Around The NBA: 2019-20 RESTART

[jc23]

if miami beats the lakers i will forgive them for their doucheness during the early 2010's

If... that's a big if. But I would love to see Butler with the title. At least one former Bulls for the years we were actually a good team (a rarity since Jordan) be successful would be very nice...

And... if they do win, it will look like what the Bulls did to the Lakers in 91 Although I doubt. The talent level of the Lakers is too big.

i heard the 2004 pistons v lakers analogy on a podcast. lets hope.

[dougthonus]

I think that's more personal preference. Both have been on teams that have struggled and succeeded in the post season. My point though was I'd rather have a middling playoff team and try to tinker around it than try to acquire a gazillion 20's picks.

I would bet at least 3 of those picks end up being lottery picks. I agree that if they're all 20s picks it isn't so exciting, but the counter point is after these trades their team improved. They're still a middling playoff team. Going into this year, there is no reason to project them as worse than if they had not made these trades. They performed better in both the regular season and playoffs last year than the two previous years.

Well luckily we have history to prove that those extra few wins didn't help us. Gar even came out and said that he knew we wouldn't be players in FA and acquired Porter for that reason. I think it's safe to say that with 5-7 less wins, we'd have the same luck. You've got to be a promising playoff team or LA to get a FA to just come. The only way I can see us being a player in FA if Lauri and Coby blow up next year. Otherwise we'll have a repeat of last year.

The Net and Clippers weren't teams stocked with young exciting talent. They were teams that barely eeked into the playoffs with guys that just looked like a good group of role players. Probably the best thing Chicago could do is change its perception across the league and try to become a premier high class organization. Spend money, go all in on winning, do things to make the brand attractive. You've seen other teams find success doing that, and Chicago has the market to pull that off if ownership committed to it (which we know they won't, which is sad).

[DASMACKDOWN]

The Bubble is also showing how important the actual home court advantage is as well.

The home team uplifts the players. Role players tend to play better, road teams tend to play worse.

For instance if this wore a normal scenario, most likely...

Philly wouldnt have been swept.
Toronto probably prevails against the Celtics in game 7.
Denver certainly wouldnt have come back twice down 3-1
Miami probably wouldnt be 10-1 in the playoffs so far.

Its really crazy how the Bubble has changed things.

I hoped for a champion outside of the favorites. 2 are down in the Bucks and Clippers. Now just waiting for the Lakers to go down in flames. But they are probably big favorites now.

[troza]

if miami beats the lakers i will forgive them for their doucheness during the early 2010's

If... that's a big if. But I would love to see Butler with the title. At least one former Bulls for the years we were actually a good team (a rarity since Jordan) be successful would be very nice...

And... if they do win, it will look like what the Bulls did to the Lakers in 91 Although I doubt. The talent level of the Lakers is too big.

i heard the 2004 pistons v lakers analogy on a podcast. lets hope.

I can see why on the Heat side but not on the Lakers side. The Lakers aren't that old and there isn't a feud between Kobe and Shaq. Neither is Davis on the way down and neither will Lebron shoot too much with a low % just because. Yes, I was glad the Lakers lost but that series was lost due to Kobe shooting too much and Shaq not getting enough touches.

[Southpaw]

An underrated part of the Heat success is Jae Crowder. Iguodala got most of the press when the trade happened but Crowder is the one that's helping them more.

The scary thing about the Heat team is they still have internal improvement that they can rely on. Bam would still get better, same with Nunn and Robinson. Special mention to Herro because while he looked shaky creating plays for others earlier, he also did have some nice gems in there, including that nice alley oop pass to Bam.

Another one is they can always sign a top flight FA because they're the Heat and they have Pat.

With Jimmy and Spo and Pat leading them and as long as they buy in, they'd be damn good.

[Ice Man]

An underrated part of the Heat success is Jae Crowder. Iguodala got most of the press when the trade happened but Crowder is the one that helping them more..

Iggy, to be honest, has been bad. There's a reason why Spo didn't even put him on the court in the second half yesterday. But Crowder has been a godsend. He knocked the Heat's year-long starter, Meyers Leonard, completely out of the rotation. And with good reason. Crowder has been playing like a borderline All Star during the playoffs. What a find he has been.

