NBA Games Discussion Thread - Part 4

[FAH1223]

Before too long Tatum will be better than Hayward ever was.

Not knocking Hayward because I really like him, but Tatum's got unreal talent, size, atleticism

Yup. Jaylen Brown also looks a lot better than he did in the Eastern Conference Finals.

If Tatum and Brown can play good defense, they'll be fine. They both look like they can create off the bounce for themselves.

Watching the Warriors ring ceremony... it's like, we may as well schedule their ceremony for a year from now.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Before too long Tatum will be better than Hayward ever was.

Not knocking Hayward because I really like him, but Tatum's got unreal talent, size, atleticism

LSBF, I didn't want to say it but I think he already is as good or better..

When Dwyane Wade was a rookie no one knew how good he was. It became apparent pretty quickly. The same as going to be true for Tatum.

From what I saw of him at Duke that he was already better physically than Gordon Hayward. I predicted he would be the best player out of this draft.

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[Kanyewest]

I do think Hayward was due for a career year especially since he reunited with his former coach from Butler. It really sucks for him. Hopefully he can make a comeback similar to what Paul George did a few seasons ago when he broke his leg with the US National team.

[BearlyBallin]

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Nick Young having fun in his first game as a warrior. Still another half to play too lol.

[Sluggerface]

Never want to see an injury like that. I think Hayward will come back in a year. Wish him a speedy recovery. Remember Bernard King....yes, I am dating myself... but he had a knee injury, ACL, and a broken leg. He was out for over a year. They didnt think he would ever come back from it, but he ended up being very good for the Bullets after we took a chance on him. Yes, he lost a step, and there were things he couldnt do anymore. But still, he had a very good career after the injury.
Edit: forgot to mention...when I saw Hayward go up for that block, I instantly thought of Bernard King going for the block and getting injured almost the same kind of way.

It was one of the most unfortunate injuries ever. If the Celtics win this game it will be interesting to see if the Celtics can still be an elite team.

There's no way they can. It'd be like if one of Wall or Beal went out for the season for us. They just don't have anyone that can remotely replace Haywards level of production. They were lucky to even be hanging with Cleveland at the end. 23 shots for Brown? 16 for Smart? That's a nightmare. Kyrie is going to have to put up a Westbrookesque usage rating for this roster to work, or Ainge needs to bite bullet and cash out on his last lottery pick to bring in a stabilizer.

[zero2hero]

The Cavs are not a good defensive team.

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Not only has their defense shown the same issues from last year (slow closeouts/no hustle on defensive fastbreaks), but their second unit is absolutely putrid. Lue has to be trolling right? Yeah, lets put all the ISO-scorers from the bench on the floor at the same time - sounds great. Lue needs to man up to Lebron and put his pal Wade on the second unit

[closg00]

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Nick Young having fun in his first game as a warrior. Still another half to play too lol.

Ridiculous shooting from Swaggy last night, but he was -10 while on the floor.

[nate33]

Very interesting game between the Rockets and Warriors. The Warriors were significantly better when the starters were on the floor, but their bench got crushed. Houston uses just an 8-man rotation and keeps two among Chris Paul, James Harden and Eric Gordon on the floor at all times. It's basically an elite backcourt on the floor for 48 minutes every night. They also have PJ Tucker and Mbah a Moute coming off the bench. Both of those guys could start on a dozen teams. They also have Nene (who didn't play), who is as good as a starter for limited minutes as long as he is healthy and rested.

Houston is going to victimize the 2nd units of most other teams. With that depth, I suspect Houston will finish with a dominant regular season record assuming they stay healthy. I'm not sure they'll be as successful in the playoffs though. Depth means much less when teams are playing starters for 38-44 minutes instead of 32-35.

[nate33]

Cleveland looks pretty beatable at the moment. Their starting backcourt of Wade and Rose is awful at both ends of the floor. Lebron had to play 41 minutes for them to win at home against a Boston team who got 141 minutes out of players aged 23 or younger, including 37 minutes from a 19-year-old.

I think they'd be better off starting JR Smith over Wade. Hell, I'd probably start Shumpert too. That allows him to play alongside Lebron a lot more so Lebron can handle PG duties with Shumpert harassing the opposition's PG. Let Rose and Wade use their old man tricks against inferior second unit defenders.

[Rafael122]

If Wittman were coaching here still, I would say there's no chance the Wiz would make it to the East Finals but with the talent we have and the coaching staff I honestly think we have a great chance at beating Cleveland, especially now with Hayward out.

Boston - they lost all their depth, their rebounding or lack thereof was an issue even before Gordon went down. It's hard to pinpoint where I'd put them, I definitely think they make the playoffs but they're probably a 5th or 6th seed at this point.

