NBA Games Discussion Thread - Part 5

[dobrojim]

Immediate impact, the Spurs may be back in title contention during Wembanya's rookie contract.

Didn't watch the whole game the other night on TNT, but I wasn't that impressed by VW in that game
in the part I did watch. edit to add - Now seeing the highlights posted above. Pretty surprised the Spurs came back
and won. They looked like trash in the first half. I shoulda kept watching.

Last night Holmgren looked pretty good though.

[nate33]

Man, Wemby had 38 and 10 last night. Phoenix tried going small against them and it was a total joke. It's real hard to front a post entry pass when it's a 6'-7" guy fronting a 7'-5" guy. He also hit three 3-pointers, and a few midrange jumpers. With his midrange jumper, he has the ability to catch it high and wind up to shoot it high, without ever bringing the ball down to his chest. He can just shoot right over people even if they're guarding him pretty close. It reminds me a bit of Porzingis - Porzingis with a 10-foot standing reach, that is.

[doclinkin]

Man, Wemby had 38 and 10 last night. Phoenix tried going small against them and it was a total joke. It's real hard to front a post entry pass when it's a 6'-7" guy fronting a 7'-5" guy. He also hit three 3-pointers, and a few midrange jumpers. With his midrange jumper, he has the ability to catch it high and wind up to shoot it high, without ever bringing the ball down to his chest. He can just shoot right over people even if they're guarding him pretty close. It reminds me a bit of Porzingis - Porzingis with a 10-foot standing reach, that is.

Having a Wemby-counter will be key. I get the sense contenders will start to overpay for them. We do seem to see more unicorn types coming out of the draft. Looks like we just recruited ours in John Butler. PBJ maybe. Hopefully we get one who can play.

Me I'll keep touting players like Derek Lively etc in the draft as long mobile defenders, plus big bodied bangers with good hands like Zach Edey. Ever since the defensive rules tightened up it seems to me there is room again for tall interior players who can exploit aerial passing lanes. And tall passers who can dump it in to them. Better still if that big can see over defenses, pass well, and is a threat above the free throw line. Jokic basically.

But yeah, that's all you need. Jokic and Wemby. We'd be unstoppable.

[pcbothwel]

Man, Wemby had 38 and 10 last night. Phoenix tried going small against them and it was a total joke. It's real hard to front a post entry pass when it's a 6'-7" guy fronting a 7'-5" guy. He also hit three 3-pointers, and a few midrange jumpers. With his midrange jumper, he has the ability to catch it high and wind up to shoot it high, without ever bringing the ball down to his chest. He can just shoot right over people even if they're guarding him pretty close. It reminds me a bit of Porzingis - Porzingis with a 10-foot standing reach, that is.

Having a Wemby-counter will be key. I get the sense contenders will start to overpay for them. We do seem to see more unicorn types coming out of the draft. Looks like we just recruited ours in John Butler. PBJ maybe. Hopefully we get one who can play.

Me I'll keep touting players like Derek Lively etc in the draft as long mobile defenders, plus big bodied bangers with good hands like Zach Edey. Ever since the defensive rules tightened up it seems to me there is room again for tall interior players who can exploit aerial passing lanes. And tall passers who can dump it in to them. Better still if that big can see over defenses, pass well, and is a threat above the free throw line. Jokic basically.

But yeah, that's all you need. Jokic and Wemby. We'd be unstoppable.

Draft Sarr and Edey...Im not kidding.

[doclinkin]

Man, Wemby had 38 and 10 last night. Phoenix tried going small against them and it was a total joke. It's real hard to front a post entry pass when it's a 6'-7" guy fronting a 7'-5" guy. He also hit three 3-pointers, and a few midrange jumpers. With his midrange jumper, he has the ability to catch it high and wind up to shoot it high, without ever bringing the ball down to his chest. He can just shoot right over people even if they're guarding him pretty close. It reminds me a bit of Porzingis - Porzingis with a 10-foot standing reach, that is.

Having a Wemby-counter will be key. I get the sense contenders will start to overpay for them. We do seem to see more unicorn types coming out of the draft. Looks like we just recruited ours in John Butler. PBJ maybe. Hopefully we get one who can play.

Me I'll keep touting players like Derek Lively etc in the draft as long mobile defenders, plus big bodied bangers with good hands like Zach Edey. Ever since the defensive rules tightened up it seems to me there is room again for tall interior players who can exploit aerial passing lanes. And tall passers who can dump it in to them. Better still if that big can see over defenses, pass well, and is a threat above the free throw line. Jokic basically.

But yeah, that's all you need. Jokic and Wemby. We'd be unstoppable.

Draft Sarr and Edey...Im not kidding.

I'm looking at Edey and Almansa, but any combination of the above. Whatever the lack of jaw-dropping talent of the top of the lotto, to me this draft looks interestingly deep.

[9 and 20]

Not gonna lie, I'm kinda happy for the league and the fans that the NBA screwed us out of Wembanyama. Pretty sure we'd have messed him up somehow. Glad he ended up with Pop.

Also, I take it as a fact that we were screwed out winning the lottery.

[Kanyewest]

Not gonna lie, I'm kinda happy for the league and the fans that the NBA screwed us out of Wembanyama. Pretty sure we'd have messed him up somehow. Glad he ended up with Pop.

Also, I take it as a fact that we were screwed out winning the lottery.

Definition of Stockholm syndrome.

