2021/2022 NBA Thread: Anyone but the Lakers or Nets!

[TahoeJ]

The Joker is amazing and I give him props for what he can do out there, but he gets away with a lot of pushing and shoving on rebounds and in his post play. There were a few sequences there where he's going for a rebound and just throwing dudes to the side with one arm while trying to grab the board with the other. Almost never gets called for it. That's the frustrating thing about his game...it's sneaky dirty and it must be hard as hell for the refs to pick up on in the moment.

Nailed it. Which is why him bitching about a lack of calls kind of makes me chuckle...

I totally think Jokic deserved MVP, but would anyone take him over Giannis right now? The NBA regular season vs. playoffs have never been more distinctly different.

[Danno]

Nailed it. Which is why him bitching about a lack of calls kind of makes me chuckle...

I totally think Jokic deserved MVP, but would anyone take him over Giannis right now? The NBA regular season vs. playoffs have never been more distinctly different.

Might I remind you that Giannis has a LOT more help. Switch those two guys and you might be saying the exact opposite thing. Take Jokic off that team and they probably finish last in the league.

And (you'll like this one) they're playing a team that is just now at full strength, a team that had they had all these players all season might have had the best record in the league. It's hard to look good against that when you're surrounded by scrubs and your greatest strength is as a facilitator.

Writing off Jokic as if he's a "regular season player" has to be one of your more absurd hot takes, if not most absurd.

Yes, he bullies people in the post and was whining, but I also saw him pushed and elbowed and held and wrapped up with no fouls called.

[Adolf Allerbush]

Might I remind you that Giannis has a LOT more help. Switch those two guys and you might be saying the exact opposite thing. Take Jokic off that team and they probably finish last in the league.

And (you'll like this one) they're playing a team that is just now at full strength, a team that had they had all these players all season might have had the best record in the league. It's hard to look good against that when you're surrounded by scrubs and your greatest strength is as a facilitator.

Writing off Jokic as if he's a "regular season player" has to be one of your more absurd hot takes, if not most absurd.

Yes, he bullies people in the post and was whining, but I also saw him pushed and elbowed and held and wrapped up with no fouls called.

I know you're not calling me out for the regular season player thing...but wanted to also clarify that it's just a hard brand of play to watch. no joke, someone, maybe it was the Glove 2.0, was trying to block out and he just threw him to the side with a ref standing right there and no call. I don't understand how the refs don't see stuff like that but it's plain as day on TV in real time. Dropping shoulders into people, somewhat like Embiid does as well, but it just seems like Embiid gets called for it somewhat regularly (I admit, I don't watch a ton of sixers games) but Joker almost never gets called on it. Anyhow, like I say, Jokic is amazing, but I don't enjoy watching that part of his game. His facilitating and just all around offensive play is magical...and I like watching that part of his game. Anhooo...must be nice having a team in the playoffs.

[Danno]

I am not calling anyone out for not enjoying watching Jokic, and I actually agree that the Joker of the last 2 games has not been great to watch, but it's also not the one who has been killing it all season. He's not a high flier for sure, so he will not give you acrobatics, but he is more enjoyable to watch than he has showed. His passing ability is incredible, and that hasn't been on display. I was calling out TahoeJ for implying that Jokic has a type of play that is effective in the regular season and not the playoffs, because that is a terrible take.

And I agree that some of what he does looks like blatant fouls, but I also saw him blatantly fouled over and over with no calls, so it's a two way street.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

I love watching Jokic. Basketball genius. But he's a pass first player with no one to pass to. It's been ugly.

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[fool]

And (you'll like this one) they're playing a team that is just now at full strength, a team that had they had all these players all season might have had the best record in the league. It's hard to look good against that when you're surrounded by scrubs and your greatest strength is as a facilitator.

This. Jokic has such a heavy lift without Murray and MPJ it’s insane. And then to play against the new Death 3.0 lineup? That’s a lot for anyone, even the reigning MVP.

That being said, from a general basketball perspective, I am pumped for the playoffs. So much good basketball to watch. Memphis and Minnesota showing a lot of the future stars of the league, Nets vs. Celtics is great basketball, and then you’ve got the strongest teams like Phoenix, GS, Philly, and Miami playing well. Very excited for it all.

Also, with Poole playing this well, how much should/will the Warriors consider trading Klay at the end of next season to sign Poole for 5 years? I’m not saying they will, but if Poole keeps playing this way next season and the Warriors are thinking about the future of the franchise…it seems worth considering. It might piss off fans in the short run but if Poole brings a championship five years from now - and is anywhere close to as good as Steph - I think the fan base would get over it. (Assuming Poole will demand/deserve a big contract, which I assume he will).



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[brutah]

Jimmy fuckin' Buckets!

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[TahoeJ]

I am not calling anyone out for not enjoying watching Jokic, and I actually agree that the Joker of the last 2 games has not been great to watch, but it's also not the one who has been killing it all season. He's not a high flier for sure, so he will not give you acrobatics, but he is more enjoyable to watch than he has showed. His passing ability is incredible, and that hasn't been on display. I was calling out TahoeJ for implying that Jokic has a type of play that is effective in the regular season and not the playoffs, because that is a terrible take.

And I agree that some of what he does looks like blatant fouls, but I also saw him blatantly fouled over and over with no calls, so it's a two way street.