Cleveland - like Nate said, Wade and Rose are awful and can't be on the floor at the same time. They just look old.

[Mojo Amok]

I was watching the Cavs-Celtics game, but the feed cut out for the portion where Hayward went down. There was a pall over that crowd when I got back in, so I knew something was up, but the first picture I saw of the injury looked inconclusive as I thought that his shoe had come off and I had a bad angle. It was only some time later that I realized his foot was still in the shoe. *emojiofunrelentingwoe*

Terrible for Hayward and I feel bad for everyone on that team too.

This Cavs Celts game has turned really good. Man, the Celts have sooo much young talent.

Wiz are light years behind both of these squads.

Might be true with the Cavs, but I really can't see it for Boston. Maybe in the long run, but Tatum and Brown have one year of NBA experience between them and will almost assuredly be making constant, exploitable mistakes as they feel their way into their roles. Talent that young just doesn't historically translate into NBA wins.

A totally unreasonable amount of weight is now on Kyrie's shoulders and it's unclear if he really has the stamina to carry that over 82 games as an A list fill-er'upper.

All told, the Raptors and Bucks should be a bigger threat than the Celtics this year. Celts are more likely to miss the playoffs than win 50 games, IMO. Not that they're particularly likely to miss the playoffs without another injury, but it's just really hard to see that roster winning consistently right now.

[NatP4]

Cleveland looks pretty beatable at the moment. Their starting backcourt of Wade and Rose is awful at both ends of the floor. Lebron had to play 41 minutes for them to win at home against a Boston team who got 141 minutes out of players aged 23 or younger, including 37 minutes from a 19-year-old.

I think they'd be better off starting JR Smith over Wade. Hell, I'd probably start Shumpert too. That allows him to play alongside Lebron a lot more so Lebron can handle PG duties with Shumpert harassing the opposition's PG. Let Rose and Wade use their old man tricks against inferior second unit defenders.

That is without Isaiah Thomas and the player they will be trading the Brooklyn pick for.

[zero2hero]

Cleveland looks pretty beatable at the moment. Their starting backcourt of Wade and Rose is awful at both ends of the floor. Lebron had to play 41 minutes for them to win at home against a Boston team who got 141 minutes out of players aged 23 or younger, including 37 minutes from a 19-year-old.

I think they'd be better off starting JR Smith over Wade. Hell, I'd probably start Shumpert too. That allows him to play alongside Lebron a lot more so Lebron can handle PG duties with Shumpert harassing the opposition's PG. Let Rose and Wade use their old man tricks against inferior second unit defenders.

Assuming Lue isn't trolling, I'd imagine they would move Rose and/or Wade to the second unit once IT gets healthy. I can understand they idea of adding Wade to the starting lineup - they want to minimize the amount of playmaking Lebron has to do to keep him fresh for the playoffs. But I agree, I don't think Wade and Rose starting alongside Lebron is going to be sustainable for them going forward

[nate33]

Cleveland looks pretty beatable at the moment. Their starting backcourt of Wade and Rose is awful at both ends of the floor. Lebron had to play 41 minutes for them to win at home against a Boston team who got 141 minutes out of players aged 23 or younger, including 37 minutes from a 19-year-old.

I think they'd be better off starting JR Smith over Wade. Hell, I'd probably start Shumpert too. That allows him to play alongside Lebron a lot more so Lebron can handle PG duties with Shumpert harassing the opposition's PG. Let Rose and Wade use their old man tricks against inferior second unit defenders.

That is without Isaiah Thomas and the player they will be trading the Brooklyn pick for.

True. There is no question they'll be much better when they get Isaiah back. That's why I said "at the moment".

[JWizmentality]

Have a feeling this season will be a reminder that a Kyrie lead team goes nowhere.

[FAH1223]

Have a feeling this season will be a reminder that a Kyrie lead team goes nowhere.

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Jeremy Lin's career might be finished.

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[Meliorus]

Haha this is why Cleveland just can't be good. Look at that box score. Lebron is 6-8. Rest of team is 2-19. Wizards have no excuse not to win the East. The competition is pathetic at best. Wade and Calderon/Rose as your starting backcourt?

Mid-range jumpers all day. Shoot them all you want Cleveland.

[mhd]

Toronto looks very solid. Their home court is very strong. I expect them to win the Atlantic easily with Hayward out.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Haha this is why Cleveland just can't be good. Look at that box score. Lebron is 6-8. Rest of team is 2-19. Wizards have no excuse not to win the East. The competition is pathetic at best. Wade and Calderon/Rose as your starting backcourt?

Mid-range jumpers all day. Shoot them all you want Cleveland.

They will get Lil’ IT back though.