Around the League: 2024-25 Season

[RookieStar]

Lol.. this season is really a WHAT IF... due to our injuries

[CZ Eddie]

Lol.. this season is really a WHAT IF... due to our injuries

WHAT IF...

I'll tell you WHAT IF.
As aggressive as play has been in these playoffs this year, our Suggs would be leaving black eyes and broken bones in his wake as he dominates the court. Mr Football!

[Optimus_Steel]

With these playoff flameouts happening i think its clear its going to be a busy trading season…

[RookieStar]

Lol.. this season is really a WHAT IF... due to our injuries

WHAT IF...

I'll tell you WHAT IF.
As aggressive as play has been in these playoffs this year, our Suggs would be leaving black eyes and broken bones in his wake as he dominates the court. Mr Football!

Yeah... the "untouchable" powerhouses BOS and CLE are being exposed and those doing the exposing are being beaten by us

[BadMofoPimp]

With Suggs and Moe, this team could have given any team in the East a run in a series.

[Bensational]

I wonder if Cleveland want to keep paying for that team if their ceiling is a 2nd round beatdown, or if they start to flip key pieces this offseason?

[eyriq]

I wonder if Cleveland want to keep paying for that team if their ceiling is a 2nd round beatdown, or if they start to flip key pieces this offseason?

Hopefully start flipping

[basketballRob]

I wonder if Cleveland want to keep paying for that team if their ceiling is a 2nd round beatdown, or if they start to flip key pieces this offseason?

Hopefully start flipping

It's really hard for them to even make trades.

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[basketballRob]

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[pepe1991]

Refs this year in playoffs allow way more physicality than in past 10 years. Amount of pushing, holding, contact in general went way up. That's why so many teams can't shoot 3s, they get tired from all the physicality.

[Ducklett]

Has there been a bigger letdown than the Cavs?

[pepe1991]

Has there been a bigger letdown than the Cavs?

I mean they were without 3/7 rotation players for first two games. Lost both in a ways only 3 teams in history lost ( among 1673 teams/games)- and they did it twice in back to back games ( at least 7 points lead with less than 60 sec to play ).

Being 2-0, with banged up roster, going on a road, against very strange team is always hard. Even if Nuggets made their FTA & didn't collapse in 4th, last night would probably be end of a road for OKC as well.
There is strong possibility that Celtics won't pass ( i still think they will ).

If anything, playoffs show how narrow realistic championship window actually is. You get 3-4 years, but due multiple outside factors, your objective chance to win is often 0-1 times.

Also some of a credit has to be given to Pacers. They are unorthodox team that is "zagging" their build up.

Their starting 5 is defacto:
PG
PG
SG
PF
C

Off bench they bring PG, SG, SG & PF. It's crazy, they pretty much have no backup big, they don't have single traditional SF on roster. Their "small forwards" are Mathurin who is like 6'5 & Nesmith who is like 6'5 at most.
Jarace Walker when goes in, plays PF with his 6'6.

They are very small team but their pace is brutal. They continue to go at you, you score, turn head, they are already on other side attacking you.
They shoot lights out from pretty much all spots & positions.

And above all else, there is something to be said about Siakam. Guy is role model of consistency and great value. 20-7-3 guy, 60% TS, plays better in playoffs, elite defense, reliable shooter, reliable mid range. We often talk how Butler is floor raise, Siakam is one as well.
Once you go to ECF in back to back years, it stops being coincidence. Something that they are doing is simply working. Is that pace, depth, not being top heavy, having 5 guards on a floor at once? Who knows. Probably mix of all. But Pacers are simply good team.

[Skybox]

Refs this year in playoffs allow way more physicality than in past 10 years. Amount of pushing, holding, contact in general went way up. That's why so many teams can't shoot 3s, they get tired from all the physicality.

I recognize that and say "ORL is built for that" but I also fear that we're TOO built for that and one call from Silver to the head of officials this summer could make ORL hopeless. Our guards would simply not be allowed to play defense the way they do and there's not much offense to go with it.

Irony is Paolo is very dependent on drawing fouls (like most big scorers) but, imo, he really does get hit constantly...he's not flopping and flailing his hands around - he's really taking shots from 2 guys on nearly every drive (foul called or not). For all of his "physicality", I don't think he uses all of the "tricks" of Harden or Tatum or Luka or Kawhi to make space for shots...his turnaround from midrange (his bread and butter) is more like Dirk - leaning away than putting his shoulder into guys...Paolo still has a lot of room to improve his subtle stuff and that should be scary to the rest of the league.

I think it was Tim Legler saying that Giddey has learned how to seek contact with his shoulder (to make space) and that's what has taken his scoring to another level this season.

[Last Guardian]

With Suggs and Moe, this team could have given any team in the East a run in a series.

Yes, but that is also part of the problem. We need everyone 100% healthy and playing well to have a chance. We have zero room for error offensively.

[Idiosyncratic]

Has there been a bigger letdown than the Cavs?

I mean they were without 3/7 rotation players for first two games. Lost both in a ways only 3 teams in history lost ( among 1673 teams/games)- and they did it twice in back to back games ( at least 7 points lead with less than 60 sec to play ).

