many fouls. It’s fairly even, just too many

And this is different how? Excessive foul calls have really been a damper on this league.