NBA Games Discussion Thread - Part 3

Post #961 » by **nate33** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 10:31 pm

Higga wrote:Wall can maybe match Curry.

Curry was MVP, NBA Champion, and should have been the Finals MVP. It's pretty damn hard for me to believe Wall can match that.

Post #962 » by **nate33** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 10:37 pm

Ruzious wrote:In evaluating the finals, I think people have to realize that the finals weren't even close to the best series in the playoffs. Cleveland made the finals against an epically weak East, and playing without 2 of their top 3 players should have made the finals a joke. Quite frankly, GS didn't play anywhere near their best. So making any judgments about how to build the Wiz into a championship caliber team based on that series is a mistake, imo. You do still need quality bigs.

It's pretty easy to forget that Golden State is a fairly young team with limited playoff success. They have 2 starters still on rookie contracts, and a third who just started his second contract (and a rookie coach). I think the fact that they had trouble early on in nearly every series was a reflection of this inexperience, rather than lack of talent. If they stay healthy next year, I expect a poorer regular season performance but a stronger playoff performance as they hone their "killer instinct".

FAH1223 · Post #963 » by **FAH1223** » Thu Jun 18, 2015 12:22 am

tontoz wrote:Game 7 of the Spurs/Clippers series was the best game i have seen in a loooong time.

Yeah. I'd say easily best game of the 2015 playoffs.

The Clippers could have given the Warriors a run but their lack of depth would catch up.

The Spurs were the only team to have a winning record vs GSW this year. Kerr after the game said he was worried about going against SA before the postseason. The problem for SA is that Parker was hobbled and a shell of himself. Ginobili also looked done. But the defense of Green/Leonard against the Splash Bros as well as Diaw's versatility and Duncan's play would have made that a very entertaining Conference Finals.

But alas, we'll never know.

barelyawake · Post #964 » by **barelyawake** » Thu Jun 18, 2015 12:29 am

fishercob wrote:
Severn Hoos wrote:
barelyawake wrote:A) I was really wrong about Curry (thought he would be the best sixth man, but never a star on draft night).
B) Hate LeBron still.
C) I'm more confident we will have the best backcourt in the league next year, and more confident we still need a star big.
D) The Warriors winning playing small ball in the finals was a fluke. Small ball won't win in the upcoming era (nor almost any other previous), and they didn't get there via small ball.
E) Livingston has always been a favorite of mine. I remember an argument five years ago with people saying he was done. He showed great poise and leadership.

A) Check. I didn't see him as a full time PG, but more of a combo guard - which is a dreaded label if ever there was one. Couldn't have been more wrong there.
B) Check.
C) Half a check. Curry by himself would make GS the best in the league, so I think expecting to be The Best is too lofty a goal. Best in the East? Yep. Best under 25/"young" backcourt? Yep. 2nd Best behind GSW? Yep. But Best of the Best? Can't go there yet.
D) Half a check again. I guess it depends on what you consider an "era". I could definitely see it being a primary strategy for much of the league over the next 5 years, for example. Is that an era? I don't know, but it seems like a long time in NBA years. Plus, even if/when the league figures out a counter to smallball (think the NFL & Wildcat or Read-Option), it will still be a case of playing your best players the most minutes. One thing that causes this to fluctuate is the trend of young big guys wanting to be the next Dirk/LeBron/KD, so they are playing more on the perimeter. Then you get into semantics, is KD playing PF at 6'10 really "small ball"?
E) Check. Always liked him, even though he couldn't shoot. After that injury, he's an easy guy to root for and so glad to see him reach the top.

As usual, better said than I could.

Yeah, we aren't that far off in reasoning. I call it a fluke because Golden State would almost never have won in any other year imo, nor any other going forward. AD will become dominant. Cousins will find some teammates. Teams will develop. Other centers will dominate. Other super teams will be created. And Golden State depended on their bigs almost the entire season. And they almost lost in the finals on rebounding. Had Cleveland had more scoring, to go with the rebounding, this series would have been different.

Small ball worked for one series. The lesson should not be that we should try to emulate it (is my point). Just as people used Detriot forever to disprove the rule (rather than simply follow the rule), the goal should still be to get a top five big. AD is the new threat (and there will be others). Decreasingly it is LeBron.