[Southpaw]

An underrated part of the Heat success is Jae Crowder. Iguodala got most of the press when the trade happened but Crowder is the one that helping them more..

Iggy, to be honest, has been bad. There's a reason why Spo didn't even put him on the court in the second half yesterday. But Crowder has been a godsend. He knocked the Heat's year-long starter, Meyers Leonard, completely out of the rotation. And with good reason. Crowder has been playing like a borderline All Star during the playoffs. What a find he has been.

Agreed, and it's not suprising because Iggy is already 36, he's lost a lot of his atlheticism too. Crowder has been forgotten because he hasn't been a great fit on his previous stops but he's always been a nice 3nD roleplayer who can play bigger than he is.

[Dresden]

Miami just out works teams. They will grind you to submission, crazy fight in them.

And that's saying a lot, because the Celtics are also a team that seems to play hard, all the time.

They are playing hard on talent but not as a team.

To that point, it's being reported that Marcus Smart had a meltdown in the locker room afterwards- throwing things, screaming that people had to be held accountable, almost fighting with Jaylen Brown. I've watched a fair amount of the Celtics this year because my roommate is from Boston, and overall, they look like a team that is very well coached, and plays good team ball- very unselfish, everyone knowing their role. So it's odd seeing them up against a team that seems to be outdoing them in those areas, and the Celtics falling apart a bit in the process.

Marcus Smart does seem like a bit of a loose cannon. He's great when he's got that energy focused, but he can also go off the rails at time, and be a hindrance. He didn't have a particularly strong game last night. It will be interesting to see how the Celtics respond.

[Dresden]

Jimmy Butler continues to come through with big plays when his team needs him the most. Those two steals he had in the last 4 minutes of the game were so huge. To not only get a turnover, but easy points on the other end- that's just a dagger in a tight ball game. If Jaylen Brown doesn't hit those back to back 3's, the Heat would have won easily.

Jimmy just has a knack for doing what's needed, and you don't see a lot of guys who can come up big in critical moments as often as he seems to.

[MrSparkle]

So if Hayward returns by game 3 or 4, I think he’ll atleast be a boost for their bench. Plus some motivation after the Smart outburst. I think BOS takes g3.

[Dresden]

So if Hayward returns by game 3 or 4, I think he’ll atleast be a boost for their bench. Plus some motivation after the Smart outburst. I think BOS takes g3.

He could be the spark they need. On the other hand, he might come back rusty and not in great shape. But I'd bet BOS wins game 3, too. The teams are pretty evenly matched, and BOS is bound to win a few of these tight games. I still think it could go 6 or 7.

At first, I thought BOS was the far better team, and MIA just got fortunate winning game 1. But after game 2, I'm come around on MIA- they are a well balanced team with a lot of very good role players, and a few stars- Butler, Goran and Bam all played just as good, if not better than Jaylen, Kemba and Tatum.

Goran has been more consistent and reliable so far than Kemba, and Bam gives MIA a big edge in the paint. On top of that, MIA has the better 3 point shooters, although BOS did outshoot them last game. But over the course of the series, I'd give MIA an edge in that dept. They need Dragic to keep scoring as efficiently as he has, although Jimmy Butler certainly could take up some of the slack should Dragic go cold.

[Jeffster81]

if miami beats the lakers i will forgive them for their doucheness during the early 2010's

I know the Lakers have James and Davis but they still feel beatable especially with no HCA. The last duo who felt unbeatable was Shaq/Kobe.

If I never see another Lakers or Celtics title, I could die a happy man.

[jc23]

if miami beats the lakers i will forgive them for their doucheness during the early 2010's

I know the Lakers have James and Davis but they still feel beatable especially with no HCA. The last duo who felt unbeatable was Shaq/Kobe.

If I never see another Lakers or Celtics title, I could die a happy man.

One thing is for sure, the lakers will not see a good defensive team until they make it to the finals. Portland was god awful, the Rockets let the lakers stroll into the paint and Denver's best player is a defensive liability. Although Denver plays together and with heart but still not on the level of miami or boston's defense.