Woah woah woah. First of all I said that Jokic deserves the MVP hands down. Saying that I would still take Giannis over him, especially come playoff time, isn't exactly a hot take. That Giannis guy is pretty fucking good. And yeah, straight up, his game works better in the post season than Jokic's game. Doesn't mean Jokic sucks, it means Giannis is ... well... Giannis. He's really good! I'll take Steph for that matter too. If your life was on the line you'd take both of those guys over Jokic tomorrow and you know it.

You want a hot take? GIVE ME POOLE! The Poole Party is on! lol...

BTW - we don't need to trade Klay to keep Poole, we simply unload Wiggins. Pretty simple cap math. Kuminga takes his minutes.

Jordan Poole vs Andrew Wiggins makes for an interesting study. Wiggins, no doubt, is far more physically gifted and talented... but Poole has that IT factor Wiggins can't summon often enough. But he's still better than Ben Simmons.

[::: :::]

Devin Booker is hitting from everywhere

[::: :::]

Oof, Booker sat in the 3rd not to return w/ hammy problem
McCollum getting a bit of a post season ride after getting tossed aside from portland, Nance too
If Booker is hobbled for a couple games, NO may have a shot

[plugboots]

Yeah, if Booker has to sit a bit, Pels may have a chance indeed. Probably what happened though is when Booker went out it freaked out the Suns and put them in a funk, but now they’ve got a couple days to regroup.
Also, I hate Chris Paul.

[Danno]

Woah woah woah. First of all I said that Jokic deserves the MVP hands down. Saying that I would still take Giannis over him, especially come playoff time, isn't exactly a hot take. That Giannis guy is pretty fucking good. And yeah, straight up, his game works better in the post season than Jokic's game. Doesn't mean Jokic sucks, it means Giannis is ... well... Giannis. He's really good! I'll take Steph for that matter too. If your life was on the line you'd take both of those guys over Jokic tomorrow and you know it.

That's fair, my bad for the misinterpretation (though I disagree that "his game works better in the post season than Jokic's game"; it wasn't long ago that he was being criticized for having a game that didn't work as well in the postseason).

Jokic's game doesn't lose its effectiveness in the postseason, but when you have scrub teammates and defenses can therefor game plan against you exclusively, your game loses its effectiveness no matter who you are. Jokic's game would translate great to the postseason if he had some offensive talent around him.

[fool]

BTW - we don't need to trade Klay to keep Poole, we simply unload Wiggins. Pretty simple cap math. Kuminga takes his minutes.

Wow, did not think it would be that simple, but I guess I forgot about Wiggins' gigantic contract ($30M/year!). If they can keep Poole for a while, that could be huge. But yeah, agree that Pool vs. Wiggins is an interesting discussion - will be curious how next year goes on that front.

And definitely bummed for Booker...hope it's not that bad.

[Adolf Allerbush]

Oof, Booker sat in the 3rd not to return w/ hammy problem
McCollum getting a bit of a post season ride after getting tossed aside from portland, Nance too
If Booker is hobbled for a couple games, NO may have a shot

Man...I wanted to keep CJ and move Dame, but then Dame's injury made that impossible. Not that I don't like Dame, but it just seemed like we could get a bigger haul for Dame and CJ always has been a better facilitator, as he showed last night. What a great outcome for him...he, and Nance to a much lesser extent, have turned around that team. I sort of like their squad in general, even without Zion. Was it you or someone else here that said Zion is the new Oden? Anyhow, I expect the Suns to come out and stomp the Pels going forward, but that was an impressive win on the road.

Jokic's game doesn't lose its effectiveness in the postseason, but when you have scrub teammates and defenses can therefor game plan against you exclusively, your game loses its effectiveness no matter who you are. Jokic's game would translate great to the postseason if he had some offensive talent around him.

Yeah dude. Aaron Gordon is arguably their 2nd best offensive player and that's not great.

[::: :::]

Was it you or someone else here that said Zion is the new Oden?

ha! I hope not for his sake
but, no, not me

the commentating team was talking about zion playing 5v5 again in practice
if he can find shoes to keep up with him...he should be good?

[TahoeJ]

Was it you or someone else here that said Zion is the new Oden?

Might have been me pointing out that through their first three seasons, Oden and Zion have played a similar number of games. But clearly Zion is a superior player when on the court. Man, I hope he's able to pull it together and get healthy. No one wants to see a guy with so much potential flame out.

With Booker out for at least 2 more games, this Suns / New Orleans series could get interesting. Could be more than 2 games also - tweaked hamstrings are notoriously tricky.

[Adolf Allerbush]

Might have been me pointing out that through their first three seasons, Oden and Zion have played a similar number of games. But clearly Zion is a superior player when on the court. Man, I hope he's able to pull it together and get healthy. No one wants to see a guy with so much potential flame out.

With Booker out for at least 2 more games, this Suns / New Orleans series could get interesting. Could be more than 2 games also - tweaked hamstrings are notoriously tricky.

Yes! that was it. I too hope he bounces back and is able to get right.

[TahoeJ]

“We want Boston!” - well Nets fans, you got what you asked for. Lol… how’s that KD / Kyrie ISO game working out for you?

[riser4]

Dayum. Roller coaster. "Kyrie Sucks!". Check out Smart s left hand.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Go C's.

[Danno]

FKNA!

[skisurfmirth]

Embiid revenge game? What a shot!


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[cinnepa]

^^^ oh hell yeah....after team played shitty all night. 24 turnovers too.

[riser4]

Absolutely in stitches over Smart's left hand.

[riser4]

My son was at the Celtics game and can confirm that the drunk massholes were chanting "Kyrie Sucks". I love Boston fans. So hospitable.