Higga · Post #965 » by **Higga** » Thu Jun 18, 2015 6:08 pm

nate33 wrote:
Higga wrote:Wall can maybe match Curry.

Curry was MVP, NBA Champion, and should have been the Finals MVP. It's pretty damn hard for me to believe Wall can match that.

I have faith in the kid. We saw how dominant he was in the playoffs. And for a large portion of the season he was a near 20/10 a game player. With better teammates(like what Curry has)he could win a league MVP. Its not completely out of the question. He'll never be the shooter Curry is of course.

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #966 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Sat Jun 20, 2015 12:22 am

I_Like_Dirt wrote:
barelyawake wrote:
D) The Warriors winning playing small ball in the finals was a fluke. Small ball won't win in the upcoming era (nor almost any other previous), and they didn't get there via small ball.

I'm not so sure about fluke other than timing. I agree that small ball isn't going to be a thing, but versatility absolutely is. Teams need to be able to play in multiple ways, and the Spurs really pioneered this. The Spurs would often play uptempo against the Suns and beat them at their own game, but then slow it down against other teams. The Warriors are a variation on that same principle. They can play things slower if they absolutely have to; it isn't their preferred scenario, but they can play guys like Bogut, Lee, Speights, etc. and matchup against the likes of Memphis, or they can go small and force teams to match up with them. Teams still need to be able to play big, but really, they need to add as much talent as they can in any form they can, and they really shouldn't be restricting themselves to a certain type of build, and if they have a choice, the ability to be flexible is an advantage.

The Suns could have won years ago playing small ball. The game where Horry took out Steve Nash, and several Suns players were subsequently suspended for leaving the bench, changed the fate of an excellent small ball team.

closg00 · Post #967 » by **closg00** » Sun Jul 5, 2015 9:23 pm

The 2nd day of Summer League is underway, Kaminsky is tearing it up against SL scrubs. With Al Jefferson at C and Kaminsky playing the stretch - 4, maybe the Hornets can make the playoffs this year.

*Nate Wolters is running the Clippers team
*GRJR & Chris Singleton are playing for Orlando
* Orlando has two SL Teams? Blue/White. Interesting

Saturday's games.
MIA 92
IND76

DET 76
ORW 87

ORB 75
LAC 76

CHA 74
OKC 76
http://www.nba.com/gameline/20150704/

Sunday

LAC 69
DET 77

MEM 79
CHA 75

BRK - Playing now
MIA

http://www.nba.com/gameline/20150705/

payitforward · Post #968 » by **payitforward** » Mon Jul 6, 2015 3:02 am

Khem Birch has played 30 minute in the Nets' first 2 games. He has 8 boards, of which 4 are offensive. He's 4-6 from the field and 1-1 from the line. He has 4 blocked shots. 1 TO and 2 total fouls.

He also looks like he's added 10-15 lbs of muscle. Good prospect, IMO.

closg00 · Post #969 » by **closg00** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 2:46 am

Detroit surprises ATL
http://www.nba.com/games/20151027/DETATL/gameinfo.html

Da Bulls beat the Cavs
http://www.nba.com/games/20151027/CLECHI/gameinfo.html

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #970 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 4:06 pm

closg00 wrote:Detroit surprises ATL
http://www.nba.com/games/20151027/DETATL/gameinfo.html

Da Bulls beat the Cavs
http://www.nba.com/games/20151027/CLECHI/gameinfo.html

Detroit could easily finish top 4 in the East, based on their new lineups and SVG coaching. Morris and Ilyasova space things out. Jackson will likely be either most improved and or an all star. I said a while back he will rival Wall. Pistons allowing Monroe to go to Milwaukee is similar to Wizards removing Nene as a starter in favor of a smaller, perimeter oriented PF. It benefits Drummond just like the Wiz are maximizing Gortat's ability as a much better than average C.