[9 and 20]

Watching Bucks-Knicks - I'm happy for Dame and for the Bucks. I'm also happy the Heat didn't land Lillard. And last random comment on this game - Lillard is much, much better than Beal.

[closg00]

Man, Wemby had 38 and 10 last night. Phoenix tried going small against them and it was a total joke. It's real hard to front a post entry pass when it's a 6'-7" guy fronting a 7'-5" guy. He also hit three 3-pointers, and a few midrange jumpers. With his midrange jumper, he has the ability to catch it high and wind up to shoot it high, without ever bringing the ball down to his chest. He can just shoot right over people even if they're guarding him pretty close. It reminds me a bit of Porzingis - Porzingis with a 10-foot standing reach, that is.

Having a Wemby-counter will be key. I get the sense contenders will start to overpay for them. We do seem to see more unicorn types coming out of the draft. Looks like we just recruited ours in John Butler. PBJ maybe. Hopefully we get one who can play.

Me I'll keep touting players like Derek Lively etc in the draft as long mobile defenders, plus big bodied bangers with good hands like Zach Edey. Ever since the defensive rules tightened up it seems to me there is room again for tall interior players who can exploit aerial passing lanes. And tall passers who can dump it in to them. Better still if that big can see over defenses, pass well, and is a threat above the free throw line. Jokic basically.

But yeah, that's all you need. Jokic and Wemby. We'd be unstoppable.

I-too was for drafting Lively, not only as a legit swing, but also as self-defense against the Wemby era. Hell, I thought it would take Wemby a couple of years to adjust but DAMN, he could be the most dominant player for the next 2 decades

[badinage]

Not gonna lie, I'm kinda happy for the league and the fans that the NBA screwed us out of Wembanyama. Pretty sure we'd have messed him up somehow. Glad he ended up with Pop.

Also, I take it as a fact that we were screwed out winning the lottery.

I think this earns you a permanent ban from the board. Say wha—?!?!?

[AFM]

Agreed. We banned HOF poster hands11 for far less.

[nate33]

Those Phoenix pick swaps are looking better and better. Phoenix lost again and is now 2-4.

[payitforward]

Ahem...

What did I say about Phoenix this year? Did I not say they'd gotten worse not better? Why... yes, yes I did....

They traded away their best player by far, then substituted an inferior player at Center too!

[Kanyewest]

Those Phoenix pick swaps are looking better and better. Phoenix lost again and is now 2-4.

Booker/Beal missed yet another game. I believe they are 1-3 without Booker/Beal and Beal hasn't played for the entire season. Nick Nurse was easily able to game plan around that. If Booker/Beal continue to miss games like this, then they might not even make the playoffs.

[Doug_Blew]

Those Phoenix pick swaps are looking better and better. Phoenix lost again and is now 2-4.

Aren't there 3 teams involved in the pick swap this year? The Wiz, Suns and ?

[nate33]

Those Phoenix pick swaps are looking better and better. Phoenix lost again and is now 2-4.

Aren't there 3 teams involved in the pick swap this year? The Wiz, Suns and ?

Yes, the other team is Memphis, but their involvement is irrelevant to us.

We get the unconditional right to swap our pick with that Phoenix pick. If the situation turns out that we don't desire a swap (presumably because our own pick is higher), then Memphis has the right to swap their pick with Phoenix.

The interesting thing is, as Doc has pointed out, the pick swap decision takes place AFTER the lottery, which means that it can help us even if Phoenix finishes in the lottery but well ahead of us in the standings.

Let's assume we end up as the third highest ranking in the lottery drawing, and Phoenix barely misses the playoffs and finishes with, say, the 12th highest lottery ranking. We would would end up with enough lotto balls to have a 14% chance at the #1 overall pick. Phoenix would have enough lotto balls for a 1.5% chance at the #1 pick. But if they actually land the #1 pick, it becomes ours. So effectively, we have a 15.5% chance of the #1 overall pick. We basically get to add their lotto balls to ours.

[doclinkin]

Those Phoenix pick swaps are looking better and better. Phoenix lost again and is now 2-4.

Aren't there 3 teams involved in the pick swap this year? The Wiz, Suns and ?

Yes, the other team is Memphis, but their involvement is irrelevant to us.

4 teams really. In the scenario that we go on our usually inevitable late-season run and somehow this time make the play-offs, we will give our pick to the Knicks.

The fun thing is that the bottom 3 teams have the same number of lotto combinations in the current post play-in configuration of the draw. The rule changes they implemented to prevent tanking end up working in our favor. If PHX misses the playoffs and we finish in the bottom 3, we have an edge on our tank competition. That way unless another cellar dweller also has someone else's lotto picks, nobody has a greater chance than we would. For four of the next 6 years.

Sadly Cooper Flagg reclassified to 2025 so we don't get extra picks in his draft year. But maybe Alijah Arenas reclassifies to 2026 and we get a legacy Hibachi.

[closg00]

The Pacers look great early-on, they have a Big -3 in Haliburton, Mathurin, and Turner who they had tried to trade multiple times.

[nate33]

The Pacers look great early-on, they have a Big -3 in Haliburton, Mathurin, and Turner who they had tried to trade multiple times.

It's crazy that Turner is in his 9th season and is still just 27 years old.

[nate33]

Tyrese Haliburton in a win against Philly last night:

33 points on an .817 TS%
15 assists
0 turnovers