[MrSparkle]

if miami beats the lakers i will forgive them for their doucheness during the early 2010's

I know the Lakers have James and Davis but they still feel beatable especially with no HCA. The last duo who felt unbeatable was Shaq/Kobe.

If I never see another Lakers or Celtics title, I could die a happy man.

One thing is for sure, the lakers will not see a good defensive team until they make it to the finals. Portland was god awful, the Rockets let the lakers stroll into the paint and Denver's best player is a defensive liability. Although Denver plays together and with heart but still not on the level of miami or boston's defense.

This is true.

[kodo]

The Bubble is also showing how important the actual home court advantage is as well.

For sure. And one of the teams most reliant on HCA was Milwaukee. They're 30-5 at home, that's where the bulk of their wins come from. They're 26-12 without HCA. MIL was very mediocre during the entire bubble.

The only other team that relied on HCA more than MIL was Philly.
The WC team most reliant on HCA was LAC.

All these teams are getting hammered by fans & the media and Philly is already starting major changes. I think the narrative would have changed significantly in a normal, non-bubble playoffs with HCA.

[R3AL1TY]

Goran Dragic deserves a good amount of credit for the Heats' success too. He's been a reliable scorer, especially on nights where Jimmy is mainly focused on passing and defending. And for the previous 2 seasons, Dragic was part of a number of trade rumors. The Heats surely look smart for keeping him now.

[Jcool0]

The Bubble is also showing how important the actual home court advantage is as well.

For sure. And one of the teams most reliant on HCA was Milwaukee. They're 30-5 at home, that's where the bulk of their wins come from. They're 26-12 without HCA. MIL was very mediocre during the entire bubble.

The only other team that relied on HCA more than MIL was Philly.
The WC team most reliant on HCA was LAC.

All these teams are getting hammered by fans & the media and Philly is already starting major changes. I think the narrative would have changed significantly in a normal, non-bubble playoffs with HCA.

26-12 is 68% win percentage. How is that mediocre?

[TheStig]

I think that's more personal preference. Both have been on teams that have struggled and succeeded in the post season. My point though was I'd rather have a middling playoff team and try to tinker around it than try to acquire a gazillion 20's picks.

I would bet at least 3 of those picks end up being lottery picks. I agree that if they're all 20s picks it isn't so exciting, but the counter point is after these trades their team improved. They're still a middling playoff team. Going into this year, there is no reason to project them as worse than if they had not made these trades. They performed better in both the regular season and playoffs last year than the two previous years.

Well luckily we have history to prove that those extra few wins didn't help us. Gar even came out and said that he knew we wouldn't be players in FA and acquired Porter for that reason. I think it's safe to say that with 5-7 less wins, we'd have the same luck. You've got to be a promising playoff team or LA to get a FA to just come. The only way I can see us being a player in FA if Lauri and Coby blow up next year. Otherwise we'll have a repeat of last year.

The Net and Clippers weren't teams stocked with young exciting talent. They were teams that barely eeked into the playoffs with guys that just looked like a good group of role players. Probably the best thing Chicago could do is change its perception across the league and try to become a premier high class organization. Spend money, go all in on winning, do things to make the brand attractive. You've seen other teams find success doing that, and Chicago has the market to pull that off if ownership committed to it (which we know they won't, which is sad).

Eh, I think maybe 1 or 2 become late lotto picks. Nothing to get excited about and I'd rather be the team that has the star.

I can't see that happening before the next big FA class after this upcoming season. I have faith that AK can undue the damage of the GarPax reigme and become the face of the franchise but I think their is still going to be some resentment around the reinsdorfs and he shouldn't speed things along too quick. I think the guy is excellent at drafting and should take a couple of years worth of picks (at least this year and next year) before trying to push it along. I think he's got some nice pieces in Coby, Zach and Lauri. Just not sure how they fit together. But I want for him to take some time and not rush into 2021 FA where he will get crushed like we usually do.

[DASMACKDOWN]

32 free throws at the half for Lakers? Cmon son

[wonderboy2]

The Denver Nuggets have 2 problems. Lakers have to much size for them. Also Denver lacks shot makers besides Murray.