Being 2-0, with banged up roster, going on a road, against very strange team is always hard. Even if Nuggets made their FTA & didn't collapse in 4th, last night would probably be end of a road for OKC as well.
There is strong possibility that Celtics won't pass ( i still think they will ).

If anything, playoffs show how narrow realistic championship window actually is. You get 3-4 years, but due multiple outside factors, your objective chance to win is often 0-1 times.

Also some of a credit has to be given to Pacers. They are unorthodox team that is "zagging" their build up.

Their starting 5 is defacto:
PG
PG
SG
PF
C

Off bench they bring PG, SG, SG & PF. It's crazy, they pretty much have no backup big, they don't have single traditional SF on roster. Their "small forwards" are Mathurin who is like 6'5 & Nesmith who is like 6'5 at most.
Jarace Walker when goes in, plays PF with his 6'6.

They are very small team but their pace is brutal. They continue to go at you, you score, turn head, they are already on other side attacking you.
They shoot lights out from pretty much all spots & positions.

And above all else, there is something to be said about Siakam. Guy is role model of consistency and great value. 20-7-3 guy, 60% TS, plays better in playoffs, elite defense, reliable shooter, reliable mid range. We often talk how Butler is floor raise, Siakam is one as well.
Once you go to ECF in back to back years, it stops being coincidence. Something that they are doing is simply working. Is that pace, depth, not being top heavy, having 5 guards on a floor at once? Who knows. Probably mix of all. But Pacers are simply good team.

I think they are also just way better than their record and net rating says. They were a bad team to start the year when Haliburton was dealing with the injury. I think Nesmith and Mathurin also both missed most of November. I believe they finished the season like 40-17. 2-1 against the Celtics 3-1 against the Cavs in the regular season (now 6-2 against the Cavs) . They are just legitimately a top tier team when healthy.

Siakam is extremely underrated, should be borderline All-NBA IMO. Not many 3/4s were better than him this year. They also just have tons of playable depth they can throw at you.

Edit* Nembhard not Mathurin I meant missed most of November.

[JoshuaPotter]

Pacers doing so well thus far wasn't on my bingo card.

Too bad about the Cavs. Great team. Too many injuries.

[Last Guardian]

I don't know what would be crazier...Indy or Wolves winning it all. Neither team even remotely considered at the start of the year. It will probably still be an OKC-BOS finals but honestly...I'm rooting for the Wolves!

[Fortune Teller]

Has there been a bigger letdown than the Cavs?

I mean they were without 3/7 rotation players for first two games. Lost both in a ways only 3 teams in history lost ( among 1673 teams/games)- and they did it twice in back to back games ( at least 7 points lead with less than 60 sec to play ).

Being 2-0, with banged up roster, going on a road, against very strange team is always hard. Even if Nuggets made their FTA & didn't collapse in 4th, last night would probably be end of a road for OKC as well.
There is strong possibility that Celtics won't pass ( i still think they will ).

If anything, playoffs show how narrow realistic championship window actually is. You get 3-4 years, but due multiple outside factors, your objective chance to win is often 0-1 times.

Also some of a credit has to be given to Pacers. They are unorthodox team that is "zagging" their build up.

Their starting 5 is defacto:
PG
PG
SG
PF
C

Off bench they bring PG, SG, SG & PF. It's crazy, they pretty much have no backup big, they don't have single traditional SF on roster. Their "small forwards" are Mathurin who is like 6'5 & Nesmith who is like 6'5 at most.
Jarace Walker when goes in, plays PF with his 6'6.

They are very small team but their pace is brutal. They continue to go at you, you score, turn head, they are already on other side attacking you.
They shoot lights out from pretty much all spots & positions.

And above all else, there is something to be said about Siakam. Guy is role model of consistency and great value. 20-7-3 guy, 60% TS, plays better in playoffs, elite defense, reliable shooter, reliable mid range. We often talk how Butler is floor raise, Siakam is one as well.
Once you go to ECF in back to back years, it stops being coincidence. Something that they are doing is simply working. Is that pace, depth, not being top heavy, having 5 guards on a floor at once? Who knows. Probably mix of all. But Pacers are simply good team.

I've been a big fan of this Pacers build for a while. They are a small-market team that isn't afraid to make moves. The Magic's front office should look at Indy as a model, rather than trying to copy the Presti blueprint. You can't build a team like Presti unless you can draft as well as Presti, and Jeff isn't there. Presti pulls Jalen Williams at #12, Jeff pulls Jett Howard at #11. Just too many misses and no sense for when to move off mistakes.

The Pacers made the "big move" that Orlando will have to make if it wants to reach the next level -- they traded a young star in Sabonis for a championship piece in Haliburton. Then they added Siakam, a proven winner and low-maintenance star who can do a little bit of everything (contrast that with blowing your cap space on a one-dimensional piece like KCP).

Even though the East gets dragged for not being as tough as the West, the truth is that Indy is better than a typical 4-seed and has a top-3 coach in Carlisle.

[RookieStar]

It must really sucks... to have that incredible RS record only to fold in the PO due to injuries.

[Optimus_Steel]

Tatum sure takes alot of bad shots