Atlanta is way different without Demarre Carroll. Interesting that Kent Bazemore starts and not Tiago Splitter. Also, Lamar Patterson, who I loved at Pitt is slimmer and new to the NBA from playing in Turkey. Watch him. Bet he starts sooner than later. Muscala seems too far down. Shroeder and Teague are both starting PGs. Hawks might win 10-15 fewer games this season, because Korver will be exposed defensively and so will Millsap sans Carroll.

Bulls win bodes very well for Fred Hoiberg. Pau is a beast, and is IMO very near at his peak. Six blocked shots??? Microtic starting but Gibson crashing boards works. Bulls are legit title contenders, with Butler and Rose.

As for Cleveland I think the are better with Thompson and without Love. Lebron having to take a cortisone shot already forebodes possibly injury setback. Cleveland only lost by two in Chicago with Bulls favored.

Warriors waxed Alvin Gentry coached Pelicans. Yeah, Steph Curry is a very good basketball player!

Glad the season has officially begun.

Post #971 » by **LyricalRico** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 9:46 pm

Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:Atlanta is way different without Demarre Carroll. Interesting that Kent Bazemore starts and not Tiago Splitter. Also, Lamar Patterson, who I loved at Pitt is slimmer and new to the NBA from playing in Turkey. Watch him. Bet he starts sooner than later. Muscala seems too far down. Shroeder and Teague are both starting PGs. Hawks might win 10-15 fewer games this season, because Korver will be exposed defensively and so will Millsap sans Carroll.

Yep, also not liking Splitter off the bench. And without Carroll, they're missing a big chunk of their perimeter scoring. Even if Thabo was back to his old self, he still doesn't fill that void. Bazemmore certainly doesn't.

Kanyewest · Post #972 » by **Kanyewest** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 5:40 am

I'm not buying that Atlanta is bad yet. Detroit also beat Utah on a back to back. Maybe Detroit is a playoff team.

Post #973 » by **LyricalRico** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 2:27 pm

Kanyewest wrote:I'm not buying that Atlanta is bad yet.

Oh I agree, they aren't a bad team. Too much talent to be truly bad. They'll still make the playoffs, but they aren't the 50+ win ECF contender they were last year. I've felt that all summer.

closg00 · Post #974 » by **closg00** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 2:39 pm

Who was this Ricky Rubio who scored 28 points 14 assists last night?

Kanyewest · Post #975 » by **Kanyewest** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 3:31 pm

closg00 wrote:Who was this Ricky Rubio who scored 28 points 14 assists last night?

Rubio looks to have a jumper. He was also guarded by Lou Williams, Deangelo Russell, and Jordan Clarkson who didn't play much defense.

Hypnotizer · Post #976 » by **Hypnotizer** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 4:12 pm

Kanyewest wrote:I'm not buying that Atlanta is bad yet. Detroit also beat Utah on a back to back. Maybe Detroit is a playoff team.

I could add DET last years had good starts iirc.

tontoz · Post #977 » by **tontoz** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 4:30 pm

KoMe shot 13 three pointers in only 29 minutes. Impressive chucking even by his standards.

Higga · Post #978 » by **Higga** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 4:41 pm

How do the Rockets get blown out at home by the Nuggets LOL.

Still not a believer in the Rockets. They have the talent but just seem paper soft come playoff time. They're that prototypical team with talent that always ends up falling short in the playoffs type of team.

Kanyewest · Post #979 » by **Kanyewest** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 4:50 pm

tontoz wrote:KoMe shot 13 three pointers in only 29 minutes. Impressive chucking even by his standards.

I believe Kobe shot 8-16 to start the game and finished the game shooting 0-8. It largely had to do with the fact that the T-Wolves started using Wiggins to guard Kobe instead of Prince.

I found it interesting that the T-Wolves chose to close out the game with their young guys (Towns and Wiggins) while their veterans sat (KG and Prince). The Lakers in the meantime benched Russell in favor of Lou Williams.

closg00 · Post #980 » by **closg00** » Fri Oct 30, 2015 2:24 am

LyricalRico wrote:
Kanyewest wrote:I'm not buying that Atlanta is bad yet.

Oh I agree, they aren't a bad team. Too much talent to be truly bad. They'll still make the playoffs, but they aren't the 50+ win ECF contender they were last year. I've felt that all summer.

They look like a well-oiled machine tonight.