2023-24 NBA Season Discussion

[rk2023]

I really think that if the Lakers weren't playing the Nuggets, they'd be favored against the rest of the west. The way that Lebron takes up his game several levels and the way that AD has played, they've looked like the second best team in the west in these playoffs. Looking at the rest of the west, I don't see any other team matching this level of physicality, intensity and high level execution like we've seen in the Lakers-Nuggets series.

Not MN
LAC / PHX maybe
OKC DAL they beat

I don’t think Minny executes well enough on offense to beat these Lakers presuming Bron can keep playing at the pace he’s playing at now.

While I am with you there, I further think that they have a size and athleticism gap (shows in rebounding amongst other factors) that poses LA problems - akin to how Denver has plenty the last 9 games Bron / AD have faced them. They also have defensive personnel to fatigue Bron like how Denver has to an extent (no altitude nor offensive gauntlet to eat up a ton of stamina on defense though).

Of course they don’t have someone who can play Rui off like the combo of MPJ / Joker has to start this series.

[Peregrine01]

Rudy literally shut down everything within a 15 feet radius of him during this game.

[Mos_Heat]

Lakers being up by 20 and Denver still turning it around in the second half seems to be the story of the series. AD couldn't be stopped, LeBron had a hell of a game and even D'Lo was redhot, while Murray couldn't buy a bucket to save his life untill the 4th and it still wasn't enough. At this point I have no clue how the Lakers can even get a game here.

They simply lack the offensive fire power.

They were a top-5 offense post-ASB and both Lebron and AD are playing at their absolute best right now. They're simply getting worn out and walked down by the Nuggets.

I think the problem is that Reaves and Russell can't create anything when the Nuggets dialing up and Lebron's match hunting isn't productive enough

[TheGOATRises007]

Read on Twitter

His defense has been pretty good by the eye test this series.

Tweet might be wrong missing 1 Harden bucket, but pretty remarkable either way.

[TheGOATRises007]

Read on Twitter

[70sFan]

Wolves are crazy good on defense, the series is not over but I have a hard time seeing Suns coming back to even it.

[Statlanta]

Rudy Gobert looking like a solid contender for #2 for the Player Comparison Board POY rankings.

[Texas Chuck]

We need to slow down on stopper Luka, but yeah, he's stepped up and taken on tough assignments and absolutely held up.

And who would have thought of a Mavs team winning based on defense? Maxi Kleber is a nightmare on offense these days and I think he's going to give Luka a coronary, but he is so so so good defensively. His defense this series has been an absolute master clinic. And Washington and Jones and Kyrie and Luka are just fighting over every inch and conceding nothing. Lively not looking like a rookie on the defensive end.

Gafford otoh has looked totally lost even before the injury. He was so good to close the regular season but not sure how playable he is right now.

And good on Kidd on not being afraid to bench some vets not performing.

[Texas Chuck]

Wolves are crazy good on defense, the series is not over but I have a hard time seeing Suns coming back to even it.

I mean Gobert is absolutely world class and in Minnesota he has perimeter defenders he didn't have in Utah. In Utah the idea seemed to be just play offensive guys and have this fun offense and Rudy solve defense for us on your own, good luck. Him with actual good defenders around him is just unfair. I think its why guys hate him so much. He's so destructive to offenses. Terribly underrated player because of personal reasons not basketball ones.

[Colbinii]

Wolves are crazy good on defense, the series is not over but I have a hard time seeing Suns coming back to even it.

Game 3 is going to be excellent, as are all game 3's when you are done 2-0 and coming home. Phoenix will, for better words, throw the kitchen sink at this game.

There was a play in this game which, to me, epitomized how far Anthony Edwards has come as an NBA player. It was either late in the 3rd quarter or early in the 4th quarter. He crossed half-court and Nurkic essentially forced him to the sideline. Anthony Edwards sort of delayed there and slowed to almost a hault as he patiently waited for the double to come. Once the double started to come he instantly threw it to KAT at the top of the key who was wide open for 3.

It was a play where ANT could have easily seen Nurkic coming at him and tried to explode around him, dribbling to the corner. But instead he was patient, did exactly what he was to do in the situation and let the play of the defense determine his decision.

I never thought Edwards would be more than an elite scoring guard [Jaylen Brown, essentially] but he has blossomed into a good [elite?] decision maker.

But yeah, their defense is stifling. Booker/Beal/Durant in the regular season posted a 123.6 Ortg on the court together.

In 2 games (63 minutes) against Minnesota, they have a 95.1 Ortg on the court together

[clearlynotjesse]

Mavs Clippers was great example of why I like basketball. Both teams playing great defense but the best players just hit some ridiculous shots and it's game over.

[Peregrine01]

The more the NBA is just going to let guys play, the more it benefits teams like the Nuggets and Wolves. The Nuggets because they have Jokic who is perhaps more impervious to physical defense than anyone in the league. And the Wolves because they play the most physical and aggressive defense I've seen in a long time. They literally looked like a pack of wolves on defense last night. Jaden McDaniels was all over Booker and KD - at times I even felt a bit sorry for the two.

[parsnips33]

Gobert was awesome last night, but the Phoenix offense was driving me nuts. You have Rudy switched onto KD - why not attack the rim with Booker/Beal??? Why does that need to be an iso for KD???

[Peregrine01]

Gobert was awesome last night, but the Phoenix offense was driving me nuts. You have Rudy switched onto KD - why not attack the rim with Booker/Beal??? Why does that need to be an iso for KD???

It seems consistent with the perception among NBA players that Rudy is the most overrated. KD also isn’t the brightest player on the floor.

[parsnips33]

Gobert was awesome last night, but the Phoenix offense was driving me nuts. You have Rudy switched onto KD - why not attack the rim with Booker/Beal??? Why does that need to be an iso for KD???

It seems consistent with the perception among NBA players that Rudy is the most overrated. KD also isn’t the brightest player on the floor.

Vogel's gotta step up or something. Vibes based offense is not gonna get you far against an elite D, especially when you don't have a real point guard

[Peregrine01]

Gobert was awesome last night, but the Phoenix offense was driving me nuts. You have Rudy switched onto KD - why not attack the rim with Booker/Beal??? Why does that need to be an iso for KD???

It seems consistent with the perception among NBA players that Rudy is the most overrated. KD also isn’t the brightest player on the floor.

Vogel's gotta step up or something. Vibes based offense is not gonna get you far against an elite D, especially when you don't have a real point guard

That's not on Vogel. This whole team was constructed based on Vibes Based Offense. KD, Booker and Beal are the poster-children for "how deep is your bag" and "we don't do double teams in the off-season". It's not a coincidence that they're on the same team together.

[parsnips33]

It seems consistent with the perception among NBA players that Rudy is the most overrated. KD also isn’t the brightest player on the floor.

Vogel's gotta step up or something. Vibes based offense is not gonna get you far against an elite D, especially when you don't have a real point guard

That's not on Vogel. This whole team was constructed based on Vibes Based Offense. KD, Booker and Beal are the poster-children for "how deep is your bag" and "we don't do double teams in the off-season". It's not a coincidence that they're on the same team together.

I mean I don't see why he shouldn't take at least some of the responsibility. He's been a head coach for a decade now, this is not rookie Steve Nash who has no clout and has to defer

[jalengreen]

Booker's developed into a solid playmaker and has always been great at scoring in the flow of an offense IMO. I don't see him as a poster child for that type of ball

[Doctor MJ]

Vogel's gotta step up or something. Vibes based offense is not gonna get you far against an elite D, especially when you don't have a real point guard

That's not on Vogel. This whole team was constructed based on Vibes Based Offense. KD, Booker and Beal are the poster-children for "how deep is your bag" and "we don't do double teams in the off-season". It's not a coincidence that they're on the same team together.

I mean I don't see why he shouldn't take at least some of the responsibility. He's been a head coach for a decade now, this is not rookie Steve Nash who has no clout and has to defer

Right but while Vogel should be "The Man" based on his coaching resume, we know this isn't the situation. If Vogel says "Either KD goes, or I do!", Vogel will get escorted by security out of the building...and everyone involved - coach & player - knows this.

Now, maybe Vogel can come up with something for the offense and get the proper buy in, but frankly that's not what he was hired to do. Ownership's expectation in making the moves they made was that the offense should be automatically elite and so you should hire a defensive coach.

It all makes total sense except that a collection of individual scorers may not actually lead to great team offense, and the defensive coach doesn't actually have the power to make these players grind on defense.

[OhayoKD]

Disappointing media is pretending Gobert is the 3rd wheel here.